• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

  • CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.

Recent content by Gordon Wright

  1. Gordon Wright

    A Case For Annihilationism

    This post offers another way to think about divine judgment, Heaven and Hell and God's justice: The Big Barbecue
  2. Gordon Wright

    The Problem With Evangelism

    The trouble with listening is most people don't know how. In infancy we learn to talk. We just sort of figure it out. Shortly thereafter we're told to shut up while big people lecture at us. Gradually it dawns on us that much of what the big people say makes no sense at all. And we notice that...
  3. Gordon Wright

    Why don't Protestants hold up Hippolytus as a hero?

    Challenging the one currently in power is not at all the same thing as challenging authority. Luther wasn't trying to become Pope. He was trying to make no one Pope.
  4. Gordon Wright

    Failing church kicking out its old folk.

    I submit (unconditionally) to no one except God. I defer to Him in all things. There are people who can't handle power. Unfortunately, these are the very ones who seek power. The only power I seek is defensive power, to preserve my freedom. I suspect, however, that this is more about money. A...
  5. Gordon Wright

    Failing church kicking out its old folk.

    My only objection to speaking in tongues is that it's too easy to fake.
  6. Gordon Wright

    Failing church kicking out its old folk.

    That's God's prerogative. Not man's.
  7. Gordon Wright

    Failing church kicking out its old folk.

    It comes down to the question of who legitimately owns a church? If it's not God's church, then it's a waste of time and money. I don't think that old age automatically brings wisdom by any stretch, but I do know that you don't find much wisdom in the young. There is no great need for an OK...
  8. Gordon Wright

    Failing church kicking out its old folk.

    Struggling Cottage Grove Church Asks Older Members To Go Away Churches die for reasons. This one is Methodist, but it's a pattern I've observed independent of denomination. My position: an aging church membership is a symptom of a failure to fulfill the Great Commission, and a declining...
  9. Gordon Wright

    Does anyone else find this strangely soothing?

    Ecclesiastes is very soothing once you understand it and accept its message. Also, liberating.
  10. Gordon Wright

    My head hurts from overthinking and overanalyzing stuff. can i have some encouragement?

    Ask yourself: does this matter? If no, forget it. If yes, then you need more information about the problem. When the mind lacks the information it needs to solve a problem, it gets stuck in neutral on high idle. The cure is to get more information. Don't spend time with people who don't know...
  11. Gordon Wright

    Been stuck in a rut, from confusion

    Math is only foolproof when it's geometrical manipulations about themselves, without reference to the real world. In the real world, you have to measure and count things before you can do any math, and that's where you get error. There's no escaping subjectivity and fallibility. Accept God's...
  12. Gordon Wright

    Is it wrong for Christians to be evasive?

    Jesus spoke in parables (philosophical esotericism) and sometimes refused to answer direct questions. He also said something about pearls and swine.
  13. Gordon Wright

    Do I have to go to church to be a Christian?

    Every church that claims to be the body of Christ says that the other denominations claiming the same thing aren't the real body of Christ. They can't all be right. That language in the Bible about the body of Christ was addressed to the movement founded by the Apostles, and governed by those...
  14. Gordon Wright

    Doesn't "total surrender" equal "being unbearably squashed?"

    It seems to me to be a straightforward rebuke of legalism and religious posturing. Don't try to name-drop or brown-nose God.
  15. Gordon Wright

    Gaming the Gospel

    Put it on Kindle for a reasonable price and I might just buy and review it. I've often thought Christianity needs to be saved from Christendom. But I have no idea what it would look like then. I've concluded a return to the NT church isn't feasible, but surely we can do better than the status...