You appear to me to act like a person is as simple as one thing.
How kind of you. Is it not simplistic to imagine a person thinks others as simple as one thing?
If you think that your character does not matter...
How kind of you. What kind of character brings another's character of-topically into the discussion (and does so derisively)?
..and that your flaws that are so in our face that it completely overshadows Gideons…
How kind of you. Is it not flawed to bring others' flaws off-topically and derisively into the discussion?
...then I asked you why can you not see what is so plain to so many of us?
It's hard to see the picture when inside the frame.
I don't need you to try to get me to conform...
How kind of you. No one is trying to make anyone conform.
..to your legalistic rules...
How kind of you. I have no legalistic rules.
...to try to attempt to control the situation.
rotflmbo! Control is an illusion and I am definitely not in control of these exchanges. It is delusional to think I think otherwise. How kind of you.
In the threads that I have read where you post my spirit starts to get bothered...
Not my problem. Not my intent. Not my responsibility. One of the chief problems in these exchanges is the difference between what is intended and what is perceived to be intended; the difference between what is written and what is read. Score of examples of what I have written have been read with adverse intent. It's a Luke 6:45 problem, but rather than ask, "Why am I viewing Josh's post so critically that I cannot or will not let him start over and answer a single simple straight forward very op-related question or two?" I get told I'm a bad person.
...and the joy of the thread starts to fade away To some measure.
That's not on me, either. Had anyone posted to me in a manner that would have brought them joyed s/he and I would be having a much different conversation. Since I didn't force anyone to post as they did the truth is everyone who posted adversarially did so because they
wanted to do so.
Every single one of you had the opportunity to do things differently.
And didn't.
Can't be said I didn't try. There are many posts in this op where I endeavored to get back on-topic with the op. Post #101 is one of them and that effort was totally ignored. That's not on me. You did that all on your own and there is absolutely nothing wrong with my noting that fact.
Now imagine that effect on unbelievers...
One of the most fundamental of all precepts governing internet discussion is this:
"
If something can be misinterpreted then it probably will be misinterpreted"
There's nothing inherently mean in my op-reply. Go back and re-read it. Yes, I did challenge some of the content in this opening post but there's nothing anywhere close to like what I've received in post #104.
...how you could utter the truth and utterly push them away at the same time.
lol! That is often the nature of truth. How do you not know that?
Don't get me wrong I can be very disagreeable just like you so I understand the nature of being disagreeable and I often regret how I act and treat people when I speak the truth but don't consider their soul.
If you have spoken the truth assuming it would be received then you have considered their soul. The other person's response or reaction is not on you. We each make choices. We act based upon those choices. Those choices are often not conscious.
Luke 6:45
"The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart."
That is truth. There's no arguing with that truth. Whether Bert, Ernie, Fred, or Ethel receives that truth isn't up to you or me. If they find it troublesome in any way that does not mean you were not considering their soul. It is wrong of you to take their response onto yourself, especially if your motive was something like Philippians 2:3 or Romans 12:18.
So when Gideon says, "This is my testimony as to not only the possibility of each of us walking as an overcomer, victorious over the world the flesh and the devil, but its sureness!" that is a reflection of
his heart, according to Luke 6:45. Likewise, when he says, "victory is a lie," that too is a reflection of his heart,
according to Luke 6:45. Likewise, when I challenge the claim of running out of things to do and say, "
That's not true," that is a reflection of my heart. Luke 6:45 says so. I accept the truth of God's word as written, plainly stated. Something in my heart challenged that hyperbole. I can explain it and when someone
asks about that. When someone responds, "
We do not seem in agreement, That is okay. At some point, perhaps we will. Be blessed," that comes from the abundance of their heart and when another replies, "
oooooh cool! Can I nitpick your words and judge your testimony next? Please!" that comes from the abundance of that person's heart. When someone posts, "
If you think that your character does not matter and that your flaws that are so in our face that it completely overshadows Gideons, then I asked you why can you not see what is so plain to so many of us?" that comes from the abundance of their heart, not mine. I
know this because I don't think my character doesn't matter.
The problem with understanding the abundance of our own heart is Jeremiah 17:9.
Everyone who left the op to post derision felt justified in doing so, or they wouldn't have done it. Everyone who left the op to post about the poster instead of the post took some delight in doing so. Everyone who left the op did so out of the abundance of their heart. I didn't make anyone do that.
And there is nothing wrong with my pointing that out. It does not make me prideful or arrogant to do so.
You Remind Me of Sheldon Cooper.
How nice. Compared to a fictional character of extremes.
In answer to two simple op-relevant questions posted in an effort to redeem. Luke 6:45.
After much resistance of attempting to not judge you and to keep on resisting these annoying pestering spirits that I hear, and in observing people's replies and how it makes sense to my heart I have decided to say something directly to you.
Let me quote something Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote. Because this post is already quite long I am going to post it in a separate post but I want you to know that however imperfectly I may have realized Bonhoeffer's content
that was what I think about every single person with whom I have traded posts, even if and when they did not think of me the same way.
So let's try this one more time:
Did Gideon overcome a 47 year long addiction to inappropriate contentography and experience victory over that addiction?
Did he overcome and experience victory "over the world the flesh and the devil, but its sureness"?
