Question

[Celticflower]

I, for one, have NO problem with a Catholic mod in the forum. My bestest best friend is Catholic and a better prayer warrior:crosself: I couldn't hope to find.

As for voting--I am partial to the Snoopy/Woodstock ticket myself.

Celtie

 

[wvmtnkid]

I see. Thank you. All the other congregational fora troublemakers (as you know, God issues one to each small congregational forum and two to three to each large one, in order to teach our moderators the sort of patience which only comes through tribulation) and I were talking (well actually, they had all gotten together to verbally abuse me for being given the privilege of paying bigsierra substantially less to post with me to make me look good, but when they had completed this task to their satisfaction, they still had me cornered, and found they had finished sooner than they had expected) where was I...oh, yes..we CFTs found ourselves discussing mod kickbacks in general, and they naturally decided that we should pool our funds for this, because I came up with the idea of the financial compensation which is only our WP mods just due and they caught me at it, those nosey parkers, so I collect by far the largest salary of all of us, since I've taken far fewer compulsory vacations, and therefore have the highest post count of any CFT.
To make a long story short, they're attempting to put the screws to me, and I strenuously objected, wvmtnkid, on behalf of our fine Wesley's Parish moderators, who will receive far less of their rightful share of the take, since much of my salary, when pooled, would then go to moderators who don't deserve it nearly as much as do ours, since Wesley's Parish is the proud possessor of the most notorious CFT of all, myself.
If you are paid less and the other moderators paid more, then I will appear to be far less notorious than I am at present; by my calculations, nearly negligble, and then your status will fall sharply in the eyes of the rest of the staff, and some of them are therefore quite likely to stop paying you to encourage me to stand fast in my Wesleyan faith, so that they don't have to worry about being stuck with me because I've converted to theirs.
In conclusion, I feel that, for your own well-being, you should should place a ceiling on my fee at its present amount until Erwin has a chance to stock the phaser rifle I have requested in order to get and keep the upper hand I need until they again viciously quarrel and are unable to cooperate together in their nefarious plan of cheating you; yes, you, a mod Of Wesley's Parish, one of the three finest mods in this or any other quadrant of the galaxy, and who does not deserve to both sustain considerable financial loss and to have some vastly inferior CFT foisted off on you in my place. They are counting on you to fall for their cheap, shabby tricks, wvmtnkid, but you are far, far cleverer than all of them combined, and I have every confidence that you will not be fooled by these pathetic slackers!

Have I mentioned lately how much I admire and respect you, wvmtnkid?

Why thank you!

The only thing I know is that I don't want to find myself at the other end of that Phaser rifle....ouch!

 

[wvmtnkid]

Hello Josh!!!, welcome to WP. I think (God may strike me with the plague for speaking for a moderator), but it seems to me that wvmtnkid would only ask you to revise your statemtn because of where you are, not what you believe.

Well, you did a fine job explaining my position, so it seems you are saved from the plague....this time!

 

[Celticflower]

Plagues, phaser rifles, fines---what is this haven coming to??????

Hoping am not on the recieving end of any of the above--
Celtie

 

[herev]

Plagues, phaser rifles, fines---what is this haven coming to??????

Hoping am not on the recieving end of any of the above--
Celtie

you never know what might drop in from above......

 

[herev]

In response to herev, I am weslian in theology. I do not personally endorse the methodist Church, due to it's modern day corruption, however... For those of you who don't know, the Bible Missionary Church is an offshoot of the Nazarene Church. (It was founded 1955 I believe.)

Again, welcome, and thanks for the education on the Bible Missionary Church--I was unaware of its history--I always like learning more and more of our Wesleyan Brothers and Sisters

Regarding the commotion that was made over my previous post, and in light of the fact that it was removed against my consent, this one thing I will say -- I may have sounded overly harsh, and if I had it to do over again, I may have chosen slightly differient wording -- but one of my principles is this, that everyone's word has a right to stand, regardless of what others think of it. In summary, I think that it would be more fitting for them to kick me out of the forum than for them to delete my posts in accordance with their whims.

I appreciate you candor and your ferver in standing up for what you believe in--especially at your age--and your willingness to say, you know what, I might have done that differently given a chance--it is a sure sign of maturity when one can say that.

Sorry to repeat myself, but I hope you do understand that it was not WHAT you said, but where you said it. One of the hardest lessons I had to learn at your age was that no matter where you go, there are still rules. (you may not have that problem, so forgive the implication that you do--I am merely speaking of my own experience). This forum is one where debate of another's doctrine is not allowed--and there are plenty of forums for that. wvmtnkid is a great moderator and I have no doubt she struggled with what to do in this case. I seriously doubt it could be said that it was at a whim, so give her a little slack in this case, ok?

Regarding a swayed tollerance toward liberalism, I have been flamed countless times for my beliefs in light of standards, and not once to my knowledge was anyone warned or repremanded for their comments. People like to be a part of a warm and fuzzy religion that lets them believe everyone is their brother, and teach that every road leads to rome. They are wrong, and the simple fact is, they don't like anyone who challenges that.

I am sorry for your experiences, I do not know which forum it was in, so I can't address that with any reason. I agree with you that we, as the church universal has become too attracted to wanting to be made too comfortable too often. I do believe though, as Wesley did, that you needn't agree with all of my doctrine to be counted as a brother. I am not sure what your denomination teaches, but one of my favorite quotes from John Wesley (as taught to me by my United Methodist Doctrine professor) can be found in WesleyJohn's signature line. It goes something like this: Though we do not think alike, may we not love alike?
Part of what this teaches me is that I will never win anyone over to my "side" or my way of thinking by insulting their beliefs. And if I push them away, any chance for witnessing is lost.

None the less, case closed. Once again, I never aimed to slam anyone, and if someone is offended, that person may rest assured that such was not my goal. God Bless,

In Christ Jesus,

Joshua

Thanks for taking the time to ensure to others that you mean no personal insult. I pray God's blessings on you as you continue to grow in Christ.

Tommy

 

[Joshua Howard]

Thanks for the support, harev. I understand the rules, and am willing to cooperate with them. It is hard for me to accept restrictions such as this when I feel that somewhere along the line they are biased against my favor - But I suppose that isn't my place to decide anyway. My main aim in all this has not in any way been to defy moderators, I add... It was merely an effort to uphold the legitimacy of what I have said. I feel that I have, as much as is possible, done so.

The BMC does not teach the rejection of other denominations (Though it does teach the error of a majority of them). We get along best with other weslians though, of course. Picture a methodist church in 1800 and you'll see basically what we're like today. This ranges from dress standards to policies on worldliness and sin. We are no doubt on the 'right' end of the stick when it comes to standards & doctrine. (pun intended) Interestingly, we get scoffed at sometimes, but more than not, we are honored even by the world for our conservative stand. Needless to say, however, though a brother you may be, you have to be more than 'the average weslian' to join our church.

In Christ Jesus,

Joshua

 

[bigsierra]

Like this?

 

[Texas Lynn]

Texas Lynn,
Could you explain your post please. I agree that Methodists are ecumenical. But I don't necessarily agree that Methodists will vote for John Kerry. I say this not because it would be more Methodist to vote for George Bush, but because the United Methodist denomination does not support any one candidate above the other. I would be offended if a pastor, or a district, or a conference, or the general conference instructed Methodists how to vote. I think it would be much more ecumenical, too, if Methodists voted for who they felt was the best candidate individually. Bush himself is a United Methodist but on the other hand John Edwards is a United Methodist.
God Bless,
Nick

Sorry, I went out on a limb and meant he'd be elected by Americans not any particular denomination. I agree churches shouldn't endorse candidates.

 

[Texas Lynn]

Most Catholics I know aren't inclined to vote for him, even if he does claim the religion

In every U.S. Presidential election since 1928 except 1972, 1980, and 1984, the majority of Catholic voters voted for the Democratic candidate and polls indicate they will this year too.

 

[nicks17]

Sorry, I went out on a limb and meant he'd be elected by Americans not any particular denomination. I agree churches shouldn't endorse candidates.

Well if that was your meaning then I apologize. I was under the impression that when you said "we" in your first post you were referring the United Methodist Church instead of your prediction as to who America would elect in general. Again I apologize for my misinterpretation and thank you for explaining your post. Have a great day.
God Bless,
Nick

 

[Joshua Howard]

Responding to Bigsierra,

Yeah, that's about how we dress -- We don't teach the doctrine of the headcovering though. Seems like our standard for dress is more open to general preference than is Charity Ministries... Charity seems to usually go for plain colors and handmade clothing, they wouldn't wear neckties or dress suits, etc. - Basically, their standard is the same as ours, though theirs is a bit more plain when it comes to appearance.

 

[bigsierra]

That is very much how I grew up dressing and some of my family still does. We didn't do the head coverings either. I like the idea of head coverings though, at least in church.

 

[Joshua Howard]

At this point, I myself don't personally see the Biblical relevence of the teaching, but I certainly don't have a problem with the teaching amongst those that do.

P.S. - You are the first person that has shed positive light on the dress standards of myself and my church. Alot of the folks in the youth room have beat me over the head on this one betimes. Thanks for the support, bigsierra.

 

[wvmtnkid]

Joshua-

The picture that bigsierra posted reminded me alot of the dress of the Brethern Church. My grandparents and actually my father's family attended the Church of the Brethern. Are there connections in the church you attend and the Brethern Church?

 

[Texas Lynn]

Well if that was your meaning then I apologize. I was under the impression that when you said "we" in your first post you were referring the United Methodist Church instead of your prediction as to who America would elect in general. Again I apologize for my misinterpretation and thank you for explaining your post. Have a great day.
God Bless,
Nick

No offense taken. That has to be the nicest apology I've ever seen directed at anyone on any MB.

 

[Joshua Howard]

wvmtnkid,

For clarity, the picture that bigsierra posted is from a network of churches that fall under the title of Charity Ministries. Charity is an Amish-reformed church; One of it's founders was converted from the amish church, whereas the other was drawn out of the baptist church due to various issues of error that he saw therein. The result was a church that was more or less weslian in general belief. If my reccolection is correct, the Brethren church is quaker - If such is true, then these two churches are of similar historical origin. You could pretty accurately compare Charity to a conservative mennonite church.

Charity has beliefs and standards very similar to the Bible Missionary Church (Which is my church), however. They offer some very good material and defenses in light of various topics such as the Christian home, Marriage, as well as standards... I highly recommend them, (even more so than my own denomination in certain aspects) though I mildly disagree with them on a few insignificant points.

The strictness of Charity churches varies much from individual to individual - For example, some new amish converts might say that it would be worldly for a girl to wear a pink shirt with a flower on it, whereas someone else from a more liberal background wouldn't.

I attached a picture of the youth at my Bible Missionary Church North Pacific district camp meeting. You can get some idea of what we look like. Laying aside the white shirts and ties, that's more or less how we dress all the time. Though our standard is a bit less 'plain' than Charity in some ways, we still ban gender neutral clothing styles, and the women still wear their dresses down to the floor. Guys don't wear shorts, and we all wear long sleves.

 

[wvmtnkid]

Thanks Joshua. Mennonite was the other denomination I was trying to recall earlier. I grew up around a branch of the Mennonites, they were referred to as "Old Order Dunkards".

 

[WesleyJohn]

.

 

[herev]

* WesleyJohn wonders where his paycheck is...

* WesleyJohn goes to check the mailbox again...

Yeah, he's back--you have been missed around here!!!