Should Adventist "Bicker and Brawl" over theological issues?

[reddogs]

I read that there was some "bickering" and other problems that caused some Adventist to be banned, can anyone tell me what it was they were going over that would lead to such an extreme measure being used against them.

My opinion is Adventist should not engage in discussion on a issue to the point that it becomes nothing more than a heated argument and the points of the discussion is lost. Just agnst, anger and revenge remain, that is wrong and only helps evil. I will be the first to plead guilty or lightning will definitely burn throught my APC 1500 and get to my Dell. We must stand firm on the truth, but if those we are discussing with become intolerant and angry you let it go, if they refuse to even listen then you must shake the dust of your keyboard sandals and move on to the next town or discussion.

The moderators do a tremendous job, and even if they throw a flag that we dont agree with or dispute, they allow everyone to get a least a chance to participate in a clean debate. If it gets too heated and written blows are struck then they are right to drop the flag and eject them if it was a severe and flagrant violation, otherwise if it's a small infraction they can back up and let them try the post again........

 

[Jimlarmore]

I read that there was some "bickering" and other problems that caused some Adventist to be banned, can anyone tell me what it was they were going over that would lead to such an extreme measure being used against them.

My opinion is Adventist should not engage in discussion on a issue to the point that it becomes nothing more than a heated argument and the points of the discussion is lost. Just agnst, anger and revenge remain, that is wrong and only helps evil. I will be the first to plead guilty or lightning will definitely burn throught my APC 1500 and get to my Dell. We must stand firm on the truth, but if those we are discussing with become intolerant and angry you let it go, if they refuse to even listen then you must shake the dust of your keyboard sandals and move on to the next town or discussion.

Reddogs,
What you have probably read is the discussion between
Adventtruth and myself. I am unaware of anyone being banned on this forum since I have been here. I was on the Carm.com discussion board trying to witness to ex-adventists and folks that hate adventism of other faiths. The debate was over this new grace movement being essentially once saved always saved. I asked a question of one of the members. He answered it truthfully then deleted his answer and started to call me a liar. Others chimed in and the tension was thru the roof. Basically, I got banned from there for 30 days for telling one member that his response was childish. To my knowledge no one else was banned or disciplined for calling me a liar. Apparently, the moderator over the SDA board there is biased against adventist. I discussed this with a pastor on that board by private e-mail and he told me he had seen prejudice with this moderator several times.

It must be hard to try to keep the peace in situations like that so in a way I understand why he/she banned me. They were just getting rid of the problem that was causing all the stir. The only thing I have to say is it showed obvious bias on their part and there was no equity at all there. Thats a shame to my way of thinking. I have decided to not return to that forum for this reason. The climate there is very hostile towards E.G.White and nearly all of the truths we embrace but I was hoping to witness for the truth as best I could but I really think it is futile to attempt any more there.

God Bless
Jim Larmore

 

[reddogs]

Oops, had to purge post as it had personal names in it..............

 

[djconklin]

. I was on the Carm.com discussion board trying to witness to ex-adventists and folks that hate adventism of other faiths. The debate was over this new grace movement being essentially once saved always saved. I asked a question of one of the members. He answered it truthfully then deleted his answer and started to call me a liar. Others chimed in and the tension was thru the roof. Basically, I got banned from there for 30 days for telling one member that his response was childish. To my knowledge no one else was banned or disciplined for calling me a liar. Apparently, the moderator over the SDA board there is biased against adventist. I discussed this with a pastor on that board by private e-mail and he told me he had seen prejudice with this moderator several times.

Oh, ya! I made a post ab't the HS and included a link to the book by Garrie F. Williams "How to be Filled with the Holy Spirit and Know it" and the link was deleted! When I sent an email (I assumed) to Matt Slick I was banned!

 

[Jimlarmore]

If you say anything at all against the moderators there you will be banned. I guess I don't blame them in a way or the whole thing could become like the iidb.org which is disgustingly vile and obscene for the most part. I just expected a fair treatment there. If they were going to ban me for telling someone they were being childish then they should have banned the others that were calling me a liar. Oh well, no big deal. We have plenty of opportunities to witness right here on this forum. The GT board is loaded with folks who don't know the real truth of the Bible. Some may not want to know but some may listen and discover the real truth for themselves after being prompted by one of us.

God Bless
Jim Larmore

 

[tall73]

It is bad when we argue in uncharitable ways, because there are guests reading this forum.

In the early days of the Adventist board here there were people banned. But fortunately the system here is not as nebulous as some places. You are banned when a team reviews your posts and deems them to be in violation a significant number of times. We have a system of warnings, infractions etc.

The truth is it is HARD to be banned here. Don't get me wrong. It can and will happen if people persist in rule violations.

But it is trying to be fair.

Beyond the rules and banning issue is the appearance issue.

We have had some members inquire into Adventism, and some attend Adventist churches from CF. Part of this was due to statements here, and part of it to the discussion in GT . We used to have more Adventist apologists in GT and we would have people pm us who were interested after reading the discussion. (As a side note, anyone see ThreeAM lately??? I miss my old GT supporter!).

Once they came to the board here they would form an impression of what Adventists were like from our conversation.

Unfortunately I talked to some who got a very negative impression.

They didn't get a negative impression because of the fact that we discussed things, but because of the flaming, etc.

I especially feel bad for the mods during the start of our forum here, who were not Adventists. We made them miserable, and they did their best to be charitable to all involved, but couldn't figure out why we were always flaming each other. That is why the sub-forums were made. They apparently decided that Adventists were simply not capable of working things out without separating the camps.

When folks see personal attacks they judge our fruits.

I am therefore all for discussion. But we have to withold angry words.

 

[reddogs]

Tall73, so help me understand, if I use scriptures like Jesus did with Evil in the wilderness is that considered flaming, Christ told the Pharisees things that would make your hair stand up if you understood the undercurrent of thought which they definitely got. Christ also let the money changers have a little more than tongue lashing as he was very emotional about how they were turning the temple into a "den of thieves". So I think there is a line which we must draw in defending truth when there is salvation at stake, if there are no believers then we can remain silent as Christ did before his accusers at the end........

 

[Jimlarmore]

Good response Tall73. It's so easy to come back and say things that are insulting or invalidative. I have been guilty of that in the past. I have really tried since being on this board to refrain from that but that old monster creeps back from time to time. I really do want to reflect the Love of Christ here as much as I can. I think satan's biggest effort will be with our church now and until the end. It hurts to see folks go out of the truth and buy into a subtle lie. Satan is so devisive in his deceptions. I believe we should be bold in telling it like it is but be kind in the way we do it.

God Bless
Jim Larmore

 

[tall73]

Tall73, so help me understand, if I use scriptures like Jesus did with Evil in the wilderness is that considered flaming, Christ told the Pharisees things that would make your hair stand up if you understood the undercurrent of thought which they definitely got. Christ also let the money changers have a little more than tongue lashing as he was very emotional about how they were turning the temple into a "den of thieves". So I think there is a line which we must draw in defending truth when there is salvation at stake, if there are no believers then we can remain silent as Christ did before his accusers at the end........

Here you raise an interesting issue. I am actually quite in favor of being able to discuss more issues here openly. However, given that this is a discussion forum, we can still do that in love.

Yes, Christ used some very harsh words. But He also

a. was God and knew their hearts and thoughts
b. knew them personally.

A discussion forum is not the church. There are times I say things to individual members (or even all the members in sermons) that I would not say here, because it violates the rules.

We agreed to the rules. We need to keep them.

But I have found that you can say NEARLY anything that needs to be said here if you do it in the right way, and not run into problems with the rules.

 

[tall73]

Good response Tall73. It's so easy to come back and say things that are insulting or invalidative. I have been guilty of that in the past. I have really tried since being on this board to refrain from that but that old monster creeps back from time to time. I really do want to reflect the Love of Christ here as much as I can. I think satan's biggest effort will be with our church now and until the end. It hurts to see folks go out of the truth and buy into a subtle lie. Satan is so devisive in his deceptions. I believe we should be bold in telling it like it is but be kind in the way we do it.

God Bless
Jim Larmore

Agreed,and that old monster...the flesh...is persistent!

 

[djconklin]

If they were going to ban me for telling someone they were being childish then they should have banned the others that were calling me a liar.

Yep, but they won't because you are on the "wrong" side.

BTW, I didn't say anything at all ab't the moderators. I sent an email (I thought to Matt Slick) asking what was going on.

 

[TrustAndObey]

A bunch of people either got banned or quit the forum, all in one day. That was over a year ago.

I was one of the people that got banned for absolutely no reason. I disputed the action and I won. I was told it was a case of "mistaken identity" or something.

 

[djconklin]

"mistaken identity"! Yeah, right!

 

[TrustAndObey]

"mistaken identity"! Yeah, right!

That's what I said.