response to B. E.

my original entry was deleted B.E. , so bear with me here ;

if you would prefer to talk via email, i would enjoy that - since we are on opposite shifts it may be easier

in all the years we have known each other , i think that you and i can talk as Christian brothers firstly and friends secondly;

so since all i have is your response to my thread , that is deleted now , i will answer what you posted ;




Hello George. B.E. here. Just wanted to set the record straight on the inconsistencies in your blog posting.

First, the item of turmoil. Our church is not in turmoil. It is the doctrinal position you are attempting to bring into our church that is causing you to feel "turmoil" inside our church. We don't believe the doctrines you guys believe, because we as a church believe that we have rightly divided and studied to show ourselves approved unto God. Our church (including me) will continue to stand firm in the defense of ANY major doctrinal differences that are attempted to be brought into our church.

(the church, both your local congregation , and the CHURCH is in turmoil . there is no disputing that. with over 150 different denominations worldwide , that is turmoil and NOT unity for sure ;
with your local congregation , when you and other members of your congregation marginalize and look down on a fellow brother, when you ask him to 'find another church' , when a member unwittingly tells us that this member, Rich, is a NUT watch out for him... if thats not turmoil , i don't know what is ....)



Secondly, I find it strange for a person who says that I do "not to show himself approved" to not properly quote the context of my statement. When I said that "world means world" I was referring to John 3:16. Anyone who studies scripture should know that kosmos in Greek means "world" (it doesn't say elect or an area of the world). This is in direct conflict with your doctrinal position; therefore, it's meaning has to be either changed (world doesn't really mean world) or it is just outranked with other scriptures and forgotten. Our church takes a balanced approach when defending our beliefs. We take scripture as what it says and apply it. Choosing to side with one scripture above the other in importance is not "studying yourself approved".

( i believe that we all need to pray more for the Holy Spirit to give us understanding of the Word, and to read more Bible , taking it for what it is , face value. we all have preconceived notions from prior study, or church as a youngster , etc., that influence our beliefs towards the Word. World means World, i know that. its the usage grammatically that i am talking about.
in short, being saved IS NOT the conversion experience, being born again is conversion; greek for saved is sozo , along with a few others but its the MAIN usage, it means to be saved from event like the ark saved Noah's family ; Paul tells Timothy , in 1tim4:16 "take heed unto theyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both SAVE thyself, and them that hear thee " emphasis added by me does this mean that we can be saved by taking heed of doctrine and when we talk doctrine those who HEAR us will be saved too !! surely not ) there is only one way to be born again - right ?

so when the Bible says that Christ came to SAVE the world , this is , in simplistic terms , the vehicle , the Noah's ark , that saves us from God's wrath , God's judgement (we call this atonement and redemption) ; however, each man must be born again to access that



Thirdly, the quote itself about having a certain flavor was directed more toward our pastor than to our guests.

fair enough , i was not there ; and God knows what He is doing , i do not think , after 2.5 hours of discussion, i could have stood to hear that "we will still have to prove ourselves to you and Ron Rhoady "

Fourth, when my family finally joined, we had meetings with the former pastor on several occasions as well as some church members. Yes, it is true that we were not "scrutinized under a microscope" when we joined. But our potential church members made sure that we were not bringing any doctrinal inconsistencies along with us. Get your facts straight before posting comments about something you know little about.

regarding this , i believe you misunderstood my intent ; i am talking about us, not you joining ;
while i am glad to hear that you met with the pastor, i am refering to what is happening with our group ; and our group only - why would i post something about what happened with you and your family , when like you said, i know NOTHING about it ?
if you took offense to what i said (even though it was not about you) i apologize




Fifth, am I correct that you think that I or our church does "not know the TRUTH of His Word"? If this is true, you have a very high opinion of yourself. If you did not mean to intend that meaning, disregard the Fifth comment.

this is a tough one. i believe that obviously as we walk with God and learn His ways, we have a life time of learning His Word. I HAVE NOT EVEN SCRATCHED THE SURFACE, IN MY ATTEMPT TO LEARN AND STUDY THERE IS SO MUCH TO READ AND LEARN AT TIME I FEEL OVERWHELMED BY IT
.
nor do i think have most christians. does your congregation 'know the truth of His Word?" i believe you do - is there room for more learning and more study and more prayer and more effort and more love and more time spent together and more time evangelizing and more time witnessing , etc,. ? YES i do but i would say that about EVERY church in town.
for me , i too am a studier; and stagnation is death for me ; i HAVE TO be reading and i commend you for that also. in fact, i told Bro. Josh that i long to meet with you and study together , in love, over our Lord's Word; i genuinely do - God has you and i on opposite shifts , so we must take what He gives us. but i consider you a brother and always have .

honestly, i would like to hear from you , personally , what you think of me . do you consider me a brother in Christ ?


We do agree on one point: To God alone be the Glory, forever and ever, amen

its always good to talk of God's Word and His ways - i hope that we can move forward and begin serving Him together .

B.E.