Dear God, help me to never shun a friend because he or she doesn't believe or dress just like me. Help me to be a friend no matter what the circumstance. If they have lost their way, help me to be the type of friend they can come to without fear of judgment. Help me be a friend through think and thin!
A true friend won't sugar coat truth and cost another his or her soul...
I don't think there is a day that goes by where we don't need the Blood of Jesus to cover our sins... but by His Grace we are able to live according to His Word... and allow Him to change us into what He wants us to be....
btw...Prax...I don't lay claim to perfection...I am certainly flawed and saved by the Grace of God... I need His Mercy everyday... I have faults, weaknesses and imperfections...so nice try... friend...
Then pull the beam out of your own eye. Did you think faux humility was going to make everything ok? Standards or not, the biggest STINK is the attitude, We can start threads and go back and forth on each standard but at the end of the day the real issue is what you do with your standards.
How has standards made YOU a better person? Is it being a standard keeper that makes you think you can bring these souls back to Christ (because the only reason you think they are not with Christ is by their cut hair and not looking like you) by interjecting what you have into a thread about friends,family and reunions? Did you really think it was going to accomplish that task? Because I have to be honest, it doesn't look like that was your intent, so the comment about wanting them to come home sounds disingenuous to say the least. Have you had success before winning non standard keepers back to Christ (which really means back to the UPC) by doing what you did here?
__________________ Let it be understood that Apostolic Friends Forum is an Apostolic Forum.
Apostolic is defined on AFF as:
There is One God. This one God reveals Himself distinctly as Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
The Son is God himself in a human form or "God manifested in the flesh" (1Tim 3:16)
Every sinner must repent of their sins.
That Jesus name baptism is the only biblical mode of water baptism.
That the Holy Ghost is for today and is received by faith with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues.
The saint will go on to strive to live a holy life, pleasing to God.
For all the reasons they leave I can think of 2....they disagree with the smug, self righteous attitudes or they disagree with doctrine...neither of these did you help to alleviate.
You want to convince us YOUR way is the right BIBLICAL way? Then why do you and others like you run away from this forum where we allow those views to be discussed and questioned. You'd think since your way is superior and biblical you and your ilk would rise to the challenge and prove biblical that your way is the true way. Instead what we saw was the opposite. You think that is not biblical? Paul spent much time proving to the Jews that Christ was Messiah. He debated them. What do you guys do? Drop by every now and then to interject some bitter pill then run away?
BTW Randy, what do you think of Fred Phelps and his gang? They certainly don't sugar coat what they think is the truth. Do you approve of their methods?
__________________ Let it be understood that Apostolic Friends Forum is an Apostolic Forum.
Apostolic is defined on AFF as:
There is One God. This one God reveals Himself distinctly as Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
The Son is God himself in a human form or "God manifested in the flesh" (1Tim 3:16)
Every sinner must repent of their sins.
That Jesus name baptism is the only biblical mode of water baptism.
That the Holy Ghost is for today and is received by faith with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues.
The saint will go on to strive to live a holy life, pleasing to God.
I am new to AFF and have found this particular thread and the comments made quite interesting. I grew up in an UPC church with a wonderful pastor and church family. While I have chosen a different path the one thing that has always stood out in my mind was that my pastor NEVER treated me any differently no matter how I looked or how I was living my life - right up until he passed away. You certainly CAN affect whether a person who has "left" the truth ever returns to it simply by the way you treat them - looking down the nose at those who don't look like you just doesn't cut it. The one thing that stands out in my mind in the pictures of the JCM reunion is that everyone is SMILING!!!! Is that so wrong? Life-long friendships were made during the JCM years and it's good to see that people can get together and celebrate FRIENDSHIPS!!!!
Re: JCM Reunion / AMC Conference Check In Thread
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