[OBW]

Now, having responded to an off-topic comment, I will weigh in on the topic.

I'm not sure that the answer to participation is in sections devoted to Local Church-friendly posts. That may be OK.

But the problem I see is in how we deal with some of the LRC people that do come.

It is a forum violation to "out" the identity of another forum member. Yet we feel quite OK with arguing about how someone is using a different moniker here than in the Bereans forum. So what. Get over it. I did it too. The fact that you don't like the way that someone is posting should be dealt with in terms of the arguments, not the person. And while we have generally not been dishing out ad hominems, we often are too focused on perceived motives than on what is said. If you can't deal with what is said, then study it until you can. Or until you change your mind.

And if they truly violate some forum rule, then deal with it. Otherwise, stick to the arguments.

If you want to direct a topic at someone, don't presume or demand that they agree with you to do so. It is antagonistic. And useless at much of anything.

Admit that the forum is not completely open. It took too long to evict the irrelevant posting of those "my writing is scripture" guys a few months back. Don't ask for permission to evict profane and inflammatory posts, especially after sufficient warnings. And don't cower to the soft-hearted who just want to let everybody do whatever.

And for those of us that think we are dong it mostly right, some of us need to quit being offended that someone disagrees. The nature of the discussion is "argument." Not dispute, but an interchange of ideas well formed and grounded in something that we tend to agree is a sound base for truth. There is interpretation, so we don't always agree on everything. Lay out your reasons for your positions. Don't presume that disagreement is personal. It is OK to agree to disagree. And a point being made due to "your" position (specifically against it) may be useful for others in the forum even if you do not think you the point is correct. But engage the disagreement in terms of the discussion, not in terms of your emotions and feelings.

While spiritual things are not always discoverable within logic and reason, the discussions should be logical and reasonable. Be sure that you are actually responding to what has been said. And be sure that you are saying what you mean to say. Do not presume that a response that says "you" means a personal attack. It may only be an identifier as to who made the particular statement. And when someone says that you said "X" and you just demand where it was said, beware that you may find that a directed response to a previous post may indeed show that you did. It is better to be a little humble and admit that you may have misspoke, or been unclear. Clarify. It may get tedious. And you may discover that someone simply does not want to understand. Or is trying to obfuscate things. Better to ignore them than just go ballistic. (I say that when I am not going ballistic.)

Last, the discussion of what it right or wrong about the teachings of any particular person cannot be based upon what they said. It is clearly about what they said. But if they are the foundation upon which their correctness or incorrectness is based, there is no discussion. All arguments are circular and we might as well go away. Lee is not right or wrong based solely upon Lee (or Nee, for that matter). There must be something outside of them that is relied upon to test them. That is mainly scripture. We can refer to other writers, but those must be tied to scripture or we are just arguing one secondary against another without reference to the primary source.

For this reason, we must discuss the teachings and doctrines meticulously. At this point, there is a tremendous lack of prior information because the old Bereans site is closed. It is still available for reference (at least I have managed to get into it about 2 out of 5 times I tried). But there is no certainty that it will remain. We need to stop relying on what has gone before. If it isn't in this forum, it might as well not exist. It is time to get theological. I would agree that most of the LRC's problems are practical and therefore, their orthopraxy, as well as all of the storms, cover-ups, etc., are extremely relevant. But while there is an orthodox core, the reason that the orthopraxy is so messed-up is that there is a serious problem with defining what is the main thing. And what is the way to read the Bible. It is too much like being handed a thick manual of how to reread so many words and phrases that what is important becomes unimportant and what is unimportant (or not there) become preeminent. It is a system of error that takes too many away from the real charge we have concerning our life here and now. It is replacing righteousness with "in your spirit." It replaces obedience with abiding and getting dispensing. It paralyzes too many, yet makes them certain that they are God's best and that all others are deficient, even harlot daughters of the Whore of Babylon.

Simply having areas designated for the posting of untouched "pro LRC" material seems to undermine the very purpose of the discussion — unless it is implicitly for the purpose of giving material for immediate discussion of the "current" issues. The LRC has plenty of sites with their own things. And you can be sure that if you go to one of them and post something negative, you will be booted off. I feel that other than as a reference for the ongoing discussions, postings that are strictly advertisements for the LSM/LRC should be deleted. Same for any other kind of ministry. There have been too many others allowed in the past. Anyone can make a recommendation. But when threads are created that only tangentially have a link to Nee, Lee, or the LRC, then post copious quantities of material from another ministry and spend most of their time directing us toward following that, it should also be deleted.

I'm not even sure that the things you link on the sides are entirely appropriate. Links to the online LSM and RecV are good for sources materials. But advertising the next conference? Not sure it should be done. It opens the forum to advertisement for any conference.