Quote:
Originally Posted by bearbear
With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible!
That said I have given up trying to convince anyone and am perfectly content with writing down my viewpoint to add color to the discussion in this forum.
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bearbear, I've been realizing lately that perhaps you don't have the same view of us ex-LC members as we do. You attribute it to "free grace" errors which came from "dispensational circles" such as those loosely connected with Darby. As a passive, entitled, 2nd generation, know-it-all, who has recently come of age, I believe your views are quite different from many of us, at least for me.
I jumped into the LC in Cleveland headlong in 1976. After my first meeting, I stayed the whole weekend at the "farm house" on the church property. I soon moved in with Norm M. and his family, attending morning watch every morning and some meeting or service every night. Many of us preached the gospel regularly, if not every day. No one could say that I (or others) enjoyed some "easy-believism," which you are constantly assigning to us.
In those days, we nearly made no decisions on our own. Everything we did was surrounded by much prayer, fasting, and fellowship with the brothers. Twice I totally uprooted my life to join a migration to another city in order to start a new church from scratch. I seriously suffered much from outsiders because of my faith and the narrow way I was pursuing. Most ex-LC-members I know from the "old days" have similar experiences.
For you to come along and project your past life in the LC to ours is neither fair nor justified. I consider myself more like an aging, wounded veteran of foreign wars, wondering if the wars were even worthwhile. I constantly battle a life of discouragement and disappointment, all the while struggling to keep my love and faith fresh and new. This is why you are struggling so hard to convince us of your point of view. You are like a newly saved messianic Jew coming to us every day with the message that circumcision, Sabbath, and kosher are now meaningless.
Who knew?
I do think, however, that you have a message for other second generation Christians. And I have taken to heart the message you have brought to the forum. I thank the Lord that you have found your "voice" in Christ.
Take heed to your ministry from the Lord. That said, it is not the only message in the Bible. All men need to repent and believe, but Jesus did not use that same message with every person He met on earth. He knew the audience, and matched the message to them. Paul also said he was all things to all men.
And yes, you do add some very nice "color" to the forum.