You have a spiritual forum. How long can you keep it?

[ampaterry]

OK, guys, here it is.
All of the PM's I have received, the private e-mails, the posts in the Chaplains Corner thread, all wanting a forum dedicated to things of a spiritual nature.
At the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Franklin was asked what form of government the US would have.
He replied "A Republic, if you can keep it."

And, at the conclusion of much deliberation about this forum, it is presented to you with the same caveat.

You have a forum that is spiritually based - if you can keep it.

This is the place for prayer requests, testimony sharing, bible questions, virtually ANY topic of a spiritual nature.

But this is not the place to debate whose belief is right and whose is wrong.

Be respectful of others beliefs, just as you expect them to be respectful of yours.

Have fun and enjoy yourselves in this new dimension of TFF!

[herohog]

Very cool! Thank you.

[cycloneman]

Originally Posted by ampaterry

OK, guys, here it is.
This is the place for prayer requests, testimony sharing, bible questions, virtually ANY topic of a spiritual nature.

But this is not the place to debate whose belief is right and whose is wrong.

Be respectful of others beliefs, just as you expect them to be respectful of yours.Have fun and enjoy yourselves in this new dimension of TFF!

Kinda figured that needed to be in bold. I will expand on this. I am doing this because i really want to keep this forum.

LETS ALL PRETEND WE ARE AT A TABLE AND THERE IS AN ORANGE ON THE MIDDLE OF THE TABLE. THERE ARE 10 PEOPLE AROUND THE TABLE. WHEN ASKED WHAT COLOR THE ORANGE IS THERE ARE 5 DIFFERENT ANSWERS. ACCEPT THAT AND BE DONE. ONE MANS WORD FOR AN ORANGE IS PURPLE, SO BE IT. ONE MAN'S BELIEF IS HIS BELIEF, RIGHT OR WRONG IT'S HIS.
Sometimes you have to be wrong to find the right. YOu cant force it on someone.

Thanks eveyone involved in puttin this together.

[carver]

Kinda like the 5 blind men, and the elephant!

[Popgunner]

Thanks for the forum Terry
Spent this beautiful Sunday at the cabin with my Fam listening to "general conference" that we have every six months. Our leaders give talks. Usually it's the laymen members giving the talks on Sundays. LDS Church.

[BullShoot]

"You have a forum that is spiritually based - if you can keep it."


Thank God.

[goofy]

Thanks Terry.

[hunter29180]

Originally Posted by cycloneman

Kinda figured that needed to be in bold. I will expand on this. I am doing this because i really want to keep this forum.

LETS ALL PRETEND WE ARE AT A TABLE AND THERE IS AN ORANGE ON THE MIDDLE OF THE TABLE. THERE ARE 10 PEOPLE AROUND THE TABLE. WHEN ASKED WHAT COLOR THE ORANGE IS THERE ARE 5 DIFFERENT ANSWERS. ACCEPT THAT AND BE DONE. ONE MANS WORD FOR AN ORANGE IS PURPLE, SO BE IT. ONE MAN'S BELIEF IS HIS BELIEF, RIGHT OR WRONG IT'S HIS.
Sometimes you have to be wrong to find the right. YOu cant force it on someone.

Thanks eveyone involved in puttin this together.

I AGREE! at least they all said it was a ORANGE!! religion has been the basis for so many wars just because one did not or could not accept that another had a MINOR diffrence in interpitation! it takes a very long time for everything to come together. each person needs to find their own way through the scriptures. some are not ready to accept what the meaning is. ONLY JESUS, GOD, aand the HOLY GHOST will change a persons mind and only when they are able to accept and understand the word! till then WE must all accept our Brothers and Sisters as they are. AND REJOICE that they, like the 10 people above, at least all agree there is a GOD or orange as the case may be!!

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK TERRY!!

[lonewolf204]

Thanks, Terry! I'll do my part to keep it going!

[Woodnut]

Thanks Terry.
I hope we can keep it going but I'm afraid that it will go South as many has done before. But I will say this, if it can be done, Terry, you are the man to do it. Seems like you are a lot like I am. I believe that there are good things in all denominations, and I have not found one yet that I did not agree with some of it.
Great going Terry.

[Airdale]

Thanks to Terry and all that made this possible.

[Country101]

You got my vote Terry. Keep up the good work.

[ampaterry]

Thank you, guys, but I was only the squeaky wheel;
Other people, qualified and diligent, did the actual work on this forum.

THANK YOU, SouthernMoss!!!

[Willie]

Originally Posted by ampaterry

Thank you, guys, but I was only the squeaky wheel;
Other people, qualified and diligent, did the actual work on this forum.

THANK YOU, SouthernMoss!!!

Thanks to both of you.

[howlnmad]

Thanks to all that made it happen.

[dad2thebone]

My thanks as well. and i agree with you carl about finding something in all that to some degree makes sense.

[user]

Agree completely. Life in the Spirit is one thing, theology is another. I take the position that all theology is hogwash, because it represents our ideas and descriptions, our model of reality, and not reality itself. So much of the schismatic influences have been the result not of real difference, but of differences in language or perception. And all theology represents is our perception of God, or of our relationship with God; The God That Is, as he identified himself to Moses, is what God is, and not what we could possibly conceive or describe. "The tao that can be expressed is not the true tao."

When I was a kid, my parents had been separated, and my father got custody (very unusual at that time, but that's another story). Since he had "a life" and had to go to work all day and stuff, I didn't see much of him. And I, being like between three and five years old, not only had no conception of what his life was like, I couldn't even conceive of questioning the matter. All I knew at that time was that there was this big guy who came to fetch me, who took me places, held my hand, showed me things, and talked to me as if I were a person, and (here's the kicker) loved me. He wasn't always visible, but I always knew he was "out there somewhere" and that he loved me. Same thing with the life in the spirit, and why, I think, Jesus referred to "The Deity" as "Daddy". It's a good analogy. No amount of theology can provide what that relationship does. And, ultimately, what I think about God doesn't really matter; what matters is what God thinks and whether I am acting as the incarnation of God's thought, or trying to conjure God into being what I think he ought to be.

I used to get into disputes with people, because I had the idea that some ways of understanding religious ideas are more "effective" than others. I gave up on that. Any moron can do love.

[ampaterry]

user:



I sat under an old Baptist preacher when I was first saved.
He said he had never been to Seminary, and had no intention of going.

He would alternately pronounced it Cemetery, though.

My experience has shown me that, in many instances, he was right - -
Some of the finest sermons I have ever read were written by men who had no 'formal' religious training.

[Bobitis]

Originally Posted by ampaterry

user:



I sat under an old Baptist preacher when I was first saved.
He said he had never been to Seminary, and had no intention of going.

He would alternately pronounced it Cemetery, though.

My experience has shown me that, in many instances, he was right - -
Some of the finest sermons I have ever read were written by men who had no 'formal' religious training.

How long can we keep it?

Under ANY other circumstances, I would say not long at all. This would have gone down in flames. It's just a testament to the members we have here at TFF.

We are all children in the spritual realm. None of us will ever get to be teenagers.
I don't think that's even possible, but it's something to shoot for (no pun intended).

I have a hard time with the Bible. It's been 'interpreted' on countless occasions, in many different languages, for someone elses idea of the word.

In my mind, User is spot on.

You can beat the book to death, read it in many convoluted 'interpretations', OR...
You can be humble in your life, do unto others, speak yer peace gracefully, and let the chips fall where they may.

I will live my life the way my heart and soul dictates.

If that's not good enough by someone elses standard, I can live with that.

God will be my Judge.

[ampaterry]

I try REALLY hard not to argue any more about Christian issues, Bob.

I remember a time a few years ago when a family started attending our church. Then the first Sunday of the month rolled around, the time when we celebrate the Lords Supper. The head of this family jumped all over me for not having a foot-washing before communion service, because that is the way Jesus did it.

I calmly explained to him that in Jesus time people wore sandals and walked on dusty roads (Israel is NOTORIOUSLY dry), so everywhere they arrived, their feet were dirty.
Offering to wash someones feet was an extremely humble offering of a needed service.
Today, people wear shoes, socks, and arrive at the church in a car; their feet are already clean.

The lesson to learn from Jesus example in this instance is to humble ourselves and work for the good of other people, even in the most demeaning of circumstances.

He disagreed, left, and never came back.

I wish he had not left, but under the circumstances, like you, I can live with that.
God WILL be our judge -

[terryu1]

I agree with Bob that anywhere else this would have been a problem. I believe most here are the religious "right center" of the country and most importantly are respectful and courteous to others and oposing views.

[whymememe]

Originally Posted by user

Agree completely. Life in the Spirit is one thing, theology is another. I take the position that all theology is hogwash, because it represents our ideas and descriptions, our model of reality, and not reality itself. So much of the schismatic influences have been the result not of real difference, but of differences in language or perception. And all theology represents is our perception of God, or of our relationship with God; The God That Is, as he identified himself to Moses, is what God is, and not what we could possibly conceive or describe. "The tao that can be expressed is not the true tao."

When I was a kid, my parents had been separated, and my father got custody (very unusual at that time, but that's another story). Since he had "a life" and had to go to work all day and stuff, I didn't see much of him. And I, being like between three and five years old, not only had no conception of what his life was like, I couldn't even conceive of questioning the matter. All I knew at that time was that there was this big guy who came to fetch me, who took me places, held my hand, showed me things, and talked to me as if I were a person, and (here's the kicker) loved me. He wasn't always visible, but I always knew he was "out there somewhere" and that he loved me. Same thing with the life in the spirit, and why, I think, Jesus referred to "The Deity" as "Daddy". It's a good analogy. No amount of theology can provide what that relationship does. And, ultimately, what I think about God doesn't really matter; what matters is what God thinks and whether I am acting as the incarnation of God's thought, or trying to conjure God into being what I think he ought to be.

I used to get into disputes with people, because I had the idea that some ways of understanding religious ideas are more "effective" than others. I gave up on that. Any moron can do love.

User, you hit pretty hard, good going.

[raven818]

After reading some of my posts, if you have, this may come as a surprise, but I was less than a stones-throw away from becoming a Priest. I was as devout, not fanatical, as humanly possible. Didn't happen though. Who knows if I could have made a difference. I don't.

[whymememe]

Raven you made a difference. It is all tallied up there somewhere.

[Pensfan]

This forum is why I decided to join the group here. It is great to find a community that loves guns and Christ!