What have you learned from this board?

I've learned that:

1) Baptists are very diverse group.
2) I'm closer in doctrine to conservative Presbyterians than I am to some particular groups of Baptists.
3) There are actually Baptists out there that believe doctrine is important.
4) Baptists love to talk and get off-topic.

 

Here is what I have learned:

1.) I am a Fundementalist Baptist. Not an American Baptist...(what's the difference? A little help here!)

2.) Harry Potter IS Satanic and Evil. It is not good for the Christian spirit, mind, & soul

3.) There are a variety of Baptists in the USA & World

4.) We can agree to disagree on various topics

5.) To be a true follower of Christ is to stay away from Witchcraft (e.g. Harry Potter)

 

After being here at the Baptist Board for a year and a half I would say that there are a number of things I have learned from this board. I’ve run a wide gambit here, going from a rather prolific posting rate upon joining the board as an active new member to becoming a more “in the shadows” type administrator at present.

I credit this board as part of and a primary contributor to a Christian “walk” that went from a “mark time” to a mile-making slow trot or better. Even if one is not actively reading the Scriptures by rote, the debates here have always inspired page turning in the Bible (or at least a couple mouse clicks to Gospelcom ). That daily active immersion into God’s Word starts to effect one’s thinking and contributes to growth. The believer is no longer leaning on those “favorite verses” that he learns in Sunday School, he’s relying on whole passages and chapters to support his positions. No one’s going to pull that “proof-texting” defense on me!

I’ve learned here that just because a person stands in opposition to you in his theology, that does not mean that he or she stands on the opposite side of the fence from you in the brotherhood. Sometimes, more fellowship occurs in the private messages than an outsider would ever guess from reading the posted threads! A brotherhood occurs here as our personalities come from behind the printed text and we get to know each other. Once you get to a hundred or so posts you’re a part of a community. Many of that 5000 + membership at the top of the page were transients, some left in a huff, we’ve even encountered death but there’s an uncounted number who remain and make up this community. There are overlapping “cliques” all around the board in the various forums and people are missed when they are not posting and welcomed back when they are.

I’ve learned that debate is an incredibly strong tool in shaping out what one believes. There are many wise and/or learned people on this board that defend their positions with well thought out posts. I have learned from them how to phrase into a post exactly what I want to say. Hot issues repeat in cycles on this board. After the second or third time through them you remember how the opponent’s argument will go. It is a training ground for the “real world” and the issues that face the modern Christian community today. Behind the anonymity of the keyboard and the safety net of moderator involvement, the apologist can train for the issues of this world that may show up on the door of his very church someday.

I’ve learned that getting in the last word does not win an argument and that demeanor and attitude sometimes make as much of a point as scholarship. I’ve also learned that usually by page #3, someone has said what you were going to say anyway.

There’s more, I’m sure, but these were the first to come to mind.

One other note: you’d think by now I would have actually learned to type here as well but instead I still plod along with two fingers and an eye riveted to the keyboard as I type.

May God bless you

- Clint

 

Great Post, Clint!

And I didn't see any typos, either, but it's been a long day!