A sincere apology

I have made several posts on BaptistBoard about the topic of tithing. I realize that in articulating my point it could be very possible for many to misunderstand and think I advocated a substandard spirit of giving: one that allows people to be lazy in their church and not give enough to support the ministry. If anything I have said regarding this issue has been perceived with arrogant or unpure motive, if I have discouraged anyone from giving abundantly or gave anyone an excuse not to give to the church obediently and cheerfully to meet needs, then I sincerely apologize. Will you please accept my humblest and heartfelt apology. :tear:

 

Those posts were a while ago, but I know some people personally who read them and became very upset and felt that I was accusing people of false teaching and leading them away from giving. If people that I know personally can be upset from reading them, then I imagine that people here who I don't know personally may have felt likewise.

I realize that this is a place where people come to debate and challenge each other. Since we don't know each other personally, there is more perceived freedom to make apparent accusations that could bite at the hearts of others. It was not my intent to "attack" anyone or to accuse anyone of deliberately teaching false doctrine. I sometimes say things strongly in order to challenge people to defend what they believe. For instance, if I make a statement like "why are you twisting Scripture out of context?" I don't mean to directly accuse anyone of malicious intent. I used such statements in a hypothetical sense to make someone think deeply and wonder if indeed that is what happens and one didn't even realize it. But of course, motives cannot be deduced from text alone.

I just want you all to know that I just want to be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 who "searched the Scriptures daily, whether these things be so." I want to be able to debate, I want to give truth and I want to learn truth. That is what debating should be all about. I sincerely want to know the truth, and I want to be able to defend the truth with Scripture. I can be wrong or I can be right, but I don't want to be one for believing anything out of ignorance. We have the Word of God, and it is meant to be read and studied, holding nothing back. I don't want to be afraid of any portion of Scripture, and if there is anything that I don't understand, I pray that the Spirit will lead me into all truth. I hope that this is your prayer too.