advice please for newbie

[joey]

Yes I know I haven't been around enough.... finally got an offical lift from local baptist church bus organised so I'll feel more comfortable contributing here from now on. :godisgood:

Have any other contributors here ever contributed to other CHRISTIAN forums, aiming to correct another immature "christian"'s false doctrine, got censored and an official warning? If so, how did you handle it?

 

[HAMel]

joey, you can tell people but you can't tell 'em much.

If they don't want to hear it you're wasting your breath. All you can do is show another what the scripture says and let the Holy Spirit do the rest. Hence, you need to know the scriptures.

 

[joey]

That was the problem. To go into more detail, they believed that Satan was a metaphor etc. I proved the Roman Catholic church teaches Satan is real.

That person then tried to convince others that if Satan is real, we cannot trust the bible. I said clearly that they could not call themselves a christian if they could not trust Jesus' own words and if they actually believe that Satan is stronger than God. That is when I got warned, basically first strike. Incredible I know.

 

[Jim1999]

Read a lot; pay mind to what is said; eventually speak softly and don't panic for a response.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[joey]

Thanks Jim. I have a real soft spot for young christians who don't seem to be taught anything at all about the bible. I also don't want to cause trouble either.

 

[HAMel]

...typical sermon across this nation.

"you gotta get saved, you gotta get saved, you gotta get saved, you gotta get saved, you gotta get saved!"

For sure it must be a hard job to feed the flock and trying to preach to the lost at the same time. It does appear that way to often the preacher preaches to the sheep devoting the last five minutes encouraging the lost to walk the isle.

Then, and I'm sure that most of us can and have developed an attitude of, "What are they doing here? They aren't one of us!" Well, that woman with all those tattoo's and the seven kids is who the Lord came to save and who he died for to begin with.

 

[abcgrad94]

That person then tried to convince others that if Satan is real, we cannot trust the bible. I said clearly that they could not call themselves a christian if they could not trust Jesus' own words and if they actually believe that Satan is stronger than God. That is when I got warned, basically first strike. Incredible I know.

Joey, I think you got warned because you basically doubted the other person's salvation by saying they "couldn't call themselves a Christian if. . ."

In a debate, stick to the ISSUE and address it without making a personal attack on the other poster. You may not have meant it that way, but your wording attacked the person, not the errant belief. There is a difference.

Stick to scripture, and word your posts with "I believe this way because of this scripture" or "this is my personal opinion/belief and here's why." Stay away from phrases like "you need to" or "you are. . ." because they come across as offensive and personal.

You'll get the hang of it. Remember, presenting your facts in a godly manner is more important than "winning." Keep a humble attitude, even when you're confident you're right. Debate isn't about shoving your opinions down other people's throats and condemning them if they disagree (as we've seen here on BB countless times.) I hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[menageriekeeper]

I agree with ABC, nothing will earn you hard feelings faster than questioning someone's elses salvation! Only God knows the heart. Just because the logical conclusion to what they were saying, seems to give Satan more power than God, doesn't mean they haven't been saved or can't be saved or aren't saved yet. It may just be that they are very immature Christians who have been exposed to "popular Christian ideas" rather than scriptural facts. All you'll do by attacking these folks is push farther into their superstitions. You have to lead gently.

Jim gave you the best advice there is. Present the scripture and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.

 

[Scarlett O.]

Thanks Jim. I have a real soft spot for young christians who don't seem to be taught anything at all about the bible. I also don't want to cause trouble either.

Joey, I'm a moderator on another forum where there are a lot of relatively new Christians and/or Christians from churches where not much teaching is going on.

It seemed for a while that many of us were doing nothing more than correcting Biblical errors all day. We had a discusion about this in private and I said...

Pulling up the weeds from the garden doesn't constitute the entirety of tending to the garden. The garden has to be nutured, fed, watered, trained, and cared for.

Another moderator I was talking to said this....

We absolutely have to pull up (from the root) the weeds, get them out of the garden, and burn them up. But if that's all we do, we end the day hot and sweaty with a weed-free garden and no fruit. No Sermon on the Mount, no Holy Spirit, no spirit of prophecy (both the "testimony of Christ Jesus" and "exhortation, edification, and comfort")...no fruit. None of us signed up for fruitless weeding.

He's right.

 

[joey]

Thankyou everyone. It wasn't intended as name-calling but I realise now it was. I let my frustration with her go too far.