Seems like a good place to be

[Reformer]

I have been on a search for a good Christian forum and have been largely unsuccessful, until now. I have found more forums than I knew existed and most seem to either full of worldliness or way over my head I have been reading here for a while and think this is the place to be. The advice and info. I have seen here seems to be, well Christian. You would think that would be a given at most any "Christian" site but sadly it is not.

I have only been saved for about 5 years, I have a wonderful wife who is the best Christian woman I know. She home schools our two boys and we attend a Southern Baptist church (but I like to call us Reforming Baptist)

I have almost no christian friends, there are very few men in our church, which we drive aprx. 20 miles to and I work with complete pagan's. This makes for a stressful Christian life. That is why I am here, to discuss the Bible, the Christian life, Christian behavior, Theology, ect..

I have been studying Reformed Theology for about 3 years and I have found many people in opposition to it. (and Baptist seem very divided in this area) I have read things on Forums that were just plain evil in response to reformed people. I hope that is not the case here. I love a discussion about differing opinions, but I hate arguments and it is sometimes hard to tell them apart.

I am glad to be here and look forward to the discussions that will come.
Thank you all for a good Forum and God Bless

 

[Goldie]

Welcome aboard Reformer, I hope you enjoy it here as much as I am doing.

You said:

I have been on a search for a good Christian forum and have been largely unsuccessful, until now. I have found more forums than I knew existed and most seem to either full of worldliness or way over my head I have been reading here for a while and think this is the place to be. The advice and info. I have seen here seems to be, well Christian. You would think that would be a given at most any "Christian" site but sadly it is not.

I too have posted on various other "Christian" Forums - from pentecostals who held to dominion theology yet denied it outright, but would have the words "army", "new breed", "revolution" and "great end-time revival" throughout their articles on their website. I also posted on a popular pro-rapture forum, but it became weird after a while because the Mods would allow one to post about apostates other than the likes of John MacArthur for one, in fact when I questioned MacArthur's views on the Blood of Christ, the one Mod had an intense knee jerk reaction and the post was promptly removed and it was stated that MacArthur's questionable views on the Blood of Christ were "just rumors that wouldn't die down". I guess it's a case of "selected discernment" or "touch not mine anointed" or something to that effect. Surely if it were "just rumors" then why not keep the thread open and running to prove exactly that?

I'm also quite new here, only joined sometime in June I think, but only started(seriously) posting about a week ago? From what I've seen on this particular forum - they don't seem to be too touchy, I've seen posts here that if they were posted on any of the other Forums I frequented, they would've been removed within 5 minutes and the posters would either have received an infraction or have been banned outright - which in my personal opinion stifles not only the truth but makes people get up to all sorts of mischief, like signing in under new names just to have a final say, etc, etc. Just the way human nature is, take the prohibition on alcohol as an example - it didn't curb it at all, as it flourished underground (on the black market).

I must say, I've had a good laugh or two at some of the posts on this forum - not because of questionable theological stance, but because of the obvious intended dry humour on them - I find it rather refreshing that the Moderators here aren't petty (from what I can see over the short time that I have been here).

I am "churchless" as I cannot find a doctrinally sound church in my area. The Baptist Church here is beating the "Purpose Driven Life" drum and is ecumenical. Furthermore there's an assortment of WOF centers, not to mention the regular Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist Churches which I don't care to be a part of. I've tried finding a Church in Johannesburg which is a three and a half drive from here, but when I ask them what their stand is on certain issues, I never hear from them again. Perhaps they see me as the proverbial "troublemaker" who will stand up in the middle of a Sunday Morning Sermon and question them in front of the congregation! Heh heh heh, no such thing - I'll just find the door and never return if I find their theology questionable, I think that's why I always tend to sit at the back of the church, just in case - it's near the door!

I'm an ex WOFer by the way - spent all of 20 years either attending a WOF church or believing they were truly biblical and never questioned the dude who called himself the Pastor.

You said:

...but I hate arguments and it is sometimes hard to tell them apart.

The trick is not to take the bad comments personally - Remember who you are - a saved child of the one true living God and that there is no condemnation. After all, there are just some people who cannot be convinced.

Peace and Enjoy.

Goldie.

 

[Jon-Marc]

Welcome to BB. I have no idea what reformed is, and no one seems to be able to tell me where I can understand it. I'm not "reformed", whatever that is--or at least I don't think I am. I have been born again for 45 years.

 

[Reformer]

Goldie thanks for taking the time to welcome me and thanks for the info and feed back about the site.

I will also pray for your search for a good church, they are probably as hard to come by as a good Forum I also look forward to future conversations

oh and here is a link you might want to see about the controversy surrounding MacArthur's view on the Blood of Christ. The article is by Phil Johnson who is a director of GTY and a pastor at Grace Community Church. http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/articles/blood.htm

Thanks again

 

[Reformer]

Welcome to BB. I have no idea what reformed is, and no one seems to be able to tell me where I can understand it. I'm not "reformed", whatever that is--or at least I don't think I am. I have been born again for 45 years.

You are probably more familiar with the term Calvinist. Personally I much dislike that term because almost everyone thinks they know what it is but very few do.

When most people describe "Calvinism" they describe several heresies that even Calvin didn't believe. I prefer the term Reformed because that encompass the teachings of all the reformers. of which Martin Luther is my personal favorite.

Anyway Reformed in short means we hold to most (not all) of the teachings of the reformers (because they are Biblical in my opinion) If you want to go into the theology of the matter for further explanation you should probably start a new thread in the theology section (you could also do a search, I would imagine this subject has been beaten like a dead horse) I might also recommend the book What Is Reformed Theology by R.C. Sproul he is not Baptist but he is knowledgeable on the subject

Thanks for taking the time to welcome me

 

[ktn4eg]

Welcome aboard!! :wavey:

 

[Joe]

Hello Reformer

Nice to meet you :wavey: Hope to see ya around the BB



Joe

 

[I Am Blessed 24]

Hello Reformer,

A great BIG welcome to the BB from the great state of Illinois!

Come on down to the COMMON GROUND COFFEE HOUSE in "All Other Discussions", where as Christians, we are all on common ground...

It is a great place to kick back, relax, and get to know each other. And we have FREE food and beverages!

Blessings,
§ue

 

[Goldie]

Hi Reformer,
Thanks for your prayers, I sure do covet them. Thanks for the
link regarding John MacAruthur's view on the blood of Christ - should
prove to be very interesting. If you're based in the U.S, I'm between
6-10 hours ahead of you in time. It's Friday the 1st of August 2008,
3pm and I've just come online. It's a beautiful day here today -
seems like we're in for an early summer, as I can already smell
the Jasmine blossoms in the air.

Look forward to debates/discussions with you too.

JM:
I see "reformed" the following way (could be wrong however):
It's a baptist that holds protestant views. :laugh: Remember,
Baptists aren't protestants, eh, they're in a class of their own. :saint:

 

[Rippon]

Hi Reformer.It's nice of you to join us.I look forward to having some interaction with you on the BB.

 

[Rippon]

oh and here is a link you might want to see about the controversy surrounding MacArthur's view on the Blood of Christ. The article is by Phil Johnson who is a director of GTY and a pastor at Grace Community Church. http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/articles/blood.htm

Thanks for showing that link.It's amazing that even as this many years removed from that issue some still haven't gotten the facts yet.( No slam on Goldie intended.)

About two years ago I had to print-out Phil's article regarding the matter for someone.He thanked me, and said he was not aware of the real facts of the case.

 

[Born_in_Crewe]

Hi there Reformer :wavey:

You'd be surprised by what some forums can be like. Some of them are a bit too open to people who are either obsessed with promoting certain doctrines or are non-believers trying to weaken people's faith.

 

[SaggyWoman]

Welcome to the board!