The Ten Commandments

I just read the final posts, including the 12th one
on the Ten Commandments. thread, as well as
reading today all the PMs, and I am totally
overwhelmed. I am having a hard time with the
wonderful attitudes, the real and personal witness
you have shown, that our Lord lives and is alive in
you.

These tears are not for any sorrow for myself;
they are for being so blessed with people like
you. I am So Very Grateful! You people are
incredible!

I think, though, that what I had better do is give
Howard a chance to be here. I don't think he
reallly thought all this through. He is new. I
want him to be able to get to know you as I
know you and to be able to freely join in on
the discussions.

Howard, if you feel like mistakes have been
made, please forgive me. I am sincerely sorry.
Unless you give me permission, I will not
answer your posts, but I may answer others on
threads where you write. Let us not allow this to
divide the board. Really, you are not the only
one here who has a problem with me, so don't
feel bad.

I am not going to write, except on the women
only board and to answer my PMs for a full week,
giving you time to come here freely. You Will Not
Be The Subject Of Gossip!

I am sure everyone will understand.

 

Well, it's been a week and a little more, so I
wanted to come back and answer your very kind
notes. You have all been so nice to me, and I
first want to let you know that I appreciate all
the supportive notes here as well as the ones
sent by PM. You, and many others, make the
Baptist Board such a pleasant place to be. 8o)

- - - - - -

Jim 1999 --

I appreciate all you have said so much. As I wrote
to you before, it is all right to disagree with me
publicly; that is not in the least offensive to me.
My husband and I debate religious issues all
the time and remain wonderful friends; we find it
to be a great learning tool.

And yes, I know all Baptists are not like that. 8o)
The first Baptists I ever met, back in 1979, were a
wonderful bunch, and I could count on one hand
the ones since who have made me shudder. 8oD

- - - - - -

Dr. Bob --

I have tried to tone down my enthusiasm, but ap-
parently, I have not done that enough. 8o) My in-
tention is never to put anyone down when writing
here, except for one time, to be explained later.

We all have differing ways of seeing things;
otherwise, this would probably not be such a
lively board. You know, without my saying so,
that we learn from one another because of those
differences. I certainly am learning much here!!!
Much of it from YOU, and I appreciate that.

- - - - - -

Ben W --

Thank you so much for your compliment. 8o) I
will be saying something later in this note that
may change your mind! 8o)

- - - - - -

Massdak --

Yeah, I am not much of a crier, but that day, I
was overwhelmed with the people here. Yeah, I
got emotional! 8oD

- - - - - -

Bible Believing Bill --

I appreciate your compliment. I tried to maintain
a decent attitude, but as I will mention later, I was
not without fault on that thread. Thank you for
not seeing that.

- - - - - -

Sherrie --

(Who also has a daughter named Jennifer!) Thank
you for backing me up! I do want you to know
that the moderators and webmaster did go to bat
for me--but then, you knew they would. Thank
you so much--especially for the hugs!

- - - - - -

Bro Adam --

A troll? Perhaps! I don't know! I like your sug-
gestion that we just pray for him. Maybe he is,
as someone suggested, just young and inex-
perienced. Shall I account for all the times I
have stuck my foot in my mouth, and pride made
me leave it there, while I inconveniently hopped
about on one foot? Do you have a month for
continuous dialogue? 8oD

- - - - - -

Wisdom Seeker --

You are right, as usual. 8o) I will say more about
that later here. 8o)

- - - - - -

RomOne16 --

You said you hoped Howard learned a valuable
lesson. I think he might have, but if not, I sure did!
I will have to admit something about my "love
shining through" . . . .

- - - - - -

What I must say is that my second post on that
thread was a retort to Howard that was really not
very nice of me. Sure, I was taken aback, but I
retorted, "Are you afraid to answer?" That was
uncalled for, and I apologize.

While Howard was admittedly out of hand, that
response from me was the main reason I be-
lieved I needed to be quiet for a while in order to
give him a chance.

I apologize to all here for that remark and for
the attitude I had which brought me to write it.
My intention is to also learn from that and to put
effort into not allowing such things to happen
again.

To the one on the deleted thread who questioned
why I attend a synagogue rather than a church --

Probably for the same reasons each person
here has found a place of worship which is
closest to their concepts of the Bible and to their
tendencies--from the liberal Baptists to the fun-
damental Baptists. I needed a place where the
pastors are not on pedistals but where they
make themselves vulnerable to scrutiny and to
the congregation. This is a big deal to me after
being in a place where the pastors and ministers
were kept above all criticism--especially that
which they most profoundly deserved.

I need credability in leadership, and it is pro-
foundly there. I need excellent teaching and
help getting beyond the abuse of that old church,
and it is profoundly there. And yes, I need both
educational and spiritual support, and both are
there.

I do want to explain one more thing: I cannot
prove that I am Jewish. Today, as you know,
Jewishness is technically passed down through
the mother, and I doubt she has any Jewish back-
ground. However, it is thought that Father may be
of Jewish descent. (Regardless of that, my hus-
band is of Jewish descent.)

However, I did not learn that I may be of some
Jewish descent until after I joined my synagogue.
I would be a member there regardless of any back-
ground. Since I was a very young child, this is the
direction I have been headed, and I love it there.
The only reason I never went to a synagogue
earlier in life is because then, I did not know that
there were any which recognized our Lord as the
Messiah.

The people there love our Risen Lord, and they
worship Him as the one and only Messiah,
the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the returning
Son of our God.

Both pastors were reared in Baptist pastors'
homes and educated in Baptist colleges. One
has taught in a Baptist college. Our beliefs are
based upon Baptist beliefs but geared toward
Jews and toward the salvation of both Jews
and non-Jews. We are very orthodox in our
beliefs, as regards Jewish beliefs, except that
we have recognized the one and only Messiah.

We are not charismatic, as many Messianic
congregations are--far, far from it. We are
very serious about our Lord and the Bible.

- - - - - -

Again, Thank You All So Much!!!

[ December 19, 2002, 07:29 AM: Message edited by: Abiyah ]