In the interests of keeping this thread clean and accessible to all members, I have deleted all posts which simply say 'thank you' or 'I agree'. While I appreciate the sentiments, if you wish to express appreciation for this, please do so via PM. This is something we all need to see once in a while, and digging through mountains of short posts to reach the meat of the thread will discourage that.
~Jman

Friends and fellow members...the following occurred in another thread:



In response, sadly, another member commented (with some honesty and accuracy, I might add, for I've witnessed this myself on several occasions):



The emphasis is mine.

Keep in mind, folks - at all times, but most especially when debating or disagreeing with your fellow members:


As fellow Christians one and all, we should only treat each other with the greatest of love and respect. While it is acceptable to rebuke and teach our brethren in Christ, we should only do so with the greatest humility and kindness, in as gentle and loving a manner as we are capable of.

There are many different views of the Bible, and many ways of interpreting its words. There are many denominations among we who call ourselves Christian - we are a diverse bunch, in more than a few ways.

We often hold different stances on various controversial subjects. We often disagree on the specific interpretations or meanings of various verses in the Bible. This is not a bad thing - for iron sharpens iron.

The words of C.S. Lewis on this subect, I find, are particularly striking:
What can you ever really know of other people's souls — of their temptations, their opportunities, their struggles? One soul in the whole of creation you do know: and it is the only one whose fate is placed in your hands. If there is a God, you are, in a sense, alone with Him. You cannot put Him off with speculation about your neighbours or memories of what you have read in books.

--C.S. Lewis. Mere Christianity. New York: Macmillan Co., 1943.

Not only is it part of the CTF Rules of Conduct we all agreed to upon registering, but it is a fundamental part of our faith. If someone claims to be Christian, our duty, our responsibility, is to love them, whatever it takes. It is God's place to judge whether or not they are truly Christian, and our place to submit to His will in such things.
If we feel they do not appear to be Christian? We are to help them with such, and if they refuse our help, seeing in their own eyes that they are appearing to be Christian to the best of their ability...we are to leave them be, knowing that our view of Christianity is certainly not the only one, and that no matter how much we occasionally like to think so, we as individuals do not have a monopoly on the truth.

Thanks for listening - and please, if you need to do so, feel free to revisit this topic occasionally to refresh yourself.

Sincerely,
Jman
Christian Teen Forums Staff

This post has been edited by Jman: Dec 5 2008, 04:01 PM