I said > Truth is important, I agree. But
truth to the exclusion of unity changes nature
somehow.
DAVEH said > I'm not quite sure what you mean by that,
Bill.
I think we tend to confuse the
distinction between preserving the truth and pursuing it. If we're not clear
about our motive, then we are probably not clearly communicating our intent to
others. This opens us to the possibility of being misunderstood. It may even
cause us to divide, -- yet the theme is still "truth." If unity is not held
closely along side of our interests in truth, then the nature of our discussions
change, preservation begins to overwhelm any common pursuit, and we all stand to
lose.
Am I making any sense?
Bill
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, March 15, 2004 12:19
AM
Subject: Re: [TruthTalk] Tough being a
Christian
Wm. Taylor wrote:
Dave H.
Let me be the first to apologize on behalf of
all of us for acting like we do. DAVEH: You
need not apologize, Bill. I feel a part of this so to speak
dysfunctional family.
Truth is important, I agree. But truth to the
exclusion of unity changes nature
somehow. DAVEH: I'm not quite sure what you
mean by that, Bill. But as I see it......Truth may be limited if it is
not unified. Most everybody here is going to think I'm arrogantly seeing
the disarray of TT as a fortifying factor in my own perspective of what I
think is truth. But as I've said before, I'm not in TT for truth.
If I were, I'd have felt like I'd been pulled apart by vicious beasts
many times over. Hmmmmmm....now that I think about it, I've felt
that way more than a few times anyway!
<VBG>
If I had the power to influence TTers, it
wouldn't be to have them all convert to Mormonism. (Such behavior would
do more to destroy the my Church from inside, than any enemies could do from
the outside, IMO.) Instead, I would much rather see Christians learn to
treat others as I perceive Jesus would. The problem is that most TTers
think they are serving another Jesus than I
do, so I don't hold much hope that a unity of the faith will soon be seen in
TT, let alone a unity of fellowship.
I am sorry. DAVEH:
No need to apologize, Bill. I've not been offended, nor am I
grousing. I'm just offering my observations and thoughts. I
sincerely hope I have not offended any of my TT friends in doing so.
bill taylor
-----
Original Message -----
Sent:
Sunday, March 14, 2004 5:53 PM
Subject:
Re: [TruthTalk] Tough being a Christian
Judy Taylor wrote:
There is no reason why Dave Hansen should want to be like us.
I don't even want to be like us.
jt: Dave Hansen has a different agenda and is
serving another Jesus. We may not look exactly like our Lord
and Savior yet and a lot of evangelical doctrine teaches
that we don't need to be conformed to His image.
DAVEH: If you don't want to conform to
our Lord's image.......well, I am very surprised, Judy. I'm probably
as far from it as anybody, but at least that's my goal. Do not other
Christians have a desire to be Christlike? If not, then what do
Christians think Mt 5:48 is all about......?
What can we do about it? Is this important enough to talk
about? Suggestions please.
jt: I think it is important enough to talk
about but I doubt we will reach a consensus until we decide to
fellowship around God's Word and lay our pre-conceived notions, the
Nicene Fathers and all that aside and come humbly asking the
Holy Spirit to reveal God's Word to us. DaveH and Blaine are not
seeking answers because they believe they have them already in
Mormonism.
DAVEH: I'm not sure I'm
welcome in this conversation.......but golly....look at it from our (LDS)
perspective. If the answers you have lead
to the bickering typically/commonly/frequently found in TT, why would
anybody expect Mormons to adopt a theology which is diametrically opposed
to theirs which to us fosters a oneness of fellowship and doctrine.
From my experience, even those who have chosen divergent paths that are
rooted in the BoM tend to get along with us as cousins would compared to
the brother/sister relationship of our immediate LDS family. I've
never argue doctrines with those non-LDS Mormon folks, and have always had
a pleasant time chatting with them. If I ask a question, they answer
and vice versa. Though we may (may I add, respectfully) disagree on
each other's perspective, we don't get our noses bent out of joint when
discussing our differences.
But I've got to say,
I sure don't see that fellowship in TT. I can understand why some
may not want to fellowship Mormon rogues like myself. But I sure
don't understand why fellowship amongst comrades of Jesus is so awkward
here, to be polite about it. Can doctrinal theology be at the root
of this contention? Or.....is it social theology that
divides? Or.....are some Christians not as Christian as they
presume? I hope you don't take any of that as harsh criticism.
I'm merely thinking out loud of possible reasons to explain in my mind
what I see with my eyes.
In
short......you are right, Judy. What I hear/see in TT does not
compel me to want to change from what I have. In fact, when some
tell me they want to wave my underwear in public, I want to run the other
direction. But something else in me wants to find out why those
underwear wavers want to act that way, which is so contrary to what I
perceive Jesus would do.......which is why I've enjoyed some of my
discussions with the street preachers. I just want to find out why
that kind of thinking makes them tick. I suppose that also explains
why I enjoy TT so much. Though it is so contradictory to the nature
of the way I've been taught, I'm extremely curious as to why you folks
seems so comfortable with the religion you practice that produces such
interesting fruits I don't know if that makes sense to any of
you. And, I hope I'm not offending anybody by sharing my
thoughts. Delete it if you don't want me butting
in......or.....Ponder it as an outsider's observation.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dave Hansen
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.langlitz.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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