Not feeling encouraging, continues

One of the young ladies in the Christian forum responded to my post with the following:

"Last month, I posted a request for testimonies of what God has been doing in their lives. I had only 3 contributors. Don't tell me it's the lack of time. They certainly have time to argue like pharases and saduces."


I tried to start a thread the month before that about blessings people have experienced. People didn't want to post there either...and it moved on down the list.

And personally, the arguing "like pharases and saduces" has been a GREAT blessing in my life. Being able to discuss these issues in here has reinforced what I believe in some areas and helped me figure out what I believe in others. It has sent me back into the Word with a passion I have missed for a while after a hard rejection delivered to me by Christians. Just because debate/discussion of issues isn't your MO doesn't mean it doesn't help others.

Perhaps some of us post in other threads because they are where we see a need and we hope that we can do some good....and we hope that our lives in te real world are evidence enough of Christ's work in us. It isn't always the case the God isn't working in us.

Here is my reply:

Sarah, you took that portion of my post without context, without my main point.

The post to which my post was responding, was hoping to encourage those who are facing opposition while standing up for Christ. My response was that it's a rare problem.

A more prevalent problem is people protecting their worldly assets and expending only leftover resources for the Kingdom. I stand by this statement.

Sarah, if you read my blogs you'd know that I'm heavily involved with apologetics. I don't have a problem with debate and discussions. In fact, that's how I teach my classes, using the Socratic method.

I mentioned "people debating about this issue or that issue" because I've seen too many people use it as a device to avoid moving forward towards developing one's character, a character which would "Deny yourself, pick up the cross, and follow Him." I stand by this statement as well.

Ironically, what you said is precisely what I identify as one of the problems. It's the difference between knowing about Christ and knowing Christ.

It's like when a group of people are reading a biography of Pres. George W. Bush. They spend their time arguing over their interpretations of the events in his life. In the mean time, George W. walks up to them and say "Hey y'all want to come fishing with me?" And the group says, no, we need to study your biography and discuss the fine points of your life."

Jesus is not satisfy with you knowing about Him. He wants you to know Him. And that takes place when you physically interact with Him; as you hear His call, you take steps of faith, and He carries you across.

There is a lack of that type of interactions in the lives of the members the church. I stand by this statement.

Worse, yet, often these discussions turn ugly because "knowing Christ" was no longer the focus. Often it's about who gets to take credit for being right. Don't tell me that you haven't seen that happen often.

I don't care in which thread people post. That's not the point.

American Christians have difficulty deciding between serving Jesus and serving mammon. I stand by this statement!

Not having an abundance of testimonies is simply a symptom of this problem.