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Let us not forget................Ephesians 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

This is the unity of the Spirit we need to be walking in even if we do not always agree with each other that we always remain pleasing before the Father. Remember, we are ever learning as one might see something revealed that another has not seen yet. We need to be that reflection of Christ to all who come here especially those who know not Christ yet, but are seeking to know Him.
 
R,
Please fix the last bullet at beginning...
To contact a member...


Click on their name
Click on their name again
Click on "Start a Conversation"

Excellent! That will save a lot of confusion.
Except by adding it a stray bullet point inserted itself and I can't get rid of it. :sad
Is there any staff member on a computer that can fix this for me?
 
Just my two cents -


After the TOS is complete, maybe we could work on the Statement of Faith.

Defining biblical words.

Clarifying what the Gospel is.

Putting an emphasis on the doctrine of Christ.


One of the ways heated arguments begin and continue is the
re-defining of biblical words and phrases such as:

By faith
Grace
Salvation
Inheriting the kingdom


Clarifying what these words and phrases mean could end a lot of unnecessary debate.


Example:

We believe salvation is by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, who is the only way to the Father.


If grace, faith, and salvation are open to any broad interpretation then this will lead to much confusion and arguing.




JLB

Just to let everyone know, the site owner's priorities are to tackle our Statement of Faith after the ToS is done. We both think that will be much harder, but it will give us all a chance to grow.

He definitely wants an environment in which he not only receives input, but can be corrected. Isn't that Glorious!
 
Let us not forget................Ephesians 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

This is the unity of the Spirit we need to be walking in even if we do not always agree with each other that we always remain pleasing before the Father. Remember, we are ever learning as one might see something revealed that another has not seen yet. We need to be that reflection of Christ to all who come here especially those who know not Christ yet, but are seeking to know Him.

Wow is this an excellent point! I'm sure we all remember being kids, or being young in the Lord, and thinking we were "all that" due to something we just learned. Paul called it being "puffed up." It's a rookie mistake, and this has caused lots of strife.

Can anybody think of how to word this so that it can be included? I'd always prefer to use Scripture, if I have to correct somebody. We'd need something from a modern translation to put this in our ToS. Anybody?
 
Excellent! That will save a lot of confusion.
Except by adding it a stray bullet point inserted itself and I can't get rid of it. :sad
Is there any staff member on a computer that can fix this for me?
I wouldn't worry about Form now...just circle it in red and it'll be fixed at the end.

Sometimes if you just go back <------- a couple of times, it fixes itself.
 
Wow is this an excellent point! I'm sure we all remember being kids, or being young in the Lord, and thinking we were "all that" due to something we just learned. Paul called it being "puffed up." It's a rookie mistake, and this has caused lots of strife.

Can anybody think of how to word this so that it can be included? I'd always prefer to use Scripture, if I have to correct somebody. We'd need something from a modern translation to put this in our ToS. Anybody?
This?????.......

Let us always remember that we are brothers in Christ even though we might disagree on a doctrine or Christian concept. The goal is to share different points of view, not to argue.
We all believe we're right. Use scripture as much as possible. Address the issue, not the person.
 
Of course not. I meant protect the sheep from anathemas that are already out there. So they don't inadvertently stray somewhere unsafe. Shepherds protect their sheep.
I agree but we are to do so with gentleness and respect. That's the part too many times is forgotten. We get on our high horse and then we need to apply the ToS. This shouldn't be necessary on a Christian site when we are so humble.
 
Wow is this an excellent point! I'm sure we all remember being kids, or being young in the Lord, and thinking we were "all that" due to something we just learned. Paul called it being "puffed up." It's a rookie mistake, and this has caused lots of strife.

Can anybody think of how to word this so that it can be included? I'd always prefer to use Scripture, if I have to correct somebody. We'd need something from a modern translation to put this in our ToS. Anybody?

Do not force what you believe on others in an arrogant fashion, but present what you believe with scripture and allow a flow of fellowship within the discussions as not everyone will agree with each other all the time.

Philippians 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
 
Wow is this an excellent point! I'm sure we all remember being kids, or being young in the Lord, and thinking we were "all that" due to something we just learned. Paul called it being "puffed up." It's a rookie mistake, and this has caused lots of strife.

Can anybody think of how to word this so that it can be included? I'd always prefer to use Scripture, if I have to correct somebody. We'd need something from a modern translation to put this in our ToS. Anybody?

Do not force what you believe on others in an arrogant fashion, but present what you believe with scripture and allow a flow of fellowship within the discussions as not everyone will agree with each other all the time.

Philippians 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
 
Do not force what you believe on others in an arrogant fashion, but present what you believe with scripture and allow a flow of fellowship within the discussions as not everyone will agree with each other all the time.

Philippians 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.



This has to be my favorite so far. :thumbsup WAY too many times in my life so far I have run into those kind of arrogant Christians. :nonono
 
Yes R, agreed. The thing is that only You can decide what should be cut out.

Wait.

Everybody, the whole purpose of this thread and the whole process is that YOU (collectively) get the chance to spot stuff we could omit entirely, shorten, change, or improve in any way you can think of.
 
Hi Michael,
I agree with you.
It might be that admin needs detail in order to send warnings,,,maybe they need a specific reason. Otherwise, yes, A LOT could be cut out.
I used to think sending warnings and temp bans was the answer. I also thought that the TOS was a friend and tool for the staff which if misused, turns staff into police. What I've realized through the years is this, and I may be wrong but the Spirit is leading me this way, so here it is.

The more rules we have the more members will learn to ride the edge of that rule. Rules don't really change behavior because the unruly will simply find a way to mitigate the rules. Rules have their place, but lack in discernment.

What I think we need are principals with a core base of member that have a solid understanding of those principals and can live them out both on this board, and broader communities.

This is why we put up our Community Statement and Staff Expectations and I think Staff Expectations can be modified as we move this community forward, and we will.

In my book, less is best. Honestly, you don't see the trolls here any more because we don't give them multiple warnings. We ban them so the negativity doesn't infect the board.

Here is how we've been trying to change this board in terms of structure. Moderators are not here to moderate behavior. They are to be a part of the community with a mission to unite us in Christ. I don't want moderators to get stuck arguing with an unruly member over and over and over. It sucks the life out of you, trust me, I know this first hand. Moderators are to give gentle instruction and if it gets heated, they hand it of to an Admin and we take it from there. I don't always succeed, but I try to base those private conversations based on them, and not a set of rules. IT's not like, "I'm giving you a ticket for speeding and your fine is xxx". My objective is to reconcile where possible. I don't always succeed, but it's what's in my heart.

What I hope for is a TOS that represents our community values, which should be rooted in the bond of unity and reconciliation. We invite other Christians to live out these values with us but if they either can't control themselves, or they come in with the purpose of causing dissension, I can assure you their memberships are short lived.
 
I forgot to reply to Ray's comment. Yes although it's true that you guys are giving us the freedom to voice your opinions in the end, it is ultimately your descision. (I was never able to spell that word)


Anyways as for the staff being equal to police men and women,.. maybe, but it's just like with the real police department. If you follow the rules and don't cause trouble then you will find out that they really are nice people after all. :) I'm friends with all of them and I really appreciate what they do to keep this forum running smoothly. :clap Keep up the great work guys! :thumbsup
 
Just my two cents -


After the TOS is complete, maybe we could work on the Statement of Faith.

Defining biblical words.

Clarifying what the Gospel is.

Putting an emphasis on the doctrine of Christ.


One of the ways heated arguments begin and continue is the
re-defining of biblical words and phrases such as:

By faith
Grace
Salvation
Inheriting the kingdom


Clarifying what these words and phrases mean could end a lot of unnecessary debate.


Example:

We believe salvation is by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, who is the only way to the Father.


If grace, faith, and salvation are open to any broad interpretation then this will lead to much confusion and arguing.




JLB
Absolutely, and I'm very glad you chimed in this conversation and I hope you will participate more with these TOS talks.

One of the reasons I wanted to start with the TOS, is it should lay the groundwork and expectations on how we will talk about our Statement of Faith with unity of the body at it's core.
Not everyone will agree with every detail of our new SOF. As a result, we will have to find language in certain area's that are vague enough to hold both views, but tight enough that shows unity in that area. I'm not going to fool myself, it will be difficult. What matters, is that we all have a voice and that voice should be represented someway in the SOF if it is rooted in unity.

The reason I think this is important is this. It will show our bias in scripture and anyone who directly opposes it will understand that while they are our Brother or Sister in Christ, they are our guests. We will treat our guest respectfully and honorably because that's how a good host treats his Brother or Sister when they visit. But they will understand that they are our guests and will be expected to act like guests.

Here is something for you personally to consider. A lot of conversion in the Theology forum is generated by differences between members. There will be a time when we will need to outgrow that and teach what we know to each other for the purpose of building up the community. That is my reasoning behind the Classes forum.

Edit to add
Post count has gone down considerably since we have trimmed back the members who just want to argue and fight and that was expected. We are not looking for post count. Instead, we are putting an emphasis on the quality of our posts that builds each other up.
 
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Do not force what you believe on others in an arrogant fashion, but present what you believe with scripture and allow a flow of fellowship within the discussions as not everyone will agree with each other all the time.

Philippians 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
I like this. It could replace many of our "do not" rules.
 
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