May I Express Myself Please?

[Rollo Tamasi]

I chose my avatar to be a smart alec.
But also because when it comes to false teachers and believers in the church I want to be as shrewd and cunning and focused as Anton was in regard to his evil agenda, but only in my case for good and the demolishing of demonic strongholds. But then to be as naive and innocent (but strong) as Jethro Bodine when it comes to my precious brothers and sisters and the humble seeker of God.

Yes Jethro, you are so naive.....

 

[for_his_glory]

Well, maybe, a little bit, I don't know...
Okay, but only if Reba agrees.

.................or while you wait on reba.

 

[Runner]

tAlthough there are certainly those threads that are like that, I have to disagree with you. I can name several people who participate in this forum who I consider close, Spirit-sealed brothers and sisters. I know that because we've made a spiritual connection that only those who have the Holy Spirit can recognize and understand (I am NOT suggesting you do not have the Holy Spirit!). Even in our tiffs I can still sense they are a part of the genuine body of Christ. But that is not true for the several false teachers we have posting here in this forum. Christians are NOT to regard them as believers and that is probably what you see happen here in this forum and which causes you to broad stroke the whole forum.

When I was with Campus Crusade for Christ several eons ago, our local group was close-knit and harmonious - but that was because, by definition, we were all singing out of the same hymnal. You cannot be part of Campus Crusade and sing out of a different hymnal. I'm not sure I could honestly say it was "Spirit filled," as opposed to merely "harmonious." I'm not sure I could say it struck me as more Spirit-filled than, say, golf associations of which I've been a member. Ditto for the various Southern Baptist churches of which I've been a member over the years.

A forum such as this has its own specific creed, partly to ensure some level of harmoniousness (which doesn't work very well, but at least they try). It develops a culture, and disagreements are acceptable within the framework of that culture. It's all kind of an illusory, enforced harmoniousness that I wouldn't describe as Spirit-filled.

I can truly say that I have seen the transformative work of the Holy Spirit in my own life over the past 46 years, so I don't doubt that it is real. My guess would be, 98% of the people at this site would not characterize me as Spirit-filled - indeed, they routinely question whether I am even a Christian. Some people here do strike me as genuinely Spirit-filled - Chopper, for one - but not enough to make this a place I would want to routinely spend time or to which I would feel comfortable steering my non-Christian friends and saying, "Go there, you'll see what real Christians are like." (For that matter, among the people in my life who have struck me as being genuinely Spirit-filled, a sizable percentage weren't even Christians and would have had no idea what I was talking about if I had suggested they seemed Spirit-filled.)

I have decided that, for me, following Christ in my own life (as I understand the phrase "following Christ") is really all that is important. My guess is, following Christ has almost nothing to do with fine points of doctrine.

 

[GodsGrace]

I just figure if everyone would just agree with Rollo, since this thread was his idea, everything would be fine.

Be happy WIP.
So far,
so good!!

We all agree on one thing:

JESUS IS LORD!!

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

When I was with Campus Crusade for Christ several eons ago, our local group was close-knit and harmonious - but that was because, by definition, we were all singing out of the same hymnal. You cannot be part of Campus Crusade and sing out of a different hymnal. I'm not sure I could honestly say it was "Spirit filled," as opposed to merely "harmonious." I'm not sure I could say it struck me as more Spirit-filled than, say, golf associations of which I've been a member. Ditto for the various Southern Baptist churches of which I've been a member over the years.

A forum such as this has its own specific creed, partly to ensure some level of harmoniousness (which doesn't work very well, but at least they try). It develops a culture, and disagreements are acceptable within the framework of that culture. It's all kind of an illusory, enforced harmoniousness that I wouldn't describe as Spirit-filled.

I can truly say that I have seen the transformative work of the Holy Spirit in my own life over the past 46 years, so I don't doubt that it is real. My guess would be, 98% of the people at this site would not characterize me as Spirit-filled - indeed, they routinely question whether I am even a Christian. Some people here do strike me as genuinely Spirit-filled - Chopper, for one - but not enough to make this a place I would want to routinely spend time or to which I would feel comfortable steering my non-Christian friends and saying, "Go there, you'll see what real Christians are like." (For that matter, among the people in my life who have struck me as being genuinely Spirit-filled, a sizable percentage weren't even Christians and would have had no idea what I was talking about if I had suggested they seemed Spirit-filled.)

I have decided that, for me, following Christ in my own life (as I understand the phrase "following Christ") is really all that is important. My guess is, following Christ has almost nothing to do with fine points of doctrine.

You spend just about all your time here.
You spend more time here than most people.
Seems like every time I come on, you are here.
You like it here.
You like the people or you wouldn't bother.
Maybe you are starting to understand something that's always confused you before.
Eh? Think about it, eh?
You are here and you leave.
You think about us and you come back.
And you keep coming back.
What is it that keeps drawing you back?
Don't try to brush it off, it doesn't come off.
Go ahead, tell me what I'm talking about.
You know.

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

Be happy WIP.
So far,
so good!!

We all agree on one thing:

JESUS IS LORD!!

Oh wondering, you are just so smart.
I've been talking to others about you.
Everyone agrees.

 

[Runner]

You spend just about all your time here.
You spend more time here than most people.
Seems like every time I come on, you are here.
You like it here.
You like the people or you wouldn't bother.
Maybe you are starting to understand something that's always confused you before.
Eh? Think about it, eh?
You are here and you leave.
You think about us and you come back.
And you keep coming back.
What is it that keeps drawing you back?
Don't try to brush it off, it doesn't come off.
Go ahead, tell me what I'm talking about.
You know.

Hello? I have 225 posts here in a year and a half - I spend "all my time" here? I believe that more than 100 of those posts have been in the past couple of months, when I was unfortunately largely house-bound. Actually, I have a self-imposed limit of about 300 posts per forum on which I participate, and then I move on. I don't believe I have ever exceeded my 300 limit anywhere, and we're talking about forum participation that goes back almost 20 years. You have 8,770 in less than four years - which would indicate you have been out-posting me at a rate of about 10:1. I believe 8,770 is significantly more than all my participation on all Internet forums of every type over the past two decades. Apparently "all my time" is in an alternate universe from "all your time." I have posted on other forums that I truly wonder about people who have so little going on in their real lives that they accumulate 50,000 or 100,000 posts. I don't want to be, or become, one of those people.

I actually do have a ministry of sorts. It's an "agitation ministry," challenging those smug characters who think alone they define what Christianity is. It isn't always pleasant, but it's the ministry I've been given. Sometimes a bell actually goes off inside the head of one of these "Christians." I don't dislike the people here, certainly, but I do find most of them depressing examples of what "Christianity" has become. Those who become the most agitated are invariably those most in need (IMHO, of course) of having their "Christianity" agitated. I'm not sure what point you think you're making - but I am a very self-contained, self-analytical Christian who knows why he's here and will move on in due course.

Now, about you - why is it you keep starting threads about yourself?

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

Hello? I have 225 posts here in a year and a half - I spend "all my time" here? I believe that more than 100 of those posts have been in the past couple of months, when I was unfortunately largely house-bound. Actually, I have a self-imposed limit of about 300 posts per forum on which I participate, and then I move on. I don't believe I have ever exceeded my 300 limit anywhere, and we're talking about forum participation that goes back almost 20 years. You have 8,770 in less than four years - which would indicate you have been out-posting me at a rate of about 10:1. I believe 8,770 is significantly more than all my participation on all Internet forums of every type over the past two decades. Apparently "all my time" is in an alternate universe from "all your time." I have posted on other forums that I truly wonder about people who have so little going on in their real lives that they accumulate 50,000 or 100,000 posts. I don't want to be, or become, one of those people.

I actually do have a ministry of sorts. It's an "agitation ministry," challenging those smug characters who think alone they define what Christianity is. It isn't always pleasant, but it's the ministry I've been given. Sometimes a bell actually goes off inside the head of one of these "Christians." I don't dislike the people here, certainly, but I do find most of them depressing examples of what "Christianity" has become. Those who become the most agitated are invariably those most in need (IMHO, of course) of having their "Christianity" agitated. I'm not sure what point you think you're making - but I am a very self-contained, self-analytical Christian who knows why he's here and will move on in due course.

Now, about you - why is it you keep starting threads about yourself?

Well, for one thing, I love myself.
I am smiling right now with joy in my heart that I can share this with you.
Why?
Because I don't sense any joy coming from you.
I hope I'm wrong, but do you ever smile?

 

[GodsGrace]

Hello? I have 225 posts here in a year and a half - I spend "all my time" here? I believe that more than 100 of those posts have been in the past couple of months, when I was unfortunately largely house-bound. Actually, I have a self-imposed limit of about 300 posts per forum on which I participate, and then I move on. I don't believe I have ever exceeded my 300 limit anywhere, and we're talking about forum participation that goes back almost 20 years. You have 8,770 in less than four years - which would indicate you have been out-posting me at a rate of about 10:1. I believe 8,770 is significantly more than all my participation on all Internet forums of every type over the past two decades. Apparently "all my time" is in an alternate universe from "all your time." I have posted on other forums that I truly wonder about people who have so little going on in their real lives that they accumulate 50,000 or 100,000 posts. I don't want to be, or become, one of those people.

I actually do have a ministry of sorts. It's an "agitation ministry," challenging those smug characters who think alone they define what Christianity is. It isn't always pleasant, but it's the ministry I've been given. Sometimes a bell actually goes off inside the head of one of these "Christians." I don't dislike the people here, certainly, but I do find most of them depressing examples of what "Christianity" has become. Those who become the most agitated are invariably those most in need (IMHO, of course) of having their "Christianity" agitated. I'm not sure what point you think you're making - but I am a very self-contained, self-analytical Christian who knows why he's here and will move on in due course.

Now, about you - why is it you keep starting threads about yourself?

Gosh Runner.
I think you just insulted almost everyone here!
For example:
I have 2,846 posts in about 6 1/2 months. So, by your calculations it means I don't have a real life.
This is very interesting indeed since it would seem to me that I have. I could be mistaken however, and maybe YOU are right and I'm wrong.

Have you stopped to consider that most here are retired? Or are sick? Maybe they cannot get out of bed? or out of the house? There are many reasons why one would post a lot. As for me, I think quickly and answer posts in a minute or two. Very rarely will it take longer.

And I'm not here to get my Christianity agitated either. God does a good job of that - He requires very little help from us. Sometimes I believe we think too highly of ourselves and need to be a little bit more humble.
I like Mathew 5 a lot. The Beatitudes. That's our goal - how we should be.

You're right. There's not enough of this.

Wondering

 

[Runner]

Well, for one thing, I love myself.
I am smiling right now with joy in my heart that I can share this with you.
Why?
Because I don't sense any joy coming from you.
I hope I'm wrong, but do you ever smile?

My good man, I write humor for publication, often with an alien-invasion theme. I'd steer you to one of my pieces, but I decline to reveal my identify at places such as this. "Runner" is an Internet persona, adopted for a specific place and time. I thought all regular posters to forums such as this understood the distinction between an Internet persona and the real person, but perhaps not. I recall the brouhaha that erupted on the long-defunct forum of the International Association for Near Death Studies when I revealed that the real moi was "not exactly" the one-dimensional fundamentalist simpleton with whom they thought they had been dealing - it was quite comical, but that simpleton did serve to make my point and further my mission at the time. Since we're engaging in long-distance analysis here, "loving yourself" in a healthy way and "smiling with joy" are not exactly what comes through to me in your posts either - and I have a military-grade BS Detector that has proved itself to be near-infallible over the past several decades. No one has ever accused me of not being my own biggest fan, let's put it that way.

 

[Runner]

Gosh Runner.
I think you just insulted almost everyone here!
For example:
I have 2,846 posts in about 6 1/2 months. So, by your calculations it means I don't have a real life.
This is very interesting indeed since it would seem to me that I have. I could be mistaken however, and maybe YOU are right and I'm wrong.

Have you stopped to consider that most here are retired? Or are sick? Maybe they cannot get out of bed? or out of the house? There are many reasons why one would post a lot. As for me, I think quickly and answer posts in a minute or two. Very rarely will it take longer.

And I'm not here to get my Christianity agitated either. God does a good job of that - He requires very little help from us. Sometimes I believe we think too highly of ourselves and need to be a little bit more humble.
I like Mathew 5 a lot. The Beatitudes. That's our goal - how we should be.

You're right. There's not enough of this.

Wondering

My comments were not intended to be insulting at all. I was merely responding to a post suggesting that I spend "all my time" here when I have accumulated 225 posts in a year and a half. I am more or less retired myself and am fully sympathetic to the fact that many people are house-bound for a variety of reasons. If someone really has the time to post 100,000 times (I have been on forums where people had more than 250,000 posts), and derives pleasure from it, go for it! I am extremely active in outdoor activities, and I do view being addicted to a smart phone (I don't have one) or computer as a waste of life - but for me, not for everyone. Hundreds of posts a month would put a serious dent in my golf and fitness activities. I have a number of friends and relatives for whom "Internet friends" have almost completely replaced flesh and blood relationships, and I do see this as a disturbing trend - but again, this is a personal decision. I simply found it comical that someone with 8,770 posts was charging me with being less than honest and spending "all my time" here when I have gone for months at a time without even visiting and have accumulated a grand total of 225 posts.

 

[Tony Hyman]

I was looking at the recent posts regarding the "status" pertaining to the amount of posts.Added to this mix the word "retirement" also manifests itself .The only inference to be drawn is that this behaviour is typical of "Boomers".Let us see if we agree with the following "Insecurity and the desire to achieve characterize the baby-boomer generation (1940-60).They are the product of an age of experimentation in which some sought new ways of personal fulfilment through the use of drugs and enhanced sensory experiences, in medication techniques and seeking the wisdom of the ages in Hinduism and Buddhism.Others found meaning through encountering Christ in the Jesus Movement.Some were electic in their spiritual pilgrimage,adopting a mix -and-match approach.Religious experience and believe became a means to personal fulfilment.As they grew older , boomers shed their radicalism and became more materialistic and supportive of establishment."(Eddie Gibbs and Ian Coffey Church Next ,Quantum Changes in Christian Ministery. p 222 .2001 Edition.This is compared with builders 1901-1924 and silent generation 1925-42 "is characterized by resentment.This generation is labelled 'silent' because it became the overlooked or in-between generation.It lacked creativilty, being intimidated by the achievements of the previous generation, and did not adapt easily when the Industrial Age gave way to the High-tech and then to the Information Age. It is this generation that is most intimidated by computers and the internet.They demonstrate a defensiveness , insecurity and conservatism that was reinforced when their children left home and they became empty-nesters."(Ibid)

 

[GodsGrace]

I was looking at the recent posts regarding the "status" pertaining to the amount of posts.Added to this mix the word "retirement" also manifests itself .The only inference to be drawn is that this behaviour is typical of "Boomers".Let us see if we agree with the following "Insecurity and the desire to achieve characterize the baby-boomer generation (1940-60).They are the product of an age of experimentation in which some sought new ways of personal fulfilment through the use of drugs and enhanced sensory experiences, in medication techniques and seeking the wisdom of the ages in Hinduism and Buddhism.Others found meaning through encountering Christ in the Jesus Movement.Some were electic in their spiritual pilgrimage,adopting a mix -and-match approach.Religious experience and believe became a means to personal fulfilment.As they grew older , boomers shed their radicalism and became more materialistic and supportive of establishment."(Eddie Gibbs and Ian Coffey Church Next ,Quantum Changes in Christian Ministery. p 222 .2001 Edition.This is compared with builders 1901-1924 and silent generation 1925-42 "is characterized by resentment.This generation is labelled 'silent' because it became the overlooked or in-between generation.It lacked creativilty, being intimidated by the achievements of the previous generation, and did not adapt easily when the Industrial Age gave way to the High-tech and then to the Information Age. It is this generation that is most intimidated by computers and the internet.They demonstrate a defensiveness , insecurity and conservatism that was reinforced when their children left home and they became empty-nesters."(Ibid)

Which books explain YOU Tony Hyman?
People are not books.
They're individuals and should be treated as such.
Maybe I shouldn't even be writing here since I'm supposed to be computer illiterate?
Stop reading and start experiencing real life.

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

My good man, I write humor for publication, often with an alien-invasion theme. I'd steer you to one of my pieces, but I decline to reveal my identify at places such as this. "Runner" is an Internet persona, adopted for a specific place and time. I thought all regular posters to forums such as this understood the distinction between an Internet persona and the real person, but perhaps not. I recall the brouhaha that erupted on the long-defunct forum of the International Association for Near Death Studies when I revealed that the real moi was "not exactly" the one-dimensional fundamentalist simpleton with whom they thought they had been dealing - it was quite comical, but that simpleton did serve to make my point and further my mission at the time. Since we're engaging in long-distance analysis here, "loving yourself" in a healthy way and "smiling with joy" are not exactly what comes through to me in your posts either - and I have a military-grade BS Detector that has proved itself to be near-infallible over the past several decades. No one has ever accused me of not being my own biggest fan, let's put it that way.

I was looking at the recent posts regarding the "status" pertaining to the amount of posts.Added to this mix the word "retirement" also manifests itself .The only inference to be drawn is that this behaviour is typical of "Boomers".Let us see if we agree with the following "Insecurity and the desire to achieve characterize the baby-boomer generation (1940-60).They are the product of an age of experimentation in which some sought new ways of personal fulfilment through the use of drugs and enhanced sensory experiences, in medication techniques and seeking the wisdom of the ages in Hinduism and Buddhism.Others found meaning through encountering Christ in the Jesus Movement.Some were electic in their spiritual pilgrimage,adopting a mix -and-match approach.Religious experience and believe became a means to personal fulfilment.As they grew older , boomers shed their radicalism and became more materialistic and supportive of establishment."(Eddie Gibbs and Ian Coffey Church Next ,Quantum Changes in Christian Ministery. p 222 .2001 Edition.This is compared with builders 1901-1924 and silent generation 1925-42 "is characterized by resentment.This generation is labelled 'silent' because it became the overlooked or in-between generation.It lacked creativilty, being intimidated by the achievements of the previous generation, and did not adapt easily when the Industrial Age gave way to the High-tech and then to the Information Age. It is this generation that is most intimidated by computers and the internet.They demonstrate a defensiveness , insecurity and conservatism that was reinforced when their children left home and they became empty-nesters."(Ibid)

If you feel that way about us, then why are you here?

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

My comments were not intended to be insulting at all. I was merely responding to a post suggesting that I spend "all my time" here when I have accumulated 225 posts in a year and a half. I am more or less retired myself and am fully sympathetic to the fact that many people are house-bound for a variety of reasons. If someone really has the time to post 100,000 times (I have been on forums where people had more than 250,000 posts), and derives pleasure from it, go for it! I am extremely active in outdoor activities, and I do view being addicted to a smart phone (I don't have one) or computer as a waste of life - but for me, not for everyone. Hundreds of posts a month would put a serious dent in my golf and fitness activities. I have a number of friends and relatives for whom "Internet friends" have almost completely replaced flesh and blood relationships, and I do see this as a disturbing trend - but again, this is a personal decision. I simply found it comical that someone with 8,770 posts was charging me with being less than honest and spending "all my time" here when I have gone for months at a time without even visiting and have accumulated a grand total of 225 posts.

Okay, you're right and I'm wrong.
Now you can go away for another 6 months.
Thank you.

 

[Runner]

Okay, you're right and I'm wrong.
Now you can go away for another 6 months.
Thank you.

Perhaps my BS Detector is on the blink, but its not detecting the "smile" and "joy" in that one either.
You're welcome.

I hasten to add, I am referring to my Biblical Sentiments Detector. You didn't think any other kind would be capable of detecting joy, did you?

 

[Runner]

It is this generation that is most intimidated by computers and the internet.They demonstrate a defensiveness , insecurity and conservatism that was reinforced when their children left home and they became empty-nesters."(Ibid)

Sweetie, I was working at the Palo Alto Research Center (ever hear of them?) when you were probably in diapers or a gleam in your father's eye. I have been living with computers since 1982. Thanks to PARC, I had a system on my desk in 1984 that was frankly the equivalent of anything I've used since. I have been living with the Internet since its inception. "Thanks" (not exactly) to my profession, I spend half my life on the computer and Internet at age 66, a reality that I hope to bring to a screeching halt in the near future. Within my profession, I am a veritable legend in my ability to conduct online research - they send peewee attorneys to me for training. I am about as intimidated by computers and the Internet as by a bowl of Jell-O.

That being said, I regard the Age of Technology as the most dehumanizing, and quite likely Satanic, development in the history of mankind. While folks like you are under the illusion you've entered some new Age of Enlightenment, you've actually lost your souls. Just an old geezer's humble opinion, of course. (BTW - one of my near-infallible guidelines is that books with "Quantum" in the title, unless they are actually about physics, are invariably crap.)

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

Sweetie, I was working at the Palo Alto Research Center (ever hear of them?) when you were probably in diapers or a gleam in your father's eye. I have been living with computers since 1982. Thanks to PARC, I had a system on my desk in 1984 that was frankly the equivalent of anything I've used since. I have been living with the Internet since its inception. "Thanks" (not exactly) to my profession, I spend half my life on the computer and Internet at age 66, a reality that I hope to bring to a screeching halt in the near future. Within my profession, I am a veritable legend in my ability to conduct online research - they send peewee attorneys to me for training. I am about as intimidated by computers and the Internet as by a bowl of Jell-O.

That being said, I regard the Age of Technology as the most dehumanizing, and quite likely Satanic, development in the history of mankind. While folks like you are under the illusion you've entered some new Age of Enlightenment, you've actually lost your souls. Just an old geezer's humble opinion, of course. (BTW - one of my near-infallible guidelines is that books with "Quantum" in the title, unless they are actually about physics, are invariably crap.)

That's nine "I's" in the first paragraph.
Who keeps saying "I" in the Bible?.....

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Okay, you're right and I'm wrong.
Now you can go away for another 6 months.
Thank you.

Rollo! Be nice!
Now get back in the basement before your mom finds out you're out.

 

[Runner]

That's nine "I's" in the first paragraph.
Who keeps saying "I" in the Bible?.....

Yes, that was a paragraph specifically about me. Call me eccentric, but I tend to use "I" when referring to myself. I find referring to myself in the third person tends to put people off. "Sweetie, Mr. Runner was working at the Palo Alto Research Center (ever hear of them?) when you were probably in diapers or a gleam in your father's eye. Mr. Runner has been living with computers since 1982." Nah, I just don't think that quite works.

Golly, you are descending into absolute silliness, eh? The smile, joy and love seem to have evaporated, or am I mistaken? Frankly, I would just put Mr. Runner on ignore status and allow the joy to return to your life.