I will not....

[OneAccord]

I just got home late yesterday from a few days of R&R in the mountains. It was nice to spend a few days with friends and family having, well, just having fun. This was the first time I felt really comfortable being away from home since Feb. Met up with some friends from Indiania, and met some really nice folks from Canada. (Canadians are, I believe, some of the nicest folks on earth!) And, the highlight of the trip was spending a couple of hours with Bro. and Sis. Raven! We had a fine lunch and had a chance to really fellowship. What a blessing it is to be considered a friend to the Ravens.

All to quickly, however, it was time to come back to the real world. I came on AFF for a while last night and, well, I felt like I was walking through a Bagdad neighborhood. It seems a massive WMD has gone off. It was quiet. Too quiet. But there were signs that a battle had been raging. Fortunately, it seems there was a lull in the battle and, during this brief quietness of the early morning hours, I'll venture out to make my presence known. I have my white flag of truce in my hand, and I pray for a few minutes of peace to say this....

I will not use AFF as my personal battle ground to rage war with those with whom I may disagree. I will use to to promote fellowship and Christian love, or I will not use it at all.

I will not use AFF to shoot the wounded. I will post that which edifies, that which strengthens, that which lifts up. The enemy of my soul is good at is job... he is on the attack, he divides, he tears down, he sows discord, he makes war against God's people...he does not need my help and I will give him none.

I will not divide my forces by separating the troops into waring camps of conservatives, moderates and liberals. The fight is out there... not among us. We win the enemies battle for him when we divide our forces, and rage war among ourselves. We are soldiers. We are a band of brothers who stand shoulder to shoulder against the forces that attempt to infilltrate our ranks with division and animostity. Conservatives are not my enemies. Nor are the liberals. We all have our orders... we must carry them out as God us... to "Go ye into all the WORLD and preach the Gospel...." The WORLD is our battle field. Not AFF. This forum is our place to regroup.... it is our rallying point where we encourage one another to stay in the battle.... we don't shoot our wounded here. We gain strength from one another for the battle.

Though the rules of this forum gives me license to debate and to argue, I will not use AFF to promote my persoanl battle plans. Our battle plans were given to us by the Lord who is well versed in strategy. He can see the entire battlefield and He has assured us of victory. I will not disobey orders by fighting with my brother and sister in the Lord. My conservative brother has his orders, he uses different tactics, he ammo is somewhat different... but he is still my brother!

AFF stand for Apostolic Friends Forum. Is it apostolic? Yes, it must be because there it is... the word Apostolic. But the emphasis is on FRIENDS. Above all, we are friends here. Why do we bite and devour one another? Why do we lay in our fox holes taking potshots at one another? How is it that we are so easliy divided among ourselves? Is it that, we are afraid to face the real enemy? Could it be that we are cowards? The fight is our there, men... not here in our camp. We pretend to be good soldiers, but are we really? Have we witnessed to the LOST, rather than spending all of our time arguing with our brother? Do we spend the bulk of our Bible study time trying to find some way to point out a speck in our brothers eye or do we search the Scriptures concerning the beam in our own eye? The Bible was given to encourage, to edify, to strengthen, not to find fault with our brother!

I will not disrespect the owners, the admins and the moderators of this forum to use it to promote my own agandas and strategies. I won't disrespect my brother and sister in the Lord by using this forum to question their walk with the Lord. I will not use this forum to ridicule a conservative any more than I will use to to lambast a liberal. We are brothers and sisters, and I WILL NOT ALLOW STRIFE TO COME BETEEN US!