State of the Forum Address

[ManOfWord]

OA, you are and remain a Christian gentleman!!! Thanks for the reminder and compass heading refresher! Your balanced approach is alway appreciated.

[OneAccord]

Aw, shucks, folks. It twasn't nuthin'. I was just foolin' around.

And I would make a good pastor. If I were a preacher. But it does bring up a thought thats been rolling around in my head. "If I were a pastor...what kind of pastor would I be?" What would I want my church to be like? Would I be conservative? Liberal? Or Moderate? Would I be a part of an organization? Or independent? Would mine be a "mega-church"? Or small church? Given the chance, would I preach on TV?

Well, the questions keep coming. And, since it ain't gonna happen in this lifetime, I guess theres no need to speculate. But it would be interesting to read what pastors... real pastors..would say....

[Sherri]

Originally Posted by OneAccord

Aw, shucks, folks. It twasn't nuthin'. I was just foolin' around.

And I would make a good pastor. If I were a preacher. But it does bring up a thought thats been rolling around in my head. "If I were a pastor...what kind of pastor would I be?" What would I want my church to be like? Would I be conservative? Liberal? Or Moderate? Would I be a part of an organization? Or independent? Would mine be a "mega-church"? Or small church? Given the chance, would I preach on TV?

Well, the questions keep coming. And, since it ain't gonna happen in this lifetime, I guess theres no need to speculate. But it would be interesting to read what pastors... real pastors..would say....

Oh we've learned to NEVER say NEVER!!!

[ManOfWord]

Originally Posted by Sherri

Oh we've learned to NEVER say NEVER!!!

No truer words spoken Sis!!!!

[DanielR]

Great post OneAccord. I've only been here a short time so far, but I've quickly come to appreciate your posts. It's a spirit like you have here, that makes it possible for Oneness and Trinitarians to work together to accomplish a shared common goal, and that is to lead the lost to Christ. That is what I do in the small but national parachurch org. that I'm in a leadership position in. I am the only Apostolic in leadership among all the Trinitarians of this org., yet we stand shoulder to shoulder, brother to brother, to reach the lost in a widely unreached subculture here in America. This org. specializes in one special segment of society that no specific denomination will reach out to. But we have come together, members of many different denomanations and sects, because we share a common burden, and that is to reach the lost where the "churchs" will not go. In this case, the Church is taking up for the failures of the churchs.

Daniel

[RevDWW]

Originally Posted by RandyWayne

But I don't see human civilization celebrating those events and making it the cornerstone of society.

No birth, no life.

Folks I know, seem to celebrate the fact they were born....how many birthdays have you celebrated?

Lots of folks seem to celebrate in the acts that create life. As they say "sex sales", and so we see advertising doing just that for just about everything. By the way if I read my bible correctly there is nothing wrong with that whole process, in the right relationship of marriage.....

Yes once the birth takes place there should be a natural tendency toward growth and development to maturity....which I have not yet attained.. ...and the Church needs to nurture it's babes, but to say the birth is not that significant is not well thought out.......just ask any friendly OB/GYN Doctor, nurse, or staff at a neo-natal hospital......

[OneAccord]

Originally Posted by DanielR

Great post OneAccord. I've only been here a short time so far, but I've quickly come to appreciate your posts. It's a spirit like you have here, that makes it possible for Oneness and Trinitarians to work together to accomplish a shared common goal, and that is to lead the lost to Christ. That is what I do in the small but national parachurch org. that I'm in a leadership position in. I am the only Apostolic in leadership among all the Trinitarians of this org., yet we stand shoulder to shoulder, brother to brother, to reach the lost in a widely unreached subculture here in America. This org. specializes in one special segment of society that no specific denomination will reach out to. But we have come together, members of many different denomanations and sects, because we share a common burden, and that is to reach the lost where the "churchs" will not go. In this case, the Church is taking up for the failures of the churchs.

Daniel

Thank you, Brother Daniel R, and I'm glad you enjoyed the article. There are those, as you might suspect, in both camps, Trinitarian and Oneness, who might take you to task and say that there is bo room for fellowship between the two groups. But, it isn't my place to agree or disagree with you. My place to to pray for you and to encourage you in your walk with the Lord. And, to support your effort in obeying the Lord in what you feel He has called you to do. The rift between the two groups, and the rifts within the separate groups, make any cooperation and fellowship seem impossible. But, with that I disagree. I believe the Holy Spirit is big enough and strong enough so that we can share the common goal you speak of. That goal, reaching the lost, is the very heart beat of the Spirit-filled Church.

Anytime I think of the diversity within the Body of Christ I think of what General Colin Powell said in a Republican National Convention a few years ago. He said that the Republican Party is big enough and strong enough to rise above the diversity and unite together as one. And, as I heard those words, I thought, "If a political party can do that, surely the Spirit-filled Body of Christ can do so much better". And it can. If we all will realize that diversity is what built this nation. Diversity, even on this forum, is what makes it strong. And diversity is what enables your organization reach people that I, or others, cannot reach.
May God bless you as you continue to walk with Him. I'd like to know more about your group. You can post further info here, or send a PM.

1Cr 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

[OneAccord]

Originally Posted by R.D. Foster

Without a grasp of Biblical New Birth, you will never see standards as Holiness.

I re-read this statement this morning (as I'm SUPPOSE to be getting ready for church) and I found that I agree with the underlines words completely. And this isn't an attack on "standards". But, no, I do not see standards as holiness. There are not one and the same. Holiness is what God does when He washes us in the Blood of the Lamb. The stain of sin is washed away when we are covered by His Blood and He... NOTE: HE... makes us holy. Holiness is what HE does in our hearts and lives. Standards,or, more correctly, godly principles, are what WE do, to maintain holiness unto the Lord. And what those "standards" are is between an individual and his or her Creator. The Christain principles of love, faith, goodness, and so on that we maintain in our lives is how we respond to the holiness the Lord gives us at Calvary.

There are a great number of religious sects in the world that keep "standards", but have they been made "Holiness unto the Lord" by His Blood? Can we say that the mere keeping of "standards" is what makes us holy? Of course not. If so, then our faith is a works based faith, because keeping standards is a work, that, it seems, some boast in. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Eph 2:8-9 My salvation, any holiness I might have, is the result of the work HE did in my life when He saved my soul. . My "works" of believing the Gospel, being baptized in Jesus Name, being filled with the Holy Ghost, and maintaining Christian principles, is my response to His Finished Work at Calvary.

[TRFrance]

Originally Posted by OneAccord

With all due respect, Brother, I don't judge anyones Christianity at all. On any basis. I am told by the Lord to refrain from the practice of judging others. A persons Christianity is between them and God. That is one point I was attempting to make in my original post... that it isn't up to me, or you, or anyone else to decide who is, and who is not saved based on their belief system or their lifestyle. I KNOW what it takes for me to saved, which includes the New Birth of John 3. What it takes for someone else, I think I'd do best to leave that between them and God.

2. There is nothing in my post that indicates I don't have a grasp on "standards" of Holiness, or the New Birth for that matter. As stated, I know what is required of me to be saved,

Well pardon me if I sound "negative" here, as some may wish to call it. But I think there is a fundamental flaw in some of what I'm hearing form you.

You say emphatically that you know what's required for you to be saved. But you also say you refuse to "judge" who is or is not saved based on their belief system (?).

Well, unless you believe there are more than one way to be saved, then wouldn't it take the same thing for someone else to be saved?

Is there not a biblical standard of what salvation is? (I'm assuming there is, since we always refer to the "plan of salvation".) And if a person has not followed the biblical requirement for salvation, is it "judging" to say that that person has not received salvation?

[OneAccord]

Originally Posted by TRFrance

Well pardon me if I sound "negative" here, as some may wish to call it. But I think there is a fundamental flaw in some of what I'm hearing form you.

You say emphatically that you know what's required for you to be saved. But you also say you refuse to "judge" who is or is not saved based on their belief system (?).

Well, unless you believe there are more than one way to be saved, then wouldn't it take the same thing for someone else to be saved?

Is there not a biblical standard of what salvation is? (I'm assuming there is, since we always refer to the "plan of salvation".) And if a person has not followed the biblical requirement for salvation, is it "judging" to say that that person has not received salvation?

No sir, and you're not sounding negative at all, there is ONLY ONE WAY to be saved. Jesus said it quite clearly: He, and He alone, is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the only path to salvation.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Eph 2:8-9

We are saved through faith in His finished work at Calvary, and our salvation is maintained by His grace that works in our lives. What I was referring to awas the standards that people feel they need, or do no need, to be saved. Some feel STRICT, almost legalistic, standards are required. Some feel more liberal standards are all that is necessary. That is what I do not judge. That is between them and God. I know what it takes for ME to be (I should say REMAIN) saved. Because my reply was about "standards and holiness" the brother spoke of. Which I addressed in a previos post.