Well, to say AFF really means AFF and all its incarnations. Faithchild, The Island, New Faithchild all have played a role in the “learning.
First, I learned that I am not very conservative. I always thought I was but then I found this place and discovered that there were a lot of people that really did do things in a way that made me look rather liberal.
However, it turns out I also learned that I am not a liberal either. I found folks here that make me look somewhere to the right of Attila the Hun…
It turns out I am dead center of just about everything where the Apostolic faith is concerned.
I guess I really knew that stuff anyway but this place certainly reinforces all of that. Another thing I learned here is that I am comfortable in my own skin. Who I am and what I am, as it relates to God and how I understand Him fits me. I am comfortable with my walk with God and being here reinforces that. It does so because I have been forced to look at what I believe thru the lens of others who disagree with me. I have been forced to take stock of my walk and my study and measure it by the word of God. There is a certain confidence in being able to do that. Not a cocky self flattering confidence, but the kind of assurance that comes only from that personal relationship with Jesus. That kind of relationship can only come from prayer and study. Yep, AFF has caused me to pray more than a few times.
I have learned that there are others out there that have a basic understanding of God that I have but who view so many of the intricacies of faith differently than I do. I find many who I don’t agree with on more than a few issues, have great faith. I have learned that I can respect people for their faith, even when their faith isn’t an exact match to my faith. I have learned that these people can challenge me to greater faith. I appreciate that. I appreciate them.
I have come to love and appreciate many men and women who are viewed as more “conservative” or more “liberal” than I am. I hold some folks from both perspectives with very high regard. I have also found that ones Christian philosophy is no indication of their spirituality. I have learned that one can be an ardent believer, and be completely lost. One can be a strident defender of some godly perspective and be entirely divorced from the Spirit of the One True God. That is a knife that cuts both ways. Liberals, Moderates, and Conservatives all can be terribly deranged even when they are exactly right on an issue. I learned that too on AFF...
I learned that there are people in this world that think like I do and that don’t. I learned that there is no way for me to ever expect that others will come to think like I do. That kind of expectation is as narcissism at its finest. I also discovered that people who post on message boards have to have a little narcissism in them… We all seem to be trying to control the tides….(there are a few who will get that…LOL)
I learned from AFF that everybody has a story. Everybody has triumphs and tragedies. Everybody walks a road not unlike my own. And everybody needs someone to rely on. I have learned that we can via the internet walk together celebrating victories and mourning tragedies and prayerfully walk thru obstacles. I have learned that there are praying people on AFF. I know that for a fact because I have needed prayer, and found it here.
Someone said this place wasn’t real. That was on Faithchild quite a while ago. In some ways I guess you could say that is true, but I have found it to be quite real. Now it is no replacement for the people in my life that I live, work and go to church with. But just as they are real, the people on AFF are real too. I have learned that this is another aspect of real life. I have real friends that I found here in the virtual world.
AFF can be maddening. It can be frustrating, it can be funny and educational. It can be support when there is no other support. If anything can be “all things” I suppose AFF has been and will continue to be for many.
For those who come here and are bewildered to find all your assumptions and belief challenged, don’t be mad. Stick around and sharpen your perspective. You might find that you will develop far better ways of defending your faith. You might also find that some of your assumptions are based on nothing. But regardless, you will find people from all perspectives who love God and are trying their best to make their way to Him!
Be blessed! For all my moaning and complaining about AFF, AFF has certainly blessed me!
__________________ If I do something stupid blame the Lortab!
__________________
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14 KJV
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8 KJV
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3:2 KJV
Excellent thoughts Ferd! With that heart and attitude I can certainly see why your Heavenly Father gave you the beautiful wife and children you have. Keep that spirit!!!
Linear Mode
