Diverse Viewpoints

[RZehr]

How do you feel on this site?

[temporal1]

This topic reminds of lester's poll, which had some surprising results.
Where do you fit?
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=160

i'm present to learn about others' views, esp regarding CM's, but, i have enjoyed bonus information regarding many faiths, esp from a CM perspective. examples include Catholics, EO, JW's, Pentecost, Mormons, Jews, the interesting list goes on.

for me, learning about CM's - in context of the outer world, fills out a fuller picture.
it's one thing to memorize a lesson, another to grasp the lesson so well that understanding "why" it's true, is more likely to stand the test of time.

also for me, this is the case for all discussions, not just topics of varying faith beliefs.
including humor, work, family, travel, everything. how+why do people digest information?

there are times when i "feel" at home on this forum, other times, i feel unwelcome, it's dependent on participation and topic.

as internet forums go, i'm not experienced, but, my perception is this one is composed of a number of members who are connected or know one another in real life, there are not a lot of "transient" members, there is a core that binds.

it takes very little to change the "tone" (Adam's word) .. this not being a forum with a large number of active posters. so, this forum offers the potential for members to "be the change they want to see."

my impressions. ymmv.

above, i chose option 2, because i am present to learn about CM's. i look for this input and find it. finding it in context with others' views helps me learn to discern by comparing+contrasting.
in this way, it's more than and different from doing an encyclopedic study.
i enjoy GAMEO, but it represents a different type of resource.

[Sudsy]

How do you feel on this site?

I feel it is a good place to hear other's support for why they believe what they believe. By asking questions of the varied Anabaptist groups here and other non-Anabaptists, it is a great place to not only learn but to test out the fruit of the Spirit in our lives when our beliefs are challenged and we respond. For myself, some days are better than others.

From the earliest days of the Christian church, believers have struggled to see things the same way as Paul reminds us we now only see in part. And we probably cross the line at times and get into foolish, unproductive arguments. And lose our cool. And give way to fleshly motives and feelings in our discussions. That, to me, shows my need to daily, moment by moment, walk in the Spirit. Forums are not a place for some personalities, imo.

So, I guess for the poll, I identify as Other but couldn't help myself explain my feelings about this site. Guess that shows a lack of self-control.

[Hats Off]

I didn't explain my vote at all - what does that make me?

[Wade]

Diverse viewpoints can come from such diverse experiences.

Viewpoints aside I am going to generalize and assume in saying this:

It seems there are two kinds of regular posting people on here.

1. Those who don't have a healthy (or any) church family and loves some kind of fellowship and spiritual talk that they are so badly lacking or are missing on a deeper level...

2. Those who know there are others out there that are lacking that fellowship and have a desire through the love of Christ to reach out and participate on here because they do care.

Both sides are troubled and even disgusted by some of the posts and diverse viewpoints and struggles expressed but yet because of Christ come back to connect or be connected.

[Josh]

One common reason to come to a website like this is either to be a troll, or to live out a fantasy life. This particular forum is fairly accomodating to those who want to be anonymous, and I suspect we have a good bit of the above going on.

[RZehr]

Good to see no one is hungry. And everyone knows what I'm talking about.

[Valerie]

The Anabaptists had a great deal of influence on me for years- my eyes were opened to the fact that many passages I glossed over that they emphasized more than where I'd been for decades. I was hungry to learn more and apply what I was learning- and share it with others as well- it had become very discouraging to share as so many I would talk with- would simply disagree. Thus I found myself to be more like minded with Anabaptists for a long time-
I'm not sure anymore- I have a lot of questions- I have tried to convey in my posts my understandings or try to explain where others are coming from (example when I have tried to share from Evangelical or EO perspective etc.) but I feel like most of the time my main point is missed, and I feel misunderstood. So in reality instead of it feeling like fellowship, which I dearly miss from being active in a church for 20 years- and Bible studies, etc- I feel- the odd one out- well forums really are not a substitute for church- there's a vast difference in real live conversations- and trying to have them online, especially since I'm lacking in the ability to articulate my thoughts well-

[Josh]

I hear you, Valerie, it's just hard to have productive conversations in online forums. If it were, I wouldn't spend about 1/3 of my work days travelling to customer sites. Instead I could just do my work via phone and email and WebEx.

But face to face contact is needed for my customers to be successful, and the Christian life is much more intimate than what we do at my job is.

I bet if we spent time together in person, we wouldn't talk about theology that much. We'd have a lot more time to focus on real life things. We would probably eventually find areas to serve each other, or to serve others together. I spend a lot of my time with people I have no theological or lifestyle agreement with but somehow manage to find ways to love each other anyway.

If anyone on MN wants a more church like brotherhood experience please feel free to contact me. I have a few brothers I stay in touch with on the phone and we regularly have conference calls too. We focus on how each of us are doing and share needs and concerns we have.

[Ernie]

I didn't explain my vote at all - what does that make me?

Obedient.