I appreciate the several people who took the time to really understand the purpose and motive for these posts, and made the sincere effort to not judge me unrighteously, to not attack me publically, to not slander me privately, to not mock me, to not persecute me, to not act like a Pharisee Christian (spiritual prude), but to embrace the topic with purity of heart, mind, and soul like it was destined for.
Thankfully, many people understood just what the intended use for the posts were about. I am thankful for those intelligent, honest, insightful, encouraging, and sincere people who took the time to see the light, the real Light of Jesus Christ through the threads/topics, and any of my other present posts that are available to promote connection, communication, and community, and an overall higher thought process for personal enjoyment, edifiication, or whatever use God has in store for you.
What is not righteous is to attack some publically before you seek a deeper clarity and understading of the person behind the words, and the full context of the message. While I have nothing to "hide", and am a truth seeking/truth living, Holy Spirit infused man of faith, the right thing to always do first is to be respectful, considerate, non-judgmental, and open to a deeper understanding of truth relating to the topic at hand.
I accept that we who are in Christ are not always a unified body of believers, that being "One' with the Father is nearly impossible to do at times due to the pride of the flesh, stubborness, people being set in their own ways due to fear, ingnorance, or upbringing. But sowing seeds of arrogance, unfair judgement, and pride isn't the route to go for any person who calls him/herself a Christian.
"A man is right in his own eyes, but its path leads to death."
Thanks again for all of the private and public support. I will do my best to forgive the worldly prudence of others. No one is perfect, and many people have proved that truth to me once again, but please know that I include myself in that equation.
Respectfully,
in Christ I stand, move, breathe, feel, live, and love!
dear eternal, you need to stop with the name calling here. as thats not nesecery.. and anyone else thats name calling needs to stop also... if youll look close i never called you a name..
i only stated that what you ask was very innappropriate for a man to be asking women about their lust issues.. and i wondered what the thought process was..
i dont believe that youd ask your mother how she handles her lust issues in front of millions of people.. so why do you feel its ok for you to ask someone elses mother ,sister or daughter how they handle their lust issues in front of millions of people ? its just not right for a man to be asking women about their lust issues..
an elder is supposed to protect the flock. and do you realize how many wolves are out there just a watching a christian site for questions just like this? there are many keen wolves eyes awatching.. looking to see where there is a weakness as in a woman havin lust issues ,to find the weakest lamb of the flock and know how to seperate them from the flock..
best bet is to keep the mens lust issues in private for the men between the mens ministry leaders seperate from the women and keep the womens lust issues for the ladies between the womens ministry leaders and the ladies. seperate from the men.
We except your apology...say no more about it. As you wrote to me earlier and admited what the question "looked like" in hindsight, I don't think you'll be repeating it again.
I had hoped that the tenor of your e-mail would carry over into the Forum, but I see it has not...so with no "hint" of sarcasm...or mockery...or any other unpleasant innuendos -- I will ask you again:
"Would you ask that question with the same references to 'Toned Bodies' and "Beauty of Creation' or 'Suffering Consequences' to any woman on this site in a personal e-mail?"
I agreed with your statements all up until the very end, Cattleman. I have this stubborn, irrevocable understanding that women and men are too similar to keep separate. We are all God's children, so why separate ourselves from eachother based on something so trivial as sexes?
At the same time, I'm not completely disagreeing with you. There are people out there who commit the horrible action of commiting a form of stalking, just as you described metaphorically with the wolf. However I find it unruly unfair that we have to handicap ourselves in order to safely discuss something online; and that's just one example. THEN again.. and here I go switching sides again, I agree with you that the topic of a woman's lust issue is something that should definitely be kept private or discussed between a woman's friends(not necessarily limited to a discussion between women only).
I haven't read the topic of which this discussion seems to be based around, but I assume it asks too much of a woman's personal romance life to be brought out to the public on a forum.
As to a reply to Eternal: you do seem very aware that we are all sinners, but at the same time certain thorns stick out of the beautifully crafted statements you wrote in your post. For instance, you'd said, "I will do my best to forgive the worldly prudence of others." When was it ever your place to do such a thing? The Lord will be the one doing the forgiving in the eternal life, and unless you receive an apology, there is no reason to forgive someone else for having an opinion that may be different than your own.
Now please keep in mind I have not read a word of the topic of discussion at hand, so read my words with little knowledge behind them if you will.
To conclude my post, I'll quote you once more and comment: "But sowing seeds of arrogance, unfair judgement, and pride isn't the route to go for any person who calls him/herself a Christian."
This I can agree with. I knew a surprising amount of Christians who stubbornly believed that we ARE to be judgmental and to crush the beliefs of others who believed to not be children of God. No matter how many versus I would quote or how I'd ask for them to approach non-believers with love in one hand and knowledge in the other, they wouldn't listen. I'm not sure which denomination believes us to be prickly snobs, but I want no part of it.
I can also relate to what you'd stated with driving; which is a completely different issue but bare with me. No one on the road uses their blinker when they should(changing lanes, turning). Everyone seems to think slowing down to 5 mph is stopping at stop signs/red lights(even when turning right). Everyone seems to think it's ok to speed. It's just nuts to me. I don't care if there's no one around, the law is the law.
But, I can't just say, "All drivers are horrible people." Just as you can't say, "But sowing seeds of arrogance, unfair judgement, and pride isn't the route to go for any person who calls him/herself a Christian." Rather, it's the ACTION of speeding, or the action of demeaning your character, that we scrutinize.
So to finally sum up this ridiculously long post(sorry about the length), the drivers in my rant can be compared to the outspoken posters in the topic. They may speak out against you, but that's not any reason to hold them to their word and insinuate that they're all arrogant or what have you. Just the same, it's not any reason for them to attack you as a person based on a few paragraphs on a message board.
Thank You for your words. They were appreciated, understood, and even enjoyable to read. What a diverse person you appear to be. How boring I must be in contrast. I realize the complications that post has created. To the people that found great interest in it, I have done my best to clarify in a very transparent and detailed way according to their questions. That letter was a result of being severely judged in private as well as public. It probably only added more fuel to the fire, and created more misunderstanding. I understand that true forgiveness is not dependent upon an apology. You either choose to forgive a person or you don't. Also, I agree that the weight of the world is not mine take to on. I don't have the strength or desire to do so. I like feeling light on the inside, even though, it's easy to get passionate about God and what we all believe, and experience in real life. Anyway, thank you again for your input. It was internalized deeply. I encourage you to keep adding your spiritual point of view to the mix. I enjoyed it. Have a Merry Christmas!
We all error and need to remember that a wise man is also discreet.Your post only got 1 response from me because I did not think you made a wise choice.Nor thanking us for a response is a wise choice.Move on you errored.I would never discuss sex with a woman over the internet.Only the woman I plan on getting married to.My personel life is carefully guarded.It is not a subject for scandal or debate.
A lady needs to be treated as a lady.You do not ask her about lust if you are a guy.I would hope that if you asked in person she would slap you hard.
I sensed forgiveness in your reply which is great. I accept it, appreciate it, and have learned from everyone's perspective who responded to the original thread or in response to the debates that resulted.
Again, your words were taken seriously, but the original thread wasn't about fornication. I did post the thread in the man's and woman's section. I wasn't targeting women by any means. I would never ask a woman or man alike in person, public, or private about that topic. Many things about that thread were blown out of proportion, and still are.
It appears that you're judging the core of my personality which reloves around sincerity, appreciation, and gladness. And not knowing what you sound, look, or feel like in person, would be unfair of me to say, to judge, etc.
I can only meet you where you meet me, in private or public.
