A new Beginning

[Waidmann]

Guys (and, in the event that some of the fairer sex should read this) and Gals,

We have esentially a new start here at the Christian Fellowship forum (I know it's mis-named Christian Outreach, but it is a fellowship forum. We will be starting anew with new members, new contributors new topics, etc. I hope we can avoid the mistakes we made in the past that contributed to the decline of the old Christian Fellowship forum from a place where we had a lot of different points of view represented to a place where we had a very limited number of posters, representing a narrow slice of Christianity. I'd really like to avoid that in the future.

What I'd like to propose is twofold.

Number one - Tell your hunting/shooting Christian friends of whatever particular Christian denomination they happen to be about this place, and encourage them to come visit.

Number two - Resist the temptation to tell them where they are wrong and drive them away. We need to repress the temptation to do what we did last time. I'm specifically thinking about what we did to our Catholic brothers. I, personally, miss Joshua (St8itStr8), Mike (MoMike) and Mike (FLMike), to name a few. I'm also thinking about the LDS who visited us from time to time (specificall Glockist, Spiro and the other guy whose handle I can't recall). They claim to be Christians, that's good enough for me to welcome them here. Heck, I'll even welcome Ringman back and do my best to be civil :D.

If we can resist that pitfall, I see no reason why we can't return this to the interesting place it once was. I'm sure I'm not the only one who remembers when this place was one of the most active ones here at HA.

I'm not saying we have to tip-toe around our difference in Theology (we don't do that around any campfire I've ever been around), but I am saying we have to love our brothers, and leave their theology to the one to whom we all owe our allegience anyhow.

Looking forward to an active forum here with you guys.

Waidmann

[Deerslayer]

Mark I hope we can start anew and maintain a civil course here, but if I were a betting man and based on what I have observed of human nature I would think that these words from Ecclesiastes will probably ring true. :rolleyes:

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:9

[Rich]

Deerslayer ,

You are making more since than Waidmann. Christianity is narrow. Jesus says, “I AM the Way the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by Me.”

Last week I thought about the concept of chameleon Christians. They say what they need to in order to blend in where ever they go. At least some LDSes, Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists stick to thier confussed doctrines.

[TinStar]

Waidman,

While what you say may have had something to do with it; there were also other factors. One of them being a decline in participation in HuntAmerica in general. The other being that some folks tire of the internet stuff after a few years and move on.

TinStar
Soli Deo Gloria!

[Waidmann]

Tin Star,

There is undoubtedly a lot of truth to your point. On the Whitetail Deer Hunting Fourm, I've seen them say more than once "How many different ways are there to say that the .30-06 is the best over-all cartridge ever made", and had the following discussion about it vr. the .270, 7mm, etc. It's true that once you've gone over the basics, you've already said most of it. So from that standpoint we've probably gone about as far as we can go. We've probably discussed evolution vr. 6-day creation, predestination vr. free will, etc about all we can (generally speaking).

On the other hand, if we view this as a place where we can gather with our Christian hunter/fisher friends and bring up things we encounter that are interesting, without the need to introduce Christianity into every topic, we can have an interesting, active forum.

If we don't, we will end up like the old HACO--a Verse for the Day posted out of context without any commentary. Small wonder there wasn't a lot of action. The key, I think, is the fellowship aspect which we lost when a couple of preachers hijacked the fellowship fourm and tried to turn it into a outreach forum.

Do we want an active forum? And, what are we willing to do to make it so?

Work calls. Gota run.

Waidmann

[Rad]

If we posted our praise reports, testimonies and invite others to offer advice as we face our trials. This would encourage the individual to participate. I know that we all face difficulties in life.

[Rich]

I am curious how a Verse from Scripture is out of context when It is standing alone. Maybe Waidmann or someone could help me out on this.:o

[Waidmann]

Rich,

I'm guessing you meant that Deerslayer made more sense than I did, right?

If we're going to have a successful Christian Fellowship forum here, we are simply going to have to get over arguing about our particular denominational differences. This isn't a Baptist Christian Forum any more than it's a Christian Prebysterian Forum. It's hosted under that auspices of HuntAmerica, and it is a "big tent" Christian fourm. Anyone who claims to be a Christian should be welcomed.

Furthermore, I think we need to get away from posting only Christian topics. I'll try to lead in making this happen, however, I obviously need the support of everyone here.

Rich, I just noticed your second post. Let me elaborate a bit on that. Any verse posted without the previous and subsequent verses, is at best, contextless. At worse, is subject to being mis-interpreted completely. As a couple examples, I'd cite Jesus' words, "Whereever two or more are gathered together in my name, I am there in their midst". Out of context, that verse is often used to prove that Jesus is at every chance encounter between two or more Christians. That isn't what Jesus is saying at all. The only way to know what Jesus actually is talking about is to read the entire section.

Hope that clears things up.

Waidmann

[Rich]

Waidmann,


Since you brought up Something Jesus says, please tell us what He ment when He said it.

[Waidmann]

Rich,

If you want to begin a thread about people's opinions of what Jesus meant in a given passage, I'd encourage you to go ahead and start one. We can see if we can encourage some of our "lurkers" to join in. The more the merrier.

I'd prefer to not let this topic wander too far afield.

Waidmann

[TinStar]

When I first joined Hunt America the Christian thread was going strong and I witnessed some people led to the Lord and others getting renewed strength.
I pray that this will happen again as we His light into an ever darkening world.

TinStar
Soli Deo Gloria!

[Glockist]

Waidmann,

Excellent post and I concur wholeheartedly with your sentiments. With the exception of a few individuals who either purposefully lied about my religion or mocked and ridiculed things I consider sacred, I enjoyed and benefited from most of our theological discussions. You and I certainly have our differences when it comes to doctrine, but I have great respect for you and have no doubt that we would get along fine around a campfire.
One thing I think most of us here can agree on is that the world is becoming more and more wicked. I think the age we live in now is like unto the age of Noah, wherein the Bible tells us: "that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5)
Those of us who believe in sin, repentance, and Christ's atoning sacrifice on our behalf are fast becoming a small minority around the world, and I believe the day will come when it will take ALL of us working together (in spite of doctrinal differences) to stem the tide of immorality and evil in this world. Our alliance in defense of marriage (prop 8) in California is a prime example. All of us (Mormons, Baptists, Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, [and even many non-Christians], etc.,) banded together to fight and win one battle in a very long war. When it comes to wickedness and evil in this world, we'd better be able to put aside our differences or we have no chance to prevail against what I believe will eventually be an overwhelming majority dedicated to the destruction of Christianity, our Constitution, and the freedom that goes with both.