I do? I don't think I do. I am aware of this. I also know that God uses murders and kidnappers to accomplish his Will. It is not necessarily the case that being a means by which God accomplishes his will is good for the means. It didn't work out so well for Judas. Paul in more than one place talks about how his manner of life and preaching, though they may be effective for others, may possibly lead to a bad end for him.
God Himself speaks of His anger, so to hold all Christians to just the lovey dovey approach is not wise nor is it always the way the Lord works thru people.
I am not, have not, do not, will not hold all Christians to just the lovey-dovey approach.
I am left wondering if anybody will answer the questions I asked or even read my posts before disagreeing with them and telling me what I overlook and don't know.
I think one of the reasons I am suspicious of those with a greatly above average PPM angry, abusive, confrontative posts is that many of them do not seem to be willing (or able?) to respond to the actual point made by the person to whom their words are directed.
AND there seems to be an attraction to theory over observation. That is theoretically God can save this or that person by means of a needlessly abusive interaction. However, I don't see that happening here on FR. And if someone displays a massive ignorance of what I believe and an unwillingness to understand it, I just walk away.
When the person who has done so turns and says, "Well if GOd wants him to be saved, my behavior won't make any difference," not only is that kind of thought entirely absent from Paul's writing, but it is, as I say, a license to be irresponsibly (because they outcome is God's "fault," not the abusers) "as nasty as they wanna be."
So it sure LOOKS, as I said, like the U, I, and P of tulip are used as permission to be irresponsible.
I would never want to rationalize nor excuse away personal, ego driven pique or meanness to get away with harshness etc.
I do think it is vital to operate clearly against ideas, perspectives, belief, dogma, practices that one is convinced before God are offensive to God vs
carrying on some personal vendetta or even crusade.
And, . . . to keep in mind always that the heart of ALL of us is deceitfully wicked, who can know it.
I still wonder if you are minimizing the benefit of VIGOROUS EXCHANGES . . . INTENSE EXCHANGES . . . ‘telling it like it is’ . . . like it is perceived to be . . .
AND that THAT BENEFIT does NOT always follow quickly behind.
I don’t think Paul’s exchanges with the pagans on Mars Hill were 100% graciously gentle. Maybe they were.
Certainly Christ’s exchanges with the religious rulers were not.
Things are not always what they may appear. There is a great work being done here which is not always visible to the posters Mad Dawg. Much is done behind the scenes as "God works All things toward the good"...and according to His purposes. We may not like what we see but we can be assured His good will will indeed come from it. The fact there are indeed EX-Mormons attests to this work, who are now truly saved and serving God.
In some cases you may only see the battle field....othertimes...the retreats...and still others a general tit for tat. The absolute fact that ex-Mormons are in the best place to see the deceptions, understand the arguments and address them accordingly cannot be argued as I see it.....they have an inside scope the rest of us do not. They know what we do not. They understand where we cannot.
Further when one is dealing with cults and counterfeit Christianity the overall approach and ministry to is different than winning a soul to Christ. There are strongholds to take down, the enemy of God does not let go of those He has claimed easily by any means. These strongholds are oftentimes deeply held teachings which are not of God at all but believed to be....they must be revealed for what they are and the emotional attachment to them loosened BEFORE the victim can see where they are in their relationship to the Lord. It IS a battle not between the victim and those ministering to him....but against he who has gravely captured them.
I think sometimes your questions are not answered because they have been asked and addressed before.....apparently not to your satisfaction it would seem, or making it an issue for you would not be occurring perhaps. Other times might be because those fighting and in the heat of the battle cannot give pause when they know who they are addressing is at a critical point. It is then we all must not take personally that our posts might not be answered...but follow the tempo of the thread and see what God is doing....being careful not to judge too quickly...but pray for those in the debate.