are Bible forums such as this one, Biblical?

[kenrank]

And last but not least is God truely Edified By these tpyes of Forums??

What do you think ??

I am trying to figure out how a MAN can edify God?

From the Ken Rank Free Dictionary:
Edify...to build up or instruct.

How do I instruct God?

Peace.
Ken

[mikebr]

And last but not least is God truely Edified By these tpyes of Forums??

What do you think ??

I am trying to figure out how a MAN can edify God?

From the Ken Rank Free Dictionary:
Edify...to build up or instruct.

How do I instruct God?

Peace.
Ken

God cannot be edified. The Church is to edify believers. This board does that sometimes.

[IamBill]

Thing is, why would anyone become angry at another over these discussions, it clouds the perspective and closes the mind.

It seems to me that when two views have merit, It is not always because one is right and one is wrong, Both could be wrong because something is being overlooked or misinterpreted.


I take my "sig." Very seriously
There could be a beam in one of my eyes ...and the rest of the tree in the other, how about you ?

...(rhetorical, not addressing anyone)

[kenrank]

I know, it was rhetorical Mike. Of course a man can't edify God...I wasn't the one that said it!

Ken

[mikebr]

I know, it was rhetorical Mike. Of course a man can't edify God...I wasn't the one that said it!

Ken

I understood Ken, its just that there is this idea that God needs us. You said what I said first.

[mikebr]

Thing is, why would anyone become angry at another over these discussions, it clouds the perspective and closes the mind.

It seems to me that when two views have merit, It is not always because one is right and one is wrong, Both could be wrong because something is being overlooked or misinterpreted.


I take my "sig." Very seriously
There could be a beam in one of my eyes ...and the rest of the tree in the other, how about you ?

...(rhetorical, not addressing anyone)

I completely understand. The older I get the less I know.

[kenrank]

I understood Ken, its just that there is this idea that God needs us. You said what I said first.

Did you know Mike, that there is a verse in the Talmud where the Rabbi's believe that God sits back and reads thier interpretations of his Torah? I am sure not all Rabbi's think that way, but enough did that it made it in there. A bit over the edge, huh?
Ken

[mikebr]

Did you know Mike, that there is a verse in the Talmud where the Rabbi's believe that God sits back and reads thier interpretations of his Torah? I am sure not all Rabbi's think that way, but enough did that it made it in there. A bit over the edge, huh?
Ken

Yeah that's pretty extreme. Its probably like reading the Sunday Funnies to God.

[chad]

If this forum is strife, then I would have to say so was the early church.

Remember the disagreement between Barnabas and Paul regarding John Mark. (Acts 15:36-40).

Remember the discussion regarding food sacrificed to idols (Acts 15:20)

Remember the discussion on circumcision (Acts 15:1)

Remember when Paul opposed peter to his face - becuase he through he was in the wrong (Gal 2:11)

Remember those questioning pauls Apostleship (2 Cor 12:11, 1 Tim 2:7)

Remember Pauls writing to the Galatians (Gal 5:15 NIV) If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

If strife and disagreement means we are unbiblical, then surely the early church must have been unbiblical as well?

Are Bible forums such as this one, Biblical?

STRIFE, n. [See Strive.]
1. Exertion or contention for superiority; contest of emulation, either by intellectual or physical efforts. Strife may be carried on between students or between mechanics.
Thus Gods contended, noble strife, who most should ease the wants of life.
2. Contention in anger or enmity; contest; struggle for victory; quarrel or war.
I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon. Judges 12.
These vows thus granted, raisd a strife above betwixt the god of war and queen of love.
3. Opposition; contrariety; contrast.
Artificial strife lives in these touches livelier than life.
4. The agitation produced by different qualities; as the strife of acid and alkali.

What do you think ??

[Lamplighter]

If this forum is strife, then I would have to say so was the early church.

Remember the disagreement between Barnabas and Paul regarding John Mark. (Acts 15:36-40).

Remember the discussion regarding food sacrificed to idols (Acts 15:20)

Remember the discussion on circumcision (Acts 15:1)

Remember when Paul opposed peter to his face - becuase he through he was in the wrong (Gal 2:11)

Remember those questioning pauls Apostleship (2 Cor 12:11, 1 Tim 2:7)

Remember Pauls writing to the Galatians (Gal 5:15 NIV) If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

If strife and disagreement means we are unbiblical, then surely the early church must have been unbiblical as well?

Amen brother.

If you have read Acts through Revelation, you know the early church was full of strife and disagreements, but they still realized they were all brothers and sisters in Christ. You want to see some messed up Christian behavior, read Paul's 1 Corinthian letter.

[angel_fire]

To me, Church is everywhere. God is everywhere I am and I am everywhere He is.
In a Church, I get one point of view, in this place I get many points. If I get confused I simply look it up in my handy dandy Bible.

In Church I cannot speak my opinion, here I can. In the privacy of my home I can listen, learn, and set my own pace.
I can talk to people all over the world, in Church this is difficult.

I would say its very Biblical to talk about our Great King, and reach the unreachable. Amen!!!

[walked]

Paul/Saul of Tarsis used forums in Macedonian cities teaching and debateing, with the purpose of converting souls and establishing churches in Europe.
In Asia and the MiddleEast city gates were forums, meeting places for learned discussions/exchanges and cities with synagogs the synagog on non sabath days were used for forums, meeting places for learned discussions/exchanges.

So forums were used in the bible for the same purpose this forom is being used for today.

[TrustGzus]

I am sorry but it is real hard for me to believe that a pastor made this statement!!

If churches have strife within the church, this is very unbiblical

Go back and re-read my post, my friend. I never claimed strife was biblical. However, I did state that church's have strife and just because churches have strife, that doesn't make the church itself an unbiblical thing just because some people are misbehaving. Chad made great points about this in his post. Every church has some strife. Almost every single epistle Paul wrote comments on strife each church has. So do we throw out the church? Not at all.

Same with the forums. Sure they have strife. In fact, it appears this thread has strife. So we discuss and figure out what is the correct perspective on internet forums like this. If it is your conviction that it's wrong to have strife, then you need to remove yourself from this thread.

Grace & peace to you, Thaddaeus.

Joe

[HisLeast]

Sounds like you've got us pretty much figured out Thaddeus.

You're right of course. There's absolutely nothing scriptural or edifying about the praise forum. After all, what do praise and thanksgiving do but cause strife? Psalms 7:17 "I will give to the LORD the thanks due to His righteousness, and sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High" ... must have meant in a cloistered room, away from other believers. Psalm 34:1 "I will praise the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth"... must have meant while not online of course. Neither Paul nor Peter would have bothered to share praise with the churches in Philippi, Corinth, Ephasus, Jerusalem, or Rome, would they?

There's absolutely nothing scriptural or edifying about the prayer forum. What good is it to pray for one another? There's no such thing as intercession after all, is there? Nobody would have dared say something like "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." (except James 5:16)

There's absolutely nothing scriptural or edifying about the teaching given on the Bible chat forum or Maturing in Christ forum. That bit in 2 Timothy about all scripture being profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, etc... that doesn't really count at all. And besides, we're such know-it-alls that we don't really need instruction or guidance anyway, right?

There's absolutely nothing scriptural about the Apologetics forum. Equipping God's people with the knowledge, wisdom, and practice to bring the gospel to the world is sin. Everyone knows you have to go it alone, and you should never consider the wise counsel of experience.

There's absolutley nothing scriptural or edifying about the Christian Answer forum. The lost, everyone knows, have no right to come to us with questions. We should not be ready with answers for them. All we have to do is trust that we are the elect, and the rest of the world is lost because it deserves to be. Their questions are illegitimate and only further demonstrate why they don't deserve straight answers.

There's nothing scriptural or edifying about The Vigil social group. What business does a group of recovering porn addicts have encouraging, praying, and maintaining accountability amongst each other. Just proves once again how wrong James was to suggest we confess our sins and pray together.

Nope, there's not a single place on this whole board that is scripturally sound, nor edifying. We have no business praising together, praying for each other, confessing to one another, teaching and receiving instruction, and being accountable to one another. I'm glad you were here to point it out to us with such patience and wisdom. Everyone, its time to stop posting. Those of you who are sick and shut in... hopefully someone will come around to give you a sense of community... but in the meantime at least you're not sinning by being here. Those of you with nowhere to turn and need encouragement, accountability, and prayer.. I'm sure something will come around, just be sure to get Thaddeus' approval before interacting with anyone.

And most importantly, Thaddeus, if this is such a wicked and unworthy place, I challenge you to lead us out of it by example.

[IMINXTC]

This thread is a fine example of the discourse such a forum provides. It's good to discuss and prove all things, with an eye to edification.

I am also extremely convicted about the unbeliever who should cruise into forums to take a look, and have wrestled about how much I should participate on a public message board.

But if edification and encouragement is my goal, and fellowship with believers is my aim, then my contributions will be carefully seasoned with grace and my viewpoints will be fairly weighed with all other viewpoints.

Time and time again, many Christian sites will succumb to the same tendency that all Internet forums are rife with: a degeneration of the discussion into a fight, and an ensuing flurry of quote boxes and barely contained personal attacks. Alas. In this sense, no, the Bible is not being represented, and the standards that apply to flesh-and-blood gatherings and assemblies are not being obeyed. Many threads also contain wonderful scholarship and tremendous biblical-insight that get quickly buried and subdued under the heavy hand of massive theological treatises often very hard to read or understand. And who can deny this persistent presence of intellectual high-mindedness so prevalent in any web traffic?

The Biblical place of discourse, in my view, is the local church, complete with all the gifts and positions of responsibility, which provide a certain checks-and-balances hardly even possible on the Internet. But the Internet is a wonderful and useful tool for the church, no-doubt.

As a relative new-comer to this sort of thing, having never had the time to devote to it, I, as a Christian have come to really embrace forums for all the right reasons. But I will always advise caution and discernment.

"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." 1Cor 1:10

"And he gave some apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." Eph 4:11,12

"That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." Eph 4:14

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