Mar

Just A Few Things I Want To Say

Posted by: Sonny in Blogging, Church, Fellowship, Hypocrisy, Relevance, Unity

Just a few things I want to say. This is the tagline of this blog. A tagline is a brief description of what a blog is about. When I started this blog I really did not know for sure what direction I was going to take with it. Was I going to try to teach biblical concepts? Was I going to comment on the church? Was I going to reflect on my personal walk with Jesus? Was I going to be serious or sarcastic? I decided to use the tagline I did because frankly, I was not sure. But I did know that whatever I said here would be my own thoughts, my own opinions. It is still that way. It has not changed. What I say here is not necessarily backed up by my wife, family, friends, church, or anyone for that matter. I do ask the Holy Spirit for guidance but that is in no way saying for sure that God is okay with it either. It is simply just a few things I want to say. And so is the following.

00d I really don’t understand how so many people can read something and not have a clue what the writer was trying to say. Take for example the last post that I wrote. It was about the need for all of us to grow in our relationships with each other. I used a real group in my church, The Bridge, to start it off but that was not the focus. But some readers went no further than that. Instead, someone, and maybe more than one, took it as another opportunity to see me in a defensive position, trying to take up for this new group. They took it upon themselves to put into action some things that hurt at least two people. Since these are supposed to be my family, also followers of Jesus, this simply saddens and amazes me.

I do not have to defend this fellowship of young adults. The evidence that it is good and godly comes directly from the attacks that have been launched against it already. It is evidently offensive in some way to others. And Jesus warned us of these things. So my question is simple. Who exactly is trying to cause division here? The Bridge has brought a couple of people back into the fold already yet the verbal attacks from others have almost sent a couple of members in my church fleeing. Who is on track as far as the mission is concerned?

When are we going to stop feeling threatened by things that are outside of or do not include ourselves? When are we going to realize that we have to sacrifice some things that maybe we are a little too dogmatic about to reach our kids and grandkids? When are we going to realize that relevance is not synonymous with degradation as concerns the gospel?

I am at a fork in the road as it concerns my own future already. There are some very important decisions that I am about to have to make: decisions about life, both secular and spiritual. I wish that the people of God would not keep on adding to it like they seem to be at the moment. I wish my “family” would make it easier instead of harder.

You may think that I just say this out of habit but it really is from the heart. I…

Love you all

Tags: blog, Church, Holy Spirit, jesus, Love, mission, Personal, Relationships, Relevance

This entry was posted on Monday, March 16th, 2009 at 7:05 am and is filed under Blogging, Church, Fellowship, Hypocrisy, Relevance, Unity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

10 comments so far

Bro L

You evidently don’t like the church and want to only change everything. Why don’t you leave. Some like it the way it is.

March 16th, 2009 at 3:36 pm

Tammy

Thanks for reminding us all that this blog is more about your opinion and you view of things as opposed to something you are teaching us in a class.

Isn’t it funny how disappointing people can be when we take out our magnifying glass?

Even the things that seem negative can teach us if we are willing to learn.
May we be open to what God is trying to achieve and aware of what the enemy is trying to hinder!

Keep up the good work!

March 16th, 2009 at 4:12 pm

Sonny

Bro L

You evidently don’t like me. I welcome more conversation than you have submitted here. It can be in person or on this site but I ask you to please allow me the courtesy of addressing any issues you might have with me.

Please.

Thanks Tammy

Love you all

March 16th, 2009 at 4:52 pm

Christie

I am not sure who Bro L is but with an attitude like that no wonder people are leaving. We are suppose to pray for our Brothers not be ugly. Would Christ turn to his people and say just leave. Sonny is trying to figure out a lot of things, who are you to tell him to leave instead of saying that you LOVE HIM and will PRAY FOR HIM. I do hope you are not an elder in this church because that is a comment of bitterness, and immaturity. We can get bitterness from anyone, Christians are always suppose to have their arms open even as we question where we are or belong. I Will be praying that God provide LOVE, PEACE, AND KINDNESS in your heart.

March 17th, 2009 at 12:22 pm

Tammy

Thank you very much Christie. Your support is appreciated.

I guess it is not easy for some people to accept boldness like Sonny’s. I believe that we all have or have had thoughts that disagree or do not line up with some of the ways of the church, but not all are willing to speak it and thus put themselves in a position to be ridiculed like Sonny.

Allow me to say that he (Sonny) is spiritually on a level few others will reach, one proof alone is the fact that this is his blog, his opinion, etc. and he has the power to block any post, yet he lets them all through. I will honestly say that if I had been attacked, ridiculed or condemned in the ways he has, I would have reacted in a totally different way.

Bro L if you are a member of our local church, maybe you should address us in person, if you are a member of “THE church” and you feel threatened, there are better ways of handling your disapproval. Anyone who thinks that every person sitting in the pews on Sunday agrees totally with every teaching, declaration, or proclamation made in the church today should listen more closely!!

Sonny, keep up the good fight of faith!!

March 17th, 2009 at 1:06 pm

Shannon Mimbs

Bro L: You evidently don’t like the church and want to only change everything.Why don’t you leave.Some like it the way it is.

Just a few thoughts…

Like others have mentioned, I also ask that you would address the issue in a more substantial manner; rather than lambasting the author in an unhealthy way. There are various opinions within the Church (universally) and the church (locally), and it benefits no one if we belittle one another in a manner which is devoid of love and humility.

Meaning, that “Bro L” may have a different opinion that Sonny, or any other writer for that matter, and he or she voices that opinion in a respectful manner. My question is, “What is the motivation of your comment?” I am sure that you are not a member of our local assembly, because surely you would not want a fellow brother or sister to leave the fellowship because they disagree with you. If that were the case, do you honestly think that is the response which the Holy Spirit (the same Spirit who led Jesus in the way he treated others) has led you to make? I admit, we all miss it sometimes. There are many times where I have had to repent to God for quenching his leading, because I chose to remain self-centered in my preferences, style, attitude, and actions. However, as you may have experienced before as well, I had to change (repent) and admit my own limitations. And as I confessed my wrongs to God, I realized (and realize) that God desires to change (heal) my relations with others.

I hope, “Bro L”, that we all can have some good dialogue from here on out. Maybe not. But on our end, we invite you to offer your opinions, beliefs, prayer requests, etc., hoping you know that you are valuable and loved by the community of faith. I’m not sure if someone has continually lambasted your comments in times past and your only way of disagreeing is with snide remarks. If that is the case, I am sorry. But there is a right way to go about being right. You can say the right things with the wrong motive, and where does it get us? I look forward to your future contributions.

May the Lord continually bless you and your family.

March 17th, 2009 at 1:33 pm

Dee Mimbs

Bro L,

I am slightly confused. By your name, I assume you are a brother in Christ. However, in Matthew 18.15-17 Jesus states, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

This gives us a clear path to take when we (as Christians) have a problem with our brother/sister in Christ. We are first to go to the person. Then, if it is not resolved, go to that person again with others. Then, if it is still not resolved, bring the matter before the church.

It seems to me that the Biblical thing to do is illustrated clearly above and that ridiculing Sonny on his blog is not only fruitless but not biblical.

I hope that through us talking as a community of faith, we can all learn to love each other and communicate in an effective way. Jesus also said that the world would know we are his disciples by our love for one another. Regardless of disagreeing, we should all be able to find common ground in our love for Jesus and our mission to a lost world.

Hope to talk with you more,

Debra (Dee)

March 17th, 2009 at 8:02 pm

Mike Ward

Sonny and also Bro L

My first reaction to reading Bro L’s divisive comment is to suggest everyone ignore his comments (past, present and future) or at least not to take them to heart. Realistically, I know that is unlikely because it truly does hurt when someone, who claims to be a brother or sister in Christ, is unceasingly and somewhat anonymously attacking you–and that without provocation. So if I may, I would like to make a few observations from a perspective which is not so emotionally charged:
1) Bro L may not even be a member or even an attender of Alabaster–he may just be a person who gets his kicks by hurting others.
2) However, if he does attend Alabaster and the comments he has expressed in your blog are genuine, then the attitudes he has expressed are indicative of someone who is truly in need of prayer. Over the years, I have heard these kind of comments being expressed by people who are highly religious but largely bereft of Christ-like love. They are like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day that he declared were like “white-washed sepulchres (graves) that looked good on the outside but inside they were full of dead mens bones (decay)”. There is only one truly Christ-like response to have to this kind of individual–to sincerely pray for them because they are only deceiving themselves and that to their own destruction. I know your heart is to see people saved not destroyed.
3) Sonny, please let this and other difficulties that you encounter be the means which God grows you in strength and courage–don’t let it become the vehicle by which Satan drives you away from others. I remember a sermon I heard when I was at Lee by Don Evans from Wales. He began by describing the wood from which God chose to make the Ark of the Covenant–His dwelling place. It was Acacia wood–a tree which can best be described as twisted and gnarly. It was not beautiful to look at like a mighty Oak. Nor was it a wood easily crafted, but you might say it was extremely “stubborn” as wood goes. However it had 2 characteristics which were obviously very important to God–it was extremely strong and it was absolutely resistant to rot. In other words, its beauty was in its strength and its ability to resist outside forces which lead to decay. Dr. Evans went on to say that God chose master craftsmen whose tools were brought to bear on the wood and which affected that wood in ways that were contrary to its twisted and gnarly nature. Yet, it was those forces which were contrary to its nature that prepared the wood to be the habitation fit for God to dwell in. So it is with us. God uses forces that come against us, forces that Satan means for evil but that God has meant for good in order to bring us to the point of preparation whereby we are fit to be the eternal dwelling place of God. In other words, think of people like Bro L as the sand paper of your life whereby God is making a beautiful home out of twisted and gnarly materials. Bro L maybe the tool, but God is the master craftsman in your life. Does that excuse Bro L’s actions? By no means– just as Joseph’s brothers were not excused for what they did to him. It does mean however, that you are, by God’s grace, able to forgive Bro L just as Joseph forgave his brothers because he came to understand that God was bringing good out of all the evil circumstances that Joseph encountered.

4) A personal comment to Bro L– Jesus said “By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” John 13:35. John, himself, would later write ” We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not [his] brother abideth in death” 1John 3:14. He went on to say in the next verse, “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.”
Perhaps you believe that you need to correct the ways of others who do not look like you or share your views on the direction of the church, but may I remind you that Christ is the head of the church and He has shown all of us the proper way of relating to our brothers and sisters–”Hereby perceive we the love [of God], because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down [our] lives for the brethren” 1John 3:16. Instead of telling Sonny he ought to leave the church because he holds views different than yours–you ought to be laying down your life for him (Sonny) like Christ laid His down for you. When you wound a brother or sister in Christ you wound Christ himself. Do you really want to do that? This is not your Church or my Church it is Christ’s church and we either dwell together in unity or find ourselves in a place of judgement before the One who gave himself for the Church. Bro L please be careful and remember what Christ said “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and [that] he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!” Matthew 18:6 & 7.

Grace be with you, mercy, [and] peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. 2 John 1:3

March 19th, 2009 at 4:07 am

Sonny

I really appreciate the love and support from all of you. I also, even though it might be hard to understand, appreciate Bro L and his comments. As I said, I invite further discourse between us. I am not hurt by his comments but am hurt by the lack of brotherly love and an opportunity for one on one interaction. I am not concerned with who he is. I am not trying to find out. Some people just do not like everyone and that is okay with me. It is not okay with our Lord though. So I am praying for Bro L as much and maybe more right now, than anyone else.

As Mike said, for all of the rest of you that are concerned with who he is, it may not even really be someone in our church. I have an anonymous email that has not been answered after my attempts for a private conversation. And even if it is someone I know, I would rather not even know if he or even she does not want to talk to me. I, as some of you are doing also, will continue to try to get through to him here. I invite him back as often as he will come and only hope he will be more forthcoming in his commentary.

Mike, I do take it all as opportunity for growth. It is actually amazing to me how little abrasive disagreement is effecting me. I am saddened instead of angered or hurt.

Since Bro L has sidetracked this post I just want to remind all what I had in mind when I wrote it. That is that we all do not have to take offense at everything that comes our way. I don’t. And we also need to keep the idea that relationships between the individuals in the Body is a necessary component of completion of our mission.

I thank all of you again and love you all

March 19th, 2009 at 8:56 am

Tammy

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I was very disturbed until I was able to read all of the kind words of protection from each of you.
I love you for defending Christ and my husband’s role in sharing him.
You will never know what this has meant to me.

Babe, you are the most wonderful husband in the world, I am so very proud of you and your accomplishments through Jesus. I am more proud that you do not compromise and that you are built to withstand attacks. You never cease to surprise me with your responses to mankind.

BTW, isn’t it funny how many ways God has shown you what you were missing all of those years without friends to have your back!! It is so much more profitable to invest in people and friendships!! The reward is outstanding!

Love and appreciation to all of you