EPH 4:15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ,
Marcia:
It may be difficult to see from your perspective, but some of us are indeed speaking the truth in love.
HEB 12:15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;
The root of bitterness was not the root of our troubles, it was the sins of the leadership that was the root of our troubles. If there are those amongst us who are bitter (and there very may well be), then the Lord will also hold the leadership accountable for the results of their sins which includes this bitterness. These people were in leadership, they had a great responsibility. But I do agree that we carefully need to examine ourselves, and if there be any bitterness in our hearts we need to have that dealt with.
EPH 4:31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
Amen. I totally agree with you on this, but I do not believe this describes the heart of this bulletin board's creator or many of the others on this web site who have described what they have observed. Despite the fact that I was greatly wronged by the leadership, I never had bitterness, anger, or wrath, even at the time that I was wronged. However, I must say that my heart was greatly hurt by this experience. Since "leaving fellowship", I have spent years praying for those who remained, as I am sure many others have as well. This does not come from bitterness Marcia, this comes from love. There is a lot of first hand experience brought to this web site, and I have seen very little conjecture (apart from some that may be included in the humor / sarcasm that is sometimes found here).
The purpose of this bulletin board is to expose hidden sin that should have been exposed years ago.
In some cases many are revealing the condition of their own hearts, and it is not very Christ-like.
1. May the sin of others, and the harm they have done to us, not hinder us in maintaining our own hearts for the Lord.
2. May we not succumb to becoming what we are trying to expose. Remember the French Revolution.
3. May we now not start to compel others to follow 'our' remedy to the problem, just as we have been 'compelled' to follow others in the past.
It is time to repent from all of those 'old' harmful attitudes, and to humbly seek the Lord for His direction.
It is not the time to 'air' out dirty laundry, but to "speak the truth in love".
Marcia, I don't consider the work that Brent and others have done as airing out dirty laundry. Brent and others have made a great effort to right the wrongs of the leadership before this web site came about, but the leadership did nothing of great consequence. This web site has forced those in leadership to acknowledge their sin's. We must remember that these people were in leadership, they ran the show. I say praise God for men like Brent, who are not afraid to stand up for what is right
Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceit. (Proverbs 27:5-6)
Sometimes open rebuke is needed. The leadership's sins needed to be dealt with. Their sin could not continue. It would have been great if this could have been done without this web site, but sometimes, people need to be "hit over the head" with the truth to see the error of their way. I would hope that those in leadership would be thankful, that things have been made clear to them, so that they can repent. I believe that heaven was rejoicing over Danny E's repentance. I am so glad that he turned his back on the ways of the past, and is making steps on following what God would have for him. This is a good thing. No, this is a GREAT thing. My tears of sorrow have been changed to tears of joy for what the Lord is doing in this man's life. I pray that others would turn their lives around as well. I would hope that this would be your desire as well. But even if it is only one man who repents, a great work has still been done.
Some who have 'left fellowship'(for lack of a different phrase) need to repent(not necessarily for leaving) for allowing your hearts to become bitter, and for a 'demonstrated' lack of trusting God.
"If the shoe fits..." ---I don't know who said it
Marcia, in some cases the "shoe may fit", I do not know anyone here well enough to discern this. But your statement may look to some as a way to blame the victim and excuse the perpetrators in leadership. There are some seriously hurt people here, may God's grace be shown to them. Many also left because they could not abide with the rampant unrepentant "way of life" sin that they were exposed to. They asked themselves, "What fellowship can light have with darkness?" It is very important to remember that these sins were in the leadership.
Marcia, pray for your local leadership. Challenge them to examine themselves to see if there was any complicity to any of these sins in their leadership, that the Lord's testimony would remain pure.
I am sure that you have seen God work in your gathering as I had also seen God work in my local gathering when I was "in fellowship". And for a lot of the sins that I have seen talked about here, I have also seen the opposite as well. Some posted of families being torn apart my manipulative leadership, but I have also seen families brought together in service to our Lord. But this isn't the point, we are not keeping a score sheet here. We just want God to be honored and his people be delivered from sin. I am sure that many of our hearts are saddened when we hear of the great sins that have occurred. From your post I "assume" that you may still be "in fellowship". If this is so, please let us know how God is working in your gathering, so that we too may be encouraged. I am hoping and praying that the Lord would do a great work in all these matters.
