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hillsbororiver:
Hello Brothers & Sisters,

Recently we read a dear Brother's testimony regarding his current feelings about continuing his fellowship and membership here, confusion weaved through this announcement and I must state that I could relate to it unambiguously as I have been there myself.

I have been a member here since 2005 and have seen all too many come and go, some of them were folks I truly cherished fellowshipping with, I was incredulous and even saddened by their sudden departure. Every situation has been unique of course but most had one of the following reasons for leaving.

Their topics of interest were not being addressed sufficiently.

They felt ignored or unappreciated.

They began to resent what they perceived to be too much credence to Ray, who is "only a man" (true) who (they believed) had no more spiritual wisdom than any other who sought God's spirit. (My own opinion and experience is that Ray has been given an incredible portion of spiritual understanding).

They also resented what they claimed to be cliqueishness among the membership where some within certain subgroups (their perception) only interacted with those within their "clique."

They felt they were spending too much time seeking the approval of others (here) rather than seeking the One on one relationship with our Lord that is absolutely essential to our salvation.

There are other subsets of reasons too, some just did not feel there was a need for moderators or censoring other teachings here (even though that is fully addressed prior to membership). This feeling would spiral into animosity toward any moderator or member who would remind them of this basic, fundamental purpose of what the purpose of the Bible Truths Forum is all about.

Another reason would be their disenchantment with how personal revelations or teachings (sometimes very compelling) are not encouraged publicly, that Bible Truths would restrict members from using the Forum as a podium for their own compulsion to teach, ironically many of these same people who would state we do not "need men to teach us" would afford themselves the right to teach others.

Some just began to feel the rules should not apply to them any longer.

I am not saying that we should not privately share discoveries with each other (PM's, email, phone, etc.) that perhaps are not addressed by Ray, only that the reason most of us are even (sincerely) here is because of the articles Ray has written and how these articles spoke to our spirit, we read them and we were filled with joy and amazement at what we saw as the real Good News of God.

It is true that certain folks relate better with some people rather than others, this is our present (temporal) reality, it is not going to change until we experience "the change," when we are totally spiritual creatures, we must have patience, empathy and mercy toward those we are not in complete harmony with whether that be here, in the churches, or in the world. We will not experience real spiritual growth until we realize and accept this, we can gain knowledge, memorizing chapter and verse, even become fluent in the root words of Hebrew and Greek impressing many who come into our spheres of this life. But guess what, pure knowledge is not wisdom.

Folks please keep in mind the original reason you first wanted to join with us (you remember don't you?), we make no claims of perfection, there may be times you feel slighted or unappreciated, there may be times that the things you want to discuss do not resonate with others but this is all part of growing in spirit. If anyone was alone and could not really count on human compassion and loyalty it is our Lord Jesus, He is our example as well as our goal, to be One with Him and our Father we must be overcomers, and we must be merciful and compassionate, patient and longsuffering.

This will never be a perfect oasis from trials and tribulations but I have not found (not for a lack of searching) a better place to fellowship with my Brothers and Sisters who are also sojourning through this earthly obstacle course our Father has deemed necessary for our ultimate perfection.

I have probably (once again) gone on a bit too long but I want to close with just one verse;

Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

His Peace to you all,

Joe

             

Ninny:
Joe I very much appreciate this post. It makes me very sad when people decide to leave it hurts worse when they just leave without saying good bye. I for one get very attached to the people on this forum. I love them dearly and I feel bad when time goes by and I haven't seen someone post for awhile. Everyone here is so dear to me. I will admit that some are easier to get along with than others, but we just have to learn to deal with each other's differences!

When we remember that the reason we came here was because we understand that there is no other place to fellowship with like believers. There have been many days when just a word from someone here lifted me up and held me in place. The prayers of everyone here are the prayers of faithful friends and brothers and sisters  each one is an wonderful gift to me. I love sharing with everyone on this forum and I have enjoyed getting to know some better through pm's and email and now even on facebook! This is a great family and a great place to fellowship and enjoy each other in the Lord!

Thanks again, Joe for sharing this!
Love,
Kathy ;) :-*

daywalker:
Hello Joe,

I may not have been here that long [almost a year] but I too have noticed that a few members which I talked with before, haven't let any comments/posts in a long time. I just pray that God is there with them, wherever they are, guiding them along "the path of righteousness".

I think some people just have a problem discerning between sharing thoughts and ideas, and trying to "teach" people. I've left several posts of 'revelations' [in my view] and other truths that have become clear to me, and many of us leave posts with words of guidance and wisdom for others here, especially the "newbies". Some of these could be interpreted as "teaching", but in reality it's just us helping out each other, and sharing what we've learned in the Scriptures and through Ray's teachings, and expanding on them, the correct way, by following God's Guidelines, such as:

1. "rightly dividing the Word of God"--II Timothy 2:15

2. "but in a multitude of counselors there is safety"--Proverbs 11:14

etc...

From my experience here so far, I believe the moderators have done an EXCELLENT job in discerning whether someone is attempting to by "our teacher", or someone is simply sharing their thoughts, ideas. Furthermore, between the moderators and the rest of the members here [especially the 'veteran' ones], I believe this Forum does a SUPERB job at sticking to the Scriptures, rather than throwing out random opinions and getting into "futile debates".

But that's just from my experience here. Perhaps there used to be more issues in the past, but since I've been here, this Forum has truly been LIKE NO OTHER ON THE INTERNET!!  :D ;D ;) :)


- Daywalker.  8)

Kat:

Thanks Joe, very well put.
I think we have to be careful not to take this forum for granted and to recognize what a privilege it is to have this place.  The truth is so precious and rare and to have a group of people of like mind to discuss these things with is a phenomenon.  I know that God has given us this place and will keep it going as long as He sees fit.  God willing this forum will be here until Jesus returns, but we don't know that it will.  So I just want to make the most of this place every day that I can  :)

mercy, peace and love
Kat

  

Nelson:
Hi folks,

Blessings to you Joe and as a 'new veteran' I know exactly what you're saying. These things have happened in the past and I'm sure they will happen again in the future too.

Joe knows me quite well and he'll confirm what I say. I have been a member of BT for many years and there were problems some years ago and the forum switched to this new format. Shortly after that there were many divisions among members and too many posts were ending up as fruitless debates and outright arguments. There were personal attacks on Ray (even though everyone should know that he doesn't visit this forum), on the moderators, and I even had detractors caning my person too.

All that resulted was division and the body suffered as a result. It was very sad to see these things happening but I'd say that it was the very sickle that this site needed. Well, those 'others' went off and started their own forums etc. and BT carried on. I remained a member here but also visited those other forums. Having seen the damage that comes from 'debates', 'rebuttles' and 'teachings' I reduced my visits on forums to just reading a few posts but I did drop the odd post here and there. I spent time with the Lord, some time in the wilderness and some time with Joe (on a visit to Florida last year) and that worked well for me. I did most of my communicating privately through PM's and did not post very often in the forums.

The Lord has shown me many wonderful things, He brought me to BT where I learned much truth and gained valuable fellowship. The way to life is difficult and physical fellowship is very minimal and so this board is a beacon for God's elect. It is the fellowship and edifying found here that's like food for my soul, that's why I spend most of my time in this section of the forum. We have a oneness of the spirit that should be enjoyed and a love among ourselves that can be expressed through the internet as well as felt in our spirit.

I can understand that some may feel burdened trying to read through and/or replying to posts on the forum, but if we've reached a point where that is so then we must take serious stock of what we are doing and more importantly, WHY we're doing it.

This place is our congregation, let's use it to edify and build up, to offer support & prayer to each other, to share what the Lord is showing us and to accept some reproof where needed (I certainly know the value of that), and this place will not be the house of blues, but the house of the rising Son (sorry couldn't resist that one) and then we can all bask in the warmth rather than shiver in the cold.

The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit my brothers and sisters

Nelson

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