Why are you here?

FSSL said:
SharperIron... stuffed shirt, tightwads! :P
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LOL.  It's often like "Let me yield to my good friend from ______". 

Terrible. Just terrible!  ;)
 
Was a visitor on the old .com site from almost it's beginning but never on the Elbourne one. Posted very little once i joined years later.

I have heard some high profile people in the IFB posted on the Elbourne one and many knew who they were.

I know its been a long time but would love to hear about the early days of the original Elbourne site.

The real names of prominent people who posted there and what the flavor of the site was like. Kinda like digging up your ancestry or searching out your heritage. We can call it a search for the old paths of the FFF if you will.
 
I'm here because God put me here according to his good pleasure.  Whether my presence be perceived as good or ill or both, or nothing at all, His will is done. 

 
I don't remember the first time I joinednir what handle I used at the time. I joined for one reason and one reason only. What I consider to be the core value of the forum.

I was looking for a place to expressing my beliefs without the fear of being banned for doing so.

To me, the forum had always been about this. Post what you want.. if you don't like it, don't participate. The thread will die or live based on the interest of the forum members.
 
FSSL said:
SharperIron... stuffed shirt, tightwads! :P
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I liked it before the "Z" family drama blew that place up. It is hard to take it seriously now and that was what I liked, they were serious about the discussions. Much deeper than the "I know you are but what am I" stuff that we throw around in here.

The truth is, most  forums eventually become echo chambers or mud pie fights.
 
Why are you here?
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This ? was recently asked me in a rather formal setting by some men who would probably never be caught dead actually posting here under their real names. My answer was two-fold:

1) When I first found the form in the late 90s I was surprised how vitriolic and bitter most of the attitude was toward beliefs I held dear. Like most people, I lurked for a while. Eventually, I came to the place where I kept growling at the screen. It seemed like nobody was standing up for things I believed, and on a forum that was supposedly fundamentalist to boot. The truth was some were but there were just a few. The attitude was (and still is) against the direction of many things I think important. It occurred to me one day that there were probably a whole bunch of other people like myself, lurkers I mean, who never posted but nevertheless read constantly, and that many of them were unsettled in their minds about what they believed. Unlike me, they would be swayed into wrong positions by what they read when there was little if any reasoned people holding right positions publicly. So I began to comment here for the lurker. Generally speaking, I'm not trying to persuade the person on the other side of the debate from me. I'm trying to persuade the reader, to give him the good reasons to maintain/hold a position, to make sure he knows there are good reasons. To a large extent it is still why I write, although increasingly such writing has moved over to my blog and my books. The debates here go round in endless cycles of the same thing and they have grown boring to me through the years. But the reason I began commenting here and the reason I have continued to write, and now write more than ever, is the same. It is for the silent reader.

2) Over the years I have come to value the forum as a place where I find disagreement. The average IFB pastor of my acquaintance has structured his life in such a way so as to avoid most if not all disagreement. His doctrine, philosophy, practice, principle, priority, and action are seldom challenged. That makes his life comfortable. And that's dangerous. The ramifications include little depth and much pride, not coincidentally two concepts that define much of the IFB world. For example, if I have a weak point in a message I preach @ church I almost certainly will not be called on it. I've pastored here 12 years. I love them and they know it; they love me and I know it. Our pastor-people relationship is excellent. But no matter how often I tell them I am willing to hear criticism and to study their Bibles to see if I'm wrong they rarely if ever actually confront me with something. They know I study. They know I love them. They almost always assume I'm right even if I tell them not to do so. But this place? Ha! It always assumes I'm wrong even when I am right. It pushes back constantly. Like a heat-seeking missile it hones in on the weak points in my argument and then jumps up and down on them and hollers as loud as it can. ...which forces me to strengthen the weak points of my positions. Which forces me to study. Which produces depth. Which sometimes makes me change my mind. Which helps keep me humble.

...in short then, I use the forum and do so publicly b/c in so doing it helps the lurker and it helps me. The rest of you? I've got no hope...  :D
 
Tom Brennan said:
2) Over the years I have come to value the forum as a place where I find disagreement. The average IFB pastor of my acquaintance has structured his life in such a way so as to avoid most if not all disagreement. His doctrine, philosophy, practice, principle, priority, and action are seldom challenged. That makes his life comfortable. And that's dangerous. The ramifications include little depth and much pride, not coincidentally two concepts that define much of the IFB world. For example, if I have a weak point in a message I preach @ church I almost certainly will not be called on it.
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Yeah, I know I've said this 1,000 times, but one of the reasons for this is the current assembly model.  You get up, you preach, and everyone is expected to sit quietly and listen.  Even if someone in a pew thinks what you say deserves to be challenged, there's no way he's going to stand up and say so.  And in my experience, when I approach the pastor in private with my challenge, the best I can hope for is that he will pretend to take it into consideration.  Most of the time he simply flatly says that's not what he believes (and therefore will continue preaching whatever he believes, even if it's wrong). It IS a matter of pride.  He has been given the position of papal authority, and he doesn't believe anyone's views have any weight.

In the home assemblies and bible studies I attend, that isn't how things go at all.  People disagree, we debate our points from scripture, and hopefully everyone is edified.  Not everyone leaves convinced of someone's other insights, but at least they're aired on the spot, and not in some way that gives all the Biblical authority to one man.

Where do preachers get the idea that they're infallible popes?  From the people who hire them to assume that very position.

 
Why do you allow me here?
 
Why am I here? Probably because I am not all there!
 
Tim said:
Why do you allow me here?
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It is called the "Timothy-effect." It always happens! Ask rsc2a, Frag and others!

One cannot just "leave" the FFF!
 
Recovering IFB said:
I was told they were giving out free beer.
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Did you try that one I recommended, Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA?  Normally I don't like or buy any beer from the grocery store, but that one is an exception.  Around here it's expensive, though, about $10 for 6 bottles.

 
I found the old forum when I was searching the web for information of the death of Jack Hyles.
I lurked and finally joined the fray.
I use the fff as a diversion, for entertainment and sometimes for fellowship. I am friends with some posters on FB, had phone conversations with others and have even met a few face to face.
There is nothing discussed here worth getting upset or anguished about, IMO. But, obviously some here feel differently. Some seem to think if you have an opinion that differs from theirs - and you aren't immediately convinced otherwise by their brilliant arguments- that you are a contrarian or a liar.

The topics tend to be repetitive, which is fine by me....KJVO, pants, Pastors VS elders, church structure, etc. Because of the repetition, facts often don't matter and reheotoric reigns supreme. I also understand that. The place is what it is and if you don't like what it is, then you're just out of luck...because it ain't changing...at least it hasn't in the incarnations I'm familiar with.

I think the current administration does very well herding us cats. I have no problem or complaint with him/them, at all. As always on the fff, my opinion and 85 cents will get you a senior coffee at McDonalds.
But, I appreciate the forum and those who make it possible.
 
Tarheel Baptist said:
There is nothing discussed here worth getting upset or anguished about, IMO. But, obviously some here feel differently. Some seem to think if you have an opinion that differs from theirs - and you aren't immediately convinced otherwise by their brilliant arguments- that you are a contrarian or a liar.
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I've never seen anyone call another person a liar because they disagreed or had a different opinion.  Can you provide an example?

 
The Rogue Tomato said:
Tarheel Baptist said:
There is nothing discussed here worth getting upset or anguished about, IMO. But, obviously some here feel differently. Some seem to think if you have an opinion that differs from theirs - and you aren't immediately convinced otherwise by their brilliant arguments- that you are a contrarian or a liar.
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I've never seen anyone call another person a liar because they disagreed or had a different opinion.  Can you provide an example?
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You seem to use the word liar frequently.
Perhaps your definition of liar differs from mine.
To be a liar one would deliberately, knowingly, purposely offer false information.
Is that your working definition of liar?
 
Tarheel Baptist said:
The Rogue Tomato said:
Tarheel Baptist said:
There is nothing discussed here worth getting upset or anguished about, IMO. But, obviously some here feel differently. Some seem to think if you have an opinion that differs from theirs - and you aren't immediately convinced otherwise by their brilliant arguments- that you are a contrarian or a liar.
Click to expand...

I've never seen anyone call another person a liar because they disagreed or had a different opinion.  Can you provide an example?
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You seem to use the word liar frequently.
Perhaps your definition of liar differs from mine.
To be a liar one would deliberately, knowingly, purposely offer false information.
Is that your working definition of liar?
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So, you can't provide an example?  I can provide an example of when I called someone a liar because they lied.  Can you please provide an example of when I (or anyone else) called someone a liar because they had a difference of opinion? 

 
The Rogue Tomato said:
Tarheel Baptist said:
The Rogue Tomato said:
Tarheel Baptist said:
There is nothing discussed here worth getting upset or anguished about, IMO. But, obviously some here feel differently. Some seem to think if you have an opinion that differs from theirs - and you aren't immediately convinced otherwise by their brilliant arguments- that you are a contrarian or a liar.
Click to expand...

I've never seen anyone call another person a liar because they disagreed or had a different opinion.  Can you provide an example?
Click to expand...

You seem to use the word liar frequently.
Perhaps your definition of liar differs from mine.
To be a liar one would deliberately, knowingly, purposely offer false information.
Is that your working definition of liar?
Click to expand...

So, you can't provide an example?  I can provide an example of when I called someone a liar because they lied.  Can you please provide an example of when I (or anyone else) called someone a liar because they had a difference of opinion?
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I don't think your examples were examples...they were your perspective on what happened. IMO neither the admin or Ransom are liars.
 
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