rimrock
03-31-2006, 11:17 AM
Unity without uniformity is always the key. Unity is also never achieved by control. All people including the Christian struggles to control all which happens around them, and I truly mean all things! I know in my life it’s the basis of my worry, frustration, disappointment, anger…you the name it; when it comes from the flesh it’s about control. As Christians we have also become very good at wrapping our need for control in very spiritual sounding ways. We are not even against dragging God’s name though it to give it support, but it’s about our human desire; not God’s desire.
The Spirit is much different isn’t it? When we are living by the Spirit we sense His peace since we are not trying to control life and everyone around us. And I confess I seek my desire far, far more than God’s :redface:. Obviously we will continue to notice this trend from time to time in the Chapel, because we all have this sin nature about us (the control nature I call it when it comes to my life :depressed:). One group trying to limit another in what can be shared or posted – hardly unity this in more about uniformity and uniformity is about human control. Even posts like “I only read the prayer requests and ignore everything else” can even unintentionally seek to manipulate one another. That’s a statement from the flesh since it certainly places guilt on someone else. Could you image Jesus saying He would “ignore everything else” :shrug: in a way looking down on other Christians from a superior type spiritual pedestal? Or would He allow more freedom than that?
I understand I want things a certain way in my life and I freely confess much too often my prayer life is about telling God what I want in my life :hoboy:. But God is always so much broader than my thinking. Jesus modeled so much for us to follow. He prayed, He shared, He discussed, He encouraged, He convicted, He challenged…He even wept. Yet as Christians we keep trying to place God in own individually defined boxes and control how people are to act.
If we truly desire to become to a multi-faith prayer only Chapel, then one of the very first things which will needs to be done would be to eliminating the two pinned “Scripture of the week” threads. These are clearly theology-based; an ongoing discussion expounding on the Christian Bible. They give all that come here demonstrating a clear bias for Christianity since no other “faiths” are pinned to the top. These treads by definition are against the rules of the Chapel they are theology, even though I greatly appreciate the time FM2 must put into them :cool:.
We will need to continue to reflect on this, maybe even a poll :idea:to see if a limited prayer only board is the will of the people or a freer open subject board. A pure “prayer board” fine, really it doesn’t matter to me God is much bigger than the i-fish chapel either way. If not than let us not be concerned with limiting one another – unity without uniformity but always, ALWAYS done in gentleness and respect. :angel:
The Spirit is much different isn’t it? When we are living by the Spirit we sense His peace since we are not trying to control life and everyone around us. And I confess I seek my desire far, far more than God’s :redface:. Obviously we will continue to notice this trend from time to time in the Chapel, because we all have this sin nature about us (the control nature I call it when it comes to my life :depressed:). One group trying to limit another in what can be shared or posted – hardly unity this in more about uniformity and uniformity is about human control. Even posts like “I only read the prayer requests and ignore everything else” can even unintentionally seek to manipulate one another. That’s a statement from the flesh since it certainly places guilt on someone else. Could you image Jesus saying He would “ignore everything else” :shrug: in a way looking down on other Christians from a superior type spiritual pedestal? Or would He allow more freedom than that?
I understand I want things a certain way in my life and I freely confess much too often my prayer life is about telling God what I want in my life :hoboy:. But God is always so much broader than my thinking. Jesus modeled so much for us to follow. He prayed, He shared, He discussed, He encouraged, He convicted, He challenged…He even wept. Yet as Christians we keep trying to place God in own individually defined boxes and control how people are to act.
If we truly desire to become to a multi-faith prayer only Chapel, then one of the very first things which will needs to be done would be to eliminating the two pinned “Scripture of the week” threads. These are clearly theology-based; an ongoing discussion expounding on the Christian Bible. They give all that come here demonstrating a clear bias for Christianity since no other “faiths” are pinned to the top. These treads by definition are against the rules of the Chapel they are theology, even though I greatly appreciate the time FM2 must put into them :cool:.
We will need to continue to reflect on this, maybe even a poll :idea:to see if a limited prayer only board is the will of the people or a freer open subject board. A pure “prayer board” fine, really it doesn’t matter to me God is much bigger than the i-fish chapel either way. If not than let us not be concerned with limiting one another – unity without uniformity but always, ALWAYS done in gentleness and respect. :angel: