Many Sorrows....Welcome to My World of Woe

The following was written over the course of the past week or so....

Forum People Have Feelings (written mid-June)

Bill B. wrote a piece at FFOZ blog entitled “Forum People Have Faces” where he expressed his delight in meeting those whom he had only interacted with on the forum [at the recent Shavuot conference in Hudson, WI].

Nice sentiments expressed....yet it prompted this reply, a reply I would not be able to express as a comment at the FFOZ blog...

Forum people have feelings too. Just because you don’t see someone in person does not make that person any less real. When you dismiss their opinions, views, comments, etc., you are disrespecting them, just as if you were to see them face to face and tell them to “shut up.”

Bill once wrote me and said, “Once we dehumanize a person and their opinions or viewpoints then it is much easier to dismiss them all together.”

I agree....and the opposite is also true:

Dismissing someone altogether (e.g., from a forum) is to dehumanize a person and his opinions and viewpoints.

I wrote this email to Bill in early May:

Though I have forgiven you, I remain silenced by your words. It has shut off communication between us and between me and others at TR. I am very reluctant to post for fear I may inadvertantly say something “offensive” and incur your wrath. I notice you did the same thing to Rick Spurlock at FFOZ, rebuking his post and defending “the plastic pie pastor.”

Now Michael fears offending Tim and is reluctant to share his view. Interesting. Free speech does not seem to exist on either forum for fear that someone may take offense. How few who have been around awhile post at all anymore! A sad state of affairs indeed.

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Re: TR and the decision made by Tim to close down the Forum (with consensus from his moderators Bill, John, and Nate)....

To censure and dismiss an entire forum full of people who were benefiting from the interaction, fellowshipping with one another in lieu of other options, all alone in their little corner of the world without like-minded fellowship, is to say, “Get out of here. I’m closing the door and booting you out of my congregation. This congregation is by invitation only. I’m a Calvinist, I am sovereign, and I will treat you in the same manner as the ogre god I serve. This forum is not for “whosoever will”.... it is “by invitation only”....people I don’t like need not apply. I will decide who gets to play in my sandbox. I do not like people whose views differ from mine. I am right....and everyone else is wrong.”

Fractured and Fragile

Do forum owners/moderators realize that “forum people” might be fractured and fragile....alone in their belief system and observances, getting little to no support from family and friends?

In catering to new people, “baby Christians,” those with newbie enthusiasm and dollars to spend at your website, are you abusing the hurting sheep (Ezek. 34)? The Apostle Peter was told to feed the lambs and the sheep if he truly loved Yeshua (John 21).

In all of my church experiences, as I grew in my zealousness for the truth of God’s Word, I kept hearing that we had to be kind and considerate to “the baby Christians” who were not ready for “strong meat.” Strong meat? Like forsaking pagan holidays that God hates? It is the basics in Acts 15 that got us booted or shunned in the congregations. Tickling the ears with pop psychology syncretized with a dash of Biblical flavoring was all many pastors were willing to provide (citing concerns for their retirement package, etc.). In the name of “love and unity” we were not to rock the boat and cause “strife and division.”

In the Messianic world, it is “lashon hara” that is cited. This covers any speech that the moderators or forum owners do not feel comfortable with....including Holy Spirit conviction brought on by the truth of God’s Word or discussion of a sensitive subject in search of greater understanding.

Learning to Endure Pain (written 6/22)

Why should I be happy? There is little to be happy about. Israel is in its season of dread. (see sidebar article). My dog, Forest, died on Friday. I sat with him for much of 7 hours while his worried look and labored breathing indicated the end was near. Another dog, Kenya, is not feeling well either. May be food poisoning. Tainted pet and people food is part of life in America today with foreign suppliers and terrorism. Our country is being brought down by a thousand paper cuts.

Peter is getting married today. Now he will have two wives. Divorce and remarriage amounts to serial polygamy in my view. There is hardly an intact family in America today. Another grief of mind I endure.

Comfort from the Book of Job and Bible Pathway (written 6/26)

“Job expressed his pitiful loneliness....there seemed to be no end to the anguish. One of our greatest trials is to pray and continue praying without any apparent sign that God has heard....But the effectiveness of our prayers cannot be judged by immediate results. There are many reasons for delay...”

How unsearchable are His judgements and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the LORD? Or who hath been His counsellor? (Romans 11:34)

6/20....Forest died (13 year old pet dog)

6/22....Peter married Sara

6/24....Kenya died (13 year old pet dog)

6/25....Depressed and dysfunctional....still reeling from the TR/FFOZ snub and the growing realization that I have not had like-minded fellowship at either venue all along. Very disillusioned with both organizations and the “Torah movement” in general. Very sad about Peter’s plight....his kids, family, Tonya ....also Dan and family, me and Pat...grieving and trying to understand how things turned out this way. My sister has not responded to my "olive branch" note card of many weeks ago. Remembering my 18 year old beloved cat, Little Black, who died of kidney failure/multiple organ failure due to tainted pet food on April 19, 2007 (the same week of Peter's family breakup; now, a year later, he remarries coincidal with more pet deaths!) What is going on with poisoned pet food and poisoned relationships??

“When our world turns upside down and everything and everyone seems to be against us, God has promised that He would never leave us. We must learn to trust God. When we recognize the LORD’s ways, all fears and frustrations vanish. It is not required that we understand everything, but only to be faithful and obedient to God’s Word.”

Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him... (Job 13:15)