behind the 8 ball

[dougjb]

Hi everyone,
I have been extremely busy lately and have not had the time to interact very much. I got on today to see that exwichoz is leaving.:confused: I am really behind the 8 ball on this one. I do not like it when people leave because of any issue. The way I understand it, this is place where we are to express ourselves with a level of mutual respect even though we may disagree. i hate to see anyone leave and I want them all back. How do we stop the bleeding of people leaving? Mercy triumphs over judgment.
i do not know - imput please??????????

Some food for thought
Dougjb

[Voyager]

How do we stop the bleeding of people leaving?
I learned early on that to stay on these forums, you have to develop a certain amount of tolerance for the beliefs of others. Many of us, including myself, were involved in high-demand groups that did not allow for differing religious opinions. Coming here was a wake-up call for me. I really saw the benefit of the forum to help me recover from spiritual abuse, but I had a hard time tolerating religious doctrines that were different from those that I had been taught.

Over time, I ended up throwing out every religious doctrine I was ever taught in my former abusive church, and replaced them all with a new belief system. My new belief system focuses primarily on what Jesus Christ did at Calvary to atone for my sins and those of others. Gone are all of the legalistic and dogmatic teachings and rules of my former belief system. This new belief system has allowed for me to tolerate the beliefs of others, regardless if they line-up with mine or not. This has helped me look at people in a different light. I can now accept them for who they are, apart from their religious beliefs. I believe that this is how Jesus looked at people. He didn't pre-judge anyone based on their beliefs (except for the spiritually-abusive Pharisees).

I think the key here is tolerance. Many of us were involved in abusive groups that were very intolerant of people who were not like them. In addition, I no longer believe that Jesus promoted intolerance or exclusion. I believe that He promoted tolerance and inclusion. If that were not the case, there would have been no reason for Him to die for our sins in order to include us in His kingdom.

:cool:

[butterfly]

Todays post from OZ is the first time I heard he was upset.

I do not know what caused him to feel this way so sudden. I haven"t read any problems before this.

I will miss his posts and humour.

I don"t know maybe he got triggered some how.

At this point I think he alone knows the reason of his reaction.

Still will miss him.

I agree with Abby post. If I wasn"t abused I would wounder why people would be so against Gods word.

Being abused changes Gods word into arsnic. butterfly shirley

[abbey]

Oh, gee whiz, I dont have the faintest why J_L left. But he did leave and in his tone was rejection. I especially was hurt when he said he would be certain to avoid sending any Christians our way.

Rejection in claiming we were not a Christ-like community.

I tryed to explain that there is psychological damage that we all suffer, and we arent always gonna be quoting scripture etc. He doesnt understand the triggers we face. Heck, I cant even watch a simple 700 club episode with out getting nauseated. I dont think J_L understands SA and thats the FACTS!

He really doesnt understand SA!

Im sure more people can give you a more accurate answer.

Cheers

[Janice]

[QUOTE=abbey;45840]Oh, gee whiz, I dont have the faintest why J_L left. But he did leave and in his tone was rejection. I especially was hurt when he said he would be certain to avoid sending any Christians our way.

J-L must do what he must do. In the end..it won't matter who he tries to steer away from this fourm. God ALWAYS has the last word. ;)

I truly believe the Lord has it completely under control and HE will have here who HE wants here, and HE will remove those HE doesn't want here.

[Voyager]

Well said Janice.

:cool: