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Post by bluejay on Dec 31, 2006 0:04:18 GMT -5
Hi Brad, In another of your posts I replied "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water." This certainly applies to this topic for me personally. I meet with a wonderfully varied group of people every Sunday morning. Before the service starts things are often hectic, as people greet each other, visit, and bustle about. Once the worship music starts, people settle down and join in the singing. I've often remembered the quiet before meetings, and wished the sanctuary at this church could be a 'quiet place' before the service. After rushing around at home getting ready, I'd appreciate a few minutes of peace to relax & calm my mind. They do request the sanctuary be a place of prayer, not visiting, after the service, but I wish that could be extended to pre-service time also. Maybe I'll send someone a note with my request ... They do welcome questions, suggestions, etc. Not everything associated with the f&w's is "wrong", imo. Some things the workers and friends do we may not see as wrong because we are comfortable with it. I've seen former 2x2's (myself included) go to a worship service and feel very uncomfortable with the proceedings. Nothing scriptural, just a felling of uncomfortableness. But once you get used to the way things go, then you're OK with it. Jesus went apart to pray. I think that if we want quiet time that it is good to get away from other people. We wouldn't go to a celebration to try to be quiet. I'm thankful that where I go to worship the people are excited to see each other and have so much to talk about. I see so much of God's work going on in my life, my dad's life and others lives. Its fun to talk about it and give thanks to God for His amazing work. I was so earnest for my dad to become a Christian. And when he did, I could hardly believe it. That gave me a lot to share with others. I have a friend in the 2x2 group that is learning about God now. I gave him the 101 lessons on Biblical Evangelism by Ray Comfort and (someone else, I forget) and the man is on chapter 10. I am so excited for him. I couldn't keep me quiet about it even if I wanted to. God is so exciting that even the earth declares His glory and amazing attention to detail. Best wishes to you and I hope you find somewhere to go to be quiet before worship. Brad I totally agree with you Brad - it is exciting to see God working in so many lives around us! There's a song that we sing sometimes by a group called Starfield. I thought I'd share the lyrics with you. "Filled With Your Glory" In my heart, in my heart, there's a fire burning A passion deep within my soul Not slowing down, not growing cold An unquenchable flame that keeps burning brighter A love that's blazing like the sun For who You are and what You've done And as the fire is raging on So Your praise becomes my song The whole earth Is filled with Your glory, Lord Angels and men adore Creation longs for what's in store (Mountains bow and oceans roar) May You be Honored and glorified Exalted and lifted high Here at Your feet I lay my life From the ends of the earth To the heights of Heaven Your glory, Lord, is far and wide Through history You reign on high From the depths of the sea To the mountain's summit Your power, Lord, it knows no bounds A higher love cannot be found So let the universe proclaim Your great power and Your great name
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Post by Im Rejoicing on Dec 31, 2006 0:20:57 GMT -5
Hey Brad - I'm excited too about worshiping God and telling others about Him. So many things have changed for the good since i left the 2X2 box. Now i can Praise God freely. Keep on telling others of His Glory... I certainly am going to!! Cheers.. another rejoicing brother.
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Post by Brad Lewis on Dec 31, 2006 0:39:50 GMT -5
You might be a worker if you want to order a blouse with ruffles and you ask to borrow the family's credit card to pay-then you pay them back with cash.
shared by a friend,
Brad
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Post by Brad Lewis on Dec 31, 2006 0:40:30 GMT -5
You might be a worker if you log onto your e-bay account to search for a new water cooler, ice machine and walk in freezer. Shared by someone else Brad
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Post by Brad Lewis on Dec 31, 2006 0:46:40 GMT -5
Hey Brad - I'm excited too about worshiping God and telling others about Him. So many things have changed for the good since i left the 2X2 box. Now i can Praise God freely. Keep on telling others of His Glory... I certainly am going to!! Cheers.. another rejoicing brother. Praise the LORD! I am so happy for you. You brought memories back of the day I stood out on the street in front of my place and looked up to heaven and thought to myself "I'm free! God loves me!" One of the most profound things I heard when attending a worship service led by someone educated on the Bible was God's profound love for everyone and how He cares about every detail of our life and wants to help us. The man speaking said that God wants a close relationship with us and has made us like Him in that we need close relationships. It was so profound I realized I had never known God before! And then I learned that I should worship Jesus and the Holy Spirit like the apostles did. ! Wow, that was new. I looked in the Bible and sure enough, it was true! Now I realized that I hadn't known God because the people I had been learning from were uneducated. The disciples were unlearned before following Jesus and afterwards people were amazed at their teaching. It was because God the son had taught them. I love Godly teaching because it frees my soul from the lies of the devil. The workers teach these lies and the people don't know different because they've heard lies all their life. I hope God blesses you in amazing ways this year! Brad
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Post by Brad Lewis on Dec 31, 2006 0:51:35 GMT -5
You know you are a 2x2 when you don't have any close friends. Brad ) It is so sad that 2x2s cannot have close friends. They cannot express their true feelings to each other. They do not trust each other. They don't trust the workers because of all their gossip and telling other people what so and so is having problems with. The workers don't have answers and many feel like committing suicide. The workers lie to each other and there are a lot of feuds and feelings between each other. And because they cannot have good relationships they turn to addictions of alcohol, bitterness, control freaks and such. Many of the young men and woman are destroyed by the false balances of harsh judgment on others and no judgments on themselves. It is a sad pitiful lonely life and I don't miss it. I'm certainly not perfect and don't pretend to be. I've got a lot of things I'm working through. I'm so glad that I'm not in bondage to others feelings. I'm not responsible to make other people happy. I'm responsible to God to tell the truth and tell others of God's love. YOu cannot have close relationships and share your inmost feelings with workers, but you can have the best relationship with God that you've ever known and that is infinitely better God Bless you all and I wish you a happy new year abiding in the great Love. Brad
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_
Junior Member
Posts: 71
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Post by _ on Dec 31, 2006 1:03:19 GMT -5
Brad,
Your blanket statements are misleading...
To say none of the Friends have close friends is simply false...
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Post by Brad Lewis on Jan 1, 2007 13:48:12 GMT -5
Brad, Your blanket statements are misleading... To say none of the Friends have close friends is simply false... I am defining a close friend as a Christian friend. This is the type of friend that Christ intended us to be to others. 2x2s are incapable of being this type of friend, because they actually do not even know much about Jesus, much less his doctrine. If they did, they would leave the group and have fellowship with Christians. Do you still think I'm misleading? Brad
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Nichole M
Senior Member
I John 1:5 ..... God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
Posts: 486
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Post by Nichole M on Jan 1, 2007 17:51:04 GMT -5
You know you are a worker when after your done speaking you know what you said came out backwards, upsidedown and inside out (because you really don't know what your were trying to say anyway) but you believe the Holy Spirit will straighten it all out and everyone will understand what you said.
Nichole
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Nichole M
Senior Member
I John 1:5 ..... God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
Posts: 486
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Post by Nichole M on Jan 1, 2007 17:54:10 GMT -5
You know you are a worker when you and your companion pretend to be Jesus and just drop in on someone to see if they are "ready" for His return.
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Nichole M
Senior Member
I John 1:5 ..... God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
Posts: 486
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Post by Nichole M on Jan 1, 2007 17:58:28 GMT -5
You know you are a younger worker when you have to ask permission to do anything other than what your older companion planned - even with your so called "free time"
Nichole
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Nichole M
Senior Member
I John 1:5 ..... God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
Posts: 486
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Post by Nichole M on Jan 1, 2007 17:59:53 GMT -5
You know you are a worker when you are more concerned about not being like the "worldly churches" rather than what the Bible teaches.
Nichole
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Nichole M
Senior Member
I John 1:5 ..... God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
Posts: 486
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Post by Nichole M on Jan 1, 2007 18:08:55 GMT -5
You know you are a worker when being Homeless is a good thing.
Nichole
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Nichole M
Senior Member
I John 1:5 ..... God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
Posts: 486
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Post by Nichole M on Jan 1, 2007 18:28:45 GMT -5
You know you are a worker when getting to know the people in your field you have to sit though hours of some little old lady telling you the geneology of each person - of course emphasizing the members who were/are workers or elders in their lives.
Nichole
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Nichole M
Senior Member
I John 1:5 ..... God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
Posts: 486
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Post by Nichole M on Jan 1, 2007 18:30:44 GMT -5
You know you are a worker when you know what it is meant when someone talks about the meeting after the meeting.
Nichole
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Nichole M
Senior Member
I John 1:5 ..... God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
Posts: 486
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Post by Nichole M on Jan 1, 2007 18:38:08 GMT -5
You know you are a worker when at convention you not only have 3 meals a day but also 3 tea times in the house.
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Post by UNO on Jan 1, 2007 19:10:32 GMT -5
You know you are a worker when you don't have to worry what you say since you know no one is really listening.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2007 19:54:19 GMT -5
Uno, that may appear true to someone who has not been a worker, but every younger worker will tell you that not one word they say in meeting escapes the judgment of a companion or is taken to other workers if "friends" think it is not in "tune" when no companion is present.
The life of a worker is indeed known only by those who have been in the work. I have to smile at the comments of Brad and Nichole for the basic truths they contain. Perhaps sometime I will add some of my own if others do not beat me to it. Been a long time ago for me, and I've made a great deal of effort to let the unpleasantries go, but some simply will not fade.
dj
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Post by Brad Lewis on Jan 1, 2007 20:13:23 GMT -5
You know you are a worker when you want people to get the message within the message. Brad
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Post by Brad Lewis on Jan 1, 2007 20:15:38 GMT -5
YOu know you are a worker when you thinks its a miracle that someone professes after you feel like you've made a mess of the gospel in meetings. Brad
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Nichole M
Senior Member
I John 1:5 ..... God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
Posts: 486
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Post by Nichole M on Jan 1, 2007 20:33:57 GMT -5
Perhaps sometime I will add some of my own dj Dennis Would love to hear some of yours...... Nichole
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2007 20:47:49 GMT -5
Ok, Nicole, smiles... how about...
You are a young worker if you think "I don't know" should have been tattooed somewhere for you to show because you've had to say it so many times when you can't answer questions!"
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Post by Stefan on Jan 1, 2007 21:52:41 GMT -5
You know you are a worker when you live a life of sacrifice because you believe it to be right and you have the grace to ignore the gutless cynics who have nothing better to do than to criticize.
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Nichole M
Senior Member
I John 1:5 ..... God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
Posts: 486
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Post by Nichole M on Jan 1, 2007 22:19:28 GMT -5
Ok, Nicole, smiles... how about...
You are a young worker if you think "I don't know" should have been tattooed somewhere for you to show because you've had to say it so many times when you can't answer questions!" Thanks Dennis, How true.......How once you become a worker everyone thinks you actually know the answers - and you have no training. Nichole
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Post by Grace on Jan 2, 2007 0:38:16 GMT -5
You know you are a worker when . . . [glow=red,2,300] you live a life of sacrifice because you believe it to be right and you have the grace to ignore the gutless cynics who have nothing better to do than to criticize [/glow] the questionable sacrifice and grace you may not show to the world.
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Post by oh baby on Jan 2, 2007 21:02:04 GMT -5
Reading this post is like listening to someone's therapy session. When a poster used the term inane to describe this thread I thought the missing "s" was just a typo.
I can see drool all over the guys keyboard as he types. Buddy, get a grip. God is in control.
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Post by I Know on Jan 2, 2007 23:05:26 GMT -5
I know I am a worker because God told me The problem is he did not tell me where to work
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jude
Senior Member
Christ Follower
Posts: 588
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Post by jude on Jan 2, 2007 23:29:13 GMT -5
Here is my take on it... There are true conversion's in the 2x2 religion. There may be faulty doctrine, I don't know. But I know that Christ can reside in one that has a true heart for him. Regardless to the church they belong to.
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