patrick jane forums

First Blade, I am not offended when it comes to how each person views their relationship with God.  That is theirs, not mine.  Second, you always take time to explain and flush out your point of view.  It is not insulting or name-calling or damning me to hell.  I am no a Calvinist nor a Wesleyan or for that matter any other defined theology at this point.  I find them all fascinating and worthy of study.  Some I enjoy more than others, some I struggle with.

I am the same when it comes to the choice of Bibles.  Each to their own.  I prefer the ESV for the academic side of things as much as I prefer the Oxford for the research side.  I love the KJV for its eloquence but find that its eloquence sometimes hinders its understanding.  But that is just my opinion and no one else's.  I do my best not to force how I see things on others, but I will still express how I feel.

You said : "Not so much because of the rituals, dogma, but because the version of the bibles is different. "  I said this based on multiple different experiences and not as some generic overview.  If I was not clear it was from experience and only limited to that, I apologize.  But it does happen.   That is where we run afoul of choice of Bible and holding it so close to being the only acceptable view, that we can, in some instances, loose sight of spreading Jesus' teachings.  I can get into a tit for tat over which is more accurate which is more used, which is based on the oldest etc.  But that again defeats the complete purpose of the teachings of Jesus.

*Mark: are we not charged with spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ (according to scriptures), not someone's beliefs?

*Are we not also charged with calling those out who are preaching or teaching a "FALSE" Gospel so the reader can make a informed decision?

That is what I try to do. Give the WORD's of Jesus Christ independent of my own interpretation and let them decide.

Amen to that and I am agreement.   I think we both have the same goals and desires on spreading the Gospel, we have just chosen a different approach to the same thing.

Thank you for your reply and the discussion.  I am always grateful for it.