| If an unbeliever makes their way to Actscelerate, then by all means, please share the gospel with them!But when it comes to your brothers and sisters on Acts, please understand that while most people here enjoy a good debate and that the forum is always open for discussions of all sorts, it quickly becomes tiring when posters continually evangelize a single opinion in all of their posts, especially when it is an opinion that is not commonly held by other posters.This forum is open to all believers, but generally serves members of the Church of God, Assemblies of God, and other Pentecostal believers. The members of this forum generally affirm the sorts of things affirmed by these denominations, and while there is a beautiful diversity here that makes discussion lively and fun -- and helps iron sharpen iron -- it is a little rude to attempt to evangelize a forum away from what the consensus of its posters believe.I was saved in a Church of God church, but over the years I became persuaded by the doctrines of grace and now consider myself an essentially Reformed continuationist. I hold to the continuation of the gifts of the Spirit and I am a credobaptist, so I find much unity with the posters here despite my belief in Calvinism. (In fact, I have read books advocating positions against my views because of my participation here, including Elect in the Son, which Quiet Wyatt suggested to me, and Discovering Biblical Equality, which Tom Sterbens graciously purchased for me.)Do you know how many threads or posts I have made advocating Calvinism on this forum? Zero. Do you know how many I intend to make in the future? Also zero. Because there is no fruit to be gained from me attempting to evangelize a forum that disagrees with me to my side. Instead, I would much rather find points of unity and agreement, rather than points of disagreement and strife.Within the realm of continuationism or Pentecostal thought, I will certainly share my opinion and disagree. When it comes to hypercharismaticism, I have shared my views and will continue to do so. But I will always try to do so charitably, and will endeavor to repent and make amends if and when I fail at that. And that disagreement is part of what makes engaging here so fun.But when disagreement becomes evangelism in every thread and every post, other posters stop listening. You lose your voice because you're looking for a pulpit rather than a discussion. We all have an obligation to each other to listen and to understand, to seek points of compromise and mutual upbuilding. And if we can't find points of compromise, then we should probably just let an issue go, rather than driving people away by continually harping on our particular view. |