Hello Landover!

[Stu Peppock]

Hi. My name is Stu (but I never dug disco). Thank you so much for hosting these forums.

I'm not religious in any fashion, so I haven't found Jesus, nor do I attend any church. I haven't read the entirety of the Bible, but I have read some.

Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.

Even though, as I said, I'm not religious, I love Ecclesiastes. There's dense wisdom there. At the same time, I think it's inappropriately pessimistic. I believe, just as one shouldn't scan a document for the one thing it gets wrong and judge the entirety on that, that one shouldn't scan for the one thing it gets right. The preacher seems like a man who has been struggling for a long time with a very heavy weight-- wrestling serpents, maybe. That's a man that I can have a deep respect for, regardless of my views on the rest of the Bible.

But I'm sure you'll understand when I say that it's way too hard to pick just a single favorite.

And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?

Here, I think the context makes it clear that yes, Cain is Abel's keeper. And I think the point of this passage, at least to me, is that we are all our brothers' keepers. That we have a responsibility to the people in the world around us, to take care of them, to look after them.


So, obviously, a lot of you might be saying to yourselves, "What is Stu doing here?" Well, frankly, I'm not really to speak with you, but to speak with the people that are speaking with you. Those people are my brothers. It may be vanity, but I believe in looking after them. This may be an environment where they can learn, but I'm afraid that Landover Baptist might be an environment where all they learn is hate, learn only to react violently and simplify their enemies, rather than learning how to think, how to have compassion, how to appreciate other people even in the presence of differing views-- yes, many of which are going to be incorrect, but to different degrees.

I hope there's a place for me here, and I hope I have been no more disrespectful than is necessary.

[Brother Harold Porter]

Re: Hello Landover!

Well Stu, there certainly is a place in Hell for you after your mortal demise if you do not accept Jesus in your heart and love Him unconditionally, as he does you.

Stu, there is serious sin in your life that makes you nervous about coming in front of your Savior on your knees. You have a certain proclivity to sin that would make Christ weep. Or maybe there are many sins hidden in your dark soul?

But we can help! Even if you have chosen to be a gay. Or sodomized your ailing mother in her sleep. Drug addiction? Thievery? As long as you have not profaned the Lord with blasphemy, we CAN save you.

Now come clean and get the sin off your burdened and filthy shoulders and out of your stained and corrupt soul. Let us help you help yourself.


In Christ's warm love

[Stu Peppock]

Re: Hello Landover!

Thanks for the love, Mr. Porter! I'll take it, as well as the generous spirit, regardless of how I feel about your specific advice. It's the same way I feel about visiting Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses, who I think we both disagree with strongly: I can still respect that they care enough about humanity to get off their behinds and knock on my door.

I do have plenty of sins. They are a burden. Sometimes, I get too nervous to come before anyone, let alone the Savior, but I've been assured I'm not alone in that. I have blasphemed, although I don't count it among my sins; that sounds important to you, so you ought to know.

[Roland]

Re: Hello Landover!

Hello Stu,

Welcome to this forum. I seem to have missed your introduction thread, my fault perhaps. As a somewhat simple person I am not able to grasp all you have said but I am open for some elaboration.

Kind regards

Roland

[Alvin Moss]

Re: Hello Landover!

Mr. Peppock, I welcome you here, though with some reservations. The unsaved who have come among us of late have almost universally ignored our request that newcomers make a proper introduction before participating in discussion, fellowship and praise. You have at least followed the directions, though it is certainly an unusual introduction. It is almost a pleasure to be able to properly greet a visitor, even if I am suspicious of your motives and puzzled by your sudden appearance.

You are unsaved by your own admission. You are not even interested in joining us for fellowship. Your plan is to cast some kind of net over those who come among us seeking fellow Christians. I find that this could be some kind of sinister plot and I for one would appreciate further explanation of exactly what you have in mind on this godly forum.

[MitzaLizalor]

Re: Hello Landover!

Hello .. what a lovely introduction, even if you are questioning the inerrancy of The Bible.

I love Ecclesiastes. There's dense wisdom there. At the same time, I think it's inappropriately pessimistic. I believe, just as one shouldn't scan a document for the one thing it gets wrong and judge the entirety on that, that one shouldn't scan for the one thing it gets right.

Ecclesiastes is a great book, I almost said almost as good as Judges but there aren't degrees of perfection are there. Compared to the non-genuine God-seekers we often get (and expect to get I must say as we were forewarned by Jesus) your civil tone is particularly welcome and I'm happy to send you a friend request.

JOHN 15:18-21 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
context .. kjv

[Thomas Taylor]

Re: Hello Landover!

Hello Stu, welcome to the forums. After reading your introduction I am a little worried about your agenda. Please tell us more about your plans here.


I will pray for your unsaved sinful soul lest you be caught short come the day of Judgment.


YIC
TT

[Stu Peppock]

Re: Hello Landover!

Your plan is to cast some kind of net over those who come among us seeking fellow Christians. I find that this could be some kind of sinister plot and I for one would appreciate further explanation of exactly what you have in mind on this godly forum.

Sorry to worry any of you! I think "net" is a good word. And so I can see how it might seem sinister. But don't worry-- I'm not planning on gutting + grilling any strangers!

[Cranky Old Man]

Re: Hello Landover!

I hope

I feel

I think

Your hopes, feelings and thoughts could not be less relevant. None of those will prevent eternal damnation to Hell. And your claim that you cannot find Jesus is pathetic. 2.2 billion Christians and even 1.6 billion Muslims (though they have a wrong version of Jesus) already found Jesus. So clearly it is not that hard. Stop making up excuses and start finding Jesus!

[BrotherLarry]

Re: Hello Landover!

Mr. Peppock,


As Brother Cranky has stated, excuses will not mean diddly when the Lord of Lords and King of Kings tells His Father all the sins you've committed in front of the entire world at the Throne of Judgment.


You are obviously a handsome man, as am I, and I know the temptations this brings for sin of the s-e-x-u-a-l ilk. I am viewed with lust by both men and women, and while I am thankful the Lord created me with a muscular, lithe, nimble, and amazingly perfect body, I can't act upon the many lures the devil puts in my pathway and then use my body as an excuse.


When I was a sinning Catholic, I made excuses for Mary. I made excuses for going to confession. I made excuses for having almost 392 statues in my home of various saints. I made excuses for having to go to mass. Why? Because people wanted to know the why, the how, etc. of my lifestyle. It was easier to make excuses than it was to just accept the truth. But then I met the people of Landover Baptist Church. I was lovingly informed of how worthless I am, and how unimportant my rambling Hail Marys and Hail Holy Queens were to God. I was treated like unsaved trash, but in a Christian way.


It was that kind of love that showed me what Christianity is all about. I learned the truth about God. I learned the truth about other religions, and I found fellowship here with likeminded individuals whose goal was to share the actual factuals with me about how joyful the life lived in Christ's shadow can be. Glory!


When I gave my heart and my life to my new-found Savior, my heart bells rang loudly. The strings of my heart went ZING, just like Judy Garland sings in her lovely hit, ZING Went the Strings of my Heart. Your heart can zing, too, Stu. Won't you allow Christ to play your heart strings? I shall be praying for you, Stu.


In Brotherly Affection,
BrotherLarry (Rev. 22:12)

[Faith_Machine]

Re: Hello Landover!

Stu, the foolish sinners who have come here to argue with us are not your brothers.

I pray you will accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior and come to regard us as your family.

[Walter Van Slyke]

Re: Hello Landover!

Dear Mr. Peppock: I am glad that you find the Bible to be interesting literature. I suspect that, among the billions of denizens of Hell, there are many copies of the Bible, being read night and day by those who also thought it was nothing more than interesting literature and not the holy, unalterable Word of God. It is up to you to decide where you will be reading your Bible for all eternity.

Humbly,


Wally