[George]

Brother Parrish said to "johnlf":

"Welcome to the forum, may I ask are you a friend of Tonybones? I'm kind of sorry that you chose to select this controversial thread to make your first post, but it is what it is, and I will continue to add doctrinal corrections to the thread whenever things like the above comment are posted. My reply is in no way an "attack" on you, but for doctrinal clarity only."

Aloha brother Parrish,

I doubt if "johnlf" is a friend of Tonybones, but I am in agreement with your comment on "johnlf's" "first" Post. WHY all this concern about "WATER"? (Baptism) I could never understand it (i.e. being overly concerned with an issue that has NO BEARING on our salvation, or our standing with God), so I have stayed away from the controversy.

This "Thread" was started when brother Tim inquired about brother Tony's belief. I knew ahead of time where this was going, and that is why I tried to head it off to begin with. If you will recall I said (Post #16):

"I personally don't want to see a "debate" over water baptism; we all know what he believes - what will such a debate accomplish? Who will be "edified"? Is the purpose going to be to "isolate" a fellow brother in Christ and possibly drive him away? I want no part in this."

I don't know WHO "johnlf" is (he has not seen fit to tell us anything about himself - another "stranger"), but I am concerned that he might be here to disrupt and not to edify. I also said (in Post #16):

"If brother Tony came on this Forum and had been obnoxious or antagonistic over the issue, that would be another matter, but he has been careful not to push it, while still letting it be known where he stands. I respect his honesty, even if I disagree with him. And if we were sitting around the kitchen table hashing water baptism out with him, I would "put my oar" in once in a while in support of my belief. But I do not think that the Forum is the place for a knock-down, drag-out battle over water baptism since I know ahead of time that there will be absolutely no profit in the debate at all, and the only thing that we may accomplish is "hard feelings' (or worse) over an issue that has very little bearing on the spiritual state of individual Christians."

I ask you to "compare" HOW brother Tony joined the Forum and HOW "johnlf" has (check out his Posts).

This issue has been "beat to death" and I see NO PROFIT in "resurrecting it" again! In my Post #16 I also said:

"There are Scriptural issues that are worth fighting over (and you know that I don't "shy away" from them), but on the other hand there are issues where there is no "profit", i.e. no "edification" to be had. I would suggest we stop biting and devouring one another, and get on with the business at hand: "the ministry of reconciliation". Let sleeping dogs lie brethren, this thing could come back and bite us - big time. Worse yet, if we succeed in driving brother Tony away, we would have lost a fountain of Biblical knowledge , and a "viewpoint" that is both refreshing and unique."

Now I know that I am not a "prophet", but I can say - I TOLD YOU SO!

If "johnlf" is here to edify and be edified he should have the courtesy to introduce himself first, before "wading into" (no pun intended) a controversial issue (and that's not the only one) that has brought NO PROFIT or EDIFICATION at all to any of us!