Prove to me that homosexuality is worse than lying. Last I checked, both separated us from God forever. All sin is an abomination.

I think Dave said it best when we all need to grow up this year. I myself struggle heavily with a lot of sin and my marriage and my life have suffered dearly for it. God has called us to be witnesses and accept His word as unconditional truth, and not to pass judgment on anyone, so I am going to try my best not to judge anyone, just point out some observations I think I may have made before. We are the only Jesus that some people will ever see, and we ALL (at times) set a very poor example of what a Christian should be. Fighting amongst ourselves and asking everyone to look at me, I'm upset, I wanna cry about it (I've been guilty of that one myself, ask anyone who's been here a long time, they'll tell ya). Lately I know I've been guilty of asking for a lot of support with not much success (not a lot of replies anyway) and yes I've sounded like a baby, God is dealing with me on that one. The point is that we all have an example to set for those around us (here, church, home, work, the club, wherever). We all need to realize that God has called us all to do one thing and that is show His love to those around us and present His wisdom and truth in to people's lives, to me that pretty much sums up what being a TRUE Christian is. I smoke, does that mean I'm going to hell? I don't believe so. I don't believe that we should judge anyone's sin, gay, serial killer, or otherwise. Sometimes we act like we are better than others b/c we're super christian and we don't do any of that "worldly" stuff so it's okay to look at Billy over there who masturbates to naked men and condemn him to hell. That is not the attitude we need to have, God shows us to love Billy and help him, not disown him.


I say all that to say that God needs to be in TOTAL control of our lives, nothing else. Is that hard, impossible some say. I know i sound like a preacher and I'm not trying to be, I'm not trying to criticize anyone, but we need to set a better example for the world and not be so petty. We are all believers who need to lift each other up, and for the most part that's what happens. BUT!! There are times that we argue over theology and "religion" which to me is worse than any curse word ever used b/c religion to me is just a term used to describe the old "I believe this way so I'm better than you" crap.
Disagreements are one thing, sure we're all gonna have our own views on certain things, but let's not condone others for their beliefs (even if they're satanists) let's show them the love that Christ would show. Don't agree with them and don't accept their belief system, but accept the PERSON and find a way to minister to them.
My wife works with a bunch of atheists and wiccans and she doesn't judge them, she explains her beliefs to them but doesn't treat them like piles of manure, she treats them like people, and believe it or not she's got them thinking quite a bit and maybe even wondering if God isn't really the answer.
Leave the door open for people and don't hate on someone b/c they believe something different than you do.

Josh
(Sorry, that was like a novel, I just had to get that out, if I was out of life in regards to rules I apologize for that, but not for what I've said)

Rodimus,
I come around here less and less with each passing year. It just doesn't speak to me anymore. I'm not going to ban it from my life or anything. It just doesn't fill me up and right now in my life I only want to spend time doing things that encourage and strengthen me in Christ. I feel you. Just don't leave angry.

It seems to me that in the last few months (maybe not even that long) the boundaries of what's acceptable material for discussion on these boards have been tested more often than usual.  I'm talking about both divisive political topics (doesn't help that it's an election year in the US) and well, the usual spiritual stuff which as it turns out is equally divisive.  Which is why there's a rule about discussing it.

These shake-ups seem to follow a 3-4 year cycle.  Four years ago things got ugly, mostly over politics, and a group of formerly regular posters took their leave.  3 or 4 years before that when the message boards were still new, it was theology that got everyone riled up, and a few people left, never to return. Hence the rules.

This site works best when we focus on what unites us, not divides us.  Because with few exceptions (and there are exceptions) these divisive or hot button issues turn into distractions and thorns in our collective sides that keep us from being productive. 

Is sweeping this sort of stuff under the rug the most effective way of dealing with it?  Probably not, but in the interest of unity, setting aside our differences and leaving those differences to be resolved via email, PMs, or on another site or chatroom altogether, seems to have worked for the most part.  Because again, with exceptions, these other issues don't really impact what goes on here, and what's going on in the scene. 

The beatport thread I think was very instructive in terms of gauging where a lot of people stand on the issue while keeping it connected to the dance music scene, and there is plenty of room for discussion on relevant topics. 

I think we have to keep in mind that everyone's entitled to their opinions, or their deeply held beliefs, whatever you want to call it.  There's no party line to follow on this site, and contrarian opinions are always welcome, within the guidelines that have been set out surrounding discussions of a spiritual or political nature.  I know of message boards where you can get banned outright (permanently) for speaking against the collective hive mind that has developed, so Tastyfresh is by no means the worst offender.

So in summation, I am sad to see anyone depart this site with hard feelings.  I value everyone's contributions to these message boards even if I have to end up locking threads, half of which I usually agree with, and half I don't (but I'll never tell which is which).  Because at the end of the day, it's not about our opinions, it's about the rules that we all agreed to follow when we signed up for accounts. Right, left, orthodox, unorthodox, whatever.  Crank the beats and get the party started, I say...

Now, as far as final rants go, I rate Rodimus's as about a 6 out of 10, with Vince's departing shots at this site (in September 2004) being held as the ultimate gold standard...I still chuckle to this day.

Brandon spelled out most of what I would want to say. In any case, I'm sad to see you go dude, but I know exactly where you're coming from. For my own part, I'm dealing with that.

All I would say, at the end, is that THIS may be the stuff of real community. Real community is often hard, challenging, and can be ugly. But the potential fruit of such a mix, I believe, can be so incredibly beautiful. That said, do what God's leading, first and foremost


That's what Eric and I and others are hoping to offer with the spin off site. A place for those members of this community, who want to have these discussions, to have them. Somewhere you (Brandon, and others) can offload hot topics too. Not because we're better or more mature, but because we are not Tastyfresh.com (but are still comprised of TF community members). Tastyfresh can continue to function in the time tested and God inspired role it has, and those who do feel the need for public spiritual conversation can take that to a "sanctioned" place, away from here.

John 21:21-23 also... 

It's one of my favorite examples of human nature and how Jesus feels about it.  It's natural for us to compare ourselves to each other but Jesus says we should only focus on following Him.

Woah!  Major props, I need to check out your stuff.

Is it on your myspace?

I clicked on your link for it in your post (the little globe under your avatar) and I got this:

Invalid Friend ID.
This user has either cancelled their membership, or their account has been deleted.