Rightly or wrongly, I was offended by what I perceived to be Joe's provocative comments to Steve. I have not discussed this with Steve, so I do not know if he was offended or not. My intention was to make Joe aware that his remarks had the potential of provoking a brother to wrath. I cannot judge another's motives, and certainly I could have erred in my assumption that Joe was trying to misrepresent Steve.
All that being said, I think it is unhelpful to judge the motives of those of us who saw this differently than you do and to accuse us of "Joe Bashing". (How charitable is that characterization?)
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To those who have started and contributed to this attack on Joe I think you're wrong...It's really unfortunate that those who disagree with him are now making personal attacks rather than biblical arguments.
While I do have the greatest respect for you and for Joe, I don't think it is helpful to judge your brothers and sisters regarding our motives. Steve has not been a part of this and returned, probably with surprise, to see the mess that has transpired here. Gerry, who has made great contributions to this forum and who has one of the most tender hearts here, deserves to be given the benefit of the doubt concerning his motives. I would say that he was obviously upset, but he did made valid points and his foremost concern was that a brother was being unfairly treated here. He was also defending me. I don’t think that it is asking too much for the paedos to refrain from using the term “dispensational” since it carries so much unhelpful baggage and only causes ill feelings.
I have seen the Lord working in many hearts here and thank God for that. We all have a long way to go and we all fall short of the glory of God. I am thinking mostly of myself here. I have been reading Owen's Sin and Temptation and am all too aware of my own deceitful heart. I know that even when I think my motives are innocent, that doesn't necessarily make it so. Only God can search our hearts because they are deceitful above all things, mine included.
