St. Herman of Alaska Monastery Evacuated

joasia · Post by **joasia** » Tue 22 July 2008 8:50 pm

Orthodox are the coldest people I've ever known.

We offered support. We offered sympathy. We offered indepth explanations on a theological and spiritual basis and all you do is judge us. You are prepared to argue. So, perhaps the coldness comes from within yourself. But, I'm sure you can't understand that because even after your apology of forgiveness(

But before I go I want to apologize to the moderators and people here for my sins

), you continued to argue and then make such a childish remark. Childish because you have no sense of conscience. Your apology is complete hypocracy.

But, the general consensus here is that if you are going to waste space with your derogetory comments and insults and accusations and judgements which obviously stem from ignorance of the Orthodox faith and lack of faith, then why should we continue to deal with it? You obviously don't want help and all you do is attack us. You are an adult and I think there are times when adults should be booted out because they show no respect for the other members.

Personally, my concern is that threads are started with a main subject and then turned into a personal forum of debate.

Fr. Mark - I think it's his time to move on.

BACK TO THE TOPIC -

I believe that God allows things to happen in order to reach people whether Orthodox or not. This fire was a big scare for the faithful and I have no doubt an example for the non-faithful who witnessed it. Only time will tell what God's purpose is.

Constantine · Post by **Constantine** » Tue 22 July 2008 10:05 pm

Your apology is complete hypocracy

Hypocrisy like when we confess/repent of a sin but then do the same sin again?

which obviously stem from ignorance of the Orthodox faith and lack of faith, then why should we continue to deal with it?

Because we are Orthodox. Why does Christ show patience with our lack of faith? We are Christians, so we should strive to be Christ-like in our behaviour. Perhaps we should show him/her the patience that we hope the Lord will have with us? Just a thought.

Incognito1583 · Post by **Incognito1583** » Tue 22 July 2008 11:10 pm

Constantine wrote:
The Saints do help and so does God, but we must take the first step in salvation, and that is humility, God does not fulfill all our wants and wills because if he did we would end up destroying ourselves. God battles with us to save us everyday, and WE fight against him tooth and nail. Do you not think that God knows your heart is in pain? He created your heart. Do you think he does not know what you think? He created your brain. Do you not think he knows you are suffering? He is your Father and creator and loves you beyond yours or my understanding of the word love. Everything that is happening to you, me or anyone, wether good or bad is God fighting for our salvation. Please please please, have patience and humility, if you are Christian then you strive to be Christ-like, how much patience and humility did Christ have as he was being beaten, spit-on, and humiliated? And he had the power to stop it, we do not, how much more humility and patience should we show then. God is the only one you should have faith in.Through that faith, God will lead you to his church, the Orthodox church, and put you under the care of a good God-fearing spiritual father, wether it be a priest or bishop. Put your trust in God, he knows what you need.

Thank you Constantine. That really moved me.

Constantine · Post by **Constantine** » Wed 23 July 2008 9:06 pm

I appreciate the compliment, but I cannot accept it as I did not write or think this stuff up, I just repeated it. The Fathers of the Church wrote these things and if it effected you in anyway it shows that the writings of the Fathers can help and guide, even when they are paraphrased in my horrible words Incogneto, I hope and pray things get better for you, all of us run into spiritual battles and it is sometimes very difficult to deal with, but never forget who your Father is, as he never forgets that you are his son/daughter. If their is anything I can do to help you please feel free to contact me.

joasia · Post by **joasia** » Wed 23 July 2008 10:42 pm

Constantine,

Perhaps we should show him/her the patience that we hope the Lord will have with us? Just a thought.

The Lord also said that if they reject you, then wipe the sand off your sandles. Or something to that effect. You tell someone, once, twice, three times...four times, five times...where are we suppose to go from here?

There are those who come here just to defy everything that God has established in the faith, with arrogance. We can all pray for him/her, but all his/her posts just waste precious space that the moderators are paying for. They sacrifice a lot to maintain this website. Shouldn't Inco have respect for that?

As for hypocracy...there is no hypocracy in confession unless a person is confessing and has no feeling of remorse to repent. Incog, wrote some kind of apology, but had no intension of following through on it because his/her next post was back to judging and condemning us.

We can be caring and considerate, which I think the moderators are, very much. But, when a person just wants to cause trouble, then you can either communicate with him, in private and help him or tell him that his time is up.

If he cares for his salvation, he will wake up and then God will work in his heart.

Incognito1583 · Post by **Incognito1583** » Wed 23 July 2008 10:53 pm

Constantine wrote:
I appreciate the compliment, but I cannot accept it as I did not write or think this stuff up, I just repeated it. The Fathers of the Church wrote these things and if it effected you in anyway it shows that the writings of the Fathers can help and guide, even when they are paraphrased in my horrible words Incogneto, I hope and pray things get better for you, all of us run into spiritual battles and it is sometimes very difficult to deal with, but never forget who your Father is, as he never forgets that you are his son/daughter. If their is anything I can do to help you please feel free to contact me.

Thank you for your kindness. When I read that post the other night it brought me to tears. I needed to hear those words at that time.

When I read Joasia it brings me to anger. And I'm not going to judge her anymore. I myself am the chief of sinners. Again, I apologize for my sins and if I have ever sinned against anyone here in word, deed or thought. Thank you. I shall not respond to Joasia again unless she has something positive to say.

Constantine · Post by **Constantine** » Wed 23 July 2008 11:32 pm

The Lord also said that if they reject you, then wipe the sand off your sandles. Or something to that effect. You tell someone, once, twice, three times...four times, five times...where are we suppose to go from here

Not if they reject YOU Joasia, but if they reject the Lord, which Incognito has not done, where are we supposed to go from here you ask? You may have been offended by how Incognito asks his question but we are told also in the bible to forgive all who offend us, do you remember how many times we are told to forgive them? I think its a pretty big number.

Incog, wrote some kind of apology, but had no intension of following through on it because his/her next post was back to judging and condemning us

On the day of judgment God will ask Incognito what HE/SHE did, and ask YOU what you did, how did you react to his posts? Concern yourself with your responses not his/hers. Your Orthodox right? Did you show patience and humility? Were you perfect so all may know your Father in heaven is perfect?

We can be caring and considerate, which I think the moderators are,

The moderators made one response to Incognito, the rest were yours.

But, when a person just wants to cause trouble, then you can either communicate with him, in private and help him or tell him that his time is up.

What trouble has he caused, he/she is asking questions. Thank-you for your guidlines, if I ever join the joasia cafe I will follow them.

If he cares for his salvation, he will wake up and then God will work in his heart

Perhaps we should all wake up, and start caring for our salvation. I am not trying to argue or insult you, but we do not know this person or his circumstances, let us as Orthodox show him/her the mercy, patience and humilty that we hope the Lord will show us, if we as Orthodox cannot do this, then who should?