Open Letter To This List

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>Greetings in Jesus Name,
>
>I tried very hard not to write this. Even though my early dream in
>life was to be a writer, I have very little talent for expressing my
>thoughts on paper. 
>
>First, please let me say that I love the people on this list. I have
>not had the pleasure of meeting any of you in person, but I have
>shared your victories, joys, fears etc. I have cried when some of you
>have said unkind things to each other. Some of the things that I am
>going to say may not sound kind, but they are not meant to hurt
>anyone. They are not addressed to any individual. They are NOT meant
>to attack or embarrass the United Pentecostal Church or any other
>Church for that matter.
>
>Some time back, I wrote a post to this list entitled "Hurting".  There
>was a reason I picked this title, but then that would be a long story.
>I was not prepared for what happened. I got some kind post, but most
>were really hard. Several people call me a hypocrite and told me that
>I should get off this list. I didn't really understand. A hypocrite is
>somebody who pretends to be something that they are not. I said that I
>was hurting, confused and that I was thinking about going back to the
>Assemblies Of God. 
>
>When I was about 15 or 16 years old I was playing volleyball at the
>church one Saturday evening. It was very hot and I took my shirt off.
>I had on a T-shirt, the full kind. The boys and girls were playing
>together. One of the sisters walked out on the court with my shirt and
>told me to put it on. She said, "we don wear our underclothes in
>public." You would never believe how ashamed I felt. The rest of that
>game I thought these people probably think I don't really have the
>Holy Ghost and that I am a phony. Then the questions started coming to
>me. Why didn't I know that it was wrong? I thought everybody else knew
>and I didn't. I spent the next several years worrying about what the
>Church thinks about me.
>
>What has happened to our love for our brothers and sisters and yes for
>SINNERS? Bro. Hugh Rose wrote an article entitled "United in the
>Harvest" in the October 97 Pentecostal Herald. In the same issue Bro.
>Nathaniel A. Urshan said the Church is to "separate from the world."
>WHO ARE WE GOING TO HARVEST? Think about it. We are so concerned with
>preserving the purity of our doctrine that we can't even let it work.
>God doesn't need us to preserve His Truth. It is going to last. He
>needs us to go to Church, get full of the Holy Ghost and go out into
>the world, find a sinner, put our arms around them and tell them that
>they need Jesus. 
>
>Jesus said "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that
>curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which
>despiteful use you, and persecute you  Mat 5:44
>
>30  And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with
>all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this
>is the first commandment. 31  And the second is like, namely this,
>Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other
>commandment greater than these. Mark 12:30-31
>
>I guess the bottom line is DON'T TRY TO TELL ME YOUR TRUTH IF YOU
>CAN'T LOVE ME. I don't say to love any sin I do, but you have to love
>me. 
>
>One last thing. Some of the people who wrote me kind post were people
>who have been hurt by people "In the Church". Have you hurt someone?
>It is not too late to say I am sorry.  
>
>Christian Love,
>Floyd E. Avery
>feavery@prysm.net
>
>Dear Hurting:
Some years ago i was being taught by a dear old pastor, Rev. R.E. Johnson.
He wa explaining to us that when he started to Bible school that the
students had begun to twist up their sleeve's a couple of turns. He told us
one day one of the Preacher teachers walked by and told them to turn their
sleeve's down. I forget the reason he said that he gave, but they quickly
turned their sleeve's back down and buttoned them.  Now whats a twist or two
with a long sleeve shirt?
Nothing. But there was a willingness amoung these young ministers to listen
to their elders and want to be pleasing to God.
I do not think that whoever it was that told you to put your shirt back on
meant to be unkind. I know if i had do so and I knew that i was taken wrong,
I'd personally come to you and apologize. Be that as it may, I'm sure you
have grown from the experience, especially after posting your feelings. I
know what it is to be hurt by people in the church also, and sometimes the
only way we grow is to walk alone. Your not the only one that has blazed
this trail, but don't give up on God. Robert