You heard it here first, I guess. Given that I'm being singled out by name, I'm almost tempted to bring in a mod and see what happens. But truth be told, I'm just not offended by what's being said. However, in the spirit of speaking truth in the face of false witness, I feel I should address a few points.

And since I'm not allowed to join the CWU, I'll have to respond here, on the ol' blog.

Dragon has now spoken "Ex Cathedra" on his blog and proclaimed that certain members of this union, that choose not to post on the CU, are not fulfilling their obligation to the Lord. He makes his own assumptions about our beliefs regarding the CU, determines them to be true, and then proclaims, based on his assumptions, that we are not faithful to the Lord if we do not act on his incorrect assumptions and comply with his desires. It sounds a lot to me like he thinks his assumptions, words, and proclamations, carry the same weight as the Word of God. Hanging around the Pope, who believes the same thing, apparently will do that to a person.

First, I can't speak "ex cathedra", unless I have been made Pope without my knowledge. And unless, having been made Pope, I have spoken with the conclave of Cardinals without my knowledge. And unless, having been made Pope and spoken with the conclave of Cardinals, I have written a formal promulgation of doctrine, under the watchful eye of the Spirit, without my knowledge.

Which strikes me as a difficult thing to achieve.

More to the point, I remind the Reader that what is at issue here is not my own role within/view of the CU. I'm a member of the CU, and an officer there, but I don't regard the CU as being peopled with members who have largely fallen away from Christ. If I did, I would speak out against them for it, but as I do not, I don't see the need to evangelize my brothers and sisters in Christ in such a manner.

My point, however, is that the CWU, like the BBU before it, is peopled by those who do think of the CU in just that way. And if they do, 1 John 5 makes it very clear what their response must be to just such a circumstance. If in my heart I believe that a brother or sister Christian has fallen into sin which is mortal (and really, how much more mortal a sin can there be than falling away from Christ?), then I must speak to him or her. If I believe that a whole GS union has fallen away from Christ, then I must speak to that union.

This is not rocket science, nor is it any kind of doctrinal/theological hijinx -- it's a rather simply stated instruction in the Bible which one can only assume is binding upon all Christians.

He also makes the incorrect assumption that when I said I have never observed him spreading the Gospel, even ONCE, that I meant on the OT thread. I meant anywhere, not just on the OT threads. I repeat what I said before. If he thinks that the CU, in which he is an officer, needs evangelizing with the Gospel, then he should do it. The irony of it all is that he is condemming our members for something he, himself is guilty of, not spreading the Gospel on the CU. The Bible speaks to that form of unbiblical judgement.

So let me see. I run my main website, which often features articles about moral and/or theological issues. A search of that same site will also reveal several heated debates I have had with atheists and non-Christians about religious issues, in which my stance has always been partly evangelical in nature.

I also blog, on and off, on GS here, and only the most unobservant reader could fail to note that a goodly number of my posts have something to do with advancing religious ideas for the consideration of the (not necessarily religious) reader. Indeed, I can think of a couple examples off the top of my head of posts I've written that non-religious readers have found to be thought-provoking, and what more could I ask?

Moreover, in the past, I've been a games reviewer for a Christian youth organization's website, I have written articles that have appeared in pro-life periodicals discussing abortion from a theological and "natural law" perspective, I an a contributing guest blogger to another theological study blog that looks at symbolism in Scripture (especially pertaining to flesh and blood). I used to run a blog called Ubi re vera, which was a fairly intensive apologetics blog until such time as my co-author decided to move on to other ventures. My wedding website pulls no punches, from a religious perspective, and that was a deliberate move on my part to show how proud I am to have Christ at the center of my life, despite the fact that many of my family members are lukewarm or ex-Christians.

I was active on the NationStates forums back when that site was cool; I was one of the Christian debaters who was instrumental in the conversion of at least one hard-bitten atheist there. And I've taught theology & apologetics group sessions for university students.

Clearly, I've never lifted a finger to spread the Gospel.

Mat 7:5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

The very fact that he refuses to spread the Gospel, even on the CU, yet claims that the CU is in need of that, clearly reveals his motives. He is once again trying to manipulate others to obey his demands and do anything in his power to demean the CWU, just as he did with the CU when he wasn't a member there, and the with the BBU when he was asked to leave. He is clearly hostile to Biblical Christians and Biblical Christian unions and will do anything in his power to undermine their efforts and even their unions existence.

The thing is: why would I waste my breath to demean the CWU, when they will make themselves look suspect for free? I haven't seen such effusions of hatred directed against Christ as I have seen in response to their "evangelism" on the OT forum since my days as "Aiera" on the NationStates forums. That's saying quite a lot, I hasten to add.

I'm genuinely interested in seeing if the CWU members, as passionate as they are for evangelism, are consistent in their beliefs. Because if they are, and if they honestly believe that we in the CU have fallen away from Christ, the Bible makes it pretty clear what the appropriate response to that is.

It's not about me, or my efforts, or my view of the CU. I think the CU is just fine, and nowhere near "fallen away from Christ." But if others think so, then it behooves them to act on that belief...or else admit that they're not quite so earnest in their devotion to the whole of the Bible as they claim.