{"id":23348,"date":"2020-06-12T15:14:34","date_gmt":"2020-06-12T20:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=23348"},"modified":"2020-06-12T15:14:34","modified_gmt":"2020-06-12T20:14:34","slug":"a-confession-for-internet-writers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-confession-for-internet-writers\/","title":{"rendered":"A Confession for Internet Writers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n

I Repent
\nof pretending to know more than I do,
\nof speaking without listening,
\nof correcting without caring,
\nof passing judgment without understanding,
\nof talking at people instead of with people,
\nof using words that hurt and do not heal,
\nof writing without grace, charity, love, and kindness,
\nof writing with arrogance and pride,
\nof being more critical than redemptive,
\nof presuming my words are more valuable than others\u2019,
\nof uncovering problems without pointing to solutions,
\nof being more zealous for a system than for a Savior,
\nfor I am a man with an unclean post, and I write among a people of unclean posts.\n

[Joe Thorn and Russ Rankin, “Confession for Theoblogians<\/a>,” 13 September 2005]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

How often have we injured others without thought and concern for another person’s soul? “Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will<\/em>” (II Timothy 2:22-26).<\/p>\n

Christians are to have a love for the truth. “Buy truth, and do not sell it, get wisdom and instruction and understanding<\/em>” (Proverbs 23:23). But too often information is copied without thought of whether it is accurate, simply because it agrees with what we already believe. We need to check for ourselves whether an assertion is really a fact or not before passing it on to others.<\/p>\n

Truth also demands that we gather facts before we make judgments. “This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God<\/em>” (James 1:19-20).<\/p>\n

Brethren, think before you speak.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I Repent of pretending to know more than I do, of speaking without listening, of correcting without caring, of passing judgment without understanding, of talking at people instead of with people, of using words that hurt and do not heal, of writing without grace, charity, love, and kindness, of writing with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[721],"class_list":["post-23348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-kindness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":50202,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-christian\/","url_meta":{"origin":23348,"position":0},"title":"What Does It Mean to Be a Christian?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Peter 1:13-25 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Over 75% of Americans claim to be Christians, a percentage that has been steadily declining while the non-religious rises. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Still, it is a high number, but it appears to be in conflict with Jesus\u2019 warning - Matthew 7:13-14 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What actually makes a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37813,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/kindness\/","url_meta":{"origin":23348,"position":1},"title":"Kindness","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 12:9-21 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When a person walks as the Spirit directs, it produces a fruit that has many attributes - Galatians 5:13-25 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We will focus on one of those attributes today: kindness. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0chrestotes is a form of the word for usefulness. It means kindness, goodness,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68444,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-being-neglected-or-forsaken\/","url_meta":{"origin":23348,"position":2},"title":"What Is Being Neglected or Forsaken?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Adam Litmer The following question was recently asked: \"What specifically is meant in Hebrews 10:25 by 'neglecting' or 'forsaking'? Is it inferring a requirement of attendance, or is it addressing an attitude towards worship? If it is a requirement, wouldn't that infer all opportunities (Wednesday night, etc.) set up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3851,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/uncleanness\/","url_meta":{"origin":23348,"position":3},"title":"Uncleanness (Article)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Students of the Bible are frequently confused by the Old Testament laws regulating uncleanness. Many do not understand the purpose of the laws and often wonder if they impact the Christian in some way or not. The concept of unclean is certainly an old one. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/DirtyPig.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":52729,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-a-confession-need-to-be-taken-before-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":23348,"position":4},"title":"Does a confession need to be taken before baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: We are having a problem with words in our congregation. When you baptize someone should you say the words \"I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit for the remission of your sins?\" Or should you just immerse them and say nothing?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86893,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-study-the-old-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":23348,"position":5},"title":"Why Study the Old Testament?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Naomi Works \"What is the point of studying the Old Testament? We're not under that covenant, Jesus only appears in the New Testament, and Leviticus-Deuteronomy is just plain boring!\" I feel so sorry for people who think that way. They're missing out on so many incredible lessons that will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23348\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}