lutherangirl said:
My next question goes a little deeper. Is it okay to practice this lifestyle without a fellowship of believers--doing it alone?
I think of it more as an internal attitude, rather than a lifestyle. Regardless of which group of believers you fellowship with, or whether you get your fellowship on-line, the point is to not be blindly credible, but to do all you can to verify for yourself what is said.
Ask for Biblical references. Look them up for yourself. See if they say what is claimed, or whether arguments based upon them actually make sense when the text is read in context. Learn to use greek and hebrew language tools, if possible.
Though it is often harder to do, the same goes for assertions made about history. It's nice to be told that Luther accepted PM. It's better to have a clear quote. Better yet to know where you can find that quote in an original (well, translated) document on-line.
Stuff like that. Obviously, our capacities to do so vary, and we appreciate each others' help and skills on a forum like this.
But the underlying attitude of checking to see that it is right, rather than being passively spoon-fed ideas from whatever source CLAIMS to be authoritative is, as I understand it, the mark of those who are referred to in Biblical jargon as Bereans.
You'd be surprised how often, even in "Christian" books, you'll read some assertion by the author, accompanied by a "supportive text" that, when you go check it out for yourself will have you scratching your head and wondering just how they got THAT idea out of the text!
) that when we use the term, particularly in places like the various FAQ's in-progress, that there should be a footnote or something:
. It is a good thing that the picture has to be so small that way it doesn't show my laugh lines. I talked with Faithful Servant on Tuesday and, she informed me that the reason my red dye isn't retaining it's color so long anymore is because I'm getting grey. She said it in the upmost Christian-sister love for me, but boy did the truth hurt. Then I told my husband about the grey thing and, he said, "Yeah, I was going to tell you that." Umph, to him! 
