Wanting to leave

[CindyisHis]

For the first time in all my years at CF, I find I don't want to be here anymore. I am continually seeing posts by someone who is causing a problem here. It's everywhere, and I'm tired of it. You probably won't here much from me anymore. It's a shame because I was looking to spend more time in the fellowship thread now that I'm not as busy, as were others. We had been talking about it. Maybe we can find another site where there are no pests. The web is a big place.

 

[CindyisHis]

It's not right. We should be protected here. That's what rules are for.

 

[andreha]

Hey CindyisHis

There are indeed rules that protect all the congregation areas. Members just need to report posts that are in violation. No member that doesn't belong to WoF is allowed to debate or argue here. Doing so constitutes a violation. It would be sad to see you leave. Don't you want to chat for a bit in the fellowship area?

 

[CindyisHis]

Hey CindyisHis

There are indeed rules that protect all the congregation areas. Members just need to report posts that are in violation. No member that doesn't belong to WoF is allowed to debate or argue here. Doing so constitutes a violation. It would be sad to see you leave. Don't you want to chat for a bit in the fellowship area?

The posts are sly. There not out and out ugly or offensive. They are little pricks here there all the time. It's hard for me to put into words. What's more is, I don't have the time and energy to devote to dealing with it. Life is busy, and I didn't sign up here for grief. I'd rather walk away.

I'd love to chat. I came here for the purpose to connect with believers who are like-minded. When I came I was a stay at home mom, and it was wonderful to fellowship and pray with people here. I also enjoyed helping the hurting. In recent years, things changed. I went out to work in addition to my duties as wife, mom, housekeeper, bookkeeper, home-schooling mom, cook, and laundry lady. Plus started a course in alternative health. So with a full and satisfying life, why come here to see all the bunk?

 

[andreha]

That's sad, when people argue. It reminds me of something I saw here on WoF a while ago. A non-WoF member was saying something, to which the WoF member responded "Doubt, pout, and do without." It made my heart smile, because it's so true. As with faith, unbelief also works, just in the opposite direction.

 

[PastorMike]

For the first time in all my years at CF, I find I don't want to be here anymore. I am continually seeing posts by someone who is causing a problem here. It's everywhere, and I'm tired of it. You probably won't here much from me anymore. It's a shame because I was looking to spend more time in the fellowship thread now that I'm not as busy, as were others. We had been talking about it. Maybe we can find another site where there are no pests. The web is a big place.

I understand that, I rarely post here anymore, sometimes I come and read for a bit but when I read the posts you are referring to I just click off for a few days... it's a pity, this used to be a great sub-forum...

 

[ABlessedAnomaly]

For the first time in all my years at CF, I find I don't want to be here anymore. I am continually seeing posts by someone who is causing a problem here. It's everywhere, and I'm tired of it. You probably won't here much from me anymore. It's a shame because I was looking to spend more time in the fellowship thread now that I'm not as busy, as were others. We had been talking about it. Maybe we can find another site where there are no pests. The web is a big place.

Two things:
(1) This is the place on the big web where we as WoF can come, should be able to come, and fellowship and talk and, yes, even argue. CF has set things up so that we as WoF can do this with our own like-minded friends (remembering that even like-minded are never completely like-minded). There are rules and there are methods of executing those rules. I understand your frustration, as I have already in this last week reported two violators. It takes time. But don't bail because of them; simply ignore them. They won't last.

(2) I hope I'm not one of the problem . I do like to debate and dig out the truth from scripture. You and I butted heads a few years ago; I backed off when you expressed frustration at me. But all in all my beliefs are strongly WoF, I'm an elder in a WoF church, and I feel passionately for the scripture and my Lord, Jesus Christ. I will teach and defend the Gospel message. So if in my "debate" style, I've in ANY way offended you and added to your thoughts of leaving, I apologize.

Now: don't leave. If you need to, take a "sabbatical" for a few days. We all need each other and we need all the WoF believers with different viewpoints and teaching styles. I've read (even if I haven't commented much) many of your posts (for there are many!!), and it would be a shame for CF to lose a wonderful spirit such as yours.

Yes, the web is a big place. But "they" will find you. Stay, and use the rules to keep our forum free from abhorrant teaching. It takes some time, and it takes some effort. As with the Word, here we need to be diligent and uncompromising. It's a great place and it's worth fighting for.

Think about it; we need you. We love you and God loves you, whatever you choose.

 

[Biker Angel]

Hello all!
This is the first time I have ventured into the Word of Faith forum only to find a
long time member of CF wanting to leave because of being pin pricked.

Money, greed, arguments, pin pricks, Jesus is about just the opposite.
It's hard to find Jesus Buried under all that money. But I think you should
stay and deal with this pin pricker the way Jesus would do. Just ignore it.

 

[tm2cruz]

I always check here and the Messianic threads
I just ignored some too much reading and trouble looking threads... hehe!

 

[CindyisHis]

I've ignored many them in the past. I'm not offended. I've had harsh things said to me and things that were meant to get under my skin in times past, and that didn't move me. I guess what it is this time is that you see many many posts dominating the WoF thread and the person seems to be bringing division. Furthermore, the many wonderful conversations I've had are declining. So it's merely a matter of "What's the point?" Why be here?

BlessedMan, you have NOTHING to do with it. And I don't even remember any run-ins with you. They weren't a big deal. Like I say, I don't get offended, so forget a lot of stuff that's negative.

It's just not a pleasant forum. That's all.

I miss some of my old friends who have gone on...preacherMike, Zzub, GlendaJoanne, and others that were even closer for a long time. There's not a lot of glue to hold me here, at the time.

 

[Biker Angel]

You have 17,000+ posts. that should give you a little power to say something back. You can come and hangout with us in the bipolar forum if you want too. We don't nick pick at each other about anything cause we're to busy with our disease.

 

[DMW]

Anywhere that the Word of Faith is discussed, the nasties show up. They think they are subtle, but they are so obvious it gets sickening after awhile. I remember when i was a child growing up in the city, my dad planted some tomato plants in the backyard, and some radishes. There were no other gardens in our immediate neighborhood, but somehow, midway through the summer, these huge, fat tomato worms starting eating the tomato plants, and the radishes got these little worms in them. I remember wondering, where the heck did they come from?
Now I wonder the same thing about us. Everytime we start sharing about the goodness of God, somehow, out of nowhere these posters show up pretending to want fellowship, but they are really just like the tomato and radish worms.
The trouble with this forum is that it isn't properly moderated. Back when i came here more often a few years back, the battles raged daily over who could be here and who should not. We fought constantly for our rights, and got little satisfaction. By the time they gave us our own forum, most everyone had left. I now frequent another forum that while not perfect, is actively moderated by Word of Faith friendly people. It makes a big difference.

 

[pdudgeon]

Anywhere that the Word of Faith is discussed, the nasties show up. They think they are subtle, but they are so obvious it gets sickening after awhile. I remember when i was a child growing up in the city, my dad planted some tomato plants in the backyard, and some radishes. There were no other gardens in our immediate neighborhood, but somehow, midway through the summer, these huge, fat tomato worms starting eating the tomato plants, and the radishes got these little worms in them. I remember wondering, where the heck did they come from?
Now I wonder the same thing about us. Everytime we start sharing about the goodness of God, somehow, out of nowhere these posters show up pretending to want fellowship, but they are really just like the tomato and radish worms.
The trouble with this forum is that it isn't properly moderated. Back when i came here more often a few years back, the battles raged daily over who could be here and who should not. We fought constantly for our rights, and got little satisfaction. By the time they gave us our own forum, most everyone had left. I now frequent another forum that while not perfect, is actively moderated by Word of Faith friendly people. It makes a big difference.

truth in a nutshell

to moderate any forum effectively there must be two things present:
1. a good knowledge of the theology you are moderating.
2. willingness to moderate fairly.

these have always been the main problems from the get go around here.
many of the mods on staff have tried to work using those two principles, but have been hampered by several things that seem to be endemic.

1. Upper eschelon Cf staff has always been (did i say always?) pro orthodox in selecting it's staff and in enforcing it's rules. in the early days when Erwin ran the show, this was obvious by the theological requirements. to become an admin over an area you had to be a Calvinist. There were always token staff members onboard whose theology would offset that, but in actual practice the scales were skewed when push came to shove.

Gradually that practice changed at the Admin level, but the requirement for the majority of staff at the highest levels to have orthodox beliefs has remained in place thru many ownership changes, and is still in effect today.

what does that have to do with our section here at WOF?
we are viewed as being unorthodox in our theology.

Now when you have staffers whose views are orthodox and who belong to churches who have a history centuries long of orthodox beliefs, it becomes a difficult task at best to hold on to orthodox theology, and at the same time to judge those who believe unorthodox theology in a knowledgeable, fair, and unbiased way.

I'll give the staff full credit, they do try.

But the reality is that in asking them to treat both orthodox and unorthodox members alike, we are asking them to do something that they are both theologically and historically not equipped to accomplish.
it is a house divided against itself.

So here at WOF the results will be mixed at best regarding the use of the rules in moderation. Because we don't have staff who are members of every theology that is represented, some of the forums will begin at a disadvantage when compared to others.

Therefore when you report a post, help the staff out by also quoting the rule that was broken in your report. if it is a case of flaming, then help them out by saying WHY WOF would see the post as flaming.

To a staffer with orthodox theology, it might not be readily apparent why the post is offensive. but you can help them if you explain it from a WOF point of view. Yes, it's more work, but you will up the chances of fair and unbiased judgement and increase their knowledge at the same time, if you do so.

meanwhile, keep on praying that the forum will be moderated with grace towards it's members, and that we may increase in our faith and our knowledge of God's ways. Pray that we may show kindness when reviled, mercy when persecuted, faith when challenged, and wisdom when provoked.

 

[CindyisHis]

Anywhere that the Word of Faith is discussed, the nasties show up. They think they are subtle, but they are so obvious it gets sickening after awhile. I remember when i was a child growing up in the city, my dad planted some tomato plants in the backyard, and some radishes. There were no other gardens in our immediate neighborhood, but somehow, midway through the summer, these huge, fat tomato worms starting eating the tomato plants, and the radishes got these little worms in them. I remember wondering, where the heck did they come from?
Now I wonder the same thing about us. Everytime we start sharing about the goodness of God, somehow, out of nowhere these posters show up pretending to want fellowship, but they are really just like the tomato and radish worms.
The trouble with this forum is that it isn't properly moderated. Back when i came here more often a few years back, the battles raged daily over who could be here and who should not. We fought constantly for our rights, and got little satisfaction. By the time they gave us our own forum, most everyone had left. I now frequent another forum that while not perfect, is actively moderated by Word of Faith friendly people. It makes a big difference.

I remember you, and also remember the time you spoke of. Riding that out was not a big deal. The difference now is the subtly of this certain imposter, the amount of posts everywhere, and the fact that the true are not around quite so much. In all fairness, there have been a few new ones who started threads I never looked at because of time issues in my own life. I've looked for those I know already, or just stayed on my own threads only venturing onto a few others as time permitted. One new person here that one would want to watch for what she says is wordoffaithfellowship. I believe that is her username. Awesome things come out of her mouth. Shepherd1 is another, but she's not really new. The problem is that she is MIA. No, she's just busy, but it does equate to that as far as the forum goes.

DMW, I've enjoyed with fellowship with you here in the past. Just want you to know.

 

[CindyisHis]

truth in a nutshell

to moderate any forum effectively there must be two things present:
1. a good knowledge of the theology you are moderating.
2. willingness to moderate fairly.

these have always been the main problems from the get go around here.
many of the mods on staff have tried to work using those two principles, but have been hampered by several things that seem to be endemic.

1. Upper eschelon Cf staff has always been (did i say always?) pro orthodox in selecting it's staff and in enforcing it's rules. in the early days when Erwin ran the show, this was obvious by the theological requirements. to become an admin over an area you had to be a Calvinist. There were always token staff members onboard whose theology would offset that, but in actual practice the scales were skewed when push came to shove.

Gradually that practice changed at the Admin level, but the requirement for the majority of staff at the highest levels to have orthodox beliefs has remained in place thru many ownership changes, and is still in effect today.

what does that have to do with our section here at WOF?
we are viewed as being unorthodox in our theology.

Now when you have staffers whose views are orthodox and who belong to churches who have a history centuries long of orthodox beliefs, it becomes a difficult task at best to hold on to orthodox theology, and at the same time to judge those who believe unorthodox theology in a knowledgeable, fair, and unbiased way.

I'll give the staff full credit, they do try.

But the reality is that in asking them to treat both orthodox and unorthodox members alike, we are asking them to do something that they are both theologically and historically not equipped to accomplish.
it is a house divided against itself.

So here at WOF the results will be mixed at best regarding the use of the rules in moderation. Because we don't have staff who are members of every theology that is represented, some of the forums will begin at a disadvantage when compared to others.

Therefore when you report a post, help the staff out by also quoting the rule that was broken in your report. if it is a case of flaming, then help them out by saying WHY WOF would see the post as flaming.

To a staffer with orthodox theology, it might not be readily apparent why the post is offensive. but you can help them if you explain it from a WOF point of view. Yes, it's more work, but you will up the chances of fair and unbiased judgement and increase their knowledge at the same time, if you do so.

meanwhile, keep on praying that the forum will be moderated with grace towards it's members, and that we may increase in our faith and our knowledge of God's ways. Pray that we may show kindness when reviled, mercy when persecuted, faith when challenged, and wisdom when provoked.

I thought you were a moderator. No?

It seems CF should have WoF moderators over WoF.

This case is not as simple as reporting a flaming post. He comes across more politely. He looks like a sheep. He's dressed like a sheep. But he does not Baaaa like a sheep, if you know what I mean. His speech is different. His spirit is different. And those of us who belong to Jesus can tell it. We know His voice.

 

[CindyisHis]

You have 17,000+ posts. that should give you a little power to say something back. You can come and hangout with us in the bipolar forum if you want too. We don't nick pick at each other about anything cause we're to busy with our disease.

Well, thank you, that's very kind of you.

I can say something back. Saying the right thing in the right way to the right person makes all the difference. I want to do this the way the Lord directs me to do this. I simply came on yesterday to see what I saw and was disheartened. At this point, I still may not frequent CF too much. Not really sure, and surely not worrying about it!

But that was very nice of you to invite me. I'm not bipolar so I will probably pass.

On second thought, maybe WILL visit you there!

 

[DMW]

Thanks Cindy. Unfortunately, i've moved on myself, and just pop in periodically to see if there is anything irresistible to comment on. What frustrated me in the end was that it seemed like the majority of WoFaither's here felt the need to stay in the broader Spirit Filled forum where the WoF bashing was so strong it almost completely took over! I can't think of a good reason to sit in a place of strife and hatred where you are mocked daily and not wanted. I've got better things to do than that.

 

[If Not For Grace]

It's not right. We should be protected here. That's what rules are for.

Let us not be easily offended, but IF we do get offended, let us tell each other & try & work it out, & if that does not work use your block feature, & you dont have to see or hear from that poster. Let us all try & remember this is a Virtual World, & we are all volunteers & we may leave any forum we no longer care to particpate in.

I personally have found that if I just leave the thread-the "flamer or Troll" w/usually leave me alone. A few days of ignore does so much for some people.

 

[andreha]

I personally have found that if I just leave the thread-the "flamer or Troll" w/usually leave me alone. A few days of ignore does so much for some people.

Indeed, like what I did here.

 

[pdudgeon]

I thought you were a moderator. No?

It seems CF should have WoF moderators over WoF.

This case is not as simple as reporting a flaming post. He comes across more politely. He looks like a sheep. He's dressed like a sheep. But he does not Baaaa like a sheep, if you know what I mean. His speech is different. His spirit is different. And those of us who belong to Jesus can tell it. We know His voice.

agreed, i used to be on staff, but i turned in my badge for other, more productive work.

sometimes if the baaing is wrong, it helps to use a tuning fork to demonstrate the correct response. or in this case, it would be a response from the gospel as well as encouraging the sheep to adjust to and match their baa's to what the word of God says.

it is all to easy to get off on the wrong key when the sound of the correct one is not in one's ears continually. First correct the hearing, and then the resulting sound of the baas comming from their mouth will respond accordingly.