Why aren't there more people posting?

[Esaias]

Apostolics used to be all over the net on discussion forums. You couldn't go to a Christian or theology/debate forum and not run into at least one or two oneness Pentecostals on there stirring things up. There used to be NUMEROUS OP discussion boards, forums, etc.

Now? There's AFF, with hundreds of 'members' and only about 20 people or so bother to post (if that). Sometimes the General Discussion forum will go almost all day without a single post.

And other forums? Practically non existent. If you 'google' or 'bing' search for OP forums using any combination of terms you want... pretty much this is it.

Awhile back it was said 'they are all on Fakebook'. But, that platform is not conducive to actual DISCUSSIONS. It's like Twitter - it's not a discussion forum. All of a sudden, all the OPs in the entire world just decided they don't care about DISCUSSIONS anymore? They all just suddenly decided they'd rather tweet and 'like' useless fluff 'posts' that provide no opportunity for actual discussion?

Doesn't make sense to me.

All those people who USED to be involved in discussions - Higher Fire, FCF, nFCF, AFF, and numerous Delphi forums, numerous proboards, etc etc... they all just decided en masse all of a sudden to go totally blonde and reduce all apostolic discussion to 'My cat farted today, yay! Subscribe and like!'

I mean, for reals?

[Esaias]

No blonde cats were harmed in the production of this thread, by the way.

[shazeep]

Ha. There is obviously a rejection of the Est'd church going on here, if 67 million have left the rolls, and i think that is just a reflection. With so many pastors mirroring politicians, and even going back and forth between the two, i think reflecting upon the phenom in this light goes toward an explanation there. It seems to have given rise to many pastors who get it, and seek to actually serve, and are forming churches that reflect this, or attempt to anyway.

At the same time i am seeing a rise in manifestations of the Spirit in the street, so to speak. Or i might just be paying more attention to them, i'm not sure, but i notice many more overt little gestures, and less competition in formerly competitive areas.

[mfblume]

The forum died December 9, 2013.

Thus it is written, thus it was done.

[shazeep]

not sure what happened then?

i note readership here is somewhere in the hood of x10-x1000 of postings, so this may be a reflection of the Church, also. Yes, a few of those are bots, but a snapshot http://www.apostolicfriendsforum.com/online.php reveals that # to be minuscule at any one time, even if it is repeating. So if even half of the hits are bots, you still gotta big number of seekers.

[shazeep]

another way to see it is that believers seek peace, but posting is confrontational; who wants to have some post of theirs, that perhaps reflects the Spirit and came from the heart, be misdirected by some bombast who just happens to possess better sophistry or whatever? Some guy like me, maybe. It is just easier to refrain, and seek one's personal convictions in the posts of others who might reflect them.

[LOVE JESUS]

You are EXACTLY right. You said it better than I could have. Thank you.

Originally Posted by shazeep

another way to see it is that believers seek peace, but posting is confrontational; who wants to have some post of theirs, that perhaps reflects the Spirit and came from the heart, be misdirected by some bombast who just happens to possess better sophistry or whatever? Some guy like me, maybe. It is just easier to refrain, and seek one's personal convictions in the posts of others who might reflect them.

[shazeep]

Originally Posted by LOVE JESUS

You are EXACTLY right. You said it better than I could have. Thank you.

ha well ty, but i suggest that seed of LOVE JESUS does not make a tree to the extent that that is followed. I have only my narrow view, that may have resonated with you in that moment, but does not accurately reflect LOVE JESUS at all points, as you are the only one who can do that, and you might be the only one to reach someone else lurking and looking for answers, or even be the one to affirm another poster who feels overwhelmed and on the verge of no longer posting.

it is common to consider that somehow the reply of a bombast might negate your post's meaning or something, because it opposes yours; but see that you do not read posts as a 3rd party in this manner--you take some from here, and some from there. Even if it is never said, many, many people will read the reply of the bombast to your post with the same or a similar opinion to yours.

i would even go so far as to say that it matters little what you say, as far as grammatical perfection or whatever--or even doctrinal perfection--because while we like to imagine that we are channeling Christ, and opposing someone else that we perceive as not doing so, in reality Christ is reflected in the margins, by a reader, reading both sides. Truth is manifested by being challenged.

I get away with some ridiculous untruths here--which i don't employ often, but now and then--simply because no one challenges them, and the thread often dies and i forget to go fix them i've actually quit doing that because it seems i was getting too much respect! And trust me i am still the same guy who feels offended at a pointed ripost; i doubt that ever goes away. i would much rather be offended than dead.

[houston]

AFF was preached against at that one big UPC conference that one time.

[houston]

And forums in general have been preached against... in local churches everywhere.

Don't ask questions, ever.