This forum has gone down hill.

[hammer123]

Years ago I was on this forum and there were many more insightful and mature Christians posting.   

[chosenone]

I have been here for sevel years and I cant say I have noticed that much difference. People come and people go, and they all bring their own individual ideas and beliefs and perspectives.
There are a lot of mature Christians here right now actually.

[MeMyself]

Years ago I was on this forum and there were many more insightful and mature Christians posting.   

wow...

[Debbie_55]

I've been here for three years now and it's pretty much the same as the day I found this site. I've seen people grow in their faith which is Christ Jesus and I have seen people come against our faith that is Christ Jesus so no, nothing has changed. I see many insightful knowledgeable Christians that have even helped me learn a few new things, which shows you can teach an old dog new tricks from time to time. 

[Texas Conservative]

Years ago I was on this forum and there were many more insightful and mature Christians posting.   

wow...

It has and most of the old moderators are gone as well.  It is a shame.

[p.rehbein]

 

Yeah, not so much in my opinion only I suspect..............T'was a time there I was a Moderator, and I spent hours on end chasing trolls around the various Forums trying to keep their unChristian comments from harming the Forums.........haven't seen much of that lately...........now, don't mean the occasional one don't slip in now and again, but nothing like it used to be.

As for members/Moderators who have come and gone............there are some I miss a lot....but there are many that I don't particurarly miss............the absence of KarlaTeal and all the Created SN's used by that bunch are certainly a welcomed loss to Grace Centered.

All responsible for keeping Grace Centered up and running deserve our prayers and thanks..........and the bottom line is:  No one is forcing anyone to be here..............it's a choice..........even I have taken a break once or twice just to clear my head of some of the arguments going on from time to time............but when I returned, I found the caring, loving, Godly folks that first brought me here were still "fighting the good fight," and I was happy to give them a shout out and thank them for all they do.

Life has peaks and valleys........ups and downs.........like Dotti Rambo said in her song........The God on the mountain.......is still God in the valley...........


I suppose folks have their particular opinions of the quality of Christian thoughts/beliefs/comments expressed here..............so everyone is entitled to their opinion.  As for me, I see a great improvement in not only the commentary, but the quality of the Forums.  Grace Centered is easily one of the best Christian Forums on the internet today.

The old adage............beauty is in the eye of the beholder.........also fits with one being insightful or displaying a mature knowledge of Christianity............it too is in the eye of the beholder is it not?

Go back 10 years.............6 years..........3 years..............yesterday..............for sure you will find one or more of the following:

Thread arguing Water Baptism vs. Holy Spirit Baptism
Thread arguing Grace vs. Law
Thread arguing Once Saved, Always Saved
Thread arguing Predestination
Threads espousing hatred for Catholics
Threads espousing hatred for Protestants
Threads with really "sicko" subject matter in the Forums where this stuff is posted
Thread arguing homosexuality
Threads espousing hatred of all things liberal

.............and on and on.........after awhile, the "insightful" and "mature" arguments concerning these are just so much dust in the wind in my opinion.  To see others on threads that attempt to "edify" rather than "tear down" is quit a welcomed change as far as I'm concerned.  And I see many more of these now than I did when I first joined.

[Carey]

I don't know about going downhill, I haven't been here long, but I looked over a few other sites before joining, and this was one of the finest I found.  Many Godly people here , some I agree with , some I don't , and still others I have no idea   

[Cally]

There are a lot of believers out there who are thinking-type people who would share a lot of carefully-thought-out ideas. They weren't just "mainstream" believers who would just repeat modern-day Christianity but demonstrate that they had their own individual thoughts about many things of scripture that they studied and meditated upon. I liked seeing those kinds of thoughts.

There's still a lot of that here, but not quite as much as there used to be.

[Alan]

While I'm new to this forum, I've been active on other forums for a very long time. The very thing that makes us who we are in our gift of freewill is evident everywhere. On my computer forums there is a never ending war between intel and AMD, and mac vs Windows, in my racing forums it's Chevy vs Ford vs Dodge, so upon joining here I wasn't surprised in the least to see the differences between peoples hearts, it's human nature and moreover it's the evidence of God's gift of freewill to us.

That said, submission and obedience are key in keeping freewill aligned with the word of God, something that is much more apparent here than on other types of forums where flaming others for disagreeing is the norm, not the exception.

It's our choice to engage in topics we disagree with, and most of us know that despite stating OUR opinion, the other party is very unlikely to bow down and rethink their own logic.

So far I've enjoyed being here very much, and intend on hanging in. Good work GC, admin, moderators, and site staff....

Blessings to all

[Markseasigh]

Wow are people posting things that they can't back up with scripture somewhere, or do you just not believe what you read in the BIBLE?

YOU know who else took the Bible literally? Jesus!!!
Just saying

[Jimmy]

Wow are people posting things that they can't back up with scripture somewhere, or do you just not believe what you read in the BIBLE?

YOU know who else took the Bible literally? Jesus!!!
Just saying

I believe what I read in the Bible.  I just don't always believe what you think you read in the Bible.

[Markseasigh]

Well in this case you could see how me reading the bible and attempting to understand it may lead to answers to questions that you never knew you wanted to know.


Just a Warning.

P.S. what have I posted that you don't agree with?

[Jimmy]

Well in this case you could see how me reading the bible and attempting to understand it may lead to answers to questions that you never knew you wanted to know.


Just a Warning.

P.S. what have I posted that you don't agree with?

Probably a lot if I bothered to read it.

[Markseasigh]

Well in this case you could see how me reading the bible and attempting to understand it may lead to answers to questions that you never knew you wanted to know.


Just a Warning.

P.S. what have I posted that you don't agree with?

Probably a lot if I bothered to read it.

You will never know If you disagree with the truth I'm trying to bring to light IF YOU DON"T READ THEM.
LOL that's ok
wisdom is among fools as Jewels among swine.

[Jimmy]

Well in this case you could see how me reading the bible and attempting to understand it may lead to answers to questions that you never knew you wanted to know.


Just a Warning.

P.S. what have I posted that you don't agree with?

Probably a lot if I bothered to read it.

You will never know If you disagree with the truth I'm trying to bring to light IF YOU DON"T READ THEM.
LOL that's ok
wisdom is among fools as Jewels among swine.

So it is "truth" that you are trying to bring to light?  Interesting.  I thought perhaps it was simply what you think is truth.

Neither of my statements were directed at you specifically or solely; rather they were directed generally at what gets posted here.

[chosenone]

Years ago I was on this forum and there were many more insightful and mature Christians posting.   

wow...

It has and most of the old moderators are gone as well.  It is a shame.

Nothing ever stays the same in life, and that can be a blessing sometimes.

[Snargles]

I have noticed a lot of Catholics moving into the neighborhood. When I first started on GC I was interested because there were Restoration Movement types posting here but now we seem to be in the minority.

[hammer123]

Wow are people posting things that they can't back up with scripture somewhere, or do you just not believe what you read in the BIBLE?

YOU know who else took the Bible literally? Jesus!!!
Just saying

I believe what I read in the Bible.  I just don't always believe what you think you read in the Bible.

I don't always agree with your posting, but I believe you are intelligent and reasonable.

[hammer123]

I have noticed a lot of Catholics moving into the neighborhood. When I first started on GC I was interested because there were Restoration Movement types posting here but now we seem to be in the minority.

Catholics can be frustrating to me, but IMHO the church is decent.  I believe they have a chance at finding salvation.

[Lively Stone]

Years ago I was on this forum and there were many more insightful and mature Christians posting.   

wow...

It has and most of the old moderators are gone as well.  It is a shame.

Nothing ever stays the same in life, and that can be a blessing sometimes.

That's the truth, except when they open a forum for every Tom, Dick and Harry that comes down the pike, we see an increase in subversiveness. We've had the addition of a Preterist forum---what's next? Universalism?

[Debrah]

I brows 3 Christian sites,

one is liberal, boy can I get beat up there, hard to believe they read same the bible I do....

the 2nd is much like this one, but a little more kind in there responses. 

At this forum I have noticed some very insightful member's have left, I may not of agreed with all of them, but it sad to see people leave because they get beat down so badly.

at Christian sites we can disagree, but it should be in a loving, teaching manner, so many replies are sarcastic, degrading, and some just down right mean....

I stay here because I know most here truly love God, and I like that this forum is not so up-tight about how people express themselves, and ban everyone like some other forums.

thanks to all that hold this forum together!!

[hammer123]

I brows 3 Christian sites,

one is liberal, boy can I get beat up there, hard to believe they read same the bible I do....

the 2nd is much like this one, but a little more kind in there responses. 

At this forum I have noticed some very insightful member's have left, I may not of agreed with all of them, but it sad to see people leave because they get beat down so badly.

at Christian sites we can disagree, but it should be in a loving, teaching manner, so many replies are sarcastic, degrading, and some just down right mean....

I stay here because I know most here truly love God, and I like that this forum is not so up-tight about how people express themselves, and ban everyone like some other forums.

thanks to all that hold this forum together!!

I think sometimes its the moderators, they might  influence people to leave.

[Carey]

  This thread started downhill, went uphill fast, went downhill a bit, but is on its way up again.   

Just an observation.

[Markseasigh]

This thread started downhill, went uphill fast, went downhill a bit, but is on its way up again.   

Just an observation.

YAY
Praise GOD!

[chosenone]

This thread started downhill, went uphill fast, went downhill a bit, but is on its way up again.   

Just an observation.

A bit like life eh carey.

[Carey]

This thread started downhill, went uphill fast, went downhill a bit, but is on its way up again.   

Just an observation.

A bit like life eh carey.

Did you ever see the movie "Parenthood" with Steve Martin.  At about 1:00 in Grandma arrives on the scene and relates something that has stayed with me for years.
http://youtu.be/Z18vJwmxFFY

[Wycliffes_Shillelagh]

Nothing ever stays the same in life, and that can be a blessing sometimes.

That's the truth, except when they open a forum for every Tom, Dick and Harry that comes down the pike, we see an increase in subversiveness. We've had the addition of a Preterist forum---what's next? Universalism?

We already have one of those. 

http://www.gracecentered.com/christian_forums/christian-universalism-forum/

[chosenone]

This thread started downhill, went uphill fast, went downhill a bit, but is on its way up again.   

Just an observation.

A bit like life eh carey.

Did you ever see the movie "Parenthood" with Steve Martin.  At about 1:00 in Grandma arrives on the scene and relates something that has stayed with me for years.
http://youtu.be/Z18vJwmxFFY

Isnt that true carey. To get the highs we have to have the lows. A mountainous region always has valleys. I once heard a teaching on valleys. The man said that the greenest grass is found in the deepest valleys. So true.

[Lively Stone]

Nothing ever stays the same in life, and that can be a blessing sometimes.

That's the truth, except when they open a forum for every Tom, Dick and Harry that comes down the pike, we see an increase in subversiveness. We've had the addition of a Preterist forum---what's next? Universalism?

We already have one of those. 

http://www.gracecentered.com/christian_forums/christian-universalism-forum/

Yikes. 

[Willie T]

Nothing ever stays the same in life, and that can be a blessing sometimes.

That's the truth, except when they open a forum for every Tom, Dick and Harry that comes down the pike, we see an increase in subversiveness. We've had the addition of a Preterist forum---what's next? Universalism?

We already have one of those. 

http://www.gracecentered.com/christian_forums/christian-universalism-forum/

Yikes. 

Yep, the slippery slope of compromise exists almost anywhere you look.

[Lively Stone]

Nothing ever stays the same in life, and that can be a blessing sometimes.

That's the truth, except when they open a forum for every Tom, Dick and Harry that comes down the pike, we see an increase in subversiveness. We've had the addition of a Preterist forum---what's next? Universalism?

We already have one of those. 

http://www.gracecentered.com/christian_forums/christian-universalism-forum/

Yikes. 

Yep, the slippery slope of compromise exists almost anywhere you look.

It's rampant.

[Wycliffes_Shillelagh]

Maybe you don't get this, Lively, but the forum is supposed to be a place where people with different beliefs can come and dialogue about them.

It's not meant to be a safehouse where only those who are perfect gather, and defend the fort against the wicked heretics and invaders.

Jarrod

[FireSword]

Nothing ever stays the same in life, and that can be a blessing sometimes.

That's the truth, except when they open a forum for every Tom, Dick and Harry that comes down the pike, we see an increase in subversiveness. We've had the addition of a Preterist forum---what's next? Universalism?

We already have one of those. 

http://www.gracecentered.com/christian_forums/christian-universalism-forum/

Yikes. 

You saying you forgot all those scriptures I taught you. I guess you could say the seed fell on "stony ground" 

[Bob Perry of Web Presence Consulting]

Granted I have a vested interest in commenting here, but I feel compelled to make a few statements about recent developments here... Although the statistics page seldom gets the attention it deserves, in my biased opinion as a fellow SMF powered website owner, it is a valuable asset to reference and use as sort of a barometer of many different aspects of our progress forward or back... there is a lot of history in this particular site's existence and I can say without hesitation that you will see even greater things to come once we get all the remaining issues resulting from the upgrade of the software I did back in July 2012 resolved...

You can navigate to that page by clicking the link circled in red on the Main page of the forums, or by clicking anywhere on this image... the other link circled in blue is also a handy little screen if you might be interested in seeing what topics are of interest to the other members who happen to be online at the same time you are...

[Johnb]

Maybe you don't get this, Lively, but the forum is supposed to be a place where people with different beliefs can come and dialogue about them.

It's not meant to be a safehouse where only those who are perfect gather, and defend the fort against the wicked heretics and invaders.

Jarrod

I have been here since 04.  The biggest change is that it has grown from almost exclusively CoC folk to many different Christian denominations.  Jarrod is correct.  This is not a safe house for any one group or theology it is an exchange of ideas.  Because of that fact we gather some folks who have strange ideas and some who insist that they have all the correct answers.  I have been on forums that contend for their view of the truth and throw everyone off that does not agree.  Those are not discussion boards and not a pleasant place to be.  This board may not be perfect but it is way ahead of any other I have found.