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| A Pastor's Perspective on Mychurch |
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Greetings in Christ,
As I start this short piece let me say that I have greatly enjoyed mychurch and do not plan on leaving. I have been on this site for a little over two years and have served as a church admin and a staff member (though I rarely ever do anything on here anymore). During my time here on mychurch I have had personal interactions with nearly all of the top leadership on mychurch. Some have suggested that Joe and others do not care and are therefore just doing "whatever' they want. Let me assure you that Joe, and the MyChurch team DO care about you and value your input. On many occasions, Joe, and others have asked for input. Does the Myspace CEO ask for feedback on how its doing to serve its members? Does the Facebook CEO ask for feedback on how its doing? (I realize that many social networks ask for your opinion on how they are doing but none of the CEO's ask for your opinion like here on MyChurch).
There's a deeper reason why I'm writing this "short" letter because it really bothers me when Christians fight and bicker with one another. Granted people will fight and complain to each other- this is a fact of life that is unavoidable. Mychurch is a Christian website and as such non-believers come and join here to see if we Christians take our Christianity seriously. The #1 charge against Non-Christians is that Christians do not take their faith seriously. Rather than bicker and belittle Joe and team, I would encourage you to be thankful that the leaders of MyChurch do care enough to share the vision the Lord has placed on their hearts. Sadly some of you are going to even respond to this note and proceed to tell me where I'm wrong. Before you do this realize that this is not about you its about Jesus. Division, strife, etc are works of the flesh and not works that Christians are to be defined by. The love of God poured out through the work of the Holy Spirit into the believers heart is to overflow from believers. Much of what I've seen here lately is hurt, confusion, and strife directed towards Joe whose responsiblity it is to ensure that Mychurch stays afloat and running properly. Rather than being critical of him encourage him, and pray for him. Rather than only negative how about sharing how you've been blessed by MyChurch.
Now, before you respond to this post- let me qualify what I'm saying. I am not saying that Joe or the Mychurch leadership is perfect because nobody is. The only perfect person was the God-Man Jesus Christ. There are no perfect people but there are plenty of broken people. Since I have known and even talked to Joe on several occasions as a staff member of mychurch I can with full confidence say that he cares about this site and its members. Joe is open to criticism but not open to attack. There's a huge difference there. Joe is open to hearing what you have to say but not open to belittlement. I don't pretend to speak for Joe or MyChurch but speak as one who has experienced Joe's leadership and trust his judgment. For the record nobody on MyChurch contacted me to post this, I did this on my own. I pray for the leadership of this site everyday, and I for one as a Pastor am deeply grieved and burdened by those who have nothing nice to say about Joe, or Mychurch. Criticism is one thing- being harsh against your brother in Christ is another. When believers fight with one another it does not bring honor and esteem to Jesus but brings validity to the argument that Christians are only hypocrites who don't take the faith seriously. I also realize that there are some who are merely trying to voice their opinions. I pray that the leadership of this site will continue to listen to such voices. I pray that we all here on this site who profess Jesus Christ will seek to bring honor and glory to Christ alone because He is the only One who is worthy to be praised.
In Christ Alone,
Pastor Dave
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| To add a comment to "A Pastor's Perspective on Mychurch" |
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| September 10, 2009 |
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| Well said................I hope the one's that have left come back. The devil never sleeps but God doesn't either.
The enemy no doubt continues to flock at any Christian website, Church, etc to create chaos, and all the negative things that have happened on here the last few days and weeks.
I pray that his children continue to know that as you said: "He is the only One who is worthy to be praised." |
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| September 10, 2009 |
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 [star!] |
****standing ovation!**** |
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| September 10, 2009 |
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| AMEN, BROTHER!!!! †JESUS† & LATER THE APOSTLES SAY WE'RE TO BE OF ONE MIND & SPIRIT!!! THAT IS, PRESENT A UNITED FRONT AGAINST SATAN & HIS FORCES!!! I LOVE & PRAY FOR EVERYONE, ALWAYS IN THE NAME, PEACE, JOY & LOVE OF †JESUS† OUR LORD!!! |
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| September 10, 2009 |
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| [star!] |
Amen! Much love brother, and God bless you for posting this! |
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| September 10, 2009 |
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| Truly the pleasure is all mine Sue- make sure you let Joe know also, please. The people on this site have no idea how much hard work and effort goes into this site. For those of you who don't know Sue devotes hours and hours of her life to help this site run well. Its because of people like her that this website is growing. God bless you Sue. |
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| September 10, 2009 |
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| [star!] |
I am going to have to agree with you fully, Pastor Dave. I am not to sure if you have read my views on it, I am admiring of what they do, but there are some things that I would like to see change. |
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| September 10, 2009 |
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| I hate to take back my agreement, but I am going to have to for the church's team site page on here had blocked me. :( |
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| September 10, 2009 |
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| [star!] |
Dave, this post is deeply appreciated. |
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| September 10, 2009 |
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| Megan,
First off thank you for your comments. I skimmed some of what you said in your blog and appreciate that your opening up and sharing how you feel. Secondly let me address your "agreeing and disagreeing with me". My post has nothing to do with how I see mychurch or its changes nor did I address those changes in my post. What I did address is the attitude of people who have an issue with Joe and speak harshly about him. If your in disagreement about that then you need to seriously examine yourself before the Lord. If your in disagreement over how the site is run and wish to share your views I know for a fact the leadership of mychurch is open to that (though they may not act on what you share!). Finally Megan this is not about me its about Jesus. Its not even ultimately about how all of this is handled it is about the Gospel. The gospel is all important; how a site is run is not all important. The sad thing to me personally is that Christians place an emphasis on something so minor and trivial and wonder why non-Christians don't take us seriously. They don't take us seriously because few Christians take Christ seriously. I'm not necessarily speaking about you.
Megan, I don't know why you were banned but I did read on there how Joe was not going to allow for personal attacks. Words are powerful and carry meaning. How you speak is very important but what is even more important is how those words are received. This is an often neglected concept in Christianity today sadly. Your opinions and views have merit Megan, and I thank you for sharing how you feel here on MyChurch. As I said I don't know why you were blocked from Mychurch, but as I also said I posted this post on my own free will without Joe or anyone of the other leaders on Mychurch knowing I would do this. This makes me acting on my own merits and not at the will of Joe or anyone else. This is me speaking as me. If someone blocked you I had nothing to do with it.
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| September 10, 2009 |
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| Mike,
My pleasure dear brother. God bless your efforts here. |
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| September 11, 2009 |
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| [star!] |
Dave,
Excellent. Well written and from the heart. |
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| September 11, 2009 |
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| Thanks John! |
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| September 11, 2009 |
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| [star!] |
Amen brother, good post! |
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| September 11, 2009 |
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| [star!] |
Amen Dave. The way I see it, if Joe never cared the first changes would not have been made. Furthermore, Joe seems to think it's not all about him either. Your right Dave, it's not about My church, Joe, you or me.......it's Jesus and Him crucified. God told the prophet Jeremiah that he would find Him when he sought Him with all his heart. The whole heart. Great post. Be blessed my friend. |
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