# This board is a mission field



## dnlcnwy (May 20, 2021)

When I first joined this board it was for edification in my personal walk and perhaps to edify others. I have noticed since I came here that there are a lot of visitors here, anywhere from twice to three times as many visitors as members. Somehow we have gotten the reputation as a place for interesting conversation and commentary. This places a responsibility on us here to write with an eye towards both the believer and the curious. As the title states, we have to act as missionaries as well as congregants here.(administrator) I don't know if there is a place here for the curious to post and ask questions, but if not, there should be.

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## Irenaeus (May 20, 2021)

As someone who was a long-time visitor/lurker before actually signing up, I can testify that this board is a blessing for both the believer and the curious. It is, for the most part, a public forum where topics can be raised, discussed, and addressed from a primarily confessional point of view. This makes it, as far as I know, unique on the internet. In a day and age where Christians need more grounding in creedal and confessional teaching - not less - this forum serves a valuable function. Non-believers can find watered-down and errant forms of Christianity in any number of places; less so with serious and well-articulated Reformed theology.

Being new here, I won't pretend to speak for the board as that would be ridiculous. From my personal perspective, it makes perfect sense that the nature of the board precludes it being a theological free-for-all, open to all comers. And, given the wealth of topics covered on here in the last 15+ years, there's relatively little left in the way of "unexplored territory". It's been a blessing to me to be able to find answers to many questions here over the years, and to know that those answers represent a specifically Reformed and confessional viewpoint. Of course, I or others may want something else at various times or for various reasons. Thankfully, we have the rest of the Internet for that. As for this board, I hope and pray its wealth of insight is as much of an encouragement to you as it is to me; I am certainly very grateful for its very specific and intentional purpose and way of doing things.

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## dnlcnwy (May 20, 2021)

Irenaeus said:


> As someone who was a long-time visitor/lurker before actually signing up, I can testify that this board is a blessing for both the believer and the curious. It is, for the most part, a public forum where topics can be raised, discussed, and addressed from a primarily confessional point of view. This makes it, as far as I know, unique on the internet. In a day and age where Christians need more grounding in creedal and confessional teaching - not less - this forum serves a valuable function. Non-believers can find watered-down and errant forms of Christianity in any number of places; less so with serious and well-articulated Reformed theology.
> 
> Being new here, I won't pretend to speak for the board as that would be ridiculous. From my personal perspective, it makes perfect sense that the nature of the board precludes it being a theological free-for-all, open to all comers. And, given the wealth of topics covered on here in the last 15+ years, there's relatively little left in the way of "unexplored territory". It's been a blessing to me to be able to find answers to many questions here over the years, and to know that those answers represent a specifically Reformed and confessional viewpoint. Of course, I or others may want something else at various times or for various reasons. Thankfully, we have the rest of the Internet for that. As for this board, I hope and pray its wealth of insight is as much of an encouragement to you as it is to me; I am certainly very grateful for its very specific and intentional purpose and way of doing things.


I don't think having one forum out of the approx. thirty that are here open to comments from non-members would make it a theological free-for-all. You are right, it is this boards Reformed and confessional viewpoint that apparently is what is attracting people, but we shouldn't pass up an opportunity to instruct or evangelize the curious just to maintain content purity. I mean, do we really want to tell someone "we are flattered by for your interest here, now go somewhere else if you have questions"?


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## Irenaeus (May 20, 2021)

I might suggest that is an uncharitable way to view the board's mission. Every forum or organization has parameters and we can choose to view them positively or negatively. I see the board, positively, as being open and inviting to all who subscribe to a confessional standard and who want to participate in discussions framed by a confessional viewpoint. Why make the deliberate choice to view that in a negative light?

Additionally, who says this board is passing up opportunities to instruct or evangelize? Its very existence as a publicly viewable forum allows it to do just that. Again, that's an unnecessarily negative view. Would you say that about a church that expects people to sit quietly through a sermon without standing up and asking questions of the pastor mid-way through?

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## 83r17h (May 20, 2021)

Does "The Wading Pool" (here) do what you are suggesting? It seems like that's there explicitly to allow questions, and the original suggestion which drove its creation sounds extremely similar to what you propose. Or are you specifically proposing anonymous (no user account) posts?


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## NaphtaliPress (May 20, 2021)

No, there is not and will not be a forum that allows non member participation. The more newbie type of question that desires just answers from elders, can indeed post a question to the wading pool. FYI, in future if you have a suggestion, or anyone else, use this forum: https://www.puritanboard.com/forums/suggestion-box.61/
Thread closed.

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## Semper Fidelis (May 22, 2021)

Since I can make comments on close threads, let me point out the value of quietly lurking and reading from the board in general. Lots of questions are posed and asked that people find by just searching for answers. 
We have been criticized over the years for what some interpret as "binding and loosing" when we deny the ability of people to post on the board who have questions or just want to interact. We're not creating boundaries on the catholicity of the Church itself. We're merely noting that this particular corner of the Internet is for people who are Protestant and Reformed. We even open our "wings of catholicity" to include Baptists who are Reformed and Protestant and leads to the occasional sparks, but there is still a large "Venn diagram" of common agreement about the power of God for salvation.

Sadly, the Internet is a cesspool that represents the fallenness of man. It's the Church that exists to preach the Gospel into the darkness and convert the hearts of men. That said, I don't think people realize how much work it is for Admins and Moderators to moderate Christians much less those who are hostile to the things of God. If the focus on this board was primarily apologetic then it would make sense to "staff up" and have the ability to deal with the exponential increase in strife that would be unleashed if we allowed anyone to pose questions - leave aside the profanity, people posing as questioners to simply mock or even for other nefarious purposes. We simply don't have the bandwidth.

We are what we are. It's not perfect but it provides a useful purpose.

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