Prayer Forums

If this forum is ever going to get used as it should but it really is a nice place to post. I'm loving it!

Im not sure if Forums will ever hold the place they used to. However I have noticed a couple things of late that perhaps might change things.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted religion in various ways Religion is supposed to be a source of comfort in times of confusion and suffering.
And yet everywhere you look, services are being suspended.
We headlines like :
Chicago Mayor Vows to ‘Take Action’ Against Defiant Churches That Continue to Hold Services Despite Lockdown Orders
New York pastor faces $1,000 fine for holding drive-in church service
Federal Judge Says Church’s Desire to Hold In-Person Worship Services is “Selfish”
Pastor Tony Spell of Life Tabernacle Church in East Baton Rouge, Louisiana is still defying state government orders concerning church gatherings and recently stated that “We will comply with the Governor’s orders, whenever they sell popsicles in hell and set up an ice skating rink in the lake of fire and sell tickets for admission,”

It seems that more people have little choice but to turn to online religious sources or left to defy the government.
While much of Social media is a great place for a quick thought /opinion it does not serve as a good vehicle for conversation or study
things often scroll by so fast they disappear in a few hours.
Forums allow for one to think about a subject and have time to reflect on it, offer their insight or learn from another.

Social media companies are very left wing in their politics they heavily censor Christian Religious posts/tweets.
One is warned if you speak against controversial subjects like abortion for example. Another open doer for forums.

I have read and seen that COVID-19 has greatly raised the interest in Religion,
we seem to be stuck in a period of time where interest and need for religion has increased
but the access is more limited than before the virus.Could forums help fill this needed service ?

I think they do provide a better alternative to fast pace and censorship of Social media.
Its always how does one sell any good idea/ product to the public? Advertisement but in what form?
Word of mouth in my experience serves Forums best because forums often become a community.

However for word of mouth to work there must be something worthy of talking about or sharing with others.
These things however require time and dedication and nurturing to get them up and going. Unlike the hey day of Forums, when you just needed to build it an they came, everyone was looking for a good forum. Its much more challenging these days.
Today's forum leaders must not only build it they need to reach out further than ever before to connect their service/product with those who may want or need it. Good Biblical Topics, Current Event discussions and of course what everyone these days asks about, with this plague upon us is "End Times" are always things people like talking an asking about.

grace is right. Maybe hopeful on some things, too.

The church thing has been interesting. Personally speaking, I fall into the mindset that churches probably should suspend in-person services. We know that the virus travels in groups and several outbreaks have been tracked back to one-off gatherings like church services, funerals, and parties. We had a case in my hometown with one event serving as launchpad for the community.

However, I do not see how holding a drive-in service is a problem. Fortunately, I live in a state where those rights are not being trampled. In our case, the Governor actually never technically forbade church gatherings with an executive order. Instead, it was guidance and most churches complied willingly to prevent spreading it to those at risk in their congregations.

What will be interesting is to see what churches gather back with similar numbers and what churches don't. I think there will be some winnowing going on with life not being much different without church for some. However, I do not want to sound too cynical about it.

The only downside to a forum can be much of the same downside to social media, just albeit in slightly different form. People are still people. There are so many voices out there, that you can find a kook to believe in just about anything. I had no idea so many people passed things off as Christian that are far from it. End Times stuff can be some of the absolute worst, too.

I'm reminded of the old Motel 8 commercials - we'll leave the light on for you.

People are starving for faith because things cry out to us (Luke 19:40). I hope Prayer Forums can be a place where they feel safe and, most importantly, find God. Word of mouth is definitely about the best way, but I'm running out of friends, ha.

I found News Forum often gets read and reposted to someone even if not replied to and that brings new eyes interest.
(sometimes if traffic gets to heavy one needs to divide religious based news from secular or political news.)

Its true some biblical topics draw more odd gospels then others but to use a analogy of sales here:

Certain topics like End times, Rapture, Politics, Whats Right/wrong Religion for examples,
are all topics that everyone has an impulse opinion about and want to weigh in on.
These are the impulse posts topics you need for the traffic they bring and keep.
Some of these opinions are crackers for sure but many have some basis in truth just go off track somewhere.
Hopefully scripture and or discussion sheds some truth.
And when some cracker ideas disrupt the community they have to be invited to leave ..Just the nature of forum or a business

I would have to agree. Forums are not like they use to be but neither is this world and I think that we will be seeing significant changes on how we do things and how we approach life, particularly as believers in the light of a post pandemic world. It has certainly allowed for us to adapt and given opportunity to create new and innovative ways to solve things

Thanks for your input....

Well, there's that whole creative part.

Most things are going the way of video, which I think does wonders for emotions and visual communication, but cause thinking to suffer somewhat. Even watching a lot of videos these days, I feel more like I am being sold to than really learning or having a dialogue on things.

It will be interesting to see if the pandemic accelerates any changes.