Anniversary...

[JE Pettibone]

[Rvaughn]

I don't post that much, but looked at my profile and see I have been a member for ten years and my most active forum is the Baptist Faith & Practice Forum.

[William Thornton]

...and we are all getting a little long in the tooth.

[William Thornton]

David, when did the old SBCNet start operating?

[Sandy]

Well, Happy Anniversary! And many more!

I don't think I was on here initially, but at the point I joined, it used the format where each addition to the same thread was indented.

[Tim Bonney]

[David Flick]

[JE Pettibone]

Ed; David, could Lisa's last name be Thornberg or any thing close? It is keeping me awake. You always do a great job recapping the BL.C history.

[Haruo]

Glad all of us are still here who are still here. I miss a number of the women particularly. Have some contact with Cathy and Jane on FB but not as much as we had here in times past. Glad Jon Estes is still around occasionally, and very glad to see RLVaughn contributing some diverse insights and not all on Politics.

Mrs. Haruo (the only really active woman here it seems; Trudy is usually computer code for Ed) and I hope to be in Portland for the ABC Biennial (June 30 - July 2); if any of you are headed there let's get together.

[Bruce Gourley]

Thanks, David, for the reminder of our board anniversary. And thanks to you and a number of others for being there -- here -- from even before the beginning!

BL.Com remains one of the few places where Baptists of many different stripes interact regularly. Some of us have changed our own stripes a bit over the years, at least in some ways. Others, maybe not so much.

[David Flick]

[JE Pettibone]

ED; So now I can sleep.

[Jon Estes]

If it was not day 1, it was problably day 2 I found SBC.net and watch it reform itself into bl.com.

We differ on many thing. Sometimes not understood. More often poor presentation of what wants to be conveyed. Many have shown up and left quickly. Others were thrown off and returned by grace shown.

Enjoyable. Not as ritical to be here daily as one before.

I think I have met two member... have no idea where J Sneed is these days. Missed Chris when at the Chesapeake last fall. Connected by my current church with G Milligan.

Grateful on most days for all of you. Other days, with love, I roll my eyes.

[Mrs Haruo]

Time flies since as a newlywed, I looked over Haruo's shoulder after he came home from work and shared a drink of milk with our cat and messaged back and forth with a bunch of people on some board called "Baptist Life". Some of the discussions were pretty interesting, I had just joined the Baptist church where we were married, and was interested telling apart all the seeming "31 flavors" of Baptist there are. I am not a cradle Baptist so much of the history was new to me. My background is Presbyterian/Mennonite Brethren/Nazarene. I have moved a lot since I left home, and when I looked for a church home, denominational affiliation was not as important as a place I could walk to and I felt welcomed and wanted when I walked in the door. I signed into Baptist Life and soon found I was making friends across the country that I still consider friends to this day. Thank you for welcoming me into your cyber offices and letting me lean back and rest my aching feet on your coffee table

[Tim Bonney]

Mrs. Haruo,

One of the reasons I still hang out here are friendships I value, despite me being in a much different place theologically than when I joined years ago.

[Jon Estes]

BL.com memories…

I remember making online friends when online friends were not even a common consideration, culturally (online forums were a brand-new thing – we were on the cutting edge - LOL)

1 – Though SBCNET was a LifeWay thing, it seemed most who frequented there were not in support of the SBC and the direction she was heading.
2 – I began to see not all moderates / liberals were bad people. The few good ones hung out on SBCNET (which was the hunting grounds for BL.com as we know it).
3 – Frequenting BL.com allowed me to sharpen my typing skills. There was a day when the typos were really bad.
4 – BL.com gave me a many sermon illustrations.
5 – I was called out on my typos by William for contextually misspelling “site” (I spelled it “sight”).
6 - I thought Ed was old.
7 – Being here led me to lead my church in El Paso to do a mission project with J Sneed in N Dakota.

I remember being banned and maybe I should have been. These things I do remember concerning this:

1 – BL.com was a place I enjoyed bantering back and forth with others. That place where I would attempt to go at it with the same veracity as the one I was posting with / against / for.
2 – The only thing I was disappointed in was the lack of effort to understand what I was trying to say (which I admit was probably stated not well, at all).
3 – I held no grudges (then or now). I still believe those who rule here have the right to rule as they deem necessary. Grudges is not synonymous with disagreement.
4 – Norm was one who could write with precision, in ways that sometimes were hard to follow if you did not take time (not as hard to follow as S Fox who writes in a completely different style than anyone on the planet). It is possible I did not take the time to fully read and understand what Norm was saying prior to my reply.
5 - I believe Norm got what he wanted from the exchange - I could be wrong.

BL.com memories – Those were the days.

[Dave Roberts]

One of the joys of BL for me has been getting to know some of the members personally. One of them is James North. Through James, I linked up with Hampton Baptist in Hampton, VA where I served as interim pastor for 18 months. Jim and his wife Judy love Mexican food, and several times during those 18 months, we had Sunday lunch together at their favorite Mexican place. We also had a number of interesting conversations during the time together. He is not as active here as he was, but it is fun to get to know folks from BL in various other contexts.

[John Sneed]

I have been around for a few years. Though I don't often make posts, believe it or not, not two days go by without me having stopped by the board to see what is going on. Though I have many times been the conservative gadfly on the board, I have found some friends in the crowd, sometimes in unlikely places. Jon Estes has already mentioned coming to North Dakota for a missions trip (good times), but not before his own church hosted me for a F.A.I.T.H. training conference. I remember the green chili (good times).

As I am transitioning into a new phase of life I am still finding unlikely friends. As I get ready to finish a master's degree in history, I have found a friend, advisor, and mentor in our very own Dr. Gourley. I have found his advice to be accurate and timely and his friendship to be warming and engaging. Stranger alliances have been formed.

I also remember crossing paths with David Flick at one of the SBC annual meetings. I confess I forget which one, but I also forget what I wore to work today.

Though I have found many things said on the board to be frustrating as all get out, when I had an interest in the topic, I have found a lot of good times connected to this board too. Good memories.

John

[Haruo]

Particularly good to hear that you and Bruce are getting along well.

[KeithE]

[Bruce Gourley]

John, it has been great to engage with you regarding your excellent scholarly work. We find common ground in a desire to learn more about our faith's history, in ways that transcend any particular (if I may pun for a moment) personal theological convictions.

I look forward, one day in the not-too-distant-future, to reading the fruits of your efforts. And, hopefully, to coffee or a meal in North Dakota or Montana (admittedly I don't get over to ND very often).

[Stephen Fox]

My participation here helped get me kicked out of the Collinsville Baptist Church where My Mother was baptized!

[William Thornton]

[Chris]

[JE Pettibone]