Hello, I am new here

[islandboy]

I would say in some areas praying for rain worked too well. Either its too much or not enough. Have the areas that got flooded so bad lost any of the flood waters yet?
I was wondering what is the job of being a moderator on a site like?  It would seem you would have to be up all night to take care of a site as big as christiansunite. Just checking all the posts could keep you pretty busy.

[Soldier4Christ]

The areas that flooded north of here are starting to clear now. Power is back on to everyone and the cleanup started yesterday. Being that I am south of there I am seeing flood waters here now. All the river front stores in Peoria are closed because of the river being 4 to 4 1/2 ft over flood stage. Down river a bit in Havana (Al Capones favorite hideout) the main city streets are now flooded with about 6 inches of water. Nothing really drastic but enough to hamper businesses and cause a lot of detours.

I haven't heard about the southern states that flooded. Brother Tom would know more about that.

I was wondering what is the job of being a moderator on a site like?  It would seem you would have to be up all night to take care of a site as big as christiansunite. Just checking all the posts could keep you pretty busy.

Personally, I don't always check all of the posts unless I have the extra time. We have a notification system here so if there are any bad posts we can be notified. I usually check for those as I am coming on the forum. With 5 moderators we pretty much cover the 24 hr span. It seems that at least one of us has trouble sleeping and comes on at various times of the night. It can get pretty busy at times when we get a lot of trolls hitting the forum all at once. Praise God that doesn't happen very often.

Are you considering the position of moderator?

[nChrist]

Hello Islandboy,

The latest times of flooding in Oklahoma were very short, so we didn't get hit nearly as hard. The flood water clears out usually in a matter of days once the hard rains stop. The problem with the flooding before this last one was the same giant storm sitting right on top of us for weeks and continuing to dump huge amounts of rain.

I can only speak for my area of Oklahoma. Our drainage systems are pretty good. Five to ten days is  usually long enough to drain flood waters once the storms and hard rains end.

Brother, you asked about moderators. One must remember that the forum is only about 4% of the work being done by Christians Unite, so we can tell you some only about the forum. All of our users and quite a few guests help us by reporting bad posts. LORD Willing, really bad posts don't stay on the forum long, and they are usually by new people with a new account.

All of the moderators are unpaid volunteers who simply want to serve GOD. We all have different methods of finding bad or inappropriate posts that violate the rules. We have some tools and functions that help us do this fairly quickly and in a common sense way. I do try to check new posts and especially posts made by new users. After all, nobody knows what to expect from new users we know nothing about. Moderators receive "Reported Post" information by email 24/7 and so does our ADMIN. Moderators do the best we can to handle most problems on the forum and free up ADMIN to manage an absolutely huge system that really an Online Christian Community. Christians Unite also provides dynamic information and support functions to thousands of Christian web sites around the world. I'll end by saying that I know GOD is working through Christians Unite, and I'm very happy to help in any way that I can.

Love In Christ,
Tom

 

[islandboy]

Thanks for the information about being a moderator. I have not been asked or volunteered to be one, I was just interested in knowing a little bit more about how it is done. I know how time consuming my website is in just continuing to check all the links to make sure they go where they are supposed to go, so I figured the job of moderator could be very time consuming, as in keeping up with other peoples posts and blogs, as well as other duties.
Glad to hear things are looking better in Oklahoma.

[islandboy]

Pastor Roger, you mentioned something about trolls hitting the forum and I was just wondering what that meant?

This week has been a busy one, between going into the city, an all day event. Working on keeping the yard cleaned up, plus pulling weeds and cutting down dead palm trees has kept us pretty busy. I was amazed to find out how light-weight pieces of the cut down palms were. One would think a gentle breeze could knock them over. Most weighted under five pounds and some were as light as a feather generally speaking. It goes to show how strong palm tree trunks are when standing, how the threads and fiber plant parts work together in holding a tree up-right as it reaches toward the sunlight.
I am using the palm tree trunk pieces to build a wall around my flower bed. This will help keep moisture in the bed during the dry season, and maintain it during the wet.

[Soldier4Christ]

Trolls are individuals that come here with the sole intent of causing trouble. Occasionally we will get an entire group come here all at once just to play their games.

I cut a palm tree down once. It was a really big one that was blocking my front bay window. It was about 5 ft in diameter at the base. All I had to cut it down was an axe. It was like hitting a sponge. It took me three days to cut it down into pieces small enough to handle. The pieces were about 2 ft high and the full diameter. They were really light even though they were that big. My hands though were really swollen from the recoil of hitting into that stuff.

[islandboy]

As  we often say there's one in every family (troublemaker), I guess there is a need for some people to be troublemakers where ever they go and in whatever they do. Just as there are hackers and virus producers.
It is sad how someone always has to rain on someone else's parade. It is hard for me to wrap my brain around that type of thinking. It seems to me it would serve a more and just cause to just help other people with good thoughts and intentions, actions and prayer. But I guess Satan has to have a hand in destroying whatever goodness he finds by using people who have nothing better to do than mix in bad ideas and bad actions in Christian forums.

Palm trees come in many shapes and forms. Some have long sharp thorns that stick out from the trunk of the tree. Others have razor sharp edges on their branches. The palm you cut down sounds like it was massive in size. I am thankful for chain saws to do the work, as you stated axes are hard on the hands.

[Soldier4Christ]

It was the biggest palm I have ever seen. I have used an axe on many a tree but that was the only palm I used an axe on. When it comes to palms a good sharp chain saw is the only smart way. Where an axe takes big chips out of most trees it has a tendency to just bury into a palm and then wants to stay there.

[nChrist]

As  we often say there's one in every family (troublemaker), I guess there is a need for some people to be troublemakers where ever they go and in whatever they do. Just as there are hackers and virus producers.
It is sad how someone always has to rain on someone else's parade. It is hard for me to wrap my brain around that type of thinking. It seems to me it would serve a more and just cause to just help other people with good thoughts and intentions, actions and prayer. But I guess Satan has to have a hand in destroying whatever goodness he finds by using people who have nothing better to do than mix in bad ideas and bad actions in Christian forums.

Hello Islandboy,

We have to remember that quite a few folks hate us for simply being Christians. If we didn't get attacked from time to time, it would probably mean that we are too much like the world. So, the attacks tell us that the devil doesn't like what we're doing.

We've had folks post pornography and just about everything you can imagine, some even in groups of over 5 people at once. We have a large group of folks, including our users, who report the bad posts. We also have moderators who sleep at various times and keep the forum checked frequently. I'll also give thanks that we have a great ADMIN who has given us some really good tools to keep the forum clean. Lastly and most importantly, we give thanks to GOD!

Love In Christ,
Tom

Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable GIFT, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour Forever!

[islandboy]

I found an interesting article about the nesting habits of the Sea Turtle that I thought I would share with you. Seems each year from April 1st----October 31st, the sea turtles migrate to Florida, for mating and nesting purposes. The most common species of sea turtle in Florida, is the Loggerhead Sea Turtle. I guess Florida has the largest population of loggerheads nesting in the world. The beach areas in Pinellas County, have nesting densities that range from 5-6 nests per mile, with a yearly average of 170 nests. Each year thosands of hatchlings make it safely to the water to begin their journey out to sea and maturity. During this journey they face many obstacles.
The loggerhead female turtles come ashore at night and dig a shallow hole in which to deposit their eggs, then cover them with sand. The eggs then incubate underground for 50 days, at which time the hatchlings begin emerging. Loggerhead turtle hatchlings emerge at night and then make their way to the water. Once in the water they swim rapidly to get to the sheltered underwater environment that protects them as they grow. During this time they are vulnerable to predation by anything larger in size; this includes fish, birds, and crabs. They stay in off shore areas until they grow to at least 42 cm, then being less vulnerable they will begin to move and follow regular migration patterns, as in entering the Indian River on Florida's East Coast.

[nChrist]

Hello Islandboy,

I can't remember the location, but I watched a beautiful documentary on Animal Planet not too long ago. When you want to watch something clean and interesting, Animal Planet is a good choice. I also watched quite a bit of their ocean series. The photography was awesome. I know that some people consider sea turtles and other like creatures to be dumb, but many of them have surprises for us that are absolutely fascinating.

There are also countless wonders in the animal world that testify of their CREATOR. You spoke some about migration patterns, and this is a complex behavior if you think about this a few minutes. In fact, there are many complex behaviors in the animal world that we still have much to learn about. The incredible beauty is most OBVIOUSLY the handiwork of ALMIGHTY GOD.

[islandboy]

Amen to that. Our Creator and Lord, put together some mighty works of art in nature. I am always in awe of as you say the migratory instints of wild animals and birds and fish. The great salmon runs in the NW United States, is one such place. When the birds leave in the Fall and return in the Spring. I have watched Animal Planet as well as, the Discover Channel. And I have always enjoyed the great outdoors. As I pull weeds around the yard I have a friendly squirrel who comes and visits with me and walks around my feet. There is a pair of Great Horned Owls that visit the property, one of them that inspired my user name as I call him "Islandboy", as they live on the island. As I work he will fly down and sit on a branch near me and watch me work. Thus I can see where the owl gets his nickname saying, "wise old owl", as looking into their eyes one can see a sense of wisdom and wonder. I talk to him and he turns his head around in all directions, looking perhaps for his next meal. Up north we only saw owls during the evening into night hours. Here in Florida, I see them all day long. So the old idea that sunlight effects an owls ability to see in the daylight is not completely true.

[nChrist]

Hello Islandboy,

For whatever reason, it's a rare thing for us to see owls in Oklahoma. Maybe this is related to knowing where they like to nest and why. I was just thinking that your specific area might have plenty of what they need to survive and they feel safe there. I'm going to assume that you don't live in a highly populated area, or maybe there's lots of good cover in the area for them to feel safe.

A park ranger in our wildlife refuge did treat us to a rare sight about two years ago. We have what the ranger called the burrowing owl on the refuge. They are supposed to be rare, and I'd never heard of such a thing. They actually set up house in abandoned prairie dog holes, and they're much smaller than other owls. They blend in with the natural colors of the ground on the refuge, so they're difficult to spot. I might add that the prairie dog town is heavily populated, and the burrowing owls have taken up residence among them. I found this very odd and asked the ranger if it was dangerous for the owls. The ranger said they were still studying them but thought they had a mutually beneficial arrangement. The owls leave bits of food from their hunting for the prairie dogs, and the prairie dogs have an elaborate warning system for predators. Keep in mind that this owl is pretty small, so I assume that neither the owl or the prairie dog considers the other to be dangerous. Bird watchers have taken considerable interest in that prairie dog town since the owls arrived, and it appears that they are here to stay. They are multiplying and doing great.

[Soldier4Christ]

We have a really small owl here that roosts in trees and nests in holes in the trees. The owl is slightly larger than a robin. You can see these owls at most times of the day and night. We have other owls but they aren't seen much except in the country and only at night.

[nChrist]

We have a really small owl here that roosts in trees and nests in holes in the trees. The owl is slightly larger than a robin. You can see these owls at most times of the day and night. We have other owls but they aren't seen much except in the country and only at night.

This is another new one on me. I should have asked the ranger about the mature size of the burrowing owl, but I didn't. The one we saw appeared to be about 8 to 10 inches tall, and it was fairly broad compared to a robin. Typically, most people think of owls as being fairly large and powerful predators. I had that typical thinking until just recently. Brother, the owl you're describing is even smaller than the burrowing owl. This is just another example of the wonders of GOD'S Creation.