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| How to Join awmach.net |
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awmach.net provides limited web space for member churches.
awmach.net optionally provides a feedback form to allow member churches to receive prayer requests, comments, or questions from the internet community.
awmach.org provides limited web space for special topical sermons from member churches.
awmach.org provides limited web space for providing prophetical words or interpretations of messages in tongues which occur from time to time at member churches.
Membership in awmach.net is limited to churches and their associated facilities such as retreats or camps.
Membership in awmach.net requires an adherence to a common doctrine as expressed on the site. The language of your doctrinal statement may vary, but the doctrinal thoughts expressed should be the same in spirit. awmach.net is independent of denomination, but not of doctrine. I believe that our doctrine is very straightforward and backed up by scripture. I don't feel any Christian church should have a problem with any of our doctrinal statements. If you do, please seek another forum for your web pages.
I have posted a statement of how to be saved. I feel that this is theologically correct, and would expect that any church desiring to join us review this statement and make sure they are in agreement with it.
What does it cost?
This is a free service. I don't generate any revenue from the site - it is provided as a thank you to God for the blessings He has given me.
Why do this?
It is my personal belief that the denominalization and factionalization of Christianity has done more to help defeat the church in its battle against Satan than most anything else that has happened since the New Testament church was started. We need to join forces again in common cause against Satan. Even if you don't want to join your church with awmach.net, band your local community churches together in common cause anyway! There is strength in unity, and only weakness in being separate. It isn't us versus them (speaking of denominations and even churches within a denomination), it's us versus the forces of Satan.
Why don't you list all churches?
It isn't my intention to become the next great church listing service. There are many such facilities on the net, and I don't see the need to recreate their functionality. Yet some people will come here seeking a new church home where they can worship God. I want those who choose to use this site to be assured that if they go to any of the listed churches they will be taught a common Christian doctrine. Thus, the doctrinal restrictions are put in place. I have some problems with churches who say they believe in the Bible, but conveniently omit parts that are out of fashion or uncomfortable for the leadership. It's all or nothing, folks.
I submitted my church for inclusion - when will its web space be completed?
This site is operated by the webservant in his spare time. As children multiply, spare time decreases. Submissions will be implemented on a modified first-come, first-served basis, with churches in Casper getting preference, followed by churches in Wyoming, followed by others. Occasionally, space limitations may cause a backlog until disk capacity can be increased although this won't be an issue for some time.
Can we start our own local chapter of awmach.net?
I strongly urge a webservant in every town to take up the cause of Christ on the web and begin maintaining a similar site in your own community. You are free to mirror the content of the awmach.org domain on your site, if you so desire, while adhering to the posted copyright statement. You can also simply act as a web designer for local churches on our own site. Links to awmach.org, awmach.net or even awmach.com are always welcome!
What content can we post on our pages?
I would suggest a welcoming page with a schedule of services and a location page with directions as a minimum. If you want to post special announcements or weekly announcements, that is fine, but be aware that weekly announcements can be difficult to keep up to date.
I strongly prefer simple text based home pages with the possible inclusion of some small gifs. I strongly recommend against Java and fancy JavaScript due to problems with browser compatibility. I do not permit revenue generating ads to be displayed. This isn't a funding source for your church. Make sure that the pages you submit are valid HTML. Be very careful about posting private information such as individual names, physical or e-mail addresses or phone numbers.
I won't monitor what you post yourselves very closely. It is your responsibility to not post any content which would be considered libelous, obscene, ... (insert your legalism here). Be sure you don't post anything which would put your tax-exempt status in peril such as political advertizing or campaigning information. This is a religious forum - nothing else. If you can present a particularly convincing argument for some pet cause, I'll consider posting it to awmach.com.
How reliable is your site?
I do not guarantee uptime for the site. While I will try to keep the site running, there are no guarantees of any sort. This isn't a business. It doesn't generate revenue for me by design, and that means there are limitations on what I can provide. I don't have lots of redundant equipment or grand fallback plans for failure. 24x7 is a goal, but you should not be surprised if there are occasional interruptions of service due to power problems locally, or at our ISP, or on a larger basis, or if there are occasional hardware [or software ;-) ] failures leading to some occasional downtime. We now do use compression for our content to conserve bandwidth, and can host limited virtual domains if you want your own domain name.
What is the legal status of our content?
Everything you post is in the public domain. If you have special trademarked gifs, be sure to list them as trademarks yourself. Once you post a page, expect to leave it there forever. Don't randomly rename pages - get a consistent site layout and stick with it. I don't like large error logs when people bookmark one of your pages one week and you delete it or rename it next week. The people viewing your site don't like it either.
I welcome legitimate search engines, and many of these cache your pages. Once you have posted a page, assume it will be available to the world for a very long time to come. If you elect to post e-mail links on your pages, assume that they will become known to spam mailers quite soon. If you wish to have an e-mail link with less likelihood of spam, ask to make use of the feedback form instead. That is what it is there for.
To help ensure that the standards are upheld, I require a letter to be sent on official church letterhead to me.
It should contain:
To get the ball rolling, send an e-mail using the site feedback form to William Haller. Include your name, the church you represent, its address, phone number, and a good time to call. I'll either call you or e-mail you a physical mailing address you can use for the offical request to be sent.
I could ask for this information only electronically, but I want the verification of the church letterhead to help ensure that the church knows it is being listed and has really reviewed the submission requirements. It also helps to eliminate privacy problems since I don't have to keep an electronic database.
Once listed on our site and your home pages are up and running, feel free to e-mail us with the content of any prophetical words or interpretations of messages in tongues given in your church if the Holy Spirit witnesses to you that the message was valid and was for the body (not just a particular individual) and you have an exact copy of the message. Most of the New Testament consists of God's words to churches and pastors. Where would the church be today without that? Yet message after message is given to churches in these days, and more often than not, forgotten by the time the people get home from church. Let's help to change that so that God's word is spread once again in these last days!