The Reformed Pinoy Rules Please take the time to review this page. This page governs initial registration requirements, rules for continued membership, group etiquette, and rules for general usage. Requirements for Membership 1. Church Membership Required. IF YOU ARE NOT A MEMBER IN GOOD STANDING OF A LOCAL CHURCH, PLEASE REFRAIN FROM APPLYING FOR MEMBERSHIP AS IT WILL BE REJECTED ON THESE GROUNDS. 2. Confessional Requirements: a. Historic Creeds: All members of this group must hold to the ancient ecumenical creeds of the church: The Apostles' Creed, The Nicene Creed, The Athanasian Creed, and the Definitions of Chalcedon. b. Confessional Requirements: An applicant must hold to one or more of the following Reformed confessions: the Three Forms of Unity, the Westminster Standards, the Second Helvetic Confession, or the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith to be approved for membership without a waiver. We do not hold these confessions and catechisms as the Word of God, but we consider them as faithful summaries of the clear teaching of the Bible and they thus allow mutual, like-minded fellowship and discussion. Those who seek to modify, depart from, change or disprove the doctrines found in these confessions will bear the burden of proof to support their claim. Simply stating that a confessional doctrine is unbiblical without any grounds is disruptive and unacceptable, and repeated violations of this rule may result in suspension or exclusion from the group. Under some circumstances, the Admins may approve an applicant who does not fully adhere to any of these confessions, but are sincerely desiring to learn, and perhaps travel down the path to Reformed doctrine, worship and life. This has included people from different evangelical backgrounds in the process of being Reformed. Therefore, new applicants must state clearly the confession they subscribe to and where they take exceptions, if any. If they do not subscribe to one of the prerequisite confessions, they should either refrain from applying or provide sufficient information to the Admins to determine their suitability for membership. Simply stating: "I am a 5-point Calvinist" or I am Reformed is not sufficient. If a non-confessional applicant is admitted to membership, his/her participation in the group will be limited to asking questions for his own edification. 3. Federal Vision. The Reformed Pinoy forbids the membership of "Federal Vision" proponents on this group. Every major Reformed body has ruled the Federal Vision to be an error that fundamentally re-casts doctrines that are core to the Christian religion. Members who favor or advocate this FV error violate this rule and will be suspended or excluded. 4. Age Requirement. One must be 16 years of age or older to participate, as some topics might be of an adult nature. This is not to say we look down on youth (1 Tim 4:12), but we want to err on the side of caution in this regard and we see it as a protective measure.
5. User Profile Requirements. On the registration page, you will find several sections that MUST be filled out accurately. a. Accurate profle information is required: Include your first and last name; your location; your church name, address and phone number; denominational affiliation; and church office held, if any. Inaccurate information in this area may cause your application to be rejected or account suspended. b. Biography: In this section you MUST place a brief biography on your walk with Christ and confessional subscription. In short, explain why you believe you are a Christian and subscribe to Reformed theology. This does not need to be your life story, but it should include enough information to allow the Administrators to make a registration determination. Relevant material would be a short family information, church activities, and anything else that you believe would be helpful to your application. Again, make it brief and to the point. c. Signature Requirements:Upon completion of registration and approval you must fill out your signature field in your user profile. Signatures must include: - first name or nickname - denominational affiliation - state of residence - office held (if you are an elder, pastor, or deacon) d. Failure to provide this information will automatically disqualify you for membership. No Exceptions. Forum Rules and Etiquette Since Christ is the Supreme Authority over His church (Eph. 5:23), He has commanded the brethren to act in accordance with one another in love and discernment (Heb. 10:24-25; Acts 2:42, 46; Isa. 2:3; I Cor. 11:20). All Christians still have remnants of remaining sin that need to be mortified (Romans 8:13), and the following rules will serve as a hedge against problems in this fellowship. 1. Post Your Subject in the Proper Forum One of the main reasons that the Board was revised was to make it easier for everyone to see and find threads that they want to participate in. So think first before you start a new thread (cf. #3 below). Make sure that you have the best forum you can think of for your thread. For example, if you are asking a question about the qualifications of elders, even though it technically could be posted in the Theology Forum, it belongs in the Ecclesiology Forum. 2. Post Your Subject with a Descriptive Title Same reason as #1 above. We now have over 1000 members, with 225,000 posts in thousands of topics. If someone has a question about a topic, it makes it much easier to use the Board as research if it is properly titled. Avoid titles like "Did you see this," "what do you think of that," "Baptism," "God," "the PCA" etc. Much better to say "News of car bomb in Iraq,"
"The 2004 Auburn Avenue Conference," "Baptism and the Covenant of Grace in Witsius" or "The Marriage Overture passed at the 2004 PCA General Assembly" The Prayer Forum is indeed not visible to non-members (or search engines), but the names of the various threads are. With that in mind, please think very carefully before naming your prayer request threads. If you don't want someone to know that you are having marital problems, don't post "Pray for my Marriage." Post "Please pray" or something like that. Because of the fact that prayer requests are generally read regardless of title, and rarely searched, the Prayer forum is exempt from this rule. 3. Pause Before You Post This is something that everyone can benefit from. Before you send the latest jab, punch, tweak, etc into cyberspace, take a minute (or two, or five) to make sure that you are doing so in a spirit of Christian maturity (cf. #4 below). Study first, pray, post after. 4. Use Proper Grammar, Punctuation, and Capitalization If English is not your second language, then you are expected to show other group members the courtesy of properly punctuating and capitalizing your posts. It is commonplace on the web to disregard these rules but improper grammar does not demonstrate consideration toward others who are trying to understand what you communicate. Mistakes in grammar are understandable but willful sloth may result in posts being deleted if they are consistently sloppy. Please, no SMS text language! 5. Posting Information found on other Web Sites Quotes from other internet sites, in the public domain, must include a link to the original site with attribution to the original author. No copyrighted material may be posted without the consent of the original author/site. Some sites are more liberal in what they allow to be quoted. Check the rules of the site quoted before assuming you have the author's or site's permission. The Reformed Pinoy strictly prohibits the practice of "group wars" and references to specific forums or blogs to post disparaging comments regarding the site or responding to disparaging comments about this site. Gossip and hearsay is prohibited. This includes repeating unsubstantiated allegations that abound on the internet. 6. BUMPING Old Threads - As a general rule, repeated "bumping" of threads is discouraged. If the poster believes that the reason for the lack of response was due to the timing of a post and interested parties may have missed a post, then they may "bump" the thread once. Repeated bumps will be deleted at the discretion of the Moderators without notice. Another category of a "bumped" thread is the thread that is interesting but may have long since received any attention. Users may reply to those threads to either add information/ask a question or merely to "bump" the thread to the attention of the members (e.g. bumping a thread on the birthday or death day of a famous reformer). Users are requested to limit this type of "bump" to a maximum of two per day. 7. Make sure of the medium as well as the message
Godliness is founded on truth. A test of truth is its power to promote holiness according to our Savior's rule, "By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:20). No opinion can be more pernicious or more absurd than that which brings truth and falsehood upon the same level. On the contrary, there is an inseparable connection between faith and practice, truth and duty; otherwise it would be of no consequence either to discover truth or to embrace it. While under the conviction of the above principle, it is necessary to make effective provision that all who are admitted as teachers be sound in the faith, there are truths and forms with respect to which men of good character and principles may differ. In all these it is the duty both of private Christians and societies to exercise mutual forbearance toward each other." (PCA BCO, Preface) Above all, operate with Paul's command, "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love" (Ephesians 4:2) well in mind. 8. Be Willing to Consider Other's thoughts, but do not be relative Continuing with #4 above does not mean the most important thing on the Board is whether we can all get along in a milquetoast tolerance where every opinion is as valid as every other one. We certainly do not espouse Pilate's dictum, "What is truth?" It is well documented that Calvin, Luther and others used harsh language at times. But it is also probably true that your internet post about the latest book is not of the same significance for the Church as Luther's Bondage of the Will or Calvin's Reply to Sodoleto. 9. Remember that this is a Reformed Discussion Group. The Reformed Pinoy uses volunteer moderators as leadership to facilitate general order and guide the Reformed discussions that they may be exhortative as well as educational to the Reformed Christian. Many of the moderators and affiliates on Reformed Pinoy are actively involved in pastoring churches; the others being involved in various ministerial capacities at their respective local churches. The group and owners feel that order originates with God. Moderators follow Reformed principles and convictions, and we have openly allowed using the Reformed Confessions as a starting principle by which any moderator or member must abide by. The order that the moderators help facilitate is to be aligned with their statements of faith (comprised in the Westminster Confession of Faith, The Canons of Dordt, The Belgic Confession, The Heidelberg Catechism, and Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689). 10. Banning It is not the general practice of the Board Administrators to ask a participant to leave. Generally the Board tries to be tolerant of postings, issuing warnings where appropriate first. Members in the past have been banned only after sufficient warning and repeated violations of group rules, behavior unbecoming a Christian and/or espousing heresy (such as the Federal Vision, Roman Catholicism or Modalism). The banning of members is at the discretion of the Administrators. Because the Reformed Pinoy is not a local church there is no Session, Consistory or any other forum to address issues. 11. Forum Specific Rules Several of the Forums also have rules specific to that Forum (e.g. Baptism Forum). Please make sure that you have read the rules of a Forum BEFORE you post there.
Privacy Policy 1. Profile Privacy: Due to concerns about online privacy, user profiles are only viewable by registered and logged in users. Furthermore, the only profile fields viewable by regular members are: a. Age (if user selects to share it) b. Biography c. Interests d. Church Information Administrators and Moderators have access to First and Last Name and this is used only for accountability as group registration requires sharing this information. We do not permit completely anonymous posting that has no sense of accountability. Restriction of First and Last Name to Admins and Moderators protects privacy while permitting accountability. 2. Private Messaging. Private Messaging is between the parties who contact one another. It is neither monitored nor read under normal circumstances. The Administrators do have the ability to investigate and read Private Messages when they have warrant to believe that the PM system is being used for sinful and/or non-confessional purposes. The Administrators have no desire to read PM's but protection of our membership and enforcement of the rules, which all agree to upon registration, sometimes forces it upon us. See this thread for more information: U2U & Privacy (PM's). Questions or Problems? If you have any questions not addressed in the forum rules or problems with the group, please contact one of the Administrators via Private Messaging or use the Contact Form. May God bless you during your stay with us. Soli Deo Gloria! The Admins