News for Members
12/2/00
Announcement
I have a very exciting announcement.
After months of searching, The Church of Yahweh is pleased to announce we have a new Webmaster...Not just someone to edit documents, but to help photograph our new line of Sacred Jewelry, do real audio spoken versions of some of our documents, help provide audio samples of selections from our CDs, and a wide variety of other activities, to help use as much technology as possible to reach as many people as possible.
He is very well qualified:
 | An experienced computer programmer |
| Widely read in all the religions of the world |
| Familiar with TCOY...He has, in fact read all the material we have here. |
Actually, he's written all the material here(!)
Yup. It's me.
I had a revelation....Odd how it will happen...I've been playing the organ at a local Lutheran Church for 3+ years now. And the people are lovely, and the music inspirational, and it pays me $1,100 a month. A very nice position. Yet it is not my passion, not my calling. TCOY is that passion and calling.
And I've been looking around for someone to help with all the things I'm "too busy" or too tired or too lazy to do....I figured even 10 hours a week would make a HUGH difference, and I could use the Organ playing income to pay that person when....Hello?!?...
I suddenly realized I was getting paid to do something other than my passion and calling, and looking to use the money to inspire someone else to do what I should be doing.
Case closed. I cannot live that way.
So, I am resigning from my very nice, lucrative organ playing position, and will be using the time I save to work more diligently on this ministry.
That's the news.
New Banner Ads
I have contracted with the Mardox Network to do some banner advertising...They have a program where you do not pay for exposures (those who see the banner) but only for those who click on the banner....It should be coming out soon.
Emails
We still get wonderful emails....
LOVE THIS SITE!!!!!! I am by profession a licensed massage therapist who was Scripturally trained by Jehovah's Witnesses. Disillusioned. But thankful for valuable Bible knowledge. One day as I was finishing up a treatment the thought occurred to me that I might find an interesting site using the Divine YHWH, and voila there you were! Divine providence at work.
I have since sent it to my poor ol born again brother hoping it will help him find some balance. I love your humor and good sense, I've omitted the word common for obvious reasons. I would love to hear from you 1 on 1 if at all possible, I know you're a busy guy. Just want to share one thing for now. Since I have learned to put my affairs in YHWH's hands my life is a breeze. Chanting THE name is a common ritual while driving, it really works! I find myself singing it to various off-key tunes and some that are even right on-key as well. I do love my maker and his creation and one of the things I hope I will see in my lifetime is the fulfillment of Rev 18:11. May YHWH continue to bless and keep you on the web. ALOHA Diana
Want to help?
If you feel a need or desire to help others with this material that you have found so beneficial, please just let me know....I'm sure we can find something(!)
P.A.
11/24/00
Wow. Articulate, I know, but Wow.
It has been soooo intense this week...business, personal, and The Church.
On Monday the main work computer died...strange stuff. Yes, I had backups of everything, but the process of diagnosing the problem, trying to fix it, calling it hopeless, getting the new computer and configuring it...It took quite a bit of time.
So, that's the "bad" news, and why there hasn't been a Thought For The Day since Monday, and I haven't answered any emails all week.
The thing is....When I finally got "back online" today, the Friday after Thanksgiving, I was genuinely touched...LOTS of emails (every one of which I WILL answer tomorrow Sat 11/25), people are signing the guestbook, Jason is working with people in getting the discussion forum going....Wow.
You see, I work hard on me, keeping focused on "working without attachment to the fruit of my labors," staying centered on doing what is good and right and, to the best of my knowledge, YHWH's will, regardless of "popularity" or "success." Nevertheless, after such a challenging week, to be able to "return to the flock" so to speak once the new computer was working, well....I was warmed, encouraged, excited...I felt loved and, this may sound odd, missed. Yes it's the web and all, but there is actually, factually, the essence of a community here...people joining together, sharing ideas, and...Wow.
So, as to the "news?" I thank you. Thank you for your interest, your participation, your feedback, and your prayers. I have experienced genuine peace in the midst of some very tough situations, and the entire tone of the community has been a great help.
And I am recharged, and redoubling my efforts to do the best I can to provide the technological tools as well as the content that will help you individually, and the community.
Thank you.
Love in He Who Is All Love,
Pastor Ahyh
11/12/00
I have tried several merchants to establish e-commerce accounts. For various reasons they all failed.
Then I thought...Every closed door means another open one somewhere else...So...The result is what you see in the new Gift Catalogue. I seek your feedback, good & bad, about the best ways to move forward, but this seems like a very positive way to go, to me.
We had a website promoter working for 45 days, trying to post messages in newsgroups, chat rooms, Church-gathering sites, etc. She was very frustrated due to lack of response, and is no longer with us.
I took the 1st 2 weeks of Nov off from the Thought For The Day...I missed it, for me...Yes, I want others to read it, because I really do think TCOY has much to offer...the emails indicate that's true...But I must constantly fight against getting too attached to results...I need to focus on my efforts, and trust, hope & pray that YHWH will feed & water the seeds.
New features (in addition to the Gift Catalogue):
| The Guestbook |
| A new front-end, which I'm sure you've seen...PLEASE give me your feedback. |
| Jason Rispin has put together a chatroom / discussion board for us. Please look at it, and give me your technical (does it work for you? load ok?), religious (does it serve a need?) and aesthetic (how's it look? ideas?) feedback. It's at http://tcoy.homestead.com |
| And, most important, a renewed resolve to simply do the best I can. |
The so-called holidays are threatening to attack with a vengeance, so hang in there!
The second meeting of the Members of The Church of Yahweh is concluded.
Peace and love,
Pastor Ahyh, Wednesday Sept 27, 2000.
9/27/00
Hello, and thanks for being here.
The Church of Yahweh is growing. Traffic is up....So are emails....And we are touching people in Bolivia, Argentina, France, South Africa, not to mention most of the states in the US....
What are we working on right now?
| Translations of the "About God's Name" documents into French, Spanish, German and Japanese |
| E-commerce enabling the Church so we can offer musical and meditation CDs, along with a few other interesting items |
| A publicity campaign in print ads (magazines, newspapers) to try to let as many people know about this as possible. |
| Getting more aggressive with the search engine postings |
| Getting more aggressive with newsgroup and discussion group postings |
| Getting Real Audio onto the site, so that those who want can hear the messages as "sermons" rather than just reading them |
| Keeping the "Thoughts For Your Day" section updated daily |
You see, barely a day goes by that we don't get at least one email along these lines:
Greetings, Pastor Ahyh...I have been pondering your writings on yhwh.com for some time now. You have been given some truly deep ideas. Many of them at first blush would appear quite heretical, considering my conservative Baptist background (as you might imagine!). However, I see a great deal of refreshing perspective, as well. At this stage in my own spiritual growth, I am weeding out which of my beliefs are more culture, tradition, and inheritance, and which are truly grounded in Scripture. Your site gives me much to think on, and for that I am grateful. I have even actually begun meditating on the Name, as part of my time of prayer and Scripture study.
That's the "good news"....The thing is, for every one email like this, there really are thousands of people who would benefit from being exposed to this material. Between government, school, organized religion, commerce's offer of chemical salvation, and parents who are barely able to run their own lives let alone help us grow, we face countless sources of negativity.
So we feel a burden on our hearts to try to touch as many people as possible. True, for some this Church is, well, not exactly their cup of tea, shall we say. But for others, perhaps yourself, it is a breath of fresh air.
The bottom line? If you are interested, we could really use your help. Presently the greatest areas are:
| Prayer, sending us "White Light", however you want to put it. Prayer is a real power, and we need as much of it as we can get. |
| All of you who have been touched by what you find here, please think about (if you haven't already) letting those around you know about it. Word of mouth is still the best and most effective promotion known. |
| We could use a new Webmaster....It's one thing to get the ideas, another thing to type them, another to post them to the Web, another to answer the emails and yet another to be able to work with the new technologies that will let us touch people even more effectively. It really is a lot (I'm going to boo-hoo-hoo here) for one person to do.....And yes it's my ministry and calling, and I love it, and it is the only element of my life that really gives it meaning.....And no, I do not do the entire ministry single-handedly....Still, I know that the more hands we have the more effectively we can get the work done. |
| Money. Yes, the dreaded "m-word." I, Pastor Ahyh, do not and never have personally taken one dollar from this ministry for myself. All the funds available go to promotion, web time, translators, and the like. And no, we don't "need" your money. And no, you won't go to hell if you don't give money to TCOY. It's all very simple....Money is the blood of our social order, and the healthier your money supply the better your circulation. So, if you are able and want to help, your funds will go toward reaching more people, and nothing else. So help me YHWH. |
| Finally, we could really use suggestions. I have recently started
turning the questions sent to me in emails into the topics for The Thought
for the Day. Still, if you have a thought about how we could better
touch people, or topics that should be covered, I'd love to hear them. |
So, there you go. Please let me hear from you.
The first meeting of the Members of The Church of Yahweh is concluded.
Peace and love,
Pastor Ahyh, Wednesday Sept 27, 2000.
