A Note from Greg Linscott

Late on the evening of December 7, I sent out the following message to the SI administrators and moderators:

All,

I have been re-assessing my priorities of late. As I have examined the amount of effort I place on SharperIron versus its general effectiveness, usefulness, and personal fulfillment, it seems my efforts would be better spent in other endeavors. I intend to conclude my responsibilities as Forum Director and Filings contributor effective December 22, 2006. I have enjoyed working with you all on the site.

In Christ,

Greg Linscott

To the SI membership I say: I have enjoyed this experience a great deal. It’s been pleasant getting to know many of you and even meet some of you face to face. I’ve appreciated the moments of camaraderie, and learned lessons from the passionate exchanges.

To Jason I say: thanks for taking a chance with a guy you’d never met. It is a mark of the age that we live in that we worked together for well over a year before we ever saw one another. I appreciate your friendship and have learned much from our partnership.

My membership account in the forums at SI will continue to be active, though I will not be contributing in any regular administrative or authorial capacity. My wife Jennifer, however, plans to continue to serve as moderator in the Ladies’ Forum. I plan to be active online in some new projects, which you can read about in the near future by following my personal blog at http://greglinscott.wordpress.com.

I leave the position of Forum Director a richer man than when I began. I thank the Lord for the many friends who I would not have met if not for this online platform. Thanks for allowing me on your desktop as part of the conversation. My family and I are very appreciative for the generous display of gifts given for the “Virtual Baby Shower” the SI ladies held this past Saturday as well.

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Thessalonians 5:23

Greg

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Dear SI Reader,

Well, you’re probably as surprised as I am! Greg has been a key part of SI since its inception back in late February of 2005. Many of you have seen the visible results of Greg’s work, but I can assure you, the stuff you didn’t see took even more time. I’d like to take this time to say thanks to a guy that has had a formative influence upon this site. I was looking at our stats the other day. Since it’s inception, we have had just under 1,500,000 visits to the site and 20,000,000 pages have been viewed. How do I appreciate him? Let me count the ways.

Greg was a great moderator during his stay. Greg set the tone for much of the site and showed what good moderation looks like.

Greg was a great Filings contributor. Greg made it easy to keep up with what was going on in the larger world. He was a true blogger in that sense – people came to SI because it was a trusted source to provide a filtered view of the news. In fact, a board member from BJU just emailed me and told me that he felt it was the most valuable portion of the site for him because it kept him updated on what was happening in the evangelical world.

Greg was a great administrator. He handled the membership screening, the graphic design, Tempered Steel inserts, and many other tasks. I can’t tell you how many late-night phone calls and online chats we’ve had discussing site issues.

Greg was also a great personal supporter. Many may not know this but I tend to a little more outspoken and controversial in my writing, but when we enter a conflict (End of the Spear, Vision Forum, etc.) I tend to soften up. Greg is just the opposite. He’s a softie most of the time but then when we entered the ring so many times over the last two years, Greg became the lion. He was a strong support for me during those difficult times. He wouldn’t back down when he knew we were right. I will miss that.

Greg will be missed here at SI. We had a good conversation on the phone and it is obvious that God is leading him in other directions. He has some web projects in mind, one of which he launched this week at www.currentchristian.com. Check it out – it’s got Greg written all over it.

Many of you may not know this, but Greg and Jennifer truly labor in their ministry at a great sacrifice. I gave Greg a small check every month over the last year, but in no way did that cover what he did. I would like to show appreciation to Greg for all he has done for SI by getting him some wonderful Christmas gifts.

The SI Santa would like to get Greg:

1. A new 80gig Ipod. His current mp3 player is on the fritz. $325.

2. A digital camera. $400.

3. Registration and transportation fees to begin his seminary education. $275

So, if Greg has been a blessing to you, feel free to send funds for his gift. You can send money via PayPal. Lyn Marshall handled the baby shower for Jennifer and I asked her to handle the online donations for Greg as well. Her ID is lyncommerce@marshall-va.com. Clearly mark the contribution as “Greg Linscott gift.” Also, you can mail a check to SharperIron at 4401 S. Garland Way, Littleton, CO 80123.

Our Admin and Moderator Teams have known about this for two weeks and we have already been talking about how to structure the site. In the coming weeks, I will be introducing the new leadership. If you have ideas about how to improve SI or would be willing to help in some way, please email me at jasonjanz@sharperiron.org. Several good ideas have come to the forefront, but that discussion is for another day.

For now, feel free to fill up this thread with your heartfelt thanks to Greg for all he did.

Greg, thanks for your tireless work in making this site much of what it has become! You will be missed.

Jason Janz