A Chapel curiosity ?

[Boaz]

So many come to the Chapel to read the posts . Being a mod on other forums I always look to see who is reading....just habit . Regular members who comment or add to the topic , many viewers that are not even members . Almost all self professed atheists come here come to look , regular members that never comment ....they are a curiosity to me . Why do they care ? It's kind of odd to me the ...morbid curiosity , nothing else to do . too intimidated to post , seeking , ....strange to me that so many seemingly non Christians come here .

[rancher1913]

maybe they are not as non christian as you think. I read (and pry on) far more posts than I comment on, if its just another "attaboy" type post I tend to not post.

[Boaz]

maybe they are not as non christian as you think. I read (and pry on) far more posts than I comment on, if its just another "attaboy" type post I tend to not post.

Believe me I'm not provoking or picking on you . I know you believe , have read your comments and dealt with you personally . Always enjoy your posts .

For my own understanding please expound a bit . I only have my own feelings or thoughts to gage the situation .

I probably have to explain my own reactions or responses to the chapel . When I hear or see GOD's name called or mentioned I feel compelled to comment , encourage or share . Perhaps this is a personal failing , GOD knows I have many . Are the prayers here too repetitive , boring , seemingly put on or just not inspiring ? Do the praises wear thin through redundancy ..just regular same old stuff ? I guess my question is ...could the Chapel be improved ? Could it be made to appeal to more on a regular basis ?

[Omega]

I use the "Unread Posts" and will open any post that strikes my fancy, rarely look at where it's actually posted. As for posting, again, only post if it's something that interests me.

As for the OP, here I thought you found something buried under the floor in a chapel, the holy grail, an interred templar, a previously unknown copy of the bible...kinda disappointed.

[Boaz]

No , but check in whenever you want .

[rancher1913]

no offense taken boaz just saying that not everybody that is not vocal does not get some comfort out of the chapel. I have encountered a lot of so called Christians that preach and preach but do not live it and a lot of times the preaching is a front to take advantage of someone (not directed at anybody on this site just an observation from my life) being out in the boondocks I can enjoy god laying on a hay bale looking up at the stars and don't need to go to a brick and mortar building.

[Boaz]

Well heck I do promote going to church . Lot more to be said than what I will but GOD tells us to get together and support one another . I don't think a person has to attend church to be saved .

[Boaz]

I don't believe anyone has not read or received the offer of salvation in the time we live in , personal choice ....just choice .

[johnson1942]

rancher 1913 said it all and is right. its hard to come forward to comment here as one never knows how it is going to be taken or who is going to hijack it and run somepalce that it shouldnt go. i could get into some really deep discussions here but mostly and sorry to say this is a feel good place and not all that deep. im just stating fact and not trying to make anybody mad when i say this. its not just here it is every where. my friend and neighbor who is a fine gentle christian has a weekly bible study once a week at his rural house. i wont go because some one is always trying to hijack it toward politics or some strange theology. i wont waste my time being in the presence of guys who have a point other than building up the body of believers and expanding the kingdom of God and His Son. their is a verse in the bible though that every one here should know. that is when the word, ( Gods word) goes out, it never ever come back void. so when a bible verse is posted here with out the posters comment of there own opinion on it it cannot come back void. it does something somewhere. thats Gods promise. the bible can stand on its own.

[Preacher Jim]

In chapel we want all to feel free to express your feelings. This is a place to find support and you are important. You never grow or learn till you ask questions. Just know we care about everyone who reads or posts here.

[Pine Baron]

Well Johnson, you hooked me. What is your deep discussion? This sub forum is only as deep as you want it to go.

[shredder]

Hello Boaz. I stick my head in here a fair bit because many the topics intrigue me. Although I am not a member of any organized religion, that does not mean that I am not spiritual or that I do not believe in God. I was raised in a church-going house and much of what I experienced really turned me off. Here I can explore in safety and not be criticized, or pointed to the "only way". I really like your posts here and will continue to eavesdrop. I come here respectfully with mental cap in hand. Some day I may even join in and make a real post.

[LAH]

I run in a quite large circle doing the things I do. Outside of Church I find seekers. Looking for things spiritual. While I'm convinced & my mind made up, I'm not a pushy fellow & will entertain non believers or maybe the non Churched is a better word. I never try to run people off.

[ShooterAZ]

I don't understand why it matters who comes here and posts or not. As said before, just because they don't post doesn't mean they aren't a believer.

[Half Dog]

I look for comfort from people who share/experienced issues that I am experiencing. You might, someday, be the one who makes it click.

[dverna]

It is complex for me. Moving from being an atheist to questioning. It can be a circuitous path.

Organized religion does not do it for me.

Frankly, at least two regulars here profess to be Christian and have shown too many times they are not. Yet they are seemingly held in high esteem by some. It provides an interesting dynamic...wonder if some are blind...kind...have poor judgment.....???

Most are good people and that keeps me coming back. I keep myself open to learning and a greater understanding.

I tend to agree with most of what Johnson and rancher posted.

Don Verna

[Blackwater]

I have to second Ranher's post. A lot of Christians today take their faith as casually as a cup of coffee in the morning. We've been so richly blessed here, that we've never really had to sacrifice in this land for our faith, so ... it's pretty natural to take it as a matter of course, and really not dwell on it much. This is always a mistake, of course, but a very "human" one. Our essential nature is to do that, and only address what is threatening, or appears like it might threaten us. So in good times, it's pretty typical of most folks to "take it easy" and then, we wind up taking it for granted. And religion taken for granted always leads to a decline in the people who do this. Our lives today are filled with so many "baits" for us to take, like a fish, that it's a wonder any of us escape falling prey to them. Most of us have nibbled at them, and either "got away" or decided not to take the bait in full.

It's SO easy to stray, and to sit and figure we're "close enough to Heaven," and so difficult to battle the principalities that tempt us so. But there've always been those who've done it, and those who've fallen by the wayside due to lack of dilligence. Most Christians, I think, don't really "see" the full benefit of our faith until they get older, or are challenged seriously somehow, like by some infirmity. Until they face their mortality, and the critical decisions involved in it, it's really hard if not impossible for them to really take their faith as seriously as it truly is. Something along our paths has to grab us by the shoulder and say "Hey, buddy! What are you doing, REALLY?"

In times of "peace," it's easy to figure we don't NEED to "put on the full armor of God." And so, many if not most, just don't. It's like the parable of the bridesmaids and the lamps and oil. Some were prepared, and had the oil, when the oil came. Some had decided to postpone getting their oil, and were left out. It's just how we "humans" tend to "look at" and process and deal with things. Satan has become VERY adept at using our natural tendencies to keep us from the full benefit of our faith, and I wonder if this might not be his worst endeavor here?

We're just pawns in a battle of principalities, but we are the type of pawns that have a right to chose which King we'll serve, the black one or the white one. And the black one continually tries to get us to focus on anything and everything BUT our commitment. "Look over there!" he says, and we, in our infirmities, look, and thus, take our focus away from where it ought to rightfully be if we're to benefit from our faith as fully as we can.

Many are just looking for real answers and understanding. Many have read the Bible multiple times, and know many verses by heart. But that's not the same as having their MEANING fully engraved in our hearts, and constantly on our minds.

So I for one applaud all who are looking for answers. Even the atheists and agnostics MAY find something that finally touches their heart, and lifts the scales from their eyes enough to see things that they've been doubting for so very long now. I think it's a very GOOD thing that many read and don't post. Most probably don't believe they have anything to add, but I've learned at least as much from those kinds of folks, and their questions, as I have from all the sermons I've heard. I continue to believe that our knowledge of God can only go just so deep, being limited by our mortal limitations in understanding the supernatural as fully as we all want to, I think. But if even my little Down's syndrome cousin can glean enough to believe, and obviously be Heaven bound, then everybody here can obviously make it there too. One of the wonders of our faith is that if we simply "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ," we'll be saved. The rest, provided the commitment we make at our epiphany is real, is mostly just edification, and learning how to put it to use. None of us cast a perfect bullet with our first casting effort. Nor did we hit the bullseye the first time we shot a gun. We had to learn to USE them, in order to get good results and satisfaction.

Coming to faith really isn't much different, though it certainly has MUCH broader and deeper implications for us. We have to learn to walk before we can run, and interest here is a fine way to learn that. We discuss things here that I don't find discussed anywhere else but in churches, and many churches have become so PC that even there, it's often hard to find the "meat" and many seem to "get along" on just the "milk." But anyone with real faith, I think, DESIRES to know more, and understand more fully, and that seems to come only when we discuss matters among ourselves, and do it in complete trust of each other, and with a real goal of understanding what we presently only see the shadows of. How could it really be any different?

So I for one find solace in the fact that many view without posting. I've had many, many folks in my time, make some little observation or say something off the cuff, that - "BING!" - caused me to have some little epophany, and see something in a more complete light than I'd ever seen before. A lifetime of these "little things" adds up to something significant. I once thought I knew all I really needed to. Now .... I realize how foolish and wrong I was back then! And I think that's not untypical of many of us. God leads us so much more than we think He does or seem often willing to credit Him for. I sometimes smile a very sheepish grin when I think of how I once regarded my faith. It wasn't "not real." It was just SO ill and poorly informed! But if we keep seeking, honestly and earnestly, God will lead us to where we need to be so that we CAN understand more fully. It probably won't be on the time schedule we want, but it DOES come, If we're just simply faithful and vigilant over time. I can't remember a time when I didn't at least tend to believe. But I've had many times along my way when I thought God had abandoned me. But he never did, but instead, had carried me, just like that old story about the guy walking along the beach beside Jesus, and looking back, noted only one set of tracks behind them. He, too, asked "Why did you abandon me Lord?" But Jesus, in his Love and Mercy, just smiled at him and said, "My son, I never abandoned you. Those are the places where I carried you."

People today thirst for the meat of our faith, and often, get little but the milk. This thirst could well develop into the greatest revival this world has ever seen. That thirst just needs to be fed, and fed more often and fed well, and on meat instead of milk. PC has put a big crimp in so many churches and sermons now, lest someone cause a ruckus and churches split, and not be able to financially support themselves any more. Most preachers are afraid of this, and not wholly unrighteously so. It's the old "rock and a hard place" situation, with no clear 'good' way out. I feel for preachers today! They are facing a body of members that are not unlike the group we have here on this site, that seem to wear their feelings on their sleeves, and be too easily provoked. It's a LOT bigger balancing act than a trained seal balancing a ball on its nose! They have my utmost respect when they find a way to fee their "sheep" real meat! But mostly, I think the real meat of it has to be found in reading and seriously searching for the answers, and in discussing it one with another. I'm one who likes, and actually seeks out those who think and see differently than I do. I don't think any of us "see" the whole thing, and so, I just want to know "more," and I've become so set in my thinking, that only someone else can really help me see things differently, and hopefully more completely than I do now or ever have in the past.

Growth in knowledge and doing better work, is and will always be a great challenge. For mortals to try to understand the supernatural will always be a great challenge. But we CAN understand ENOUGH to get to Heaven, and after we get that settled, THEN we have a thirst that only further edification, more epiphanies, and more study can ever lead us to greater understanding, as we so increasingly desire along our own personal walks in life. All I can do is thank God for all of that. He knew SO much more than we do about how to set up this world, and make it SO much better, fuller and composed of so much more grandeur and wonders than any of us EVER could, even if given His power!

Perspective is probably the biggest barrier to furthering our understanding, and we get a lot of really good but different ones here. How could those who thirst NOT keep coming back? None of us has it all down pat, but I have gleaned SO much from so many here, that it continually humbles me, and quite deservedly so. Sometimes, some little choice of word, or some flippant comment, really hits home. It's really all about listening to each other. I suspect many of the readers will become posters in time. That's just how our Faith grows. None of us got here overnight! We ALL had so very much to learn when we started out, and really started trying to understand something so much bigger than we are.

So I say "Let 'em read," and hopefully, post something whenever they feel the spirit move them to do so. Ain't a thing wrong with coming here to read! Welcome, friends! Thanks for coming, and when you feel moved to do so, introduce yourself, and let us know what you think. Everybody matters here. Really.

[shoot-n-lead]

I think that the fact that the Chapel is here...and allowed to be here...is sufficient to make a difference in lives...as posted earlier, GOD'S word...regardless of where it is posted, will not return void.

Be grateful for this opportunity and realize that an internet gun forum is probably not going to be the most spiritually open place.

[NoAngel]

You can find meaning in just about anything if you need/want it.
You can find no meaning in just about anything, just the same.

I think the traffic in this forum is probably 75% intentional 25% chance.

Half the time, I never look at what forum a subject is in. If it looks interesting, I click on it.

[Preacher Jim]

QUOTE=dverna;3926653]It is complex for me. Moving from being an atheist to questioning. It can be a circuitous path.

Organized religion does not do it for me.

Frankly, at least two regulars here profess to be Christian and have shown too many times they are not. Yet they are seemingly held in high esteem by some. It provides an interesting dynamic...wonder if some are blind...kind...have poor judgment.....???

Most are good people and that keeps me coming back. I keep myself open to learning and a greater understanding.

I tend to agree with most of what Johnson and rancher posted.

Don Verna[/QUOTE]