Chris.

Having considered this in light of important things I need to do in life like work, family and church the desire to log in and the time spent doing it and what it achieves doesn't warrant the time spent doing it. Over the last few days the feeling I get is leave so I am going to do that and bid christian forums farewell. Besides if we talk about everything now we might run out of things to discuss in heaven when we get there. Bye guys you are nice people and it's not that I don't like anybody but I have to go.

Yay, bring in the end times!!!! The sooner Jesus comes back the better.

I have a good solution all the peaceful people who hate guns and don't want them can come and live in Australia and England with us and the gun lovers can arm themselves against the crazies in the US and stay there. Edit: since we have a free trade agreement with the US we might export our crazies and gun lovers at the same time to there so everyone's happy. What at do you guys want for dinner I'll get it started.

The devils job is a tempter and a deceiver, I guess if you get busy for Jesus maybe that is what could happen you are attacked with the weapon of doubt.

That's a good point Justin. It's not guns that are to blame, it's the secularisation of society. So in many ways the people that blame this stuff on the Second Amendment have only themselves to blame because it is their policies that are causing this. Of course, they would never see this, nor would they admit it. Britain is a much more secular than the US but we also have strict gun control laws and these events are much rarer here. Dunblane 1996, when 12 children were klled was the only school shooting in living memory. There have been a small number of other drive by style spree shootings: Hungerford 1987, Cumbra 2010. In these 3 cases the killers were amongst the small minority of the population with legally owned fire arms. We leave you guys for dead for secular maybe. Pubs out number churches 10 to 1 and sport is almost religion here, hardly anyone attends church and Christians are a minority of the population maybe 12% of the population go to christian churches regularly. We rarely have shootings because they got rid of the guns. The only ones we get on the news are like deliberate gang criminal hit type things and it's not very common.

Here in Australia we have nil to report as there are no school shootings because we banned guns largely and I am very happy to be in a country where those stupid things aren't in the hands of the general public. The best place for guns is landfill at the dump or squashed to make cars. Something like that happened to all our guns many years ago and almost of us love it and don't want them back. I'm staying right here where it's safe and peaceful.

There are those amongst us that walk a life full of the Holy Spirit with that ministry calling that could evangelise in places like that successfully if God directed them to do it. People in there are a byproduct of a bad decision earlier but they still are people and everyone deserves a chance to hear the good news of Jesus.

Nice, and true too.

I wasn't sure if he did or not but felt led to share what happened to me so you can be careful of unforeseen traps online since this subject came up. I did the same thing trying to be someone to reach out to people like that but a bit different. I do applaud his looking for himself about non christians instead of basing all his information on everyone else's experiences.

I think your playing with fire (excuse the pun) joining something like a satanic forum, as the bible warns to steer clear of evil stuff and it's for a good reason. I'll tell you about something that happened to me a few years ago. I'll talk to anyone online and in real life and one day on a forum a girl I was evangelising to and later realised was a psychic type witch asked for a confidential chat room talk so I obliged in the hope of saying something about God as she was questioning christianity and i saw an oportunity to share. I am fairly level headed and cautious to believe supernatural claims of people (except what's in the bible) so when she asked if she could come visit me I decided to humour her to be nice thinking it harmless probably delusional. Before I knew it I could feel her around me and near me in an energy or spiritual way and she was cold. It was VERY freaky and affected my walk with god for a few months whatever she did to me. It still creeps me now. I also got got caught out a few years back when a guy was learning something called Reiki (which to me sounded like a garden tool) and did some cert in it wanted to try on me remotely and in my usual skeptical disregard of something like that told him yeah why not just to humour him. He said he would do it in the afternoon at 4 PM and I forgot all about it and an unsuspecting me felt waves of some energy thing going through my body from head to toe at that time and my prayer life suddenly improved dramatically and the clock said 4pm . I dunno how they do this stuff but that computer you using that gives you a sense of protection from the users at the other end is not going to help you if they are weirdos. Please heed my warning and be careful who you talk to online. You wouldn't think this stuff could happen but it can and does. Bear in mind I was close to god the whole time and I was praying lots reading my bible trying to evangelise where I felt led to go. just to make you feel better if that freaked you. salm 121 A song of ascents. 1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand; 6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; 8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

The speed of light is considerably slower than money is deducted from your credit card at the checkout and billions of times faster than a credit to it from the bank.

Hi and welcome from me too I hope you like it here. I don't think tobacco is a healthy thing for you. Once a year wouldn't matter but what if you became addicted to it? It's not an easy question to answer.

One guy I always feel sorry for was an evangelist and counterpart and friend of Billy Graham called Charles Templeton that fell away and turned agnostic. I often think if this and wonder how it could possibly happen. http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2011/07/billy-graham-vs-charles-templeton-at-some-point-we-have-to-decide-to-believe/

i think i like the idea of how everyone was vegetarian then

often as you get older there is fear and apprehension if things do not return to how you remember they were then things wil be bad in the future. The truth is change brings new opportunities and God is in control of what's happening. It will be ok! The generations before us worried for us too and our lives ended up pretty good.

Guys every time you publicly condemn someone you raise an even higher wall of resistance from them to what you have to say. It also often aids the cause of who you condemn as many will take sides with who they feel sorry for and empathise with . There might be better ways..

bingo! Give the girl a prize! Remember when we were full of guilt and struggling and miserable as our own consciences convicted us and how when someone showed us love and tolerance for how we were we attracted to the light in theirs and wanted to change and be like them that's all it took for me to want to accept Christ. I have not seen hatred from you from you guys and don't think I wrote this about people here but it's from other places where Christians showed questionable almost vindictive attitudes towards unbelievers online and it was really really bad and that's what I was referring to. Ps do you mind if I send the guys your way for the hugging though?

I have learned a lot about people and lots of useful information talking to other Christians online and since most of my giftings gravitate towards one in one evangelism or talking to people about Jesus face to face maybe he is encouraging me out of this. Sometimes when you follow those hunches something cool happens

You would be a reason I would stay. You sound the sort of person my friends and Christian associates are and most of the Christians I know are.

I am at a crossroads wondering if I should totally avoid christian forums altogether. I live in a really happy go lucky tolerant accepting christian environment and all around me things are peaceful and happy. I am really open minded towards other belief systems and have a really tolerant views Christianity has its flaws to and I am more than happy to mention its shortcomings as well as it's strengths and I think that upsets other people sometimes. A few years back the only christians I interacted with were local ones and they are loving and kind to non Christians and very non judgemental. Viewing for the first time the gay or other belief hate threads was a disappointing shock to me and seeing some of the intolerance and condemnation of other ideologies by the minority is beginning to drive me from God as it's not what originally attracted me to the christian believers that were responsible for me becoming a Christian and I don't want to be influenced to become like that myself. I often wonder if there is something wrong with me because I don't hate gays. I joined a couple of forums and saw much the same at both before this one (which is better) I just want to go back to a mental picture of Christians as kind loving gentle people with open arms for the unsaved. I am really thinking avoiding altogether forums, can you guys pray for me that I can find the answer. thats not meant to offend anyone so please don't be guys it's just something I am struggling with.

Are you seriously calling the Westboro Baptist Church a Christian organization????? REALLY?????? unfortunatly for us it's probably registered that way. General at here addressing everyone.... Tired of my only knowledge of Muslims to be third hand media hype and media reports of extremist fundamentalists firming my views of Muslims I once joined a muslim forum like this one. I know myself now first hand they were really nice and welcomed me nicely as a Christian. They were as dismayed about what gets done in the name of Islam too just like we couldn't distance ourselves enough from Westbro baptist. Actually they were against the idea of a sharia state here in Australia and had a very low opinion of Bin Ladin. I'll go back and have a chat one day too again.

How does that apply to today? There is a difference between misinterpreting scripture due to illiteracy and what the scripture really says. Muslim scripture clearly commands Muslims to conquer the World and either kill or subjugate non-Muslims. How come Muslim clerics today still preach death and hatred from their pulpits? They are not illiterate. When was the last time you heard hate speech being preached by a pastor or by the Pope? This is what the Q'uran says. "Fight and kill the disbelievers wherever you find them, take them captive, harass them, lie in wait and ambush them using every stratagem of war" Koran 9:5 "Fight the unbelievers around you, and let them find harshness in you." Koran 9:123 "He it is who has sent His Messenger (Mohammed) with guidance and the religion of truth (Islam) to make it victorious over all religions even though the infidels may resist.” Koran 61:9 Finally, listen to what Muslim clerics themselves have said in recent years. Because they are clerics they have all studied Muslim scripture. They are not illiterate and know exactly what they are talking about. "Killing of the Kaffir (non-believers) for any reason you can say it is OK, even if there is no reason for it." Abu Hamza al-Masri ___ "We don't make a distinction between civilians and non-civilians, innocents and non-innocents. Only between Muslims and unbelievers. And the life of an unbeliever has no value. It has no sanctity." Omar Bakri Muhammad - 2009 ___ “We must declare that Palestine, from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea, is an Islamic land and that Spain – Andalusia – is also the land of Islam. Islamic lands that were occupied by the enemies will once again become Islamic. Furthermore, we will reach beyond these countries, which are lost at one point. We proclaim that we will conquer Rome, like Constantinople was conquered once, and as it will be conquered again.... We will rule the world, as has been said by the Prophet Muhammad.... We will face a battlefront that is broader and stronger. Its beginnings were in Palestine, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and in Chechnya. What has begun will be completed. It will not stop.” Sheikh Ali Al-Faqir - during a sermon broadcast on Hamas TV (March 2010) You are trying to make comparisons between Islam and Christianity where there are none. Nothing in the Bible could ever justify things that some Christians have done in the name of their beliefs, but every atrocity committed by Muslims has justification in either the Q'uran or the Hadith. Islam is a religion of war and violence. I studied it for years. Believe me, I know what it is all about. what I was saying is maybe Islam is as much a political movement as it is a religion and I fully agree with you it's a bloodthirsty book that Koran and I know it endorses beheadings. I know other horrific things I wouldn't dare post in here too. When was the last time anyone heard a hate speech by a pastor? Ask the American gays! You might wasn't to check out Westbro baptist and a few other of their churches.

You have to question peoples qualification to belonging to the religion properly in those times and fully undestand the teachings. Considering most involved were probably illiterate converts unable to fully understand thier religion it would be maybe more accurate to call Islam of the time a political movement like spain used christianity while wiping out south Americans. The Christian church was involved with burning of witches and pagans in europe and that possibly went into many millions to dominate there as well. You have to wonder about what they were told by thier leaders to do those things in the name of God or Allah. There is no doubt what was done in the name of islam to the Hindus and just about everyone else is far worse. Really wise man tried to avert all that and said this much earlier. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Romans 12 7 If someone has done you wrong, do not repay him with a wrong. Try to do what everyone considers to be good. 18 Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody. 19 Never take revenge, my friends, but instead let God's anger do it.

He probably had a mental picture of me.

Exactly right.everyone has the ability to teach you something.