First off, it's pretty sweet that this forum is here. For those who know me from discussions in the DF about philosophy and religion, hopefully you know that I am a Christian. I actually work full time in Christian ministry as my profession.

I personally would like to see more discussions here about living out your faith in every day life.

Here's some examples of things I think would be really beneficial to discuss:
What challenges do you come across that relate to your beliefs and how do you deal with those challenges?
What questions are you asked that you don't necessarily know the answer to?
How do you respond to someone who calls you a fool for believing in Christ?
How are you demonstrating Christ in a tangible way to the world? Do you think it's important to do that?

Just some ideas

What challenges do you come across that relate to your beliefs and how do you deal with those challenges?
Well for the most part the challenges come when your life is currently at the point where everything is going wrong. Two ways people react is that they turn away from God because they thought that becoming a Christian meant that God will make your life a luxury life for the rest of your lives. The other reaction is that people turn to God and ask him for help because they are in need of help ofcourse.

What questions are you asked that you don't necessarily know the answer to?
Every now and again somebody will ask a question where you may not know the answer off the top of your head but you can always work out the answer through research/asking around and studying so that in time you can get back to the person who asked you that original question. Or it may just be thinking out what the answer could be as you are ANALYSING the story and working it out.

How do you respond to someone who calls you a fool for believing in Christ?
Really depends on my mood at the time. I'll generally always keep the topic on track about Christianity though as I have a way with words.

How are you demonstrating Christ in a tangible way to the world? Do you think it's important to do that?
It is very easy to teach little kids about the story of Christ because they aren't independant yet. They can't really 'logically' say that God doesn't exist. Instead they listen to you and they never really argue with you. If they don't understand a story they merely ask you about the story until the understand it.

The adults who have all these ideas built in their mind are the harder ones to grab a hold of because they are independant and are smart enough to think for themselves.

Its good to see more people start to use this sub-forum! I had no idea about what you did DoomOnYou, though I hardly read the Donor Forums in depth so.

Anyways, I look forward to reading your future posts in this sub-forum.

Thanks for responding I actually meant for this to be more of a personal stories kind of thing rather than a general discussion though.

Well I did Logic in High School and the one thing I've learned is that great Philosophers and Parliament representatives who report on the news NEVER, EVER, EVER give a straightforward answer. If you ask me if there will be a tax rise I would reply:

"Taxes are really important and they must be maintained so that we can keep our economy growing. If everybody pays their taxes then the future of our city will be a bright one!"

well, thankfully being part of the Church and building each other up in our faith isn't about philosophy or politics It's about sharing our lives together.

Bible study group? I go to one every week. Church on Sundays? You bet. Sharing our lives together? I rarely open up but I have. On here? Yes, even to people online but those kinds of moments aren't exactly the most 'friendly' discussions.

During the week it is very easy to muff out Jesus and instead focus on the situation and the circumstances. It is very easy to only ever look at God and focus on him when you are at a Church or a bible study group. We should take as much time as possible to devote our lives to Christ. Not saying that we can do it 24/7 but Christianity won't ever grow if the only time people talk about God is in Church. Outside Church it can happen also and it will.

I think we can build each other up on here. I realize it is an internet forum, but behind every computer is a real person, with a real story. Answering things in generalizations doesn't really build people up. It's when we share our personal stories with others that we start to build each other up.

This post was edited by DoomOnYou on Mar 16 2010 08:16am