Christian answering questions too!

[PETE_ROSE]

I cannot speak to the motivations of other Christians, moreover I might question their sanity for thinking they could match wits with this bunch!  There are more than a few here that would shred most professing Christians I know.
 
 I am here for a few reasons.  Foremost I am here to follow the command of Christ in taking the message to the world.  I want to converse with intellectual people and be challenged with some of the more difficult questions we all have regarding Christianity; thus hopefully giving me a better understanding and strengthening my faith.  I have friends and family that are nontheists.  I have had a positive rapport with them and we have discussions that don’t involve yelling, bickering, and a lot of the animosity that is prevalent in many conversations on religion.  Many people judge Christianity by the poor, unbiblical and hypocritical examples of it in the world.  I hope to do better.
 
I see a lot of intelligent people in the forum –one person stands out in particular- that are obviously educated, well spoken, articulate and above all good people; I have studied the bible and some science, believe Christ to be who he proclaims to be, believe what the bible says to be true, and considering the eternal ramifications I want to do something to assist people in making an informed choice.  At one time I shared almost every single objection or complaint with religion, the bible, God, Christians, that I have heard so far; so I feel that I can relate to some here.
 
Plus the absence of spell check in the forum coupled with the propensity around here for the grammar police to call someone out, I hope to improve on my writing skills.

Taking the message of Christ into the world.  Well, most of us are well aware of the message, since the majority of us were raised Christian.

Most of my friends are Christian.  The one that I respect the most simply lives his faith.  He will tell you what he believes only when pressed, and then in the gentlest way possible.  He often ends with "but I don't expect you to follow this, it is my path".   The vast majority of Christians who show up here have only one goal in mind (no matter what they claim) to change our minds.  I run into one of those, and yes, I do heap scorn upon them.
Some of our theists here are like my friend.  I hope that you will join their ranks.  I will step back and watch.

I'm not here to convert anyone at the point of the sword.  I have also lived as your friend for many years, letting my words, actions, how I live my life, raise my children, and conduct myself (especially when aggravated), be my witness to the world.  I aspire to be thoughtful and take a gentle approach as well.  When I was younger and much more rebellious, my mentor took the approach of patience and gentleness with me.  I confess that I hold to the hope that all will reconsider and seek and hopefully find a personal relationship with Christ.  I hope that does not offend or disappoint you sir.

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He feels legit to me. Seems like a nice guy. I think we gave him too much guff when he inadvertently stepped over a few invisible lines, prior to understanding why we reacted to some things the way we did. I say we give him a chance.

Oh, I give him a chance, but something feels off with this one. The reason why I keep looking at this thread but no longer reply to what he says. Let's look at his continuing performance if he manages to change my mind. Maybe it's just his weird use of tags putting me on edge, but I don't feel like wasting my time and effort on someone who hasn't convinced me yet to be what he claims to be.

As opposed to the majority of theists here.

What is a tag?  It feels like you guys think I am perhaps a person that posted here previously, under a different name perhaps.  I assure you I have never been to the AF as anyone else.  Also, not sure what the mystery is concerning what I claim to be.  I see a lot of labels thrown around here.  Creationist, post millennial rapturist, most of which are new to me.  If I were to label myself I would say that I am a follower of Christ’s example, father, husband, soldier, welder, outdoorsman, farmer, firefighter, and , cheesecake connoisseur.  I probably should just hang around for a while and get to know everyone better before attempting to beat everyone into submission with my bible as  Rocket has enlightened me to the fact that most everyone here is more than aware of the "good news".  But as I stated on page 1, I am here partly for selfish reasons and personal gain, not merely to proselytize all of the atheists.  I hope everyone here has as much trouble saying that word as me.  I butcher it every time.

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Pete, you can go a long way toward demonstrating some good will by explaining to "God's Child" in the thread I'll link you to, below, why telling us we weren't truly Christians is an asshole move.

It's a trap!

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Taking the message of Christ into the world.  Well, most of us are well aware of the message, since the majority of us were raised Christian.

Most of my friends are Christian.  The one that I respect the most simply lives his faith.  He will tell you what he believes only when pressed, and then in the gentlest way possible.  He often ends with "but I don't expect you to follow this, it is my path".   The vast majority of Christians who show up here have only one goal in mind (no matter what they claim) to change our minds.  I run into one of those, and yes, I do heap scorn upon them.
Some of our theists here are like my friend.  I hope that you will join their ranks.  I will step back and watch.

I'm not here to convert anyone at the point of the sword.  I have also lived as your friend for many years, letting my words, actions, how I live my life, raise my children, and conduct myself (especially when aggravated), be my witness to the world.  I aspire to be thoughtful and take a gentle approach as well.  When I was younger and much more rebellious, my mentor took the approach of patience and gentleness with me.  I confess that I hold to the hope that all will reconsider and seek and hopefully find a personal relationship with Christ.  I hope that does not offend or disappoint you sir.

---

Oh, I give him a chance, but something feels off with this one. The reason why I keep looking at this thread but no longer reply to what he says. Let's look at his continuing performance if he manages to change my mind. Maybe it's just his weird use of tags putting me on edge, but I don't feel like wasting my time and effort on someone who hasn't convinced me yet to be what he claims to be.

As opposed to the majority of theists here.

What is a tag?  It feels like you guys think I am perhaps a person that posted here previously, under a different name perhaps.  I assure you I have never been to the AF as anyone else.  Also, not sure what the mystery is concerning what I claim to be.  I see a lot of labels thrown around here.  Creationist, post millennial rapturist, most of which are new to me.  If I were to label myself I would say that I am a follower of Christ’s example, father, husband, soldier, welder, outdoorsman, farmer, firefighter, and , cheesecake connoisseur.  I probably should just hang around for a while and get to know everyone better before attempting to beat everyone into submission with my bible as  Rocket has enlightened me to the fact that most everyone here is more than aware of the "good news".  But as I stated on page 1, I am here partly for selfish reasons and personal gain, not merely to proselytize all of the atheists.  I hope everyone here has as much trouble saying that word as me.  I butcher it every time.

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It's a trap!

I guess I will find out.  It will have to be after supper. 

---

Taking the message of Christ into the world.  Well, most of us are well aware of the message, since the majority of us were raised Christian.

Most of my friends are Christian.  The one that I respect the most simply lives his faith.  He will tell you what he believes only when pressed, and then in the gentlest way possible.  He often ends with "but I don't expect you to follow this, it is my path".   The vast majority of Christians who show up here have only one goal in mind (no matter what they claim) to change our minds.  I run into one of those, and yes, I do heap scorn upon them.
Some of our theists here are like my friend.  I hope that you will join their ranks.  I will step back and watch.

I'm not here to convert anyone at the point of the sword.  I have also lived as your friend for many years, letting my words, actions, how I live my life, raise my children, and conduct myself (especially when aggravated), be my witness to the world.  I aspire to be thoughtful and take a gentle approach as well.  When I was younger and much more rebellious, my mentor took the approach of patience and gentleness with me.  I confess that I hold to the hope that all will reconsider and seek and hopefully find a personal relationship with Christ.  I hope that does not offend or disappoint you sir.

---

Oh, I give him a chance, but something feels off with this one. The reason why I keep looking at this thread but no longer reply to what he says. Let's look at his continuing performance if he manages to change my mind. Maybe it's just his weird use of tags putting me on edge, but I don't feel like wasting my time and effort on someone who hasn't convinced me yet to be what he claims to be.

As opposed to the majority of theists here.

What is a tag?  It feels like you guys think I am perhaps a person that posted here previously, under a different name perhaps.  I assure you I have never been to the AF as anyone else.  Also, not sure what the mystery is concerning what I claim to be.  I see a lot of labels thrown around here.  Creationist, post millennial rapturist, most of which are new to me.  If I were to label myself I would say that I am a follower of Christ’s example, father, husband, soldier, welder, outdoorsman, farmer, firefighter, and , cheesecake connoisseur.  I probably should just hang around for a while and get to know everyone better before attempting to beat everyone into submission with my bible as  Rocket has enlightened me to the fact that most everyone here is more than aware of the "good news".  But as I stated on page 1, I am here partly for selfish reasons and personal gain, not merely to proselytize all of the atheists.  I hope everyone here has as much trouble saying that word as me.  I butcher it every time.

---

It's a trap!

I guess I will find out.  It will have to be after supper.