Is the Forum used as a Religious Chat-Room?..and if so, is this good?

Community Disclaimers...[Sermonindex]We hope to address a few of the misconceptions and concerns at the outset so that everyone will be on the same level footing as to what is acceptable and that which is not.

What it is not.

.......It is not a 'chat room'......

It is not a place to bring an agenda regardless of intentions.
It is not a place for promotion of ones self, website or wares.
It is not 'denominational' while gleaning from many.
It is neither legalistic nor 'anything goes'.
It is not a place for politics, politicians, policy's nor particular support thereof."..[ Greg Gordon ]

There are several threads that seem to have tremendous potential, and are interesting I think...that seem to be hijacked by a "chat" mentality. You know this by the number of instant "tweets" that compose what "CHAT" is, and it seems that many have given themselves over to this type of posting. You know who you are.

The result is a deterioration of meaningfulness tandem with the casual...that results in ebby's of meaninglessness....though they may be witty, or polite.

This kills the deeper response, and prohibits a forum...for chat is intrinsically shallow, and usually corralled by one or two that seem oblivious to those outside....so it is either join your chat, or ignore the thread. Sadly...It just keeps on and on.

It is not my place to address this issue, and I am not sure how you would?...but there must be an answer. Some people seem to live off of chat...and must spend most of everyday doing so. I hesitated to post this...but I see it rising again...and would like to see it stopped.

I have been blessed by this forum...and with the ministry of several of the mature saints, and young and pure hearts that contribute their Godly Convictions. Some....most awesome.

I guess you could have a "tweet" category... next to General..but that would be defeating Si's mission.

Submitted As a brother, and in some degree of love, I hope.BT

I guess the question is what is theological discussion, and what is chat? That definition may differ from person to person.

If discussion is considered "chat" then all we'll have are declarations... and I'm not interested in that. A lot of my theology has evolved and changed and grown because of the free flow discussions I've been involved in on this forum.

Krispy

ginnyrose posted.
"In fellowshipping one shares ideas, insights and sometimes there are heated discussions. At least so it is in our community. Personally, I love it. "Iron sharpens iron."
My opinion.
I do appreciate your insights, Tom...
Blessings".

As I do yours....sincerely. This is not the essence of my thinking..whether or not conflict occurs..it is when the agreement or disagreement of two or three, the conflict if you will, overshadows the focus of the Thread itself, and becomes it's own colony.

The posts then become so personalized about this quirk or that , that it creates a life of it's own....and often they are chat....or tweets...sometimes in machine gun style...a blurb a second kind of fluff. Here, Iron does not sharpen Iron, but strokes the ego of the wielder of it.

Like an individualized dialogue, the insights turn to tweets creating rabbit trails that are impossible to follow, thus destroying any gravitas or meaningfulness.

This IS the nature of chat rooms...with no accountability to the community or respect as to the flow of the thread, or any need to. This mostly, if not always occurs in smaller cliques, as they are more personal. Again, I'm just noting a trend that could be happening again with some who may post excessively[ ? ]

I may be wrong...I would like to see people respond in a serious manner to the Word...rather than the knee-jerk reactions that often are but chat and tweet. What do you think?

Do you equate rudeness and ugliness as iron sharpening iron. If so that is a funny application of that scripture. I work for the Arkansas General Assembly. I have seen more civility among politicians than I have seen displayed on this forum. And we are supposed to be the redeemed ones. Something wrong with this picture.

Blaine

"Do you equate rudeness and ugliness as iron sharpening iron? If so that is a funny application of that scripture. I work for the Arkansas General Assembly.

I have seen more civility among politicians than I have seen displayed on this forum. And we are supposed to be the redeemed ones. Something wrong with this picture?".....Blaine

It stems from the casual idea that MY thoughts must be expressed. You could chat with anyone...from Lady Gaga, the Devil himself, to your best friend. I see this forum as different, with posting as in an attitude of prayer...as stated below every submission form.

"The site moderators ask you before you post that you consider praying and ask the Lord if you have the right spirit to serve others in the body of Christ... before posting and pressing the submit button."

"Please also look at these scriptures: Matthew 12:36, James 1:26, Colossians 4:6."...SI moderators

Because the SI forum is centered around the WORD and the SPIRIT...[ A Born Again Forum...] the other rules do not apply, as to most chat forums, "Christian" or not.

Some the RE:s are ego based...either defending or excusing or attacking positions ...which is the nature of opinion...but the Christian idea is WHO you bring attention to? Chat in itself is shallow, and often narcissistic. I see it as destructive to searching for the heart of God within a thread.

You being deep or cool, and right?...or to Jesus , and the veracity of His Holy Scripture?...and the personal tweet stuff in the center of a good topic just kills the flow of the thread. This drives me up a wall...whether I post or not. [ Not that I always measure up..]

A sense of humor should never be squelched...and we ought to express it..anywhere. God does. It is not a call to robotize our freedom of thought and get real deep all the time....but to respond as you would your inquisitive mate, or inquiring child...with consideration to the rest of the family as you do.

I value the opinions and insights of the young and old. The young often have a fresh innocence that ordains Wisdom...and the older saints, women and men, have insight and testimony that encourages from wise experience.

It is not the length of the response that defines chat...often brevity IS the soul of Wit....but the spirit behind it that has self-interest as it's motive and superficiality it's obvious result. It is not a Spirit Led, wise response...and it should be.

I would agree as long as civility and respect are maintained even among those who disagree. The Lord says come now let us REASON together. Not beat one another into submission by our superior knowledge. The scriptures say KNOWLEDGE puffs up but love builds up.

I am all for edifying discussions and even debates about various view points of scripture. I do not see where our passion and convictions should degenerate into ugly threads. If we have a passion for something let it be the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Blaine

Blaine