Introduction

I'm new here. I'm a little intimidated by the rules, I will admit. I'm a theist with very strong opinions about my faith, and I used to be a Christian/Lutheran before I decided to follow what I believe is Gods path for me.
I am intimidated by the rules because they seem more inclined to ask people to conform than discuss, which is something I am not good at. Hopefully the moderators aren't as harsh as the rules make them out to be.
I am a person who enjoys discussion. I'd rather hear your opinion than cite my own, but I do enjoy spouting my opinion when needed.
I have joined and frequented many many forums. Some inviting to me, others not. It usually has to deal with me not willing to conform, though I think I have improved immeasurably since when I first started joining forums.
I will warn anyone who reads this, I enjoy a good scholarly debate. If there is something to be learned that doesn't involve insults, I want to talk about it usually.
I promise to be considerate while I am here, and I look forward to furthering our communications together.

Welcome to CC.

Thank you.

If you will excuse my bluntness, in my experience no christian refers to themselves as "theists".

So what do you believe is Gods truth path for you... in other words which theistic religion do you follow?

None. Why do I need a religion to believe in a creator. I'd rather discuss things that have potential to make the change a benevolent God would consider positively progressive.
What these changes are, I don't know. I'm only here for discussion.

Fair enough.

May I ask how you define God?

Don't really have a definite answer for that.I believe that black holes are proof we have an infinity in our universe, and when infinity is found to have mathematical proportions in our physical realm, that to me seems unreasonable.
Granted there are many other ideas that lead me to believe a God is possible, but I'm just trying to give you a little background.

I believe that God possibly activated himself with the expansion of our universe. From there I'm lost. I speculate that God seems more probable than improbable to me just because of the little bit I do understand about quantum physics, astronomy, biology, and social learning.
I believe that for any entity to be considered God it's only requirement be that it controls the majority of the universes cosmos in an intelligent manner. How exactly, I don't know.

I am a monotheist solely because I like the idea of only keeping track of one God. I have pondered the idea of two Gods existing, and though it seems reasonable, it is also impractical to me.

I would suggest two books to read, Plato's biography of Socrates and Socrates meets Jesus by Peter Kreeft.

I'll take that into consideration for my next reading material. Thank you.

The rules are simple. Don't come here to preach and teach non-Christian messages. This is a Christian chat site, not a debate site, after all. The focus is for Christians, while non-Christians are still welcome. So yes, you are expected to not come to this site to sway peoples opinions on what we believe. If that is your goal you should perhaps move to a site intended for debate. This is a fellowship site for Christians first and foremost.

Welcome, hope our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ touches your heart and changes your life , that you may experience what so many of us here experienced that changed our lives forever.....

Welcome to CC...

Do you have a weak faith, or is the faith of this community weak? I see no reason not to allow discussions that "may sway faith" if you believe that God is on your side.
The points you make suggest you'd rather turn non-believers away from God rather than help people find a path to God. Is that what Jesus would do?

I am enthralled in love and happiness, and I exhaust love and happiness. I don't think Jesus would have asked of more for my life. I do appreciate the blessing though.

Sure, thank you...

@Pozessed

haha, I also harbor a passion for debating.

You seem like an interesting person. Welcome to the site.

Thank you very much, I'm glad we have something in common.

Welcome Pozessed. If you have children then you will understand this better. There are young Christians, new to the faith and older. The mature Christians have studied more and have stood many trials and know God is faithful by experience. Some sweet talkers come on this Site and are like strangers luring children away with candy. Their arguments seem scientific and reasonable but are just elaborate opinions. We prefer to keep the children safe. Christianity is a relationship with God because we can communicate with Him through Jesus the Christ. Just like all relationships, trust is achieved over time with a series of experiences. For the record, most of us do not believe God is on our side, we are supposed to be on His side. He leads the charge. If God followed me, we'd all be lost. Perhaps your understanding of the Creator can be made more complete as you spend time here. I too was where you are and the more I sought truth instead of theories the closer I got to the unmistakable conclusion that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

I do understand, I don't agree though. Young people who are easily distracted from their faith should be considered distracted for a reason. It shouldn't be left to human dictators to decide what they can and can't hear. This should be a place (in my opinion of course) where they can come and get clarification on the theories they heard. As well, this should be a place where respectful outsiders can join, regardless of how slick their tongue is, to come and contrast their thoughts and theories.
What you have suggested is that these children are too naive to make up their own mind so it is up to this community to make that choice for them.

Here's the thing. Nobody knows they are right. It is what each of us has faith in. Some people come to their beliefs because of what they were taught and some from what they have experienced. We all make a choice of what we believe. It may be true or not. Some choose to believe if a scientist says it's true, then it's true. That is faith in scientists, not facts. The only way we are going to know is either we die or Christ returns. By then it will be too late. I tried to study only facts. Those facts led me to the undeniable truth that two thousand or so years ago a man was born who performed miracles, fulfilled prophecy of the coming Messiah, died and resurrected. I think He earned the benefit of the doubt to be listened to and believed. I think if He persuaded a dozen Jewish men to completely challenge the government, religious leaders and society of their day then what they witnessed was completely real to them. Then the Spirit revealed through them convinced others to follow them, often to death. But, like I said, it's faith. Mind you, the relationship that I have with God does not disappoint. He has revealed Himself many times and continues to earn my praise. So it's not about being naive, its about faith, truth and lies.