Christian Chat rooms

[HimAll4]

I just was wondering if anyone has any input as to the location of any DECENT Christian chat rooms.
I enjoy these boards, but can't usually sit here all day waiting for a response, and thought chat rooms might be enjoyable.
I'm kinda new to all this stuff, and have heard some pretty bad stuff about chat rooms, so don't want to do anything that would not be beneficial.
Input, anyone?

[Soldier4Christ]

I have visited many chat rooms and haven't found any that I would recommend. Most of them go with a supposed Christian forum that allows all sorts of pagan teachings on them.

[HimAll4]

I have visited many chat rooms and haven't found any that I would recommend. Most of them go with a supposed Christian forum that allows all sorts of pagan teachings on them.

Thanks for that quick response, Pastor!

That's a shame.  But that is exactly the kind of things I've heard.  It's too bad there are no good ones out there.

[Soldier4Christ]

No problem. I don't always respond to every post on the forum as I am also doing other things at the same time. I am here though most of the day, sometimes night also and try to answer what I can.

[nChrist]

Hello HimAll4,

It's very hard to keep a clean and Christian place on the Internet, even on moderated Christian forums. If you look at Christian forums these days, many of them are loaded down with all kinds of dirt and garbage. In fact, some of the biggest ones have more dirt and garbage than clean and appropriate material.

Real time chat rooms are almost impossible to moderate, and the devil is always loose trying to attack anything Christian. As a result, many of the so-called Christian chat rooms are pretty rough. I don't know how you would keep one clean, and it would be a constant battle with numerous moderators to even try. It's a fairly difficult chore keeping Christians Unite clean and appropriate for Christian family use, but we're pretty proud of the fact that dirt, garbage, and the person who posted it is usually deleted here before many people see it. Most of our members and readers have no idea about all of the attempts to post just about every kind of obscene and blasphemous material you can think of. I'll just give thanks and say that I know GOD helps us keep Christians Unite as a place to honor and give Glory to HIM.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Philippians 3:14 NASB  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

[Debp]

I just was wondering if anyone has any input as to the location of any DECENT Christian chat rooms.
I enjoy these boards, but can't usually sit here all day waiting for a response, and thought chat rooms might be enjoyable.
I'm kinda new to all this stuff, and have heard some pretty bad stuff about chat rooms, so don't want to do anything that would not be beneficial.
Input, anyone?

I don't go to chat rooms now (did try them for awhile about a year or more ago).  The reason I don't go is I had a very bad experience at Crossdaily.   One chat room that was very well monitored was Worthychat.  They always seem to have a moderator there.   If you go to any chat room and find it disturbing to your faith, etc, just don't go back there.

[Amisk]

I don't go to chat rooms. I have pretty well stuck with the forum. However, I would suppose in a chat room one should not give out any personal information. Giving out personal information is dangerous on the Inter Net at the best of times. After all communication is open to the public. I had a friend, who worked at one of the top Canadian Banks tell me that she would never bank on line because she didn't know who was reading the e-mails she was sending out. I don't bank on line, even though her bank is offering higher interest just now if you switch to on line banking.

I keep pretty general in giving out my location. Also remember that all Chat Lines, Forums etc. are monitored by the police and other authorities looking for information. They are able to pretty well trace the author even though you use a code name. One should not meet personally with any one from a chat line or a forum. It is a sad time we live in, but the old adage "don't trust strangers" is getting more important all the time.

As for Christian forums and I suppose Chat Rooms as well, there are a lot of folks on there who are new to the faith, some who are mixed up with cults, and some are just out to get into an arguement going. This is a major problem for those who are new to the faith and looking for serious advice. Here again it is buyer beware. Check the scriptures to be sure that the information you are reading on line is correct. It never hurts to run it by a Christian Friend or your pastor before swallowing it hook line and sinker.

I also encourage young people not to go looking for dates or marriage partners on Line either. More than one young person has found the person they were communicating with was not the type they were lead to believe they were talking too. There is many a con-artist even on Christian sites.

[nChrist]

Hello Amisk,

You've offered some excellent information that I agree with completely. We've done everything we can think of to do in making Christians Unite a safe place for Christian family use, including children. BUT, we still recommend that all members here mark their email address as hidden in their user profile. If the user profile is listed as "show email address", anyone in the world will be able to see it, and Christians Unite obviously has no control over what person might see and use the email. I can say that the Administrator of Christians Unite has gone to great effort in protecting the personal information of users. I'm probably biased, but I think that Christians Unite is one of the safest places on the Internet for Christian families to use. There's no such thing as 100% safety and security on the Internet, but our Administrator sure does try hard.

I hope that everyone reads your post carefully and heeds your advice. Many horrible things happen on the Internet. The worst that I think of immediately is predators wanting to commit crimes against children and teens. Our rules here, including private messages being turned off, are designed to provide the best protection we can. Many people think that our rules here are too harsh, but I would quickly state that I'm not aware of a single incident where one of our younger members was victimized because of being a member here. It could happen, regardless of how hard we try, but many Christian parents do allow their children to use Christians Unite. I'll just say that I give thanks to GOD, and I know that HE helps us in preserving Christians Unite for family use. The moderators are all unpaid volunteers, and we take rapid actions against anyone trying to abuse or exploit our members in any way. I must also compliment many good members and readers who help us by reporting inappropriate posts quickly. Together, with the help of GOD, we have a clean and safe place for Christian family use.

Love In Christ,
Tom

1 Timothy 6:12 NASB  Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

[Faithin1]

I visited one several months ago, and found it too confusing if several people are chatting.  Also, I simply didn't find the topics to be of interest.  Quite a bit of nonsense was being discussed.

[Debp]

I visited one several months ago, and found it too confusing if several people are chatting.  Also, I simply didn't find the topics to be of interest.  Quite a bit of nonsense was being discussed.

I didn't realize there were so many mixed up "Christians" until I visited the chat rooms!  It was sad.  Of course, some of the people there aren't believers and just try to give serious Christians a hard time.  Also, you have to be careful of people that pretend to be nice and then turn on you overnight....I had this happen to me with a Jewish fellow there.

There were some times when I was able to counsel some people (one on one).  Also, I did get to talk to a few native pastors....2 from India and 1 from Pakistan.  That was interesting.

[HimAll4]

Thank you for taking the time to give thoughtful consideration to the question, everyone.

I am trying Worthy Boards, but we'll see how that goes.  So far, it's interesting, but I will keep my eyes open.
I really enjoy the idea of being able to possibly help someone who is teetering on the line of stepping into the Faith to make that step.
But that will be up to the Lord's leading, I only want to be available and open to the idea.

[nChrist]

Brothers and Sisters,

If a mature Christian wants to try and help people on Christian Chat Boards, I think that's fine. HOWEVER, I would not recommend turning your children loose on them. I would also not recommend them for new Christians without a strong foundation in the WORD.

Love In Christ,
Tom

1 Corinthians 1:9-10 NASB  God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.

[Debp]

Thank you for taking the time to give thoughtful consideration to the question, everyone.

I am trying Worthy Boards, but we'll see how that goes.  So far, it's interesting, but I will keep my eyes open.
I really enjoy the idea of being able to possibly help someone who is teetering on the line of stepping into the Faith to make that step.
But that will be up to the Lord's leading, I only want to be available and open to the idea.

The mods at Worthy will be there overseeing things, if it's still the same as when I was there.  Some people you can definitely help....some others just pretend to be interested...so just be aware of this.  God be with you.

[Debp]

Brothers and Sisters,

If a mature Christian wants to try and help people on Christian Chat Boards, I think that's fine. HOWEVER, I would not recommend turning your children loose on them. I would also not recommend them for new Christians without a strong foundation in the WORD.

Love In Christ,
Tom

1 Corinthians 1:9-10 NASB  God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.

I agree with this.  I've been a believer since 1972 and the Crossdaily chat room over a year ago was pretty wild.  Perhaps they "bounced" alot of people since then....hope so.  True seekers I don't mind, but the ones just trying to yank people's chains....we don't need that.  Don't cast your pearls before swine....

[HimAll4]

I agree with this.  I've been a believer since 1972 and the Crossdaily chat room over a year ago was pretty wild.  Perhaps they "bounced" alot of people since then....hope so.  True seekers I don't mind, but the ones just trying to yank people's chains....we don't need that.  Don't cast your pearls before swine....

Yes, and pray for discernment as to when it is time to shake the dust off your feet.....