Bible Study (Room)

Suggest a name change of this room to: Bible Discussion
There is hardly ever a "study" going on in this room and there is always some "discussion" about the Bible. When I first joined CC and saw the Bible Study room I thought I would encounter an actual Bible study.... sort of like what I might experience in a home group in my church. That was an incorrect expectation. So, in order to help set a proper expectation for new comers to CC and to accurately describe what mostly occurs in this room I suggest the name be changed to Bible Discussion.

i agree there, bible discussion or bible debate room more like it

Hmmmmm ----- might be a good idea --- then, we could all refer to it as the 'BD' room instead of the 'BS' room...

What is the purpose of the bible room? When I go in there it is quiet or the topic is not the bible, one time it was crayons and a lot of other things not related to the bible. Maybe there are real discussions at other times of the day when I am not online?

Also in the lounge we are not allowed to sing or play music and the people are told to go to the yousing or youtube because they don't want to interrupt the flow of the room.

If a bible question does come up in the lounge they discuss it for awhile which is ok, but if the bible room is for real bible discussions why is no one using it? Some would rather do bible study in the lounge? I thought the lounge was for a wide variety of topics?

I am just curious as to what other opinions are out there? What do you guys think?

The bible study room is for bible study. But it's not a structured room. So there are occasions people stray until a topic gets brought up. Its the natural flow of human interaction. To vary and wander in conversational topics. In my years on the site i've seen moments where they don't talk about the bible. Doesn't usually last long. And isn't common to the point of disruption. You must have bad timing.

The lounge is for 'a wide variety of topics', yes. So why can't the bible be one of those topics?
Playing music and singing, on the other hand, isn't conducive to chat. It's a disruption of chat (and usually an attempt for someone to get attention). A subject of the bible doesn't disrupt chat. Its just one of a 'wide variety of topics' that can come up, in a Christian chat room, on a Christian chat room site.

Your timing with the bible study room stinks and it's marring your perceptions of the Lounge. It's that simple.

Also I like a good bible discussion, sharing back and forth etc. But are some allowed to preach in here? Some talk like they are a pastor or giving a sermon?

I don't want to follow people who are not real pastors?

Then don't presume someone on CC is a pastor because they claim it.
I believe they allow some preaching, long as the conversations on other topics can continue. But if it goes on long enough or becomes a disruption they will stop it.

I've never seen anything but biblical-related discussions in the BD thread, save for the occasional conspiracy theory. And I don't think I've ever seen a crayon thread there. Sounds more like a Singles or Miscellaneous topic.

I did not mean the bible thread. I meant in the bible study chat room.

Yeah. I won't believe anyone if they say they are a pastor or claim to be one. I will check with God and the bible first.

Even if someone is a pastor, it does not mean they are teaching the truth...

I would suggest that it is best to always verify what someone teaches with personal bible study.

Personally, I love crayons. I find them to be colorful and not the least bit boring. I am willing to discuss this topic at any place or time.

I am a crayon person also, but seriously...

I myself tend to migrate toward places like singles forum, where the atmosphere is a bit warmer, even to mention Bible things. Some people's idea of Bible Study is interdenominational warfare. Lots of people are nature-born debaters. Maybe we could have a special forum named Militant Bible Debate and rename this one Friendly Bible Study. No sarcasm intended; this might actually work. People would then feel safer bringing up Bible and not withdraw to their crayons

I am in agreement with your suggestions.

I admit that I have been a crayon man and admire crayon men but that is my bad.

I love the Militant Bible Debate forum suggestion of yours because, in my humble opinion, it has serious merit. However, I have my reservations regarding the other suggested forum. The people who will post in the Friendly Bible Study will eventually be snuffed out by friendly fire. Perhaps, a Friendly Fire Bible Study would be more appropriate for the residents of the CC community.

Excellent Post.

People keep seem to be missing this is about the chat rooms, not the forums.

The primary purpose of the Bible Study room is studying the Bible. There are times where the topic plays out and other subjects are discussed, but if someone proposes a Bible topic the room should pick that topic up. Chances are, like Ugly said, your timing probably hasn't been the best because I've seen that room pick apart a topic for hours on end.

We do not specifically prohibit singing/playing music in the Lounge as long as it doesn't become a non-stop musicfest since that become detrimental to the primary purpose of the Lounge which is chat, not music.

Some people propose Bible related subjects in the Lounge just because they don't realize there is a Bible Study room, or because the Bible Study room tends to be known for getting rather heated at times. The humorous thing is at times I've seen the Lounge and Bible Study room both discussing the same topic at the same time.

We have a number of regular users that are (or claim to be) ordained pastors. Of the ones that come to mind at the moment they come from a handful of denominational/doctrinal backgrounds some of which this site does not endorse. We specifically prohibit ANYONE from setting themselves up as a "site approved" teacher or from taking over a room for their own teaching purposes because we've had too many bad experiences with this in the past.

In years past we used to have a nightly organized study run by the site Admin and a couple of users who were authorized by the Admin team, but unfortunately it died out with time due to diminishing interest and also burnout on the part of those teaching.

Wow, the nightly bible study sounds like it would be really fun. . But to prevent burnout maybe we can try alternating people or just try once a week. I would really be interested if this was to start again.

I may have said something once about crayons in Bible Discussion. My favorites are Crayola - I prefer the 64 pack because of the built-in sharpener. I must of ticked someone off by saying that person's mood reflected a certain color or something to that effect.

I liked the nightly bible studies but understand why they were discontinued since most of the cc staff are volunteers and its spiritually draining.

Our church does 6 week bible studies meeting once a week on topics/ books of the Bible. The person teaches for 15-20 minutes and gives about the same amount of time for questions and discussion.

There is a "simple Bible" chat room (haven't been in chat in a while) but most people don't go because there is no audience for their show.

I do remember going into Bible study chat room and someone wanted to practice their English skills by reading the Bible out loud. I thought that was pretty edifying. I was disappointed when others kept stealing the mic to discuss topics like movies and what they ate for dinner, but its the internet.

I think a few people left the Bible study room to another room so they could continue their reading of the Bible. sometimes its easier to just move rooms then try to fight for the mic.

When it was nightly participation was high, when we dropped off to only a couple of nights (due to teacher burnout) participation dropped off rapidly. As far as adding more teachers into the mix, we here at CC have to be very cautious about who would be invited to teach since by default the site is endorsing what they teach.

Unfortunately a lot of users that have been around long enough for us to develop that level of comfort with their doctrinal positions have some doctrinal issues that the Admin team of CC cannot endorse.

It may be something we try again in the future.