My name's Flint!

[Flint]

Hi Everybody!

I'm Flint. I've spent most of my life on my own (spiritually), away from the church, but I was raised Christian, and I've attended a few Christian youth groups with friends in the past. Lately I've been toying with the idea of giving church another chance. Joining this forum, in part, may prove to be a kind of baby step in that direction.

Anyhow. I'm an aspiring writer, and one of the topics I write about often is the whole waiting till marriage/abstinence thing (since I'm living it). So that will probably be my primary area of interest. But I'm passionate about philosophy too, so I might end up branching out a little. I noticed that you guys have an apologetics/theology forum --- I'm a big Ravi Zacharias fan. I've seen him twice now when he's come in town to do lectures.

For what it's worth, I'm also an extremely experienced website developer (10+ years), so all you Christian webmasters out there feel free to try me out on technical questions if you get stuck on something! Hopefully I'll be able to at least point you in the right direction.

Looking forward to getting to know everybody!

 

[Caroline H]

Welcome to the site, Flint

 

[Mike]

That's good stuff

Welcome to CFnet, Flint

 

[HisSheep]

Hi Flint!
Welcome! :waving

Your website looks really good. I love the video of the fourth grader whose dad surprises her at school… :bigcry

I'm looking for a good, cheep place to host my site. I had it at Geocities for 10 years, but I don’t like the changes they made when Yahoo took it over. I cancelled my membership recently. Where can I republish? I’ll need Frontpage extensions. Any recommendations?

When I first came to faith, it was entirely without a church. I didn’t trust any church to teach it to me straight because I was raised in a Christian home like yourself, but was taught a bunch of pluralistic half-truths. I ended up an atheist until I was about 35. I wanted better for my kids, so I listened to teachers like your man Ravi, Alistair Begg, John MacArthur and a few others. I read the Bible everyday, and became a regular on a forum like this one. Debate is one of the best teachers, and there are good, healthy debates on forums. After a couple of years of study, I decided I could discern a good church from a bad one, and finally brought my family to a Baptist church in my town. We’ve been there a year now.

A baby step is how it starts - I hope you’ll come to a deep faith. Don’t necessarily rely on your parent’s denomination, and don’t rely on a church to teach you either. Worship and fellowship at church, but learn on your own. Then compare the church’s teaching to what you learn. That’s my advice.

When I first started attending the church I chose, I gave the pastor 10 questions to see how he dealt with controversial theologies. (…really, I did!) I especially wanted to avoid worldly influence in a pastor. Worldly influence is what plagued the church of my youth; the whole denomination is in turmoil now.

You can come to faith in Jesus without a church, but once you believe, you will want to attend one.

That's my eight cents worth. Again, welcome to the forum.

-HisSheep

 

[Nick]

Welcome Flint!

Can I just ask you to remove the link in your signature? After 20 posts you can advertise your site. Thanks! Glad you're here.

 

[Flint]

Thanks for the welcomes, guys!

@HisSheep
Thanks man. Your story hits pretty close. So how many churches did you have to shop before you found one you liked?

When I first started attending the church I chose, I gave the pastor 10 questions to see how he dealt with controversial theologies.

--- that is so awesome, in an "I would love to do that" kind of way.

Glad you like my site! Yeah that little girl video busts me up every time. Totally unrelated to waiting till marriage, but I couldn't resist posting it...figured most of my readers are the type of people who would enjoy it.

Also: Go with HostGator for hosting (if you want to be really nice to me you'll click this link with my affiliate id in it so I get referral cash when you sign up). Or just go to hostgator.com.

As somebody who deals with hundreds of different web hosting companies every day, HostGator is the most pleasant to deal with (in terms of flexibility and comprehensiveness of environment), and the most responsive when I find a legit problem.

Hard to beat $7.49/month for unlimited bandwidth, unlimited sites, 24/7 support, and automatic weekly backups.

They do offer your beloved frontpage extensions, but if I may be elitist for a second...

If you're dead-set on using an offline WYSIWYG like Frontpage to create your site entirely from scratch, go get some college kid to buy you a student edition of Adobe Dreamweaver. Frontpage sites are always a mess (if it's not the content it's the bad code underneath it). If you're planning to create new site from scratch anyway, start doing it the right way. Dreamweaver's the best (really the only, IMHO) professional-grade offline WYSIWYG out there. It may be take you a bit to get comfortable, but it'll make you a better webmaster in the long run.

Or, if you're open to using a content management system and don't need some crazy off-the-wall design for your site, then you should strongly consider the "hosted version" of Wordpress. As in, not the one where you sign up on wordpress.com and get a blog...the one where you download wordpress from wordpress.ORG and install it to your hostgator hosting account.

The benefit of hosting your own copy of wordpress yourself (vs. just getting a free blog from wordpress.com) is that you A) Get to install plugins B) Have an easier time installing more advanced themes and C) Can hack your copy to your heart's content.

Okay so maybe "C" only matters to guys like me, but believe me, A and B are going to matter to you once you get start really building out your site. You're going to want to install plugins.

Wordpress is awesome. I use it for most of my sites now. And there are enough free plugins to do pretty much whatever you want without a lot of code-learning...you get to stay focused on the content. In fact, my site that you saw (moderators: is it ok to link/list the domain in context of discussion like this?) runs off a copy of wordpress hosted on hostgator. So I practice what I preach (when it comes to tech stuff anyway haha).

Anyhow, sorry to dump all that on you...I just start rambling when I'm sleepy. Hope some of it helped!

 

[Flint]

@HisSheep

One more thing: If you're planning to do eCommerce, it's a whole different question.

@Nick

Can I just ask you to remove the link in your signature? After 20 posts you can advertise your site. Thanks! Glad you're here.

Sure Nick! Sorry about that. Didn't realize the 20 post rule applied to sigs. Link removed!

 

[Pard]

Quick Flint, 20 posts is only 13 away! SPAM!


Hello, I'm Ian. Nice to have you here.

@Sheep what were the 10 questions that you grill'd the pastor with?

 

[Flint]

Quick Flint, 20 posts is only 13 away! SPAM!

Thanks, Ian.

@Sheep what were the 10 questions that you grill'd the pastor with?

I'd actually like to know this too. Do tell!

 

[PouringRain]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Flint]

Thanks PouringRain! Also, that's a pretty fitting avatar you have there. Nice.

 

[stovebolts]

Welcome Flint!

You're not from Michigan are you

 

[Flint]

You're not from Michigan are you

Nope! I like Michigan people though. I don't think I've ever met a mean person from Michigan. You guys all seem pretty nice. Or maybe it's just the friendly accent.

Also: Nice avatar, SteveBolts. Gosh, all you guys have cool and relevant avatars. Gonna have to find one for myself!

 

[stovebolts]

Thanks flimt :D

Must be all them automotive fumes makes us so happy up here

 

[LaMont Cranston]

Flint, I thought I'd just say "Hi," since I am also new here and a writer. It looks like there are some very nice folks here, and I'm looking forward to being involved in the threads. Take care!

 

[Flint]

Must be all them automotive fumes makes us so happy up here

That's probably it!

Flint, I thought I'd just say "Hi," since I am also new here and a writer.!

Hi, Lamont! What kind of stuff do you write? It's hard being a writer, isn't it? Most of the time I find myself wishing that I was born with a more sane, profitable passion. I have a friend who's passionate about chemical engineering. Now that's a passion you can run with.

It looks like there are some very nice folks here, and I'm looking forward to being involved in the threads. Take care

Yeah I'm really liking it so far! I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a forum full of Christians would be friendly, but it's nice nonetheless.

See you around the 'boards!

 

[LaMont Cranston]

Flint, I'm actually working on two books, one fiction, the story of a young man named Paul's spiritual journey that's set in present times. The other is a book I'm co-writing with an atheist friend (who I've never met) who lives in North Carolina. He's presenting the atheist case for why he thinks God doesn't exist, and I'm presenting the case that God does exist.

I often think that the discussions between those of us who are believers and those who don't believe are quite polarizing. We are hoping to write an intelligent, readable book that will present both sides, and the readers can decide whatever they decide for themselves.

When I was younger, I was something of a math and science whiz, particularly chemistry. I started college as a chem major, but when I looked at what chemists did, I gave up the possibility of a career in the sciences, and I've never regretted the decision. I have found that writer is much more difficult that I originally thought, but I am extremely grateful for the challenges it offers me. Good luck with your writing!

 

[Flint]

I'm co-writing with an atheist friend (who I've never met) who lives in North Carolina. He's presenting the atheist case for why he thinks God doesn't exist, and I'm presenting the case that God does exist.

That's awesome. I would read that book. I'd probably read the spiritual journey one too, but especially this one. Great idea.

Do you write full time, like for money? Or do you have a day job? Do you have any other already-published books under your belt?

 

[LaMont Cranston]

Flint, Over the years I've published quite a few things under another name that, sorry to say, I can't reveal right now because it would potentially involve other people. All of those other things were short pieces, and I've never actually started and finished a book.

I'm retired now, and looking for ways to make money. (Who isn't, right?) I've done pretty well at real estate, but most of my money is also tied up in that. It's one thing to make money on paper, but that money won't pay the dentist, the utility company, etc.

I live in a fairly remote part of Hawaii, and I get up usually by 5:00 am, make myself a strong cup of coffee and start writing on whatever I can get it together to write about. Then, during the rest of the day, I'll go back over the stuff I'm working on to, hopefully, make it better. I'm also involved with an all-volunteer charity that takes up quite a bit of my time, gardening and some other things...not to mention, I have a wonderful wife.

I was going to say to you that you might look upon your writing as a true blessing. Your friend's passion for chemical engineering will last as long as it does, but writing is something that you can do for the rest of your life. I'm kind of suprised that writing has become so important in my life, but I also think that those people who have been drawn to music, art, writing and other muses have received a gift from God.

So, what do you hope to accomplish with your writing?

 

[Flint]

Thanks Lamont. That was really helpful.

I was going to say to you that you might look upon your writing as a true blessing.

Only on my good days. But yeah you're right, and thanks for reminding me to see it that way. I joke about it a lot, but really I often feel thankful for the chances I've been given with writing. Sometimes it just feel crazy to dedicate so much time and energy to something that will only ever be emotionally/spiritually/mentally rewarding when there are bills to be paid and fortunes to be made.

Your friend's passion for chemical engineering will last as long as it does, but writing is something that you can do for the rest of your life.

Now that point I'll give you. They say mathematicians usually do their best work before 30, but a writer gets better and better until the day he dies (or goes senile).

So, what do you hope to accomplish with your writing?

That's a tough one to answer. I kind of have something different I want to accomplish with each little piece I write (I'm sure that's the same for you or any writer).

I guess overall though, I'd say I like to use writing to help people go through things that I've already gone through....if that makes any sense. So if I were a real book author and not just some obscure internet writer, I'd probably be classified as an extremely specialized self-help writer (the thought of which is a little nauseating, but it fits I suppose).

I really enjoy what I'm doing. I just wish it were easier to make a living out of so I could do it all the time (like other people get to do with there passions).

Maybe it'll be better when I retire!

So do you have a publisher for your book(s) lined up or are you still shopping/going to self-publish? That's the part that always scares me about the notion of a writing a book...the difficulty getting it published and out there. The thought that I could spend a year slaving over 400 pages that nobody ever ends up reading is terrifying.

BTW: Why don't you have a The Shadow avatar yet? :D