FAQ >> And - Brisbane Christian Chat (Queensland, Australia)

Do you have a question REGARDING THIS WEBSITE you would like answered? Ask it here. If you want a direct answer include your email address so we can get back to you.
Please ask as many questions as you like. Check back to see if we've answered it.

Here are some questions that were submitted before we specified in bold (see above) that we only want questions that actually regard this website. If we accept any questions at all we might have to employ someone with a theological degree to answer them:) The brief answers below are written by someone without a theological degree so keep that in mind. We accept that these answers reflect one person's viewpoint over a 20 minute period. We do not endorse these views in any shape or form and you choose to read them at your own risk.

Q. What answers should I give to a child when the child asks, "Why can't I see God?"

A. The simple answer would be to tell the child that God is invisible. If the child asks "Why?" like a lot of children do, tell them that we don't really know why but He seems to prefer it that way.

A longer answer would involve letting the inquisitive child know that God did live on earth as a person named Jesus about 2000 years ago and He was visible then. God's qualities are also very visible in His creation and in the lives of those He lives within. The wind is invisible but you see its visible effects.

Also something to think about is that fact that God is everywhere, so, if we could see Him, we probably wouldn't be able to see much else! If you mention this to the child and point out that as a result it would be very difficult for him/her to watch TV, you might find that they are quite happy with the fact that they can't see God after all.

Q. Prayed many times, but on response, is God putting us to a test?

A. God's main task is not doing what we ask Him to do. It's the other way round. We aren't always going to be happy with everything in life and if God doesn't make something better after praying about it then keep on praying and learn to live with it. It's not always easy but God has a plan. Our faith is worth testing to test if it's 'real' or not. Talking about life issues with friends & family can be very helpful too.

Q. When a Christian girl falls in love with a married man, this is adultery, how shall I deal with this?

A. An easy 'answer' - stop loving the man and move on. The practicalities of doing this may be a tad harder to put into practice but the process of moving on makes it all easier. Try to actively remove yourself from the situation and future situations. I think the secret here is to be pro-active and take responsibility for your actions and give God control of your everyday life. Fall in love with Jesus and you'll fall out of love with the married guy. Let the Lord deal with it.

Q. When can I hear God's still voice?

A. When you're listening very carefully. You'll find that the more you talk to Him, the more He talks back. Set aside time for this.

Q. When can I know the answers to all the questions submitted?

A. This is debatable. You have a few answers here to think about but if you now 'know' the answers then that is up to you to decide.

Do you agree/disagree with the answers given above? Please let us know by emailing info1@brisbanechristianchat.com.

Q&A
Questions & Answers

Q. Is this section still under construction?

A. Yes - well and truly. It'll always be under development like most of this expanding website.

Q. How long has this website been around?

A. In all it's current glory - since January 2001. It did pre-exist before then in a couple of lesser forms, but no known copies exist.

Q. How many people come to this website?

A. Ever since we officially opened our doors in January 2001 we have averaged around 1000 people per week (eg for last month, February 2002, we averaged over 1100 visits per week). Some people talk of web statistics and having millions of hits per month but it's not hits but visits or sessions that count. People visit this site from every part of the world, though the majority are from Australia.

Q. Is the Brisbane Christian Chat website associated or affiliated with any church, group or organisation?

A. No. This website is a private undertaking by a small group of Christians from Brisbane. It is self-funded and is in no way directly associated with any church, group or organisation. We are currently interested in finding financial sponsors so if you/your church/band etc would like to make some sort of contribution then please don't hesitate to contact info1@brisbanechristianchat.com.

Q. How much do you get paid to do this site?

A. All work on this website has been done at the personal expense of it's designers and creators. Thus we get paid $0. On top of all the start-up costs we actually have to pay a substantial amount per month to keep this website on-line for you all. We hope you all feel especially special :) Perhaps if we had have known the true financial cost of taking on an undertaking this large we may have not gone through with it. We're so glad we did though!

Q. Is this website safe for my children? How is content monitored? What if someone submits something awful?

A. All content has to get past us before it is added on-line. We check it to make sure it is ok for general viewing. (If you think anything is not acceptable on this site please let us know immediately.) We are not responsible for the content of any websites we link to, any event we list or the accuracy of any submitted information.

Content is not normally monitored in the chatrooms themselves, however we do have extensive 'word filters' permanently running to cut out the majority of undesirable language.

Q. Are my children safe in your chat rooms?

A. Your children should always be under your supervision, whether they are on-line or not. There is a lot of undesirable information to be found on the internet. All information on this website is desirable. We recommend supervising all children while they are on-line.

Our chat rooms are not regularly monitored, thus may pose an occasional security threat to unaware children if someone less desirable enters the chat room. We do however have extensive 'word filters' permanently running to cut out the majority of undesirable language. We have had no complaints to date about anything to do with the chat rooms. Your children may actually be less desirable than the other people chatting.

Q. Is it fun running this website?

A. It is most of the time. It is an awful lot of work and keeping things up-to-date 6 days a week gets tiring, so sometimes it's not as fun as it might be. Some of the answers in this section are a little more fun than they might have otherwise been because it's been a long week here at BCC HQ and the week hasn't finished yet :)

Q. Do you get any strange requests from people?

A. We occasionally get them. We have had a string of emails lately from the USA addressed to the Paul Colman Trio. We think that's odd, or is it that Americans are odd? :)

We have been asked to find accommodation & churches by people coming to Australia from other countries. We have declined these tempting offers but have pointed them in possible beneficial directions. If you would like to put yourself down as a host family on the very-likely chance we get more of these accommodation queries, please let us know sometime.

We have been asked to ring up Australian relatives to wish them happy birthdays - 2 requests by the same American man. (His relatives, not ours.) We assume he thinks we are a phone chat service. Perhaps he watches too much late-night television.

Speaking of phone services... we have also been asked if people chat at Brisbane Christian Chat by getting on the phone and calling us. Well I suppose that's one way of doing it. PS. Our number is at the bottom of the page.

Q. How did this website begin?

A. It all started with nothing to do on the Monday of the Labour Day long weekend in 1999. We knew that there was probably a few Christian events we could attend in Brisbane (there was probably nothing on anyway) but we knew of no way to find out what they were. Thus the idea of a central information website began, and with it came all sorts of visions of grandeur - some of which are a reality at the moment - most of which are still being planned for the future. If you would like to add to our vision of grandeur please let us know.

FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How do I submit an event?
A. Click on 'Events' in the top navigation bar and then click on 'Submit Event' and follow the details. It's a very simple and quick process. Do the same thing to submit news items ie News>>Submit news.

Q. When I pressed 'Submit' after typing my question it disappeared. Where has it gone?
A. Your question has been zapped to BCC HQ and is probably being read as we speak. Don't submit the same question again.

Q. What's the difference between Q&A and FAQ.
A. The answer is actually 'not all that much'. FAQ is more to do with the operation and functionality of the website itself while Q&A is more like an anonymous interview with the creative geniuses behind the site. FAQ is practical while Q&A is somewhat philosophical, anecdotal, and more interesting to read to your kids at bedtime, though come to think of it, reading FAQ will probably put them to sleep faster.

Q. I have a photo to add to my band page. How do I send it to you?
A. Email the photo, making sure that it is just the photo file itself and not part of another file. If it is just the photo file it should end with either .jpg, .tif, .gif or .bmp. Don't email Word or Acrobat documents. This goes for sending in a photo to go with a news article. Email info1@brisbanechristianchat.com noting what the photo is for. We don't accept photos in the post.

Q. The photo I want to email is too large. What should I do?
A. We resample and rescale almost every photo that is added to this website anyway so large photos are fine. Don't waste your time getting the photo nice and small and just the right size as we might want to resize it anyway which will mean a lesser quality end product. If your photo is more than 1Mb we would recommend you scale it down before you email it.

Q. When I click on an MP3 link to download it, it opens and plays in another window.

A. This is a common problem for people who have installed the Quick Time media player onto their computer. (The Quick Time logo appears when you try downloading an MP3.) We're not sure how to change this but uninstalling Quick Time might help. Other media players may also cause the same problem. Try 'right clicking' the MP3 link and choosing 'Save as' or something similar. This should work. If it doesn't, try switching browsers if you have another one installed.

Q. What do you do with any personal details you gather?

A. We don't really gather any personal details. We ask for people's details when they submit information primarily so we can check on the validity of it, not for anything else. We collect the email addresses of the people who join our mailing list. We only use this list for our own emailing purposes. We have not and never will give out any personal data submitted to this site or email addresses to anyone else. We have been asked though.

Q. Does a band have to be in the Brisbane area to submit themselves on your site or is it ok for bands all around Queensland to add their band to your site?

A. We are happy for any Australian Christian band/artists to add their details. We do not accept overseas acts. We really encourage every Christian band/artist especially from Brisbane & Queensland to submit their details.