Knight wrote: All in all I would say that I was convinced rather than converted to Calvinism.
Same here. It's not that I was fully Arminian and didn't like Calvinism. It was more that I had no idea the concept of Calvinism existed. I didn't know enough to make some sort of decision---so I was arminian by default(the me-ology). So when I read about Calvinism and the Reformed view, I knew I had finally stumbled(not that it was an accident.... ) upon the truth...
HarleyD wrote: Many of the scriptual holes that I had been unable to understand are now complete.
I sooo know where you are coming from here!!
__________________ We didn't believe in order to be born again, we were born again in order to believe. ----Nobody's Fool
(Preface: Please note that I am not using the terms Calvinist and
Reformed interchangeably. There are many non-Reformed Calvinists.)
I was raised in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and remained in that
denomination until 1995. Growing up I heard a gospel of works. I
certainly never heard of the Doctrines of Grace, and was actually
taught that predestination was a Romanist doctrine. I witnessed and
participated in numerous altar calls. I also heard it implied that
that man's free will was of greater value to a Christian than God's
Sovereignty.
My wife and I were married in 1988. She was raised in the Episcopal
Church (USA) in what she describes an Antinomianistic environment.
Everything was OK, as long as you were sorry about it later. When we
married we decided that we would worship in a PC (USA) church for no
other reason than it was the church I grew up in and it was liturgical,
so my wife felt comfortable.
In 1995 we moved back to my hometown and decided to visit the
"Presbyterian" church my parents had joined a few years
earlier. Little did I know that this was a Presbyterian Church in
America body. To this day I remember the hearing, for the first time,
a sermon that was based on God's word and it was all about his Glory and
our sinful nature. The entire worship seemed vibrant, yet restrained.
I have since learned that when God is truly present in a worship service
there is no boredom, no fidgeting, no peeking at the watch hoping that
the hour hand will soon reach 12:00. When one is in the presence of
the Creator, the service can be 2 hours long and it still isn't long
enough!
We joined that church a few weeks later and wound up teaching Sunday
School to the children, ushering, greeting, etc. We rapidly sank into
a comfortable pattern of minor service with continued spiritual growth in
the church. One evening an Elder pulled me aside and told me that it
was time to step up to a higher level of service, he was nominating me
to serve as a deacon. I mumbled in agreement and started training a
few weeks later. That training was the first time that I had the Doctrines of Grace unpacked in a systematic manner. On an intellectual level I
wanted to protest, but deep down I knew that the doctrine was clearly
taught in scripture and there was no point in arguing with God. I
wound up serving as a deacon until we moved away two years later.
Since that time, because of geographical reasons, I have had to worship
in several non-Reformed churches. I am always known as "the
Calvinist." Some will try to argue me out of my stand, others
(including pastors) will pull me aside and whisper that they hold
Calvinistic views, but they don't want that spread through
out the church.
The greatest growth that we have experienced since becoming Reformed is
the realization of how God demands to be worshiped. Our best worship
is ineffectual, but since we are new creatures in Christ the worship we
offer is pleasing to our God, to Abba. My wife and I shutter when we
see man-centered services. We cringe when we see self-help lectures
trying to be passed off as God centered sermons. Most of all we
despair when we do not hear the gospel preached each and every Sabbath.
Christians today do not realize that the Gospel is not only for the
unsaved, but that the elect need to hear the Gospel daily! Many in the
church do not seem to realize that when we hear God's word proclaimed,
we are worshiping!
__________________
"In the sphere of religion, as in other spheres, the things about which men are agreed are apt to be the things that are least worth holding; the really important things are the things about which men will fight."
J. Gresham Machen
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
At its core...the Reformation was the removing of the humanistic distortions which had entered the church. Francis A. Schaeffer, From How Should We Then Live?
GAMECOCK
Deacon, PCA
Last edited by Gamecock; 18th March 2005 at 07:00 PM.
wow, these are wonderful testimonies! I am a bit too busy to write mine this morning. I'll probably write it over the weekend and then post it. I warn everyone, It will probably be very, very long. However, I pray that it will be a blessing!
Great testimonies everyone. Gamecock, I especially liked your's. I felt every word of it. Especially, "When one is in the presence of the Creator, the service can be 2 hours long and it still isn't long enough!" I completely agree.
By the way, is that "Gamecock" as in the South Carolina Gamecock's?
God bless
__________________ "Apart from an acknowledgment of God's absolute, all encompassing sovereignty, there can be no true thanksgiving, praise, or childlike dependence upon Him. What a gracious thing that He has opened our eyes to behold with wonder His works. As John the Baptist said, a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. How gracious He has been to us!" - One of my beloved brothers in the Lord Jesus
Great thread!! I have enjoyed the comments made here by my Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Why I became a Calvinist is a good question the only answer that makes sense to me is because of God, just like my salvation.
I was saved in a church (Church of God) that did not teach or explain what the doctrines of Grace were, many years ago. In responding to the call of the pastor I walked the aisle and my life was for ever changed that day was a heart changing time for me. I spend the next 2 days in tears and feeling physically drained almost to the point of “sick” I was completely destroyed I was not” me” but some thing foreign. I stayed in that church for 2 years always being told that I had made the right choice and God would bless me based on that choice.
Things went very bad in that church, I was asked to leave due to a problem with one of the deacons and my Sunday school teacher who was his wife I was 18 years old at the time and spent a lot of time over their house, talking, reading, singing and learning things about the Lord as quickly as I could. It seems looking back that this deacon was unstable and did not trust his wife. At that time I had no idea what was going on but I was being entrapped in a legalistic mess that I did not understand. I grew very bitter that people would “turn on me” and see me as an enemy. Soon after I left the church closed its doors, I guess this thing was bigger than just me.
I spent many years away from fellowship and worship of God, I do not know why but I did my bitterness grew. That church was all I knew of God, outside of my nominal RC upbringing. My wife who is a barber asked me to attend a church that one of customers was the pastor of it is a KJVO, independent Baptist church. I talked with the pastor and started attending that church seemed it was much the same as the church I was saved in all that time ago, I was comfortable there so I stayed in that church I still attend it now. The only talk of the “doctrines of Grace” is in a negative manner, do to a misunderstanding on the part of many IMO.
So, how did I come to knowledge of the “doctrines of Grace”? My work demands that I am on the road at 5;00 am every morning and I listen to Christian radio in my car at 5;30 they have a show hosted by RC Sproul and I heard it every morning for a couple of weeks. I then found out that I could hear the shows on the web, being a network engineer when I reached work I would fire up the web casts of shows that I missed. Me and my buddy at work “who is RC” would listen to 2 shows every morning that is a whole hour. I never knew that RC was a “reformed teacher” not that I knew what that was. He made me use my mind and think about things that were foreign to me. I would listen to the “ bam - bible answer man” as well cause RC was on his show as well. I heard one day one that show a debate with some guy named James White and George Bryson, I must say do not know at that point that I liked this guy White, ok so I did not like him. I listened to that show over and over again and knew the debate inside out.
I had still never made the connection of RC to James, but listened to RC every day. I ordered RC’s book Grace unknown and started reading it. I also came across CF and joined this place there were people here who spoke of things in the same manner as RC did and I was interested, I read every post I could find by Don, Ksen, Knight, CCwoody, Fru, Rs, Gabe, Jason 1464, Momof7 just to name a few, I really what to thank all you people for the time you put in here you do make a difference IMO!!
Things just started to happen so fast, I found James Whites internet show listened to that still did not like him much, participated in his on line chat channel. So many things and then one day listening to RC on election and Grace it hit me like a ton of bricks, much like my walk down the aisle all those years ago. I was sitting at work listening on the web and began to sob like a “big baby” as did my friend. I could not listen to the whole show that day because I knew I would not function in that state. I went home and listened to the whole show a few times, I was not the same God had changed me once again I could not sleep, I was a basket case lucky for me it was a weekend as I recall.
There is my story God turned me inside out twice in my life and I am not the same “me”. Nor is he the same God that I thought he was he is “GOD”. I am great full that he is who he is and he has made me as he chose to. I am becoming very teary eyed as I type this as I recall the light that God has given me, and can see this only in contrast to the darkness I was once in.
For His Glory Alone!!
Bill
__________________ What will you do with Jesus, is the wrong question.
Dan 4:35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, "What have you done?"
The question should be what will God do with you???
Thank you everyone who has participated so far. These testimonies have been very encouraging for me.
Please keep them coming everyone!
(Cygnusx1, where's yours!?!?)
__________________ "In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people."
on the 6th, Cygnusx1 said he'd be away for a while(in the reformed dining hall) Hope he comes back soon! I miss him!!
That's right, I remember him saying something about being away for awhile ......well, I will expect a full report when he gets back!
__________________ "In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people."
I was not raised in church. My mother came from a conservative Roman Catholic family and my father had been raised Jehova's Witness during his youth. When they were married, neither of my parents attended church although my Dad did teach me Bible stories. My first encounter with church was a local Baptist church that had a bus ministry. They would come pick up children that wanted to go to church whoose parents didn't go. I asked Jesus into my heart that first Sunday I went, July 31, 1988. I was 7 years old.
I was steady in church attendance during my youth until I moved away from Oklahoma at 15. All that time however, I never truly believed that salvation could really be about saying a prayer and that was it. Actually, I doubted my own sincerety so much that I did it publicly more than once and often said similar prayers at home. Satan loved to make me doubt my salvation. Perhaps I had good reason to doubt it.
When I moved to Texas, I only tried one Baptist church and thought it dead and dull compared to where I had come from. My high school years were spent in rebellion and moral relatism. I was quite a hypocrite during those years. I rarely went to church, never read my Bible, and altogether had very weak morals while being puffed up in arrogance.
In the Winter of 2000, I made a carnal repentance that lasted from January until maybe September of the same year. I was very faithful in praying constantly during this time. However, there was still no true repentance. In spite of much religion in my mind, I didn't change much of my external behavior, especially those sins I really enjoyed. They bothered me occasionally, but not neaver to the extent they would hit me in January/February of 2003. My passion and ferver were kept up through reading the fanciful Left Behind series and studying Rapture prophecy books. Not only was I worshipping a God of Revelation mysteries, I was also worshipping the Genie God. God was there to help me study and pass certain certification exams that were in my degree plan. I wanted these because my Dad wouldn't let me spend any of my money on fencing gear ( a new hobby) until I got my A+ or Net+ certifications.
I remember the day I passed my A+. I forgot all about God and barely thought of him for nearly two weeks. I knew something was wrong with my attitude, but I couldn't really grasp what it was. I have spent much time meditating on what my reasons were for being so religious during this time and this is what I believe it was. I remember that I listend to a lot of Contemporary Christian Music. I don't care for it now, but it was better than my secular music. I also had a great desire to buy the Bible on CD so that I could listen to the Bible to and from class. However, my desire for fencing gear outweighed that.
I remember my wonderfully godly Sunday school teacher and his wife suggested that I read John. There were some strange things in John that didn't make sense with what I had always been taught. Then there was the day I listened to a tape of Romans while I cleaned my room. These two incidents made me question things, but not enough. I fell back asleep by saying that I just didn't understand it since that it not what my church teachers. All my life I had been taught that Jesus loves everyone and that all you have to do is pray this prayor. I never truly believed it, it sounded too much like our works. First Baptist was big upon salvation by faith and not of works. However, I could never reconcile this desision based salvation with a salvation of faith, and that not of ourself. However, I was raised to not study scripture and to accept that the leaders of the church knew the book better than myself. I remember during this time wondering why we all go to church and worship but few of us could articulately describe our faith.
All that came crashing down in September when I started talking to a girl at the church who was a Calvinist. We would discuss God together. I would discuss my God of feelings, she would discuss her God of truth. I didn't like much of what she began to say. This was not so much because it assalted my free will, but that she never backed it up with much scripture. She suggested that I talk with the church youth minister about this issue.
I still remember that day that I went to see Chase. I told him how this girl and I had been talking and I told him what she told me. He told me to turn to Romans 9. Before we read, he told me how he went into a tailspin for 6 months after he read this. He wanted me to make sure I knew that this was going to change a lot of my perception and that I could still pull back. I was a dumb little Arminian, but I always wanted to understand the Bible better. I simply had never had any great key from which to open and understand the Bible. We read Romans 9 and I had to agree. There, in the scripture, was clear text that stated that God picks and chooses of His own will who will be saved, and who will not. I was not the sort that fought with it, I resigned that scripture must be the basis of what I believed. This made me understand that scripture must be taken as a whole instead of the verse theology I had seen my whole life. However, the truth didn't set me free just yet. I was already backsliding in pride and unbelief of God's purpose in my life. This made me break away from church as a whole. I was horrified that the scriptures had been held back all these years. Why don't churches accept the whole counsil of God? I suddenly realised that every sermon I had heard during the past year was practically the same. Why go to church if there was no nourishment? Silly me.
I remained in a backsliden state until right after I got engaged to my wife. Then circumstances and God's spirit hit me and convicted me. I have never spent a more agonising and stressful period in my life. It was terrible. It made me fear my sin and hate my sin more than I had ever hated it in my life. Without going into too much detail, this repentance was started by a temporal fear, however, God was definately behind it. I was humbled to the ground in sackcloth and ashes. I did get a copy of the Bible on CD at that time. John 6:45 says that they shall all be taught of God. I listend to Romans anew as if I had never heard it before. I was convicted all over at Romans 1-3. If I were to put my finger on any one time in my life that I truly felt a rebirth, it was then. Of course, I am still given new insight into my sinful nature; but that was the big one. I still didn't attend too much church, although I had the scripture all the time. I went through the Old Testiment with a God centered world view and understand so much of redemptive history without knowing the term.
God finally led us to a church in January of 2004. The time from January 2003 - January 2004 would be another post in itself. All this can be summed up to say that God's time is His own. When He is ready, He will call. These past two years I have been closer to the Lord than I have ever been.
) upon the truth...
......well, I will expect a full report when he gets back! 
Linear Mode
