I am a Christian Who Has Virtually Lost All Faith (I Want to Regain it Badly)

[BobRyan]

I read a few things from someone who said they saw Christ in His work as High Priest in the Most Holy Place of God's Hebrews 8 heavenly sanctuary, saw his resurrection, creation week, the 2nd coming, good angels, bad angels, the Holy City from which fallen angels are forever banished, the lake of fire to which they are doomed --- I have to admit Katerinah -I don't recognize anything you are saying as being of the same sort - after having read that material.

But that does not mean that my prayers are not in your favor. They are.

 

[BobRyan]

Whatever happened to "goat guy"?

 

[katerinah1947]

Whatever happened to "goat guy"?

Hi,

I have been wondering for a long time, what happened to Goat guy. Also:

Theresa Le Siux, Theresa little flower was asked by Jesus personally to pray for others and not herself one day. She did. She asked for a verification of her prayers being effective for others. She was given that, and never asked again for a verification.

For about 8 years or more, that assignment to not pray for myself anymore, is and was given to me.

Do, what you wish, but your prayers actually will go back to you, or they will go to others and not me.

I will explain how others are like me if you wish. Even the priest in my parish honors that. Every priest here does that.

The fact that I live an isolated life with humans, but not with God, is because of my close association with God, resulting in me knowing much about Him and therefore coming off to people as some deluded or decieved person.

Others though, know precisely of what I am speaking of. Please honor my request not, or honor it. That is up to you. But, please pray for yourself and others, do not pray for me ever.

One thing I did notice. A Christian Mystic who God gives assignments to on a regular basis, came up to me one day. She placed a sign of the cross on my head. Had it been from anyone else, this I would take no note of, other than telling them it was improper in the future.

One day, I asked her. Why did you do that. Jesus prompted me to she said. Since then I have come to know, that ones who are like me can be blessed by others, and it works.

I will accept any and all blessings of God you wish to give me, until that is also asked of me, to no longer take. At this time I can take those.

LOVE,
...Mary., .... .

 

[drjean]

,,,
I want to preface this entire thread and my responses specifically with the warning that although I am currently a Christian, I am an EXTREME skeptic and thus have found this forum.
,,,

My first thought I would love to hear responses about:

The only believers I'm aware of were either raised in a Christian home (and thus indoctrinated into the belief system from a young age without critical thinking abilities, etc, like myself), or have experienced a traumatic event or suffered a chronic problem (alcoholism, life/death accident, etc). This creates a problem for me because I'm seeking truth.

"Truth" is another issue that can create an entire discussion in and of itself.

Hi.
I guess I would need to hear what your definition of Christian is....because every true believer I've known has that "truth" of God and assurance within them. I'm also just a little confused about ...well..are you saying that those who grew up in a Christian home and then believed for themselves AND those who find God because of a trauma have not found "truth"?

What I can share right now is that I really didn't fall into either category. No, my family was not "heathen" and Dad took us all to church every Sunday until I was about 9 I guess (after I joined the church...) for reasons I will never know...we stopped going.
But I still wanted to find God. I had an emptiness inside... and I searched and prayed for many years... there came a time as a teen that a seemingly very nice guy was interested in me until he got to know me a little better ... and one night on the phone when I had called him about what church he went to... he really was nasty to me. HOWEVER, God used him to tell me about Jesus...and how my going to church all those years, and learning all that Scripture was good, it wasn't enough to get me to heaven. I had to accept Jesus as Savior, as He had died on the cross and resurrected again for ME! It was a gift but I had to accept it. And I did as soon as I hung up the phone (he hung up on me, actually.) The peace of God was overwhelming once I repented... and I crawled into bed into a sound sleep and woke truly knowing I was a different "person" and that hole in my heart, that vacancy was filled. I have never doubted. I stand on God's promises we find in His Word.

Trust is a key thing, a defining word, and a necessary ingredient when talking about my relationship with God.

As for the age-old questions everyone asks of Who Am I? Where did I come from? What is my purpose in life? That all comes from the relationship with God. The answers come from Him. I can share that He wants us to worship Him, and if that is "all" we ever do it's good.

 

[Leevo]

I was raised in a home that believed, but did not practice. However, I became an agnostic/atheist when I grew old enough to think about this. I am now a full fledged believer... I never experienced a radical conversion experience or anything like that. I looked at all the evidence presented and came to the conclusion that belief in God was the only logical choice for me. The biggest thing that swayed me was the explosion of the early Christian Church... From a small sect of about 12 apostles, to 2.2 billion. Within a few hundred years, Christianity overtook the Roman Empire, the very empire that had crucified the God of this religion and persecuted its followers. After that, see how it spread across Europe so quickly. If there wasn't some driving force behind that, then I don't know what was.

Also, don't be too quick to discount personal testimonies. They aren't all a load of crap. Personal testimonies helped me on my journey significantly as well.

If you need someone to talk about this with more personally, feel free to start a private conversation with me!

 

[HisWay2016]

You definitely narrowed it down by those two groups. I say this because a person who is living a good life, which means good job, no illness, etc that was not raised in a Christian home probably won't become a Christian. Unless of course they believe in God but only pray to him when in a traumatic event.

I can kinda relate to what you're saying. Yes, I've been raised as a Christian. My family have been Southern Baptist for generations, probably even since the beginning of Slavery in the United States, because my great great (I forget how many greats) grandmother was one in ol Mississipi. I've questioned my faith plenty of times and my family is deeply religious, my dad is a minister for crying out loud. But, I never renounced God, I've tried, but I was afraid of going to hell. The way I see it is that if somehow God was not real, then hey I lose nothing after death. But, if God was real and I renounced him, down to the pits I go. I am a devout Christ, by the way.

Anyways my point, sorry that was long. My family is baptist and I am converting to Catholicism, this is a betrayal to my family in my mind. They dislike them a lot. Why did I do it? I found truth in the denomination, I loved the combination of tradition and scripture. Also, note I am not saying this to convert you. I am a firm believer in Science. I do believe that humans came to be through evolution, through God. I will not go deeper into that. I do believe the Earth is 4 billion years old, and not 10,000. There is too much evidence, to dismiss the Earth being 4 billion years old. Therefore, I believe in Old Earth Creationism. After all of the facts of science disproving things in the Bible, I still believe in God. And that is the truth I found.

 

[HisWay2016]

Hi.
I guess I would need to hear what your definition of Christian is....because every true believer I've known has that "truth" of God and assurance within them. I'm also just a little confused about ...well..are you saying that those who grew up in a Christian home and then believed for themselves AND those who find God because of a trauma have not found "truth"?

What I can share right now is that I really didn't fall into either category. No, my family was not "heathen" and Dad took us all to church every Sunday until I was about 9 I guess (after I joined the church...) for reasons I will never know...we stopped going.
But I still wanted to find God. I had an emptiness inside... and I searched and prayed for many years... there came a time as a teen that a seemingly very nice guy was interested in me until he got to know me a little better ... and one night on the phone when I had called him about what church he went to... he really was nasty to me. HOWEVER, God used him to tell me about Jesus...and how my going to church all those years, and learning all that Scripture was good, it wasn't enough to get me to heaven. I had to accept Jesus as Savior, as He had died on the cross and resurrected again for ME! It was a gift but I had to accept it. And I did as soon as I hung up the phone (he hung up on me, actually.) The peace of God was overwhelming once I repented... and I crawled into bed into a sound sleep and woke truly knowing I was a different "person" and that hole in my heart, that vacancy was filled. I have never doubted. I stand on God's promises we find in His Word.

Trust is a key thing, a defining word, and a necessary ingredient when talking about my relationship with God.

As for the age-old questions everyone asks of Who Am I? Where did I come from? What is my purpose in life? That all comes from the relationship with God. The answers come from Him. I can share that He wants us to worship Him, and if that is "all" we ever do it's good.

Jesus said the truth makes you ffee. Far better if you doubt Christianity to drop the Christian moniker, don't say things you might not believe. Way easier, honest. I believe, many don't . They call it a journey and it's personal.
If you want a belief, in your heart, God will grant it...in due time.

 

[LoveJesusAndLive]

A few good things have come out of the Catholic church here and there. I love this.

The ad is fun too

 

[Seeds On Good Soil]

This question is my most important one because although I could waste my time speaking with certain Christians, others can support the same scientific discoveries (Evolution, Big Bang, etc) and still keep the Bible/it's teachings relevant. Although I have attempted to do the same for many years, I have gotten to the point where I've considered that convincing myself of something (Faith) over and over again could lead me to believe anything is possible... If I told myself throughout the day of ANYTHING, it would eventually begin to set in. It would set in to the point that I would need to explain how it still makes sense when other conflicting bits of information became apparent (rock formations, Evolution, age of the Earth, Big Bang, etc). It doesn't seem possible to me that reminding yourself of something (God exists, God loves you, etc) throughout your days isn't the main reason you defend it even in the face of testable, non-biased, advanced theories and discoveries.

I too questioned some of the same things are are questioning here at one point. I did a ton of research on my own on this subject as well. While no one can ever know this side of Heaven, I believe the literal biblical account of creation. I still wonder if there was a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 that could account for scientific dating. That being said, search "Genesis Week" on YouTube. These videos are very informative and entertaining! In my experience, there will be naysayers, but they require just as much faith in science. Remember, most of these are theories, not facts! At some point you have to decide that there is enough evidence that's God is real. I've seen Him work on my life, and the information I've found point to a Creator. Also on my YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/c/seedsongoodsoil there is a playlist called Why I Believe, ots by Chip Ingram and he discusses the evidences for the Christian faith. It helped me, and I think it could help you too. Hope you find what you are look for, God bless!

 

[PureTruth7]

If you really want faith, read the Bible. Romans 10:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

If you want truth... that's also in the Bible. I prefer the KJV, because other versions have verses missing or altered.