Why are you a Christian?

Soul-searching

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This question is quite straight forward. I just want to know how you came to put your faith in Christ. I get a lot of different answers to this question, and the answers I get usually fascinate me. It can be a one sentence answer, or as long as you want. I'm just really interested in hearing your answer.
I was also brought up in a christian family, but things changed for me when i understood the principles of pure love. Christianity is about love in the purest form.The love where you completely deny yourself to raise others up, you forgive others so you can be forgiven. It´s all a cycle, we are not perfect, but because of jesus we get endless chances. I can not come up with anything that matters more in life than love. love is the ultimate truth, because of that i believe in God.
 
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Dave L

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When I was 20, the Lord converted me over a period of 3 days. I began telling people that I didn't know what was going on but I think Christ is real and he is dealing with me.

The joy of the Holy Spirit and God's love had become real and excited me. And I didn’t want it to stop but feared that it might. On the evening of the 3rd day my happiness turned into remorse. God convicted me of sins I didn't even know existed. I began praying, sobbing and asking his forgiveness.

I also asked Jesus into my heart. I heard you are supposed to do this, probably as a child in Sunday school. I fell asleep exhausted in tears only to awake the next day absolutely convinced Christ had saved me. That was nearly 50 years ago and the thrill remains.
 
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derpytia

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This question is quite straight forward. I just want to know how you came to put your faith in Christ. I get a lot of different answers to this question, and the answers I get usually fascinate me. It can be a one sentence answer, or as long as you want. I'm just really interested in hearing your answer.

Because without God there is no point to my life. My life is terrible and I would have offed myself a long time ago if I didn't believe in God or have faith in Christ.
 
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Mary Meg

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I'm a Christian because I was born and raised in church and in the faith. My parents and church family embraced me in the love of Christ -- and I embraced Him back.

I wasn't baptized until I was 12. Baptists talk a lot about the "age of reason," when a child has the mental faculties to accept the propositions of the Gospel and truly come to a saving faith. I think many would say, if I had died before then, that Jesus would have saved me anyway, because He loves children, but that I wasn't truly "saved" in the full adult sense.

Honestly, I think that's kind of silly. Whoever said that someone has to have a full, adult, intellectual understanding of the Gospel to be saved? You look at the word "faith" -- πίστις -- and it has a lot more to do with trust or confidence than anything to do with intellectual understanding. We (credo-)Baptists especially oppose infant baptism because "a baby can't have saving faith" -- but even as a very small baby, I trusted my parents and in their love. I had perfect confidence that they were going to love me and take care of me and not let me go. And Jesus was there too, with that same love, and my parents and church family were enveloping me in that love. And there's not a time that I remember that I didn't love Jesus back and trust Him with my life.
 
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Dansiph

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This question is quite straight forward. I just want to know how you came to put your faith in Christ. I get a lot of different answers to this question, and the answers I get usually fascinate me. It can be a one sentence answer, or as long as you want. I'm just really interested in hearing your answer.
I heard the gospel. That's it really. Combination of hearing the Bible, expounding by various people and then asked the basics of putting my faith on Jesus.

Romans 10:17 King James Version

17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
 
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StephenDiscipleofYHWH

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This question is quite straight forward. I just want to know how you came to put your faith in Christ. I get a lot of different answers to this question, and the answers I get usually fascinate me. It can be a one sentence answer, or as long as you want. I'm just really interested in hearing your answer.
I am a follower of Christ because I believe in/on Christ and everything he did. I am a follower of Yahshua because he is the Lord God and the only savior of Man. I am a Follower of Yahshua because I love the Lord and seek to please him. I am a follower of Yahshua the Christ because the Lord called and chose me, and I answered that call.
 
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grasping the after wind

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This question is quite straight forward. I just want to know how you came to put your faith in Christ. I get a lot of different answers to this question, and the answers I get usually fascinate me. It can be a one sentence answer, or as long as you want. I'm just really interested in hearing your answer.

To be clear, the question you are asking is not "How did you become a Christian?" but it is "Why are you a Christian?". The answer for me is that Christ has consistently kept his word and shown me his love and grace in tangible ways even when I have been totally unworthy of either.
 
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His student

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Like most people I was first drawn to Christianity because of needs in my life.

I was further drawn to Christianity because of the explanation it provided for my existence and for that of the universe.

I was further drawn through the consideration of Christian apologetics.

I thought it could be true. I wanted it to be true. But I just didn't truly believe it was - even after all the thought and prayer I had put into it.

I always thought of myself as a pretty smart guy. But I just couldn't figure out whether it was true or not - try though I might.

Were it not for a specific miracle that God graciously visited me with - I would probably still be on the fence about it.

By grace I have been saved through faith. But that is not of myself. It is the gift of God and that eliminates any boasting a "pretty smart guy" like myself might be prone to.
 
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Pioneer3mm

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This question is quite straight forward. I just want to know how you came to put your faith in Christ. I get a lot of different answers to this question, and the answers I get usually fascinate me. It can be a one sentence answer, or as long as you want. I'm just really interested in hearing your answer.

My spiritual journey began in early 1970's.
- I was searching for meaning of life..
---
I made my commitment to Christ through "Hour of Decision."
- Billy Graham radio minisry.
I heard clear message about 'Good News / Evangel'.
- I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord.
---
My favorite verse:
" I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me
heavenward in Christ Jesus. " Philippians 3:14

I seek more of His grace and mercy as I continue my journey..

Blessings,
 
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Christgirl67

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I was raised being a Christian. When I became a teenager, my pastor preached a message, and the holy spirit led me to give my life to Christ. I got saved and received the holy ghost about 5 years ago, and my life completely changed. I always believed, and then one day Jesus came into my life, and from there I had a personal experience with God.
 
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Gregory Thompson

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This question is quite straight forward. I just want to know how you came to put your faith in Christ. I get a lot of different answers to this question, and the answers I get usually fascinate me. It can be a one sentence answer, or as long as you want. I'm just really interested in hearing your answer.
I originally believed because a friend at school told me about Jesus and I believed.

I continued to believe later on when the ceiling on life came crashing down like Samson's last act, because of intimacy with God during the time leading up to that.
 
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Mathetes66

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"This question is quite straight forward. I just want to know how you came to put your faith in Christ. I get a lot of different answers to this question, and the answers I get usually fascinate me. It can be a one sentence answer, or as long as you want. I'm just really interested in hearing your answer."

I really appreciate your question. I notice that some didn't answer it. they didn't tell how THEY CAME to put their faith in Christ. Some told or quoted a website about the gospel message but never said how they became a Christian. Some talked about joining or following a particular church or being water baptized.

That is not becoming a spiritually born again, a second time, from above follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know because many of those things I DID, but they didn't make me a Christian. No one is physically born a Christian. To become a Christian one needs to be born a second time, spiritually.

I grew up in a home where my parents believed & followed Christ. That didn't make me a Christian, although it influenced me in a positive direction. (Proverbs 22:6). I am thankful for that!

John 1:8-13 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.

I wasn't a Christian because I was born into this world. I wasn't a child of God because my parents believed & followed Christ & their willful desire for me to be one made me one. I wasn't a Christian because I chose to be one in my flesh.

Jesus Christ as the light of the world shines His light on everyone. But I was blind & dead in my trespasses & sins & could not see His light. I was spiritually dead, like the rest of mankind, disobedient & in rebellion against God & BY NATURE a child under God's righteous wrath.

2 Cor 4:3,4 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

John 12:39,40 For this reason they were unable to believe. For again, Isaiah says:"He hath blinded their eyes & hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, & be converted & I should heal them." (Jer 5:21; Ezek 12:2; Isaiah 6:9,10; John 9:39; Deut 29:4)

The Law, the prophets, the Writings & the NT gospel message all spoke of my spiritual condition being born physically into this world & one who chose to sin against a holy God:

"I was dead in my trespasses & sins, in which I used to walk when I conformed to the ways of this world & of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

"At one time I lived among them, fulfilling the cravings of my flesh & indulging its desires & thoughts. Like the rest of mankind, I was BY NATURE a child of wrath."

"Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel & strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope & without God in the world."

I was baptized with water as an infant in the church. That did not regenerate me & make me born again from above nor remove my sins nor was I yet washed by the Holy Spirit or renewed in spiritual life.

I remained blinded & dead in my trespasses & sins & continued in rebellion to God, despite these influences & attempts by others to make me a Christian.

I attended church services with my parents growing up. I successfully graduated from catechism & was told because of these things I was a Christian & took my first Eucharist or communion.

Those did not make me a Christian. I was still spiritually dead & did not know Christ.

I even read through the whole Bible cover to cover, so I could boast I had read the whole Bible. That again did not make me a born again adopted child of God.

If someone asked me what I believed I could tell them the facts ABOUT Christianity & I intellectually said I believe those facts: that Christ suffered, died, was buried & rose again from the dead. I believed the Bible was the word of God. Intellectually I know a lot about Christ & the history of the church, but I was still spiritually dead, blinded & living in the pride of life.

The spiritual leader in the local church fellowship I attended rode a motorcycle & every so often smoked a cigar. I thought that was cool. But his desire for me to be a Christian or that I successfully graduated from his catechism classes didn't make me a Christian. Only God could do that.

A friend in high school was a spiritually born again Christian. He asked me one time is I was a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. I told him I went to church. He said that doesn't make you a Christian. I told him I believed in the facts of the gospel. That seemed to stop him from asking me anymore but I knew I didn't know the Lord like he did.

I was a Christian in name only. I had attended church services but afterwards would go & do whatever I wanted. His was a changed life; mine wasn't. He knew Jesus Christ personally; I only knew about Him. He was spiritually alive in Christ & followed Him & obeyed His commandments; I was not yet. Just a coincidental relationship?

He was the only one who could beat me in a certain sport. I asked him why I couldn't beat him & he told me I had a weakness in a certain area. After that I could beat him. I remember asking him why he did that. I would never do that. He said so he could have competition because I was the only one who offered him any & he wanted to compete against a worthy opponent to make him better.

Another incident in high school showed me personally, that God did indeed care for me & desired a relationship with me, even though I didn't know Him personally or followed Him.

I got lost while hunting with my dad & ended up 20 miles away from him by road when I finally came out of the woods. It was the LAST day of hunting season & the sun was going down when I came to a road & went to the end of it.

I sat down, feeling total despair & with no idea where I was at or where I was to go. I had no compass & my sense of direction is not very good. I then sent up one of those desperation prayers most of us have said, to the effect that God would help me because I was lost & had no idea what to do. But praying didn't make me a Christian.

I was lost in more ways than that & didn't realize it. But God was merciful to me when I cried out of my heart in honesty & despair, even though I wasn't a Christian.

Nothing happened at first. The sun went down. I then started to get up & knew that I had to try & walk out of the woods somehow. It was then a truck came down to the end of the road, looked over the canyon. I went up to the driver & told him I was lost & he asked me where I had been. I told him. He said that was 20 miles away by road!

He was heading home with his son but took me all the way over there. He was running low on gas & said he had to go out of the mountains to get some gas. It was definitely dark. We met my dad on the way down.

I was so relieved. Before he left I asked him why he came down that road where I was at. He said he didn't know why as he was heading for home. But said an overwhelming urge came over him to turn around & go to the end of the road to look one more time. And there I was. Just a coincidence? I knew better.

I don't remember thanking God for answering my prayer but I KNEW at that moment, there was a real God who heard my prayer & specifically answered my prayer & cared for me.

In all that time driving around, those many miles--we never saw another vehicle or person, until we saw my dad.

I remember telling one of my sisters if she was getting anything out of going to church. She said no & I said me either. One time we threw our shoes out the window into the bushes & said we couldn't go to church.

My dad was a wise man & said that we would be going without our shoes! Needless to say we somehow 'found' them in time.

I got accepted to go to the Air Force Academy. My eyesight was very good. However in the last half of my senior year, I suddenly developed an eye condition & this prevented me from flying aircraft. So I hastily applied for other colleges & got accepted at one. Just a coincidence or a Divine intervention?

My draft number was very low & the Viet Nam war was going on. I didn't expect to stay in college very long. Yet suddenly the troops were being reduced & I didn't get sent over there.

Then at college I met two individuals who were going around & inviting college students to attend a Bible study. They asked me if I was a Christian & I said my Christian mantra--I believed in Jesus & the Bible & I attended church (although since going to college I hadn't been attending at all so was not telling the truth concerning that).

Attending a Bible study & participating in it didn't make me a Christian or change my life. But as we studied through the Bible, the Holy Spirit began to convict me of sin & righteousness & judgment. (John 16:8-11)

Romans 10:16,17 "But not all of them welcomed the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” Consequently, faith comes by hearing & hearing by the word of God."

I remember walking one time on campus & I suddenly decided to turn into the student union building where everyone gathered. It was mass pandemonium, wild & noisy. I was trying to find even one seat or table somewhere open.

Suddenly I spied one of the Bible study leaders sitting in the middle of this frenzy. His head was tilted up, his eyes closed, his Bible on his knees & he was praying, with a smile on his lips. Just a coincidence or Divine encounter?

I knew then that this man was a genuine Christian who KNEW the Lord & not just about him & walked with God personally. If he could communicate with God like that in this crazy place, then I suddenly desired to know God personally like that.

One passage in the Bible study stood out to me & convicted me.

I John 2:4-6 If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar & the truth is not in him. But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him: Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked.

That wasn't true of my life. I was trying to live a fairly moral life & didn't go out of my way to harm my fellow human being. I was at the time drinking alcohol more heavily & regularly & was becoming a third generation alcoholic in my family.

I watched a friend drop out of college due to his drinking. I then remember sitting at the top of a high building on campus, looking out the windows & wondering what was the purpose of my life & how I was beginning to spin out of control & feeling in great despair.

Little did I know the Holy Spirit was convicting me & drawing me to the end of myself, humbling me & helping me face myself truthfully. This conviction & sorrowful feelings did not make me a Christian but it led to the beginning of my finally making a decision of true repentance away from sin & turning toward God to save me.

The Bible talks about examining ourselves & that is what I was honestly now doing. Had I convinced myself & others that I was a genuine spiritually born again Christian? Was I? Was there enough evidence to convict me as a Christian, if I was tried in court, like so many Christians before that were martyred for their faithful testimony?

2 Cor 13:5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is IN YOU-- unless indeed you fail the test?

Romans 8:9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

I didn't have Christ LIVING in & through me. I didn't even know the Holy Spirit nor was He dwelling & filling me with His Presence. Upon honest examination, I had failed the test. I didn't belong to Jesus.

I was moved to talk to that Bible study leader mentioned above & I went & asked him HOW he became a Christian. He shared his personal testimony with me & came to the point where he said that he was personally convicted of his own sin & rebellion against God & realized that he was lost & in need of a Savior. He had been living his own life & changed his mind & prayed & asked Jesus to forgive him of his sins, believing in Him as His Savior & from that day following Christ & obeying Him.

I knew that was what I was missing. I had confessed that Jesus is the Lord & Messiah & died for the sins of the world & rose again. I knew that intellectually as the facts of the gospel. However, I had lived my own life. Baptism didn't change me. Catechism didn't change me. Going to church didn't change me. My parents didn't change me into a Christian. Praying didn't make me a Christian.

Now I REALIZED fully I WAS A SINNER AGAINST A HOLY GOD. I had been rebelling against HIM. I was not following HIM. He was not MY LORD & MY GOD. He was not in my life nor was the Holy Spirit--leading & guiding me in the truth. (to be continued, thanks for your patience)
 
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Mathetes66

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Two days later, under the heavy burden of the Spirit's conviction, I fell down on my knees at my bed at night & prayed an honest prayer before the Lord, confessing my sins & rebellion before Him & crying out to the Lord Jesus Christ, to save me a sinner & that I longed for a personal relationship with Him & that I would follow Him from now on, rather than going my own way.

There was no light flashing or seeing angels but that night I no longer knew about Jesus--I now knew Him personally. He in His mercy & grace, heard my sincere cry of faith to & in Him & the Holy Spirit at that moment regenerated me, gave me the very eternal life of God, He washed my sins away by the washing of regeneration & the blood of Jesus Christ cleansed me of all unrighteousness.

I was set free in the Spirit. I woke up the next morning & upon consciousness, I for the first time experienced the Presence of God in my life. I distinctly remember saying out loud, "So this IS YOU GOD. You are right here. I know You now. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for giving me life so I can know you personally.

I walked around in amazement. Friends & people observed me & said what happened to you. You are different. I simply told them that I all know is that yesterday I knew ABOUT God; today I know Him personally. He came into my life & made me spiritually alive & I know Him now!

I suddenly realized the truth of what Scripture says about the new creation in Christ & about being made alive spiritually with the eternal life of God Himself.

John 5:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word & believes on Him who sent Me, has everlasting life & does not come into condemnation, but has crossed over (passed out of) from death--into life.

2 Cor 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, the new has come into being.

Ezek 36:26 I will give you a new heart & put a new spirit WITHIN you...

Galatians 6:15 For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation.

Ezek 18:31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed & make you a new heart & a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

Eph 4:22-24 ...Put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires & be renewed in the spirit of your minds. Put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness & holiness.

Suddenly I had a hunger to read & be in the Word of God. I couldn't seem to get enough. Then I discovered what Scripture said about that, to those who had been born spiritually, being an infant in Christ & how my spiritual thinking was like a child in Christ.

I Pet 1:23; 2:1-5 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living & enduring word of God...Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy & slander. Like newborn babies, crave the pure spiritual milk, so that BY IT YOU MAY GROW UP INTO--your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen & precious in God’s sight, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES ACCEPTABLE to God through Jesus Christ.

The first time I cussed after that, I immediately was convicted & asked the Lord to take away my cussing, as it wasn't pleasing to Him & was a bad habit before others. I now represented Christ as His ambassador & He wanted holy ambassadors that represented Him before others. He did! Amazing.

The next thing in my life that I had to deal with was my alcoholism. I sincerely asked the Lord to take away any desire to drink alcohol again. For me it was instantaneously. I never had another desire to drink again. For others as Christians, it may be a struggle.

I found out from Scripture that some sins are more difficult to deal with while others disappear out of our lives quickly.

Heb 12:1-8 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance & the sin that so easily entangles & let us run with endurance the race set out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author & finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame & sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary & lose heart.

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons:

“My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord & do not lose heart when He rebukes you. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves & He chastises every son He receives.” Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you do not experience discipline like everyone else, then you are illegitimate children & not true sons.

I realized now as a child of God, He was disciplining & chastising me, so that I no longer lived like the world. He was transforming me into the very image of Christ, growing me up in the free gift of salvation He had given me in Christ.

I realized now that Christ being in me wanted to live His life through me! He had good works that I was supposed to do now, rather than doing what I wanted to do, selfishly & in my flesh, to be noticed by others. I memorized a passage in the Bible to remind me of that.

Matt 5:14-16 You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp & put it under a basket. Instead, they set it on a lampstand & it gives light to everyone in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works & glorify your Father which is in heaven.

I suddenly had a heart for those who were lost like I was & deceived into thinking they were not so bad & God would accept them as they are apart from Christ. I began to share the gospel like an excited child, to everyone I could.

But in my childish thinking, I was black & white, speaking the truth but not in love. One person asked me about the man in Africa, who never knew the gospel & whether he would go to hell. I said yes. We got into an argument.

Suddenly I got a bloody nose & had to stop & excuse myself. As I was cleaning up in the bathroom, suddenly it occurred to me that I don't get blood noses very often. I immediately prayed, asking God why that had happened. And here I learned, as a young Christian, that you could hear the inner voice of God, the Spirit speaking to us, just like He did to those in the New Testament.

The Spirit told me simply, "I change lives not you."

He had allowed me to have a bloody nose out of the blue, to teach me a valuable lesson in the Christian life. I am to be His witness & ambassador, to preach the gospel in love, but that He was the One who changed people, giving them eternal life & spiritually regenerating them.

John 10:4,5,24-29 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them & his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will flee from him because they do not recognize his voice.”

“How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about Me, but you do not believe because you are not My sheep.

27My sheep HEAR MY VOICE; I know them & they follow Me. I give them ETERNAL LIFE & they shall NEVER PERISH; no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.

Acts 13:2 While they were worshiping the Lord & fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas & Saul for the work to which I have called them."

Acts 8:29 The Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to that chariot & stay by it."

Acts 9:13,15 But Ananias answered, “Lord, many people have told me about this man & all the harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem..."Go!" said the Lord. "This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles & their kings & before the people of Israel.

I also needed His leading & guidance, so that I may speak His Word wisely & in His timing. He knows people's hearts so I must ask Him for wisdom to reach a person's heart & inner thinking, not just focusing on the outward things.

Psalm 49:3 My mouth will impart wisdom & the meditation of my heart will bring understanding.

The Lord has been faithful to help me grow up into the salvation He as given me, maturing me to be more like Christ & gracefully using me for His purposes & to further His kingdom.

A wise man once said, "Born twice, die only once; born once, die twice."
 
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dqhall

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In 1982 I had squandered my money on immoral living and was destitute. There was a bad recession. Many people were out of work. Some people helped me with food, rides and small change. They told me they were doing it because of Jesus. I believed God is a benevolent God. I called on God's name for what I should do. I am no longer destitute and am grateful for salvation, health and knowledge.
 
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food4thought

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This question is quite straight forward. I just want to know how you came to put your faith in Christ. I get a lot of different answers to this question, and the answers I get usually fascinate me. It can be a one sentence answer, or as long as you want. I'm just really interested in hearing your answer.

Hi Matisyahu8898! Great thread topic! Here is my story...

I grew up in a moral but non-religious home. We never discussed God or religion at all. I did a lot of horrid things from the time I was 4 on, and in the course of time I discovered alcohol and drugs to soothe my conscience. I was an extreme introvert, and had few friends, but aside from being bullied a lot in school this never really bothered me, as I was content to read books, play video games, drink alcohol, and smoke pot with my few friends (and alone). Eventually, I began to dabble in psychedelic drugs like mushrooms and acid, and before long I ended up having a bad trip on acid. After that, I could no longer smoke pot because it would induce a flashback to my bad trip... before long, I started having flashbacks all the time and gradually descended into insanity. Because of my flashbacks, I began to isolate myself more and more from my few friends and my family. So there I was, friendless, alone, insane, and depressed.

Unbeknownst to me, around this time my parents came to Christ. So for Christmas in '98 my parents bought me a Bible as a gift. Since I loved to read, I read it from cover to cover. I didn't understand it well, but it was interesting. As was my custom when a book was particularly interesting, I re-read the Bible from cover to cover. Now, at this point, normally I would have placed the book on my shelf and re-read it again years later, if ever... but I felt compelled to read it again, and again, and again, and again, and again. I began to have questions about many things in the Bible, and needed answers. Since I had no idea what a commentary was, I needed to find a way to get answers without actually interacting with people (remember, I was an extreme introvert and, on top of that, was experiencing acid flashbacks that made me paranoid). Somehow, I don't remember how, I discovered a radio station that constantly aired preachers teaching the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and book by book. I began listening to this station most of the time, and was still reading the Bible exclusively. From time to time I would come across a passage of Scripture that bothered me, or that I did not understand, and within a few days one of the Bible teachers on the radio would just happen to teach on that passage, and my questions would be answered. This went on for a year or two (the whole time period is pretty fuzzy in my mind), but I began to sense that what the Bible said was true.

Fast forward to the summer of 2000, and I am working after hours, alone, as a security guard at a construction site. I was listening to the radio station, and Pastor Greg Laurie was doing his annual Harvest Crusade. He presented the gospel, and I found myself getting on my knees and receiving Jesus as my Lord and Savior right there in that dusty, dark construction site. Nothing much happened when I prayed, but I did feel a sense of release of tension. Not long after that, I was convicted that I was not attending a church, so I ventured out to a large local church. I confessed my faith to the Pastor and got baptized several weeks later. The Lord gave me a real sense of joy and peace despite my mental problems, but there were too many people at such a large church. I found a small local church affiliated with the radio station I had been listening to, and I decided to check it out. As I walked up towards the doors of the Church, for the first time I felt a clean, pure, liquid white light rising in my heart, and the Holy Spirit spoke to me (also for the first time), and said: "This is home." From that time I had that feeling in my heart whenever I prayed, and the Holy Spirit would lead and guide me when I let Him. Also, my mental problems and flashbacks evaporated and disappeared.

The rest of my story is not for this thread, but that is how I came to Christ.

May the Lord use this thread to speak to those who need to hear.

God bless;
Michael
 
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gym_class_hero

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why am I a Christian?

As a young boy I always had the sense that God was real and created the earth. As I grew older I realized I could never meet God's standard and knew there was no way I could earn my way to Heaven.

In high school I heard the gospel from Billy Graham on TV and it rang true so I changed the channel. At a baseball camp the chaplain gave the gospel. The seeds were sown.

When I joined the USMC a guy witnessed to me in the chow hall. After he left I read the tract he gave me. He later helped me pray a sinners prayer and I accepted Jesus as my Savior.

Long story short, the chaplain, Billy Graham and others sowed the seed before I came to Christ. That has always resonated to me, that we should witness as much as possible, and not worry about the results as sometimes it takes longer for he fruit to ripen.

Lastly Im a Christian because I am in awe of the beauty in this world and the changes Ive seen in peoples lives thru Christ. And whilst examing the world we live in the Gospel makes perfect sense.
 
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Bruce Leiter

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This question is quite straight forward. I just want to know how you came to put your faith in Christ. I get a lot of different answers to this question, and the answers I get usually fascinate me. It can be a one sentence answer, or as long as you want. I'm just really interested in hearing your answer.
From a complete unbeliever at the age of 16, God used Baptist preaching of the gospel, the movie The Ten Commandments (Charlton Heston), and my search of the Scriptures to convince me that he is three Persons in one God, that Jesus is fully God and fully human, that he died and rose again, and that the Bible is his inspired Word.
 
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Stranger36147

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My mother brought me up Christian. As I got older, I became an agnostic. But never turned into a full blown atheist. Then later after that, I became a Christian again. And I've been a Christian ever since.


I'll be honest and say that I think we all have times when we doubt our faith. I know I did....and sometimes still do. But I made the choice to put my faith in God and Jesus. And I intend to stick by that choice. And that's that. :)
 
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kdm1984

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Context here: raised Christian, departed from the faith in my late teens and early twenties (2002-2005), returned to it, still learning much. The essence:

- I realized I'm sinful and want to know the remedy. I'm an autistic jerk with limited empathy, who would just stare at naked men all day if I had my druthers, or be an intellectual snob when occasion arises. I'm not a great person. Modern Western society seeks to build up, but I don't measure up, and I don't relate, and I want to understand what this is all about, and what help I need to not be such a pariah who angers the Deity with my selfishness and weirdness.

- Christian morality is so much higher than what I see out there in the "real world" with all its ephemeral political and sociopolitical concerns (race, gender, etc.). I see that taking up the cross has always been hard. It doesn't appeal to trends, or human ego, but is eternal, and goes beyond the boundaries we like to define ourselves as.

- What sense does life make if we are just here to do whatever we want, or what society allows, our what our genetic makeup gives? There has to be a higher calling than that. Just look at the ramifications of when people are allowed to just do whatever they like. Some people are confused by Ecclesiastes; I think that book makes sense of our lives. And then Christ is the remedy for such a life. Obey His commands, place your faith in Him. Not yourself, your race, your Myers-Briggs type, your gender, your political party, yourself. Got to be something bigger and more eternal than those silly things.
 
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