How did YOU become a Christian

[AllworthThunder]

I'm just wondering what made you become a Christian. Yes, I want to hear the long stories. Yes, I want to hear the boring stories as well. I just want to know how you decided to become a Christian.

 

[theVirginian]

It's 1973, I'm 18, I have just been arrested on felony charges, and am looking at 4-40 years in prison. I used my one phone call to ask my parents if they would get me out on bond. That was one tough phone call to make. They said they would bail me out on the condition that I moved back home. I agreed.


Three days later my parents told me that they were hosting a prayer meeting at the house that night and invited me to go. I wasn't in the mood for this nonsense, but I figured that I owed them for bailing me out, so I agreed to go. I intended to make this meeting the last one I attended.

As I walked down the stairs into the den where the meeting was being held, I noticed that the temperature in the stairway was warm and got warmer with each step down. Heat rises, doesn't it? It should have gotten cooler as I descended. When I got to the bottom step, it felt like it was 85 degrees. There was only one other person in the room. I thought that if it's this warm now with only one other person here, how hot is it going to get when everybody else shows up? I sat as far in the rear of the room as I could.

The rest of the people showed up, the meeting commenced and the singing part started. I wasn't in the mood, but I knew the words to some of the songs and joined in. Oddly, my mood started to pick up as I sang along. That's when things really started to happen. I started to sweat profusely from the heat and could feel the sweat rolling down my body, but when I patted my clothes to absorb the sweat, I was perfectly dry. I wasn't even perspiring. Then the heat started to absorb into my body. I thought, "OK. This is getting interesting." The heat soaked in to the point of surrounding my heart and then stopped. I could feel my heart in my chest. It felt like it weighed three pounds, was smooth, hard, and cold like a creek stone. It was an ugly sensation.

I was preoccupied with what was happenning to me and not listening when the teaching started. Then the speaker said the only thing I heard the whole time he was talking, "You CAN trust Jesus". I thought,"Yeah, right. If he exists." Then, just in case there was something to it, I mentally asked God if I was going to jail. I figured I might as well go for the brass ring. Immediately, a voice (angel) five feet to my left said, "NO!...NO!!...NO!!!" Each NO was louder than the one before. I could hear him clearly, but it wasn't with my physical sense of hearing.

Ooops! I wasn't expecting an answer.

The rest of what happened took five seconds. I put two and two together and realized that God really does exist, He is still involved with Man, and He still operates with supernatural power. Then, before natural reasoning could interfere, the thought shot through my mind, "I'm yours!!!" Mighty charitable of me, eh? I dodge the bullet and God gets me in return. That heat then flashed through my heart. At this point I was born again. As soon as all that happened, another voice (demon), to the left of where the angel was, shouted, "YOU FOOL!!!". Too bad, Punk. You lost.

Anyways, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.


Epilogue:
I pled no contest, was given ten years, all of it was suspended, with five years probation. My lawyer said I was the first case like mine in six months he'd seen to not get any jail time at all. After six months, my probation officer said the only reason I still had to report in was that, by law, I had to serve two and a half years of the time. Even so, I was cut loose after eighteen months.

 

[ContentInHim]

Wow, Virginian - what a story!

Mine is more gradual. I grew up in a liberal church where Jesus was barely mentioned and certainly salvation not at all. Quit going as soon as I could walk out of Sunday School to go smoke and drink coffee in a nearby shop! LOL! I lived like hell for more years than I cared to remember.

Finally I had hit the end of the road financially; met a nice older man and figured to get him to marry me - he had a pension and a nice income. Little did I figure on falling passionately in love with him. It was wonderful - but he died and I wanted to also but I figured that if I killed myself I would go to hell. So I screamed and cried and finally after a month I found a grief group at the Church of the Nazarene. I only went one night and cried through the whole meeting - fortunately there was only one man there and the Pastor's wife. Anyway, she said You're angry aren't you? And I said YES! WHY NOT - I FINALLY FIND THE LOVE OF MY LIFE AND HE'S DEAD AND I WAS ROBBED!

She was soooo sweet - she gave me the workbook and several videos and advised me to go home and ask Jesus to take away the pain. I said - YEAH, SURE - in my most surly voice. But when I got home the pain overwhelmed me and I fell to the floor and cried out to Jesus "I can't take it anymore - I don't want to live". A feeling of peace came over me - I figured I had just cried it out. That Sunday I went to church for the first time seriously in 50 years and was interested in the message for a change. Understood it, even. Weird. I kept at it and derived some comfort from my bitterness by attending their healing sessions every Wednesday. Fell in love (in a deep friendship way ) with the deacons!

That summer I had to go back north, clear out and sell our house, got to going to a charismatic Episcopalian church we had passed day in and day out for 8 years and NEVER had gone in. I started reading the Bible and believed it and understood from Genesis how much we needed a savior to be with a perfect God. Gradually over the summer I was changed inside so that by the end of a year I understood how different I was from the year before; how if I had died I would have gone to hell, because God would not excuse my sin; how he sees the perfection of Jesus when God looks at me. Whew!

That's it! I don't know what's different in my mind except that I'm 180 degrees from where I was spiritually and I love God more than anything else in my life!

Oh, as to your question - I did not decide to become a Christian - God decided it for me!

 

[Musicology]

Found your story ContentInHim

It sounds like you had lived a troubled and bumpy life but found solitude of faith in Jesus and God and the Messianic way.

I know the question How did God find you or How did you find Christianity can be reveresed and i respect that. I have one quiery though. You would have had to have had a sense of either wanting to belong or acceptance of this decision, do you agree? I have almost been driven into a wall by a canoe (tied up in a garage and the ropes came loose and it swung down towards me). I jumped and it missed me narrowly. I saw it as and accepted it as luck and went out to by a tattslotto (lottery) ticket. i didn't see it as God or Jesus protecting me. Other stories such as young princes and princesses becoming Kings and Queens always makes me question those ideals. Certain families believe that they are Gods chosen leader (God found/decided them) for that particular Town/Country/Empire etc. But in some cases, 10 year olds have become Kings or Queens of the country. Same ideal, God has chosen them. Do you think the Child has accepted that decision? I work with Kids and if i give my students an oppotunity to either further develop their reading skills or have 10 minutes of free time... guess which one they'll choose? A kid would have to be extremely mature and also understand fine politics/religion to run a country.

I just want to clarify the point that if God found you, does that mean you were looking for/wanting to accept/ guided towards/had a faint original belief or honestly accept that God actually found you? Again this is not an attack on your personal beliefs just an interest in opinion and personal belief.

Apologese to AllworthThunder for rude intrusion of your original thread. I assume we're on the same sort of journey due to the types of questions posted. I thought i'd add a few comments in.

Cheers, play the music that makes you dance!

 

[Kat3]

I was raised in a muslim family , since i was little..i've always wanted to know about Jesus Christ..since most muslims were againts Christians and their beliefs...

Iam lebanese..but was raised in Saudi Arabia because my dad had a good job there , living there wasnt a very good thing but I learned alot , and I didnt know much about Chrisitans except few things , and I only knew some of the things about who Jesus was..., mostly about him as the Isalmic religion , I used to ask my parents about how Christians believe , even though my parents never were strict about their religion , they told me that its wrong..because they believe that he is Son of God..as physically..and such...

Living there in Sauid Arabia and learning alot about Islam was a great experience , but they were too stric to the point I started to hate them and hate the country and even the religion , but I loved God with all my heart..and never thought of hating him , I used to fast at Ramadan with my family , read the holy book but keep it simple , but after all...Christianity was in my mind no matter what , dreams to be one...dreams to live with a family for one day to see how they are and dreams to go to Church and worship

Coming here to the US 6 years ago , made me miss my friends and my neighbors and my house...that i got very depressed , I wanted to end my life because i wanted to go back and I just lost it.., I did try to kill my self but i didnt...and Iam glad..

I stayed depressed for 2 years or so and on an Easter day I started to have faith..., I think it was on 2004 or 2005 , I started watching the Christian channel for some reason , looking for something to hold on to...something that means something to me.., and i wanted to learn more about Christianity , and I started praying and feeling something strange inside me...but that died again...after somtime...when I started to get confused..and got to study Christianity more and more...to the point where I got lost..to which is true and right..., I spent months reading books and learning and knowing things i've never knew before...and how much my parnets and every other Muslim person i asked or questioned about stuff about the Bible or Christianity..they didnt know the truth about it , they just claim its wrong..claim this and that..and I learned the other ways..

I had a tough month praying afterwards from all the studying , wondering..is it really Jesus...the normal man...can be something more , can it be ? and why not? what was special about him and why? , I questioned my self alot..and i used to cry at nights wondering..looking up at the sky from the windows praying and asking God for a sign to lead me to the truth and the only truth , who is Jesus...

I prayed for a whole two weeks for a sign , a story about a girl who was raised a muslim and became a christian...something that can make me see and understand , leads me to the way , I dont know why i thought about a story...but i wanted to relate to something...and...what I got...on a day that I never thought something strange would happen...

My Miracle...that changed my whole life and strongly made me believe and not only this one but this was my first sign and knew that Jesus was more....is my little sister coming back from her friend , her friends family go to church every sunday and her mom works there helping and they are religous nice family , so she comes back and throws a book in my language and tells me that I can read it , I looked at it..and it looked like it was an Islamic book , so I knew that this could be the sign from God..that I should stick to how i was raised..and Jesus was just a man...and a prophet , I let the book stay there on the table..while i was doing things on my laptop then i looked at it again and I was happy yet sad coz I thought Jesus was more than that..., I held the book again and looked at the back to see whats the book about...

I read about this girl who got healed by Jesus and that she was raised a muslim but she became a Christian and how she went through her strict religous family and that she was almost killed because she changed her faith.., the book called "AL-hejab Al-mumazaq"

I couldnt believe it...I was in tears and then i opened the book at the last page of it and it had verses from the Bible..saying that Jesus is the life and the truth ...then the last verse says , God wants you now to invite Jesus or soemthing like that....I would check the verse right now but too tired , sorry lol.., I went upstairs running to my little sister to see how she got the book , she told me they had a two or three of them , some guy gave it to them in a store for free and they just happened to be in the little girls room on the floor , my sister thoguht me or my parents can read this , so she decided to pick it up and bring it to me.

Well..i started crying ofcourse...coz nothing happened to me like this before...a prayer became answered , and from that day...i just felt so happy..., I started to attend a close to church to mine and learned more about the Holy Lord..and Jesus my saviour..and Gods plan..for us and how much he loves us , never knew that God loved me this much or loved me coz i never read it before until I read it in my Bible..

I've had other prayers answered in the name of Jesus , 3 payers and they were in the toughest times that my family would've been broken by now if i didnt ask my lord to save me and help me and protect me....

Jesus my saviour, forever....

-kathia.

 

[ebia]

I'm just wondering what made you become a Christian. Yes, I want to hear the long stories. Yes, I want to hear the boring stories as well. I just want to know how you decided to become a Christian.

Grew up in a family that attended church on the big festivals only (Christmas, Candlemas, Easter and Harvest, usually). Made the choice to commit and get confirmed in my teens. Dropped out of the church pretty much during university, but God dragged me back a few years later.