How did you come to christ?

[PureLove]

I was raised it in but it was more He came to me

love, hugs

 

[AllTalkNoAction]

I was brought up Church of England ("Anglican"), "christened" and "confirmed", but I only went because my dad wanted me to go, there was nothing inspiring there for me so when I left for University I stopped going. While there I started to consider the purpose of my life, and realised I didn't have one that satisfied me, "the world was my oyster", but there was no pearl !

So when some people who obviously believed in the bible spoke to me I decided to investigate properly. I started going to various church meetings and was told to pray a “sinners prayer”, believing, and as such I was "a Christian". For the next 18 months I continued going to meetings and reading books by people considered to be "Christian leaders" to try and work out God's will for me, without success! All I got was opinions.

Then I met people who were not going to different churches and reading lots of books about God, they had a confidence and contentment I had not attained to, despite my efforts. I realised my relationship with God was mostly one-way, from me, not the daily, growing 2-way relationship they seemed to have.

They had received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues (an unlearned prayer language that God leads his people in, cos only he knows his perfect will for us, it allows him to minister his grace & love to our hearts - 1 Cor. 14v2, 4; Jude 20-21). They also had other direct input and leading from God. After a while I realised I was getting nowhere spiritually so for the first time I actually prayed expecting God to *do* something... namely give me the same as them or whatever else I needed.

One evening I was alone in my room, not doubting or fearing, just believing God had said yes to me (because he could have no favourites), I spoke in tongues and in the days that followed I realised I had the Life spoken of in the bible, whereas before I was trying to be something I was not ! I used to worry and get bored, now I see God opening my understanding about why things are the way they are, and more importantly, what life can be like.

I left the old churches because I could see they was as I was before, not as I wanted to be. The church I'm now in is like the one in the new testament, all members have the new Life, we have a unity I never found before. I now have contentment and fulfilling purpose that only the living God can give. I am now able to know and live according to God’s nature because I have His heart and mind through the Holy Spirit in me.

Note: A Christian is someone who has received the Holy Spirit because “Christ” or “Messiah” means “anointed one” and the anointing is the Holy Spirit (Acts 10v38). Romans 8v9 states:-
“ . . . you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”

 

[PaperMoon2]

"If there is another way you came to know Christ, please add it to the list, but this is what I've encountered thus far."

...as it is written, "No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him." (John 6:44) ...as it is written, "There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." accordingly, no one 'accepts' Christ, Christ accepts us!

I was raised Christain and actually remember wanting to get saved and getting saved at 3 yrs old, then i got saved again at 8yrs old. I was raised protestant then found Catholicism and here I am. God's child forever!

 

[PaperMoon2]

You said you were saved at 5. So you "made the choice to believe" at the age of 5? At 5 years old, most people are deciding between Legos and Tonka Trucks of which toy to play with....not whether or not god is real and if you should believe or not. That's not a decision a 5 year old needs to be making.

You didn't make the choice, someone made it for you.

I definately believe the person could have made the choice to get saved because I remember wanting to get saved at 3yr old and I got saved at 3 yrs old! I remember what I was thinking, I remember being in junior church for children and a bunch of us kids drawing with crayons & stuff and getting our snack and the teacher reading a Bible story to us. I understood about God and I wanted to get saved and I did.

 

[PaperMoon2]

After reading the bible a few times I finally noticed that it was not written for human understanding but for human nature. The more I looked at how it said to handle situations I saw the wisdom in it's words.

Zocrates, why are you soo angry with us? You seem too angry with us, not to have some deeper seeded issue with Christians.

Yeah you do have to wonder why someone who hates Christianity would spend time on a Christian board. I don't believe in wicca or any other pagen religion and I don't hang out on wiccan boards being angry at wiccans and trying to challenge them and put them down etc. I leave those people alone! So you have to wonder why someone who hates or has so much anger towards Christians would spend so much time bothering Christains on a Christian board. I think something deeper is going on and that people who are fighting against us Christians are really fighting against God who they hear calling them. So they come here and use this board as a sounding board to fight against what they hear in their hearts which is God calling them. They are in an internal spiritual struggle. Otherwise they would not give us Christians a second thought.

 

[Adstar]

It is my perception that people follow christianity from one of three ways.

1. They were raised with it. Indoctrinated from a young age and that's pretty much the only way they know how to live is with christ.

2. They go through a near death experience (becoming a serious alcoholic, serious drug use) and want to find christ in hopes of straightening out their life.

3. They feel very empty and alone in the world and want to find answers and companionship and they find it in the church.

If there is another way you came to know christ, please add it to the list, but this is what I've encountered thus far.

What's your story?

I was given a bible and i read it and i believed.

Not very dramatic i know but it seems people demand a great story with a lot of drama when in real life this path to God is not often the case.


All Praise The Ancient Of Days

 

[Jere209]

I'm going to do the opposite, and tell you how I found reason, logic, and true personal fulfillment through breaking the chains of religion.

I was raised a Christian child by my mother, though mostly in Sunday School I ran around terrorizing the old ladies until I was about 12, where I went through Methodist confirmation, and I handed my life over to Jesus Christ. Or so I thought. I went to church more often, tried to get into it, and dropped a friend or two I thought was quite ungodly.

I had an off-and-on relationship with Christianity for while, and when I say off, I don't mean I shunned it like I do now, I mean I just didn't go to church or pray. I had so many other things to do, like school and sports. I was too drained to make time for church. These times were some of the most serene in my life up to that time. I would not be worrying constantly about my eternal fate, or feeling guilty for natural urges I had and fulfilled.

Through my last 2 years of high school and my first semester of college, I have taken several biology, history, and bible courses. The knowledge I gained from these didn't really strike me for what it was(a total debunking of my faith and pro-faith arguments that were so silly) because my head was so stressed with stuff like graduation and college entrance, and I suffered from pretty serious OCD.

6 months ago, as I was talking to a friend of mine about our history notes, it just came to me that this was all a farce. People like James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, the Pope; these are not good people. They are bigoted and heartless. Luckily, Mr. Falwell kicked the bucket, but the point is faith proved nothing to me, and science made so much sense. As did history.

I looked at my friends whom I considered true Christians (not the ones who just went to church and spent the whole week talking about sex, drugs, etc.), and I noticed something. They weren't happy. They had so many internal struggles and debates. Also, in my new enlightened view, I saw several of them for what they were: close-minded bigots who stopped talking to people who came out of the closet or hounded them with the bible when they simply responded they weren't interested.

The world is a very different place depending on you how you see it and where you see it from. All other religious people have the same stories about their deity talking to them, seeing his righteous path, and finding fulfillment. These are the same stories with just some minor details changed and rearranged. I hold no stock in them.

I am what you'd call a soft atheist; I am not sure if there is a higher power or not, but I am sure it isn't from any world religion today. Some say this is agnostic but I prefer the term soft atheist because I feel it is a more firm and thorough description.

Sorry, but there's no such thing as soft athiest. Either you are or you aren't.

I don't mention Jesus because I don't feel it is possible to have a relationship with a man long dead.

So, you've never had a relationship at all with Him? No wonder your life was the way it was.

And, if you wonder why I picked you to quote here, you found the time to look me up in all the members here and rate my page. So, I figured, hmm, maybe I should check this one out.

Lisa

 

[prgallo]

It is my perception that people follow christianity from one of three ways.

1. They were raised with it. Indoctrinated from a young age and that's pretty much the only way they know how to live is with christ.

2. They go through a near death experience (becoming a serious alcoholic, serious drug use) and want to find christ in hopes of straightening out their life.

3. They feel very empty and alone in the world and want to find answers and companionship and they find it in the church.

If there is another way you came to know christ, please add it to the list, but this is what I've encountered thus far.

What's your story?

Maybe this is another way to add to your list. I was saved through absolute brokeness. By loosing everything and realizing that living life "MY WAY" wasn't working. At 51 years old and living in my sister in-laws basement I found myself at rock bottom and in a Christian house.

They didn't push Christianity at all. But I realized I couldn't do it on my own and started reading the Bible. Then I was born again and the scripture came alive and now has meaning beyond what I ever hoped.

Now I don't have to figure it out on my own, it's Christ that lives in me and He changes me in my spirit. I have turned my life to Him and the results of my life over to Him, completely.

Wow, talk about freedom...

 

[YourChild]

My salvation story beings as I was living the drug-alcohol-pridefilled life of a musician... unfullfilled yet content with the who-what-where of my life-walk.
While driving alone in my truck early one winter's morning (about 2am) in Jan.'95... returning/driving home from a music gig (I'm a full-time solo entertainer/singer) the Lord spoke out to me AUDIBLY...

He said simply... "I'm going to work in your life"...
I was dumbstruck....and although I did not feel I had actively been searching for Him, I had no doubt about
WHO was speaking to me... (I was alone...it HAD to be...and I Knew it was... God!) Although what He said was a Statement...there seemed to be an underlying question in His tone... one requiring a reply...and I really didn't know exactly what to say... so I just said..."O.K.".... and that was that... the end of the talk... but definitely NOT the end of the story.

From that moment on it seemed I had a charmed life...
everything I touched turned to gold (figuretively... of course). All of a sudden, everybody loved me, work became much too easy to find, the money was rollin' in... my family seemed to have a better attitude towards me...everything was working out GREAT.

This continued without letup for over 10 monthes.
Now comes the GOOD part... One day as I was doing errands, I missed my exit and took an alternate route off my local highway...and as I headed up the exit ramp... the Holy Spirit jumped all over me!!!

Right there in my truck, He got Right INTO ME. It was the most puzzling and wonderful feeling. At that very moment, the Lord of the Universe revealed His Glory of creation to me... it was , to say the least,overwhelming.
For the very first time in my entire life(I was 45 at the time), God showed me how He sees things... rocks, trees, grass, the sky...then he made me so AWARE of everything. Both natural things He had given the earth, and things he has taught man to develope and fashion. As all this was happening I was experiencing the greatest joy, peacefulness and love I had ever known... and as you might expect... I was crying my eyes out
(such a big burly guy-6'4", 300lbs-cryin' like a baby). It was all SO beautiful, SO wonderful.

For the first time in my life, I really felt wanted. As I drove off the exit ramp onto the local road, I passed a tiny sign. It had a small cross upon it along with the name of a church.

Now, understand something ...
I'M A BUSY GUY....THINGS TO DO!... and while I'm crying and wondering exactly what is happening to me... I'm still very strongly connected to this worldly life embraced... so, I see the sign, but I blow right by it... I HAVE IMPORTANT ERRANDS TO DO ...when suddenly, that Exact Same Voice from 10 monthes ago SHOUTS at me (again Audibly)... "STOP!"

Once again I was amazed...Who/How could that be...??? I slow down but do not stop and He yells
"STOP! PULL OVER!".
This freaks me out a little... so I DO pull over to the shoulder and stop. Then my head says to me..."this is silly...you're hearin' things... having hallucinations or maybe a flashback from the drug-using days"... so I begin to start driving again.
I get about 50' and the Lord again yells...
"STOP... TURN AROUND".
All of a sudden it hits me like a ton of bricks...this IS that same voice I heard so many monthes ago...it "is" GOD
...and He wants me to follow those little church signs.
So I carefully turn around...and I drive about half way back to the sign (it's still about 300' away) when suddenly I pull over and start cursing and swearing (wrestling), saying things like... "you gotta be nuts, you're hearing voices, it's gotta be the drugs, this Can't be happening, you must be going crazy, etc etc etc".

All the while this is happening I'm Still seeing the world thru God's eyes, I'm still crying, and I'm still sittin' there with the Spirit all over me. It's like a big wrestling match. I'm fightin' this thing hard with my mind and my soul... but God's got a tight hold on my spirit and
He isn't letting go (PTL).

Just when I am about to convince myself to give up this ridiculous thing, the Lord of All heaven and earth, always knowing the right thing to do and say... always knowing exactly how to reach the most hidden parts of your heart... said to me (still AUDIBLY)...
"have courage".

And with those words, my resistence to His Will simply melted away, and I know THAT is the very moment I truely surrendered to Him and was saved ...by His grace and mercy.

To finish... I followed the signs...
which lead me to a real, faith-based Christian Church and loving family, where I was able to mature in Christ.
I have since moved on to a different churchs and different roles... In all this, the Lord Jesus has saved my wife, mother, sister-in-law, and many many others ...all springing from His saving ME!.
Awesome!


His,
Rev J


and this too... the Lord took the extra steps needed to reach this most resistant sinner and bring him home ...
He will do it for you too....if you let Him....
God Bless you, in Christ Jesus

clap clap* BRAVOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
AMEN AMEN!!!! AWESOME STORY!!! AMAZING!!!! AHHHH!!!! WHAT A JOY!! PRAISE THE LORD MY GOD!!!!!!!!

 

[Mr.Cheese]

I found Jesus by reading the bible in my bedroom.

I'm glad it happened that way. I am so at odds with organized religion and church that there is no way those things would have been a help to me.