I was an atheist but I'm not anymore. I can't be.

[VincentCross]

I'll tell you what happen. Basically for 8 years my dad was battling cancer and lost. But in his last moments he told us he could see angels and his parents were standing before him. Now this was odd because I remember my dad telling me once that he was an atheist but mom said he was catholic so I don't really know for sure. She was protestant by the way. But that was the first hit that awakened some belief in me. But then two years later (AKA a little more than a week ago.) my mom died and basically the same thing happen again. I recently started to read verses from the bible and prayers online. I don't know what’s different but when I read these things I feel sad but oddly better and I can't say I don't believe in God anymore. But the problem is I don't really know what to do with this new found faith. If anyone has any ideas it be helpful. Thanks.

 

[ACTRAISEROtto]

Find a King james bible, the older the better.
Stay away from the N.I.V bible's, becuaes it's anew editon it's under a copy right, so basicaly they get to tamper with it, they have removed over 64,000 words from the KJB. that = 10% of the bible and the king james bible IS THE HOLY BIBLE. And for any one else reading this the company that produces the N.I.V also produce the satanic bible, so yeah.
Congradulations Vincent Cross, I commend you for having the courage to step up to the plate in the fight for your soul.
I recommend you find a good old bible if you can, read it dwell on it, go to you tube, and look up some teachers like:
Charles stanley
Ravi zacharias
Alister Begg.
And please check out the audio logs at Contending for truth,c-o-m, by Dr. scott johnson.
I dont know if you've done it by now but you need to confess christ before a witness, or be baptized at the very least.
You must study the word of god to know your enemies, and to also know your weapons, because belive it or not the darkside will come gunning for you now,
just like they do for all of us. fear not rebuke the devil and he will flee from you.
Try to find a good old King james edition reading church
And always be sure to ask them if they are a 501c3 church, if they say yes to this,
Dont join that church:
also I am sorry for your turn of event's vincent
to be alone is hard.
But friend your now in a new famley, your in the body of christ, and you have many mothers, and brothers and sisters.
For what it's worth they left you a powerful witness.
Hope this help's out. your brother in christ Otto.

 

[ACTRAISEROtto]

One more thing, I forgot to mention.
You cant do anything with your faith , untill you and the holy spirit grow it.

 

[look4hope]

Vincent,
Thank you for sharing such important event, which is finding yourself believing.
I am very sorry for the loss of your parents.
Its been about 6 years for me since I found faith in Jesus. I tell you there are some days in my life that I feel like given into doubt, and wonder about my beliefs. But I pull through and surround myself with my fellow sisters and brothers and succeed over temptation.

If there's a possibility to find other people that are full in faith. A church, a group. Here, me and others. Im new to this site but I've been welcomed with open arms. So I welcome you with open arms aswell.

Blessings
-Jen

 

[now faith]

I'll tell you what happen. Basically for 8 years my dad was battling cancer and lost. But in his last moments he told us he could see angels and his parents were standing before him. Now this was odd because I remember my dad telling me once that he was an atheist but mom said he was catholic so I don't really know for sure. She was protestant by the way. But that was the first hit that awakened some belief in me. But then two years later (AKA a little more than a week ago.) my mom died and basically the same thing happen again. I recently started to read verses from the bible and prayers online. I don't know what’s different but when I read these things I feel sad but oddly better and I can't say I don't believe in God anymore. But the problem is I don't really know what to do with this new found faith. If anyone has any ideas it be helpful. Thanks.

Glory to God,you are coming to the grace of our lord Jesus Christ.
The feeling you have is the Holy Spirt of God drawing you to salvation and eternal life.
You now see the living God working in your life,and are now feeling his presence.
All it takes is pray this.
Lord Jesus come into my life fill my heart with your joy and understanding.
I put away the things of this world forgive me for my sins.
I know you are the one true God who was born died and raised from the dead,for me for every sin I have or will commit you paid by your shed blood.
Come on in Jesus fill my life fill my heart I will walk in your body forever amen and amen.
If you have prayed this in your heart you are a new person saved from eternal separation from God,now you are a child of the King
The Angels in heaven shout and sing with joy when you find the living God.
Hold fast to your Bible it is the living word of God it will teach you through the Holy Spirit.
Start in the book of Romans and read every chance you get.
Find a good Bible based church that you see Gods love among them.
And ask all the questions you want here and church.
Feel free to message me any time. God bless

 

[Girder of Loins]

Woot! There is a party going on in Heaven specifically in your name! God loves you, never forget that. I can't imagine what it must be like to lose your parents so close together, so I will be praying for you!

Anywho, get a Bible. I read the ESV, but any translation will work for a new believer. Whichever one you understand the best. Right now, focus on the basics. Don't start traveling down discussions of dogma, but stick to the core beliefs of any Christian:

1) Jesus was the Son of God
2) Jesus died as a perfect sacrifice on the cross
3) Jesus rose again, beating Death

If you believe these three things in your heart, and confess them with your mouth(as ROmans 10:9 tells us to do), you will be saved. Focus on these and start building your relationship with Christ. It is a long road, but well worth it! Welcome to the Family, Brother!

 

[HawkBlue27]

I would get a King James or New King james.

 

[trulyconverted]

If king james bible is hard to understand, do ESV bible.

I would go for the audio version. I got mine from itunes on my iphone. Maybe you can get an audio bible for free.

Then just keep on listening. You can start from Matthew (1st book of New Testament).

Then listen, listen, listen...

Of course you can read the bible. Or both together same version of bible books and audio.

 

[americanvet]

I am sorry for your lose.

Pray to God, read the Bible, and worship with believers. Prayer is just us talking to God. Get a Bible go to a Christian book store and let them point you in the right direction. You DO NOT have to get a King James Version Bible. Read on this site and you will see that topic is odd.

Now as far as worshiping with believers, this does not mean "church" in a church building. A Bible study at a coffee shop, home, or something unique in your area is fine. A church building is the easiest way to find a place to worship. There is tons of information out there. If it gets to overwhelming feel free to ask more questions. You can PM me if you like. God bless.

 

[Nails74]

Find a King james bible, the older the better.

I would have to disagree on this point. If we are going to use that philosophy, it would be better to go back to the original Greek and Hebrew.

Here is a good article on choosing a translation.

Which Bible translation is best?

And then start reading...John is a good place to start.

 

[asiyreh]

I'll second that. ^
Now about these translations. I always keep a copy of KJV around, my study bibles a New King James. NIV's good for bringing out the meaning of a verse in plain English.

Don't get caught up in this whole nonsense though my friend. Stick to the foundation of the Gospel at the moment. Study God's Word. The Gospel of John as my friend here says; is a great place to start. We believe John was the most copied manuscript among early Christians and it acts like a mini bible.

You also might want to read Romans and Galatians.

 

[paul1149]

Vincent - sorry for your loss. It's often the case that when we're confronted with sorrow and suffering that we first become aware of our need for real eternal answers. God is not the author of sin and death, but He uses the wounds of this world to draw us to Him.

All this emphasis on which translation is misplaced. If you're getting something out of reading the Bible, by all means continue, using whichever translation speaks to you. I use several myself. Keep trusting God as you can, starting right from where you are. It is He who is the Author and Finisher of our faith (Heb 13), so even as you seek Him let Him do the leading. After paying so dearly to bring you back to Him, He is not going to let you go. So trust as you seek Him. God bless.

 

[LionofJudahDK]

snip

And this, dear brother Vincent, is known as the KJV-only-crew, who insists on the ridiculous notion that the REAL Bible is in English, and that all other translations are satanical deceptions. Even the original texts in Greek and Hebrew aren't REALLY God's word. Only the out-dated KJV-translation (an acceptable translation in its time, but based on faulty and not completely reliable manuscripts)
They also tend to go down the insanity-path, believing that everything from the Roman-Catholic church to rock music is an illuminati-construction, with satan pulling the strings in the background.

In short, they're even more dangerous than Jehovah's Witnesses, and other such heretical groups, because they come in disguise as preachers of sound doctrine. And the further you let them take you, the harder it is to get away from them, as with any cult.
Avoid them like the plague, and rebuke them when possible.

 

[chilehed]

...But the problem is I don't really know what to do with this new found faith. If anyone has any ideas it be helpful. Thanks.

Vincent, I grieve for your loss.
I suggest that you find the nearest Catholic church and ask to speak to the Priest.

 

[now faith]

Has anyone,noticed if our new Christian replied to this Circus?
This is a first class dog and pony show,starring listen to me about the other guys.
Its not a debate forum.
Its for sincere mature Christians who want to witness and help new Christians.
Believe it or not there is a greater good than promoting your religion,its called the kingdom of God.
My statement does not apply to all posting,but it only takes one to confuse.

 

[VincentCross]

Ok I found that there is a presbyterian church like right down the street from me and a baptist one too. But I think I'll go the the presbyterian one because that is the main religion of my family. Thanks for all the advice.

 

[ErminlindaRika]

That's good to hear I can give you some links that would help you further your faith :

http://www.leestrobel.com/
http://www.grantjeffrey.com/
http://carm.org/
http://www.xenos.org/
http://www.godandscience.org/
http://www.reasons.org/
http://www.tektonics.org/
http://www.inplainsite.org/
http://bibleprobe.com/
http://www.bible-researcher.com/
http://www.preventingtruthdecay.org/
http://www.livingwaters.com/
http://www.christiananswers.net/
http://www.bible.ca/
http://www.answersingenesis.org/
http://www.insightsofgod.com/
http://www.gotquestions.org/
http://www.letusreason.org/
http://biblestudyplanet.com/
http://www.apologeticspress.org/
http://evidenceforchristianity.blogspot.com/
http://discovery.org/

 

[Sketcher]

I will tack onto that list:

Bible Study Tools Online – Verses, Commentaries, Concordances, Verses, Parallel Versions
ReasonableFaith.org – Defend Biblical Christianity, Apologetics, Bible Questions

 

[now faith]

Ok I found that there is a presbyterian church like right down the street from me and a baptist one too. But I think I'll go the the presbyterian one because that is the main religion of my family. Thanks for all the advice.

Good to hear,fellowship is part of walk with Christ.
We gather together to praise God,to build up our brothers and sisters.
We learn by teachers and preachers of Gods word.
Hold on to your Bible,it will give you true understanding of God.

 

[asiyreh]

I'd like to put a few things to that list:-

Creationism from a Old earth/evo perspective

A midfield of scientific information and creation falsifiable models.

Creation from Young Earth perspective

Ian Juby's really funny. He laughs at all the huge holes in speciation and exposes the shape shifting nature of macro evolution.

Podcast debates on everything in Christianity you can put a tag on

If you don't like the adversarial nature of some Christian debates but want to hear pretty much all the issues on your Mp3 player.

Total Onslaught

A journey down the dark side. Peer off the edge of the abyss and shutter. A review of revelations from the historical perspective.