V
viltglance007
Guest
Michael.Volbeda - California.USA
I was generally an all-around "good" person growing up. My parents were Christians, and were raising me to be one as well. I grew up in the church, and often attended all three services on Sunday because my father played the church organ and my mother was in charge of the nursery. By the time I reached sixth grade, I had heard in virtually every Sunday School lesson imaginable, and I was beginning to wonder if church had anything more to offer.
It was in those formative years of Junior High that I first began to realize that there was a difference between going to church and actually being a Christian. It was there, from our church youth pastor, that I began to learn about the real life implications of what God had done through Jesus Christ on my behalf, and the impact that it has on those who believe it. Instead of my parent's religion, Christianity became my own relationship with the Lord. Just being a "good" person wasn't going to cut it anymore. I cant remember a time when I didnt go to church, so it is difficult to delineate a specific time when I did not believe. I did not have a dramatic conversion experience, and I cant recall one particular day that I realized that I was radically and spiritually different from the one before it. But I can say that as a result of what gradually happened to me that I emerged from those years as someone changed forever. I knew my mission in life, if nothing else, was to somehow try to live for Jesus becuase he lived... and he died... for me.
I was generally an all-around "good" person growing up. My parents were Christians, and were raising me to be one as well. I grew up in the church, and often attended all three services on Sunday because my father played the church organ and my mother was in charge of the nursery. By the time I reached sixth grade, I had heard in virtually every Sunday School lesson imaginable, and I was beginning to wonder if church had anything more to offer.
It was in those formative years of Junior High that I first began to realize that there was a difference between going to church and actually being a Christian. It was there, from our church youth pastor, that I began to learn about the real life implications of what God had done through Jesus Christ on my behalf, and the impact that it has on those who believe it. Instead of my parent's religion, Christianity became my own relationship with the Lord. Just being a "good" person wasn't going to cut it anymore. I cant remember a time when I didnt go to church, so it is difficult to delineate a specific time when I did not believe. I did not have a dramatic conversion experience, and I cant recall one particular day that I realized that I was radically and spiritually different from the one before it. But I can say that as a result of what gradually happened to me that I emerged from those years as someone changed forever. I knew my mission in life, if nothing else, was to somehow try to live for Jesus becuase he lived... and he died... for me.
