My Conversion to Christianity

[Live4HimAndLoveOthers]

I've decided today (or was it last night) that I want to be a christian.

Congratulations on that decision!

So do you think God played a hand in my conversion?
Just trying to work it out.
I definately felt guided. I definately felt tested.

The only way that anyone can come to Christ is through the gift of faith, that comes from God.

The only question I would ask is this..."Was there repentance in your heart when you came to the Lord?"

Did you felt a heavy burden and guilt for your sins and asked Him for forgiveness? Did you wept over your sins? True conversion is preceded by repentance. Lack of repentance produces false converts and these will fall away from the faith whenever trials and tribulation arises.

Thank you for asking that. I was wondering the exact same thing.

DavinMochrie:

Just as a general reply to you, since you said you're "just trying to work it out:"

Being 'born again' is not merely an intellectual or emotional decision. There is a transaction that takes place, and the person becomes a brand new creature. The person they used to be dies, and they are no longer the same. There is a very obvious, HUGE difference in that person...if they used to go to bars to get drunk, they will no longer do that. If they used to do drugs with their friends, they will stop doing that. If they have friends that they used to get drunk with or do drugs with, etc., their friends will wonder what happened, and why that Christian no longer wants to do those things with them. These are just a couple examples.

As far as what YourChild said, I agree. True repentance is the key. If a person truly gets saved, they will HATE their sin, and they will turn away from it. Not that they will be perfect, but they will now have a new love. They will love Jesus more than anything or anyone in the entire world.

However, DavinMochrie, at whatever place you are in your walk, you said that you have made a decision to be a Christian, and that's a good thing. All of us are at different stages in our walk, and we all come to Christ in different ways. Each of us is an individual, and we do not come from a cookie-cutter. You have made the right decision, and you are on the right track. I think God must be working in your life, and only He sees your heart. Be encouraged, and draw closer to Him. The Bible is the spiritual food of the Christian, and prayer is the spiritual breathing of the Christian. Telling others about Jesus is the way a Christian gets spiritual exercise. At least, this is the way I see it.

May the Lord draw you ever closer to Him, and may your life bring glory to His Name. May you become a strong and mighty servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, and may He fill you with His love, His joy, and His power. May you learn to die to self and surrender everything to Him, for only by doing so do we find real joy and peace.

 

[Live4HimAndLoveOthers]

I just want to re-emphasize, DavinMochrie, that you are on the right track, and I think God is working in your life, as evidenced by the fact that you stated you want to be a Christian. Again, I don't know your heart, but God does.

Since I don't know exactly what you're going through, I'm just speaking in general here: When you can honestly say in your heart, "I have decided to follow Christ," and when you want Him more than anything else in the world, I think that then, God will make you a new person, and you will be completely changed. Talk to God honestly in prayer, and tell him what's on your heart. He knows your thoughts anyway, so you can't tell Him anything that He doesn't already know. The initial key to beginning a relationship with Christ is repentence. After that, the keys to following Him are surrender and trust. Complete surrender of everything in your life to Christ is a point that is very hard to get to, and it's not something you do just once (although a person does it initially when they get saved, and make Jesus the Lord of their life)...a Christian has to do it over and over, as new life situations come up. But when you do it, it is OH!, SO sweet!

Don't look at the world (system).
Don't look at people.
Don't even look at Christians.
All of them will fail you.
Look at Christ.
He will NEVER fail you.

And, even though there is no perfect church, the local body of believers (i.e., local churches) is the means by which God has established we meet together to worship Him. Though every church has its problems, you will not grow nearly as well if you don't attend a church. Kind of like most people need to go to a gym in order to be motivated enough to work out. Meeting with other believers in person serves to encourage and motivate you, for one thing. Above all, pray about it. Pray about every major decision...and pray about the little things, as well. God wants to have a close, intimate relationship with you. He is the greatest treasure there is.

 

[Digit]

I just want to re-emphasize, DavinMochrie, that you are on the right track, and I think God is working in your life, as evidenced by the fact that you stated you want to be a Christian. Again, I don't know your heart, but God does.

Since I don't know exactly what you're going through, I'm just speaking in general here: When you can honestly say in your heart, "I have decided to follow Christ," and when you want Him more than anything else in the world, I think that then, God will make you a new person, and you will be completely changed. Talk to God honestly in prayer, and tell him what's on your heart. He knows your thoughts anyway, so you can't tell Him anything that He doesn't already know. The initial key to beginning a relationship with Christ is repentence. After that, the keys to following Him are surrender and trust. Complete surrender of everything in your life to Christ is a point that is very hard to get to, and it's not something you do just once (although a person does it initially when they get saved, and make Jesus the Lord of their life)...a Christian has to do it over and over, as new life situations come up. But when you do it, it is OH!, SO sweet!

Don't look at the world (system).
Don't look at people.
Don't even look at Christians.
All of them will fail you.
Look at Christ.
He will NEVER fail you.

And, even though there is no perfect church, the local body of believers (i.e., local churches) is the means by which God has established we meet together to worship Him. Though every church has its problems, you will not grow nearly as well if you don't attend a church. Kind of like most people need to go to a gym in order to be motivated enough to work out. Meeting with other believers in person serves to encourage and motivate you, for one thing. Above all, pray about it. Pray about every major decision...and pray about the little things, as well. God wants to have a close, intimate relationship with you. He is the greatest treasure there is.

Probably the best advice I've seen so far. Nice one.

Cheers!
Digit

 

[DavinMochrie]

Thank you all.

I am reading all the responses and taking in the info you give.

I will say I'm still srtuggling with sin and old ways, and of couse a bit of doubt.

cheers

D

 

[Digit]

Thank you all.

I am reading all the responses and taking in the info you give.

I will say I'm still srtuggling with sin and old ways, and of couse a bit of doubt.

cheers

D

Being a Christian doesn't mean you won't sin. It just means you have a way out of sin. Don't expect a 180 turn around, it took me months to shake some things and others I am still battling.

Cheers!
Digit

 

[Nadiine]

Being a Christian doesn't mean you won't sin. It just means you have a way out of sin. Don't expect a 180 turn around, it took me months to shake some things and others I am still battling.

Cheers!
Digit

I SOO hear that. How true. It's really amazing how God deals with us after we come back (and even first convert). Some things I wasn't convicted about until a year later. I know that about smoking cigarettes - He let me continue w/ those while I was working on other aspects.
And a year later is when I started feeling I had to deal with it. Even tho I didn't smoke for long (or inhale it lol), I picked it up due to a crisis & major stress in my life.
When it was time to quit, He brought me out of that. Then later on came drinking. (again, not a heavy drinker, but I did need it & relied on it).

I think God is gentle in how He works with us - He seems to go down a list one thing at a time and chip it away. You'll know it's time to deal with it when the conviction starts getting heavier and more frequent. (at least that's how God worked with me - maybe He works with others another way?).

 

[Nadiine]

Thank you all.

I am reading all the responses and taking in the info you give.

I will say I'm still srtuggling with sin and old ways, and of couse a bit of doubt.

cheers

D

Can I ask what doubt you're referring to?

 

[DavinMochrie]

Can I ask what doubt you're referring to?

Doubt about Christianity the religion.

Not so much that doubt that God exists...

To be honest with you guys there is so much 'intensity' with some christians and the parts of the bible they focus on.... of course it leads to doubts.

Is this the path for me? - That sort of doubt.

Like I asked about Lust the other day in the New Christian area, and this dude basically gave me a death sentence. Said that I deserved death, even though my question was hypothetical. He said I deserved death simply for noticing that a woman is attractive.

 

[Digit]

Like I asked about Lust the other day in the New Christian area, and this dude basically gave me a death sentence. Said that I deserved death, even though my question was hypothetical. He said I deserved death simply for noticing that a woman is attractive.

We have a New Christian area? *feels clueless* Well, yeah, that would of course make you do a slight back-peddle and go, "Hang on a moment.".

My two cents on attraction and other women.

First, attraction is not lust. There is a great big red-herring with lust, in that people love to link it to even the remotest attraction, desire or admiration of beauty. It's not the case. Lust is about greed, possession, self satisfaction and definitely when all of these are misplaced and lead to action without regards to the consequence. Please read this and ignore everything else.

Cheers!
Digit

 

[Digit]

Also, don't make me drill this into you.

Cheers!
Digit

 

[Nadiine]

Doubt about Christianity the religion.

Not so much that doubt that God exists...

To be honest with you guys there is so much 'intensity' with some christians and the parts of the bible they focus on.... of course it leads to doubts.

Is this the path for me? - That sort of doubt.

Like I asked about Lust the other day in the New Christian area, and this dude basically gave me a death sentence. Said that I deserved death, even though my question was hypothetical. He said I deserved death simply for noticing that a woman is attractive.

(see Mat. 7:21-23 - Jesus says many who say Lord Lord, won't enter His kingdom bcuz He didn't know them)

If you rely on web forums (or other chat groups) for your truth about God and Christianity, you will probly end up a spiritual vegetable with all the opposing beliefs going on; I dare say, you may actually just leave Christianity for good w/ all the confusion and battles you encounter.
In the chat groups I was involved with, I saw more Christian casualties than anything. It was sad, but that's how it happens.
I think people need to be fully grounded before heading into these debates. But there are lots of nondebate areas on this forum and people can hang in without the confusion.

If I wasn't solidly grounded in God's word and teachings, I truly believe that I'd be a basket case here; namely after Erwin's horrific changes that opened it up to every false teaching out there. (prior to that, some of the doctrines that are now allowed were forbidden in the Christian debate areas).

I suggest getting yourself into a good bible teaching church, and get into a great network of real Christians who are actively serving and worshipping the Lord. Call THAT your home and don't put much stock into what you hear from people in this forum.
Yes, that includes me too. TEST what you hear from us in the Bible like the Bereans in Acts did. This site is just teaming with false teachings - my bible easily exposes who they are.

God warns us of the false teachings that will be more and more rampant as time goes by. They keep on decieving and being decieved. I wish I didn't have to say that this site could be spiritually dangerous.

Novices trying to act like they're scholars - somebody gets a lexicon & thinks it automatically turns them into a professional theologian.
Be careful who you listen to & what you accept. Not everybody that claims the Lord is of God, or knows His word very well.

My advice is in real life, get yourself planted in a good church and network there; it's alot safer for you spiritually.
I say this in love & concern for you.

 

[Digit]

Yeah I am totally with Nadiine on this.

Remember the Alpha Course I told you about? Well that will probably be running again soon, and it may well help you get the 101 stuff down. Just basic understanding. Next I would say focus on areas that interest you to get a good understanding of those and follow up with it from there.

Sometimes on here, I have to do a double-take and check to see what the person's faith is, as it's like I'm talking to a militant non-Christian sometimes.

Hence for me, when I first became a Christian, I kept it to myself and did a lot of checking to see exactly what I believed in. I mean, only you can tell you what you believe right? Seems to make sense to me. I can honestly recommend that church I told you about too as a really good one, I don't believe they will lead you astray and their teachings are really focussed on Christ. I think it truly makes all the difference in the world. Some denominations are sort of 'deed based'. You know, do good, and good will come to you. That's bordering on Bhuddism right there, but it's strange how these things seep into our beliefs.

My golden rule, is always turn to scripture. What is it there for, if you don't listen to it? Why did God go to all the bother of coming down in the flesh, leading us in a life that honors Him and recording it for us, if we just make stuff up as we go along? It's like buying a new mobile phone, and hammering away at it trying to figure it out when there is a manual sitting right on the desk in the box, next to you.

Oddly, I know many people that do that. So it doesn't come as a shock when I see it here too. We have a manual to life, yet we often ignore it and try to wing it by ourselves. What's the point? Are we really Christians then? Part of being a Christian is acknowledging our reliance and dependance on God, because without Him, we would be bonded to sin. We can't go, "Yeah ok, I turn my life over to you." and then ignore all that He says.

Hence, everything in your life must have backing in scripture. If you are worried about lust for example, read up what the Bible actually says about it. Some passages are clear, and some are a little cryptic (like the issue of mental adultery) but it will certainly not say anything like you deserving death for feeling attracted to another woman. We were designed that way, by God, to be attracted to certain things in each other. When we are married, or in a relationship we need to direct those feelings on to our partner or spouse.

Since you are due to be married soon, I would heartily recommend the Marriage Preparation Course at the same church, as that will really tell you what scripture (that magic word again) has to say about your roles of husband and wife in marriage.

I think lastly, when I first became a Christian I was very worried God would make me do all sorts of things I really hated, and my life would be miserable. If you feel this way, don't stress, as even pastors have confessed to being concerned about this, even at very late stages in their lives when a new role comes about. God changes us according to His Will. Things I do now, I never would have done before, and I can honestly say that I can't imagine not doing these things now.

Take a deep breath. Don't expect that 180 turn around. Work on something you feel you can cope with and go from there. Chances are you won't even notice the changes until someone points it out to you, and then you are like, "Oh... yeah." and start grinning like a fool. Well, it's rumoured to go something like that, it certainly NEVER happened like that for me. >_<

Cheers!
Digit

 

[indagroove]

Thank you all.


I will say I'm still srtuggling with sin and old ways, and of couse a bit of doubt.

cheers

D

As do we all ! The amazing thing is that God still loves us as we do what we don't want to do, and don't do what we should do.

Yes, he loves us so much he gaves us a way to still be with him. In his amazing Grace, He gave us his son.

PLease concentrate on your relationship with Christ. It is between you and Him. Not between you and that self-proclaimed Christian next door.

 

[Live4HimAndLoveOthers]

DavinMochrie[/FONT]] Like I asked about Lust the other day in the New Christian area, and this dude basically gave me a death sentence.

Every guy I have ever met---including every Christian guy---has lusted.

 

[Nadiine]

Every guy I have ever met---including every Christian guy---has lusted.

Believe me, women do too (altho they don't all admit that).

 

[Live4HimAndLoveOthers]

I SOO hear that. How true. It's really amazing how God deals with us after we come back (and even first convert). Some things I wasn't convicted about until a year later. I know that about smoking cigarettes - He let me continue w/ those while I was working on other aspects.
And a year later is when I started feeling I had to deal with it. Even tho I didn't smoke for long (or inhale it lol), I picked it up due to a crisis & major stress in my life.
When it was time to quit, He brought me out of that. Then later on came drinking. (again, not a heavy drinker, but I did need it & relied on it).

I think God is gentle in how He works with us - He seems to go down a list one thing at a time and chip it away. You'll know it's time to deal with it when the conviction starts getting heavier and more frequent. (at least that's how God worked with me - maybe He works with others another way?).

I don't think I've ever heard it put better than that. VERY well said!

 

[Live4HimAndLoveOthers]

Like I asked about Lust the other day in the New Christian area, and this dude basically gave me a death sentence. Said that I deserved death, even though my question was hypothetical. He said I deserved death simply for noticing that a woman is attractive.

You know what? Every single person on this entire planet deserves to burn in Hell forever. Including me. Why? Because every one of us has offended a holy God. So, whoever told you that, deserves the same thing! It is only because of God's mercy that any of us are saved!

 

[Nadiine]

You know what? Every single person on this entire planet deserves to burn in Hell forever. Including me. Why? Because every one of us has offended a holy God. So, whoever told you that, deserves the same thing! It is only because of God's mercy that any of us are saved!

"there are NONE that are righteous, no not one".