New Here, from Denver

[Kev_Mc]

So where to begin. I was raised Baptist by my mom. Which I have been told is Christian. Sometimes when asked I even tell people I am Christian. (I´m not sure if that wrong or not) Anyways I´ve always believe in God and in Christ Jesus as our savior and used to attend church regularly with my family as a kid and even was baptized. I´m now 24 years old and still continue to believe although it´s hard to kick the habits of sin such as drinking and smoking which are my main problems at the moment. I´m the oldest of 3 brothers and one of which doesn´t believe which is sometimes hard for me. I came here both looking to strengthn my relationship with God and too help me away from sin. I felt joining was the right thing to do for me, because associating myself with believers and surrounding myself with good and loving people is the first place to begin renewing my relationship with God.

I just had one question. What is the difference between Baptist(Me) and Christian? I heard they are basically the same thing. One last thing. I have prayed countless times to be forgiven of my sins, have asked Jesus into my heart, and have been baptized as a kid. Where and how exactly would I go about renewing myself and being forgaven and asking him into my heart once more?

Thanks and I hope to get to know if not all of you, most of you

 

[FaithfulWife]

I just had one question. What is the difference between Baptist(Me) and Christian? I heard they are basically the same thing.

Hi Kev_Mc! Guess what? I used to live in Denver myself for almost 20 years--Lakewood to be exact. Anyway I'm not the world's perfect theology person here, but I can take a layman's stab at your question. "Christian" is a bigger word for religions that believe that atonement is through Jesus Christ--that is to say, not a Buddhist or Jewish or Islamic. Under the big name "Christian" you have a big division of "Catholic" and another of "Protestant," and under Protestant you have even more divisions like "Methodist" "Lutheran" and "Baptist"--those littler divisions are called denominations. Does that basically answer your question? Baptist is a denomination under the big name "Christian."

One last thing. I have prayed countless times to be forgiven of my sins, have asked Jesus into my heart, and have been baptized as a kid. Where and how exactly would I go about renewing myself and being forgaven and asking him into my heart once more?

May I be honest with you? I personally believe you don't need to pray over and over to be forgiven of your sins. Jesus loved you and already died for your sins--ALL OF THEM--and you are already forgiven. When G*d looks at you, He doesn't see you in your sinful clothes because you've already been covered in the righteous robes of Jesus, and that's what G*d sees! So when you're cruising along in life and you slip and sin again, you don't need to be saved again--you need to go to G*d and admit you were wrong. Maybe if you think of it like this: if you were a kid and I said "I adopt you" you would become my son. This is WHO YOU ARE. Well you go off and do some stuff that hurts me. Does that make you not my son anymore? Does the adoption fall apart and now I have to re-adopt you again? Nope. You might have to apologize so that our relationship is restored and cleared up, but you would still be my Adopted Son no matter what.

Thus I would suggest a couple easy things if you want to renew yourself. #1--Read the Bible. Okay I realize it can SEEM a little dry but find a version you can read, read it, and think about it. #2--Pray. You don't have to ask for stuff--pray about other people or just talk to G*d about stuff that's worrying you. #3--Find a church. Look in the yellow pages and find something similar to what you had when you were a kid (if that fits you now). If not, find one close-ish and try it for a few weeks and keep going. If the first one doesn't work, try another one. If Sunday doesn't work for you, go at night or on Wednesday nights or just go to the bible study ... It's okay to do it different days just be a little regular about it. #4--PM (private message) some people here on CF who seem like they know what they're talking about and ask questions!

*****************************************
Okay, now for my traditional welcome:

Welcome to Christian Forums. I'm so thankful you're here and I hope you enjoy your time here. There are many ways here to have fun, to fellowship, and meet other christians--and if you would like some prayers, we have a prayer request forum as well.

I would definitely recommend these forums so that you can meet people and hopefully start forming good friendships.

Welcome Center - Christian Forums -- There's a forum for "Ask a Chaplain", "For New Christians", "New Member Introductions" and "Prayer Requests"...so I recommend starting here!
Ministry - Christian Forums -- There's an area for Life Stages, Men, Women and Teens...so there is a place for you!

To find people of like faith:
Christian Communities - Christian Forums
Faith Groups - Christian Forums

To have fun with other christians:
Blessings Exchange - Christian Forums
Friendship Court - Christian Forums

I also recommend that you check out the FAQs because there are some really helpful guidelines as to what blessings are, and what reps are, and other things that may come up. There are some helpful answers to help set up your profile page too.
Christian Forums - FAQ

Faithfully,



~FaithfulWife

 

[DeleseRose]

To be a christian is to basically live a life pleasing to GOD. Baptist is just another denomination along the lines of christian faiths. It is GoOD that you recognise that there is something wrong with the drinking and smoking so early in your walk, many ppl have not. I loathe to see christians Smoke, that is one of my pet peve. And I have learned that even occasional drinking is not good. I'm proud of you & welcome to the forum.

 

[Aino]

Hello and a warm welcome to CF!
I hope you'll enjoy it here and continue growing in your faith. I hope you'll be able to establish a strong, good relationship with the Lord. I just wnated to let you know that I prayed for you and I hope it's of some value to you. God bless!

 

[Cardinal John H. Newman]

So where to begin. I was raised Baptist by my mom. Which I have been told is Christian. Sometimes when asked I even tell people I am Christian. (I´m not sure if that wrong or not) Anyways I´ve always believe in God and in Christ Jesus as our savior and used to attend church regularly with my family as a kid and even was baptized. I´m now 24 years old and still continue to believe although it´s hard to kick the habits of sin such as drinking and smoking which are my main problems at the moment. I´m the oldest of 3 brothers and one of which doesn´t believe which is sometimes hard for me. I came here both looking to strengthn my relationship with God and too help me away from sin. I felt joining was the right thing to do for me, because associating myself with believers and surrounding myself with good and loving people is the first place to begin renewing my relationship with God.

I just had one question. What is the difference between Baptist(Me) and Christian? I heard they are basically the same thing. One last thing. I have prayed countless times to be forgiven of my sins, have asked Jesus into my heart, and have been baptized as a kid. Where and how exactly would I go about renewing myself and being forgaven and asking him into my heart once more?

Thanks and I hope to get to know if not all of you, most of you

Glad to have you here and looking forward to your posts!!!

Cardinal Newman

 

[praisehimalleluia]

Hola. and Welcome to CF! May you be even blessed and His peace be with you!

 

[awayforawhile]

Drinking and smoking excessively are probably the toughest "evils" to correct. i know from personal experience, but work on a relationship with God and those things will just fade into the background. good luck brother and welcome to the website!

 

[JCFantasy23]

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[loves2sing84]

*~*~ WELCOME! ~*~*