Question for Arkansasans!

[cherokeehippie]

How many of you consider yourselves born again, saved? And how many just consider yourselves christians because you grew up in the church? Do you remember a time when you gave your life to the LORD and knew He Saved you? Or is your christianity just a tradition? You grew up in church and you're not sure if you're going to make it to Heaven or not.

 

[DixieBelle]

I was saved at the age of 9 in a revival service. My life hasn't been perfect by any means, but thankfully God has never given up on me!

 

[Lbiagm]

I was saved at the age of 11 and I have had a tough life too.

 

[cherokeehippie]

Only two responses so far? Mmmmmmm! I thought so! Well, I'll give my testimony since there are so few who responded.
I was saved when I was 13, and living in Colorado at the time with my mom. It was a rough time because my mom had mental paranoid problems, it was rough for me in school, etc. Because I have Cherokee ancestry, I was interested in finding a book on the Cherokee and finding out more about my heritage. My mom and I went to the mall one day, and I headed to the bookstore and towards the Native American Section. There wasn't any books on the Cherokee, mostly southwestern tribes, but there was a book about Crying Wind, an Indian girl. Actually she had two books, "Crying Wind" and "My Searching Heart". My mom came in, was in a hurry to get out of there and she bought my books, since I only had enough money for one and couldn't make up my mind which one to buy. Well, the first book was how she came to know the Lord. That was the first time I heard of such a thing. And I knew it wasn't by accident I was reading her book. I wanted to be saved too, but at the time, thought I had to say all the right words in the Prayer(there wasn't a prayer at the end of the book for me to read) so I bought Billy Graham's book, "How to be Born Again" and gave my life to the Lord at the end of the book. I did not know any christians and my family didn't go to church. The Lord used Crying Wind's book to bring me to Him even with no religious people to help me. Actually, there was Myrtle, who cleaned my grandparents house back in Fort Worth, TX and took care of me when I was little. She was a Christian--she cried with joy when I wrote her and told her I came to the Lord. My first time in church was with Myrtle, she took me to her church when I was real little. A little African-American church. I also remember Myrtle playing the piano and singing "When the LORD gets ready, You gotta move!" for me when I was 10 and pretending I was a dj on the radio, using a cassette tape recorder. I look back at it and I realize, the Lord had to use "Crying Wind" to reach me. I mean, Crying Wind was Indian and it made me realize not only the Lord was real and personal, but that even artistic, Indian people or Taos NM type people(I used to live in Taos when I was little in the 70's) can be Christians, that being a Christian wasn't about being a weird religious person--especially some of the images I had of of christians in the South.

 

[DixieBelle]

Only two responses so far? Mmmmmmm! I thought so!........made me realize not only the Lord was real and personal, but that even artistic, Indian people or Taos NM type people(I used to live in Taos when I was little in the 70's) can be Christians, that being a Christian wasn't about being a weird religious person--especially some of the images I had of of christians in the South.

Hmmm.....just an observation, but comments like that might be the very reason you have few responses on this thread. I know I thought twice about posting just because of the negative comments like this in the posts you had in the "Christins In the South" thread. I'm not trying to be mean or anything, I'm just telling you that as a Christian in the South, it comes off very negative, whether you mean it like that or not. God bless!

 

[cherokeehippie]

I know, to be honest, I do have a negative attitude towards the south, etc. I guess it's because I hate the idea of the Body of Christ being dominated by southern traditional types, etc, than other cultures. I mean, it depresses me to think that there won't be many Native Americans in Heaven. Or artistic hippie types, or cultural type people, but that heaven will be dominated with southern gospel music, etc. I grew up in an upper middle class home--was around a different kind of people than traditional southern christians. I developed this resentment, especially when I was the only christian in my family and seeing out of place I felt in my first church. Another thing, just off to the side, is how people in the south, tend to look older. For example, my mom is in her 50's and looks young. I mean, she still looks like the mom I knew back in the 'hippie days', straight hair, cool glasses, jeans, etc. Not too long ago, I happen to talk to a woman here in Mt. View. She's the same age as my mom but to me, she looks old! I don't even think of her as being of my mom's generation but she is, but she didn't grow up like my mom. She doesn't look 'hip' so to speak. She looks like a traditional type person, more my grandmother's generation than my mom's. Another friend of mine--who's from California, also commented on this, that people her age(she's in her 60's) appear younger out in California than they do in Arkansas or the south. Instead, southern women look frumpy. How do I get over these resentful feelings?

 

[DixieBelle]

CherokeeHippie: I've had resentful feelings myself towards different groups of people and while I may disagree with the main "group" and their common beliefs and the way they do things, I've learned to try to look at each person as an individual and not instantly label them...and usually you can find some common ground, something you appreciate about them, something you can learn from them, etc., etc., IF you go into it with an open heart and mind. Meet people where they are without trying to change them and once you know their story, sometimes the things they do or say or believe make much more sense and might even become more bearable if you learn to know the heart behind the image. I'm definitely not perfect at doing this with every single person I meet...I'm human...but these are some things I try to remember.

 

[jenptcfan]

I know, to be honest, I do have a negative attitude towards the south, etc. I guess it's because I hate the idea of the Body of Christ being dominated by southern traditional types, etc, than other cultures. I mean, it depresses me to think that there won't be many Native Americans in Heaven. Or artistic hippie types, or cultural type people, but that heaven will be dominated with southern gospel music, etc. I developed this resentment, especially when I was the only christian in my family and seeing out of place I felt in my first church. Another thing, just off to the side, is how people in the south, tend to look older.... Instead, southern women look frumpy. How do I get over these resentful feelings?

Hi Cherokee,

If you hate the idea of the Body of Christ being dominated by southern traditional types, does that mean that you'd rather fewer 'southern traditional types' be Christians? Shouldn't we rejoice over ANYONE who's a brother/sister in Christ...regardless of their location or ethnicity, etc.? I'm confused. If you have a burden for Native Americans, perhaps God is calling you to reach out to other Native Americans and show them that not all Christians fit into a certain stereotype...and that there's a place for them in Christianity. Sometimes people are more receptive to the Gospel of Christ if they hear it from someone they identify with culturally.

I think at one time or another, we've all felt out of place in a church. The church I grew up in was very uncomfortable for me. Not because of me being different culturally, but because the popular kids from school went there and I wasn't one of them. Luckily, I realized that I could find a church where I did fit in...a place where I could serve God and build friendships. I hope that you have found this too.

We don't fully know what heaven will be like, but I think we can rest assured that when we get there, we won't be upset with the type of music or the type of people who are accompanying us there. It'll be all about God...all about us expressing our thanks to him and giving him praise. I haven't read anywhere in the Bible where it said "heaven will be dominated with Southern Gospel music"....it does mention the Angels singing "worthy worthy worthy..." I bet it'll be a type of music we can't imagine here on earth. We really don't know who all will be in heaven, but the percentage of people from the southern US...as compared to the whole rest of the world may not be that great. The southern us is a relatively small region when you look at it from the perspective of how big the world is...I'm not sure that we can say that Southerners will dominate heaven.

I'm not sure where the root of your resentment lies, so I can't begin to tell you how to get over it. Mostly I would say just ask God to help you deal with it.

God bless!
J

 

[Lbiagm]

good posts guys and girls.

 

[Lady Jaina]

I was saved at the age of 10, or around there, I'm not so good with the math, and I know that going to church doesn't save you, being good doesn't save you, etc. I was saved because I asked Jesus to be Lord of my life and to come into my heart. We are saved only through the blood of Christ and our acceptance of him--think Rom. 10:9. Southern Christians may have their fault, but so do Northern Christians. We've all sinned, we've all been forgiven and we are ALL brothers and sisters in Christ!

 

[Aduro Amnis]

I remember getting the Holy Ghost at age 9, but I was baptized when I was 8 .

 

[Lbiagm]

nice job yall.