Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was thinking back over my years of searching for God and the peace of knowing that I have finally found him..I remembered all the people involved along the way of this journey, and the way they presented their faith to me whether or not I asked for it..My question is.(Sorry, it is long, so just take your pick )Were you more influenced by other peoples interpretations of the bible, did it truly help you? Did it help you when people presented you with verse after verse after verse of the bible, along with translations of foreign languages, even though you asked a simple question? Were you helped by the ones who insisted that you come to church with them? What REALLY brought your faith to the place it is now?
What helped me was seeing evidence of truth in other's lives... Seeing a belief that is not only words, but actions... and by this, proving the validity of the message.
Everyone hates hypocrisy (in others' lives at least!)
I agree its in the evidence of how one lives. I am still full of many questions and its hard for me to look at answers filled with lines and lines of scripture. Blue I have learned a lot from you. You walk the walk. I know I am far from walking the walk, I am still trying to understand the path!
I can say I am where I am at because of my own life experiences. When you see death so young so much as I did, it makes you really think about the "meaning of it all". I myself was not supposed to be born by medical standards. I have a daughter I was told I could never have. I met my husband in a traffic jam. I lost one of my best friends who was the epitomy of being a wonderful soul. I was in the room when she died, I saw the peace in her. I went to Japan and met kids who thought I should be terrified to live in the US because of events that unfolded in my hometown. All of these things have led me to where I am on my walk. Like I said I have far to go, but its how I got where I am. There have been people all along the way who have inspired me and taught me.
On the flip side, I do appreciate the knowledge that I have gained from people. I grew up in church, and I heard all of the typical stories. What was amazing for me was when, as an adult, I began learning all of the intricacies that tie the Bible together. To see the symbolism in the OT and how it points directly to Jesus. It really is an awesome experience to see everything validated.
Interesting questions. For myself, stepping away from the Church, and walking on my own journey definitely has influenced my search, for the better. Reading the Bible, praying, reading books, and websites, each with their own take, and commentary, reading what other faiths believe, being here on CD, seeing what each of you believe, and why...each has given me either something new to contemplate, or at least a new way to ponder an "old" thought. I don't have, (nor do I want), any particular preacher or S.S. teacher trying to steer me away from what they believe would be "dangerous" teachings. I am totally free, and capable, to make my own decisions about my Creator, and my relationship with him. Do I still have questions? You bet, and I know now that I always will, and that it's okay; that no one person or church has a monoply on the answers, contrary to what many of them would like us to think.
Many people would not be comfortable, going it on their own, which I understand, but I found, some years ago, that such a faith does not work for me. I am extremely grateful that I live in a time, and in a country, where I am not bound to any other person's way of believing; that I can continue to journey through my spiritual life as I choose. I suspect that as I continue, my beliefs will grow, change, and evolve, and so long as it is to my betterment, then I am okay with that, and I believe that God is, as well.
Other people's interpretations of the bible is what motivated me to leave my long time church!What I read and understood from reading the bible and what I heard at church,did not line up!
I've rarely read anything about language translations until on this forum.Maybe, if I were younger, I could research and understand.I find it confusing and my intellect cannot grasp a lot of what is being presented.
I have to put my trust in Him,His word and have faith.
I always had a hunger for God even as a child I wanted to please him, however I did not grow up in church, I was so jealous of the kids at school who had the opportunity to go and did not take advantage of it. I horded all my tracts from trick-or-treating hid them under my mattress, just so I could read scriptures, I would often get in trouble for praying by my parents as they were uncomfortable with me. At school I would read the bible during recess or lunch break.I have an Aunt who would give me tracts and I knew she prayed for me often. But it wasnt untill I was around 28 that I was saved, and it was thru a drunk, I was in the Army and at a NCO club I was sitting there and a drunk fell by my chair and he used my chair to get up but as he was standing up he was looking at me and he was looking into me, and he said that I didnt belong there, and I said oh yeah being flippant, I said where do I belong? and he said in church, I knew he spoke truth to me. And thus began my search for knowing God and going to a good bible believing church. And it has been 12 years of growing for me
I always had a hunger for God even as a child I wanted to please him, however I did not grow up in church, I was so jealous of the kids at school who had the opportunity to go and did not take advantage of it. I horded all my tracts from trick-or-treating hid them under my mattress, just so I could read scriptures, I would often get in trouble for praying by my parents as they were uncomfortable with me. At school I would read the bible during recess or lunch break.I have an Aunt who would give me tracts and I knew she prayed for me often. But it wasnt untill I was around 28 that I was saved, and it was thru a drunk, I was in the Army and at a NCO club I was sitting there and a drunk fell by my chair and he used my chair to get up but as he was standing up he was looking at me and he was looking into me, and he said that I didnt belong there, and I said oh yeah being flippant, I said where do I belong? and he said in church, I knew he spoke truth to me. And thus began my search for knowing God and going to a good bible believing church. And it has been 12 years of growing for me
Great testimony! God's Word truly does not "return to Him void".
I always had a hunger for God even as a child I wanted to please him, however I did not grow up in church, I was so jealous of the kids at school who had the opportunity to go and did not take advantage of it. I horded all my tracts from trick-or-treating hid them under my mattress, just so I could read scriptures, I would often get in trouble for praying by my parents as they were uncomfortable with me. At school I would read the bible during recess or lunch break.I have an Aunt who would give me tracts and I knew she prayed for me often. But it wasnt untill I was around 28 that I was saved, and it was thru a drunk, I was in the Army and at a NCO club I was sitting there and a drunk fell by my chair and he used my chair to get up but as he was standing up he was looking at me and he was looking into me, and he said that I didnt belong there, and I said oh yeah being flippant, I said where do I belong? and he said in church, I knew he spoke truth to me. And thus began my search for knowing God and going to a good bible believing church. And it has been 12 years of growing for me
Wow! I was so encouraged by reading your testimony. I'm so glad you finally found what you had been searching for your whole life!
what really brought me to the place of faith where I am now is trying to make sense of personal experiences in my own life that I deeply desired explanations for. I kept asking questions over and over and over (not just to people, but to books and institutions and teachings, and to the Universe and eventually to my Creator). So for me the most important thing is to "live in the question" whatever it is. My beliefs and my life experiences have to line up, align, agree. It's like lining up and having in agreement what my heart is telling me, what my head is telling me, what my daily life experiences are showing me, and what my inner truth knows. It's like a clear bell that resonates, truth in any form is like that bell sounding.
The process never ends, it goes on forever. It is an ongoing dialogue, for there is always more for me to learn and understand in greater, richer, deeper, detail.
The other really essential piece that brought me to the place of faith where I am now is asking for signs and receiving them....over and over and over. When I realized and had proven to me through my own "experiments" that there really is a kind, loving, responsive presence surrounding and filling the world, and it RESPONDS DIRECTLY TO ME in ways that are individual, personal, and meaningful, that was the coolest thing in the world. It still is!
Last edited by Tzaphkiel; 02-27-2008 at 02:45 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
)Were you more influenced by other peoples interpretations of the bible, did it truly help you? Did it help you when people presented you with verse after verse after verse of the bible, along with translations of foreign languages, even though you asked a simple question? Were you helped by the ones who insisted that you come to church with them? What REALLY brought your faith to the place it is now?
For myself, stepping away from the Church, and walking on my own journey definitely has influenced my search, for the better. Reading the Bible, praying, reading books, and websites, each with their own take, and commentary, reading what other faiths believe, being here on CD, seeing what each of you believe, and why...each has given me either something new to contemplate, or at least a new way to ponder an "old" thought.
