How did you reach your standpoint?

[Philosopher King]

Care to share your specific story?

 

[Denique Coelum]

I was brought up in a Christian home, and from a very young age (literally since I was a few weeks old), I was brought along by my parents - who both came from 'brethren' families - to the 'brethren' meeting in my local town. I grew up amongst the brethren and continued to attend the meetings in Falkirk and the localities elsewhere with which we were in fellowship. At the age of 7 or 8, I confessed the Lord as my Saviour.

Through childhood and my early teens, I had little interest in bible study. I knew that there was a God, and that His Son Jesus had died for my sins and that His blood had washed them away, but I didn't have any further desire for the truth. I only remember a few occasions on which I was touched by the singing of a hymn, or a prayer, or the discussion of Scripture, or by the gospel. I never rebelled or felt the need to. I knew that God wanted me to come to the meetings and read my Bible, and I did it, but I lacked understanding or desire.

In my mid-teens, I suddenly took a greater interest in what was going on in the meeting. I listened during the discussions of Scripture and the gospel, I sang the hymns with a new interest. I even became evangelical in a very small way, talking to people online about Jesus.

When I was about 18, a number of my brethren left the fellowship, saying that there were wrong principles and attitudes being held and that they felt they were unable to break bread any longer. All of these brethren starting going to the meetings of another group of brethren, with whom our group had divided over 30 years ago over a matter of doctrine. I was very indignant about this at the time and regarded them as 'betraying' us and going back on their principles. More and more brethren were leaving us (call it 'Group A) and rejoining the other brethren ('Group B'). About a year after all of this occurred, certain things happened amongst our brethren which opened my eyes to the truth. They were small incidents which people on the outside wouldn't have seen as anything at all to make a fuss about, but to me, they were signs of a deeper issue. I won't go into the particulars, but suffice it to say that I realised that there was an emerging legality and hardness of heart, something foreign to Christianity, emerging amongst the brethren of Group A. I stopped coming along to the meetings, and told my local brethren and my parents that I felt I couldn't walk in fellowship with them anymore. My parents supported my decision. I started going along to the local meeting of Group B in a nearby town.

The difference was like night and day. The very first time I came along to the gospel with these other brethren, I felt the Lord's approval and encouragement. Before I went out to the preaching, a local brother and sister invited me to their house and talk over why I'd left the brethren in Group A. I said to them that there was a lack of Christian life amongst them. The preacher that evening preached on the subject of 'life'.

Two years later, my parents starting coming along to the same fellowship.

Since I was 19, I've been attending the Group B fellowship, and visited the meetings in Scotland, England, Ireland and Germany. When I was 20, I broke bread for the first time and again felt confirmed. When my parents came along last year, it wasn't long before they were breaking bread too. There is undoubtedly life, love and true Christianity amongst these people, and I've experienced Spiritual growth. Now I have a desire to be in the company of the brethren and the presence of God, I yearn to learn more about Him, I preach in the street and burn with the fervour of the evangelist. There was food for my starving soul in that place, and God guided me into it.

Now, at the age of 22, I enjoy happy fellowship with my brethren, and hope to continue to grow in my faith and take up more responsibility in the service of God, as far as I'm able.

That's my story!

 

[ivorhughjarse]

When you say "brethren" you cannot mean "Plymouth Brethren" as my friend does work for some in Yorkshire and they shun technology...and you are on here

 

[Car Guy]

My situation was not listed, however, I was raised Roman Catholic until age 12. Then considered myself agnostic for the next 20 years. I became a born again believer at age 32.

I went through the motions as a child but had no clue what Christianity was all about until I started attending a bible believing church. For the first 3-4 years I didn't have much fruit in my life but then when a crisis hit (lost job and lost girlfriend) I had a lot of time to spend with the Lord and really consider my condition as a sinner.

I started studying the bible daily along with attending a small group. In a 2 year period I made many significant changes in my life with the Lord's help. I quit drinking alcohol, using pot, using profanity, and viewing pornography. I also changed many friends and moved to a new state which made a big difference. I had a heart to serve God and not just focusing everything in my life on myself.

When God's truths started taking firm root in my life I spend a lot of time studying Christian Apologetics and it really helped changed my world view. I was able to see how much morality and science was influenced by the atheist secular human viewpoint.

We have a wonderful God who will change lives and viewpoints to truthful ones when we accept Jesus as Savior!

 

[Danus]

Care to share your specific story?

(PK) I could not select any of you options on the poll because they don't fit. I'm willing to bet many will have a hard time narrowing their Christian faith or understandings to any of those options when it comes to answering the question of "How did you reach your standpoint?" Which I take to mean, how did you reach your philosophical, or theological position.

I think there are basically three types of people when it comes to Christianity. Those who reject Christ, those who want to accept Christ, and those who have accepted Christ.

I can say that I was raised in a christian home, although I tend to say I was raised in a religious home. My upbringing had nothing to do with my relationship with Christianity. In fact it probably had more to do with my rejection of it.
I spent the first half of my life as an agnostic and part-time atheist.

Those who reject Christ are pretty easy to spot, in fact they are quite honest about it. I don't have to explain that, but let me dive into the other two types.

The church is full of people who are seeking God, want to know God, and profess a faith for God, but are not really Christians at all. (When I say Church I mean that in the broadest sense, all proclaiming Christ following, Christian God worshiping churches) I don't have to explain these types either because these are the types that those who reject Christ can't stand. We see them all over the place. They are in the news, they tell us to eat our veges and be good like them ect, ect, ect....(I'm being a little facetious for your benefit. can describe these people in many ways, but let's just call them "Said Christians". I'll get back to them in a bit, but let's look at the third type.

The third type are those who have accepted Christ. This is where it get's very sticky because the said Christians will say they have accepted Christ and those who reject Christ can't tell them apart. But, here is the difference from a practical "Standpoint"

1. Those who reject Christ do not trust God.

2. Those who say they accept Christ may or may not trust God. Many are still seeking asking the question, "What can God do for me?" Some are saved and some are not. This is a said faith, a desire to have faith.

3. Those who have accepted Christ trust God. They ask the question, "What can I do for God". This is what true faith is.

The first two types have a lot to do with how someone was raised. The last type has little to do with how someone was raised. It might be a part of it, but it's not the glue of it.

I came to Christ at age 25 when I finally realized I am not in control of my life. This is not to say I was "out of control", by all appearances I had it made, but what others could not see is that I had a void in my life that caused me to try and fulfill that void with things I thought would comfort, save and protect me from the world.

Everyone has this. their is not a man alive who does not, and we all try to fill our lives with things other than God to comfort, save and protect us from the world. Sex, Money, drugs, are some of the more common. Other people lash out at the world in violent ways. Some people seek direct power and control, but everyone does this to an extent.

Once I realized I had no power or control and that life was going to happen no matter what, I decided to turn my trust in myself over to God. There are a couple of philosophies in the Christian faith regarding this process. Some say we choose it, some say God just does it to some. Both are acceptable although some will say not, but it does not matter. He gave me a measure of faith in this, and that has been building ever since as that faith gets exercised in me by God. This is nothing I do, but something he does.

 

[Denique Coelum]

When you say "brethren" you cannot mean "Plymouth Brethren" as my friend does work for some in Yorkshire and they shun technology...and you are on here

Ah hah, but I do. I am what some people call 'Plymouth Brethren', though we don't identify ourselves by any name.

The brethren your friend works for in Yorkshire are mostly likely 'Taylor-Hales' brethren, or what we call 'Jimites'. They followed the leadership of Jim Taylor Jr, and are highly exclusive. As well as shunning technology, they also aren't allowed to have pets, or wear ties, among other things.

My brethren and I, while still deemed 'exclusive' as opposed to 'open' brethren, aren't like that at all. We split from the Taylorites in 1970.

It's rather complicated!

The Wikipedia entry on James Taylor, Jr. is fairly enlightening...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Taylor,_Jr._(Exclusive_Brethren)

 

[for_his_glory]

I'm going to try and nutshell this the best I can. Grew up in a non-Christian home, but had Christian Grandparents living in the next house who were my stability of knowing what love was to a certain point. Went to Church as a child, but only as somewhere to go that was fun outside of the house. Quit going to Church when I was around 15 as it became boring lacking the fun of my early age. Returned to Church at the age of 17 when my at time boyfriend ask me to go. Said the sinners prayer as I was afraid of going to Hell and thought that was all I needed. Went through the emotions of what I saw as being a Christian by the actions of others, but neglected the weightier things of Gods word. For many years I read my Bible faithfully underlining everything that stood out to me, but never grasping total truth other than what man was teaching me.

Fell back into the world again for many years as I was never grounded in the word, but emotions only, never realizing Jesus had my back every time I failed him in all those years I ran from him. Through a life and death situation of being beaten down by the world suicide was my contemplation as I planned out the way I would die.
Jesus knew I was not done yet and directed me to a Church that caused me to truly cry out to know him in such a personal way as I wanted that relationship with him, but didn't know how to Spiritually. This is when I learned to humble myself before him and truly give him my heart and surrender all to him. I no longer look for man to teach me, but to discern what spirit is teaching me through man. God has showed me how to read his word on a Spiritual level instead of that of a carnal logical level. Now his word is made so alive in me by his Holy Spirit that there is nothing of this world that will ever separate me from that love of God and my life is devoted to take his word out into the world by what his Spirit teaches me in all truths.

I do not belong to any particular denomination or non-denomination at the moment, but my fellowship is with my friends where I live as we discuss Gods word and that of unfamiliar faces of friends I have had the privileged to know in forums such as this as I will not forsake the fellowship as we are one body in Christ, even though we might not always agree with each others teachings, but yet have that common ground of loving Jesus and the privilege of being called the children of God by his grace and mercy.

 

[ChristianNationalist]

I was born in a nominally Christian household, but outside of Sunday school as a child I only remember setting foot in a church once growing up. I don't remember any details of that, as I was very young, only that I was there.

As an adolescent I was having a very rough time and begged God for help. None was forthcoming (at least not in the way I wanted, He doesn't jump to do our bidding) and I became a hard-core atheist. Not only did I believe God did not exist, I was angry that he didn't exist.

As a man I softened in my stance, moving on to agnosticism. From agnosticism I moved on to Asatru. Then I began to feel like God was calling me. I found this very confusing, as I was a member of a non-Christian faith. When I thought of the Germanic gods I worshiped at the time I did feel a certain strength. They made me feel like I could stand up to anything. But still I felt God calling me. And when I thought of God I felt something completely different. It was a strength far beyond that I felt when thinking of Odin and his brood, but at the same time made me feel small. I would feel like my heart was ready to burst from my chest. On the very day I began to seriously consider converting I was confronted by a wide-eyed zealot who asked why I didn't go to church. I took this to be a sign from God, I can hardly imagine a more obvious one.

I don't regret my path at all, though I do regret my anger towards God as a teen. Lucky for me God is a loving god who forgives the repentant. When I was an atheist my morality was far more inline with Christians than other atheists and during these years I found myself standing beside Christians on virtually all subjects and the spitefulness of most atheists became more and more obvious. As an agnostic I was able to honestly look at other faiths and see them for what they really are without a Christian bias. From my studies of the Eddas as an Asatruar I am able to see that God's word is everywhere if we're only willing to see it. The idea that God was only the god of the Jews and cared nothing for the rest of his creations until he decided otherwise is ridiculous. He is and was always the God of all of us, he reached out to all men always no matter how many times he was rejected. His word is there in the legends of the Norsemen, his word was there in the time of Akhenaten, his word was there in the time of Buddha, his word is all places always. Usually we have refused to listen, but it was always there and can often be found where you do not expect it. If you strip away the superstitions and blasphemies of primitive man it is there.

 

[elijah23]

Care to share your specific story?

My life used to be very scary. Then the Lord led me to repent of certain sins I was committing. Suddenly my life became very beautiful. All my problems had disappeared. I think these two Bible verses explain what happened:

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt 4:17 RSV

But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Jer 31:33 RSV

 

[Ravenplucker]

The vast majority of my relatives are non-religious, so (as is often the case) I grew up non-religious as well.

Sorry, my story isn't terribly exciting. ;)

 

[felix]

I was raised as a Christian and got into Atheism in my college days. I got into a point where I questioned God in my thoughts for some divine intervention to prove that He exist for a particular situation. The out come was something that I never ever expected. God not only proved to me He existed, He also proved that the adversary existed too. I am just briefing it in simple words as it would take too many pages to write the actual story. After this, I converted back to Christianity.

Having converted into Christianity doesn't mean anything to me as I was just a name Christian. But the very questions which which I questioned Christianity, God and the Scriptures was answered one by one very clearly by God. Since I am a very rational person, I question everything. After God answering and clearing all my doubts through various means over the years, there is something I wasn't able to answer and was still an unanswered question.
Why is there a requirement of a sacrifice of His Son? Who put such a rule? Why God cannot have any other means to save mankind? How does death of Christ can actually save us?
While many try to answer, all those answers were unsatisfactory until God gave me an explanation and the need for Him to die to save us esp, how He was victorious over death to give us eternal life. Unexpectedly, this also answers questions like: What happens if a person sins just before death while lived all throughout his life as a holy person?
(Ref: Why did Jesus Christ had to die?)
These answers further rooted me in Christ.

 

[for_his_glory]

The vast majority of my relatives are non-religious, so (as is often the case) I grew up non-religious as well.

Sorry, my story isn't terribly exciting. ;)

Ravenplucker your story is exciting as it's your story that makes you who you are and where you came from.