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Seeker444

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Hello. I'm new here. I struggled to answer the question in registration of whether I'm a Christian or not. I chose "no" because I don't want to claim something that I don't fully identify with.

I was raised Roman Catholic and attended church fairly consistently until I was 10 years old but outside of church was not raised in a loving family with true Christian values. I was in a very abusive household and asked God to help me. I prayed a lot. The help never came, instead life got worse & I felt betrayed and unloved by God so I lost my trust in God. In my early 30's I started to actively seek deeper connection again and turned to various sources including ancient shamanic practices, plant medicines, "new age" and so on. I received guidance but still felt alone and isolated in that world. I have recently been guided to follow Christ's teachings and have read small sections of the Bible, listened to some bible studies and sermons online. I'm feeling very confused through this time, because I truly don't know how to trust God.

I have been ill most of my life in addition to everything else and have now become disabled and am not working and do not have a support system. I am alone most of the time and struggle intensely with social anxiety, so most of my social interaction and learning is online now. I just want to heal. I feel I was born into such an abusive isolating situation and fell into mental bondage and have not been able to break free whether I follow Christ or not.

When I look at the state of the world right now, the cults popping up, the chaos, racial tensions, violence, pollution, disease and everything in the world I feel hopeless. I'm glad to have found this forum and hope to make some friends here. That is my story so far. I pray for transformation in my life, on the deepest level. Thank you.
 
Hello welcome! I was scared and confused a lot before I came here too. I'm still rather confused at times. I pray that you find everything you are looking for here and you grow stronger in Christ as I have. It's only normal that you have these feelings and at least you feel comfortable enough to share them with us. After all, honestly is always the best policy.
 
You could keep all but the tiniest details and you just described my life adventure as well. Maybe one difference, I never stopped being a Christian, even when involved with Buddhism, a couple other -isms, New Age, etc. After a major spiritual event in my life, I found out what being born again was about, and it just took my love of God to a new level.
 
Hi Seeker444, and welcome to these forums of Christian fellowship. Our Father loved you enough to send Jesus to die for you, and we love you too. You leave a clue as to your identity in Christ, and that is the following quote of yours.
Seeker444 said:
I prayed a lot.
Click to expand...
At this point you probably have no idea the importance of that, but most of us go by scripture, and I'll just quote
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?

What this is saying is that if you prayed to God, you had to believe on Him to do so, and as the result you are saved.
I too came out of Catholicism, and at the time knew little more than rules and dogma.

If this made sense at all to you, I wrote the following pamphlet that I hope will give you an understanding of who you are in Christ. To have peace in my life, I had to learn these things, and you can too. :)
Salvation with Security – 1, 2, 3
http://www.christianforums.net/Fell...ds/salvation-with-security-parts-1-2-3.52236/
 
Eugene said:
Hi Seeker444, and welcome to these forums of Christian fellowship. Our Father loved you enough to send Jesus to die for you, and we love you too. You leave a clue as to your identity in Christ, and that is the following quote of yours.

At this point you probably have no idea the importance of that, but most of us go by scripture, and I'll just quote
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?

What this is saying is that if you prayed to God, you had to believe on Him to do so, and as the result you are saved.
I too came out of Catholicism, and at the time knew little more than rules and dogma.

If this made sense at all to you, I wrote the following pamphlet that I hope will give you an understanding of who you are in Christ. To have peace in my life, I had to learn these things, and you can too. :)
Salvation with Security – 1, 2, 3
http://www.christianforums.net/Fell...ds/salvation-with-security-parts-1-2-3.52236/
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for the warm welcome. I will check out the resources provided. Does this forum follow any specific religion or sect?
 
Seeker444 said:
Thank you so much for the warm welcome. I will check out the resources provided. Does this forum follow any specific religion or sect?
Click to expand...





Not really. You just can't discuss the Catholic religion too much. But we pretty much get every kind of Christian denomination here.
 
Hi Seeker444, we're just Christians because we have received Christ as our Savior. There are many denominations represented among us that have different understanding including some Catholics who are Christians too. I personally am non-denominational in my doctrines, but we all in Christ are part of the one and only Church; the body of Christ.
1Co 12:27. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. As you're around us a bit, some of these things will make more sense to you. :nod
 
Eugene said:
We're just Christians because we have received Christ as our Savior. There are many denominations represented among us that have different understanding including some Catholics who are Christians too. I personally am non-denominational in my doctrines, but we all in Christ are part of the one and only Church; the body of Christ.
1Co 12:27. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. As you're around us a bit, some of these things will make more sense to you. :nod
Click to expand...

Thank you!
 
Seeker444 said:
Would you be willing to share more about this? Thank you
Click to expand...
Of course (actually I have in previous posts).

In short, I was "summoned" out of nowhere to an all-night spiritual session in Hawaii. Led by a Japanese-speaking Indian guru (could I even be making this up?), I was taken on a vision of Hell and basically told to change my ways. I wasn't a bad person, but I see now terribly misguided and not on the true path despite being a Christian.
 
KevinK said:
Of course (actually I have in previous posts).

In short, I was "summoned" out of nowhere to an all-night spiritual session in Hawaii. Led by a Japanese-speaking Indian guru (could I even be making this up?), I was taken on a vision of Hell and basically told to change my ways. I wasn't a bad person, but I see now terribly misguided and not on the true path despite being a Christian.
Click to expand...

Oh wow, I will find your full testimony. Thanks for sharing.
 
Seeker444 said:
Hello. I'm new here. I struggled to answer the question in registration of whether I'm a Christian or not. I chose "no" because I don't want to claim something that I don't fully identify with.

I was raised Roman Catholic and attended church fairly consistently until I was 10 years old but outside of church was not raised in a loving family with true Christian values. I was in a very abusive household and asked God to help me. I prayed a lot. The help never came, instead life got worse & I felt betrayed and unloved by God so I lost my trust in God. In my early 30's I started to actively seek deeper connection again and turned to various sources including ancient shamanic practices, plant medicines, "new age" and so on. I received guidance but still felt alone and isolated in that world. I have recently been guided to follow Christ's teachings and have read small sections of the Bible, listened to some bible studies and sermons online. I'm feeling very confused through this time, because I truly don't know how to trust God.

I have been ill most of my life in addition to everything else and have now become disabled and am not working and do not have a support system. I am alone most of the time and struggle intensely with social anxiety, so most of my social interaction and learning is online now. I just want to heal. I feel I was born into such an abusive isolating situation and fell into mental bondage and have not been able to break free whether I follow Christ or not.

When I look at the state of the world right now, the cults popping up, the chaos, racial tensions, violence, pollution, disease and everything in the world I feel hopeless. I'm glad to have found this forum and hope to make some friends here. That is my story so far. I pray for transformation in my life, on the deepest level. Thank you.
Click to expand...

Thank you for joining us Seeker444. I trust you will be a blessing to us and that we can support you in some way in your social isolation.

What is the greatest 'battle' you face right now?

Blessings in Christ,
Oz
 
hi. welcome to CFnet. Thanks for being so open with everyone. God rewards those who diligently seek Him.

Becoming a Born Again Christian is fairly easy; all one has to do is summon up enough humility to pray and ask for forgiveness and to be saved. That's the big step. After that, though, things can get...interesting. Have you ever read CS Lewis? He wrote this novel, The Great Divorce, all about "becoming real," etc. Its basically about Christian growth and maturation. "You must die to be Born Again." It isn't always the easiest life ever, but I do find that my Walk with The Lord has come to mean the world to me. Somewhere in the Gospels, Jesus says (I'm paraphrasing, and not very well) that whatever one loses by following Him, one will be blessed with what has been lost and then some in The Kingdom of God. Nobody's saying that becoming a Christian and following Christ will make one's life Heaven on earth, but I will (personally...) say that I've only been saved 5 years, and He has already blessed me with far more than I ever lost, far more than I ever had before He saved (is saving, I pray will save...) me.


OK. It seems I've rambled, lol. Welcome to CFnet. I'll keep you up in prayer, and I"m sure other people here will, too. :)
 
OzSpen said:
Thank you for joining us Seeker444. I trust you will be a blessing to us and that we can support you in some way in your social isolation.

What is the greatest 'battle' you face right now?

Blessings in Christ,
Oz
Click to expand...

Hello, the greatest battle is lack of support & accepting support. Thanks.
 
Seeker444 said:
Hello. I'm new here. I struggled to answer the question in registration of whether I'm a Christian or not. I chose "no" because I don't want to claim something that I don't fully identify with.

I was raised Roman Catholic and attended church fairly consistently until I was 10 years old but outside of church was not raised in a loving family with true Christian values. I was in a very abusive household and asked God to help me. I prayed a lot. The help never came, instead life got worse & I felt betrayed and unloved by God so I lost my trust in God. In my early 30's I started to actively seek deeper connection again and turned to various sources including ancient shamanic practices, plant medicines, "new age" and so on. I received guidance but still felt alone and isolated in that world. I have recently been guided to follow Christ's teachings and have read small sections of the Bible, listened to some bible studies and sermons online. I'm feeling very confused through this time, because I truly don't know how to trust God.

I have been ill most of my life in addition to everything else and have now become disabled and am not working and do not have a support system. I am alone most of the time and struggle intensely with social anxiety, so most of my social interaction and learning is online now. I just want to heal. I feel I was born into such an abusive isolating situation and fell into mental bondage and have not been able to break free whether I follow Christ or not.

When I look at the state of the world right now, the cults popping up, the chaos, racial tensions, violence, pollution, disease and everything in the world I feel hopeless. I'm glad to have found this forum and hope to make some friends here. That is my story so far. I pray for transformation in my life, on the deepest level. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Hi Seeker,
I also grew up as a Catholic.
I changed when I became born again because there were so much doctrine I couldn't agree with.
I believe you'll find a nice Christian home here. Take the time to get to know us.
It's like a little community...everyone is different.
Welcome!
 
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