A Call to Gathering for Christian ATS'ers

I was born into christ. Baptised, had first communion, all that stuff.

Yet I've never seen jesus. Nor any of the entities described. In fact, it would be fair to say that all you can do is imagine them. With your brain.

Which, makes them... imaginary. Or maybe I'm just an unworthy sinner who does not get miracles and visions. Oh why has god so forsaken me?

Ahh religious school was simply a great way for evil adults to torture innocent children...

I gave an entire thread to my own story, which is much too long for the character limit.

Here is a key extract;

Then I went to university, which brought me up against the most important question in the universe;
How do I go about meeting girls?
This was a university which was still segregated into male and female colleges.
There was a great imbalance of male to female students; the figure normally quoted was “four-to-one”.
I noticed at an early stage that the three most popular ways of meeting the opposite sex were disco-dancing, left-wing politics, and religion, and they were all barred to me, for different reasons.
I was obliged to try other approaches.

One good way to meet people seemed to be the bread-and-cheese lunches which were organised in different colleges to raise money for War on Want.
Nobody warned me that War-on-Want lunches were a hot-bed of Christian activity.

That was how I found myself, one afternoon, having coffee with a girl who then set about presenting the case for the Christian faith.
She wasn’t the first person to make the attempt, but in this particular case I was interested In following up the argument.
The meetings continued, though she was shrewd enough to guess that we were following different agendas, as my diary records;
“Later, in a period of rest, she asked me why I had sent her a note.
Because, I said, eventually, I had thought she might not be in if I didn’t.
She said that wasn’t answering the question.
We finally agreed that I had been driven by curiosity, which was (she said) the result of the Holy Ghost working in me”.

The full story can be seen at;
How an atheist became a Christian

Originally posted by DeadSeraph
@OP: While I think your thread is a great idea and I was looking forward to reading the testimonies of others, it's obvious that ATS is not a very good place for such a discussion, as your thread has already been the target of trolling and we aren't even 2 pages in. I suppose Matthew 7:6 rings as true today as it did in Christ's time.

I expected as much, that is why I specifically asked those that were not Christians to refrain. Sadly, it proves that I was not mistaken in my assumptions about some members of this site (nature of the internet and all that).

As for those that have shared their experiences, I thank you all. I find that few things in life help to strengthen the faith of a Christian like hearing these stories, and I invite the rest of the Christian ATS community to continue to share, after all, that's what this thread is for.

To the non believers who've posted, I did not start a "all religions" thread, if you feel left out, please feel free to start one for your particular belief system (or all belief systems if you're so inclined) and have a good time sharing with those that share your views.

I suggest that we continue on, and as they say, "Don't feed the trolls".

Matthew 5:39 "But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also."

It is the nature of those that do not have Christ to despise him and those that follow him.

Matthew 27:44 "In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him."

We cannot change their hearts, only the Holy Spirit can do that.

John 12-39-40 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”

So my fellow Christians, shall we continue?

Originally posted by ProfessorChaos

So my fellow Christians, shall we continue?

It's worth while just to stand up for the true purpose of this subforum, which is about presenting faith ("share your own faith-based experiences"), not attacking it.

I was born into the Catholic Church, I was dragged to Mass on Sundays, had my First Communion, Penance, but was never confirmed.

When Confirmation classes started, like any kid at that age, I didn't want to go, but was forced to attend the first class with my Uncle (who was only a year older than I was) by my Grandmother. During the ride to the church, as I was wont to do, I began debating my Grandmother over what I perceived as the pointlessness of the ritual of confirmation. Her answers were the old standby's that many Catholics may recall, "It's tradition" "It's what the Vatican teaches" etc, but then she came out with the one that she would never have thought was going to catapult me from the church completely, "You have to prove yourself to God". Being the little wiseguy that I was, I contemplated her answers and when we reached the church parking lot and got out of the car, my Uncle no doubt thrilled that the argument was over, I looked at my Grandmother and fired my last salvo,
"Nana, let me ask you one last thing"
She rolled her eyes, obviously just wanting at this point to drop us off and go home, "what is it, Jason? No matter what, you're going to this class."
"God is everywhere, right?"
"Yes."
"And He sees everything, right?"
"Yes," I remember to this day her look of wariness, I was an argumentative kid, and she knew I was about to drop an H-Bomb before going off to the class.
I continued the setup, wanting to be sure that my aim was true, "and he knows what I'm going to do before I ever do it, right?"
"Yes."
"If God can see all of that, and he knows everything already, then what do I have to prove?"
If looks could kill, I wouldn't be here today. She shook her head and replied, "You just have to."

I went to that class, which was strictly about abortion, and never went back.

That was the end of my Catholic life, and for all intents and purposes my life involving anything Christian in nature or name. It angered me that she would force teaching that she, herself had little to no understanding of on others.

Anything religious in nature was fodder for my venom, I had no desire or will to give the least bit of quarter to faith in any way. I also became the official 'black sheep' of an otherwise strictly Irish, Roman Catholic family.

It took a further four years before I started to feel an urging in myself that was calling me to God, but it did happen. I found myself starting to peruse the Bible, and then studying it.

When I was 18, I gave myself to Christ, I had a girlfriend who was equally open to the idea, and we read together and before long, I professed myself a Christian.

My watershed moment didn't come however until my first marriage ended; my wife cheated on me with someone extremely close to me, they'd been spending a lot of time together, and I casually asked her what they were doing, my then wife replied "we're reading the Bible"; I trusted my wife, and thought nothing of it.

Of course as with most sins, this too came out in the open.

I called my pastor, pleaded with him for counsel, but he didn't have time to talk to me. I was in a very dark place, and needed guidance, but with his reluctance to get involved, and my circumstances, it spelled the end of my life in any organized church. (That remains true to this day).

The downward spiral was a quick one for me; heavy drinking, drug use, and a lack of concern for my own life.

God had forsaken me, or at least I believed that to be the case. I was sitting in the bathroom at my mother's house some time later, rocking back and forth and repeating the words "I just want to die" over and over again. I had purchased the pills that would end my life, and had made plans for driving off to a secluded place in which to take them. Nobody was home, so that was going to be the day. I had already spent time talking to my son when he visited (he was a little over a year old, so the talks were more for me than for him), and assured him that even though he wouldn't be able to see Daddy, Daddy would be there watching him and helping him.

So, as I sat rocking and muttering my mantra in the empty house, preparing myself for what I had planned to do:

"I just want to die, I just want to die, I just want to die"

I heard a distinctly male voice in my right ear, it was a deep voice, "No, you don't."

This freaked me out completely, I thought at first that it was my Dad, that he'd come home early and had heard me; I jumped up and ran out of the bathroom, no one was there, I searched the entire house, I was alone.

After a while, I went back into the bathroom and sat down and considered what had happened, and finally looked up and said, "Okay, Lord."

That was when I really dedicated myself to Christ. That was 18 years ago.

I know that some will claim that it was intuition, or my own psyche that i heard on that day, but I know that it wasn't.

I am alive today and though life has been extremely difficult, I maintain my faith in Christ.

Like AriesJedi, I accepted Christ at a young age and remember it like it was yesterday.

Even though I haven't always lived my life perfectly, God ALWAYS reminded me that he was with me everywhere I went. I never needed to "see" Him to know he was there. Whether it was a preacher changing my flat tire, "Jesus Saves" spray painted on overpasses or even a picture of Jesus above some filthy toilet at a service station in some remote area. Every close call that never resulted in an accident, checks coming in the mail when most needed and at times least expected, specific people coming into my life at the times when they were needed most, etc..

I specifically pray for God to keep me in His perfect timing and not my own. I praise God that he has soothed every one of my fears and proved them unwarranted. I specifically remember a time in my life when I was most fearful (at the age of 29) and I did have a dream that Jesus took me by the hand while walking through a garden and told me that He would always take care of me and keep me from extreme struggle. That was almost twenty years ago and I'm amazed at the level of ease and peace that has been extended to me throughout this time.

Due to all of this, I have never doubted my faith. God doesn't need to send us visions to make us aware of his presence. It's much easier to recognize his presence when we stay in constant contact with Him and make a conscious effort to build that relationship, because that's what it is. It's truly a relationship. If you don't feel like you have one, it's time to start building one. The more you make yourself available to God and talk to Him, the more he'll make himself available to you to the point of the obvious.

God Bless All of You!

Originally posted by DISRAELI

Originally posted by ProfessorChaos

So my fellow Christians, shall we continue?

It's worth while just to stand up for the true purpose of this subforum, which is about presenting faith ("share your own faith-based experiences"), not attacking it.

You're right, I was just trying to redirect those that wish to, back toward the topic at hand. The less time we spend responding to those posts, the more time we spend sharing our experiences.

reply to post by charles1952

Originally posted by charles1952
Would you care to explain how you found Christ? That is the topic du jour.

I "found" Christ when I was forced to go to church against my will when I was younger; when it was put into my young mind that I must believe in Christianity or I will be tortured for all eternity. When I was reading The New Testament in order to escape hell and The Devil.

reply to post by ProfessorChaos


- thanks for the thread PC
.. its a most opressing day , i hope i m not too random ;

first, i think that, overall, whole of ATS is very much respecting your thread -
since you started the topic very kindly and reasonable,
and i consider it a compliment to the members that they respect that
...second, the [inherent] 'danger' of a thread like this is, that it *can* end up in a Competition,
- eventhough i saw you really want to maintain the right sphere

I have a brother, who is searching very much - in fact he is preacher -
and has a very difficult time with "not expieriencing the God he preaches"
Yet he continues,
and not out of Willfullness or [negative] stubbornness, but simply because he trusts the Promise.

so it seems,
that there are many...types of believers,
or perhaps better "different types of Hurdles",
and that certain believers are asked to conquer those specific type of hurdles

..lets imagine those Hurdles being things as "physical illness" or " mindpower" or "domination in a relationship" or " addiction" or "divination" - perhaps there are even as much as 144.000 Attributes, which were once perfect - but have Fallen, and became Distorted [ like the examples above]

...what He does, is place a specific Attribute upon a person, a soul,
and that soul is asked to Cónquer that [fallen] Attribute
and, when finally conquered, the Attribute is free, and can go back to Him,
and bý that freeing, the Soul, who carried that attribute, is freed, as well

..thats why satan will bury that soul with problems
and a 100 methods to let that person give up
let him win the lottery - so he will forget his task -
or make it Impossible for him to continue
..either way is good

Usually, the type of person is related to the type of Hurdle
.......for example : i ve been never seriously physically ill ; so i would not have any Legal Right to can "conquer the Attribute named Physical Illness".... right..

- but i know there are others, whom i havent met yet - who are struggling exactly with thát. More : there are 144.000 óthers who are battling their own specific attribute.
I will not win, withóut them : as they will not win without me.

..this is what the parable of the Talents is about:
not, as most naively think, about "talents, given to the Ego of a person" ,
but these talents are "Attributes"

..why was the master so angry about the talent, He gave to the servant - and who buried it ?
- because if even 1 Attribute is "buried" , then no rapture - and therefore No Kingdom - will happen.
"Buried" meaning here, that this perticular Soul sénsed that an attribute was placed upon him : but he tried to Evade it, evade to fight it, and just try being happy in the world.

so
..i dont think it is so much about ' who has met or seen the most impressive things'
but , in fact,
all that matters, is that every person should make sure he is not Overlooking the Attribute which was placed upon him - because thát would be Grave

- added -

.. im careful to not mix another topic with this thread,
but it is heavy on my heart [ below] and also related ,

..what is happening, *these very days* ,
is that It is Forcing to connect Its "above and below"
to force Its [false] "heaven" upon earth

..and that action is represented by the startetrahedron [ or hexagram in 2d]
squeezing by forcing that literally the Life out of believers
Dan 12:7

this is why It chose the startetrahedron as symbol to represent the heart of a person
since it is the heart, where both meet
..as some Bizarre mimick of how Hé is the heart of male and female

but these days, It continually tries to seperate His male from His female,
to get them Apart, and both seperate from Him,
so that It can Force Its false light into man

"..what you see coming, watchman ?
I see horses "
Isaiah

the first horse being False Light
the "above" dimension searching by Force to connect with earth
to imprison

The rapture will happen simultaneously with this closing dimension
and rapture is not some "escape route for lazy souls"
but 144.000 Attributes, who will establish His kingdom, Legally
[ but not Literally - yet]

..many, many souls will realize Too Late, they got Tricked into that dimension
and even thén, He will get millions Out, still
dubbed 'harvest'

i had a dream years ago
the world outside was pitchdark, and huge orange flames everywhere on earth
A group of 20 or so of us, were inside a glass bunker, the flames billowing around us
but no one was interested in the sad spectacle outside,
but everyone was breathless watching the entrance of the bunker

and every now and then, the whole group cheered, when a new person, coming from that hell outside, entered
- and he cóuld, as soon that person had found the 'password ' to can enter the safe place: He

never be jealous on others
look at your situation, at you; inquire, and make sure you find your Attribute : right now
regards

To make a long story short, I did a lot of things i'm ashamed of. Things I wish I could take back, people I hurt and people who hurt me. It wasn't fear that brought me to Christ, it was sorrow for the things I have done in my life, and sorrow for things I still do sometimes. I tried a lot of things from the occult but nothing ever offered me peace of mind and a rest from the torment I experienced as a child, and the torment I experienced that was self inflicted after I turned 18, got low enough at one point I wanted to kill myself. I just wanted redemption, the slate wiped clean and a new life and...purpose. I needed...


HOPE

reply to post by arpgme

Originally posted by arpgme
I "found" Christ when I was forced to go to church against my will when I was younger; when it was put into my young mind that I must believe in Christianity or I will be tortured for all eternity. When I was reading The New Testament in order to escape hell and The Devil.

God will never FORCE anyone to go to Heaven.

ALL of us choose our own destiny.

"I'm a gentleman Nick, I'll never force myself on you or anyone.

Nick, what would be more unjust and unfair, for me to steal you at the moment of your death and force you to live in my presence and in my will for all eternity.

Hell on the other hand is a place where you'll be completely free from all of my "though shalt nots"... FOREVER."

Melisa: But surely no one would choose that if they knew you really existed?

Jesus: Not so, nobody goes into hell blindfolded. In one way or another, I've revealed myself to everyone.

Melisa: But if they could just see you...

Jesus: Not even that would be enough. Look at satan, he stood before me in the very throne room of God. But he thought the beauty and the power bestowed was somehow earned. Gave himself over to pride. Scratch any sin and just below the surface you'll find pride... Source

Originally posted by arpgme
reply to post by charles1952

 

Originally posted by charles1952
Would you care to explain how you found Christ? That is the topic du jour.

I "found" Christ when I was forced to go to church against my will when I was younger; when it was put into my young mind that I must believe in Christianity or I will be tortured for all eternity. When I was reading The New Testament in order to escape hell and The Devil.

You never "found" Christ then. It's a choice and cannot be forced. Accept his gift, or don't that is your option. If your parents made you go, it was so that you could least learn that you had a choice to make. Muslim do not get a choice, the Sahida is whispered in your ears as an infant and you are then muslim and in most Sharia compliant countries apostasy is met with death or imprisonment until you recant.

If you do not accept his gift, then the "hell" you will experienced is God forgetting you existed, and if he forgets you, then you cease to exist, and you are dead forever. Again "hell" is based on the Hebrew "sheol" which just means "the Grave" it is also referred to as "the Abyss" or "the bottomless pit", because the second death is endless. A word you may associate it with is Oblivion, non-existence. When he writes someone out of his "book of life" he forgets they ever existed.

I am amazed about how Hypocrites are there in any religion.

That is how free we are.

We can say all we want and do the opposite.

Long live true Christians.

I wish there were true Christiand who really loved Jesus , If there were enough life devoting people , then there should have been few people mocking Jesus Christ and rip the curtains one after another.

IMO western Christianity is also a western version. IT is based on interest and opportunity. AS long as there is opportunity , despite it is against teaching of Christ , people follow.

And another point is how hateful and war-crying they are when their interest are being threatened.

reply to post by winofiend

Ahh religious school was simply a great way for evil adults to torture innocent children...

I think that most school is like that.
I think that home school would be a good idea and think public school is more training to follow orders, like the military or prison.

Originally posted by Druscilla
I've made a few changes to the OP, and think it reads better in the following manner. After all, regardless of what faith in imaginary super beings one has, it all boils down to faith.

I have noticed some of you prowling these forums and I was curious to know how it was that you found Odin, Krishna, Buddha, Allah, Satan, Benevolent Alien Light Beings, or even Atheism?

There's been an awful lot of anti-belief threads/comments on this site (especially lately), and it's been more than a little disheartening, so I thought it might be a good idea for ATS'ers of any and all beliefs to share their conversion experiences with each other.

It would be appreciated if opposing believers refrained from making attacks on thefaiths, or ideals in this thread, since there's plenty of other places on ATS to vent your feelings aboutopposing faiths or ideals, and this thread has been made for the sharing of testimony and fellowship, so please be respectful.

Let's also be mindful that there are differences between all faiths, and there's no need of theological debates here either.

Share your testimony here, and edify each other.

edit on 25-8-2013 by Druscilla because: (no reason given)

I am curious as to what gives you the authority to change the OP's thread? Thus making it invalid in a call to "Christians", and by doing so you have actually gone OFF TOPIC.

If you wished a more over-arching thread why not create your own instead of adding "your" opinion? While you are absolutely correct that there are a multitude of religions and beliefs and each is as valid to the believer this is not the topic. Why not avoid the thread all together instead of creating your much needed argument?

The OP asked for testimonies of Christianity of which you provided none, in an attempt to derail their thread. Now if you didn't have a testimony, I am curious why you felt the need to create derision?

There is no need for dispute:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I found Christ the same way many did: He found me.

I was always from a catholic background but I never really delved into the whole life in the Spirit until I was reckoned by destiny and saw myself for what I was.

And seeing myself as such I was given the opportunity to become new, to assume purity, and to live life in the way God has intended.

Whether I suffer and weep, or laugh and play, I do so with my God.

but to be without is something I'd rather not be.

reply to post by mideast


C'mon man, don't criticize or judge us. We are all in this together.

All of us have had our vision blurred. We should care for the lesser among our brothers more than the greater.

This is not a competition.

I for one would not like to see a brother out on the street. I would not like to see myself receive so much mercy and a brother of mine none.

May God have mercy upon and open the eyes of those who see vaguely.

Peace to you, my friend