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Why did you choose to be Christian?

Why did you choose to be Christian?


  • Total voters
    25
I was brought up in a Christian family, but at the age of 13 I was convicted by the Holy Ghost and could not rest or sleep until I gave myself to God and asked for Jesus' saving Grace in my life.

In my college years I struggled with some doubts and uncertainties, and studied many other religions during that period, but I came back to Christianity; it was the only one that really rang true to me.


Since then I've had to bury all my grandparents, half my Aunts and Uncles, my own parents and my best friend-like-a-brother. I've endured an unwanted divorce and single parenthood, had times of poverty and times of prosperity, times of joy and times of deep suffering.... and I continue in the faith. I am a flawed human being and my walk is imperfect at best, but I try to live by what I believe daily... not to be saved, but because in gratitude of Jesus' Grace I try to do what pleases my God, to do justice and practice mercy and charity and kindness. I work and eat my own bread in quiet and take care of those I can, and when someone is open to it I reach out and offer them The Word.

I'm also nothing special. There are tens of millions more much like me, just quietly living the faith out as best they can and trusting in Jesus' Grace. You don't hear about us in the news very often; we rarely do or say anything newsworthy. We're the anonymous man that helps you change a tire and refuses to take anything for it; the quiet woman that fills trays of food for the poor at the Soup Kitchen; the youngster that hands you a pamphlet and invites you to attend their church with a smile; the nameless man in the background sawing boards when the news reports on a new project by Habitat For Humanity.

Most of us are quiet folk who have no desire to force you to do things our way. We probably think it would be better if you did, and if you're open to talking about it we're willing to explain it, but we rarely push it on anyone who doesn't want to hear it.


Well anyway that's my two bits...
 
Interesting question.

I came to my Christian faith literally by divine intervention. But alittle background is required first.

My parents were somewhat divided religiously. In most cases where either of my parents split from their religious faith OR still believed but choose to no longer affiliate with a church, it came down to having trust issues with the church Pastor. I watched my mom cycle through various religions from Christianity to Buddhism to Islam and struggle with adherence to each. Ultimately, she came back to Christianity years prior to her death. My father, though he never lost his Christian faith, choose not to return to a structured church (the exact reason is unknown but I'm sure he, too, had trust issues with leadership of each church our family attended) and instead practice his faith at home. Each Sunday morning, he could be found in our den reading his Bible while listening to gospel music until noon time.

I've always been a spiritual person believing firmly that religion tends to divide man whereas spirituality unites man, but even while I was in the Navy I never formerly affiliated with a formal church. This despite the fact that I've always believed in a higher power...God if you will. Fast forward to the Fall of 2001...

I'm enroute to see a man about purchasing a vehicle and I'm rear ended by a drunk driver. My newly wed wife, newborn daughter and step-son are in the car with me. Everyone's injured except the baby. My step-son was nearly thrown from the car despite himself (and everyone else) wearing his seatbelt. Fortunately, he only suffered a few cuts and bruises. My wife suffered two fractured ribs. I'd suffered a severe concussion. I'm out of work for nearly two weeks with short-term memory lose. (My wife and kids laugh and tease me about it now because back then they say I'd ask the same questions over and over and over again every day. I liberally could not remember what happened.) It's during this healing period where something unexpected happened that I can only call divine intervention.

It was on a Sunday (though at the time, I didn't know it was Sunday...). I woke up and had this strong desire to go to church. It was like I was compelled to go. So, I got up wearing the shorts and T-shirt I had on, slipped into my sandles (which I hadn't realized I'd put on until later because the strap came loose and I almost tripped) and walked the quarter mile to the small church that was in my neighborhood. I'd been there only once before being new to the area. So, I stumble in and I'm greeted by the man who would soon become my spiritual mentor. He asks me if I needed help and all I said was, "I needed to pray". And so, I walked upstairs to the Prayer Room and immediate fell to my knees and began to pray...for the next hour. All the while, this man whom I'd never met until that day is waiting there, himself and the church Pastor, until I finished. I slumped to the ground but to my surprise he was there to catch me.

After I'd gained my composure, the gentleman drove me home. (Again, short-term memory lose, not long-term.) And when I got home my wife was in a total panic! I hadn't told anyone where I was going. Of course, as I said I'd woke up and felt this strong pull to go to church and pray. And that's how I came fully to my Christian faith. I've studied Islam and Buddhism in part because of the conflicts my mom had with both religions but Islam in particular because of events post-9/11. But in spite of what I've learned of those religions, I've never considered changing my faith.

Sidenote: If you're wondering how I reconcile spirituality with my Christian faith, it's easy. I try to stay humble and leave acute judgement (sin -vs- sinners and the measure of such) to God.

I did not choose to become a Christian. I believe that I was chosen. "You did not choose Me, but I chose you..." John 15:16 (KJV). "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draw him." John 6:44 (KJV).

That being said, I do not believe that God chose me because of who, or what, I am. He chose me because of Who, and What, He is. He chose me for His purposes, and I am trying, with His help, to fulfill His purpose(s) for me.

That's pretty much how I see it for myself. Sure, I went to church with my parents as a child when they did attend, but ultimately I'd have to say I was chosen as opposed to me personally making the selection. Once my parents stopped attending church (which for me was when I was in the 6th grade), I didn't go back formally until the incident as I described above.
 
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Most people end up wherever they need to be and that's fine with me. That is why religion is personal. Everyone's struggle is personal and everyone struggles with one thing or another all the time. You take from religion, or you don't, what you need at the time.

My parents are Christians, my wife, family and almost all of my friends are Christians. It's just the way we grew up. It didn't fill my needs or answer my questions, but that's me. All my Christian family and friends accept that just as I accept their faith.

In my experience that is generally the way it is everywhere. The internet and broadcast media distort reality.

Recently in Phoenix some peckerheads decided to have a "Draw a Picture of Muhammed" contest in front a local mosque. Hatred was the purpose. Probably many of you read or heard about that. The idiots wore guns and t-shirts saying "**** Muhammed" and they held posters and screamed at Muslims. The news media ate it. It went national.

What you probably didn't hear is that the next week Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs and Buddhists gathered together in front of the mosque in a peaceful demonstration of community support, understanding and cooperation.

It happens all the time. Idiots get the press and normal peace loving people rarely do. Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that however people came to their particular religion or lack thereof most people struggle with the same basic things in life.
 
I was brought up in a Christian family, but at the age of 13 I was convicted by the Holy Ghost and could not rest or sleep until I gave myself to God and asked for Jesus' saving Grace in my life.

In my college years I struggled with some doubts and uncertainties, and studied many other religions during that period, but I came back to Christianity; it was the only one that really rang true to me.


Since then I've had to bury all my grandparents, half my Aunts and Uncles, my own parents and my best friend-like-a-brother. I've endured an unwanted divorce and single parenthood, had times of poverty and times of prosperity, times of joy and times of deep suffering.... and I continue in the faith. I am a flawed human being and my walk is imperfect at best, but I try to live by what I believe daily... not to be saved, but because in gratitude of Jesus' Grace I try to do what pleases my God, to do justice and practice mercy and charity and kindness. I work and eat my own bread in quiet and take care of those I can, and when someone is open to it I reach out and offer them The Word.

I'm also nothing special. There are tens of millions more much like me, just quietly living the faith out as best they can and trusting in Jesus' Grace. You don't hear about us in the news very often; we rarely do or say anything newsworthy. We're the anonymous man that helps you change a tire and refuses to take anything for it; the quiet woman that fills trays of food for the poor at the Soup Kitchen; the youngster that hands you a pamphlet and invites you to attend their church with a smile; the nameless man in the background sawing boards when the news reports on a new project by Habitat For Humanity.

Most of us are quiet folk who have no desire to force you to do things our way. We probably think it would be better if you did, and if you're open to talking about it we're willing to explain it, but we rarely push it on anyone who doesn't want to hear it.


Well anyway that's my two bits...

And a good :twocents: worth indeed. :)
 
Most people end up wherever they need to be and that's fine with me. That is why religion is personal. Everyone's struggle is personal and everyone struggles with one thing or another all the time. You take from religion, or you don't, what you need at the time.

My parents are Christians, my wife, family and almost all of my friends are Christians. It's just the way we grew up. It didn't fill my needs or answer my questions, but that's me. All my Christian family and friends accept that just as I accept their faith.

In my experience that is generally the way it is everywhere. The internet and broadcast media distort reality.

Recently in Phoenix some peckerheads decided to have a "Draw a Picture of Muhammed" contest in front a local mosque. Hatred was the purpose. Probably many of you read or heard about that. The idiots wore guns and t-shirts saying "**** Muhammed" and they held posters and screamed at Muslims. The news media ate it. It went national.

What you probably didn't hear is that the next week Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs and Buddhists gathered together in front of the mosque in a peaceful demonstration of community support, understanding and cooperation.

It happens all the time. Idiots get the press and normal peace loving people rarely do. Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that however people came to their particular religion or lack thereof most people struggle with the same basic things in life.

ALL the media loves controversy and they love showing the seedy side of man.

watching to much of the media, it can... make people feel depressed and angry.
 
i had no religion growing up... my pop had me baptized into the LDS when I was 9, but that meant nothing to me...religion meant nothing to me.
church was just a place to dress up and be bored for a couple of hours ( thankfully we rarely attended)

I started searching in my late 20's...for "something".. I didn't really know what i was looking for, but i felt a "need" for something.
I had taken a few courses in college.. world religion, comparative theology, and communications ( professor was big into research on rhetorical theory and political theology)... and they kind of lit the path for me, as it were.

from there, I dabbled in different denominations for a bit.. and found organized religion to be more about fellowship than anything else.
the problem was, I wasn't looking for fellowship... I had fellowship out the ying-yang in other areas of my life and believed the religious aspect of my life was between me and God... it was personal thing, not a team sport.

anyways, yeah.. I made my way to Christianity...my own brand of it anyways... and it works for me.
 
I was raised Christian, but have slowly became "not Christian" as I've aged. My family though has never really been evangelical Christians.

I wanted to comment on this choice though:

"I had to check a religion box, and Christianity was the best choice."

It made me think about why all my paperwork when I enlisted in the Navy said "Catholic". The recruiter apparently checked that box for me because my mother had mentioned to him that "we" were Catholic (I was never really Catholic, although I do know a good deal about the beliefs). I guess it ties into the "born Christian" thing as well. There are still plenty of people who will state their religion as their family's religion, even if they know they are different. Now, some parents don't necessarily realize that their children have different beliefs than they do (I think my mother just considered Methodist, which was closer to what I was raised as and what I probably would have considered myself at the time had I really thought to label myself, was acceptable enough along with the teachings from her and my grandmother to consider us all Catholic, along with the fact that we were all baptized at birth).

I think one of the really important lessons that we, as a culture, are slowly learning is that you don't need to check a box.
 
I was baptized Catholic. Come from a big German Catholic family on moms side. Dads side are all Methodist/Evangelical/Protestant English/Irish/Northern Euro denoms.



That said I've been secular most my life by my own choice. Having a good education and smart parents meant I couldn't accept religion truly. I'm only "Officially Christian" because I use it to have sex with University of Texas college girls in my apartment. It works. Most women, completely contrary to what you'd think in their college years, if you line up a group of men and they're all wearing nice button down shirts, nice shoes, nice belt and slacks, the supposedly "Liberal" girls will still go straight to the one guy in jeans, a beat up plain T shirt and boots and a cross necklace. In the end stereotypes rule the day always and I've come to accept that truth and learned to manipulate it. Considering I just want sex with young college women at this stage in my life this epiphany has done wonders for me.

If you lie to a girl about something she holds so dear like religion just to have sex with her, that's like rape dude. You'll sadly learn that kind of life leads only to death. Hopefully you'll learn before it destroys your life and your mind. The deeper you fall in the water, the closer you get to drowning. My prayers for you.
 
I was brought up in a Christian family, but at the age of 13 I was convicted by the Holy Ghost and could not rest or sleep until I gave myself to God and asked for Jesus' saving Grace in my life.

In my college years I struggled with some doubts and uncertainties, and studied many other religions during that period, but I came back to Christianity; it was the only one that really rang true to me.

Since then I've had to bury all my grandparents, half my Aunts and Uncles, my own parents and my best friend-like-a-brother. I've endured an unwanted divorce and single parenthood, had times of poverty and times of prosperity, times of joy and times of deep suffering.... and I continue in the faith. I am a flawed human being and my walk is imperfect at best, but I try to live by what I believe daily... not to be saved, but because in gratitude of Jesus' Grace I try to do what pleases my God, to do justice and practice mercy and charity and kindness. I work and eat my own bread in quiet and take care of those I can, and when someone is open to it I reach out and offer them The Word.

I'm also nothing special. There are tens of millions more much like me, just quietly living the faith out as best they can and trusting in Jesus' Grace. You don't hear about us in the news very often; we rarely do or say anything newsworthy. We're the anonymous man that helps you change a tire and refuses to take anything for it; the quiet woman that fills trays of food for the poor at the Soup Kitchen; the youngster that hands you a pamphlet and invites you to attend their church with a smile; the nameless man in the background sawing boards when the news reports on a new project by Habitat For Humanity.

Most of us are quiet folk who have no desire to force you to do things our way. We probably think it would be better if you did, and if you're open to talking about it we're willing to explain it, but we rarely push it on anyone who doesn't want to hear it.


Well anyway that's my two bits...

Okay, I would like to change my answer.
 
How is one born a Christian? I thought the whole idea is choosing.

Religion is not a choice when you are a child. You follow what your parents religion is. Most people do not look beyond how they were raised when it comes to religion.
 
christianity chose them :mrgreen:
 
in fact christianity chose them .haha :mrgreen:


christianity chose them :mrgreen:

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no personal attack please
 
Moderator's Warning:
Knock it off, spud.
 
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