Ahhh this IS good to see. I guess I have always been a beleiver.  Raised Catholic, went to Kid's Crusade at my friend's church (First Baptist) and even went to my neighbor's 7th Day Adventist Vacation Bible School program.  I know some may feel they are a wee bit 'off', but I was in it for the crafts 

Gave my life to the Lord as a child at age of 10-12 or so at the First Baptist.  Did it again as an adult when it  had a whole lot more meaning in 1994 at an Easter service.   That walk was shaky until, ironically, I left my first husband and divorced him.  THEN God brought into my life the husband HE wanted for me. A lovely God fearing man. And the rest, they say, is history.

 Oh and I aslo went through the Catholic rite of Confirmation, first communion and all that.

Dave, I can't speak or think in these terms "brought you to Jesus" I respect that you and Trish do.. Jesus to me is a role model, a person to emulate and learn from, a person that  I  try to pattern my life after.

I realized that I was a sinner in need of a Saviour. I believe that Jesus Christ, God the Son is that Saviour, the only Saviour. I was living in spiritual darkness (I was into some pretty dark things) and the way I was living was making me feel sick and disgusting. Then God, who is mighty to save, broke the spiritual bondage I was in and I became a new creation is Jesus. Why God would extend His grace to me, a rotten sinner is beyond my comprehension. I am glad He did. Jesus is my Lord and Saviour, my life and my breath. I will NEVER deny His name.

Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever
Author of Salvation
He rose & conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave
 

-Chorus to Mighty To Save

socialism, activism, Judas' need for money for the poor, social justice, faith in purpose, knowledge of potential over the actual status quo . . .the social gospel, the CCF, Zen Buddism, Tantric Taoism, Tibetan Buddhism ( even though it is archaic, non-feminist & fundamentalist), agrarain socialism, liberation theology, feminist dialogue, 20th Century Beat Poetry, Allan Ginsberg, Abby Hoffman ( the US revolutionary  - not the Canadian athlete),  the
Vietnam Draft dodgers, Jung, the Suffragettes, the Women's Temperance League of Moose Jaw, JS Woodsworth,  Buddhist meditation, yoga, swimming, Serge King, The 70's women's movement, feminism through the centuries, Northern Europe's socialist democracy, Health Care, Mary Shelley, Hastings Street ( Vancouver), Gastown ( Vancouver), The United Church before 1973 and after 1996, Doris Lessing, Lois Wilson,  . . . the list continues  

Dave

What a wonderful topic. 

In a very real sense I understand where crazyheart is coming from.  I dislike the tterm "born again" as well as the term "saved".  That is an whole other issue and not appropriate here.  My personal preference is the word "transformation" as I feel it is much closed to what the Divine intended.

I've always been a believer in the reality of God.  However, I was raised in a very fundamentalist/literalist church and when I could no long accept what I heard and saw I left.  Now, any book that has survived thousands of years cannot be befreft of the wisdom of the past.  I did not feel that the book was wrong just the church.

Thus I proceeded to university where I studied biblical translation in both Hebrew and Greek as well as interpretation and biblical history.  I've continued to study most of my life both formally and informally.  The more I learn, the more I realize how much there is to learn and how much closer it brings me to the Divine, God if one wishes.  My faith is well grounded in God.  I trust the Divine fully.  I also accept that Jesus is the true manifestation of the true God, the Messiah.

My personal faith has gone back past the reformation as I attempted and continue to attempt to understand the early church of the apostles.

Shalom

Mate

I was a child in the '40s and '50s.  I went to  Sunday School in the little white United Church in my village.  I loved it.  But unlike a lot of the kids I tended to ask questions, seek knowledge and be somewhat a 'thorn in the flesh' for some of the teachers.   I also went to church on the rare occasions that a service was held - we were the smallest point on a seven point charge.  I also attended Vacation Bible School put on by the Baptists most years - loved the songs and crafts and puzzled over some of the theology.  

My mother died, and during my troubled teen years it was church people who tried to befriend me.  

At the age of 17 I moved to Montreal.  Young, inexperienced, alone in the big city (from a village of 200 people) I would have been lost if it wasn't for St. James United on St. Catherine Street.  Other than my clerk typist job at a bank, it became my life.  Morning service on Sunday, Bible study, evening service and sing song on Sunday night, followed by a gathering for coffee at the coffee shop.  Young Adults on Monday night, YPU on Friday night.  Soft ball in the summer.  Retreats in the Laurentians, and to Five Oaks in Ontario. Lots of things to think about, to discuss.  Friends, and a family that practically adopted me.

I had first been confirmed back home at the age of 12.  I took classes and renewed my vows again as a young adult at St. James.  I went back to school and university (part time evening classes - I had to earn a living). 

I returned to NB, met my husband, married, had children - and continued to be active in my church.  By teaching Sunday School I found I often had to delve deeper into the curriculum and the Bible to understand myself and to be prepared to lead discussion.  I continued to learn and grow in my faith.

But only later, after illness and financial set-backs, after the trials of raising teenagers, did I seriously start to study.  I took courses and seminars - I read Spong, Borg, Crossan, met them in person and took park in workshops they led.  And my mind opened to the Mystery of the panenthiestic God.

I still have questions.  I still wonder about things, like the effectiveness of prayer.  Oh, I pray.  I like to think of my life as a prayer - a prayer that keeps me in relationship with the Holy.   I try to follow the example set by Jesus, and to live each day in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth - joyously and fully.

Hi Crazyheart,

That's why I specifically asked in my question how one came into a relationship with Jesus OR became his follower.  It makes me happy that you use Jesus as a role model, and as someone to emulate and learn from.

My question is, how did you come to use Jesus as a role model etc etc?

God bless,

Hi Mate,

I certainly did not, and do not, wish to put Jesus in a box with terms like "born again" or "saved."  But I do have a genuine interest in the journey folks have taken in coming to the place they are with Jesus.

God bless,

Hi Dave: What brought me to Jesus?

The practice of Zen Buddhism. Now I am a Zen Christian.

I'm similar to Trishcuit,

I accepted Jesus when I was around eleven. I never attended church nor did my parents. I never got to know Jesus but always prayed to God.

When I was thirty I knew I needed Him in my life and as an adult I craved a relationship with Him. I knew nothing about Him but I cried out to Him that I wanted Him in my life.

He came immediately and my life has never been the same.

I read the bible now and find that the writers must have had the same relational experience as they seem to write the same messages that are implanted in my heart.

Thanks for asking this question.

Be Blessed,

IB

Hi Dave

I was brought up in a Christian family.  Although my views on God have expanded a lot over the years  Jesus is still number one; the bestest of the best!

My reason for following ?  I find everything in Jesus; the fullness of God.

Every day with Jesus is a good day. What more can I say?

Every Day is A Good Day

I was brought to Jesus twice.

The first time was as a very impressionable thirteen year old. In the wake of Billy Graham, I recall coming forward at an evangelical rally and "Declaring Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour."

This literal interpretation of  Jesus as the Son of God didn't stand the test of time.

After reading Marcus Borg's the Heart of Christianity - I've found a Jesus I can believe in. I now see Jesus as a Jewish mystic who preached about the Kingdom of God - and is an excellent role model for we humans to live out our lives.

Hi DaveHenderson,

Good question.

I was raised in a nominally Christian environment.  Church was our religious duty and very little time was spent in examining our faith outside of the immediate vicinity of a sanctuary.

When I was five my dad left home and our contact with a faith community collapsed.

A friend of mine belonged to a Cub pack that was sponsored by a local United Church I began to attend.  Our Akela (a powerfully vibrant woman who knew with amazing clarity when it was time to be gentle and when it was time to be stern) was a member of this congregation though I did not know that at the time.

In the course of our badgework we began to study Religion and Life and our nearest resource was the minister of the congregation.  I don't remember any of that.  I did meet the objectives to earn the badge and I can no longer remember what those objectives were.  I can still tie a reef knot behind my back and blind-folded so I did learn something.

Shortly after completing that badge work the minister called my mom and invited me to attend Sunday School at his church.  My mom passed the phone over to me feeling that I should decide for myself.  I talked with the minister for a bit.  Felt that it wouldn't hurt to try and agreed.

This minister has probably never been described as stuffy.  Through the years he has become my mentor and a very close friend.  Some of the most potent bits of wisdom I have learned have come from him.

Yet, I don't think it was him alone that solidified my relationship with Jesus.  The more I was active and participated in the church the more I came to learn more about the church.  Warts and all.  I made friends with youth in the congregation and was able to see the dynamics of other "Christian" families at play and this revealed even more warts.

Still, I'm not so ignorant as to realize I didn't have some obvious warts of my own.  I came from a broken home.  People didn't seem to think that automatically meant I was trouble.  We lived below the poverty line and people didn't seem to think that automatically meant I was trash.

The only way I differed from my friends was that they attended Church with their families and I came alone.

I think that was a saving grace.

I wasn't considered anyone's appendage.  I was never introduced requiring a reference.  I was John.  Anyone requiring my help couldn't go through my parents they had to come directly to me.  My first Elder was the model on which all Elder's should be based.  She made the time to connect with me and actually ask about how school was and such.  Formally it was 15 minutes a month max just touching base with me at worship and at the front door of my home.

I was never forced to believe anything.

I never had a friendship threatened.

I was welcomed and included.

I was encouraged to study and I did.  I read the Bible I had been given as a confirmation gift.  Making the noob mistake of believing it was like any other book and that you read from the beginning to the end.  I read a lot of fascinating things and, to be completely honest, a lot of incredibly boring things.  Even understanding that the begats is one big list of who was getting their groove on failed to capture the attention of my adolescence.

I read, on more than one occasion, stories of a God who is unpredictable.

This depiction of God made me more than a little nervous.

Even as I read of God's unpredictability in action I was becoming more and more convinced that God was not an accident waiting to happen but that God was more deliberate than that.

I was working at a Camp owned and operated by the United Church Outdoor Ministries when things just sort of snapped into place.  It wasn't a stereo-typical born-again experience since I hadn't ever fallen into the kind of life from which redemption seems more obvious.  I don't remember time of day or the exact day of the calendar year I just remember walking across the field thinking about the lesson of the day and fitting that into the context of my life when I stopped short.

My breath caught and then my next inhalation was something like breathing on my own for the very first time.  It was an Epiphany that Jesus wasn't some idea that I had to comprehend.  Jesus was a friend like so many of the other friendships that I already had.

I liken my time in the Church with a distant Jesus to my gestation.

My first breath is my being born-again.  And like the first time it was pretty routine and very little fanfare involved.  It just happened.  From that point forward Jesus was more of a person than an idea.

That is another good question.  The cornerstone of this relationship is dependability.  I don't ask for a lot from my friends.  Some time and attention is pretty much it.  I know when I have a friend's time or attention.  I know how to sit in silence with them and be present with them.  I have learned to identify the same with respect to God.  I have also come to discern God's presence.  Sometimes, most times, I find it very subtly present and easily overlooked if I get distracted by other noise.  On very rare occasions it has been unmistakably and powerfully present and, from where I sit, impossible to miss or deny.

I don't think I can put this into terms that translate well into what is traditionally mystical or theological.

When I sit down and think about the reasons for the friendships that can be tested I confess that I am at a loss to go beyond, "I care about this person and I believe that they care about me."  Maybe, I can say "really, really care" as opposed to the humble "care" but that only defines the intensity of what I feel it doesn't make it a better reason.

When I reflect about my relationship with God/Jesus/the Holy Spirit I come to the same conclusion.  I care about these persons and I am convinced that they care for me in return.  Whether or not that care translates into anything concrete in any specific moment isn't an issue.  I have friends all across the country and they are not immediately at my beck and call, why would I disqualify God as a friend when I wouldn't disqualify them?

I am friends with some folk that my other friends scratch their heads about.  They don't seem to understand what I see in them.  These friendships have been made at different times in my life and they don't always share contacts or memories with friends I have made from other times. 

My relationship with God feels pretty much the same way.  There have been moments when God was the most logical friend to turn to.  God was the one who had the strength to stand with me on the ground I needed to stand on.

I don't ask for or require miracles.  I don't ask for or require short-cuts.  I ask for someone who can stand with me no matter what I am experiencing.  Many of my friends can and are willing to do that.  Some aren't always at hand.  God is.

My friends don't ask for or require miracles.  My friends to ask for or require short-cuts.  My friends want to know if I am willing to stand with them no matter what they are experiencing.  All of my friends know I can and I am willing to do that.  Some don't call.  God does.

When God calls I do my best.  When I call on God I trust I get what God determines is best.

Grace and peace to you.

John

I was brought up in a Christian family. I attended Sunday School as a child. I became more actively involved in my church once we recieved a new minister that started a youth group at our church when I was in jr. high. This minister became a mentor to me and because of her guidance I was confirmed in the united church, became a sunday school teacher and attended youth forum. Youth Forum brought me so much closer to Jesus, it was such an open enviroment to learn more about your faith and the world around you. From there I've continued to learn about Jesus and the church and grow in my faith.

I am not a christian, but I did enjoy reading this thread.  It's interesting to see what brought people to their current beliefs.  Good stuff guys.

Dave

You asked - what brought me to Jesus? If memory serves me correct it was a 1938 Buick.

Years later (1950 Ford) I decided that the whole Jesus thing made no sense and so dropped out from religion. But I didn't drop out of spirituality.

Again years passed (and five Volvos) and I now do not believe in Jesus as a saviour, but rather as a great teacher.

I was raised in a Roman Catholic family in Poland.  My parents attended church, as did nearly everyone else (something like %95 of the population?), but we did not discuss religion... my dad is actually more of a traditionalist than a believer and my mom has a deep connection to God to this day (she is always telling me to pray for this or that if there's trouble...it's really loving though, no pressure).  My greatgrandmother and grandmother were both very religious and I admired their faith. 

Personally, I was most influenced by beauty as a kid, and my language for this experience was somewhat religious because that's the only things that made sense... I discovered that to me God was in nature and the beauty world around me.  For a while I struggled with the messages I got from my RC upbringing that my spirituality/beliefs needed to be sanctioned by the church or else they were child's play.  But, eventually I got past that. (I had this "vision" where I was asking Jesus to help me become free from the Catholic Church.  He told me I already and always was free... but behind him, in the background, was a huge cathedral, and it overshadowed him and I couldn't shake my fear.  In fact, I argued with him, saying, you have no idea, Jesus... the church will "get me" in the end.  And he laughed.)

I always tended toward the "mystical" growing up, and I related to Jesus that way... His was an unusual perspective of God, and his passion and love for God was something I aspired to.  I loved Jesus and love him now too, just not as saviour or sacrifice...

One could say that I love Jesus in a similar way that a Hindu disciple may love her "guru": a sense of great respect, a desire for a closeness and for learning, and a devotion.  This isn't "reasonable", really, but love generally isn't.  I don't claim to know where or who he is now, but I sure wish I had known him because I would have followed him and listened to him and set at his table wanting to ask him questions about his experience of The Holy... This desire is not something that I was brainwashed into or that I nurtured in my out of fear of hell (and I was threatened with that by a priest at one point as a teen)...  Maybe science will tell me one day why my brain is inclined toward the Holy...  In the meantime, I am drawn to being with The Holy, to study and prayer... I love them all as part of my life!  It all makes my heart sing!

I've come back to Jesus or Christianity many times and each time my understanding has become somewhat clearer...  At this point in my life, I seek wisdom in Scripture and in the teaching of Jesus and mystics that came after him. 

But for me Christianity is my path because it is the path I was born into.  I know that I cannot convert to another faith - I tried!   I appreciate many teachers from other traditions, and I have and do practice other spiritual disciplines (chanting which I learned at an Ashram, although that is also an ancient part of the contemplative pracitices in Christianity; think "Gregorian").  But Christianity is part of my psyche - it's the language of spirituality that I grew into, and Jesus is the teacher/guide that I feel closest to.

I've not been a Roman Catholic for a good while now, but my heart is still nurished by the RC church's invitation to contemplation and silence.  I attend a United Church now (tried being Anglican but it just wasn't right) and I am so glad to see that there is more interest in spiritual formation, meditation, and contemplative prayer...

Beautiful post, Nishy! Moved me to tears.

Where in Poland did you grow up? The village of my parents was Czermin, in the district of Mielec, about 50 km east of Krakow.

I've never not been in a relationship with God - it's an impossibility. Anyone who believes they can separate themselves from God, or be separated from God by any power, is suffering a delusion. (Not that I think that anyone who suffers from that delusion will believe me - grin)

How we express/inform/understand that inseverable relationship is primarily cultural. So, coming from rural Ontario, it would have been unlikely that I'd learn to express my relationship in anything other than Christian terms.

     However, my particular beliefs have changed as I've matured in my personal relationship. I no longer see God as the Zeus-god of white robes and lightning, for instance, although it makes a nice logo for my blog. I no longer see the Crucifixion in terms of a sacrificial lamb, although the Resurrection, as a symbol of the unquenchable power of God's agapé to overcome the baser instincts of humanity is a more powerful cornerstone than anything Mel Gibson could conjure up in a horror flick disguised as religious idolatry.

"Following" Jesus is a poor term. "Fellowship" with Jesus is much more in step with what's illustrated in the NT.

Be Well

David

Hi David, 

Yes, I share your belief re: being in relationship with God.  But I must protest your statement that those who believe otherwise are suffering a delusion. 

Being in fellowship with Jesus is a great concept, but "following Jesus" resonates more deeply with me.  It speaks to my core identity as a Christian, and I don't like to see it dismissed as a "poor term". 

Thanks for your comments about the Resurrection.  I agree with you there.

One more thing.  The Zeus-God with the white robes and lightning was never introduced to me in my liberal United Church upbringing.  It seems to me that we moderate Christians spend an awful lot of time explaining to others that we don't believe in this particular God.

Thanks for the conversation.  Your post was thought-provoking, as always.  

I am a Conservative and I do not believe in a Zeus-god with white robes sitting on a cloud with thunder bolts either. The Bible does not teach that that is what God is like. This whole Zeus-god thing sounds like a bit of a strawman to me.

I like to think that we are continuously born again -every moment - thus transformation is the theological term that grounds me and that God is the Creative Advance, the lure to becoming.

Like GR I now know there was never a time I was not related to God for that is the very nature of God - the supremely related one.  How did I get here though?

I was raised in the church and my mother was one who loved theological questions.  I hung out with a diverse group and while we drank beer ( under age) we loved to talk philosophically - came across Kierkegaard which appealed to teenage angst but did not fully understand him.   Had a youth minister who encouraged questions.

Went to University - got involved in SCM which wedded my questions to the social gospel - read the beat poets, listened to Jazz.  Hung with those who pushed ideas, yet played sports and partied.    Lived in the north with the Beaver and Cree - studied anthropology and the role of religion in transformation of society.  Went to seminary, God died and found Process theology which gave me God as creative/responsive/ love, fit scientific issues with theological and the social gospel..... Worked in the civil rights movement - came to Canada to be a minister.

My religious growth included Buddhism as well as Process studies - learned from others and still am.  Saw Jesus as a moment of Creative Transformation - the lure of God in history - Always rejected substitutionary atonement but have experienced the resurrection as a continuous reality of God bring in the new.

Still on a journey.

oh come on cf. If he was made of straw, he self-immolize at the first lightning bolt!!

However, the characterization stands. Ask any random sampling of "people in the street" what God looks like and that's what you'll get. Or Morgan Freeman, which is a much more palatable image to me - grin.

Hi P3.

I understand your comments which follow. My only point about "delusion" is to emphasize that I do not believe we can be separated from God. Folks like cf, blackie, and even revJohn would likely disagree. They are quite welcome to do so. I look forward to the day when we're all sitting at that little bar to the right of the Pearly Gates laughing about how intense we all used to get about these trivial things.

No offence intended. For me, the distinction is based in how I understand the relationship. Nothing wrong with followind Jesus. I just find the image more compelling, personally, when I see it as walking on the road "with" Jesus rather than "behind" Jesus.

     As I say, no offence intended. I could have presented that better I'm sure. Thank you for calling me on it.

David

Ah. An excellent turn on the idea. How we come to know the relationship is immensely varied. It seems to me that the very act of accepting the variations is part of the journey as well.

Highlights of my journey:

I was raised by an agnostic father and a spiritual but not religious mother.  I was not baptised as a child because my father did not believe in it. 

My father passed away when I was 6 and when we moved to the city (in Alberta) my mom started attending a United Church.  I joined her because I have always felt God's presence and had a spiritual hunger.  We were pretty much pewsitters and did not stay for coffe or really get involved.  Although my mom actually taught church school for awhile.

I went to an Alliance church with a friend for youth group.  I remember that they had a book with true or false questions (right and wrong!) for what God is like.  That always seemed odd to me.  My one friend was apparently a "lukewarm Christian" even though she thought she was "saved".  She would write notes to other friends in church while I tried to listen to the sermon. She alse was the one who was drinking and having sex with her boyfriend.  At a Christian youth concert I said the "sinner's prayer" but did not feel any different.

Then we started going to a New Thought church (Church of Religuous Science) where they teach things that are very much about "The law of attraction" (aka 'The Secret') Read books by Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra etc.  Found that the philosophy a little dry and unemotional.

Then I started frequenting online chat rooms (in the mid 1990's) and learned a lot about other paths.  Dabbled in Wicca as a solitary practitioner. I also went to debate boards and battled "fundies".

Then my marriage broke up and I had a "dark night of the soul".  By that time my mother was attending a different United Church.  I remember a spiritual event where we got to say what "God" meant to us!!  I was amazed!  No old man in the sky (which I realized later that every time I would say "our father who art in heaven" I would think of my dad).  This loving church community embraced me in their arms and taught me so much about life.  I read books by Mathew Fox, Marcus Borg etc..... I could be intelligent, committed to social justice and appreciate the mystical ...and still be a Christian...wow!!

I was baptised and confirmed as an adult in the United Church...shout out to Sunnybrook United Church folk......But, then I moved to Saskatchewan and haven't found a church with teh same vibe.  I still consider myself a follower of christ and hope my actions show the same.

In Abundance,

Shawna

That doesn't make it true.

Indeed. Unfortunately my friend, that statement could be used in many situations - like the idea that conservative Christians have a lock on TRUTH. Just because you believe you do, doesn't make it true.

It's one reason among many that I find inclusive perspectives on faith much more compelling - they don't pretend that they are the only ones who, in spite of the statements to the contrary in every sacred text, have a better answere to every question than anyone else.

 Morgan Freeman? I was thinking more like George Bursn. stogie and all.  

I was raised in a UCC family.  We attended every week and I wasn't really that keen.

I refused to do confirmation which was quite a shock I imagine.  Luckily for me, my parents were ok with it.

I did confirmation around 21 and whiel I was a nominal member of the church, married in it, I only attended when visiting my parents.

then we had our first child.  And I think that is what brought me back.  that miracle of life seemed to jump start my faith.

now we attend when we can.  I am involved in the church.  I read alot both bible and relgious books.  I attend bible study classes.

But it was the birth of my son that gave me the push back

Look David,

I've had just about enough of this whole "how do we perceive God" stuff.

EVERYBODY  knows that God is:

Old...

A guy...

with a long white beard and bushy eybrows...

flowing white robes...

standing on a cloud...

with a staff in his hand...

 his arms outstretched...

and a real stern look on his face.

If I missed a stereotype, fill it in for me.

I'd also add one of those winky icons, but he really is stern and I wouldn't want him to fling a boil down on me or anything!

God bless,

Golden Rule, I do like the Morgan Freeman version of god the best.... Tall, hansome black man, laid back, the kind of guy who would probably be up for a game of pool and a beer....

Dave

Jokes aside I've no problem with how people perceive God. Each may have his/her own perception or idea. Spirituality runs much deeper than anything we can perceive in our wildest imagination. Let it be......those new to Christianity may relate to Jesus as a person rather than as a spirit. Its all good. Having faith is what's important.

My 2 1/2 cents worth.....

How long did it take you folks to self-identify with the denomination that you identify with now?

And if you feel attacked or get insulted whenever you perceive a slight, joke, attack on your denomination/belief, when did you start behaving that way?

Surveyey,

Inannawhimsey

 I am no longer a Catholic but I do feel like an advocate and when people start slamming the Catholic Faith, especially after all the ground that Pope John Paul ll had made, I don't like it at all. They have a rather sordid history, it is true, but who doesn't. But when people are dissing the Catholic faith as being bad or evil I get right miffed.

 By the way I like jokes. I will tell priest jokes with the best of them.  The father of my parent's church used to start the Sunday service with a joke, as often as not with a priest in it, just to get everyone's attention. While we should be faithful to our beliefs we also shouldn't take  ourselves too seriously.

What brought me to Jesus was Himself. I decided to have a relationship with Him when I encountered Him, then I repented of my sins and chose to trust in Him and follow Him for the rest of my days. Everyday I encounter Him and fall more in love with Him. I can't wait to be with Him for eternity.

Thanks for the witness Souldier,

Could you add a little more?

Were you young?  Old?  Who influenced you?  A pastor? A family member?  A friend? 

I'm not being nosy, just interested.

God bless,

Greetings!

I was raised in a home that was a mixed marriage of a Roman Catholic mother and a father whose people came from a long line of Salvation Army (my father was not really a practising Salvation Army, but a Christian who sought God in a variety of churches and ways and through the AA program).  And so, of course, I was raised Roman Catholic.  In teen/young adult life I quit going to the Catholic church, and years later when I became a mother and wanted christian education for my child I sought church again, and for a variety of reasons ended up finding myself in The United Church of Canada.

Because of who I was born to, and my upbringing, Jesus was always the "face of God" to me, or the one who reflected God to me and taught me what God was like - this being done through reading scripture, studying, praying, meditating, thinking, learning, growing.  While I have respect for other world religions and those that follow them or belong to them, for me Jesus is the God who came to earth to be with me, and is still with me.  The reason I continue to follow in my childhood upbringing is because it is still Jesus who has my heart.  It is the story of Jesus that continues to be the story that I live by.

As an adult when I returned to church (UCC) my first encounter was that the minister at the particular church I attended was what many would label a "fundamentalist" with a fundamentalistic nature and understanding of God and the scriptures, as were many of the people that I studied with and learned with over the course of many years.  Perhaps I would have even considered myself as such at one time . . . but life experience, study, reflection, and yes, even participation on Wondercafe has changed my outlook and understanding of who I believe God to be.  I think I am probably much more liberal in my views and beliefs than I once was, and I continue to be open to God changing me within.

Hope, peace, joy, love . . .

It was 4 years ago so I was about 20-21 years old. My older brother had known the Lord for like a year or so, and God saved Him from a really bad heart problem caused by doing drugs and stress and the whole nine. So I saw what God had done in him and I kind of didn't really pay attention to it.

My brother started invite me out to events and stuff and nothing was happening so it appeared. But I know God was up to something inside me, oh praise Him. Then after a while I started to listen to a preacher on a radio station, his name was Pastor James McDonald. Every time I would listen to him in the morning before school he would always be talking about something I was going through. So I slowly started to become better: I quit smoking cold turkey, I started to listen more to christian music and started to get rid of my old music. Then I was invited by my brother again to an event where famous wrestlers came and gave their testimonies God touched my heart that night and I repented of my sins and comitted my life to Him. The next day there was another event and this is where I encountered His presence.

Thats my experience on getting to know Jesus for the first time. It was amazing. HALLELUJAH!!

Love,

Nick

need;

I was raised four miles east and two miles north of the hamlet of Tomahawk Alberta. Sixty miles west of Edmonton. We were poor and our family did not get involved in much away from the farm.

We never attended church. There was a family Bible that was kept in a trunk. I can only remember it being opened once or twice and that was to look up family history written in it.

When I was eighteen I joined the RCAF( 1958). During boot camp there were compulsory church parades, that was the first I was ever in church for a church service. I had been in one once before for a wedding. I did not know any thing about it or what went on.

I got my trade, got married and after five years got out of the service. I was not successful in any of my ventures.

In 1965 I rejoined the RCAF and was posted to Portage La Prairie. In those days you had to find a place to live before you could move your family. I was in Portage and destitute. I tried to borrow money with out any luck. So in the barrack room I got down on my knees and asked God to help me. A light came into the room, that was so peaceful and assuring. A got up with a feeling that every thing was going to be OK.

The next day at work my Sergeant who was on the board of the Credit union talked tome about my situation. Applied for and got a loan and was able to move my family.

When I came back to Alberta to pick up my family my wife said she felt something different about me.

All we had in the apartment was a table ,four chairs and beds. No living room furniture. We needed many things. I would be walking past a store ,get a felling to go in, and there would be something we needed on sale.

It came into my mind to buy a bible to study and join a church. Which I did.

At work it came upon me to quite smoking, I reached into my pocket and through a half of a package of cigarettes in the garbage. I quit smoking with absolutely no withdrawal symptoms.

I can not tell you how many time I have been assured of Christ’s presences and have been guided by Him.

Excellent topic Dave. Always enjoy hearing aabout other people's experience with God. Dessert Cocktail is so much sweeter when you get a good long taste of the peaches

I think you're thinking of Charlton Heston as Moses.   As to God being stern, well, I guess we each see the aspect of the Divine that we need to at any given point in our lives

oh absolutely. How could I have neglected George? I've quoted Oh God often enough. But only the first movie. Some sequels should simply never be made.

Amen to that. I have a long standing date for exactly that at a little bar to the right of the Pearly Gate. Of course, I'm rather hoping that it may be some time yet before I get to see if he can make a bank shot into the corner pocket without spilling his mead. - and with no existential nudge of the table. - grin

Hi Fred Duckett,

An amazing story of God's presence in everyday life.  Of course skeptics would put it all down to coincidence.

I'm not one of them.

God bless,

Hi Golden Rule,

You mean God doesn't look like Charlton Heston?

I'm crushed.

God bless,

1. God looked like Charlton Heston.

2.Charlton Heston gets interested in guns.

3. Charlton Heston no longer looked like God.

God bless Dave Henderson and his turtle neck sweater.

 you guys are all wrong, I'm god, well at least my wife thinks so , its always ,,,

god, o god, yes god , oooo god, yesssss gooodddddddddd yessssss

god i should'nt have said that ;0