Backslidden man but god is in my mind more and more recently, however

[cruisyaz]

Hi to all, thank you for accepting me in your forum.

I just want to start by saying please understand that I am not wanting to cause a discussion fuelled in an argumentative way. I have questions that maybe god will help you in answering for me. I am not a closed book and in a way I am hoping that god will speak to me through someone on here.

God has been on my mind more and more in recent times, last night was the first time I have looked into a Christian forum. I read a post from an 18 yo on hear named teenyquestionss and it inspired me to join as it rang true to me. If you want to read his forum it was in regards to will god really send people to hell

I did reply in his thread but wanted to open up the discussion further for my own questions and ideas that I have

Below is pretty much a copy and paste on what I wrote but changed a few things to suit a new thread.

For a background on myself I am a backslidden man. I grew up in a pentecostal church and at the age of 15 I turned to the god I was taught. I am 34 now and will still say with confidence I knew god for a time, I truly had a genuine relationship with god and knew he was with me through everything. I found he spoke to me a lot through the bible but some of the closest times was just sitting in bed talking to him and asking him to show me the truth and how to live. However at 18 I made a concious decision to turn away from the Lord. This didn't come out of the blue as a combination of allowing worldly desires to dwell in my mind and in turn loosing touch in my relationship with god I remembered a verse in the bible that says something like people that sit on the fence will be spat out. It's better to be either hot or cold but not lukewarm. (something along them lines anyway). I took this verse as literal as it seemed to say to me and turned away. Going into drugs alcohol etc. Seemed to me the way to show that I wasn't sitting on the fence.

16 years away from god and I feel like he is on my mind more and more recently. There has still been times when I have reflected on God but never to the point of where I am now and reading these Christian forumns. This is a first for me.

Please know that I wish I didn't backslide, having a relationship with god was and will always be the best time of my life. What this time away has done however is given me the opportunity to see christianity from different perspectives. I have developed a wide variety of friends over this time from many different beliefs and backgrounds and is part of the reason why what teenyquestionss asked really rang true to me. We truly are moulded into the people that our enviroment sets for us.

I remember upon reflection on when my relationship started with god, it did not happen the "traditional way". (Pentecostal church you go to the front and give your heart to god). It happened after a conscious decision to turn to him. I was in the school yard and thought I want to know you. I started reading the bible but more than that I just started talking to him, all the time. Asking him to guide me through everything. The change was imediate. I wanted to know him and he responded to my hungry heart.

As crazy as this might sound, even though I chose him in my heart I honestly thought that I would still go to hell unless I went to the front of the church and publicly give my heart,to god. This is what is taught on how to do it. I am pretty sure it was a few months before I made that plunge up the front. I always felt intimidated and embarrased to put myself in a public position like that so it was hard for me.

After that I was in I guess you could say. I was doing the church stuff and maintaining a relationship with god for a time. Through this time however I began to have this feeling that the church was missing something. I didn't know what but knew the feeling was there.

I defiantly don't want to blame the church for backsliding that is far from the truth. Some of the most genuine beautiful people that I love still go and have a deep relationship with god. But there was defiantly an element of the politics that goes on behind the scenes that did contribute to taking my eyes of god. When I think back it is so true when you take your focus of god all these other hidden desires and traits have room to get at you and it can snowball quickly.

I really do feel god is tugging on me atm but I have these questions that won't go away. Questions that as a Christian you should not ask. Much like your question teenyquestion. My questions may go a bit deeper in the sense that I question the bible as the be all and end all of god's word. As I mentioned I did know god, I found him through Christianity and the bible I cannot deny that. The verses that always rang more true than anything else was to love god with all your heart sole and mind, love your neighbour, draw close to him and he will draw close to you. He truly does honour that.

Every religious group that is out there has separated themselves due to doctrine. I truly believe that mankind is born with a natural instinct to wonder where we come from. I do believe god has imparted this to us. In regards to atheists in my experience i found that religious judgements have the biggest impact on them. It fuels there fire and maybe the very cause of there existence.

Please know when I say the word judgements I mean it in the sense that we propose a belief based on someone's personal belief and if your not in your not in.

My question - is religion (Christianity) and it's doctrines the biggest blocker in itself to truly know god? I am really beginning to think that is so.

I believe in god, I felt god and believe I had a relationship with him. I truly believe that people in any religion that has a heart seeking the god that is higher than themselves they are in the right place.

I use to ask these questions as a Christian and you are always shut down because of a doctrine in the bible and the word of just have to have faith. But i realise that these doctrines are in place to set one group away from another. Is it money, power, politics, GREED?

In saying this though i found god thanks to my church upbringing and i may very well find him again the same way. I can always have that testimony. I feel church helps and hinders at the same time though because of judgmental attributes connected to it.

[alien224]

First, Hi and Welcome, so glad you are here! As for your questions Religion and Christianity are 2 different things. If someone is religious they may practice their beliefs with really no love in their hearts . Much like the Pharisees in the bible who were truly law keepers. If you are a Christian your devotion and love for Christ should come from the heart because that is where Jesus Dwells if you ask him to come into your heart and be your personal savior. Have you done this? This is all you have to do to become saved, or born again. ( of course you will also want to commit yourself to God ( Jesus Christ) turn away from sinful things and believe with all your being that God is the one and only way truth and life.) While the church would like for you to make a public confession of faith. It is certainly not a requirement for salvation but it is definately something you need to do if and when you are ready to join a church.

No not all people worship Jesus Christ. There are different "gods" out there and the bible teaches Jesus Christ is the one and only God. We should have no other gods. This is in the ten commandments.

The bible is God's Holy word. It is true. God is not a god of confusion. Different doctrines come from different ways the bible is interpreted. Man chooses which parts are important to a specific denomination. It is also man who a lot of times misrepresents himself by being very legalistic, powerful and greedy. These are not traits Christians should have, but are sometimes associated with church.

I am praying that you will get lots of answers that will lead you closer to the one true God Jesus Christ. That your heart will be opened to God's voice through His holy word and others here at Worthy. May God bless you and may you find what you need here at Worthy. You have come to the right.place.

[Hall7]

As we seek and love the Lord with all our hearts by praying and reading His word as much as we can, and by applying His Word in the way we live our lives, His Spirit grows stronger in us, and our questions begin to dissipate.

There are many doctrines and denominations, but the truth is always found through the guidance of His Holy Spirit. We can always find a special message that will help us with our lives in any Christian church we attend. God knows what happens behind the curtains of all churches and hearts, no one is perfect...

Here is something I read some time ago...

What is the difference between Christianity and Religion?

Christianity is to be Christ Like, Religion is tradition.

The saddest part of people’s beliefs today is the one where they believe Christianity is a Religion. Way out, never...

There are many religions out there but only one Christianity.

To be a Christian is to be the splitting image or twin of Christ. You have to imitate Him to the maximum.

Not an easy task as He was perfect and we are striving to perfection. He was and is still perfect.

Who created Christianity? Jesus Christ, or God in the flesh, created Christianity.

Jas 1:26

If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion

is vain.

Religion is Tradition - Christianity is a way of life.

Religion was supposed to come to an end at the cross. However, due to mans' inherent disobedience to God and not wanting to

follow in His ways, Christianity isn't easy, we still have religion today.

Many other religions mix their religious beliefs with politics.

We should strive to be righteous. In doing this we are seen as perfect in God's eyes. The angels rejoice with Him when

sinners receive the Holy Spirit in their lives.

There is constant bickering in Religion where there is only love amongst Christians. God originally gave us ten commandments, but He reduced them to two.

Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind, and the second is like unto it,

thou shalt love your neighbour as yourself. All the rest of the commandments are built into only those two.

However, just as He gives you only two, He also states that should you break one of the commandments you break them all.

So how do we see Christianity and religion? Religion is a teaching and a tradition. Handed down through the generations.

Christianity is a way of life given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. It's a means to cleanse our thoughts and hearts.

It’s a means to bring us to the feet of Christ. It’s a means to make requests that only our heavenly Father can answer.

It’s that warm fuzzy feeling we experience when we know that our Lord and Saviour is near to us, loves us and keeps us eternally

safe.

[wingnut-]

Hello cruisy,

 

I understand where you are coming from, so I just want to share with you what is on my heart.  I will try not to ramble on too much, so forgive me if I wander a bit in this response.  First I would like to address the idea of religion, and my take on it.  Religion is something man constructed, so it is full of errors because man is full of errors.  Belief is something completely different.  I don't view my beliefs as religion, they are based on faith.

 

How does a church play into all of this?  For those of us who were raised in a church setting, that setting provided a foundation of beliefs.  Not all of those beliefs are necessarily biblical.  The only way for an individual to get to the bottom of what is true and what is not, is to read for themselves.  One major misconception that is so often used as a shield by unbelievers is that believers only believe what they believe because someone else taught them this way.  That is not the case at all, for myself I can assure you of that.

 

In fact, I have never just accepted something because someone else says it.  What I believe is based on my own conclusions, and when it comes to scripture, it is based on what the Holy Spirit directs me.  Unlike many people, I don't believe the bible is as complicated as it is made out to be, God did not provide something for us and make it confusing or difficult.  I also have a Berean approach when it comes to scripture, so I don't agree with people who want to change things around or try and make it apply to something peripherally.

 

The bottom line though, there is nothing I can say to prove or convince you of what I believe.  This is not my area, or anyone else's, that is something the Holy Spirit can and will do for anyone earnestly seeking Him.  We are each responsible for our own eternal destination, no one can determine that for us, any more than we can determine that for someone else.  How God will deal with each individual person when it comes to judgement is at His discretion, but in regards to those who you feel are not born into the right conditions, I believe scripture addresses that issue.

 

 

Romans 1:¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. ²¹ For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. ²⁵ For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

 

 

I have studied other religions and beliefs, and what I have found is that they all contain contradictions or violations of logic to one degree or another.  While one may wish to make the same claim in regards to Christianity, what they cannot do is find these attributes within Christ.  Study the epi-center of what Christianity is supposed to be, and you will find no fault in our Savior.  I am not going to pick apart other beliefs, but if you trace them back, you will find issues at their core.  You may be able to find fault in followers of Christ, but that is the entire point of His sacrifice.  He had to be the perfect sacrifice, or all men would suffer the consequences of eternal damnation.

 

This is why Christianity is exclusive, because Jesus was very clear that He is the only way to eternal life.  To be a Christian, one must embrace this crucial fact.  It is certainly not out of malice or because we want to see others go to hell, the truth is we want the opposite.  Only you can decide this for yourself, and it requires effort on your part, as any relationship does.  I am certain that if you seek the truth, you will find it.  In regards to the infallibility of the bible itself, the answer to me is found below.

 

 

II Timothy 3:16,17  All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

 

 

May the Lord richly bless you in your search for the truth.

[OneLight]

Religion is man trying to reach God by their own means, not His.  What you need is a relationship with God.  A relationship means a two way communication where He instigates by drawing you closer to Him.  There is an inner voice calling to you, drawing you to Him.  You need to listen to this voice, become familiar with this voice, recognizing His voice when you are in a very stressful situation over your own thoughts.

[kwikphilly]

Blessings cruisyazz

     I am hearing a lot about God,your past relationship with God,doctrine,church ,people,Bible & oddly enough "Christianity" although I have heard nothing abut JESUS.................I have not once heard you mention the Name that reconciles us to our Father God,Christ Jesus!  Friend ,I attended a Pentacostal church for many many years & it is true that they do ask that you "confess with your mouth" in front of everyone that you have come to the Faith but not that you believe simply in Go but that you believe that Jesus is Who He said He is & died on the cross in our place,& rose from the dead on the 3rd day...........This is what it is all about because the ONLY Way to our Father is through our Faith in Jesus......so I am wondering where you stand on on of this,,,,,,do you or were you taught that Jesus is the Way ,the Truth & the Life

 

King James Bible
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.                                        John 14:6

Is this what is missing in your life and aspirations of having a relationship with our Father?               With love-in Christ,Kwik