How did you come to be a Christian?

by BlackSwan of Memphis 23 Replies latest jw friends

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  BlackSwan of Memphis

  Obviously this goes out for the Christians on the board regardless of denomination or lack thereof as the case may be.

  Why am I asking?

  I'm just curious.

  I'm always asking myself, "what the hay am I missing?"

  I know what the bible says.

  But anymore I just don't think it's what it claims to be.

  I guess I would define Christian as Anyone who believes in Jesus Christ and adheres to his teachings. This person would not have to accept the Bible as the perfect word of God.

  I would truly, genuinely appreciate it, if we could let the Christians talk without knocking their beliefs or putting them through an inquisition.

  Thx in advance.

  (please respond, please respond, please respond!)
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  NowImFree

  Thanks for asking. I am a Christian which happened around the time I disassocated from the organization about 4 years ago. I find it completely, completely different than being a JW and I proved to myself through research that the JWs did tell many lies about Christianity. Don't get me wrong, there are true Christians and false Christians and good and bad churches too. There is no perfect church or perfect people and I don't really feel like I am in a "religion" the way I was when I was a JW. This is more like a faith because my ultimate guide and authority is Christ. When I was a JW, even though I didn't realize it, my ultimate guide was the religion itself. Sure, there are Christians who are more interested in being followers of men than Christ, just like the JWs follow men. But I also know many Christians who's real faith is in Christ. That is the truth I found, only in Christ himself. I do believe he is God, in flesh. I found way to many parellels between Jehovah of the old testament and Jesus, but I had to really dig to find all the parallels. Once I did, I was shocked about how I had missed all of them while I was a JW, but they shy away from all those parallels of course. Some scriptures seems to point to his manhood, and some point to his divinity, but when I came to believe he was both and had to humble himself leaving his glory behind in order to be the perfect human sacrifice, it started to make sense to me.

  I have received flack from alot of people who do not believe. It seems like a lot of ex JWs on the boards either lump Christianity in with the JWs or they believe what the JWs said about Christianity. Or they don't believe the bible anymore. That's OK, everyone is entitled to their opinion and beliefs, I just wish that some wouldn't seem angry or sarcastic that I do believe because I don't do that to them for their viewpoints. I haven't really had that happen much on this board but I have on another one, this board seems more open minded. I personally have found my new faith to be so different from being a JW, there is no comparison. When I researched and found the JW org had told so many lies or had twisted so many things about "Christendom" they painted it as all bad and condemned all the main doctrines. But the funny thing is, when I started reading the bible without the Watchtower literature, the bible kept showing me the doctrines of Christendom, not the JW doctrines. When I would really research something and cross reference and look up the Greek and so forth, I found almost all of the time, the JWs had taken something out of context and twisted it, or mistranslated it. They try to use one scripture to prove their doctrine, but you can't do that, you have to put it all together to get the full picture. But most cults do exactly the same thing the JWs do, they will focus on one scripture in many cases to make their point and then misuse it. Just like the JWs ban on blood. They don't look at the whole picture, like that the blood ban in the old testament was about eating blood, it was a dietary requirement, it was not a life and death medical situation. Taking blood into your blood steam is not taking in nutrition. Then they miss the fact that Jesus proved by healing on the sabbath and letting his followers eat the wheat when they were walking through the field. He did this because the well being of the people was more important than the law. He said the law was supposed to be used to benefit man. So the witnesses are twisting a scripture and putting the blood ahead of the life itself causing thousands of needless deaths.

  If you want to talk more, PM me.

  Thanks,

  NowImFree
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  daystar

  I guess I would define Christian as Anyone who believes in Jesus Christ and adheres to his teachings. This person would not have to accept the Bible as the perfect word of God.

  Hmm... I believe it likely that a man the stories were based upon existed, check.

  Adheres to the teachings of Jesus as written in the bible? Umm... who does that perfectly even if they try?

  This I try to adhere to, regardless as to whether a man who was known as Jesus Christ said it or not (Luke 10:25-38 NIV):

  25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

  26 "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

  27 He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' [ a ] ; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' [ b ] "

  28 "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

  29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

  30 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins [ c ] and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

  36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"

  37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
  Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

  Does this make me a Christian in your eyes? I don't consider myself Christian. Complicated, no?
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  BlackSwan of Memphis

  Now I'm Free: Thank you so much for sharing your story with me. I really genuinely appreciate it. You made a few points in there that I could relate to, or at least could have at one time. Thank you as well for your invitation to pm.

  Daystar:

  Does this make me a Christian in your eyes? I don't consider myself Christian. Complicated, no?

  wtf? Do you consider yourself a Christian? No. Then what's your point? We could start an entirely different thread about the value of Christ's teachings regardless of creed. That would be a great thread.

  This thread was my question to people who consider themselves Christian. It was an invitation to share how they came to that conclusion. Maybe one of these days I'll start one for Buddhists, pagans etc. Right now, I am settling issues I have with Christianity and am interested in hearing what other people have to say.

  If I missed something, my apologies.
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  daystar

  LOL! Sorry Blackswan. I guess I'll quit stalking your threads now.
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  BlackSwan of Memphis

  LOL! Sorry Blackswan. I guess I'll quit stalking your threads now.

  No, no don't go! I think the problem is, I don't word things well. I can't help but think that I end up stirring up trouble because I don't watch what I say. Maybe I should tape my fingers together.
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  troubled mind

  I want to believe , but am so afraid of being duped again that I hold something back . I am taking it very slow ,but I am learning about what other Christians believe and keeping an open mind about it . So far I have only learned about the neighborhood church , but I think I will go to others so I can learn first hand. I have already been surprised to find out how different they are compared to how the witnesses always said they were .
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  BlackSwan of Memphis

  Troubled Mind:

  I want to believe , but am so afraid of being duped again that I hold something back .

  That's close to what I think. I so, so would love to believe. But at this point I just keep going back to whether or not it is logical. I read a great article at Reform Judaism. I'll see if I can dig it up and send you a link.

  It was about not being so logical about God because you can't. It is truly one of those things that is a matter of faith.

  And the reality is it doesn't matter whether or not said God is the God of the Bible or a pagan goddess.

  I posed a similar question to some pagans some months back and truthfully, I got the same answer. It's a matter of faith.

  Like you, I don't want to be duped into believing something again.

  I have very well meaning friends that have told me to keep praying, but then I think, yeah, but if I pray, isn't that just me talking myself into believing it?

  Oi.
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  whyizit

  I've never been a JW, but I was indoctrinated into a false teaching. The Theory of Evolution. It really messed me up. Teach a kid they climbed out of a pool of slime, and don't be surprised when they behave in such a manner as well. I kind of lumped Christianity right up there with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Couldn't really say there absolutely was not a God, because you would have to know EVERYTHING about everything to claim that, but seriously agnostic.

  Then came the day when I went to a Baptist church to hear a creation scientist speak. Just to hear what the other side had to say. I was sure it was going to be a bunch of "believe it because the Bible says so" type of stuff. Kent Hovind was the scientist. He was able to present enough evidence in two hours to tear down the wall that had been cunstructed over the last 25 years of my life. Being free of that "what if" mentality was the most liberating feeling I ever had. Then I had to come to terms with all the sin and filth I chose to indulge in. I tried for a long time to try to make up for it all, but found myself falling short and beating myself up no matter what I tried. Figuring out that Jesus already took care of it, and if I accepted Him, then I was pleasing to God, that was the most freeing thing of all. That resulted in me serving the Father in whatever capacity He would have. I do it out of appreciation and gratitude, and because I want others to experience the forgiveness I have found. Not because I am trying to earn anything.

  Since I have Jesus in my life, NOT RELIGION, I am finally content. Before, I felt like a hamster on a wheel. I started looking up Scriptures about the Holy Spirit after a JW friend of mine tried to tell me he wasn't a person. Looking into that was the icing on the cake. I never understood how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all fit in together, but now I get it! It doesn't take a rocket scientist, but it does take using your own mind without the influence of a "religion". The Bible really is not hard to understand, if you have the Holy Spirit to help you. Romans 8:8-9
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  BlackSwan of Memphis

  Whyisit:

  First of all, thank you so much for sharing!

  Second: Up here in MI I think I've heard that name Kent Hovind. it sounds incredibly familiar. Not long after I started questioning the witnesses, I had a conversation with a woman at Target and I could swear that was the name she used in the discussion.

  Should I assume that you were raised atheist as well?

  If so, then that's an interesting perspective you have! I was googling that today. Atheists turned theists. Interesting sites came up.