Christian Testimonies - Share yours?

Mastermind · Post by **Mastermind** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 2:20 pm

I'm not quite sure what led up to it. I was borderline Deist(I believed in Jesus and God but assumed He was fed up with humanity and gave up on it, leaving us to fend for ourselves). I was reading online information and I was getting twisted opinions from both Christians and Atheists. I had finally reached a point of spiritual desperation where all was left for me is to let God do as He will. He did. I felt ashamed for having abandoned Him, even if only for a few weeks, especially sine He has looked after me as a child, and kept much of my family alive as a result of a prayer when I was very young(around five). However, I think I have learend my lesson so no more desperation from me.

j316 · Post by **j316** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 6:26 pm

Thanks for sharing that. If I had paid attention in my early twenties I could have saved myself and others a lot of trouble. My wife says I'm hardheaded and she's right. I would not wish a nonchristian life on anyone.

Prodigal Son · Post by **Prodigal Son** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 9:24 pm

bizzt,

that's a cool testimony. definately important that you're no longer a loner! God rules!

bizzt · Post by **bizzt** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:36 am

colors wrote:bizzt,

that's a cool testimony. definately important that you're no longer a loner! God rules!

Fellowship is amazing. I did not have many friends that I can say I trusted back then but when I started going to Church ETC. I began to meet people who were interested in the same things as me. It has now been 8 years since I have gone to that Church but that was the start of my real life and walk with my Lord!

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Sun May 01, 2005 10:06 am

hey y'all just saying hi, I'm a noob here. Can't find the thread to introduce myself so i just picked this thread ^_^'' ''

I'm on a my discovery course of Him, and so i thought this forum might just give me a lil' hand to move on the straight, narrow path to Him ^_^

Mastermind · Post by **Mastermind** » Sun May 01, 2005 2:39 pm

Edmund wrote:hey y'all just saying hi, I'm a noob here. Can't find the thread to introduce myself so i just picked this thread ^_^'' ''

I'm on a my discovery course of Him, and so i thought this forum might just give me a lil' hand to move on the straight, narrow path to Him ^_^

Introductions thread is here:

http://discussions.godandscience.org/viewtopic.php?t=5

LittleShepherd · Post by **LittleShepherd** » Tue May 17, 2005 5:17 am

My parents used to drag me to church when I was little. My mother grew up Catholic, and my dad grew up Baptist, so they always tried to compromise. I remember two churches in particular -- one Methodist and one Lutheran. I never really learned anything from them. At the Lutheran church, I took a small class and got to be their equivalent of an "altar boy" a couple times. I had my first baptism and my first communion there, without ever having to confess Christ as lord and savior. Go figure...I never liked that church anyway.

Early on in life I had behavior problems and depression. I don't remember this, but my mom said that I was once suicidal(and I was only 9!). So I ended up in therapy for a few years, with a month-long stay at a Charter Hospital. I of course ended up on Ritalin, and my parents moved me to a Christian school. It was probably a bigger sacrifice than I realized at the time. Things got better for a while, and I made some friends, and then we moved.

After we moved, I still went to Christian schools, but had trouble making any real friends. During this time I also got fat, and became even worse at sports than I used to be(was never very good with sports stuff). And the acne and the voice change and...well, you can imagine that my depression got worse and worse. I was still a good little boy, though. Rarely got detention, and never drank or did drugs or anything. Since I turned 18, though, I've drank a little, but don't like it(it's yucky). I also did some pot a few times, particularly during a 3-week vacation to California back in 2002. That was the last time I smoked pot. I really liked it, but just never did it again.

So basically I'm going along, all depressed and stuff. Oh, and did I mention that I was a homosexual? Yeah, I got pretty deep into that stuff. The porn flicks and the stories on the 'net, anyway. Especially fanfiction...like from TV shows like Buffy and stuff. And some other stuff I'm not comfortable saying, and you guys probably aren't comfortable hearing.

The part where my life started changing, though, would have to be December 31, 2004. Yeah, New Year's Eve, at a small party with some friends. I got a little "buzzed" from the alcohol, but was mostly coherent and wasn't driving anyway so it didn't bother me. I remember one moment 'cuz it's the moment everything went downhill. I was kind of stupified(thus is the nature of alcohol), but was talking with a couple friends back at their place, where I was spending the night. My friend, whom I'll call K, suddenly said that she had to go to bed soon because she had a doctor's appointment in the morning.

A doctor's appointment.

It sounds innocent enough, and there was nothing in her voice to indicate otherwise. I just remember...all of a sudden the word "abortion" flashed through my mind, and however it got in my mind it seemed so close and far at the same time. But I had nothing to go on, and I was half asleep, and...I said nothing. I didn't ask any questions. I didn't speak out. We weren't Christians, but I knew that K had the same beliefs on abortion as I did. So I ignored it, figured my brain was making stuff up, and went to sleep. Or so I told myself -- looking back on it, I was so certain in that moment that I can't believe I didn't say anything.

Now let's fast-forward to July. I hung out with my friends a few times, but we mostly didn't see each other much during that time. I was kind of worried about seeing K again, but just pushed that to the back of my mind. Anyway, we reestablished contact when she and her boyfriend got a new apartment, and around this time I started reading the Left Behind series and began seriously thinking about Christianity for the first time in my life.

It was basically our little ritual for me to drive over there and spend the night 2 or 3 nights a week(I got the spare bedroom, which has this really comfy bed that's just the right amount of firm). My friend, K, was also reading the Left Behind series(strange coincidence), and our conversations became spiritual in nature a few times.

Then it happened. I mean, everything just came crashing down all at once. One morning, our conversation became spiritual again, and K...she just broke down and told me everything. You guys saw this coming for a few paragraphs I'm sure, but yes she did have an abortion on New Year's day. And while she was crying, I was kind of in shock. I tried comforting her and held together pretty good for a bit, and I was really, really thankful that I had a doctor's appointment of my own(psychological in nature) to get to so I had an excuse to get out of there and think.

I got into my car, and had barely gotten out onto the road when the full weight of everything hit me. That's when I said my salvation prayer, which basically consisted of "God, help me!" with a bunch of emotional stuff behind it. Apparently the message got through, 'cuz it stuck. I am now a completely different person, just as promised.

I was a blasphemer, idolater, murderer(in the literal sense, as you can see from my testimony above), homosexual, liar, and probably a bunch of other stuff that doesn't stand out so clear. And now I'm not, and I'm actually feeling a call towards ministry myself, which I <I>so</I> never would have imagined going into before.

CountryBoy · Post by **CountryBoy** » Tue May 17, 2005 6:12 am

LittleShepherd,

Wow, what a powerful testimony. Wheather God is leading you into full-time ministry or not I will never know, but He can certainly use you wherever you are.

I spent the last 10 years in Atlanta and have now moved over to Union SC. Where are you in Ga?

In the service of Christ

LittleShepherd · Post by **LittleShepherd** » Tue May 17, 2005 2:47 pm

Warner Robins, about 10 or so miles south of Macon.

CountryBoy · Post by **CountryBoy** » Tue May 17, 2005 6:35 pm

Huh, Warner Robbins, could any good thing come from there?

It's a joke, kinda like what someone said about Nazareth.

Later

kateliz · Post by **kateliz** » Wed May 18, 2005 9:47 am

These testimonies are all so awesome to read. I never really understood before that God pulls people to Himself like what you guys have shared. I mean, I knew He did but never heard that many examples of such transforming power, which He just gave to people instantly. I've mostly just heard people talk about how they grew up in churches and were saved as soon as they could understand the concept.

That's kind of my story. My mom had my family going to church regularly up untill I was in sixth grade. I also went to a Christian program at church called Awana, where I first heard someone call for those willing to pray "the prayer." I remember that moment exactly, (very brief,) and that's where I was saved. I also went to Bible camps for nearly every summer of my youth, which I absolutely adored. I'd talk about it all year long, and remembered about how they taught us that camp was kind of like a charge that should last all year through. It was like that for me, and couldn't wait to be recharged for God.

I remember in elementary school realizing that if God exists He must be what we should live for. And I did that as much as I knew how- tallying the swear words people said in my fourth grade class. Then after several Post-It notes full of tallies I presented it to my teacher, who in turn scolded the class gently. I especially took offense at people taking God's name in vain, which I'd tally in slight anger. I was near devastation when I heard my crush of three years do so!

Then I started to grow up and got interested in fitting in, and so got a little worldly. That short period ended when I met a "bad boy" at Bible camp, (I liked the rebels, being a "good girl",) whose idols were Beavis and Butthead, had to sit in the mud pit because he wouldn't stop talking about Ozzy, (Osbourne,) and was rumored as having been sent to camp by his parents as a punishment for smoking. I prayed to God that He would make this boy my boyfriend, and the next day it was granted me. He wanted me to not talk about God with him, (which I agreed to a little reluctantly,) to start listenting to heavy metal, (which I did and fell in love with,) to start skateboarding, (I couldn't,) and we made out every time we got together although I didn't feel anything about it, (thirteen year old girls shouldn't!)

So I entered junior high like this, and made friends who were similar. I'd do daring things like lay in the road and jump out of the way just in time not to be hit by a car, and at a hotel sleepover sneak into the restaraunt and pour salt on the table. (

Oh, good times!) My group of friends all "went out" with each other, and I reigned as having the most boyfriends during this time, (technically five, those some aren't to be counted.) My mother titled our little soap opera "As the Stomach Turns." Then my friends all strangely turned away from me at once, (Hand of God,) and that was the end of my "rebellious" years.

I switched to the larger junior high for eighth grade with my best friend, and tried to improve myself for the change. This included journaling more, (which I've done since sixth grade,) reading the Bible, (King James version starting at Genesis, with Marilyn Manson playing in the background,) and also dealing with being molested as a child. All of these things combined with the shock of change in schools, (went from laid-back, be who you are to very trendy and cliquey,) sent me into a whirlwind. I actually did a silent protest, (unless asked about the signs I pinned onto my shirt,) against shirts with the brand names all over them that everyone else was wearing. I called them "Zombies" and "Billboards." I got harrassed by several people throughout that year because I spoke my mind, (often on God,) and had rocks thrown at me and Mountain Dew poured on my head, (the pop from a former friend with issues; all my friends from my heavy-metal days later on got serious into drugs and who knows what else.) Oh, and I also had some family issues that did me in pretty good. So I became, as I put it, mildly depressed and somewhat suicidal. It was just "hell."

During this time, however, God started to work in me and bring me much closer to Himself. I knew from the books He presented me with that my pain was for my own good, and so clung to Him and told Him, (through grace,) to make it as bad as it needs to be for my ultimate benefit. This He did.

In ninth grade I was falling in love with good books on God, and from my past experiences agreed with Joshua Harris' book I Kissed Dating Goodbye. I also started going to numerous Bible studies, (four at one time,) and got seriously into the Bible. And so I was well fed, (with all of this directed by God, as everything in my life is,) and He saw it fit to place me on a path to a certain relationship with Himself that's been so neglected by the majority of the Christian poplulation for all of it's existence. I won't go into that here because it's much too complicated in the details and not believed by so many Christians who hear of it.

I went through high school being fed and taught by God like this, (I'm only two years out,) and am constantly moving forward on this path. After many years of painful heartache over wanting Christians suitable for me to grow with God has saw it fit to give me a church of my own now, and He also directed me to this forum, from which I derive much benefit.

He has led me to trust Him for all of my financial needs, (still a work in progress,) and for my employment. A few weeks after graduation from high school He presented me with the job I've had for almost two years now as a nanny to two young girls, (which He caused me to desire before graduation, and then dropped in my lap afterwards,) but that will end next fall when the youngest goes to first grade and daycare for the schoolyear will become cheap enough for the family to afford. I work nine and a half hours a day, (when they need me, which constantly changes,) and get paid just about half of minimum wage. I'm living at home still, (God's will,) but hope that the time will come soon when I'll be called elsewhere! I trust Him completely, (no doubts this time! What grace He gives!) with my future employment and for my needs to be met. I'm a little anxious about what He has in store for me in the fall, (could be anything!) but mostly excited because I know He's gentle and will uphold me wherever He takes me!

Sorry, I know this is more of a life story than a true testimony, (regarding salvation,) and it's filled with small details that don't mean as much as other people's details on this thread, but this is my equivalent, and I wanted to share it! Thank you for allowing me.

CountryBoy · Post by **CountryBoy** » Wed May 18, 2005 11:42 am

Kateliz,

small details that don't mean as much as other people's details on this thread

That couldn't be further from the truth. There are no small details with God. He worked it all in exactly the way He wanted.

That is an amazing story. My daughter got saved when she was 4. She'll soon be 7. She will tell you about how she was in the Mcdonalds drive through when she asked Jesus into her heart. That girl loves the Lord, she sings to Him all the time. Asks for prayer and asks to pray with you about anything. I hope she can be spared most of the heartaches I put myself through.

Every testimony I hear is absolutely amazing. Because we are all so basically selfish and wanting to do our own will, and to see how God draws all of us to Himself is just...well, amazing.

Come on people, let's hear some more.

bizzt · Post by **bizzt** » Wed May 18, 2005 11:46 am

Nice Testimony Kate TRULY!! We all have different Testimonies and different people relate to each one!

j316 · Post by **j316** » Wed May 18, 2005 11:57 am

I would like to thank Kateliz for her testimony and say that I agree with her about this forum. A very interesting core group of committed believers.

I find this thread to be extremely interesting as I have never really had much opportunity to discover how others responded to their callings. It is very moving.

kateliz · Post by **kateliz** » Wed May 18, 2005 2:05 pm

CountryBoy wrote:we are all so basically selfish and wanting to do our own will, and to see how God draws all of us to Himself is just...well, amazing.

Amen to that! He's so awesome there's no words for it!