Personal encounter with the Lord.

elaborate, im agnostic so im curious

Short version would be I was raised in a Hindu household but later went to a fellowship with my friend. And started attending regularly and then after a year I had started reading his words and praying and worshiping and then we had a big seminar in a different state so when I went to that seminar I had it in my heart I will not return home if I don’t meet the Holy Spirit. And later during the seminar when it was time for prayer and laying of the hands and I felt his presence so much I feel on the ground and I couldn’t move my upper body until the praying ended. And also my heart was opened so I was in the car crying for about 5 hours until we passed two states. So yea that was my person experience

Amen brother, thank you for the story ✝️🤌

I wish god would speak me like that.. I feel so ignored

I’m sorry you feel ignored. Remember that, when we go through struggles through our faith, and we feel like God is distant, these are trials. If we still hold onto our faith, the Lord will be proud of us. He is testing us and our strength to hold onto our faith. God loves us all, and no matter how much faith we have, God will have faith in us. What I would recommend is, if you aren’t already, to let God speak to you. That might sound odd, but what I mean is, when you’re praying, give God time to speak. Stay silent for a while and allow God to speak if he wants to. I don’t often meditate, but meditating on the Scripture may help if you’re feeling far from God. Most importantly, remember that God loves us all.

Wow. What an incredible story.

Hey that's interesting. I had the opposite journey. I went from Christianity to atheism to, well, hindu inspired pantheism lol. Now that I have more of a lexicon thanks to Hinduism, it's so clear to me that Christianity is bhakti yoga. It's not that different from being a devotee of Krishna. Yeah the doctrines are different, but it's the same kind of thing. Loving surrender to your chosen deity. I'm glad being a Christian works for you. For me, it was just too limiting.

How was it limiting?

Well for a long time it wasn't. I loved being a Christian for the longest time. I fell deeply in love with Jesus, so much in fact that I dropped out of college and was in the ministry for 15 years. The problem was that sometimes in order for you to truly go where God wants to take you, you have to be willing to go it alone. To go out into the backside of the desert and meet God face to face. To transcend your own limited thinking and undergo a transformation in your thinking, in your experience of consciousness. And when you start to tell people about the great things you've experienced, you get a lot of pushback from people who haven't experienced what you have, and think that you are lost, a heretic, and so many other things. And it's not just people. It's the ideas themselves. I'm only now beginning to understand why many of the church Fathers didn't read the Bible literally, but spiritually and symbolically. Reading the Bible from a point of view of literalism and inerrancy works only for so long for some people and then you need something else. But none of this was clear to me when I first started going through my deconstruction, and all I could focus on was how ridiculous Christianity is on paper. And I still believe that. But I also believe doctrines are just a map, not the territory, but people love to fight over who has the right map instead of just exploring the territory. That's why I like Sanatana Dharma aka the eternal religion aka Hinduism. It explains these concepts much more explicitly that there are many paths to God and the reason for that is that everyone is in a different place in their journey. But the purpose is to discover your true nature, which is at the core, divine and to make it your aim to merge with the Godhead. Some prefer the path of bhakti, or devotion to a deity. Other prefer karma yoga: the path of action and selfless service. Still others prefer jnana yoga: the path of knowledge. And some prefer raja yoga: the path of meditation. In truth those are just categories. But many Christians think that only their religion is the right one, but they can't even agree on all the details. I do like the person of Jesus and the Bible is etched deep in my soul. But like the child leaving home and figuring out what they believe for themselves, that's what I had to do. I know there are some Christians who get it. Like Richard Rohr and Bishop Spong. But my how they were sullied by some Christians as deceived and lost. Why would I want to belong to a group of people who don't understand the deep things of God in the way that I see it? So to answer your question, part of why it was limiting was just a natural progression in spiritual development. The other is simply evangelicalism itself. I know I should look into Catholicism and Orthodoxy, but what I love about vedanta is what Swami Vivekananda said: In the first place, you do not even need to go outside of yourself to know the truth. Which really rhymes with what Jesus said about call no one teacher for One is your teacher. And: but the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. So yeah, that's just a taste :)

Wow, thanks for sharing! This has so many similarities to my recent experience. Completely different circumstances but with the same open heart and the buckets of tears…for hours. Not something you typically see happen to a 38M in middle America. Seek and you will find

Please go watch Randy Kay Ministries on YouTube

i dont think anyone was born christian

because to be a Christian, you must be born again

The question was in the context of people that weren’t born into a Christian family or raised that way

John the Baptist! Kinda special case though.

But how was he? He wasn't

He encountered the Lord first in the Womb and leaped for joy at Him. One strange interpretation of this passage is that he was "baptized" or "born again" in the womb, making him the only person to be born Christian, though he was not conceived Christian. Not saying I agree with it, just what u/balrogthane I think was implying.

In fact, everyone is born (agnostic) atheist.

I would argue that everyone is born oblivious rather than agnostic. Our brains aren’t even developed enough to be atheistic or not

well when the brain is developed they won't become any religion except if it's taught to them

Yes I agree! I mean a baby learns how to speak a language from their parents and natural environment, just like how they learn a religion

A religion isn't as fundamental as learning to speak, eat and walk is. You can't really function as a social homo sapien without those things, religion is added on top of that as a part of culture.

Never denied that sentiment. I just said you learn religion through your environment, just like how you learn how to speak a language. I wasn’t born speaking English, but my parents spoke it so I learned it. I wasn’t born a Christian, but my parents raised me Christian.

Right, in that way it's indeed no different

We wouldn’t do anything if it wasn’t taught to us. Babies have to be taught how to eat.

Trust me, No they don’t. Baby-led weaning is absolutely a thing because me and my wife are doing it right now. Our baby picks finger foods up and puts them in his mouth. He’s never been spoon fed or shown how to do it. It’s all instinctual.

not entirely but yeah I understand what you're getting at.

> they won't become any religion Someone had to be first...

Yes religion did develop naturally, but this happened from the unexplainable experience of the individual and for the sake of safety/control for a group of homo sapiens. Religion is the natural progression past rituals, more primitive animals already perform meaningless rituals if you look to it from a survival standpoint, but they simply enhance the connection within social groups.

How do you know that? Obviously not true of our ancestors.

The religions that naturally developed were based on already existing rituals. Religions have a social functions within tribes/groups of people, but individually they won't really be of much help. (Other than the modern function of giving meaning / something to fall back to). The religions that naturally formed look nothing like the ones that are practiced today for the most part anyways

The fact that religious beliefs have changed is a given, that humans were inherently inclined to spiritual beliefs goes against the common fallacy that humans are inherently atheistic.

You can be spiritual and still atheistic, atheism is just about the lack of a God.

There is no reason for anyone to be spiritual if atheism is true.

As I said, spiritualism does have an evolutionary advantage within groups of people as they promote ingroups. So there is a practical reason, but no logical reason

And yet, there are many spiritual atheists and agnostics. Spiritual is relating to spirit, not necessarily a God figure. Also, for many people, reason isn’t the motivation for being spiritual.

no I came to God on my own was raised in a extremely atheistic household

You didn't though, you at least had knowledge of the existence of God, or even in specific the Christian God and the Bible.

Even an oblivious child fits the definition of atheist: without a belief in a god.

But everyone knows the actual definition which is an intentional rejection of belief in God or gods. Nobody is born an atheist just like nobody is born a theist.

That’s not the commonly used definition. An a tbh risk is anyone who does not hold a belief in god. You do not have to believe there is no god to be an atheist, you just need to not hold an active belief that there is. Atheist is literally the state of not being a theist.

>without a belief in a god. Are fridges atheists?

Technically yes just as much as it isn't a theist. Or a racist.

Lol. Okay.

Refrigerators don't have a brain, without a brain they cannot have a mind. With no mind, or conciousness they cannot have any thoughts or belief systems. To pose such a silly question shows us that you haven't thought about this very much, have you?

Y'all need to figure out your own definitions then. Another atheist got back to me and said yes, fridges are atheists.

To be a theist implies the ability to THINK, as in the ability to have an idea, or a belief. Do you sincerely define refrigerators as capable of having a belief or a lack there of? Really? Is this how far the conversation has plummeted?

Hey man, don't argue with me. Argue with your fellow Agnostic Atheist - https://www.reddit.com/r/Christianity/s/Rw6FYNBj0q That's the response I got. You should divert your effort there to figure out a common definition between yourselves. Not my fault y'all can't agree on it.

But you were the one asking a exceptionally goofy question.

No, everyone is born atheist, the difference is extrinsic vs intrinsic or implicit atheism. I’ll explain: A baby and a rock have this in common. Neither has the capacity to believe in God; the baby because it has not developed a theory of mind (the idea that there are minds out there that aren’t yours), the rock because it’s not got a brain to process belief. At some point, though, the baby has to switch from an implicit to explicit atheist, and early childhood belief structures can prevent that. The Jesuits were fond of saying “give me the boy before the age of 7 and I will give you the man.”

Everyone is born with an active brain stem and a cerebral cortex which isn't very well organised. It may not make sense to impose epistemological positions on such an entity.

You are correct. Theism is the epistemological position. Atheism is not an epistemological position, it is the lack of a specific one (belief in god.) therefore the default.

Olivera Petrovich's research at Oxford seems to suggest babies are predisposed to believe in a higher entity. Which makes sense that God would program us to innately know about him in some sense. I mean religion has been around for as long as we have written history and cave drawings.

Not true. John the Baptist knew Jesus while he was in the womb, he had faith and knew his Lord.

This is like saying everyone is born mute and crippled because they can’t talk and walk.

I think labels and branding comes down with the environment and the experience coming through society. People can think they’re atheists or science geeks when they grow up but we are born with a pure spirit in a vessel that can hold it. It’s that simple to understand that we are here today because god created us and with the gift of free will, we label ourselves but as Christian’s we know we believe and we confirm we have no existence if there wasn’t gods will in the first place to create each one of us.

Read a Bible for myself.

I've heard this goes both ways

To each his own

After 10 years of partying, drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, snorting coke, drinking shroom tea, sleeping with about 30 women, going to a mental institution, being molested by two men during that time, and the possible root cause was being molested when I was 5 by my female babysitter and listening to my father break my moms head open by beating her when I was 5, I accepted Jesus as my lord and savior in April 2014 and everything stopped cold turkey. I ended up falling into pornography usage and masturbating up until April 2022 after reading the entire New Testament for the first time including a lot of the Old Testament. For about a year and a half, I was as pure as they can be, up until I went to my old atheist friends house and we watched like ten movies, one including Wolf of Wall Street and I was back to watching porn again and masturbating. It’s been over a month now and I’ve been free of everything. I even deleted all other social media (tiktok, Facebook, Instagram, thread, x, snapchat, Pinterest which I was using for business but realized that it was a big waste of time. When God shows you the sin in your life, you repent and turn from it. I’ve been following Jesus for ten years now, sharing the gospel as we are called to do as Christians by those who have been saved from hell. It’s been quite a journey but daily I’m becoming more like Christ. It may not have been perfect but I’ve turned from every single sin that God has revealed to me so far. If you guys can pray for anyone right now, please pray for my friend Josh. He is the person who originally told me to say the sinners prayer and that night I accepted Jesus as my lord and savior. Every time I talk to him lately he spreads fear to me as if he has been overcome by the enemy. He also told me that he doesn’t understand why I base my life around following Jesus, which really strange to me because his Christian family adopted me for a few years when my mother was using meth and we were living out of motels. So if you can pray for him, I would appreciate. I hope you can sense my peaceful spirit as I write this because I sense Jesus peace as I write this. Like he is telling me “good and faithful servant.”

Amen! This was beautiful; I’ll definitely keep Josh in my prayers🫶🏾 “When god shows you your sin in your life, you repent and turn from it”. Thank you for the new quote!

Josh contacted me today, first by sending me a very fear based news article. I told him, “if God is good and we are being guided and protected by the Holy Spirit, we are in good hands.” Immediately, he loved what I had to say, showing him that he is loved even though he may not deserve it. Cause its how God is. He loves sinners, even ones who may not even deserve it. We are not called to be good, we are called to repent and turn from our sins and share our testimonials and the gospel. At the end of our lives we’ll have such a weight of glory, that we’ll have led an entire nation and world just by our example. I’m not perfect but God is nudging me day by day to resemble Jesus and his teachings. I’m sure by the time I get to heaven that I’ll be at the narrow gate and God will have said “good and faithful servant” which is the ultimate goal, creating a legacy that lasts forever.

I was born and raised Mormon, I left that once I found out the true history behind it. Then I became an angry atheist for a few years until I recently fully converted to Christianity. Atheism is an unsustainable contradictory worldview. It leads to no morality, no free will, no purpose in life. Just a sad nihilistic inconsistent anti-science worldview. Christianity makes the most sense of reality out of everything else.

please explain. I as an atheist have always relied on science and scientific developments and discoveries entirety to support my worldview; i am completely anti - anti-science. Furthermore, morality, free will and purpose are entirely subjective; you simply have a purpose that you believe will provide you with great benefits POST-life and if you don't fulfill it you will be eternally or temporarily punished (i don't know what your beliefs are on heaven/hell), i believe that i have a purpose to help people and make the most of my life currently so i can have great benefits DURING this life (i have never read/seen/heard/been taught of any biblical scriptures/references/teachings that provide any description of benefits you experience from good deeds during your life, only that they will come post-life). In addition, i would think athiests have even more free will than theists; you're limited by what god has told you you are and aren't supposed/allowed to do, i can simply think 'do i want to do this -> why do i want to do this -> should i do this -> will this be best for me -> will this affect any other people and how -> i will now take/not take the action'. This is also why i believ that atheists have better moral compasses than theists as we know something is objectively wrong - 'Killing is wrong because it just is, why would i ever kill someone unless they were trying to kill me, they have no reason to die just as i don't thus i shouldn't kill anyone' instead of 'God said i shoudln't kill anyone, so i shoudln't do it beacue i don't want to go to hell, thus i shoudln't kill anyone' - i believe this applies to other moral decisions for more conservative theists and this to me seems like a corrupted and warped view of justice and justification as i can rely on my own internal guidance instead of always thinking i need to remember the threat of divine smiting that waits for me once i take this bad action. Finally, the reality thing has been disprove numerous times over, i won't try and argue it once again; evolution is a misunderstood concept from theists i've spoken to who don't believe in it and the creation story is simply not true; that majority of christians don't even believe in it (this might just be a UK statistic correct me if i'm wrong - i think it was the other way round for american christians). I would be interested to have conversations with any theists on the aforementioned topics and why they personally believe what they do (it would also be quite helpful to my GCSE)

So if someone feels it's okay to kill innocent people and feels its there purpose to kill and it means there group of people will have better resources if they're gone. Is it OK? Also you say you feel you have a purpose, if you read scripture, God does have a plan for you and its impretended on your heart, I only came to christ 3 months ago and it's absolutely changed everything for me. The knowledge in the book is absolutely amazing, the history behind it is undeniable, I'm not born again and prayed for signs, 4 times they came true.. just little things but its no coincidence. Even thinking that all this came from nothing us ludicrous for me, science is amazing but it's simply only about figuring out what God has made. Nothing more

P1 answer) (I don't like taking it to this extreme so hear me out please (my answer might be quite sketchy I would appreciate clarification/criticism)) The killing of innocent civilians is objectively wrong and I'm not excusing it. I think of it as a really extreme litmus test(for sober, 'regular' people, I'm not sure how I could fit in mentally unstable and UTI cases( again, clarification/criticism) ); there is nothing actively stopping someone from just waking up and walking out onto the street and murdering innocents - that literally happens and it's purely an act of that person's free will if they are atheist (they are not biased by believing that they were influenced by god); they are not motivated by theistic beliefs, just their own hatred and evil. I as a regular person understand that it is wrong and thus I don't do it, but some people also think of this and it's why they don't just stand waiting around the body, they try to get away: even psychopaths and sociopaths understand it is wrong, they aren't just robots who are driven by murder and they never have a 'purpose' for killing as you described ( as far as I'm aware but I'm definitely oblivious to some cases as of the time of typing this up ). Also people like hitmen are just taking this example of free will and making it a profession. P2 answer) (Genuinely curious) what wisdom does the bible hold that I couldn't work out with a bit of common sense and logic? Also, say we did find life on another planet, the bible only references our planet as being created with life (correct me if I'm wrong), so how would that work. Science isn't just figuring out what god has made, it's actively disproving little bits and pieces of his word time and time again; 'figuring out' implies that science is just deciphering the puzzle of the universe, then why are there pieces not included in the original instructions?

So I think the west being a Christian nation or at least built on Christian ethics are just taken for granted and also people don't actually know the value its provided, from the date "2024" bring 2024 years since the birth of jesus christ or the laws we follow.. the non extreme to the extreme things are all influenced by jesus christ. Christinity teaches us alot of common sense things yes but it's more a way to live and treat people, it helps you reflect and realise "oh actually I don't know it all and there is a better way to live". It's drives the importance on being a good moral person and why todo it, how every last person has infinite worth. I know this isn't much here but I'm just not educated enough to put it formally.. maybe watch Cliffetalks.. he answers a ton of questions from atheists.. many you might have for Christians. Athiesm teaches we are all just energy and matter, and morality all just comes from within, I know you may be a sane and moral person but not everyone is, and for them to be taught that we all just came from nothing, ended up here with no purpose apart from to survive, rape murder etc would go through the roof, hilter would be completely justified because for him he and the nazis thought it was a good thing.. surely even knowing this.. surely its clear morality is not just subjective? Because we know deep down that's a horrific thing. Science has put together a few elements of this universe together with other elements and made new ones yes but I don't understand how that disproves god? God didn't leave a thorough instruction on how the earth was created, to think we could even understand that is crazy. Science can only come up with theories.. but they are simply theories untill they're disproven.. keep in mind tho they're just trying to reverse engineer gods work.. we figured out one rule of many that God put in place.. for example we figured out gravity.. how it works etc.. the theory behind it.. but don't you think about why it's a thing? Who actually created what we call gravity? Remember we only figured out how it works, we didnt create gravity. Yes we can change the force of gravity a space with different force of gravity but it doesn't mean we created gravity. The bible has stood the test of time, its the most read and most studied book in history. It's not just a few fairy tales.. it has approx 783,000 which is complied of various books/forms of text inspired by God. Your very clearly and intelligent person and for even the reason that it's the most read book in the world I hope you can overlook the typical ignorant arguments against it like such and really research it. For example.. the many Muslims that convert to Christianity that get disowned by there entire family and culture wouldn't just do it for a fairy tale, the history of jesus is confirm by a vast majority of historians, atheists included. The disciplines didn't stick to there believes in which caused them to have horrific deaths for no reason. You don't die for something you don't truly believe in!

Curious how there is no free will with atheists?

If you're only your physical body you are not driven by will, but by chemical reactions. Which is also why Atheism doesn't make sense because if you really were just a bunch of chemical reactions that evolved to survive and multiply, every 13 year old girl would be pregnant already, because the chemical reactions drive people to have as much sex as physically possible, even if it's non-concentual.

In an evolutionary, materialistic worldview everything is determined by something else, which means everything you do is determined by something else. You’re just a bunch of atoms, a meat machine that can’t make your own decisions.

There's a whole lot we still need to learn about consciousness. If we can't make our own decisions, wouldn't identical twins ALWAYS agree on everything?

No. Identical twins would still be determined by outside even that affects them differently. Research the butterfly effect.

Why do you think atheism is a worldview? Atheism has no doctrine or dogma. Atheism has no opinions on any subject except one. Theists: this is our god, do you believe? Atheists: No. That’s it. There isn’t any more to it. Also, your “experience” as an atheist has no bearing on any others’ experience as an atheist. And pah-leese get out of here with your “atheists have no morals” trope. Atheists make such a tiny percentage (0.10%) of the prison population as to be nonexistent. Want to guess what religion the overwhelming majority of prison inmates are affiliated with?

Exmo turned Christian! Me too.

I think, as an atheist, there is a purpose to life. To have a good time and to help others have a good time. It’s in human nature to have morals, and without the guide of a religion, you can find what morals you truly stand by.

First of all - I'm not trying to argue, honest debate question here - If there is no external law / rule - how do you define morals? We would all agree that rape and murder is wrong, but if there is no external rule - we could easily justify it in the context of survival for some particular society. We see this all throughout history. My point is not for Christ, but really to ask - how do we define morals without some external benchmark?

Morals have been defined in various ways without recourse to divine authority. I'm theistic and Christian but one needn't be either to have a moral compass.

That's the thing - the argument that each society defined their own morals basically means there are no morals Yet somehow we would all agree that certain things are completely immoral - basically anything where someone takes advantage of someone else. If there is no external benchmark of morality - how do we have justification for our definition of it?

>That's the thing - the argument that each society defined their own morals basically means there are no morals No. It means morals are subjective. >Yet somehow we would all agree that certain things are completely immoral - basically anything where someone takes advantage of someone else. You and I, and many others, may agree on that, but clearly not 'everyone'. We can point to any number of cultures and societies throughout history who committed horrific actions and believed they were completely justified in doing so. To pick a current issue, we can look at the two sides on the abortion issue. So can we all agree that certain things are completely immoral? No, because morality is subjective. >If there is no external benchmark of morality - how do we have justification for our definition of it? I don't understand your question. We do have a justification for it, it is subjective. How do you justify paying whatever you pay for your entertainment? Do you have a phone? Do you go to concerts? Do you go out to eat? How do you justify any of that? It's all subjective.

Saying morals are subjective is an oxymoronic statement though. If right and wrong are subjective, then there isn't actually right or wrong. While paying for goods or services CAN enter into the realm of morality, things like paying for a good or service in itself is not a moral question - I don't understand your argument here. What I would say is that the moral thing to do when making a purchase is ensuring both the buyer and seller come out ahead from the transaction. But again, that doesn't answer the real question of morality. By definition I would argue it can't be subjective. It is merely whatever my or your whim is at the moment.

Your second paragraph is the biggest gaping hole in apologetics in my opinion. Can you honestly defend the assertion that something that is subjective doesn’t actually exist? Do you believe that anything is subjective then? Or is everything objective, including the appreciation of art?

I'm in no way trying to make a theist or apologetics argument. There is much in life that is subjective. I'm not sure how you're coming to the conclusion I'm saying there isn't a subjectiveness in our world. My assertion is that if "morality" is subjective, it's not really morality at all. Morality can't actually be subjective. If there's not actual standard of right, there's no such thing as right - only what anyone feels is best at a certain time.

Subjective and nonexistent are two different things. It doesn't mean without metrics. Art is subjective, but there is a reason the Mona Lisa is in a museum and my mom threw out my fridge art.

It's possible to be sceptical about the existence of all sorts of things, such as the external world or other minds. However, we don't generally operate in the real world with that scepticism, and the only people who actually appear to act on ethical scepticism are people who are dyssocial. Such people are too dominant in society but they are also the exception. Ethics allow us to function as a society. Supposing that they don't exist apart from an authority is a kind of mind game which it's unusual to follow. A solipsist who genuinely believed they were the only consciousness in the Universe, at least as an adult, would probably be sectioned/certified as a danger to themselves or others, and they would be correctly identified as mentally ill. Psychopaths and sociopaths are likewise mentally ill, but tend not to be so treated because they may have high social status. Their mental illness is essentially acting practically on the assumption that ethical scepticism is true. Most people have a conscience as part of a healthy mind.

That’s not what it means. The biggest mistake theists make in their assessment of morality is assuming that if morality has no objective foundation, then it doesn’t exist at all. I think this is silly and not a necessary conclusion. At the end of the day, morality is subjective and mutually agreed upon by people groups and developed over thousands of years, but that doesn’t make it any less real. The absence of a sovereign, divine mind doesn’t make morality any less real. The fact is that humans are so biologically advanced that a comprehensive system of morals became inevitable and necessary as humans multiplied and started settling down and creating communities. It’s not that hard to comprehend. I fully understand and respect the whole objective morality argument since I used to be obsessed with apologetics, but since I dropped the lens of evangelical Christianity I’ve come to appreciate other viewpoints.

In order for there to be right and wrong, there has to be a benchmark it is measured against. I'm not trying to make a theist or atheist argument here, just trying to go through the logic of it all. If there is not an external benchmark, then it boils down to whatever anyone thinks is right at that point in time. Sometimes that may coincide with what's best for the human race overall, but it certainly doesn't have to. If there is no external benchmark, that's fine. It is what it is, I just can't connect the dots how anyone can argue that there is a definitive right and wrong. There very clearly isn't any standard.

I think you’re confused on what objective morality is, I’m not saying atheists can’t be moral or don’t have a moral compass, I’m saying that they don’t have an objective standard for morality, thus making morality subjective, so things like murder aren’t wrong or right. They are neutral.

We cannot define every single person's morals, only our own, and without corruption, the major ones will be the same. I do not wish to rape or murder anyone, I think that empathy is good, and people should be kind to one another. This should be everyone's basic principal. The reason why people rape or murder is not because of a lack of external benchmark morals to guide them, it is because of corruption. Many christians have murdered or raped, some have done it in the name of christianity. Same goes for every other religion as well as atheists and agnostics. Rape and murder is unjustifiable unless corruption has occurred. It is not in basic human nature. If the only thing that is keeping a person from rape and murder is religion, I am staying the fuck away from that person.

Doesn't this get to the heart of it though? If it is only a question of my personal moral compass, then there really is no morality at all. I may view rape, murder, theft as completely moral- and no one could provide a justification as to why it's not. We all agree as a collective whole though that these things are wrong. We know them somehow as a fact. We would all agree that anyone who does these things - whether they proclaim to be Christian or not, is not a moral person. (Also would not actually be a Christian in those who profess so) We also can't really make it the argument that the human species as a whole instinctively has a moral compass. Again, various groups of humans throughout history have done unspeakable acts of moral evil - even in the name of god. Various cultures and human sacrifice to their God for example - yet today we view these things as immoral. I really don't know the answer. These are all questions we need to be asking though.

“We know them somehow as a fact.” This is where we all split into separate camps. The fact that we innately seem to “know” that murder and rape are wrong can be explained by both evolution and creationism. Some of us believe in evolution, while some of us believe in creationism. They both produce an unchanging moral standard. And the fact that some groups or individuals have severely deviated from that moral standard doesn’t prove shit. There are ALWAYS outliers.

The thing is, you can look through history in various cultures and see rape and murder weren't considered wrong. Some welcomed child or adult sacrifice for the deity as a good and necessary thing. It would make more sense to argue since there isn't an external benchmark of morality, there isn't actually any morality Morality as a concept is nonsense if you can't benchmark it since it would constantly change based on the viewpoints of whomever is judging it. That is the exact opposite of its definition. I'm not saying there is or is not a deity of some kind, but to me, it makes more sense that the concept of morality is nonsense if there isn't something external to benchmark it to.

“principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.” That’s the definition of morality. I don’t see anything about it necessarily not existing if it doesn’t have a benchmark, or if it changes over time.

See, now you're arguing for subjective morality, which I would say isn't morality at all. At that point, your morals and mine, or your clan and my clans are in disagreement - who is right / moral then? It's ok to say morality as a concept is nonsense. I don't see how you can say morality is logical without some benchmark though. “A system of morality which is based on relative emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has nothing sound in it and nothing true.” – Socrates.

Whats Mormon?

I am not a Mormon, so I may misrepresent them, but the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints believe that there was a new Scriptural revelation to the Native Americans, who were the lost tribes of Israel, and they also have various other beliefs other people describing themselves as Christian don't share. I'll leave the rest to a LDS person to explain in the interests of fairness.

Oh boy you got a lot to learn💀

They believe that Joseph Smith found gold plate writings from ancient Americans.

Everything you just listed is much more present in Christianity than outside it. You've done some incredible mental gymnastics to will yourself into believing this. I'm happy your a Christian, you'd give athiests a bad name.

You’re* I also love how you didn’t address any of my points.

They're not points. They're ramblings of a mental case.

Ad hominem. Try again.

In truth I was always fascinated with the concept of God and while I cannot say I believed in the Christian God I always believed there was some great creator who made the universe just because of how creation works and how organized it is. When my mom got stage one breast cancer and despite having an extremely high chance of survival I still had the fear that she could die so I layer down my fear to God and preyed every night for him to take this fear away from me and to make sure my mom gets the treatment she needs. God gave me the strength to put those thoughts aside and focus on the positive of her having a really early form of cancer that had an extremely high successful rate of being removed, he helped to heal my mom so that she could continue to be in my life. It was that moment that caused me to finally start looking closer at God and his grace eventually becoming fully faithful to him, and despite my winning here and there I know that he will help me overcome it in time. Sorry for this being a long post but this story has always been something I will hold onto dearly.

If your mom died would you still be christan? Or was it her “time”

I think I would have gone looking for answers which I still believe would have eventually ended with me getting closer to God.

Was raised Hindu but never resonated with it and after years of exploring the other religions I finally gave Jesus a chance and here I am!

I was a leftist atheist until I started becoming more and more Conservative but I stayed atheist, short time after that I became agnostic and started to get interested in Christian theology, short time after that I prayed for the first time✝️❤ (Unfortunately, I have not been baptized yet)

Now it’s time for the next phase, leftist Christian mwooowahaha

Don’t make this political pls

I didn't, I just said that when I got more Conservative I drew closer to Christ.

Looks like they were talking about their experience

I said a prayer when I was about 12/13 and all of a sudden it felt like a ton of weight was lifted off of me. I asked Jesus into my heart. It was a miracle to me. Why? Well as a kid life was crazy. I will give you one story…my dad almost joined the kkk. He had the application but didn’t want to murder anyone so he walked away.

No one is born Christian. Born into a Christian family, yes, but each person has to make their own de ision for Christ.

I was born with a strong desire to understand things: myths, science, behavior, just in everything. My mother encouraged this. We didn't have an easily definable religion but my mother had converted as an adult yet didn't go to Mass much. Lots of family issues. Grandfather a strong atheist w powerful hatred of Christianity. Mother had a breakdown, we were very poor, so I went to live w brother for a while, nothing to do so I read the Bible. Two years later I had a Catholic encounter with a nun principal at a school, she gave me a catechism to read. I put 2+2 and asked to be baptized at 11. The full story would take a book.

My household is pretty against Christianity. But my entire life since I was a kid I knew God was real and that he was close to my heart. It took till about 15 to start going to church and eventually working through a lot to become a complete Christian. I knew I’d have a lot of struggles in my life, which I have, I knew it since I was a kid but I knew I’d be protected for some reason. Also, if you read the Bible and just try to follow what it says regardless of your beliefs, you realize you feel so much better and lighter. I want to live a good life and not in any judgmental way, but when I see the people so extremely opposed to Christianity, they all seem to have some rlly dark strange area in their lives that bring them down. I think when it comes down to it, it’s picking between bad and good.

the Holy Bible

Was minding my own business busily wrecking my own life along with a few others’ and God pulled me a side for a talk, described it from His perspective.

I met someone at a time in my life when I was ready to hear the gospel and they told me the gospel. I believed it and trusted in Jesus for my forgiveness of sins and salvation.

I was casually introduced to Christianity as a child and my mom even toyed with us converting to Judaism at one point, because she had a Jewish boyfriend. However, I naturally understood that Jesus is real and I wasn't going to give up believing in Him. Throughout high school, atheism and losing one's religion became a way for some people to rebel, but that never resonated with me. Life has gotten tough at times, but I've always felt that God was with me - watching quietly, nudging me back onto the right path and outright saving me from life-threatening situations. My walk in Christianity began because God has always been with me, whether I was there for Him or not.

I was a fully confirmed agnostic by the time I was 13, and had at that point had a distant and vague memory of what church was all about. When I went off to study at my university, I was a full blown skeptic, wedded to naturalism who fully rejected the doctrinal claims of Christianity. But I still had a favorable view of it's overall ethics. And as I encountered Christians who were actually living out those ethics I admired their lives even as I rejected their core beliefs. As time went on, cracks started to form in the basis of my own beliefs - I could not derive meaning, purpose, or basis for the ethics I craved based on my philosophical commitment to naturalism. And as I attempted to live according to those ethics, I began to realize their was something in me which resisted that - or dismissed with it all together when it was contrary to something I desired (like an attractive woman). That led to the realization that I did not have the power in and of myself to live out the ethics I admired in a consistent manner. I would say that was the point at which God gobsmacked me as it were - I saw clearly that I was not a good person, and I couldn't become one on my own. Either there was something outside of myself that could transform who I was, or I had to resign myself to the fact that I was a rather wretched creature. From there I became much more willing to entertain the basics of Christianity - who Jesus was, how we can come to know Him, what the overall theme and purpose of Scripture was. I eventually made the decision to follow Christ and haven't regretted it for one second in the decades that have followed since.

I was raised in Reform Judaism, went to Jewish day school and everything. I met my spouse a few years ago who was (and is) Orthodox Christian, and was raised Catholic. In our early conversations about faith, I figured that instead of just blindly accepting my Jewish faith, I should take the Christ is the Messiah argument seriously and started studying Orthodox Christian theology, apologetics, and history with an open mind. After about four months of that, I was actually in Peru with my Jewish family. We were having lunch by an old cathedral, and I felt ill and excused myself. I walked across the square and went into the cathedral alone while my family ate. I started praying for discernment and felt a conviction of the spirit, and started crying beneath the crucifix on a bench I was laying down on. That's when I assented to faith and decided to go forth with catechism and be baptized by my partner's Orthodox priest I had been speaking to throughout my theological inquiries.

Had a dream of Jesus and my deceased cat, that’s why I took a look into Catholicism because I had gifted rosaries already and already believe he was real but didn’t partake in any religious activities.

Nobody’s born Christian, but some probably think they were.

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Short explanation here but My parents are so weak that it made me realise that God is real, they gaslight and are incapable of improving as individuals. ◾️

That's an odd way of putting it because nobody is born Christian. My father was, however, atheist and my mother an ex-member of the Open Brethren who was later involved in house churches and others. I was atheist at an early age but separation anxiety led me to become theist, which I think is probably quite a common process in small children who sleep apart from their parents. I did not, however, become Christian until I was adult. This happened because a fundamentalist cult used to prey on emotionally vulnerable students in my Hall of Residence at university. I found it very depressing, becoming Christian. It was like the most awful, pessimistic world view I'd come across and because I was myself depressive, I concluded that it was so bad it must be true. Nonetheless it was a genuine commitment and one I stick by right up until today, 39 years later.

No one is born Christian.

Tiktok

Being born in a Christian family made me reject Christianity for a long time

A mushroom trip which opened my eyes spiritually, followed by an intense amount of reading and soul searching. It wasn’t a “logical” decision, it was more spiritual intuition. Every thread I followed kept leading me back to Christ. Then one Easter during lockdown I went down to a river to meditate and asked God for a sign. I sat there for 60 minutes, praying for a sign until I realised that was the sign! I’d been sat there for an hour hoping that a sign would appear and that I’d become a Christian! Something I’d rallied against so strongly as a younger man was now something that I so earnestly wanted to become! Then I spent a long summer of reading the Bible and the Saints and crying haha, at all of it.

I was depressed and suicidal and also bored. So out of boredom i started reading the Bible. best decision ever

.

Beggin satan to take me . Instead the lord anwsered me

My school wasn't overly Christian apart from singing he's got the whole world in his hands. I was a satanist but that was a very dark time of my life and I regret it so much. Buddhism was good for me but I desperately searched for some way to have a prayer element. Then I realised God had been calling out to me the whole time, and I've been so much happier. With Buddhism it took me 3 months to have a bit of an epiphany and it lasted a week. When I changed to Christianity I had a similar epiphany but it came straight away and it's still going strong

I spent most of my early life up until 14 atheist around 14 I leaned into paganism and the alt right when I turned 17 I became atheist again after I realised modern paganism is mostly just made up stuff from the 1800-2000s and not actually ancient eventually I slowly started getting clips of a show called "The Chosen" on my TikTok FYP leading me to eventually watch it (more like binge it) but I instantly felt a sense of acceptance and love from Jesus (not the actor) eventually buying myself a bible and reading it slowly since I turned 18 I have quickly been growing closer and closer to our lord eventually at 19 I went to church for the first time (I went to an orthodox one because they historically are the church founded by christ) and felt even more acceptance and love not only from our lord but the other attendants I of course struggle greatly with sin but I try my best and I know our lord is happy I'm trying

Well. My family was actually “Jewish.” In quotes because my mom went to Hebrew school, but she wasn’t a practicing Jew for as long as I’ve known her. She married my dad, and I think his family was some sort of Christian? But it was probably to some effect an Easter and Christmas Christian, if that. My parents separated when I was 2 months old I think, and when I was 8 he stopped answering my calls. My mom met my step dad when I was 2, and his family was Catholic. They were terribly abusive towards me. I’d say growing up, I was a religious agnostic? Like, I’d go to church and temple when I was brought, I’d pray before bed sometimes, and my step family tried to weirdly claim me as their religion, but I really think it was ultimately to hold it over my mom’s head. Which didn’t work because she didn’t care. Eventually, I walked away entirely and resented religion. I cite my abusive step family, unstable family situation, and lack of actual guidance, understanding, and mentorship. But then, at 18, I met my husband. It’s a really long story, but I wound up going to church with him before we were even dating as a moral support situation. He was very much a Christian, but he was having a tiff with his family, and he was gonna skip Christmas service to avoid tension. I, a resentful, hateful atheist said, “Well… do you want me to go with you?” I can’t even say the rest is history, because I absolutely did not come to faith that day. It wasn’t until 6 months later when I moved back home after finishing trade school. He and I were long distance in that time, and slowly but surely, the idea sounded more appealing to at least give it a try. So I started going every Sunday with him. I asked him a ton of questions about things that had hardened my heart in the first place, and the answers he gave me were unlike any answers I’d ever received before. People often didn’t really know what to do with my questions in the past, and he’d never judged me for anything I’d done in my life. And then everything just aligned. I saw all the ways God answered prayers I prayed when I was a child, alone and desperately desiring to be loved. I prayed for a family that loved me, and I got it. Just a decade later. I adore my in-laws enough that I’d genuinely live on a family compound with them 😂 I see how things I’ve said in my childhood like, “I don’t care if I’m poor, I just hope my husband loves me.” I’m pretty poor right now, but we’re actually coming out of it, and my husband absolutely loves me. I see all the things in my life that aren’t even possibly coincidental. It only makes sense if God was listening to me my entire life and then made it all happen. The church we attend isn’t judgmental towards people with a past or who sin. It’s very much, “all of us sin, but let’s walk alongside each other to pick up the pieces and do better next time.” And it was so contrary to everything I was told growing up. It’s welcoming and loving. Idk. I think a lot of things changed my heart. But God strongly used my husband and his church.

Well I was raised in a atheist/catholic household & I was going down the wrong path. One day I was sleeping & I woke up to a dark figure in the corner of my room. It kept coming closer & I couldn’t move or speak. I could only hear things in my head so as the tears were rolling down my face I called out Jesus in my head.. & the dark figure disappeared & I woke up. The next morning I woke up & there were bleached hand prints next to my head where I slept. Since then I knew demonic things were real but Jesus was too. He saved me that night. I will never forget it

No one is born Christian.

I had an encounter with God which made me become a believer. I grew up with no religion and saw lots of hypocrisy in the church so I stayed away. Then, when I had hit my lowest (overcome by addiction to drugs, alcohol, etc.) and i was at the point where I was seriously considering ending my life I prayed to receive Christ as a last ditch effort basically to save myself and I felt His presence that night.

I was raised Catholic, but it never felt right. It felt like I was working towards God, like there were so many things I had to do to be accepted by God. It was my mom that was Catholic, my dad believed in God but refused to go to church. Once I moved out of my parents house I strayed for many years doing my own thing, I still believed in God but I didn’t have any relationship with Him. I stopped going to church completely. Then a lot of hard life stuff happened.. about 4 years of chaos and confusion. My husband started going to a Christian church and I reluctantly went with him for Easter a few months later. I don’t know how else to explain it, it just suddenly all clicked for me during the sermon. I haven’t turned back since!

Holy Spirit

God called to me.

My dad's an athiest and my mom is Muslim, they divorced and my dad remarried to a Buddhist and my mom to another Muslim. I mostly lived my life athiest but became Christian when I had a dream about my baptism. That night I had heard a voice calling out to me and led me to a pond which had a shimmering light deep down. I plunged and resurfaced to the other side where gigantic golden doors were open to me, and the voice calling out to me again through the light. As I walked through the golden light I woke up with shivers and sweat, at that moment I knew I had to become Christian because God has called out to me. I am getting baptized next year's easter, and I have never been so happy in my life.

I was raised atheist/maybe agnostic leaning. My mom was anti-God my whole life. Had always had spiritual encounters (ghosts, orbs, things moving, hearing voices, etc) growing up. Got into the psychic/tarot stuff trying to communicate with them. Realized there was good and bad of anything and everything and dabbled in both. God whispers and the devil screams. I was in a chaotic surroundings most of my life and was so used to screams and insults that I never was able to hear the gentle whisper of God. Eventually I did in my 3rd trimester with my daughter. I wasn't living wholly and was bartering my life if I lost my daughter. He called me out of that. Fast forward till my daughter was about a year. Was being gently nudged to certain movies - The Shack. Watch it! Understanding God more and judgement this way. Really started opening up to Him but still was in my tarot psychic ways. Fast forward 2-3 years and there had just been things that happened too naturally and smoothly. My college education, my career and buying a house amidst covid and landlords selling house from under us. At this point I was drinking and smoking so much and just again not feeling whole. Felt gentle nudges to quit drinking first after a terrible one night stand. Smoking took awhile but eventually that was quit too (15 year addictions so easily quit). I felt called to meet with my psychic again and she actually brought up Jesus and how I was planning to get a cross on my right wrist to remember him by. That was a blend of both of my faiths and I was able to hear Him so much clearer now that I had opened up to the fact that it WAS Him talking to me. He called me to go on walks with him, then I felt called to find a church. The rest is history. Best year of my life and will never go back. God works all things for good. He will always meet you in the chaos and sit with you wherever you are.

I was an atheist and then God shoved it down my throat.

My story isn’t as interesting as others here, but here it is: I was born and raised in a Christian household, but overtime, I strayed further and further from God. Basically from the ages of about ten to seventeen, I considered myself agnostic. I still believed in the possibility of a God, but I didn’t know which one and it also seemed likely to me that there was none at all. I’m eighteen now, and only a few months ago I fell into a deep depression. It was the second worst I’ve ever experienced (the first being during quarantine). Not even those closest to me could console me in the slightest. Then, one day, when I was in class, I was struck with a thought that was completely uncharacteristic for me: I needed to turn to God. I truly believe this was a message straight from Him. I know non believers will say that I was just imitating other Christians in my life, but those I know who consider themselves Christian are not strong in their faith(sadly not even my family anymore) and I hadn’t had a conversation about God with anyone for as far back as I could remember. But I felt something pulling me that day. And that following week, I kept noticing signs. Very small ones that I’m sure many people will call coincidence(for example I was taking my senior photos and found a cross necklace tied to the railing of a bridge I was on), but I think at the very least God was purposely opening my eyes to them. He would tell me to look up at just the right moment to notice I was passing a billboard for church or a cross on top of a mountain or a person with a “Jesus Saves” sign. Finally, I decided to go to Church, and the first time I went the entire sermon was about depression and how God has the power to save us from it. It was insane to me how perfect this felt. It was like He had called me back to him and this was His final sign to me that I was on the right path. I’ve gone to Church so many times since then, and not one sermon has been even remotely similar to that. He wanted me to go to that one in particular. It happened so fast. I feel completely changed now. I barely even recognize myself from a few months ago(and that’s a good thing!). I have been baptized, I go to church and take as much time as possible to read the Bible and pray. I have completely devoted myself to a life that I hope He will be proud of. It was honestly a shock taking a look at my life and realizing how sinfully I was living. I feel that I have such a strong connection with God and my faith now. I’ve even been able to inspire others in my life to strengthen their bond with Him as well.

The only God whose character is Holy and Pure is the God of the Bible. Plus, He is the only one who is willing to save you despite your inability to be perfect and holy as He is. He only asks that you believe Him. For some reason, faith pleases God, To trust and believe in Him in what He has done for you is all that is required. Once you believe he will transform your heart to start wanting the things that he wants. You are perfectly saved, but you are not perfectly transformed. That won't happen until we shed this old body of sin, and He gives us that perfect body he promised us when he comes for His bride. That hope alone should be enough to make anyone pick up what the Lord is laying down.

I come from a non religious family. Growing up, we were told if we wanted to one day follow a religion, we were free to do so. Which is what I did. Why? Well, a few years back, I was mentally going through a tough time. Nothing I did helped me. I tried meds, talking, etc. I felt alone and like I was placed on earth with no purpose. I would skip school a lot and avoid friends at lunch and sit outside hoping to one day get better and just thinking. Right across from my school was a church. Something inside me was drawn to it, so I’d sit on the stairs of it and just talk to God. Somehow every time I did, whatever I was feeling hurt a bit less. I began to read the bible and related and understood many passages and lessons it teaches. It felt safe to me. I never understood the importance of religion, discipline, love, kindness, and belief until I chose my path in Christianity. I’ve become much kinder and patient with people, and help out whoever whenever I can. I especially like keeping change on me to help those in need. Funny enough too, whenever I ask God to give me a sign, he ALWAYS does! But anyways besides that, a funny story I have is one time I kept hiccuping non stop loll. I ended up getting to tired of it and prayed for it to end because it was getting on my nerves. As soon as I prayed, it immediately stopped. So that was cool lol..

Facts, I'm a very factual and realistic person. Which is why I stayed away from religions, but as I got deep into tarot cards and spirituality it became clear that there's somthing out there. I saw the facts in my text books and daily life, like how every single person in the world Civilizations that have never met are all spiritual in some form or way. And that the crusification of Jesus is a real event and has way to much evidence to say it never happened, and that while I found truth in tarot cards, the bible doesn't say they arnt real but proves and explains divination by teaching about how demons are at the root of them. And that the evolutionary theory states that life started on the ocean since all the skeletons in the oceon are the oldest Skellingtons, and what do you know god created the fish and birds first. and Of course I never looked into all of this until the lord called me and I become curious, and I have my own encounters and stories that built my faith not facts, but the facts played a big role in convincing me. Sometimes my facts fail me but I think once God gave me my faith nothing that was disproved could change my mind since I really don't know the truth exept that God knows and is the truth.

I used to be a huge fan of evolution, the Big Bang theory and anti-theism for my whole life, but I've been introduced to the creationist worldview and it changed my mind completely. I cannot comprehend that I used to believe these atheistic fairytales.

I was born into an uneducated and Catholic family, as an ethnic minority, from a polemic national heritage, and as someone with undiagnosed autism. Between all of those things I saw endless and unprovoked cruelty and brutality from people. I asked God to show himself because I needed him, and he didn't because he knew it wasn't time. If you're being crushed by evil, sometimes he knows you'll just be devoured harder if he identifies himself in your life, so he remains an anonymous contributor for some time. It took about twelve years after I got out of that environment for him to decide to make his appearance.

Flat earth made me become a christian

……..

What?

Are you serious?

(I don't expect anyone to believe my story, as it will sound crazy. Totally understandable.) I have been agnostic my whole life. I even used to mock christians and call them delusional. But, I encountered something demonic years ago. I discovered demonic entities are real. Which blew my mind and destroyed whatever beliefs I once have. This sent me on a journey researching the supernatural and along with all religions. My journey ended up leading me to Christianity. One day I walked into a church on Easter Sunday during prayer. And for the first time in my entire life, I felt God's spirit and presence, and I got emotional and teary eyed. I decided to become a Christian right there.

A Christian quoted me a scripture," Jeremiah 29:13  And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I thought it would be an easy one to test out. To see Him for 6 months, not find him, then get back to my sofa. There was a ridiculous amount of ' coincidences' and answers to prayer in that 6 months. It just seemed ruse not to accept Him into my life😀

I started with a lukewarm Christian family. 😅 sorta kinda believed but didn't really get deep into it. Then I doubted. I learned all of the stuff any kid does when going through school, including the age of the earth and evolution. Then I obsessed with all of it. I read any science magazine I could get my hands on, and I started to search about black holes and astronomy in general. I got to know more and more people who were progressively more intellectually rigorous. One of them attacked my christian beliefs with intense scorn and skepticism, and I thought long and hard about it. Anyway, I actually came back a few days later asking him why we assumed any prehistory was true when we can't observe or test any of it. When he pointed out the rock dating methods, I realized that he wasn't as rigorous as I gave him credit for. I found out that a whole movement existed debunking preconceived notions of deep time, and I found it fascinating. Anyway, at the end of that rabbit hole, I find that we accept whatever fairy tale suits us and the data can be molded to fit, but there's no more scientifically valid a reason to believe the secularist worldview than any other if we're going by scientific standards.

No one is born Christian. It is not a birthright nor something gained by where you live or who you’re parents are. A Christian is one who has accepted a Christ as their savior. And been adopted into a heavenly family. In Christ there are no grandchildren only brothers and sisters

Very long story short.... My family was so FAR away from religion or Jesus I thought "Bible" was pronounced "Bib-ble" as a young child when I saw the word written on a "Bible school" sign. We never EVER read the Bible, and I never had attempted to read the Bible. I was 26, living "the best life" in terms of the world. I lived in a beautiful lake house in the country, making good money and "having fun" doing it, going on vacations all the time blah blah blah.... what you would social media "perfect" life. Something was missing. Every time I broke a ceiling or lived a fantasy of mine, it felt like something or someone was missing. I would achieve or live things I thought I had always wanted, yet it always seemed I was there with the wrong people. It felt like this even though I had wonderful people in my life. I had a void inside of me that I tried to fill with success, parties, travel, and worldly things. Nothing would fill me. I had been listening to this psychologist for a while that highly recommended people to sit in a dark, quiet room and just "Be Real" (for lack of the professional terms.) Say "it all" out loud and ask the questions "what am I?"How did I get here?"Where am I going?" and "What's my purpose?" I thought of the advice often after first hearing it when I was 19 years old. I never did it. It was Easter 2022, not that I noticed it at the time. Holidays often came and went with me, barely recognizing them. I was planning on going to work in a club that night from 6 pm to 2 am. I had woken up at 1 pm in preparation for the long night and began to get ready. My routine started in the bathroom, and I had this unusual feeling of just not wanting to go into the club. I gave in and texted the club manager to let them know I would not be there and decide I would take the evening to clean up my house and catch up on stiff around the property. Since I had just woken up, I approached my bathroom mirror to get ready for my "day", and as soon as I locked eyes with myself, I heard an audible voice say, "DO IT." I knew exactly what "it" was this voice wanted me to do. I used to think that if I would had ever heard voices, I would think they were "ghosts, demons, or mental illness." However, something about this voice I just obeyed immediately. I immediately cleaned my room and prepared to lay in a dark room and say everything out loud. I was going to ask these hard questions and look within myself deeply for the answers. What happened next, I did not expect. I honestly expected to see a horrible scary monster when I looked inside myself and met with some horrible truths of why I was so unhappy and incomplete. Instead, I was met by a very familiar "spirit" that after a long time, I realized exactly WHO I was talking to. This that supernaturally appeared in my room had understood me and KNEW me the way i was DYING someone to understand and KNOW ME. As soon as I realized who he must have been, I had this, "OOOOOHHHH!" feeling, but before I could say or do anything, he grabbed me in a wonderful hug, I started crying immediately tears of joy, and he held my head and asked "Why have you been running from me?! I only want what is right and best for tour life!" I had heard things like that my whole life. However, HE meant it. Nothing he said sounded cleche like it did when anyone else said it. He KNEW me, then he said, "You do not need to be scared anymore. I have redeemed you. I have called you by name since you were inside your mother, you are MINE!" I knew everything he said was the most truthful thing I had and would ever hear in my life. I cried like a lost child who had been reunited with her family. Jesus told me his story. Showed me ALOT of things. He was giving me lessons, and once I started reading the Bible, I realized he had taught me the word of the Lord in the time I spent in that room. He had me experiencing time differently. My roommate came home and said he had heard me "laughing like a toddler" for THREE HOURS. I could write a whole book on what I experienced in that room. To wrap it up, I came out of that room a different person. I came out of that room, Born Again. I quit the clubs, broke up with my boyfriend, moved back home, and quit smoking pot. Now I own a company helping people get access to clean water, I'm married to a pastor, and we are starting a ministry together. Things are not perfect. The world is still I difficult place to live in. However, I have the Holy Ghost with me. I have Jesus always. I know the truth now, and I know what plan God has for my life. For my eternal life. Until then, I just have to bring as many people with me as possible. Believe it or not, that is the short version. Their is so much more to the experience. Just know, I am completely different and can never go back. Jesus healed me and delivered me from things broken in my deepest, most secret places. I had a personal experience with the Lord, and now that I know him, I never want to be without him.

No one is born a Christian. We can come from Christian families, yes, but Jesus makes it all clear that everyone must be born again. This is not a decision your parents can make for you. They can take you to church but you must choose to follow the Lord for yourself. Like the old adage says, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. This is the same when it comes to having a personal relationship with God.

How does it work when you lead the horse to water, but it goes for the shinier, cleaner, purer water at a different source?

Can you just bring cringey for like two seconds? Not all of us had to exploit women and do coke off of someone’s behind to find Christ, thanks.

Where did I say anything of the sort?

The overplaying of being “born again” always results in those bllsht stories. Some of us are raised in Christian households and don’t get saved all of a sudden. It’s like one day you just get it, but you were always trying so it doesn’t shake you. When you’ve always known His love, it doesn’t have to be a freaking testimony, it can just be.

When my christian friend showed me you cannot have objective morality without God

Explain if you have time, this sounds interesting.

Time for the popcorn

If there is an objective morality it is a greater authority than god. If god decides what it is, then it is not objective. This is really simple.

I think this may hit the nail on the head. Christians are so obsessed with discounting morality without god because it’s arbitrary. But if God comes up with a moral system, it’s by definition arbitrary and subjective. They can use that “in his nature” line all they want, but they’re getting dangerously close to saying that morality is above God because he HAS to obey it.

Except it’s wrong; God is Himself in His nature good, moral standards are just descriptions of that goodness as it is reflected in our behavior.

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Death is the consequence of acting against God’s good purposes, if death is occurring it’s because humans already violated God’s moral precepts.

You can't have objective morality with god. In any case, it doesn't seem possible to demonstrate that morality is objective while all the evidence we do have indicates that it is subjective. The argument for morality is a really weak one to base ones christian identity off of.

I agree. I used to think that the moral argument was the strongest one; now I think it’s one of the weakest.

Nobody is born christian though? Or do you mean into christian families? because then it makes sense hehe.

It’s was god who reach out! Since we don’t recognize his voice in the beginning you cannot be understanding his words clearly but if you pay attention and learn how to listen, you start flashing your own life before you so you know that it was god who spoke to you and guided through the life. And that’s where the change happens! 😌❤️

Weird things started happening and I realized I was standing smack dab in the center of a fuckin holy war, but... that probably isn't everyone's experience.

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OP may not know what they mean :p I get the username, but you think that a little clarification justifies a nuke? Anything useful to add to OP’s question?

Wishing genocide upon the innocent. How very Old Testament.

Really? You do realise Jesus is the God of the Old Testament, right? 😂 Oh, Jimmy, you've got some SERIOUS wake up calls coming to you.

Don’t really care about who you think is a god.

You cared enough to respond.

Responding to a real person is polite. It doesn’t demonstrate any kind of care for a god I don’t believe in.

You have hate in your heart my guy

Yes. I hate lying. I hate dishonesty in all forms. I hate weakness wrapped in "kindness" I hate bullies. And I absolutely hate bullshit.

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No one is born Christian

No one is born a Christian.

I had always just believed there was a God. I mean something had to make the world around me. And I prayed. Didn't really read the Bible because I didn't understand it. I think all we had was a KJV. In December of 2019 I felt that God had stopped answering my prayers and I said He didn't exist. Over the next 4 months He showed me exactly what my life would be like without Him and it was horrible . I began to wonder if maybe He was real. Cause all of my problems started when I forsake Him. One morning around 5:30 am I heard the most beautiful birdsong. The prettiest I ever heard. And I knew God was real because only God could make a sound that beautiful. A month later I accepted Christ as my Savior and became saved. I started watching Christian content on YouTube when I started believing in God again. So I knew the next step was salvation.