I grew up going to a very small Lutheran church and we just sung hymns and stuff so i never took an interest really..even though i always believed in a God. Then when my mom died in May, i still believed in God but didnt really believe in Chistianity and all of its teachings...But now recently I've been going to my friend's church..and something changed in me..and i feel like if there is a God, he spoke to me...and I think i'm a Christian now, if you want to call me something....but, i dont know..like, i find it so hard saying that accepting Christ as the son of God is the only way to have eternal life...(I DO believe this) ..but i know a lot of people, including family members who dont....and i dont know what to do. in my heart, i know that this is what i want to accept and live for...(i knew this when i was worshiping at church and tears seriously came to my eyes...its like a whole new world for me...) what would you do about this?I want a relationship with God- need advice on beliefs of Christianity?
Have a look here ...
http://www.watchtower.org/e/20040701/art…
http://www.watchtower.org/e/20031001/art…
...and check the scriptures with your own copy of the bible
You'll find satisfying answers to life's questions on this site %26amp; everything is supported with scriptureI want a relationship with God- need advice on beliefs of Christianity?
It sounds as though the Lord is moving on you and yes you may already be saved. Simply look at Romans 9:10-13. If this is what you have done in your heart then welcome to kingdom of Heaven sister! Do not be discouraged by thoes who post negatively on this board. If you have accepted CHrist then the next step would be to make it public in your local church by being baptized. Praise God I am happy for you!
You are beginning the greatest journey of your life. Along the way, you're going to see and learn all kinds of things-- some good, others not so much so. The one thing to do, however, is keep your eye on the ball. Love God with your whole heart, strength, and mind. Love your neighbor as yourself. Everything you will ever learn as a Christian is a footnote to these. May the God of Peace fill and free you for life.
peace
The only way to learn about God is to study His word, the Bible. I have a 360 blog that has a few Bible study helps in it if you wish. or you may email me directly for any specific religious ?'s
Read one of the gospels (matthew mark luke or john)
seriously i was having trouble with my faith and i had heard so many things about people who had read that and had a changed life so i read matthew i felt like i was on a spiritual high from then till now!
If you were comfortable in your friend's church, try contacting the pastor.
Try reading up on the various mainstream branches of Christianity and compare their beliefs.
This is your search, not your family's, so don't be influenced by what they say.
Even if your family members don't, know that they can always be changed just as you were. I know that god is really proud of the fact that you have seeked him, and i think that you should just share your experience with other people and let them know how good it feels..
If you need anything else you can email me @ ale.portillo15@yahoo.com!!!
Be honest in your faith. Have no fear of men or family when it comes to believing in Christ. All things of this world are temporal. Immortality and salvation are forever. Jesus said Himself that believing in him would divide families. Grow stronger in your faith and let your life be your best testimony for God to lead others to Him.
God bless you.
Just keep doing what you are doing. You seem to be on the right path. Jesus loves you, and wants you to come to him.
Get a Bible, attend a Bible teaching Church. You will be fine, no need to be distressed. I wasn't a Christian until I was 25. In fact, I was the opposite.
I would never go back.
Jesus said you must repent (change your ways) and believe the gospel (New Testament).
You would need to read, understand, and trust the New Testament. But you will need help in coming to a good understanding of what the gospel is. Listen to a good theologian for guidance -such as R.C. Sproul at http://www.ligonier.org
Jesus rose into the sky and became a god.
He left them his dead body, saying ';Except ye eat my flesh.';
It was his way of telling them they were maggots, but they didn't get it.
FYI...as a Lutheran, you already WERE a Christian!
I'd start with your roots (the Lutheran Church) and work from there.
you shouldn't go to Lutheran church. go to a Baptist church. and ask forgiveness from Jesus.
CJ is the only answer you needed to read. He just pwned this question!!
I also went to a Lutheran church and also did not feel Jesus in my heart until I went to a more spiritual church. Sounds like your on the right track. Just keep in mind that Christianity is NOT religion. Jesus's worst enemy's when he was here were the religious leaders of his time. They were who crucified him. Satins demons treated him better. At least they respected and feared him. Many large denominations are nothing but religion. There are many people who would be Christians now that aren't because of the religion that the ';churches'; have shoved at them. A lot of churches believe it is more important to tell a visitor how to dress than to tell them that Jesus loves them.
Believe in Jesus for salvation. And then you can pray for your other family members :)
Salvation is a FREE GIFT that happens in a split second when you believe in Jesus! It is impossible to lose or ';leave'; salvation.
The truth about Jesus is that the only way to be saved and to get into heaven and avoid being sent to eternal hell, is by believing in faith alone that Jesus, who is God, died for our sins on the cross as FULL PAYMENT for our sins, and then Jesus rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Believe this and you will be in heaven, no matter what!
Please pray now: ';Jesus, please forgive me of my sins. I believe that You died on the cross for my sins and You rose from the dead. Thank You for eternal life!'; You will be in heaven with Him forever when you die. :)
For your friends and family who do not believe that, you have to pray for them. God is the only one who can do a work through their lives, even if he does that work through you! Knowing that Jesus died for you on the cross and accepting him as your Lord and Savior is an amazing thing, isn't it? And I love how my God is a God who does not judge. Many people say Christians are hypocritical, and I am the first to say that we are, but so is the whole human population. God only judges on judgment day, but he welcomes his children with open arms.
And I understand you in the whole signing hymns thing. That kills me! The thing that I love about our God is that he doesn't care what type of music you listen to or how you dress. I listen to screamo music, but only from bands that glorify his name in their lyrics. I like lip rings and tattoos, and God loves me for being his ';Not sticking to the boring Christian girl mold'; daughter. If you have any more questions, e-mail me at alli7201@yahoo.com =]
Attend church. If you feel that's the right thing to do, do it :) Just because other people don't believe in Jesus, that doesn't mean you don't have to do it. Most people are Christian, still there are atheists and Buddhists and Muslims etc. ,) Other peoples religion should really be no reason for you to choose your religion! It's important that you're happy with it. Just don't start judging people because of their beliefs, alright? :D
Edit: As one other commenter recommended it, he said something like ';you can pray for your family members that don't believe in God';: It's a nice gesture, but I as an atheist wouldn't like other people to pray for me ;) I mean, I don't believe it's gonna help me and it tastes a bit like convertion, so you should maybe not tell them if you want to pray for them unless you're sure they'll see it as a nice gesture. That's a personal thing I think.
I was in my mid-teens when I began to question the teachings of the church my folks attended. The people who publish the following articles are the ones who taught me to study the Bible, to find out its true teachings. To . . .
';Make sure of all things; hold fast to what is fine.'; --1 Th 5:21
';. . . With the greatest eagerness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily as to whether these things [are] so.'; Acts 17:10,11 ';. . . Do not believe every inspired expression, but test the inspired expressions to see whether they originate with God, because many false prophets have gone forth . . .'; --1 John 4:1-21 http://watchtower.org/e/bible/index.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/publications/ind…
The following particular articles are suited to your current situation:
Search for God With Your Heart and Mind
http://watchtower.org/e/20020401/article…
What Does the Messiah's Coming Mean to You?
http://watchtower.org/e/20060215/article…
Why Believe in Jesus Christ?
- How Can Jesus Change Your Life? :
- His Teachings - His Deeds - His Sacrifice
http://watchtower.org/e/19990701/article…
What Influence Does Jesus Christ Have on You?
- Set Priorities in Life
- Cultivate Friendship With God
- Establish Good Relationships With Others
- Get to the Root of the Problem
- You Can Benefit From All of Jesus’ Teachings
http://watchtower.org/e/20050315a/articl…
Spirituality and Your Well-Being
- A Positive Link
http://watchtower.org/e/20040201/article…
Also, My Sincere Condolences on the Loss of your Mom! ):
When Someone You Love Dies . . . :
- A Sure Hope for the Dead
http://watchtower.org/e/we/index.htm
http://jw.org/index.xjp?option=QrYQZRQVN…
You are almost there. It isn't 'accepting Christ as the son of God is the only way to have eternal life'. It is 'No one comes to the Father except by Me' and ';I am the Way and the Truth and the Life'. There is ignorance of God and Jesus that is culpable and ignorance that is not. You have no definite knowledge of how other people stand with God. And should they be saved and you know that they didn't know Jesus or at least they never said anything about Jesus -- still If anyone is saved it is by Jesus.
I have the same pulls though I've long been a convert. You do what you are supposed to do and pray for those people and act so that they know you are a Christian by your love...and leave the rest to God. You have a part to play but it is only a part. If God can get to you He can get to them. The worry just dissipates your energy and peace of mind.
Amen.
Romans 10.8
8But what does it say? ';The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,';[d] that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9That if you confess with your mouth, ';Jesus is Lord,'; and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11As the Scripture says, ';Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.';[e] 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, ';Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.';[f]
JOIN A CHURCH!! also maybe a small bible study with people your age
The things you have done already:
Hebrews 11:6.
“But now recently I've been going to my friend's church...and something changed in me..and i feel like if there is a God, he spoke to me...and I think I’m a Christian now, if you want to call me something....but, i don’t know..Like, I find it so hard saying that accepting Christ as the son of God is the only way to have eternal life..(I DO believe this).”
Next step: Matthew 10: 32, (33).
Next Step: Romans 10: 9-12.
Next Step: Romans 10: 13-21.
Next Step: Philippians 2: 8-11.
THIS IS WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT FOR OTHERS TO WITNESS ABOUT… Yeshua (Jesus Christ)
Next Step: Read Yeshua’s (Jesus) prayer to His FATHER (GOD).
John 17.
Blessings to you.
To be a 'Christian, there must be a belief in Christ.
You can also call yourself a Believer (my favorite)...Christ still has to be apart of the equation.
Because no-one can go to GOD, unless you’ve come in Yeshua’s (Jesus Christ ) name.
Next Step: John 14:6.
'No one can come to the FATHER but by me, '; said the Yeshua.
John 6: 44,65-Jesus said, ';no one can come to him unless God sends them.
You need Jesus to go before you in prayer...God has found your heart, now it's time to give some of that to Jesus.
Next Step: When you decide to accept Yeshua (Jesus Christ) as your Lord and Savior, do this…
In a room by yourself: Start with…
Father, I come to you in the name of your Son, Jesus….
Matthew 6:6. Jesus said to call God in prayer, FATHER.
This is the time to Thank GOD, Praise GOD, Give Him that Love you have for Him that I felt up there in your statement.
Yes, I felt that. I know you love GOD, Love him more and except His Son in your heart also.
Praise God! It sounds like you got saved. It is a whole new life. I went to a dead Episcopal church irregularly as a child but wasn't born again until age 27. Read a portion of the Bible, New Testament first, every day and pray - just talk to God about whatever is on your mind. Pray for your unsaved relatives and friends to be saved. At some point, God will help you to share your faith with them. God is good. Keep attending church with your friend. May God bless you as you go forward in the Christian life.
dear sweetheart and lamb of God...
may you be blessed and find joy and peace in your spiritual quest.
i want to share these verses with you if you feel so inclined to look them up...
Ephesians 3:19
John 13:35
Proverbs 3:5-7
Job 36:22
Ecclesiastes 12
Song of Solomon 5
they have been a source of great joy and solace for me and so i share this scripture in fellowship and love...
consider the Psalms...
oh look...
';Shout with joy to the LORD, O earth!
Worship the LORD with gladness.
Come before Him singing with joy.
Acknowledge that the LORD is God!
He made us, and we are His.
We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving;
go into His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him and bless His name.
For the LORD is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and His faithfulness continues to each generatiion.'; - Psalm 100
(xo of peace)
oh we love God.
amen.
*whew* .... you sound very earnest, and I'm sure you'll get lots of encouragement for witnessing ... but you might want to develop that relationship with your understanding of the divine before you jump right into telling other people what they have to believe.
Spend some time sitting quietly and investigating your feelings about the divine .... alone .... and try not to just turn over what peer pressure wants you to think about spirituality.
The next step might be to choose a passage to ponder ... perhaps something attributed to Jesus, and again spend some time alone with it.
The final step, and the most dangerous, is to discuss your feelings with someone else, but choose that person very carefully.
Humans are hard-wired for survival to believe utter-nonsense if it will increase their chances of survival, so peer-pressure to believe this or that will quickly overpower your budding sense of personal connection.
A good plan is to try to model your life off of a virtue-model like Jesus .... not the pharisees he spent so much time preaching against.
Read and follow these basics...
all are sinners..
';For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;'; Romans 3:23
Penalty for sin...
';For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.'; Romans 6:23
God's love
';But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.'; Romans 5:8
God's solution for sin...
';For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'; John 3:16
Our part...
';That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.'; Romans 10:9-10
'; If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness';. I Jn.1:9
';Not by works of righteousness WE HAVE DONE, but according to HIS mercy , He has saved us....';
'; I have not come to call the righteous, but rather the sinner to repentance';. - Jesus
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