I believe that my pilgrimage with Christ began before my birth. I was chosen. I didn’t choose Christ but he chose me. It was at a very early age that my grandmother noticed that I was touched by the hand of God. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize it at that time. It wasn’t until my first encounter with the lord at age 10 that I realized there was something different about me. I can remember having an unexplainable experience in my grandfathers Apolistic church. I didn’t understand the experience as a child but I understand it now. On that day, I felt the anointing of God. He touched me with the wings of his love and held me in the palm of his hands. I experienced this more than once as a child. I had another encounter at 13. This time it was at my fraternal grandmother Baptist church. Unlike the Apolistic church, the Baptist members couldn’t really indentify with a small child shouting and praising God in the middle of service. It was simply unheard of and unforeseen in the Baptist church. I was introduced to the lord at a young age but it wasn’t until my mid-20’s that I begun to ...
I was born on a Thursday in January and as soon as I was able, about a week and a half later, I was in church. That is where my spiritual knowledge started. That goes a bit too far back though to make this a two page paper. My actual individual walk with Jesus started much later. As I said, I grew up in the church and I appreciate that fact. All of my life I had heard about Jesus and the commitment that should be made toward Him and I stalled. For thirteen years I stalled in that commitment. When I was twelve years old, a good friend of mine, who was my age and the first person my dad baptized at our new church, was shot and died instantly. This affected me deeply. I still had the idea that there was no chance I would be done with life soon. His death really brought me into the realization that my time to see Jesus could be anytime and almost to the year anniversary of his death I was baptized. My best friend had come to visit us for Easter and she stayed up and talked with me until very late at night and stayed near me until that Sunday at church. It was very encouraging to me having most of my loved ones there and my dad baptized me that Easter Sunday.
We observed a series of skits that exhibited the attributes of Jesus. During the final skit, while we were sitting inside the K-Life gym, a black curtain dropped and we saw three men hanging from crosses. The men looked as if they had taken baths in blood, and they were struggling to speak and breathe; the man on the middle cross portrayed Jesus. The skit continued to act out the entirety of the crucifixion and the presence of the Holy Spirit was prominent in the room. I was astonished when I realized that He suffered and died on the cross for a person as broken and sinful as me. After the skit was over, Joe slowly walked out to speak to everyone who had just watched the simulated crucifixion. He revealed to us how undeserving we are of God’s grace, and how Jesus died for every person that has ever lived. He continued on with his disquisition and we eventually began to worship. At this point in time I had begun to pray to Jesus, that he would take over my life and use me in a way that glorifies him. I did not know what this would look like, but I desired to be a living example of a man of God.
It has been sincerely obvious that our own experience of some source that we do leads in result of our own free choices. For example, we probably believe that we freely chose to do the tasks and thoughts that come to us making us doing the task. However, we may start to wonder if our choices that we chose are actually free. As we read further into the Fifty Readings in Philosophy by Donald C. Abel, all the readers would argue about the thought of free will. The first reading “The System of Human Freedom” by Baron D’Holbach, Holbach argues that “human being are wholly physical entities and therefore wholly subject to the law of nature. We have a will, but our will is not free because it necessarily seeks our well-being and self-preservation.” For example, if was extremely thirsty and came upon a fountain of water but you knew that the water was poisonous. If I refrain from drinking the water, that is because of the strength of my desire to avoid drinking the poisonous water. If I was too drink the water, it was because I presented my desire of the water by having the water overpowering me for overseeing the poison within the water. Whether I drink or refrain from the water, my action are the reason of the out coming and effect of the motion I take next. Holbach concludes that every human action that is take like everything occurring in nature, “is necessary consequences of cause, visible or concealed, that are forced to act according to their proper nature.” (pg. 269)
What makes a person walk a path in life they have chosen compared to a friend or a family member? Is it the society that they are a part of? Is it a person’s own individuality?
I have always had the knowledge of Christ, but up until this last year, I realized I did not truly believe in him. I questioned the things in my life and why I always ended up with the same misery over and over. I had grown up in an abusive life from my early years. I can honestly say I had brief periods of peace when I was allowed to go with my grandparents, but they were short lived. I was taken to a variety of counselors from a very young age and put on prescription medicines starting at 16. Everyone around me could not figure out what was wrong with me and why nothing would “fix” me. Sin was a normal for me, and I carried on that lifestyle into adulthood. I had no concept of trust and what love really was.
While I was worshipping God, my family came to mind. As I worshipped God for His faithfulness and goodness, I began to think about how my family may view God. A lot of my family members aren’t saved and don’t go to church. As I meditated on who God is, I couldn’t help but crave that same revelation for my family. I know that I fall in love with God more and more whenever I spend time with Him. I receive revelations of who He is and I desire to become more like Him the more time I spend with Him. I believe that as I was worshipping God, He gave me a strong desire in that moment to pray for my family. As I was prompted by the Holy Spirit, I began to pray for my family. I was praying that the Lord would send people to them. I began to pray Scripture over their lives and the situation. I ended my prayer with worshipping God and praising Him in advance for His work in them. I left with a peace that transcends a
I have always grown up in a Christian home, going to church every Sunday, but I never felt a personal connection with God. I arrived at camp not expecting anything significant to happen, but I was very wrong. On the second night of camp, everyone got together and participated in worship. We all gathered in the chapel
When our son Andrew was a baby, an accident changed us. I was home alone with our sweet baby boy and our two young daughters. While I was in the kitchen, unbeknownst to me, our Andrew fell into a bathtub of hot water. I sensed an urgent tap on my shoulder and ran in haste to check on him. By the time I reached him, he was underwater, not breathing. I desperately pulled him out of the bath. With my blue, swollen, lifeless baby in my arms, I looked into the image of Divine Mercy hanging above our bathtub -- the blood and water flowing forth from Jesus -- and put my complete trust in Him. In a bargain with God (I now know that He doesn’t work this way), I implored, “God, if you save my baby, I will give my entire life to you and I pray that my son - my sweet boy - will do the same!” It was in that exact room that Andrew had been born underwater- just a few, short months earlier. I was facing the possibility of losing my precious boy….in that same place, where in such joy and trust, he came into this world. After my cry out to Our God, I began CPR on him and did so with faith for 25 minutes while awaiting the arrival of the ambulance. All the while…I attempted to console our frightened young daughters. After 30 minutes, just as the paramedics entered through the doorway of our home, Andrew began breathing on his own. Thanks be to God!
Securely, I believe the unconditional love of God and I seek Him in times of trouble. Yet, I realized that I often interact with my Heavenly Father based on my perception of my earthly father, somewhat absent from the everyday, someone to seek only during times of extreme need. Throughout my life, I have defaulted to taking care of day to day things on my own and only relying on God with the big things. Identifying this has challenged me to take the everyday desires and stresses of my heart to the Lord first, to draw close in my relationship with
The Public Choice For some parents, deciding on a school for their children can be a difficult decision. Many parents do not spend much time thinking about it; they place their children into the local school designated by where they live. Others attended a private school themselves and found that it was a beneficial experience and therefore want the same for their kids. But which is better: private schools or public schools? While there are many advantages and disadvantages to each (nothing is going to be absolutely perfect), we are going to focus on the benefits of an education in the public school system, or in other words, schools funded by the government that are for anyone to attend.
“Take me to the water to be baptize,” this was the mediational hymn. I heard my church members sing as I walked towards the baptism pool. With my feet headed towards the water. The doors began shaking and I immediately felt like the spirit of my grandmother was with me at that moment. I knew from that very moment, this was going to be a day I would never forget. As I was embarking on a rite of passage that many Christians go on.
During my seventh grade year, my church went to a youth rally at a local church on weekend. Because of this rally and the message it sent, I realized and wanted to give my life to Jesus through baptism. It was awesome, I got home as a young teenager and actually talked to my mom about what it really means to be a Christian and to pick up your cross and follow him. So that very next weekend, my dad baptized me in front of the whole church on Sunday morning. It was an awesome feeling knowing that because of Jesus’ grace and mercy, I will be with him one day and spend eternity with him. Although I was on top of the world at this point, I still didn’t know fully what I had gotten into. So the next few years, I live the typical Christian life. I was trying to be the perfect person by doing the right stuff, I would try not to cuss, I would try to wear as many WWJD bracelets as I could so that I wouldn’t have to talk to them about Christ and they could just see it on my wrist, I would not join in on conversations with my friends that I knew were not right, I was just living life on cruise control.
I was born into a Christian family; my father was a non-practicing Catholic and my mother was a protestant. I was raised to belief in God. The Social and cultural effect of my spiritual development and religious experience. As an adult my spirituality has grown and changed throughout my life; these changes effected the many events, decisions and circumstances; in my life which have effect my spiritual development and my religious experience. I have substantively have brought an important, meaningful quality, meaning and solidity to my life. Through these experiences, I have gained a understanding in of God, my faith and my church.
The invitation to His presence, His peace, and all that He has to offer? What things are holding you back? I challenge you today to make the wisest decision you can make and accept the invitation to make Christ your Lord and Savior and even if you have, to do it all over again as a rededication and commitment to be joined in heirship with Him. Reflect on ways that you have tried to drive yourself and may have made the wrong decision, how you may have allowed someone else to be your GPS or provide you with a map other than worship or the word and how it may have taken you off course…what effects did it have on your life? How can you assure that you will remain on the right track so that it doesn’t occur again? Accept the invitation to God, enter into His presence and He will help guide you when opportunity knocks, He will help you remove all negativity from your life, be who He has destined you to be and embrace the wonderful, incredible person that you are. He will help you grow in integrity and faithfulness, forgive and forget, choose relationships, experience pure joy and even teach you how to increase in faith rather than worrying. When you accept His invitation, God can restore your heart condition, assist you in turning from sin and dealing with pride, align the desires of your heart with his, grow up and most of all-WISE
I was sitting on the back steps of our house just finished hanging clothes and heard someone knocking and calling at the front door it was the missionaries from Carver Baptist Center (where my children and I received biblical training). I welcomed them in my home and they sat and explained the plan of salvation and asked if I would like to receive Jesus into my heart, that day I asked Christ to come into my heart and forgive me for my sins and to become my Lord and Savior. I followed up by purchasing a bible and going to the neighborhood church where I brought my young sons as well. In 1986, I got married, my biological mother passed and God called me to lead a drill team. I truly did not want to lead a drill team because I had a learning disability in school which placed me in special education classes for students with learning disabilities. There was no way I was going to work with children that were just as bad as my very own children and the fact that I could not retain most of the words I was reading in the bible. I did not think that I could retain enough to teach someone else. However, I wrestle with God for a couple of weeks and could not sleep at nights. My great aunt noticed my restless nights and said "when God calls you to do something He will get it done". Well I finally surrendered and went to my pastor with what the Lord