My faith is like a roller-coaster trip that travelled to the moon and back.
I was baptized as a baby, spent my childhood summer in vacation bible schools, became an atheist during college. My philosophy professor was so convincing that I spent six months of believing nothing and questioning everything. I persecuted my college Christian friends, tried astrology, backed out, until one day I got tired of finding answers to the simplest of all questions, "If there is no God, who created the bright blue sky?"
I then became an un-orthodoxed believer, became a born-again Christian in 2001 and from then on went through highs and lows on my beliefs.
I then became an un-orthodoxed believer, became a born-again Christian in 2001 and from then on went through highs and lows on my beliefs.
Faith, they say, is a personal walk with God, not defined by religion or denomination, but by knowing the truth.
What is the truth? I searched for it and asked so many questions in my heart, wandered confused, along the way and deep inside, I believe I knew all along. It was in the book, the Bible, that I left dusted for years, that I read occasionally as a child and then tucked away again.
Salvation and truth, all heavy words right? They were definitely for me. It was like a pill that is hard to swallow. The truth was in Jesus Christ, a name I heard like an old broken record. Growing up in a country that puts Him on wood and a litany of prayers made him an all too familiar but strange person to me.
What is the truth? I searched for it and asked so many questions in my heart, wandered confused, along the way and deep inside, I believe I knew all along. It was in the book, the Bible, that I left dusted for years, that I read occasionally as a child and then tucked away again.
Salvation and truth, all heavy words right? They were definitely for me. It was like a pill that is hard to swallow. The truth was in Jesus Christ, a name I heard like an old broken record. Growing up in a country that puts Him on wood and a litany of prayers made him an all too familiar but strange person to me.
My heart was closed, opened, closed, and opened again.
What worked in my case, was when I opened my heart and "questioning-rational-all-knowing" mind to a search for real answers, and ultimately, humble acceptance. It's time to let go of the old self-righteous, subjective, and know-it-all reasoning. I refreshed my relationship with Jesus Christ, the God in person who walked on this earth, and made an impact 2000 years after his death and resurrection - a lasting impact to change the lives of others.
Even though I have been a Christian for a decade, I decided to attend a spiritual retreat called "Victory Weekend" a two-day seminar that outlines spiritual foundations as written in the bible. I admitted to myself that in those 10 years, my faith was all head knowledge and little application.
A retreat is not a magical journey, nor a supersize "zap!-zap!-zing!-zing!" encounter.
It signals the start of a renewed walk grounded in the message that Christ left us. My goal now is to embark on an everyday learning, acceptance, and of renewal of my mind - consistently turning away from poor choices and negative thoughts, and seeking wisdom from God. In practical terms, always asking the question "Is this the right and pleasing choice to God, or is not?" It is growing in a real relationship with Christ by reading His word, seeking Him daily, and allowing Him in every area of my life.
To grow each day and develop a character like His, that is what my renewed faith journey is about.
It signals the start of a renewed walk grounded in the message that Christ left us. My goal now is to embark on an everyday learning, acceptance, and of renewal of my mind - consistently turning away from poor choices and negative thoughts, and seeking wisdom from God. In practical terms, always asking the question "Is this the right and pleasing choice to God, or is not?" It is growing in a real relationship with Christ by reading His word, seeking Him daily, and allowing Him in every area of my life.
To grow each day and develop a character like His, that is what my renewed faith journey is about.
Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed?
Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed." John 20:29
Sharing with you my favorite passage:
Jesus said, "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 "The thief (devil) comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have LIFE, and live it to the full." John 10:9
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