Christians are quite noisy about their faith and so it is probably hard to guage without a poll although you are probably also right about the majority too.
I come from a family with many members in religious orders (Catholic). I had dinners at rectories and convents and chanted with monks in monasteries. It has given me great strength through struggles in my life. I think a strong exposure to spirituality as a child is a great gift from a family.
To be honest I’d likely have thought great awakening was some LARP but the vast majority here are God first, country lovin Trump supporting free thinkers so I know I’m in the right place
I asked Jesus Christ into my heart as my Lord and Savior on June 21, 1990! I’ve had my ups, and my downs, and I walked away for a while, but I am back. Stronger than ever. I am grateful for the sacrifice that he made for me, a sinner.
“that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 10:9 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/rom.10.9.NKJV
Actually, because of my Christian faith, and the type of church that I went to… Calvary Chapel… they teach the Bible, chapter by chapter and verse by verse. So I was really immersed in God’s word.
So to answer your question… No! I never doubted that God’s word was truth and inerrant, and I never doubted my salvation. I think that is my saving grace, that no matter how far away I got from the Lord, that he would never give up on me.
It was a very dark time in my life, and the Lord allowed me to go and do whatever I needed to do. But he never left me, he waited patiently for me, because he is a gentleman.
God ALWAYS wins!
I would say that my Christian walk is stronger now that it’s ever been! I am so grateful for getting back in alignment with God’s will in my life. It’s been quite an amazing transformation.
Raised Catholic. Definitely spiritual, we have a creator. Attended many churches, but don't feel connected to God in them. They feel pretentious, especially when you see the destruction people have done in the name of religion.
When I have my feet on the ground, touch a flower, walk in the woods, watch a massive storm, feel the wind blow - that is when I feel connected.
I mostly follow Christian principles but I don't attend church nor did so growing up, I never saw the need for "middlemen" anyhow and even less reason now after seeing how many cucked out over COVID and the Rainbow Mafia and how corrupt the Pope and Vatican are. I suppose like I've heard Patrick Gunnels say "I was an atheist until the Devil showed up."
Also I have a degree in engineering and some still find this surprising when I say it but the more science I studied the less convinced I became that everything in this universe arose from purely random chance.
Want proof of God? Look in the mirror. You are looking at a programmable (DNA) biological mechanism that is self-replicating, self-repairing, self-sustaining, self-aware, and has an innate sense of right and wrong, with a soul. You are NOT goo from the zoo. You were created by design.
Matthew 7:22-23 NIV84 - Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
If you are a true follower of Christ and have been born again, it will become natural to follow the ten commandments as we become more like Him. Anyone can make a mistake and sin - true Christians won't remain in it.
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit,
seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
1 Timothy 3:16
This verse is changed in many Bibles written past ~1900. Makes one wonder what word they made ambiguous and why doesn't it?
I stand shoulder to shoulder with anyone fighting the cabal and I find myself compatible with almost everyone on this site. We've got a job to do and we're all brothers and sisters.
All of the world’s faiths have crumbs of truth. This is because they all have one origin. The division and added differences are not by accident. This is intentional. There exist a master key that unlocks the secrets behind each door. I can’t hand you this key, it is located within yourself and you must find it if you are ready.
Was raised United Methodist, married two Baptists, now with a combo Baptist/Catholic now we are both Free Methodist. Talk to God every day! Don't know how some people manage to live without him.
It’s really all about a relationship. Religion is man made. Thus all religions have faults.
FWIW I was raised Catholic but didn’t always go to church in the past. I went back as an adult but only after contemplating which Christian church I would consider attending. I witnessed a miracle in 2011 where my sister was written off three times in the ICU where she was for 3 months. She survived against all odds and is heathy today. I knew she was gonna be alright as I was driving the 12 hours back to my home after visiting her. The Lord sent dancing rainbows that surrounded my car as I was driving. Literally they enveloped my entire car. When I took out my phone to take a picture they became a double rainbow in the distance.
This miracle made me want to go back to church. I accepted that I need to be with like minded people. I found out how much I love my small rural Catholic Church here. Everyone knows everyone. I also joined our women’s group at the church. I started taking Bible studies and I sing in the choir. My life is so much richer now for this experience to help others in my church and also to be mentored by them.
The abuse I experienced at the hands of that organization had a lot to do with it, but otherwise, after studying astrophysics and cosmology, I have come to the conclusion that I can never know if a God exists but will not deny the possibility. There may be some things humans are not meant to comprehend as long as we think in conventional terms. Einstein also grappled with this. Granted, one can think that there must be something or someone who has created all that we see, but we may not be able to understand exactly what or who that is.
I'm not, but I'm far more open to the idea than I was ten years ago. For me, to see the level of evil that exists has left me far more open to the possibility of an opposite force.
I claim Christ as my Savior. I have done many rotten things in my life, but His death on the cross covered them. There have been a number of times in my life where the awareness of existence just blew me away. Here we are. All this stuff. Functions in a way that sustains life. Chance? Temporary? C'mon, man.
“Blessed are those who believe and have not seen”. It’s no accident that you are asking for more. Our souls are a valuable commodity to God and Satan and they are both fighting hard for you. Read scripture, meditate and pray that the truth will be revealed to you and it will.
All I know is, I look for Jesus every day, and when I find Him I do my best to follow Him, but I fail constantly and I hope He has mercy on me like He promised.
I like to think of being 'Christian' the way Thomas Jefferson explained it & his version of the Bible;
Jefferson Bible-
The Life And Morals Of Jesus Of Nazereth (Fascinating & a MUST read)
"I am a Christian, in the only sense in which he wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines, in preference to all others; ascribing to himself every human excellence, & believing he never claimed any other."
You might be ahead of the game in learning. Churchianity tends to be a repeated 'group think' session. Learning about the kingdom of God all starts with the individual's self-learning. Bible studies are best for learning and interaction. Still if there is an authoritative member dominating the Bile study, it is not really Bible study at all. Interaction, learning, and even debate are all the mechanisms for understanding and learning.. God requires us to use a fine toothed comb for examining His Word and about the Kingdom of God. God requires us to learn the truth despite a cunning and deceiving world, requiring our earnest etymological studies and knowing the tests of Historiography.
I want to be, but only Christ can say. He called me to fight in his army, and i won't know if i am for sure until the last day. I'm the kind of person that scrapes by in the end, last off the field, and i have been known to miss a few times.
Since you said you liked studying, have you read any prophecy?
Do you know that the hundreds of prophecies surrounding Jesus Christ have all been fulfilled?
Really fascinating read that I think would serve as an excellent bridge to explore all of the Bible and the Truth it tells.
The destruction of Tyre is a really fun one too:
Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.
...and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.
Ezekiel 26:3,12
God foretells of the destruction of Tyre in detail below, but taking stones and timber and soil and throwing it in the water? Sounds weird doesn't it?
For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.
He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee.
And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers.
By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach.
With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground.
And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.
And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.
Ezekiel 26:7-13
Notice how Ezekiel switches from "he" to "they" when God described the destruction. Was Tyre destroyed twice, by two different people, foretold up to ~220 years in advance? And again, what's with throwing stones and timber and dust into the water? If you're interested, take a quick 5 minute look at the siege of New Tyre:
Prophecy is really fun stuff that stretches across the history of civilization! A lot of it even foretells what's happening today, answering a lot of questions that Q poses to us, then telling us what will happen in the future from now.
If you aren't already, study metaphysics .It largely aids Christianity and Hinduism, but it's very substantive for other beliefs. NASB translation of the Bible, or better yet the Geneva Bible is a good aid
I am and I was you even into my 60s but I was brought home thankfully lately by a local railroading much like GEOTUS' and I know ONLY PRAYER changed the Outcome.
Jesus had his OWN definition of discipleship, and it's simple and very clear:
John: 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
LOVE encompasses it all: protection of children (and not just of children), planning and preparing for the future, honest dealings in business and in one's personal life, fidelity in marriage, putting one's fellow humans above material goods and gain . . . you name it.
LOVE is the one-word, all-inclusive concept that defines the real-world, here-and-now aspects of Christianity, imo, and I highly recommend it as a goal to strive for and as a course of action.
There are also what I think of as supernatural elements to Christianity, and perhaps due to my own quirks, I've never been able to embrace those elements.
When I was young, I had a chip on my shoulder about this. My views have changed as I have become aware how differently people experience and conceptualize what they see and hear and feel.
Is God an old man with a long white beard living, somehow, up in the sky? That's how adults seemed to view Him when I was in Sunday School and church as a child, and it . . . just didn't work for me. Many of those same adults were neurotic and often unpleasant -- to children and to other adults . . . because, of course, BELIEF in a religion or any other system does not erase emotional damage. Emotional HEALTH and the resulting healthy BEHAVIOR is what I am interested in. It's what I want for myself, what I want for others, and what I want to see in the world.
And THAT is and has always been more important to me than a particular religion or other conceptual framework.
For that matter, I believe that a healthy WORLD in the here-and-now was at the least a big part of what Jesus wanted as well, and what he willingly gave his life to help bring into being. Listen to what He says in Luke 17:21 and see if you can't feel the compassion and the longing for a loving, healthy world -- IN THIS WORLD -- for the children and men and women of his time, and of those who would come after:
Luke: 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
This thread needs a book (or several) to cover more than superficially, so I'll leave it at that, but add one thing:
My sense is that most the those on this board are doing their best -- and often better than I -- to feel and to show love to their fellow human beings, whether they came up in a Christian household, or Hindu or Jain or any other tradition, including "atheist." That's all I care about, and I think it's all we can reasonably ask of anyone.
I am a dissident, so Lutheran was the perfect match. I see God’s hand at work. I realized that God typically uses the same playbook with a new twist. We are currently in one of God’s course corrections. Enjoy the show!
Probably not everyone? There is a safe bet.
I am not Christian, wow you were right.
Christians are quite noisy about their faith and so it is probably hard to guage without a poll although you are probably also right about the majority too.
An actual breakdown would be interesting.
It does feel like it's in that vicinity.
Religion is a controlled mechanism.
I’m not religious in the sense that I don’t belong to any church or organization of faith.
I am spiritual and in seeking the creator each and every day.
I can only aspire to be like Christ which means to follow him and his way, if you adhere to the love spectrum like he does.
Which Christ do you aspire to be like?
The one who gave his life to enshrine unconditional love for humanity.
Which one is that?
I wouldn’t fault you for believing as such. If you want to be like Christ I’d suggest you read the gospel of John Chapter 6; in its entirety.
What Jesus asks us to do in that gospel is the most controversial and most important. There’s only one way you can do what Jesus commands in Chapter 6
I come from a family with many members in religious orders (Catholic). I had dinners at rectories and convents and chanted with monks in monasteries. It has given me great strength through struggles in my life. I think a strong exposure to spirituality as a child is a great gift from a family.
Catholic Christian here.
To be honest I’d likely have thought great awakening was some LARP but the vast majority here are God first, country lovin Trump supporting free thinkers so I know I’m in the right place
Yup, especially the old VOAT group.
I asked Jesus Christ into my heart as my Lord and Savior on June 21, 1990! I’ve had my ups, and my downs, and I walked away for a while, but I am back. Stronger than ever. I am grateful for the sacrifice that he made for me, a sinner.
“that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 NKJV https://bible.com/bible/114/rom.10.9.NKJV
When you walked away for a while…did you question whether God existed at all or if Jesus really was God? What did walking away look like for you?
That’s a great question.
Actually, because of my Christian faith, and the type of church that I went to… Calvary Chapel… they teach the Bible, chapter by chapter and verse by verse. So I was really immersed in God’s word.
So to answer your question… No! I never doubted that God’s word was truth and inerrant, and I never doubted my salvation. I think that is my saving grace, that no matter how far away I got from the Lord, that he would never give up on me.
It was a very dark time in my life, and the Lord allowed me to go and do whatever I needed to do. But he never left me, he waited patiently for me, because he is a gentleman.
God ALWAYS wins!
I would say that my Christian walk is stronger now that it’s ever been! I am so grateful for getting back in alignment with God’s will in my life. It’s been quite an amazing transformation.
I liked your post. It reminds me of the prodigal son which I was. Your post describes me accurately.
Welcome home!
Thank you my brother.
Raised Catholic. Definitely spiritual, we have a creator. Attended many churches, but don't feel connected to God in them. They feel pretentious, especially when you see the destruction people have done in the name of religion.
When I have my feet on the ground, touch a flower, walk in the woods, watch a massive storm, feel the wind blow - that is when I feel connected.
Astrology is a fascinating (and ancient) study. I would bet the moon is strong in your chart.
I mostly follow Christian principles but I don't attend church nor did so growing up, I never saw the need for "middlemen" anyhow and even less reason now after seeing how many cucked out over COVID and the Rainbow Mafia and how corrupt the Pope and Vatican are. I suppose like I've heard Patrick Gunnels say "I was an atheist until the Devil showed up."
Also I have a degree in engineering and some still find this surprising when I say it but the more science I studied the less convinced I became that everything in this universe arose from purely random chance.
Want proof of God? Look in the mirror. You are looking at a programmable (DNA) biological mechanism that is self-replicating, self-repairing, self-sustaining, self-aware, and has an innate sense of right and wrong, with a soul. You are NOT goo from the zoo. You were created by design.
God is the Ultimate Mathematician, Scientist, Philosopher, and much more far beyond our understanding.
The first alchemist.
Many christians are not real Christians.
Matthew 7:22-23 NIV84 - Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
When you get down to it, many follow Paul instead of Jesus. And they scorn those who follow Jesus with regards to keeping the commandments.
If you are a true follower of Christ and have been born again, it will become natural to follow the ten commandments as we become more like Him. Anyone can make a mistake and sin - true Christians won't remain in it.
If there was an honest poll the number would probably surprise everyone.
There are many here who profess to be Christian. I'm afraid that there are precious few, though, who truly know Jesus.
Over the target, watch out for the flack.
So true! I have a Hindu friend who cooks a great steak... KEK.
Oh you mean like the ones wishing for Palestine to be turned into glass….. yup
This verse is changed in many Bibles written past ~1900. Makes one wonder what word they made ambiguous and why doesn't it?
What are you asking for?
From what I've heard from on high, if you aren't exclusively Christian, you ain't a Christian at all.
Edit: By heard I mean read in my Bible.
I'm a moderator and not Christian or American.
I stand shoulder to shoulder with anyone fighting the cabal and I find myself compatible with almost everyone on this site. We've got a job to do and we're all brothers and sisters.
not everyone is but I pray that one day we all will be.
All of the world’s faiths have crumbs of truth. This is because they all have one origin. The division and added differences are not by accident. This is intentional. There exist a master key that unlocks the secrets behind each door. I can’t hand you this key, it is located within yourself and you must find it if you are ready.
That is a dangerous belief system and leads to hell. There is only one way to Heaven and that is through Jesus Christ.
If you were to really explore each area that makes up a worldview every belief system except Christianity contradicts itself.
So many people are unaware that Islam for example started as an offshoot of Christianity.
Hindu
Was raised United Methodist, married two Baptists, now with a combo Baptist/Catholic now we are both Free Methodist. Talk to God every day! Don't know how some people manage to live without him.
It’s really all about a relationship. Religion is man made. Thus all religions have faults.
FWIW I was raised Catholic but didn’t always go to church in the past. I went back as an adult but only after contemplating which Christian church I would consider attending. I witnessed a miracle in 2011 where my sister was written off three times in the ICU where she was for 3 months. She survived against all odds and is heathy today. I knew she was gonna be alright as I was driving the 12 hours back to my home after visiting her. The Lord sent dancing rainbows that surrounded my car as I was driving. Literally they enveloped my entire car. When I took out my phone to take a picture they became a double rainbow in the distance.
This miracle made me want to go back to church. I accepted that I need to be with like minded people. I found out how much I love my small rural Catholic Church here. Everyone knows everyone. I also joined our women’s group at the church. I started taking Bible studies and I sing in the choir. My life is so much richer now for this experience to help others in my church and also to be mentored by them.
Baptized Catholic, but now consider myself agnostic.
The abuse I experienced at the hands of that organization had a lot to do with it, but otherwise, after studying astrophysics and cosmology, I have come to the conclusion that I can never know if a God exists but will not deny the possibility. There may be some things humans are not meant to comprehend as long as we think in conventional terms. Einstein also grappled with this. Granted, one can think that there must be something or someone who has created all that we see, but we may not be able to understand exactly what or who that is.
I'm not, but I'm far more open to the idea than I was ten years ago. For me, to see the level of evil that exists has left me far more open to the possibility of an opposite force.
I claim Christ as my Savior. I have done many rotten things in my life, but His death on the cross covered them. There have been a number of times in my life where the awareness of existence just blew me away. Here we are. All this stuff. Functions in a way that sustains life. Chance? Temporary? C'mon, man.
I am a Buddhist and a Patriot.
“Blessed are those who believe and have not seen”. It’s no accident that you are asking for more. Our souls are a valuable commodity to God and Satan and they are both fighting hard for you. Read scripture, meditate and pray that the truth will be revealed to you and it will.
I should hope so!
I can tell you one thing for sure: There is definitely some kind of a God out there.
All I know is, I look for Jesus every day, and when I find Him I do my best to follow Him, but I fail constantly and I hope He has mercy on me like He promised.
I like to think of being 'Christian' the way Thomas Jefferson explained it & his version of the Bible;
Jefferson Bible- The Life And Morals Of Jesus Of Nazereth (Fascinating & a MUST read)
"I am a Christian, in the only sense in which he wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines, in preference to all others; ascribing to himself every human excellence, & believing he never claimed any other."
https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/jeffersons-religious-beliefs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMZNeQxm4GE
I’m a patriot.
Churchianity is a disease of the 21st century that has hollowed out the true meaning of Christ.
You might be ahead of the game in learning. Churchianity tends to be a repeated 'group think' session. Learning about the kingdom of God all starts with the individual's self-learning. Bible studies are best for learning and interaction. Still if there is an authoritative member dominating the Bile study, it is not really Bible study at all. Interaction, learning, and even debate are all the mechanisms for understanding and learning.. God requires us to use a fine toothed comb for examining His Word and about the Kingdom of God. God requires us to learn the truth despite a cunning and deceiving world, requiring our earnest etymological studies and knowing the tests of Historiography.
Go forth young man and become enlightened.
Not entirely, but I'm trying.
I want to be, but only Christ can say. He called me to fight in his army, and i won't know if i am for sure until the last day. I'm the kind of person that scrapes by in the end, last off the field, and i have been known to miss a few times.
Since you said you liked studying, have you read any prophecy? Do you know that the hundreds of prophecies surrounding Jesus Christ have all been fulfilled?
Really fascinating read that I think would serve as an excellent bridge to explore all of the Bible and the Truth it tells.
The destruction of Tyre is a really fun one too:
God foretells of the destruction of Tyre in detail below, but taking stones and timber and soil and throwing it in the water? Sounds weird doesn't it?
Notice how Ezekiel switches from "he" to "they" when God described the destruction. Was Tyre destroyed twice, by two different people, foretold up to ~220 years in advance? And again, what's with throwing stones and timber and dust into the water? If you're interested, take a quick 5 minute look at the siege of New Tyre:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WkWy47ighY&t=97s&ab_channel=BazBattles
Prophecy is really fun stuff that stretches across the history of civilization! A lot of it even foretells what's happening today, answering a lot of questions that Q poses to us, then telling us what will happen in the future from now.
If you’re not, I’d suggest looking into it seriously. The end is near.
If you aren't already, study metaphysics .It largely aids Christianity and Hinduism, but it's very substantive for other beliefs. NASB translation of the Bible, or better yet the Geneva Bible is a good aid
I am and I was you even into my 60s but I was brought home thankfully lately by a local railroading much like GEOTUS' and I know ONLY PRAYER changed the Outcome.
Jesus had his OWN definition of discipleship, and it's simple and very clear:
LOVE encompasses it all: protection of children (and not just of children), planning and preparing for the future, honest dealings in business and in one's personal life, fidelity in marriage, putting one's fellow humans above material goods and gain . . . you name it.
LOVE is the one-word, all-inclusive concept that defines the real-world, here-and-now aspects of Christianity, imo, and I highly recommend it as a goal to strive for and as a course of action.
There are also what I think of as supernatural elements to Christianity, and perhaps due to my own quirks, I've never been able to embrace those elements.
When I was young, I had a chip on my shoulder about this. My views have changed as I have become aware how differently people experience and conceptualize what they see and hear and feel.
Is God an old man with a long white beard living, somehow, up in the sky? That's how adults seemed to view Him when I was in Sunday School and church as a child, and it . . . just didn't work for me. Many of those same adults were neurotic and often unpleasant -- to children and to other adults . . . because, of course, BELIEF in a religion or any other system does not erase emotional damage. Emotional HEALTH and the resulting healthy BEHAVIOR is what I am interested in. It's what I want for myself, what I want for others, and what I want to see in the world.
And THAT is and has always been more important to me than a particular religion or other conceptual framework.
For that matter, I believe that a healthy WORLD in the here-and-now was at the least a big part of what Jesus wanted as well, and what he willingly gave his life to help bring into being. Listen to what He says in Luke 17:21 and see if you can't feel the compassion and the longing for a loving, healthy world -- IN THIS WORLD -- for the children and men and women of his time, and of those who would come after:
Luke: 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
This thread needs a book (or several) to cover more than superficially, so I'll leave it at that, but add one thing:
My sense is that most the those on this board are doing their best -- and often better than I -- to feel and to show love to their fellow human beings, whether they came up in a Christian household, or Hindu or Jain or any other tradition, including "atheist." That's all I care about, and I think it's all we can reasonably ask of anyone.
I am a dissident, so Lutheran was the perfect match. I see God’s hand at work. I realized that God typically uses the same playbook with a new twist. We are currently in one of God’s course corrections. Enjoy the show!
I am. Anyone else? God bless you all.