Originally posted by LordOfTheChessboardBecause at one point in my life I decided that all is vanity. Work, play, and then a hole in the ground. Life had no meaning. Sure, you could gain riches, pleasure, gain wisdom, and enjoy it all! But then comes that hole in the ground. Someone gets my riches, and I have no control over anything after I'm dead. Even if I achieved fame so that my name would be remembered, so what? I can't even take pleasure in that after I'm gone! I won't even know if I succeeded. I end up in that hole. No conciousness, no memory, I just cease to exist. I thought there had to be more.
Why?
Then, one day I went to the theater and watched the Exorsist. My friends and I found that it was based on a true story. I was young then and terrified watching this thing. And it was based on a true story?...
Well...that started me on a quest. I did a little research and found it wasn't a little girl, but a boy....
In any event, I thought...if there is really a Satan, then there has to be a God. I was raised Catholic, but this was forced upon me by my parents. Anyway, there were not many answers. I prayed and studied different religions, reincarnation, I went to different churches, Pentecostal, Baptist, Catholic, Assemblies of God, etc....
Well, I'm not going to give my full life story here....but to sum it up, I was looking for God, but a funny thing happened, He found me!
I was on my way to cop some pot....the person with the goods had been born again since the last time I had "visited"...he told me about his experience and taught me some things about the bible like I had never heard before....anyway, that is when Jesus Christ revealed Himself to me in ways I cannot explain. I was on a high like I never had before. And it wasn't from pot, he didn't have any. I felt a peace at the same time and when I got home my wife asked what happened, because she said something is different....Anyway, that is when my biblical research began, in 1975. Since then, I have seen things that would blow many away. I have had encounters with evil spirits and watched the power of God as they were overcome, I have seen genuine healings, I could go on and on....but I have grown a little since, the excitement is still there, I have a little wisdom and my faith continues to grow. I have heard people say the bible is full of stories, myths, lies, etc. My answer is still the same. Once I was blind and now I see. I cannot refute that. Regardless of what I am told, I know what I have seen, I have seen Jesus work in my life over and over. At one time the bible was very difficult to understand, now that has changed too.
I am also aware that as soon as I post this, the wolves are out there licking their chops ready to attack my every word, and that's fine, they haven't searched with a sincere heart. That is why they don't know Him.
I'll close with my favorite verses....
Jer 9:23-24
23Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
24But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD.
(NKJ)
Originally posted by checkbaiterThat has to be the worst reason to become religious ever.
Because at one point in my life I decided that all is vanity. Work, play, and then a hole in the ground. Life had no meaning. Sure, you could gain riches, pleasure, gain wisdom, and enjoy it all! But then comes that hole in the ground. Someone gets my riches, and I have no control over anything after I'm dead. Even if I achieved fame so that my name wou ...[text shortened]... dness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD.
(NKJ)