Understanding comes with time. Its something that we've all been told but always questioned when we're young. I think today I finally reached a point that by God's grace, I finally am able to look back and just say wow, I've been fudged up. And now that I can see that, I think I can now start to forgive, repent, and in return hopefully be forgiven.
Something that sort of struck in my head this weekend is Persecution. No, I wasn't told by anyone that they were going to murder me, instead it was a few words from a few people when they saw that I was reading a Bible or was displaying the cross that I wear around my neck.
Now you may not say that that isn't what persecution is, but when I was going to reply to the above mentioned persons, I stopped and thought and remembered that it wasn't too long ago that I was in their shoes. It was then that I thanked God and held my tongue. You see, the world is filled with people like who I was -- those that don't understand. And its those that don't understand that persecute those that do. As in 2 Timothy 3:12 "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted"
What I did do though was smile at them and did a prayer in my head that someday they'll hopefully come around and understand. I knew from experience that if I tried to reason with them, it'd likely get nowhere and they'd just bunker down even more. So as its said in Proverb 17:14 "Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out", I did, and although I can not remember where in the Bible its says to do it, I prayed that they would eventually see the light and follow the path God has placed before all of us.
eh, and thats it. Check back in a little bit for Part Two. =]
23 May, 2010
16 May, 2010
An Update
Well, it appears that I now have one follower! Thank you Dan, I guess I now have a bigger reason to actually post things :-D Anyways, sorry for the lack of posts.. I've started a couple but just couldn't... articulate what I wanted to say but I think now I'll try to let God guide me.
Anyways, since the last post quite a few things happened.
First off, its been 17 days since I had my eyes open and life is... I don't want to say the same, so I'll say similar. That one thing that makes it so different is God. The Lord has given me many things to think about, so much so that I pretty much spend 90% of my day with some thought in my head about the Lord. What do you ask I think about? Well it varies, but there are two or three things that keep popping up. The first is something quite big... you see, most of my life I've lived as though there wasn't a God. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, taking a look back I can see even though I didn't believe, God was still there gently protecting me and prodding me into the 'right' direction. The thing that is so big though, is that living without a God made me need to come up with reasons why we are here and why people act as they do, and a bunch of other questions. Well, because of this, I accepted theories like the Big Bang, Evolution, Astrology, etc., to try to fill the gap. But now that I have accepted God well... it kind of puts me in a big bind eh? The new contradicts or prohibits most of the old. I'll keep you posted on what happens in the next few posts...
Secondly, I've gone to two separate churches in these past three weeks and well... I kind of liked it. The churches are both non-denominational, but each time I went I felt something. It was good. While the next few weeks I won't be able to attend a Sunday service due to some volunteer obligations, I will definitely be making it to the mid-week service and I'll definitely get some more alone time with the Lord. Speaking of a mid-week service, this Wednesday I went to the Good Gospel Church in Sayville because I saw that they had an young adult group that was meeting. Well it turned out that they really meet every other Wednesday and this wasn't it. However, God with his Wisdom and insight, foresaw this and decided to have me cross paths with this guy Andy. Well you see Andy is part of the young adult group and he saw that I was new and that(Lets face it =]) I am quite confused with most of this. Well he was good to me by explaining things about the youth group and a bit about the church, and I learned of this Sunday night service for people about my age called True North. This is something I'll definitely look into and keep y'all updated once I can attend one of these...
Going a little back to the first post and taking a look on how the Lord has been in my life got me thinking about a few things. The second thing that I'm a little bit in awe of is this tattoo I got back in March. The reason why I'm in awe is well... the reasons why I got it, and how they almost transfer perfectly into Christianity. You see, I got the tattoo to solidify what beliefs I knew that I had and would never change, which was that people are composed of their body, mind, and soul and that they are interwoven and eternally linked. The tattoo that I was drawn to is called the Celtic Triquetra. In case you haven't seen it before, although if you are Christian I bet you actually have, google it and see if you recognize it. If you still don't recognize it, the Triquetra is most commonly known as like a symbol of the three-in-one; God, Jesus,and the Holy Spirit. Now I didn't know that when I got the tattoo, I just learned of it like two or three days ago and I still wonder... was this a way of God marking me to show me that he was always with me and always will?
Now there is quite a lot more I'd love to write, but as its now 0030, Friday morning, I need to get some sleep in because this morning is going to be a bit hecktate..... Until next time, and don't be afraid to comment!
Anyways, since the last post quite a few things happened.
First off, its been 17 days since I had my eyes open and life is... I don't want to say the same, so I'll say similar. That one thing that makes it so different is God. The Lord has given me many things to think about, so much so that I pretty much spend 90% of my day with some thought in my head about the Lord. What do you ask I think about? Well it varies, but there are two or three things that keep popping up. The first is something quite big... you see, most of my life I've lived as though there wasn't a God. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, taking a look back I can see even though I didn't believe, God was still there gently protecting me and prodding me into the 'right' direction. The thing that is so big though, is that living without a God made me need to come up with reasons why we are here and why people act as they do, and a bunch of other questions. Well, because of this, I accepted theories like the Big Bang, Evolution, Astrology, etc., to try to fill the gap. But now that I have accepted God well... it kind of puts me in a big bind eh? The new contradicts or prohibits most of the old. I'll keep you posted on what happens in the next few posts...
Secondly, I've gone to two separate churches in these past three weeks and well... I kind of liked it. The churches are both non-denominational, but each time I went I felt something. It was good. While the next few weeks I won't be able to attend a Sunday service due to some volunteer obligations, I will definitely be making it to the mid-week service and I'll definitely get some more alone time with the Lord. Speaking of a mid-week service, this Wednesday I went to the Good Gospel Church in Sayville because I saw that they had an young adult group that was meeting. Well it turned out that they really meet every other Wednesday and this wasn't it. However, God with his Wisdom and insight, foresaw this and decided to have me cross paths with this guy Andy. Well you see Andy is part of the young adult group and he saw that I was new and that(Lets face it =]) I am quite confused with most of this. Well he was good to me by explaining things about the youth group and a bit about the church, and I learned of this Sunday night service for people about my age called True North. This is something I'll definitely look into and keep y'all updated once I can attend one of these...
Going a little back to the first post and taking a look on how the Lord has been in my life got me thinking about a few things. The second thing that I'm a little bit in awe of is this tattoo I got back in March. The reason why I'm in awe is well... the reasons why I got it, and how they almost transfer perfectly into Christianity. You see, I got the tattoo to solidify what beliefs I knew that I had and would never change, which was that people are composed of their body, mind, and soul and that they are interwoven and eternally linked. The tattoo that I was drawn to is called the Celtic Triquetra. In case you haven't seen it before, although if you are Christian I bet you actually have, google it and see if you recognize it. If you still don't recognize it, the Triquetra is most commonly known as like a symbol of the three-in-one; God, Jesus,and the Holy Spirit. Now I didn't know that when I got the tattoo, I just learned of it like two or three days ago and I still wonder... was this a way of God marking me to show me that he was always with me and always will?
Now there is quite a lot more I'd love to write, but as its now 0030, Friday morning, I need to get some sleep in because this morning is going to be a bit hecktate..... Until next time, and don't be afraid to comment!
06 May, 2010
The search begins and continues...
So today I've been trying to 'compare' and figure out the different Christian Denomination's beliefs and Doctrines. It's almost like trying to pull a nail and the effort is sort of making my brain itch :-\. However, I'm trying to get a good idea before Sunday because I want to try to choose a service to go to on Sunday if I can make it to one either before or after some search and rescue training...
anyways, a few places I've found helpful are: http://christianity.about.com/od/denominations/Denominations.htm and http://christianity.about.com/. The first one is greatly helping me with trying to discern one Denomination from another because they all just seem the same to me :-\ while the second one has probably one of the largest amount of information I could probably ever find.
I also took a look at the different churches in my area and I found a surprising amount that probably will make things both slightly harder and slightly easier for me get through this. The churches range from Protestant, to Baptist, to Lutheran, to Roman Catholic, to Episcopal, and to Methodist. Quite a few to choose from.
Talking with a friend tonight, she offered me a chance to go with her to one of the services she goes to, a non-denominational, in a few weeks once she gets back from college and I think I'll be taking up the offer. I'll probably float around a few of the above denominations also until I feel a pull towards one. Perhaps I'll try the Baptist one first...
anyways, a few places I've found helpful are: http://christianity.about.com/od/denominations/Denominations.htm and http://christianity.about.com/. The first one is greatly helping me with trying to discern one Denomination from another because they all just seem the same to me :-\ while the second one has probably one of the largest amount of information I could probably ever find.
I also took a look at the different churches in my area and I found a surprising amount that probably will make things both slightly harder and slightly easier for me get through this. The churches range from Protestant, to Baptist, to Lutheran, to Roman Catholic, to Episcopal, and to Methodist. Quite a few to choose from.
Talking with a friend tonight, she offered me a chance to go with her to one of the services she goes to, a non-denominational, in a few weeks once she gets back from college and I think I'll be taking up the offer. I'll probably float around a few of the above denominations also until I feel a pull towards one. Perhaps I'll try the Baptist one first...
05 May, 2010
The start of something...
Well I think it’d be appropriate that my first real post is about something that’s been on my mind for a long time, yet its only recently that I’ve begun to act on it.
Throughout most of my life I haven’t really had a reason or urge to look at others and my own beliefs. However, because maybe since I’m getting older or perhaps I’m now around more people, its been coming up in my thoughts more and more each day and I find that I’ve gone from thinking that I’m an Atheist to Agnostic to currently well… nothing and for some reason it sort of is bothering me that I don’t have a clear idea of my beliefs.
Anyways, a few days ago someone said something to me that just did like a little quirk inside of me and I’ve decided to go with it and see where it goes. I want to try to learn something about myself. So what I’ve decided to do, is to attempt to… for lack of a better term, go religious. Yep, I said it.
It’s a shocker, I know, but I’ve thought about it quite a bit and talked to a few close friends and they support me. I haven’t really thought too much about any specifics, but I know it’ll be something Christian and I plan to go into it with both feet with no reserve and no expectations. I’ll keep this posted with what happens.
Throughout most of my life I haven’t really had a reason or urge to look at others and my own beliefs. However, because maybe since I’m getting older or perhaps I’m now around more people, its been coming up in my thoughts more and more each day and I find that I’ve gone from thinking that I’m an Atheist to Agnostic to currently well… nothing and for some reason it sort of is bothering me that I don’t have a clear idea of my beliefs.
Anyways, a few days ago someone said something to me that just did like a little quirk inside of me and I’ve decided to go with it and see where it goes. I want to try to learn something about myself. So what I’ve decided to do, is to attempt to… for lack of a better term, go religious. Yep, I said it.
It’s a shocker, I know, but I’ve thought about it quite a bit and talked to a few close friends and they support me. I haven’t really thought too much about any specifics, but I know it’ll be something Christian and I plan to go into it with both feet with no reserve and no expectations. I’ll keep this posted with what happens.
04 May, 2010
First Post!
Soooo this is my first post. Ever. So I guess its best to start with why in the world would I want to create one of these that like nobody will check. My answer is that I don't care; read if you want, don't read if you will, I'll write regardless as an outlet of my thoughts and if noone reads, my secrets are safe!
Anyways, things I'll be posting will hopefully be many, yet meaningful. Some things I'll post about: Army Cadet Life, My search for my beliefs, Life's questions, activities, and probably sometimes random thoughts going across my mind.
Be prepared to be blown away. [Perhaps :-p]
Anyways, things I'll be posting will hopefully be many, yet meaningful. Some things I'll post about: Army Cadet Life, My search for my beliefs, Life's questions, activities, and probably sometimes random thoughts going across my mind.
Be prepared to be blown away. [Perhaps :-p]
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