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Hello, all!! 
I want to address the question in this thread's description, "Tell us what church you go to and what your favorite Bible verse is and how you came to find Jesus." I apologize in advance if my introduction is too long!
First of all, I truly cannot remember a time in which I did not believe in Jesus. My earliest memory of confessing my love for Him to a non-believer was when I was 5 years old.
It was a holiday and many family members were gathered together; the kids, as usual, were playing together in different rooms, running around the house, etc. But at one point, I was drawing with a cousin who was a year or so older than I was.
I included the name of "God" in all the pictures I had drawn -- and my cousin (who couldn't have been more than 7 years old) asked me, "Why did you put that? God isn't real!"
Well, I was absolutely shocked. I had never before met anyone who hadn't believed in God. Obviously, his parents had to have taught him to be an atheist; (I didn't even know that word at the time). But even though I was so young, I had a strong faith in God and I told my cousin, "Yes, He is real! He made everything!"
We went back and forth, but he just couldn't convince me otherwise.
One of my aunts happened to enter the room and she heard part of our conversation. I'll never forget what happened afterwards.
She said to me, "God's not real! Have you ever seen Him?"
I remember how stunned I was that an adult could say such a thing. To me, adults were the speakers of truths; they knew everything, didn't they? It was as if an adult had suddenly said, "2+2 doesn't equal 4! The answer is zero!"
But then I said something that made her angry. I don't remember if my mother had told me this, or if I had come up with it on my own; but my response to her made her so furious that she complained about me to my parents.
I had simply said, "You can't see the air but you know it's there."
She told my mom and dad that I was being a "smartmouth" and that I should be punished. Later on, my mother told me my aunt's response and my mom just laughed. I could see that my mom was proud of me; but I wasn't quite sure why at the time.
For me, I had simply felt that speaking the truth was a normal thing. It's just what you're supposed to do.
All that to say.... well, I chose my username because it was a name that I acquired in college. My classmates used it derogatorily. They thought I was something of a freak because I didn't go to parties; I didn't carouse on weekends (I stayed in my room and studied instead); I didn't date and I carried my Bible with me to classes.
During my second year in college, the young men in the school passed around a 'rate the girls' book; evidently, they had created a new classification for me because none of the existing dirty categories fit me. They called me "Bible Banger."
I have to be honest: I couldn't have been more pleased.
How could it bother me that they associated me with the Bible, of all things?
It made me think of how the Romans once used the term "Christian" as an insult... If I was to be persecuted and ridiculed for living in a way that separated me from the world, sobeit!
P.S. I have many favorite Bible verses, so it's impossible to name a "favorite."
But there was a particular scripture that I know God sent to me during a particularly scary time. When I was 17, my mom had joined a false church, not knowing that it was false. A so-called "deacon" in that church had told my mother that it was unusual for someone my age to spend hours a day praying. He said that young people didn't do that.
He had convinced my mother that something was wrong with me; and she threatened to kick me out of the house! When she told me that, I ran to my room, prostrated myself before God, and prayed. I asked Him, "What should I do? YOU know my heart, O Lord!!"
I then picked up the Bible, and it fell open. Something said to me, "Look."
I did. The verse my eyes fell upon was this:
"When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up." (Psalm 27:10)
Brothers and Sisters, I confess that I am truly crying like a baby as I write about this. God spoke to me through His Word in that difficult time, and the Word He gave me couldn't have been more comforting, more tailored to my need!
It turned out that the Lord allowed my mother to see that her 'church' was a deceiving, untrue church. I'll never forget how she cried when she asked forgiveness of God and of me; she never kicked me out and she left that destructive place.
I say from the bottom of my heart, I'm glad I found this site.
God bless you all!
I want to address the question in this thread's description, "Tell us what church you go to and what your favorite Bible verse is and how you came to find Jesus." I apologize in advance if my introduction is too long!
First of all, I truly cannot remember a time in which I did not believe in Jesus. My earliest memory of confessing my love for Him to a non-believer was when I was 5 years old.
It was a holiday and many family members were gathered together; the kids, as usual, were playing together in different rooms, running around the house, etc. But at one point, I was drawing with a cousin who was a year or so older than I was.
I included the name of "God" in all the pictures I had drawn -- and my cousin (who couldn't have been more than 7 years old) asked me, "Why did you put that? God isn't real!"
Well, I was absolutely shocked. I had never before met anyone who hadn't believed in God. Obviously, his parents had to have taught him to be an atheist; (I didn't even know that word at the time). But even though I was so young, I had a strong faith in God and I told my cousin, "Yes, He is real! He made everything!"
We went back and forth, but he just couldn't convince me otherwise.
One of my aunts happened to enter the room and she heard part of our conversation. I'll never forget what happened afterwards.
She said to me, "God's not real! Have you ever seen Him?"
I remember how stunned I was that an adult could say such a thing. To me, adults were the speakers of truths; they knew everything, didn't they? It was as if an adult had suddenly said, "2+2 doesn't equal 4! The answer is zero!"
But then I said something that made her angry. I don't remember if my mother had told me this, or if I had come up with it on my own; but my response to her made her so furious that she complained about me to my parents.
I had simply said, "You can't see the air but you know it's there."
She told my mom and dad that I was being a "smartmouth" and that I should be punished. Later on, my mother told me my aunt's response and my mom just laughed. I could see that my mom was proud of me; but I wasn't quite sure why at the time.
For me, I had simply felt that speaking the truth was a normal thing. It's just what you're supposed to do.
All that to say.... well, I chose my username because it was a name that I acquired in college. My classmates used it derogatorily. They thought I was something of a freak because I didn't go to parties; I didn't carouse on weekends (I stayed in my room and studied instead); I didn't date and I carried my Bible with me to classes.
During my second year in college, the young men in the school passed around a 'rate the girls' book; evidently, they had created a new classification for me because none of the existing dirty categories fit me. They called me "Bible Banger."
I have to be honest: I couldn't have been more pleased.
How could it bother me that they associated me with the Bible, of all things?
It made me think of how the Romans once used the term "Christian" as an insult... If I was to be persecuted and ridiculed for living in a way that separated me from the world, sobeit!P.S. I have many favorite Bible verses, so it's impossible to name a "favorite."
But there was a particular scripture that I know God sent to me during a particularly scary time. When I was 17, my mom had joined a false church, not knowing that it was false. A so-called "deacon" in that church had told my mother that it was unusual for someone my age to spend hours a day praying. He said that young people didn't do that.
He had convinced my mother that something was wrong with me; and she threatened to kick me out of the house! When she told me that, I ran to my room, prostrated myself before God, and prayed. I asked Him, "What should I do? YOU know my heart, O Lord!!"
I then picked up the Bible, and it fell open. Something said to me, "Look."
I did. The verse my eyes fell upon was this:
"When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up." (Psalm 27:10)
Brothers and Sisters, I confess that I am truly crying like a baby as I write about this. God spoke to me through His Word in that difficult time, and the Word He gave me couldn't have been more comforting, more tailored to my need!
It turned out that the Lord allowed my mother to see that her 'church' was a deceiving, untrue church. I'll never forget how she cried when she asked forgiveness of God and of me; she never kicked me out and she left that destructive place.
I say from the bottom of my heart, I'm glad I found this site.
God bless you all!
) by the sincere and loving comments to my post!
It's only been since last year that I suddenly had the desire to learn how to cook a variety of meals from absolute scratch. I never had a great interest in cooking before that, so I don't know why I suddenly became obsessed with learning to create meals without premade ingredients!
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