A middle-aged person
Owner of True Anchor
I was born and raised Christian because I was told that we were, but the stark difference between “being a Christian in public” and “being a Christian at home” left me curiously and anxiously dubious. This would later lead me into the seemingly loving arms of anti-faith, Bible, and creation conspiracy, fuelled by “worldly science” and the “inspired and educated ramblings” of “soccermom42”. Painfully, it morphed into anti-God views. How naïve and wounded I was in my young adulthood, unable to distinguish between a faithful relationship with God and religion, or the people who practise it.
Fast forward twenty odd years, and I proclaim that I am a Christian because I have encountered God; because I am not “religious”; because I experience His hand in my life; and because He has saved me through our Lord Jesus Christ. What a beautiful thing it is to meet God through His Word, to meet God through truly good people, and to join the “religious” conversation so late that I can openly question its structures while enjoying an unbiased and uninterpreted personal relationship with the Almighty.
I am young in Christ, and making sense of God’s Word and its application in daily modern life—through the noisy views of “the educated”—is an arduous task. Nonetheless, I share my honest thoughts with you, in the hope that somewhere within them you find what you need, even if it is only to say, “The God he writes of sounds different from the Hollywood or denominational God,” and that your curiosity places you on your own path to meet Him as I did.
You may be tempted to ask, “Which denomination or church?” Do not. That is a messy path. Modern Christianity itself is knotted up in denominations and interpretations rather than focusing on what unites them, Jesus, 1 Corinthians 1:10. Take the time to explore them all with an open mind, but remember: God is everywhere—not confined to interpretations or practices—and we are all just fallible humans. We are all loved equally by God, and He wants us to know Him. He wants to save us for eternity.
Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John 20:29 (NKJV)