LadyT
Jul 13th 2009, 10:28 PM
My parents did not go to church and still don't. I really was not raised with any church.
As far back as I can remember, I have known there is a God. I did not really understand what it was to be saved until a couple of years ago, but my salvation came when God wanted it.
All I was taught as a child was that there was heaven and hell. Heaven was for good folks and hell was for bad people. I also was told that Jesus and satan were brothers, I was not given details as to how and why, just that they were brothers. Even as a child, that did NOT sit right with me.
When I was almost 10 years of age, my father retired from the Army. A couple of months after settling in, some friends of mine and their parents invited me to go to church with them so I asked my parents and they said it was ok. It was a baptist church and not knowing anything about God or Jesus, I was excited to go. I remember one lady in particular because she had asked me what religion I was. I was a child of 10 at this time and I just told her that I was Mormon, because my parents had said they were. She told me something that completely changed my life; I was going to hell because of the Mormon Doctrine and the Book of Mormon. I never even heard of this book and I certainly never knew anything about Mormon teachings, except what my parents had told me. My parents have a KJB, with pictures of various art work done throughout the centuries and I thought that was the book the lady talking about, because of all the pictures that were in this bible.
Needless to say, I was so upset, I cried for days over it. All I knew about hell was that it was for bad people, surely I was not a bad person, not at 10 years of age. It was a couple of years later that I returned to that church. I went to Sunday school and learned a little, but never really learned about salvation. I considered myself a baptist because I was baptized in a baptist church but I was NOT saved even though I thought I was at the time. God was still watching over me, for HE knew when the time would be right for me.
I stopped going to the church because I went to tell the pastor about an experience I had, a prayer answered. With much excitement I told of it and the pastor just looked at me and turned his head and started to speak with another person, as if I did not even exist. Again, I was upset, I was a just a young girl, desperately looking for Jesus, and no one even witnessed to me.
I gave up, after all, what did I learn? What did I have to rely on? I did not even really know that we could talk to God, that was why I was so excited about telling the pastor.
A few years later, a friend of mine got me to go to her church. I was 13 and it was a Pentecostal church. I went to the Wednesday night youth program and it was a pretty good service. Then, I went to the Sunday morning service and heard for the first time, this speaking in tongues and it scared me, terribly. I went against my own instincts and thought where is the class that teaches that kind of prayer? Never got an answer, no one even bothered to tell me how one spoke in tongues. I did not even know that it was called speaking in tongues until my sister in law came to service with me and told me. Amazing, a Pentecostal church that did not even tell me what it was. I became weary of the church and began to get involved with boys and other teenage endeavors. I had overheard a woman terribly gossiping about me one night so I quit going there. Praise God for this.
I spent the next 21 years just kind of thinking of God on my own terms, sadly, making HIM in my image. Then, believe it or not, some Mormons had knocked on my door and witnessed to me. I actually learned what Jesus had done for me, they actually witnessed to me. Even though I did not get involved with the church, I started to pursue Jesus. A year or two later, some Jehovah Witness' came to my door and I actually did a study with them. I understood what they were saying, but I knew something was terribly wrong with their teachings.
A friend of mine talked me into trying church one more time, and that is where I was attending when I actually learned about Jesus. The sermon was on Acts and about Paul. I had just recently gotten the internet and I had found a religion message board, but I never checked it out, but that Sunday, I did. I saw the Christianity link with the religion one, so I clicked it open. That is where I met a dear friend of mine. He was doing a study on Acts and I was so hungry for some knowledge of God. I found it in that study and I was intrigued at what I was learning, how it all started. The rest is history, I got saved and here I am.
It was by what my friend had shown me in the bible, the witness he gave me, the information and where to find it that I realized what I was missing. God led me to find this friend so that I could open my eyes and see Jesus, standing before me, as HE had been for years, just waiting for me to repent. It was the greatest moment of my life when I got saved.
There is one other person that I owe much gratitude to, and it is that lady that told me I was going to hell. It was not because of the Mormon issue, it was because she told me where I was headed. I did not understand it at the time it happened, but I do now, and I thank her. She started a path for me that ultimately led me to Jesus. Amen
As far back as I can remember, I have known there is a God. I did not really understand what it was to be saved until a couple of years ago, but my salvation came when God wanted it.
All I was taught as a child was that there was heaven and hell. Heaven was for good folks and hell was for bad people. I also was told that Jesus and satan were brothers, I was not given details as to how and why, just that they were brothers. Even as a child, that did NOT sit right with me.
When I was almost 10 years of age, my father retired from the Army. A couple of months after settling in, some friends of mine and their parents invited me to go to church with them so I asked my parents and they said it was ok. It was a baptist church and not knowing anything about God or Jesus, I was excited to go. I remember one lady in particular because she had asked me what religion I was. I was a child of 10 at this time and I just told her that I was Mormon, because my parents had said they were. She told me something that completely changed my life; I was going to hell because of the Mormon Doctrine and the Book of Mormon. I never even heard of this book and I certainly never knew anything about Mormon teachings, except what my parents had told me. My parents have a KJB, with pictures of various art work done throughout the centuries and I thought that was the book the lady talking about, because of all the pictures that were in this bible.
Needless to say, I was so upset, I cried for days over it. All I knew about hell was that it was for bad people, surely I was not a bad person, not at 10 years of age. It was a couple of years later that I returned to that church. I went to Sunday school and learned a little, but never really learned about salvation. I considered myself a baptist because I was baptized in a baptist church but I was NOT saved even though I thought I was at the time. God was still watching over me, for HE knew when the time would be right for me.
I stopped going to the church because I went to tell the pastor about an experience I had, a prayer answered. With much excitement I told of it and the pastor just looked at me and turned his head and started to speak with another person, as if I did not even exist. Again, I was upset, I was a just a young girl, desperately looking for Jesus, and no one even witnessed to me.
I gave up, after all, what did I learn? What did I have to rely on? I did not even really know that we could talk to God, that was why I was so excited about telling the pastor.
A few years later, a friend of mine got me to go to her church. I was 13 and it was a Pentecostal church. I went to the Wednesday night youth program and it was a pretty good service. Then, I went to the Sunday morning service and heard for the first time, this speaking in tongues and it scared me, terribly. I went against my own instincts and thought where is the class that teaches that kind of prayer? Never got an answer, no one even bothered to tell me how one spoke in tongues. I did not even know that it was called speaking in tongues until my sister in law came to service with me and told me. Amazing, a Pentecostal church that did not even tell me what it was. I became weary of the church and began to get involved with boys and other teenage endeavors. I had overheard a woman terribly gossiping about me one night so I quit going there. Praise God for this.
I spent the next 21 years just kind of thinking of God on my own terms, sadly, making HIM in my image. Then, believe it or not, some Mormons had knocked on my door and witnessed to me. I actually learned what Jesus had done for me, they actually witnessed to me. Even though I did not get involved with the church, I started to pursue Jesus. A year or two later, some Jehovah Witness' came to my door and I actually did a study with them. I understood what they were saying, but I knew something was terribly wrong with their teachings.
A friend of mine talked me into trying church one more time, and that is where I was attending when I actually learned about Jesus. The sermon was on Acts and about Paul. I had just recently gotten the internet and I had found a religion message board, but I never checked it out, but that Sunday, I did. I saw the Christianity link with the religion one, so I clicked it open. That is where I met a dear friend of mine. He was doing a study on Acts and I was so hungry for some knowledge of God. I found it in that study and I was intrigued at what I was learning, how it all started. The rest is history, I got saved and here I am.
It was by what my friend had shown me in the bible, the witness he gave me, the information and where to find it that I realized what I was missing. God led me to find this friend so that I could open my eyes and see Jesus, standing before me, as HE had been for years, just waiting for me to repent. It was the greatest moment of my life when I got saved.
There is one other person that I owe much gratitude to, and it is that lady that told me I was going to hell. It was not because of the Mormon issue, it was because she told me where I was headed. I did not understand it at the time it happened, but I do now, and I thank her. She started a path for me that ultimately led me to Jesus. Amen