Desperately need convincing

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Kellenor, you’re really going to the wrong people for what you want. If there were some magic sequence of words that would set your heart aflame for Jesus, believers would simply walk around repeating the words, and the world would be converted.

The gift of faith is freely offered, but it does require us to reach for it a bit. Investigate this man who changed the world 2000 years ago. Talk to him. Invite him to change you.

Only an honest effort to meet him can take him where you want to go. We, his followers, cannot speak into your heart like he can. You can easily focus on our failings and persist in doubt. If you can reach far enough away from yourself to grasp his hand, there will be no more doubt.
 
If you’re questioning God’s existence, just ask Him flat out. Be sincere, and ask from your heart: “Do you exist? Please show me a sign.” This has worked for others I knew who were confused by all the differing opinions/dogmas of the existence of God. God gave quite convincing signs almost immediately.

If you’re stuck in an intellectual/scientific debate in your head, I’d highly recommend reading Dr. Hugh Ross, who is an astrophysicist. He outlines the mathematical problems with the Darwinian theory of evolution. The newest understanding (both in the believing and non-believing scientific community) of the probabilities behind macro-evolution via genetic mutation makes it essentially impossible for the “primordial soup” evolutionary model to be the origin of life. (probability of 1 in 10^100th chance… that’s roughly 1 in a 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 chance)

Also, the same scientific community is now understanding that the pre-big bang universe actually started from literally nothing… not even the pinhead sized mass they previously thought.

All the evidence for our existence points to an outside creator/designer, namely God.

Once you know without a doubt that God must exist, you can start exploring the historical evidence for Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. There are more historically verified (some 27,000) documents about Jesus, some dated to within 30 years of Jesus’ resurrection, than for any other figure in history. In fact, there is more written evidence for Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection than for the existence of Plato. Then there’s the prophetic writings for his life/crucifixion, etc, etc.)

Hope this helps give you something to start with! Keep seeking and God will not disappoint… of course, this will be followed by a life-long blissful as well as heart-wrenching quest to know and love Him and other people (including your enemies) the way Jesus taught!

Lord, please help our friend in their quest to follow you.
 
Thank you everyone.

I won’t quote you all and answer each reply directly… but thank you each and every one of you who answered here.

codefro, ready, Kasama: I have never really read much of anything about Marian appartitions or other “modern day” miracles… I will look for information on them and check out the links you offered.

PennyinCanada: Your description of your conversations with God was oddly calming for me… thank you for that…

cooldude: I’ll have to ponder what you’ve written. Really, it is a good argument only if you already believe that Jesus is God, and that God exists. If you were, say, raised Hindu, and believed in those gods and goddesses, you would be able to argue that there is only a choice between believing in them and believing in nothing…

loozcannon: Thank you for the link - those stories were interesting to read.

Non sum dignus: I know … but how I wish someone could 😦

may_they_be_one: Thank you. I sometimes feel like all I’m doing is screaming out to God, “Show me that you’re real!” Maybe I need to whisper…
 
Kellenor said:
I’ve read that. I’ve been told that. But that unfortunately doesn’t help me… doesn’t address my deep need for a real understanding of whether or not there is anything to believe in…
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You seem to already have made up your mind? Your heart will need to discern for itself where your reward will be, because it certainly will be where your heart is. I want to warn you that paganism is inspired by demons, and I certainly would not want to be in the stomach of a demon. Remember what Jesus said while you are discerning to;
[BIBLEDRB]John 10:1[/BIBLEDRB]
 
“Faith is what someone knows to be true, whether they believe it or not.” - Flannery O’Connor, *Wise Blood *

Faith and religion is at its heart a responce to an experience. You seem to be having an experience, a calling, a longing. I encourage you to follow it. We cannot prove or disprove the exhistence of God, and true there are people out there whose faith causes us pain (sometimes by beating us over our head with their BIbles), but I don’t think any of this should keep a person from following the path he or she feels called to. Be brave, be patient, and keep you sense of humor (about yourself and others).
 
Your desire to search for God is inspiring me to pray more for my many friends who are former Catholics and have left the faith. I live near Salem MA and paganism and confusion is rampant here. I will include you in my prayers.Please pray and ask the Holy Spirit for the gift of faith. Pentacost Sunday is coming up on 5/27 and you should attend that Mass. In fact why not start going to Mass-just don’t receive communion. Read the Gospel of John. Get a rosary and start praying even if you don’t understand. Faith will come before understanding. Read about other converts. God wants you very much but Satan wants you too so be prepared for a challenge. Keeping praying for the gift of faith and it will come ,perhaps softly, but it will come. God Bless!
 
Kellenor said:
Non sum dignus: I know … but how I wish someone could 😦
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It would be a comfort if we could be convinced and convicted so simply. For what it’s worth, many of us believers may have a worse problem than yours. Having accepted that Jesus is the son of the living God, my heart runs pretty cold most of the time. I am so determined to live life on my terms, that I fail to truly let him change me into the man I should be.

Odds are good that your passions and loyalties are more in order than mine. When you do find Our Lord, you will probably have more of the love and gratitude necessary to let Him work through you.
 
Non_sum_dignus said:
It would be a comfort if we could be convinced and convicted so simply. For what it’s worth, many of us believers may have a worse problem than yours. Having accepted that Jesus is the son of the living God, my heart runs pretty cold most of the time. I am so determined to live life on my terms, that I fail to truly let him change me into the man I should be.

Odds are good that your passions and loyalties are more in order than mine. When you do find Our Lord, you will probably have more of the love and gratitude necessary to let Him work through you.
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Nsd, I really appreciate your generosity… You’re right - I’m an incredibly passionte and loyal person… and it’s that passion, that fervor, that is often times my primary problem - I get too passionate about my sprituality, and end up over-reading, over-thinking, over-questioning… absolutely obsessively…
 
That guy Zach King is quite extreme - his experience has nothing in common with mine. I think he would actually turn me off of Christianity.
 
Kellnor, you said,
“Why should I be Christian?”

I thought King answered this when he explained that satan was real and what he was up to in this world. That his work is to destroy christianity.

Dosen’t that confirm what christianity is? I thought that would turn on a light bulb.

NO?
 
I can’t convince you that Jesus is God. I’m not sure anyone can. Others will provide the evidence that Jesus was. What I can do for you, as a member of Western society, is witness to you that one mustn’t be Christian because of Western influence. My father is a lapsed Catholic. Religion was never discussed. As a boy, I knew of Christmas, but only because of presents, Christmas very much was a heathen ‘holiday’ in the Morse household. My mother taught me the Pater Noster as a bedtime prayer, but those were empty words. In High School, I found most Christians to be repugnant and hypocritical, perhaps repulsive. But I had a fever in my bones that nagged, pulsed and insisted there was something more. Just as confounding to me as the Christian was the intellectually fettered atheist who by rationale of his box in which he thought, had no imagination. I was introduced to ‘wicca’ by my sister and found it to be banal, but it did kindle in me a drive to seek. I eventually found my calling in the North, in the Germanic theology of my ancestors. There is a beauty there that even now I cannot deny, and those concepts which fit with Christ I have decided to keep. I have kept my Runes and I have kept my tendency towards stubborness in the face of odds. I grew very close to Asatru, fashioning myself into something of a Gnostic. My independent theological musings, although an atheist, led me closer to Christ. The only thing that prevented me from accepting Christianity was my misinformation concening the Deity. I did not believe a singular intelligence could govern the universe, lest various internal conflictions arise. I did, however, believe in Wyrd, a non-sentient concept of destiny, fate and eternal recurrence. My views on Wyrd correspond vaguely with the pagan concept of ‘karma.’ Eventually, I did succumb to atheism, and after a brief, ensuing depression, I resumed my religious studies. I concluded, based on previous theories I had espoused, that I could settle the question of spirituality by determining whether or not there was what I later learned Aquinas called a First Mover. I had previously come to consider the nature of things in terms of reducability, that spiritual dimensions might come about through inter-dimensional conduct. I won’t explain that reasoning here, but the reductive nature of my beliefs at one point led me to question whether or not there was an intelligent design behind the eruption of the Cosmos, and not just the non-partisan happenstance I had embraced, flavouring with Norse spirituality. To make an already bothersomely long story short, I did embrace monotheism, and Christianity followed. There was an evangelical website I visited. Godandscience.org, which compelled me to work up the nerve to accept the God of the Bible. I eventually endorsed Catholicism because that is where Wyrd, which I now call the Holy Ghost, led me. That, and there is an extensive web of paperwork that leads to a time just after Christ, and that time was wholly Catholic. I pray that my incoherent rambling is of some entertainment, if not benefit to you.

Bod bless you,
 
Kelenor,

While I never was drawn to paganism I too have struggled for years with a desire for God to somehow manifest himself and say, ‘hey! I’m actually here and real you’re not on a wild goose chase.’

Thank God I am slowly moving beyond this stage in the spiritual life but one source I found particularly convincing in making my leap of faith was a piece by C.S. Lewis entitled Mere Christianity. I highly suggest you give it a read.

It was for me and countless others a vital resource in developing a strong faith. Here is a PDF of the book. usminc.org/images/MereChristianitybyCSLewis.pdf

Although it does not argue as to why the Roman Catholic Church is the true Church it is still a very valuable work - and there are many resources on that topic as well but that’s not the focus of this post…

God Bless you in your journey - and don’t be afraid to give Christ a chance. I promise it will be the best thing you ever choose to do.
 
Kellenor said:
Hi all,

I’m going to skip the long preamble of my spiritual history and background for now (suffice it to say that I was “raised Catholic,” but have identified myself as a Pagan for most of my life and have always been drawn to religious / spritual studies) and just get right to the gnawing, aching, relentless question that I have:

Why should I be Christian?

Ultimately, what I really need is for someone to convince me once and for all that this really is THE True path…

Desperately need it.

I know that someone once posted a thread like this, and a comment reflected incredulity that someone should need convincing… but there you have it. I do. Am I constantly drawn back to God because He is real, or simply because the idea of God/Jesus/Christianity has been infused into my psyche because of the Christian culture I live in? Is it guilt, or a true calling?

So much about Paganism is so beautiful and appealing to me… but an equal if not greater amount of it (at least of Neo-Paganism) is uninspiring, foolish, and pointless to me… On the other hand, the concept of God and Jesus is wonderful in many ways, but the “shove the Bible and Christianity down your throat” nature of so many Christian denominations and Christians themselves turns me off…

Help please… 😦
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No one in this forum can convince you to become a Christian.

Becoming a Christian isn’t something that we convinced ourselves of on an intellectual level, but rather, receiving the gift of faith in Jesus Christ.

Faith, is a gift from God. It is the revelation of God himself, however that happens.

Our only credit is being open to God’s gift and being willing to give ourselves over to him, whatever that may mean.

So, you want faith. Go to the source of faith, Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can give you faith. But you must be open to him and be willing to change in whatever direction he asks of you.

Pray to Him and don’t look for a convincing argument to justify your decision to believe.

Jim
 
that last part made me smile, because it was exactly the same reason why i drifted towards agnosticism in my highschool years. i think its chesterton who said “the only valid argument against christianity is bad christians”.
as far as the reason that christianity is the true religion is because Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead on the thiird day. where are his remains? they cant be found because he has risen. so if you accept that he has risen from the dead then you must also accept that he is God and that his words are true.
and yes, christianity is not the most appealing of religions lol. chastity and fasting arent very fun thats for sure. but it has its own beauty. if you think about the fact that God became man and died for us.
 
Kellenor said:
Not at all. Many times I think I have, but it never sticks… :confused:
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I get where your at, but realize the message christianity gives out, and realize the message paganism gives out.

Christianity= chasing Heavenly Love= Life

Paganism= chasing Flesh’s Desire= Death

I hope you understand this very simple message:p
 
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