ONLy CHRISTIANs?

Question

I was wondering, what made you become a christian?? I've been a christian my whole life and i was wondering why some people converted from another religion or were a christian their entire lives.
Testimonies are great, too (which is kind of what this question is!)
thanks!

thank you so much for everyone who answered! it's going to be really really hard to choose a best answer because i like a lot of them! they are really uplifting!!! thanks and God bless!

Answer 1

My mother taught me that the Bible was a great story book and that I didn't have to worry about going to hell because I had never been baptized so the worst thing that could happen to me was that I would end up in 'Limbo'. The only time I went to church was for someone else's wedding or to get out of cleaning duty while in training in the Air Force. If I ever heard the gospel message, it wasn't in a way that made an impression upon me as anything more than something interesting that religious people believed.

As I grew older into my 20's and 30's, I lived with the attitude of 'eat, drink & be merry - for tomorrow we may die'. I had some vague goal of leaving the world in a slightly better condition because of my existence in it and generally tried to be a good person who gave to charity, voted with insight, and wrote letters to the editor about social issues.

But as the years crept slowly past I grew despondent because I didn't see any meaningful purpose to my life. Any good thing that happened in this world was overwhelmed by a plethora of bad things happening too. I became reclusive and my latent alcoholism started to become a larger factor in my life. I stopped showing up for work, lost my job, developed a chemical addiction to alcohol and eventually became homeless around the age of 40.

Some time later I was literally living in a park in Alameda. I would borrow a friends sleeping bag at the end of the day and with my bottle of alcohol find a secluded spot to sleep where people couldn't see me and the automatic law sprinklers didn't reach. Each morning I would awaken before the liquor store opened and be there waiting with trembling hands for the proprietor to appear. Finally, some friends suggested I go into a rehabilitation program for Veterans. Since I was about to run out of money I had borrowed from my Mother, and I knew I would get sick without alcohol in my system, I agreed to their suggestion.

Now there were two programs available in the area. One was in the East Bay where I was living and one was on the peninsula in the City of Menlo Park. So, relying upon my own wisdom, I decided to go to the one that was closer to my home turf. My friends dropped me off, wished me good luck, and drove away. I went inside and spoke with a doctor who told me that my friends had made a mistake. You couldn't just show up and get into the program. He ended up giving me directions to the nearest liquor store and I walked away from the hospital, bought a bottle of liquor and found a nearby park to sleep in. It was October 30th, 2001. Halloween morning I woke up and a policeman who was passing by saw me and asked me what I was doing there. I told him my story and he drove me to a homeless shelter in the nearby town of Concord.

The people at the shelter were very nice, however since I was officially a resident of Alameda County, they told me I would have to leave in a couple of days. I figured it was just another one of the many defeats that had characterized my life in the past few years and resigned myself to life back on the streets. But God had a different plan for my life. A man who worked at the Veteran's facility in Menlo Park, 'just happened' to show up at that shelter while I was there. He had all of the information, including names and phone numbers, necessary to gain admittance to the VA system in Menlo Park. So with the last of my money I was able to catch a train and a bus to Menlo Park where I was taken into the emergency veteran's housing facility while I was waiting to enter the rehabilitation program.

Once I was in the program I was constantly in a state of stress. Although I now had a few months clean and sober, I knew in my heart that my life was unchanged and that as soon as I left there I was doomed to failure. One day a more senior resident asked me if I would go with him to take some aluminum cans back to a recycling center. As I was riding with him, I was thinking to myself "This guy's an old burned out hippie." It seemed like every couple of sentences he would say something about Jesus, and that just confirmed in my mind that he was some aging freak. Eventually he asked me if I wanted to go to church with him the coming Sunday. He said the church he had in mind was called the Abundant Life church. With my ignorance of the Bible, and my preconceived notions about what type of person I was talking to, I figured that this was probably some New Age church were women with long white robes and rings of flowers in their hair worshipped Gaia the Earth Mother, or something like that. So I made my polite excuses and forgot about it.

But God's plan for my life was still unfolding. About a month after that day, I got into an argument with someone in the rehab program. I decided that he needed to come before the community because he was always treating people with an arrogant and divisive attitude, so I brought him up in the general meeting. The result of that was a verdict that we should spend a couple of hours together on the weekend so that we could get to know each other better. We talked about what we would do and he suggested going to church. I asked him which one, and he suggested the Abundant Life church. So I asked him what kind of church it was, and he told me it was just a regular, Bible teaching church, so I agreed to go with him.

We went to the church that Sunday and sat in the back. I planned on sitting quietly, and returning to the program having fulfilled my obligation. Pastor Paul Sheppard started his sermon and I found myself intrigued by his style of preaching and the common sense and plain message that he was putting out. I was thinking "Wow! I didn't know that's what the Bible was all about. This makes a lot of sense."

After the sermon was over, Pastor Paul asked everyone to stand and I figured it was time to go. Then he started talking about having a relationship with Jesus. He started listing all of the benefits one could have through a relationship with Jesus, and as I was listening I was running a mental checklist of the things he was talking about. I kept thinking, "I want that! I want that! I want that!" finally he mentioned that a person would have supernatural guidance for their life and that's what tipped the scales in my mind. I knew that on my own I was doomed to failure and an early death. The Pastor said that if anyone wanted to receive Jesus into their life they should come up front so that the people from the church could pray with them.

I didn't know what he was talking about. People started to make their way forward and there was a lot of clapping. I didn't know what to do since I had never been to church before, but something was telling me that it didn't matter. That I wanted what this man was offering and to go up in front of all of these people and find out what he was talking about. So I walked forward, was taken into a prayer room, and I got on my knees and confessed Jesus as my Lord and Savior and opened my heart to receive the Holy Spirit.

After I left the church, with my new believer's Bible in my hand, I was wondering why I had gone up like that. It seemed like it was just another vain attempt to have something good happen in my life, but oddly enough, from that moment on, the overwhelming burden of stress seemed to have been lifted from my shoulders.

It's been about 5 years since that day at church. I have not had a drink of alcohol in all that time even though I don't go to AA meetings. I have a new life in Christ that is better than anything I have ever experienced before. I work for the Enduring Truth Radio Ministry. I serve in the Lay Biblical Counseling Ministry and the Safari Kids Children’s Ministry and the Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy. I have many friends from church that live sober lifestyles and while there are always times of trials and testing, Jesus has me firmly by the hand. I have to smile when I write that down because it reminds me of how that 'old burnt out hippie' from the program sounded on that day long ago when according to my own wisdom, I turned down his invitation to come to church. But God…

Answer 2

I would like to thank Martin S for sharing his powerful testimony (and everyone else). What a blessing. Mine is something similar in that I was always clubbing, got robbed, was in a bad relationship, had no family to help, was almost homeless..I asked God to help me. I had no where else to go. About a week later, my sister invited me to a Friday night fire type church service. I thought these people are crazy but I was the first one to the alter. I felt the power of God and fell over like a ton of bricks as someone prayed with me then layed hands on me. I have never been the same since then. That was 10 years ago. I walked away from the lifestyle I was living. Jesus touched my life in such a tangible way. Soon after that I met a man in church. He was sitting beside me and I knew he was to be my husband. Soon we'll be celebrating 8 years. He is an executive but also a preacher. There is more to it but this is all time will allow me right now. God always has a plan.

Answer 3

Believe it or not, I am very very very willing to answer this question. This Q is the one I like the most, because I indeed have a story to tell, but I must type at least 1000 words to make you understand what happened to me 2 yrs ago, so I have to give up the idea. But, trust me, I found the evidence that God exists, in another word, God, deliberately revealed Himself to me in a unique way (no special effect, no angel flying, He revealed Himself in a special way). Oh, I am not a day dreamer, by the way. I, as a result, became a Christian in my late 30's and no one in my family is a Christain, and in China, less than 3% of the population are Christians. I won't be this "weird", if He didn't convince me.

Edit: Oh, yeah, in American English----He found me, I didn't look for Him.

Answer 4

My testimony is very long I'm afraid.
I was born into the Catholic church and fell away. After about 15 years and lots of life lived, I found out who Christ really is and I became a born again, bible believing, Spirit filled Christian. To make a long story short - God called and I answered.

Surprises me to this day (20 years later).

blessings dear :)

Answer 5

I was born and baptized a Christian, but with my studies of the bible, different religions, how the churches manipulate people and ancient religions, I've chosen to leave the Christian faith. This does not mean I don't believe in God.

Answer 6

I grew up in a Christian family where God and Faith were important daily realities. However,I needed to appropriate the faith and make it myown and way of life. I needed to"convert" to Christ which is still happening in my life after a series of 'conversions" of life to Christ as Lord and Savior-(and letting Jesus be Lord is the harder part) as well as Mentor,Teacher,Guide,Friend and Confidant.
Living in thanksgiving for grace can be hard for our egos when we want to impress God or Others or ourselves by pretending that we can save ourselves without God's initial and constant help. I need gratefully to live out my decision for Christ,His Cross and Resurrection and Gracious Mercy every day.
I 've studied other religious systems and I appreciate and respect them,but everything I'm looking for I find in Christ.

Answer 7

Well, this is my testimony.

For years I had gone to church, I got baptized when I was 8, mainly cuz I saw other people in my church that seemed like they were happy, and I wanted to know, and my sunday school teacher told me it was because they were baptized and what not. So I got wet for lack of a better word, and thought I was saved. It was obvious in my high school and college years that I was basicly living the life of a false convert. That is, I would say I was a Christian, but I still lived in a sin filled life, and I enjoyed it. But I wanted people to think that I was a good person, so I kept going to church and what not, hiding my sinful lifestyle from them so that they would think that I was a good Christian just like them.

Things started to change in mid August of 2005, when I was in a very bad car accident. I had cut my scalp open puncturing an artery up there, and I broke my neck. As I was waiting to go to surgery, I head doctors looking at my scalp saying "wow I've never seen a head injury that bad. Atleast not where the head was still on the body." Reguardless of that I did recover pretty well for the most part. But that event made me realize that I could had died there, and that I'm not gonna live forever. So I picked up my Bible, and dusted it off, and started reading it. It still didn't make much sense to me. Not until I came across a christian television show around mid October 2005. Normally I don't pay attention to them, but this one had Kirk Cameron on it, and I recogized him from shows that I had watched when I was younger, so I decided to watch it. In this show, they show Christians how to share their faith. As I was watching it they were witnessing to a stranger off the streets, asking him questions about Heave and Hell, and taking them through the 10 Commandments so they can see how they will do on judgment day. So I kinda answered those questions to myself. They went though 4 of the commandments (9th, 8th, 3rd and 7th). I realized that I had broken those, which made me a lying theif and a blasphemous adulterer at heart. I also realized that was how God saw me, and that I wouldn't do so well on judgment day. It then dawned on me that if I had died in that car accident, I would be in Hell right now. It was then that what Jesus did on the cross made perfect sense to me. He took the punishment for my sins, so that I could be set free So that I could forgiven. Needless to say I spent a good hour or more after that on my knees in prayer, repenting of my sins. I put my faith in Christ, and life has never been the same sense. I then started to study the Bible, and understand it, and apply it, because it made sense. I also studied church theology and doctrine, apologetics, evangelism, and so. I now teach a Bible study and evangelism at my church. I also go out witnessing, passing out tracts on a regular basis, and from time to time I might do some open air preaching.

To find out more about that television show I was talking about, go to http://www.wayofthemaster.com

Answer 8

I grew up in a family that never talked about God and did not go to Church. When I met my Husband 14 years ago, he told me he was a Catholic and I was not worried, 4 years later we got married in the Catholic Church, I have been going to Mass with him when he is home(he's in the Army) and I started loving the Mass, it was very spiritual, we had our twin daughters 6 months ago and I am studying to become a Catholic.
Some of my family is also studying with me, Hubby never forced me to go, I wanted to learn everything about his Religion, so while he was away, I would read about the Church and he is so proud of me, it has brought us closer together and our daughters are a gift from God

Answer 9

My heart and mind was touched by God at a young age. God promised me he was going to do something great with my life. My response was OK but i am playing now. I remember the day exactly like it was yesterday.

there has been other occasions as well.

Answer 10

Deion Sanders

Answer 11

I became a Christian in 1956. I preached my first sermon in 1967. I pastored my first church in 1977. I pastored my 5th church in 1995. I served 7 months as a missionary in 2006. I am continuing my education in Bible college to the present.