Testimony

Growing up, I was part of the Catholic Church and had always been pretty involved in different youth groups and ministries- but I did it all out of obligation. I felt as though, by believing in God and going to church, I would be considered a “good” person. Looking back now, I realize that I was completely missing the point. When I came to university three years ago, I was so overwhelmed by the sudden freedom I had. I surrounded myself with people that lived by the motto “we’re young, let’s go crazy!” and, by my second year, I had bought into all of those worldly lies. I became so immersed in this new lifestyle of drinking and partying that I had completely pushed God right out of the picture. It was at this low point- a slave to sin with no strength to overcome it on my own- that God grabbed hold of me.

Life Update

I realize it's been almost two months since my last blog post- life took quite the busy turn towards the end of summer and I've been finding it difficult to find the time to post. Now that I'm back at university though, I'm going to be making an effort to post more often!

So I figure I'd start off with an update on where my life has taken me the past two months. God never ceases to amaze me! He has been continuously changing me and giving me the tools I need to live more for Him.

Additional Insight

The following is part of an email that was sent to me by my friend David in response to my last post:

I would like to add two more suggestions with how to deal with temptation that were not coverered, and I believe these to be the most important:

The Word of God

The Bible says in the book of Hebrews that we have a Savior who understands our every weakness because he too was tempted in all the ways we are and yet did not fall into sin. Yes, Jesus was tempted with sin. So, the real question is, how did our Lord deal with temptation when it came upon him? Lets look at Matthew 4:1-11.

Dealing with Temptation

Let's face it. We all deal with temptations. As human beings we are constantly being tempted to fall back into sin and, in my opinion, the world we live in today does not make this any easier. We must be prepared to face and deal with these temptations so that we can live completely and fully for God. But how do we do this? I'll draw on my own life as an example.

Closing Thoughts

I recieved an amazing email from a good friend of mine when I dumped all of my concerns on him regarding all the questions I was facing. So, instead of my regular post, I decided it would be best to share his email with you. I hope that you are able to take as much away from it as I was:

Regarding whether or not you are in the wrong for wanting to be able to intellectually back up your faith. The answer is a very emphatic NO. Before I go any further with that thought, let me share some scriptures with you: Isaiah 1:18, Peter 3:15, Jude 1:3.

So What?!

The past week or so I have been so consumed with questions about Christianity as I'm sure you can tell from my posts Believing the Bible and Satisfying the Mind. I have researched what atheists believe and what science proves and disproves. But I've only just realized... so what?

On Being "Good Enough"

I found this website the other day and I think it's really great. The aim of this website is to give answers to some of the common misconceptions and concerns regarding Christianity. "I can't believe in a God that would send people to hell" "I'm not that bad of a person, why do I need God?" "How do I know which religion is right?"

It appeals both to those who already believe in God but still have a lot of questions and to those who don't believe in God at all. However, it tends to deal much more with ideas and known truths than it does with specific controversies and hard evidence. What I like so much about this particular site is that all the questions it covers are really common things you hear from Christians and non-Christians alike; questions that are preventing people from having complete confidence in their faith.

Satisfying the Mind

A lot of people in my life have seen a change in me since coming to Christ. When asked about this change, I direct all glory to God and explain that He opened my eyes to what I truly needed in my life: Him. But what makes all of this quite difficult is that not all of my non-Christian friends are all that supportive and understanding about it.

I believe that it is truly important to share your faith with others and to witness to people. After experiencing all that has happened in my life, I want everyone to realize that we are nothing without God. Without God, our life has no meaning or purpose. Without God, we are nothing. Any opportunity I get, I try to reach out to my friends and share with them all God has done for me... but it's hard. Sometimes the people I talk to are definitely interested in what I am saying but just aren't ready. The most I can do here is to get them thinking about God and praying that they will make the decision to accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour on their own. Other times I talk to people who are in complete denial of the existence of God. Here is where things get extremely difficult to handle.

Believing the Bible

As a new Christian, I have come across many things that I haven't fully understood or that confused me. These confusions also led to the creation of doubts in my mind. One of the things that first got me asking questions was the bible. Up until three months ago, I hadn't really realized the importance of reading God's word. I never took the time to really think about the Bible or incorporate it into my life. Since I have taken this time, a lot of questions came to mind. Who wrote the bible? Where did all of these books come from? Why do some denominations include certain books and others do not? How do we know everything that is said is accurate? These doubts began to really overwhelm me and were very discouraging to my faith.

I prayed to God and shared with Him the doubts I was facing and asked Him to guide me and give me peace. I began to seek out sources that could give me the information I so desperately longed for. A friend of mine recommended a sermon series by James MacDonald called "God Wrote a Book" which is an excellent defense of the Bible not only as accurate and uncorrupted, but as Gods divine revelation.

Daily Dose

Over the last few months, I've definitely realized the importance of reading God's word daily. Since I've started reading the Bible, so much has seemed to just click in place for me, and I can really feel myself getting closer to God. But, as awesome as that is, I find it's so easy to get swept up in everything that goes on in my daily life, and sometimes reading the Bible isn't forefront in my mind. Sometimes I feel "too tired" or "too busy" to take some time out of my day and spend it reading His word. I know it can be hard sometimes, but it shouldn't be like that.

So here's where the wonderful resources out there for us come into play! Through one of my various internet surfing sessions, I came across this awesome website that actually allows you to create a customized email Bible reading plan. The website is http://www.blogger.com/bibleplan.org and it's honestly been such a blessing! There are 13 Bible reading plans to choose from ranging from "Whole Bible in a Year" to "Gospels in a Month" so all you have to do is pick whichever one is best suited to you. They even have the option of reading the Bible chronologically which many people find helps them better understand the readings. Once you select which plan is right for you, just select which translation you want to receive the readings in, enter your email, and press subscribe! Voila! Now, every single morning you will be emailed the links to a few chapters from the Bible going in order from the moment you subscribe. The passages are sent using Bible Gateway which is another great resource that you've probably come across at one point or another.

Opinion: Secular Religion Courses

I'm currently going into my third year of university for business and, each year, we can take up to 2 electives from another discipline. Considering that learning about Christianity has become a topic of major interest to me recently, my eyes obviously went straight to the religion department course list.

Now, I excercise a word of caution when deciding to take a religion course offered through a secular university. My uncle took a theology course back when he was in university, and his prof at the time was an atheist. What started out as a course about the Bible turned into a course attempting to prove that the Bible was not real and that God did not exist. It caused my uncle to begin doubting everything he had once lived for, and he spent years struggling because of it. Oftentimes the views of your professor, whether intentional or not, translate through to the course itself. Historical information can often be distorted or viewed through a biased lens. My suggestion? Be extremely careful when selecting the type of course and be sure to find out your professor's particular approach to the material before enrolling. The last thing you want is to bring your faith into question because of the views of your influencial professor.

Welcome to Christian Chronicles!

I guess I should start with some form of introduction. My name is Stephanie, I am 20 years old, and I was saved by Christ three months ago. Since accepting Christ as my Lord and Saviour, my world has been completely shaken in a whirlwind of experiences, new friendships, new knowledge, and most importantly an awesome and constantly growing relationship with God.

Three months ago I can assure you that God crossed my mind only on occasion, when I could truly feel the need for Him in my life. However, since being saved I no longer call on Him on occasion. He consumes my thoughts. I was raised a Catholic and, although I was involved within the church and did various "Christian-like" things, it didn't hold true meaning to me. I realize now that I did those things because it was "good" because I was "supposed to". I didn't do it because of my crazy, obsessive love for God. I didn't do it because every fibre of my being wanted to submit entirely to His will. I was still blind then. But God opened my eyes to everything three months ago, and I thank Him everyday that He did because my life has been forever changed.