PART 1: How It All Started
4 minute listen or read
Here’s a peek at how it all started:
I was born and raised in the Midwest. My mother and grandparents on both sides of the family were avid church-goers. They attended a local church each Sunday morning. Unfortunately, we never prayed, read the Bible, or talked about the Lord during the week.
On the other hand, my father was different. He had had his fill of “church.” I remember him telling me was that he had attended church for many years. And because of all the negative things he had experienced at church (e.g., hypocrisy, backbiting, betrayal, etc…), he was stuck somewhere between an agnostic and an atheist.
As a young boy, I was required to attend church with my parents. Then when I was eight years old, my parents pulled me aside one day and gave me a choice. They said I could continue going to church or stop going altogether. I chose to stop going to church because (A) I felt church was boring, (B) I did not believe in God, and (C) based on what I had seen and experienced (e.g., the hypocrisy and the mean-spirited things I had witnessed from people who called themselves “Christian”), I didn’t think a god could exist.
Long story short, I ended up following in my father’s agnostic/atheistic footsteps. Why? I don’t know. Maybe it was because I fell into the same trap as others – where I (A) watched the lives of people who were supposed to be Christian, (B) listened to the things that came out of their mouths and (C) didn’t see (or hear) anything that made them different from anyone else! So, I just assumed that being a Christian was like being an atheist – except that agnostics/atheists had more fun and weren’t ruled by a set of old, archaic rules, regulations, procedures and protocols for life.
Fast-forward to my early teens. A good friend of mine, Les Pincombe, began talking with me about Christ. To make a long story short, we argued about God, religion, and Christianity for three years. Finally, to get him off of my back, I agreed to go with him to his church just one time.
After attending a church service just one time at his church, I saw a difference between their people and other people from the churches I had attended. The people at his church APPEARED to be MORE SERIOUS about their religion! Still, it wasn’t something I was interested in. So, I stopped going.
Next, came an event in my life that caused a ripple in my thinking. As a result of this event, I began to wonder:
• Does God exist?
• Does He care for me?
So, eventually, I wandered back to my friend’s church to see if I could glean some answers – mainly because the people there seemed to be more serious and knowledgeable about the whole “God” thing than what I had seen at the other churches. I ended up attending this church off and on for roughly a year – before praying, and inviting Christ into my life.
What was it like praying for the first time? It was…..unspectacular! I didn’t feel anything. I didn’t see anything. I wasn’t sure what – if anything – had happened. But, I still felt a hunger to know more about God deep within me. I couldn’t explain it. So I kept going to this church!
While it was true I had asked for forgiveness and invited Christ into my life, it was also true that there was no change within my heart or lifestyle. But still, I kept pursuing Christ.
Finally, I decided to get serious and get baptized. And on the night I was baptized, an amazing event happened! I’ll talk more in-depth about it in the next section.
If you have questions or comments, email me here.
Roy
• My Journey Part 2: New Beginnings
• My Journey Part 3: Adventure & Atrocity
• My Journey Part 4: Moving Forward
• My Journey Part 5: Personal Jonah Experience
• My Journey Part 6: Finding My Calling/Ministry
• My Journey Part 7: Where Am I Today…
