Personal Narrative: Christianity And The Holy Spirit

HI so for some reson I felt the need to share my testimony with you today and I hope that it is because you could grow and help someone with it and if you have the want to share it with someone you have my my permishion to do so.

I am an atheist, but it wasn't always that way. My entire life there was a constant pressure on me to accept that there was a supreme being that created all. Even at a young age I couldn’t bring myself to fully believe this. I continued grasping for straws because, just like every other religious person, I was scared of the “consequences” that would come with not believing. My Non-Denominational Christian Church promoted telling this to everyone, even children.

I became a Christian in 1982 while in high school. I had never attended church prior to Easter 1982. I found something interesting in the whole of the service and decided to read a Bible. The Bible made some sense to me. I had a few questions about some of the stuff that had happened and was given Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell. Well that answered most of my questions. I was also given Mere Christianity which answered more questions. I felt convicted by the Holy Spirit and asked G-d to come into my life and forgive me of my sins.

Writing this Professional Project required some deep soul searching while deepening my spirituality to train the veterans of Tabernacle African Methodist Episcopal Church to become Disciples of Christ. Completing the nine training sessions will be beneficial for the congregation. A selection of a Steering Committee from the various boards within the church will assist me with the effectiveness of the Professional Project. Teaching the veterans about The Fruit of the Spirit will strengthen my spiritual walk with Christ as well. Each branch of the military has military core values and a comparison will be made with each Fruit of the Spirit during the training process. Presentations and workshops on The Fruit of the Spirit will undergird

In late August 2015, I spoke with Corey over the phone about what needs to be done in order to facilitate a non-profit line of literature for the group. Calling him from my cellphone, I said to him halfway our phone call, “Corey, let it be assured that this idea of mine is a ‘kill two birds with one stone’ proposition, which has the potential to solve our group financing and publicity handicaps.” Then he responded to me by saying, “I honestly do think it is an interesting proposition and would like very much like to see what can be done to get Fire of the Spirit in a position where we can actually do just that. I want you to know that I really do value the hard work and determination which you bring to FOS. I really want to do whatever we can to make this new venture for Fire of the Spirit a reality but it is going to be a lot of work and I will need your help to make it possible.”

Pastor Ed, it was so wonderful to meet you and your team. I was sitting down today to write a thank you note to the Connect Team for your wonderful hospitality and love. I have been telling everyone about the amazing ministry that Gateway has that ministers to the Body of Christ and Churches. We are now discussing ways to implement some of the things that we heard. I spoke with Pastor Aeneas about some the things we can implement quickly, like weekly meeting with key leaders, establishing a pray team for him and his family, and rotating volunteers so that they can get a break. We have a lot to accomplish, and as you know it is sometimes a challenge for The Spirit Church.

“The other important skill is empowering people by way of letting the biblical narratives ask their own questions of our social context…the discussion was wonderful, and people started to get this idea of dwelling in scripture before plunging into a meeting, in order to hear God.”. (A. Roxburgh/F. Romanuk,176)

Religious/Spiritual Identity(R): On any given day my own religious/spiritual identity hovers somewhere between atheist and agnostic. However, I was baptized and raised Catholic for the first eight years of my life and I went to church and Sunday school weekly. I made my first confession and communion through this church. When I was a little bit older my Mom decided to start taking us to a Presbyterian church. We went to this church less frequently than we used to go to the Catholic one, but my sister and I still attended a children’s bible study on Wednesday nights and went to services on Sundays with our mom. In addition to these religions, I am also fairly aware of how the Southern Baptist churches operate. In other words, I am familiar with

I spent from kindergarten to eighth grade at a Catholic school. I learned about both the Bible and the Catholic faith and never saw them at odds with each other. After eighth grade I attended Wayne Christian. I was shocked at how uneducated these Christians were on their fellow believers, claiming that the Catholics were not Christians. I try to dispel their ignorance with education such as explaining the Catholic perspective on Saint Mary, sainthood, and certain rites of the Church. Day after day I corrected them on Catholic beliefs, me against a whole school of people. I eventually had to leave the school because the people were to set in their ways. That is when I challenge something that outraged me.

Before we get into the book, I just want to get something off my mind. I believe in Jesus. I do. But if the first chapter is about how the demons were throwing objects across the room then you lost me already. I probably believe Hillary Clinton’s excuse for deleting the 33000 emails more than whatever this is. You’re telling me that there are demons that throw things around yet now in 21st century where everybody owns an iphone or a samsung galaxy nobody has an actual video proof of anything? Please, you can be better than this.

One day back in the ‘80s. I’m at my desk working, and a little girl comes and climbs in my lap. Sweet, curious little girl. She’d asked a million questions about the phone I was answering, then looked at my pictures on my desk. I had pictures of my family in a frame, and in that frame I had a picture of Jesus. She pointed to those pictures, and asked who is that? I said, that’s my family. She said no, who is that man? I pointed to the picture of Jesus, and asked her are you talking about him? She said, “Yes”. I said that’s Jesus. Do you not know who he is, I asked? She answered, “No”. She asked if she could hold the picture. As she held it, she said “he looks like a nice man”.

This week’s assignment in retrospection has taken me through a whirlwind of memories, as my past is scattered with times of great joy and other times of despair and intense loss. All of this has ended up being useful. Some of the most growth in character has come from hard times. In reading the book Courage and Calling by Smith (2011) Smith spoke of looking for “footprints of the Spirit throughout our stories”. This focus gave me great joy and revelation.

I'm so glad to hear about these opportunities. however, I would really love some help. I have done research into Bethel before and my two main things are Bethel being a private 4 year and a Christian college. I am in fact a Christian the only thing is I'm very antsy about religion based colleges. Don't get me wrong I'm willing to go anywhere that best fits what I'm interested in and Bethel has a lot of it, But I can't really say I know how it works exactly. Do Christian schools incorporate religion into teaching? Or is it just mainly Christian teachers? I have a lot of questions on that aspect.

As I started this forum question I went on the internet and googled “Jesus”. Many of the same pictures appeared and this is where I questioned the idea of what Jesus really did look like. Everyone has their own beliefs on who Jesus is and what he did but overall for the most part to many he seems to look like the picture above. I believe that this picture of Jesus is accurate only because this is the picture that I grew up looking at. As a young girl the images of Jesus were always pictures of him looking like this. Many could disagree with me and state that he could possibly look different and I completely understand why they question what he looks like. If I was not raised by parents who taught me that this is what Jesus looks like, then

problem of unbelief, He makes alive together with Christ, and has forgiven “ALL YOUR TRESPASSES” (excludes no sin). Furthermore, John 6:37 states that “ALL” the Father gives Christ and that come to Him, Christ will in no way turn away or cast out.