Hello everyone, Christian or not, family or not, friend or not, but a neighbor at the end of the day.

Today, my grandson introduced me to Reddit and I learned how to set it up and use it. Although, I may run into issues so please don’t mind me, I am old lol. To start off, I was raised in a Catholic household at a young age in the Bible Belt of the USA. I used to be a firm believer in Christ, bible, church, resurrection, everything. Then, after turning 16, around this time of the year, I started getting very skeptical. When I mean skeptical, I am talking about hours after school continuously questioning and contemplating in my head on whether or not god exists. Then, I became Atheist. It was about 58 years ago so it’s hard for me to remember but it wasn’t gradual or subtle, rather, I became Atheist in a matter of weeks. This was also fueled by 2 of my other friends who became Agnostic and Atheist (1 was Agnostic and another Atheist) a few months prior to my conversion. I remember going to their houses and talking with them about the existence of god only to go deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole of Atheism. So, to conclude on that part of my life, I became Atheist.

I started getting into secular philosophies. I went to the library, I had to search very hard. I read books and even went to Atheist seminars to strengthen my Atheism. Basically, I was not just the type of Atheist that went “there’s no god, whatever, I’ll go on with my life, if you’re religious, that’s fine”... No No No, I was the type that would go “there’s absolutely no daddy sky fairy, you’re dumb and indoctrinated if you believe in those fairytales, let me show you why Atheism is the real path to truth”. My Anti-atheism was heavily inspired by my friends and by my reads. The fact that religion caused so many wars, issues, etc. These were my reasons for being anti-Theistic and I believe Theism and Christianity were harmful and cancerous for everyone of its followers.

Looking back at my old self, it is toxic. I am ashamed and I pray for forgiveness from God. Now, this is when my Atheism clearly went too far... I got a tattoo with the Atheism symbol. Yes, that’s right, at I believe 37 or 38, I decided there’s no better way to embrace my Atheism now that I lived in a different state (not inside the Bible Belt) than to get a tattoo on my shoulder. Looking back at my foolish, pathetic, and laughable young self, I am unruled by it. Now, I am getting it removed with a laser in about 4-6 weeks. And I will use those scars as a proud reminder of my conversion. So from age 16 till a few months ago, I was a hardcore Atheist and Anti-Theist, my wife who was Presbyterian hesitantly converted to Agnosticism after I would not leave her alone about God and Atheism being the “truth”. Now, I don’t know why she didn’t leave me for being the annoying prick I was at the time but God has his ways. For the most part, I was okay, never really happy, satisfied in my work, and always the type of guy who looked forward to his alcohol at night.

Conversion precursor. My retirement was later than many my age. I have always taken care of my body since youth so my work was never really inhibited until about 6 months ago when I had serious back issues. That’s when I decided to quit and retire for good. Now, I am bored at home with quarantine, nothing to do, the kids can’t see me anymore nor the grandkids, my wife and I have nothing new to say lol, I am bored like never before in my life. That’s when my Atheism and Anti-Theistic thoughts sprouted back in my mind. Now of course, I always thought about them but as of the past decade or so, they weren’t as important anymore. Yes, I still carried around my proud Atheist tattoo, but otherwise, not over powering.

Now stuck in quarantine, I decide “for once and for all, now that I have nothing to do, I am going to prove Christianity wrong, I will destroy this book of nonsense”. And just like that, I ordered a Bible from amazon and read it. The Old Testament felt fake to me at the time, so I read the New Testament. That’s when something clicked in my head and I said to myself “Regardless of how much I hate Theism and think this is all gibberish, it still deserves an equal opportunity. Besides, I will still debunk it regardless”. So I read it, I did this for a good 2 hours daily. That’s when I started getting curious. Now with my old age, I felt less anti-Theistic and I felt that was more of an edgy young phase, not something someone my age would do. Now with the internet, I started YouTubing videos on the resurrection, I watched both debunking videos and pro-resurrection videos. I began to seriously wonder if maybe this is the truth. That’s when I wrote down all my objections to Christianity and the resurrection. I then typed them all in. I got results for all of them believe it or not (the Internet is amazing). I watched them for hours daily. I remained immensely skeptical. Theistic metaphysics is what set my Atheism into flames. After many many many weeks of doing this daily. Quarantine plus retirement plus curiosity can do this lol. So for the first time in 54 years, I prayed, I prayed agnostically and asked god to please show me something of validity of his existence. I expected nothing and thought “what a dummy I am”.

Weeks later, my wife goes to the emergency room for a very bad UTI, the antibiotics given days prior were found to be resistant from the bacteria. My wife who is 73 was rapidly deteriorating and the doctors said it might be too late. I prayed to God just for the sake of it to heal my wife who is still Agnostic but not really involved in theology at all. Next you know it, 3 days later, she is out of the ICU with no permanent bladder damage. I asked the doctors “how”, the doctors said something to the extent of “we don’t know exactly, all we know is that your wife was on the brink of sepsis, but the cultures for bacterial resistance came just an hour prior to her becoming septic. And the antibiotic that worked, it was the last one the pharmacy had left”

Now yes, it could be a coincidence but it is important to note how my wife, at the brink of death was saved miraculously. This made me question God. That’s when I took the Bible seriously, no longer a book of jokes, this is a book I need to know proved God existed. I read and read, hours flew like they never existed. I finally said “There’s no way for there not to be a God”. That’s when I said, okay, God exists (of course, I researched heavily into apologetics, evidence, etc) I looked into other religions, Islam, Judaism, none compared to mighty Christianity. My kids, all Agnostics were shocked to find my conversion. After weeks of contemplating. I CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY

Now I don’t know what denomination, I’m searching, but after 54 years of lies and Atheism, I am now in the truth, Christianity and god’s undeniable existence. This is a long post. Sorry for making it so long. There might be errors, I apologize. Today is my 70th birthday, I got baptized today and I am so excited. May God bless everyone here. Thank you for reading.

I put this on the Christianity Reddit place and received a lot of hate comments and belittling of my story and beliefs. Yes, I am a 70 year old man. No, my wife’s UTI story was not a direct cause for my conversion, it was just the first time I saw divine intervention in front of my eyes after praying. May God bless you all, Amen.

1. No, you didn’t blaspheme the Holy Spirit by accident.

2. Yes, your sin is forgivable.

3. No, it doesn’t mean you should do it again.

4. Yes, some people have a slightly different theology than you.

5. No, it doesn’t mean they aren’t real Christians.

6. Yes, God loves you.

7. No, God hasn’t abandoned you because He didn’t answer your prayer.

8. Yes, some people go to hell

9. No, you don’t get to decide who will go there.

10. Yes, we are all sinners who need to be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Just like the title says, i have finally accepted that I was born female, so I am a woman :3 It took so long to get here sure, but God has been faithful and present on every path I took. He is so merciful and gracious, and Beautiful. Side note: my cousin, I texted her so early in the morning. She was dreaming, that somebody told her "Andy (my old trans name) is dead!!!". Whats the significance? Thats EXACTLY what I texted her on facebook, before she saw my text she dresmt that. I said the exact thing in text too, that Andy is dead in Christ that I am a girl

Thank you everybody 12:37 pm August 24- I just want to say, thank you EVERYBODY, men and women of God thank you so much for coming to this post, hearing my testimony and sending me love and prayers. I'm so happy that this post is blowing up, God is using this post to spread the truth so that makes me very happy 🥹❤️ LET'S ALL STAND UP FOR THE TRUTH YA'LL!! JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY GLORRRYYYYY PRAISE HIM!!!

I posted earlier about me leaving the queer identity for Christ. Thought I'd update you all.

No, I am not jumping into anything. But it just felt so easy and right. Sparks flew when i looked into her eyes. When i saw her smile. And sparks of romance, not lust, like when i'd look into the eyes of men i dated. We talked about normal first date stuff. Clouds, fruit, studio apartments, got into our pasts a bit, and of course Jesus Christ. She said she wanted to walk at another park, which I'm ecstatic about.

I still have so much to learn, so much growing to do.

But Christ is THE TRUTH. Love between a man and a woman is THE TRUTH.

Thank you all so so much for your guidance and support!!! Thank GOD! Even if she leaves my life tomorrow, for whatever reason, I now know the truth. I am a man, and I was meant for a woman.

JESUS did not come to take on a political party, but to take over the world.

It's shocking to see "Christians," who are politically-involved, are more passionate about declaring their faith in Trump/Biden than declaring their faith in JESUS.

At times when I see people wear the MAGA apparel or obnoxiously wave a flag, I wonder:

Would they display the same passion if the name of JESUS was written on it instead "MAGA?"

Would they wave the banner of GOD with the same confidence?

There's nothing wrong with finding value in your roots. It becomes a sin, however, when you start idolizing it that you start forgetting who you are and whose you are. Some Christians today are so quick to defend the behavior of their political leader more than they would defend the Word of GOD.

Remember, you are God's child first before you chose to be a Republican/Democrat.

Though you are in this world; but YOU ARE NOT OF THIS WORLD.

Be sure to wear your Kingdom Identity first before your chosen political party.

JESUS is not a Republican nor a Democrat. Do not let the world divide the Church. Though we are many, we are one body.

Blessings.

Things Jesus never said:

"Listen to your heart."

"Be true to yourself."

"Trust your gut."

"Feel good about who you are."

"Happiness is what matters most."

"Just be a good person."

Things Jesus actually said:

"If anyone would be My disciple, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”

Luke 9:23

Hey everyone, I posted on here last night about my brother and son dying and being born on the same date and everyone was so warm and positive so I wanted to share my story about how I turned to Christianity just a week ago.

So to put things into perspective, I'm 30 years old, a father of one, I suffer with anxiety and depression and I have never believed in any form of religion or god. Until recently of course.

I work night shifts and I am a lone worker, so I have a lot of time alone with my own thoughts. One thing I've always found extremely interesting is the universe, but it's also extremely overwhelming to think about as well. About a week ago I was sat pondering my own thoughts like I usually am and I ended up where I usually end up when I think about the universe, the start. I always try and comprehend what happened prior to the big bang, how can a period of time exist without time. How can something so astronomically incredible be born of nothing. It's incomprehensible.

So my train of thought moved to primarily evil and how it plays a part in today's society. Good and evil and everything that comes along with it. This then lead to me thinking about good and evil in religion, heaven and hell and what not. (I read a lot of conspiracy theories, mostly because I find them interesting and not because I believe them) and I'd just read something about the free masons being a satanic sex cult, which was quite bizzare really.

But again, being an atheist I moved on and started to think about some of my own personal problems I had been suffering with, my anxiety and other issues.

So it had been a long time and I was mentally quite exhausted and I'd left myself in a state of confusion more than anything, but I couldn't stop thinking about the good and evil thing, it was like I was obsessed with it.

I kid you not, and still now I have no idea why I decided to do this. But for one second I thought what if, what if it's all real. I'd done no research into the Bible or Christianity, I was a complete novice. So I decided I will ask God for clarity.

I left my office and went outside into the car park and I asked him out loud, I asked him to show me the way and help me understand. I felt like an absolute idiot, and then it hit me. I was shocked to my core with the feeling of absolute joy. I cannot explain it, I just felt such happiness Ive never felt before, it brought me to tears I was that happy. I then started clearing myself of toxicity, I openly denounced satan from my heart and welcomed Jesus Christ, and I started to cry again. I couldn't stop smiling as I paced around the car park feeling extremely overwhelmed. After around 30 minutes I returned to my office and decided it was time to look into Christianity with an open mind, as what just happened to me was unexplainable and I couldn't understand it. The best way to describe it was I felt new, I felt clean, rejuvenated and happy.

To this day my anxiety and depression are both none existent, I feel like a new man. I know I keep saying it but it's bizzare and unexplainable.

I finished work, got home and shared my story with my partner who isn't a Christian but believes in a supreme being, she just isn't sure what at this point. She was very understanding and supportive and said she would support me through my new journey.

I went to bed and woke up like usual, still feeling amazing and eager to start my journey. I went to the shops to pick up some food for our dinner, and walking home I was approached by a man id never seen before asking if I was interested in the church. (Coincidentally I do live very close to a church but I've lived in my house for 8 years and never had anyone ever approach me like this before.)

I explained it was more than a coincidence he had just come up to me randomly to ask about my interest in the church and Jesus Christ, we exchanged phone numbers and we met up for a pint later that night. I was at this point still skeptical about Christianity. My new friend had only been in town two weeks and had moved into the local vicarage, he worked for the church and was very down to earth and not pushy what so ever. He answered questions I had and then afterwards gave me my first Bible.

I have been reading my Bible every day and it has been amazing. It is a youth version of the NIV Bible.

Genesis was always something I was very skeptical about but when I read it this time from the Bible itself rather than just knowing the story I looked at it in a completely different light.

I'm still learning things every day, but I now believe in God and I believe Jesus Christ died for us on the cross. My perception has completely changed about our faith and our creator.

If you read all of this thank you so much, it was a long read I imagine but I just feel like I wanted to share with like minded people.

God bless you all!

Edit:

I just want to say thank you all so much for the amazing and thoughtful responses you have all given me. You have given me so much to think about. I appreciate all the help on my new journey so so much. Anyone is free to message me whenever, to talk about anything.

Your fantastic responses have shown me that we truly are blessed, aren't we?

Who is DMX you ask? He had much fame and success making secular rap music. In his songs he would cuss and talk about drugs and violence. His real name is Earl Simmons. His life was much like his music and he struggled with a cocaine addiction for many years.

I remember listening to his music growing up before I found God. Ever album would have a prayer, and he talked about God in many of his songs and in the interviews he had, which struck me as odd at the time.

Fast forward to 2016, DMX is sober and publicly proclaimed that God had called him to be a preacher and to spread the good news. He was in the spiritual battle we all fight, between good and evil , serving the spirit or the flesh.

As I logged onto Reddit this morning, I see a news story saying DMX had a heart attack and is on life support in a vegetative state. It was a possible drug overdose. For some reason I have felt God calling me to pray for this man all day and I would like my fellow believers to join me in praying for his healing and for his very soul. I and not the judge of anyone but we are known by our fruits,and if he overdosed on drugs that is bad fruit. Please pray God will extend His grace and have mercy on this mans soul.

If God can save me, if God can raise Jesus from the dead, I believe he can save dmx to. Thank y’all for praying with me.

I know that my saviour lives and at the end he will stand on this earth My flesh may be destroyed but from this body i will see God Yes i will see him for myself and i long for that moment... beginning of his song called I miss you.

Just a baby step forward to de-normalize degeneracy and lust in the west. It’s a start, considering the industry will take a dent if one of it’s biggest sites loses revenue. I pray for everyone who was abused or coerced into making the content, and everyone struggling with physical desires.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for me. Today my PET scan results came in and this new chemo shrank all my tumors! The biggest one actually shrank by half and I’ve only had 2 cycles! I was crying because I was so nervous but everyone in my family told me they felt God tell them I’d be okay and it was so! I can’t believe how amazing God is. I’m still in tears and it’s hard to breathe because my nose is all plugged now 😭

Dear Christians,

Read the Bible.
All of it.

Stop treating it like a talisman.
Stop recycling the same handful of verses.

The text is strange, difficult, poetic, violent, philosophical, political, and frequently surprising.

Read it from Genesis to Revelation.
If you do it honestly, you will emerge either as a better Christian or as someone who is no longer one.

Both outcomes are preferable to claiming allegiance to a book you have never truly engaged with.

Like the title says, I just got called a fkn n***** by a guy a in a blue cap in a pickup truck. He was in a fit of road rage I guess. But, I’m not upset. I was at first, but I remembered the scripture in the book of Matthew 5:44 “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you.” I forgive that guy, and I love him in Christ. I hope God blesses him with many blessings. May we all have the heart to forgive and love others as ourselves in Jesus name amen.

He is the ruler over all nations, even ours. Even though I would be a little saddened that a candidate with anti-Christian policies would be elected, ultimately it doesn’t matter. His will be done, not some man or woman in a suit.

Go vote. God bless.

hi all !! i (16f) have decided to end my ldr with my trans boyfriend (also 16, trans but still female obv) to follow god. i recently have come to terms with the fact that homosexuality is a sin and decided to free myself from my selfish desires and follow god. if anyone is struggling with something similar i will tell you this, don't get caught in worldly desires! remember, our home is in heaven not here! choose God, not sin.

praise the Lord y'all 🙏😼

EDIT: please do not harass me over this, i am choosing what i want to do with my life. no amount of convincing will make me change my beliefs.

Hello, I am originally from a Muslim background however I turned to atheism later on I used to mock religion left right and centre, mostly due to my traumatic experience with Islam never in my life did i believe that i would convert to christianity. That was until i got saved by the Holy Spirit, yes. praise the Lord for His endless mercy and His love. I can’t believe i’m writing this. I cant fathom that God chose to save me from my sinful life... our God is so merciful, if he can love and save a sinner like me, he is the most merciful Lord i know, and i will continue to worship him.

‘I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked’ praise our Lord and saviour Jesus 🙏♥️

It is a sin, guys.

I'm not some old pastor telling you this. I'm a 20-22 F, who has been steadily growing closer to God albeit slightly unconventionally lol

And to be fair, I'm not part of the LGBTQ+ community. I'm heterosexual lol but, I supported an abundance of my friends and even took part with the artists and fan-art that they drew. I read their works, encouraged their habits and supported them to the best of my ability. I had done this for years, more than half a decade now.

But one day, at work, something kept nagging at me as I did it. Like an itch, underneath the skin.

The debate of whether homosexuality was a sin is one of the most controversial debates amongst Christians, so I already knew it stemmed from that. I asked fellow Christians around my workplace on their take and one said something that stood out to me:

“If you support sin, you might as well be doing it yourself.”

As I sat down in my room, talked with the Lord that same day, I spoke to Him about confused I was. Then, upon realizing the only way for me to know is to get an answer from Him personally, I asked him to give me a sign this was wrong.

Not a sign through Tiktok, not a Instagram reel, not a YouTube short—give me a sign I can physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually feel.

AND WHEN I TELL YOU HE DID HAHA

The next day, I woke up with a feeling I could not explain.

My body barely showed signs except for slight tremors, but they were brief. That didn't concern me, it was the feeling I felt on the INSIDE.

I even went to the doctor that same day to make sure this wasn't an "impending sense of doom" that most talk about before succumbing to death but, the longer I sat still, I realized this was not fear for the flesh, it was something deeper—it was fear for the SOUL.

It was not the discipline of man, but the discipline of God.

Everyone looked at me, said that I was normal even my heart rate was regular! My "body" was normal but inside, deeper beyond flesh... I was awakened to the feeling of the soul for the first time.

I had never been so spiritually sensitive before. Certain music from certain artists, foul-mouthed people, everything that I came into contact with that wasn't of God, I felt

Every. Single. Thing.

The same way someone talks about their "fight or flight" response was the same way I felt on the inside out. I could barely hold it and the Holy Spirit took the wheel from my body. I COULD NOT play any video games, I COULD NOT be on my phone, I was being led and controlled by something that was genuinely more powerful than me.

And it led me through the day all the way back to the Bible. I open Acts and read to Romans, and the more I read, the more I got my answers and the more the feeling slowly simmered.

To be forcibly taken a backseat in your own body, denied distractions and barely have food...

I was being corrected so harshly because I advocated in it for so long. I cried to the Lord, and asked Him to forgive me.

The next day, I woke up and physically could not go back to supporting it. I literally could not. I don't know what the Lord did spiritually or what the Holy Spirit had done, but I cannot do it anymore. I physically and mentally cannot.

I can interact with those that support it, but I am literally, wholeheartedly UNABLE to return to the way I once was. I cannot give them commission money for that art, I could not keep the "Pride" tags on my person or my account pages.

I do not hate those that do it nor I hate those that support it.

I just can't do what you do.

We are stuck in cages of sin, we are never going to be perfect. But this is one sin that cannot be condoned with by any means necessary.

TLDR: Do not think you are not acceptable because of the flesh that cages you. Deny your desires, not your struggles. You are free to go to church, but you just cannot compromise with sin. You can tolerate those who believe otherwise, but you cannot support what they do. You cannot do what they do.

Love thy neighbor, always—but you cannot become thy neighbor. Do not be the neighbor that dishonors God based on a "I feel" or "I don't believe".

Man changes but the Lord's law and His truth does not. Love to all!

Please pray, my brother was just killed in a car accident. He had a baby girl due to be born in a few weeks. i dont know what his relationship with God was but I pray God called him in his final moments

I was trafficked.

As a result, until God saved me, I was involved in the sex work industry for a long time.

Men will come up with every excuse in the book to keep watching.

And let's be clear: I participated and also watched. I know how addictive it is, and how hard it is to break free. Most people watching aren't trying to intentionally hurt others.

But we are.

Let's look at the facts:

1. Porn increases sexual dysfunction like ED and problems achieving normal sexual functions like being unable to finish without watching or thinking about it.

2. Porn creates dissatisfaction within your marriage. Your wife will most likely not look like or behave like the person being exploited.

3. Porn users who have children greatly increase the odds that their children will be exposed.

4. Porn breaks down your marriage. Even if you don't think your wife knows, she most likely does. This chips away at not only your relationship but to HER, to the very core of her worth, self esteem and value. Every day her heart breaks a little knowing that you don't value her enough to be faithful.

5. This sub is called True Christian. From a Christian lense, God says even looking at a woman with lust in your eyes is adultery.

6. The truth about production: women who seem willing are often forced, coerced or given drugs like molly, meth, cocaine and mdma to numb them from the reality of what they are doing.

7. "Teen" is the number one most popular genre. A lot of them are legitimately underage. You are literally getting off to a child who is being manipulated and exploited.

8. That leads me to the next point, 90% of Pornhubs inventory was removed recently for being "unverified". A large majority of the unverified content contained rape of children as young as 3 years old.

9. Even at a legal age, many people are kidnapped, forced, manipulated or exploited into selling their bodies.

10. Porn is inherently bi-sexual or gay. Men who are watching sex between 2 people are not just watching the woman, but the man as well. Porn producers have been interviewed and spoken about slowly pushing more trans and gay content onto straight men, leading many to believe they are now bi, gay or trans.

11. Porn literally lowers your drive as a man to perform in all aspects of your life because you're no longer waiting for and pleasing your wife. You are consistently operating at your basest levels. This is 100% by design.

I could go on, but these are the biggest things I notice.

Porn is evil. It is designed to rip apart families, destroy intimacy, and destroy both the viewer and the one participating in it, whether knowingly or unknowingly.

Please think twice before watching porn. You are exploiting someone's being for your own personal pleasure. A being who was made and designed in the image of God.

Reddit really, really hates the truth.

Genesis 39:10 - "How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"

This is what Joseph said to Potiphar's wife when she tried to seduce him.

Think about Joseph's situation for a second. He was completely alone with her in that house. Nobody else was around. Nobody would've known. Sound familiar?

It's exactly like when we're alone in our rooms with our phones or computers, about to look at porn or whatever else. We think we're alone. We think nobody's watching. But that's the lie.

Joseph understood something we forget: God is always watching. We are never truly alone.

And here's what gets me: Joseph clearly felt the temptation. It was real. It was intense. The desire must have been overwhelming. Just like our urges to watch porn or masturbate can feel impossible to resist.

But Joseph did something radical: he feared God more than he loved satisfying his flesh. He literally ran out of that house and away from the situation.

That's what we need to do. Run from temptation. Delete the apps (Instagram + Tiktok). Download a blocker (I use Gracen). Put the phone down. Get out of the room. Pick up a bible. Whatever it takes.

And look at what happened because Joseph stayed faithful: God eventually made him the second most powerful man in all of Egypt. His whole destiny was tied to that one moment of choosing God over sin.

Brothers and sisters, we need that same fear of the Lord. Not a scared fear, but a reverent fear that says "I love and respect God too much to do this."

Jesus Christ is our strength. We CAN and WILL overcome this in His name. Don't give up. Don't look back (that's satan's favorite trick). Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and ask Him for help.

Pray for each other.

About to turn myself into the authorities for a crime I committed a long time ago. This is the power of God to bring what's in the dark to the light. If we say we serve Him and walk in darkness we are liars and the truth is not in us. We must walk in the light as he is in the light or we can have no fellowship with Him. Please pray that God watches out for me. I won't be able to reply after this because I mostly likely will be arrested so thank you in advance and may you walk in the light too if you have any secret sins. I'm evidence from the years of guilt that it will do you no good and Satan will use it against you. May the grace of Jesus be with you always.

My wife and I grew up in church but have struggled the last 10 years, recently we.have been trying to find some peace...things happen for a reason, met someone at a store and got to talking, turns out he is a worship leader, became friends, watched his church service, and today he had lunch with us and lead us to the Lord. We both are so excited, and celebrating our rebirth day!

So, this is kind of a long story, but I want to give the background and context for the full picture. Skip to the end if you want a TLDR.

I was never raised Christian. I had a less than ideal childhood, with an alcoholic single mother and an amputee diabetic grandmother who raised me, until I was 5 years old and placed in foster care. Before I was placed in foster care (around age 4 I think), I fell from an open 2-story window while left unattended (see: alcoholic mother bit). I think I had been watching Mary Poppins and wanted to see if I could fly?? Idk.

Somehow the 2-story drop onto a gravel parking lot below didn't kill 4-year old me (my first miracle), but it did break my hip. This will be relevant later on. I think once I was released from the hospital and fully healed, I was placed in foster care shortly after (big shock) for 3 years.

At age 8 I was adopted. A second miracle really, considering its incredibly hard to find homes for kids over 5, especially with trauma issues. After adoption I had an amazing life, honestly. My parents are wonderful people and I love them. But remember as I said, I was not raised Christian-- not pre-adoption, not in foster care, and not post-adoption. No one in my family is Christian, I never had a single friend who was Christian, I don't think I ever even heard the name God or Jesus in a serious way (as in, other than hearing people say "omg" or "Jesus christ" when startled).

So now, fast forward about 25 years. That broken hip 20 years ago has led to a myriad of back issues after years of my spine compensating for my hip, unbeknownst to me. I went through long periods of excruciating pain, being unable to move properly or even lay on my bed. I had to lay on the floor, as even the slightest shift on a mattress would cause me pain. I tried medication, massages, cannabis, osteopaths, etc. I eventually came to find a great chiropractor who has worked on me for years now, and my life is so much better.

However, the back issues aren't entirely cured.

One night while my husband was at work, I was hanging out at home. I sneezed, and the sneeze was enough to bulge a disc in my spine (this was the main issue with my back, one or two discs can have a tendency to slip out of place easily). It floored me instantly. I couldn't move. Like, at all. The second I tried to move any part of my body, the pain was unbearable. I remained there on the floor, on my hands and knees, for about 20 mins. Sobbing, terrified, with no idea what to do. I completely broke down, because how was I going to live with this? I didn't want to, I'd rather die than live in this agony for the rest of my life. Out of sheer desperation, I started praying to God. I didn't really believe.. I wasn't anti-Jesus or anything, I just never had a real opinion. But I had nowhere else to go, and clearly I couldn't get out of this myself.

"God, I don't know if you even exist but please please please help me. Please I can't live like this anymore I don't know how I'm going to make it, this hurts so bad I can't take it, I can't live with this pain. Please help me I'll do anything just please make this go away".

Y'all. I kid you not, soon after I started praying I was able to move again. I was still in pain, mind you, but I wasn't completely crippled. I was able to get to bed and laid there for the rest of the night. By the morning, I was able to move around delicately.

Now, like an absolute jerk, I went on my merry way and didn't even think about God again. Like I said, I didn't really believe, so I chalked it up to just a bad episode that wore off. I increased my chiropractic appointments and forgot that I ever prayed in the first place.

6 months later, my body was feeling great. I was at full mobility again, my chiro visits are every 2 weeks, and I was trying to keep active to keep my body strong and healthy. One day I was walking home, when an insane want to go to Church hit me. It made no sense, because I had never been interested in church. But the urge felt natural, like I had been dying to go to one my whole life. I couldn't ignore it, all of a sudden I was desperate to go. I think this was a Friday or Saturday. I immediately looked into the churches in my area, and on Sunday I dropped in on a service in a non-denominational one that looked decent.

Side note-- I had to research everything about church, since I knew nothing about them. What's a service? What's a sermon? What's a denomination? When do you go? Whats mass? What do you bring? What do you wear? Do you need a bible? Where do you sit? What's a pastor, a Reverend, a "father"? Are they all the same? How do I talk to them? Maybe I don't, that's moving fast. It was a lot, LOL.

Sunday morning came and I walked down to the church alone, as my husband was working. He was totally surprised by this too, as his family is also not religious. But he supported my curiosity and wanted me to report back, haha.

One of the church elders (I much later on realized who he was) greeted me at the door. I said it was my first time at church, and he said he believed this sermon was going to be great for me.

The sermon was about the Lord's Banquet parable. The Master of the House invites all the hungry, poor, hurting, etc to the banquet after the wealthy and "important" invitees blow him off (paraphrasing, lol). It hit me like a brick wall. I was the hungry, the poor, the hurting. I was spiritually starved, seeking to fill the hole in my heart I never knew was for God.

My entire life, I only believed in cause-and-effect. But I couldn't make sense of this past 6 months. The sudden relief from my bulged disc, the random immense need for Church?? The perfect timing for that particular sermon.

The emotion, the realization, the feeling of everything suddenly clicking.. it felt so.. overwhelmingly right.

From there, I dove into learning. I've read 14? books of the bible (Genesis - 2 Kings, + the gospels), go to church every week (hubby now goes with me and is learning about Jesus too!), fell in love with worship music and Christian r&b (lol random), pray every day (sort of, still learning on that one.. it feels weird). I started to realize that God has always been with me. My childhood was rough at the beginning, I could've fell to my death, but He was there. I struggled through parts of adoption, trauma, psychological issues, self-worth, terrible choices and friendships, awful back pain, but He was there. He was always there. My entire life is a miracle, even the absolute worst of it. When I realized this, I knew that God was worth following. I made some awful choices in my life, and I learned about the love of Jesus. His love is the reason I've been given this opportunity at all, and that is so precious.

OK I feel like this could turn into an entire ramble about what I feel I owe to God now, but I'll just leave it at this-- the Lord has saved me in so many ways, so many times. I owe him everything, but really all I can give him is my loyalty and love. I will follow Jesus all the days of my life.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I tried to find the balance of in-depth enough and NOT rambling, but it's hard. Open to questions or conversation, as I'm sure i left stuff out.

May God bless you all 🩷

TL;DR -- after 34 years of not believing, God saved me from years of debilitating back pain, put it in my heart to suddenly go to church, and converted me into a devoted follower.

For those who don’t know the story, here’s a quick recap.

God told His prophet Hosea to find a wife, but gave him a stipulation: buy a prostitute, free her from slavery and marry her. That would be hard enough today, let alone the severe social and cultural self-destruction it would have caused in ancient Israel. But Hosea did it. Her name was Gomer. Gomer left Hosea and sold herself back into slavery. So God told Hosea to go buy her back, and Hosea did. Time and time again, Gomer left him to go back to the life she once had. And time and time again, Hosea paid whatever price it took to buy her freedom.

I was thinking about my addiction recently and the half-hearted repentance I would give to God after every relapse. I did it every day, sometimes multiple times a day. Sometimes, the only words I could muster after a relapse was, “God, I know that was wrong, but I don’t even feel bad. Please, help me to hate this sin. I’m begging you.”

We are Gomer in the story. We’ve sold ourselves back into the slavery of addiction over and over again. God has paid the price of our freedom every single time.

Today, I’m choosing to not be like Gomer. Comment "Amen" so reddit pushes this to more people.

EDIT: I downloaded Gracen and I’m now 22 days porn free, deleted my OF, and am just so happy I’ve gotten this far :-) You can do so too!! God bless.

I’m a 14 year old girl and for a couple of months now, I’ve been getting really interested in Christianity. And I’ve felt like I wish I could believe in God but have been unsure. My dad is an alcoholic, and for the past three weeks I’ve been praying EVERY SINGLE NIGHT for him. Well before I went into my room for the night he said he needed to talk to me about something (my mom sitting there too). He told me that he’s going to stop drinking and is going to go to treatment/rehab. Then it seemed like he was about to start crying and apologized to me saying he’s sorry he hasn’t been a good dad. He told me he loves me and gave me a hug. I told him that I still think he’s a good dad and that I love him too. Then I told him that ik he can get sober.

I don’t feel unsure anymore. I believe in God now, and I believe God answered my prayers about my dad because my exact prayers were asking God if he does exist to please help him. I haven’t told my dad that I’ve been praying for him yet. He’s an atheist (my mom is too) and isn’t even aware that I’ve been interested in Christianity and learning more about it.

"When Jesus had spoken these words, He lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, 'Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify You, since You have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. . . . All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.'" (John 17:1-3,10)

"But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. . . . For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." (Hebrews 10:12,14)

I pray that the Holy Spirit may fill your hearts today, bring clarity and serenity to your minds, and ready your legs to run the race toward's God's Kingdom with all your might — knowing all the while that Christ, through His crucifixion and resurrection, has already placed the winner's medal around your neck at the moment you placed your full hope and trust in Him. In Jesus' powerful name. Amen.