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Testimony

blood_pardon

New Member
arg-fallbackName="blood_pardon"/>
normal_gof_chp02.jpg


The first time I was lied to by a bunch of Christians I was 14. I was invited to go to watch these guys give motivational speeches, sing, and preach. When it was over there was some psychological manipulation going on. They turned the lights down low, played that "inspriational" 'i can only imagine' song and basically wooed ppl to come forward and "get saved."


I remember my friend Landon going forward, and feeling kind of pressured to do the same. I went up stairs and talked to a councelor who told me that in order for me to be saved all i had to do was "pray and ask Jesus to come into my heart" and if i did it with enough sincerity I would be saved. Well i did it.


Weeks turned into months and months into years. This whole time nothing changed in my life. For years I thought I was a Christian because I prayed this prayer one time at a meeting. Nothing changed about my life.


It When I look back at my life prior to becoming immortal I cringe. Some of the things I did were unspeakable, and many of my sins were public. I remember that year of my conversion, if asked, a person may say that I was a jerk that did a bunch of drugs. They didn't know the half of it, but in general that was probably what I was known for. Treating people like crap and getting high.


It all started, oddly enough, with Harry Potter. I remember when I was in grade school and middle school reading those books and liking them. It was my senior year and my British literature class was assigned the series. I remember thinking that this was going to be easy, and I was happy about the assignment.


Jake Davis set into motion what would be the most significant event of my life. He told the teacher that his parents didn't want him to read the books because witchcraft is evil. If I recall, there was a big ordeal. The teacher was mad at him and his parents had to come to complain to the superintendant to get him out of it.


Finally the teacher folded and gave Jake an alternative assignment.


Now this part is kind of hard to explain. Months later I was lying in bed and this mysterious motivation just rose up in me to protest the series. I was just suddenly convinced that Harry Potter was wicked. Now remember, I was neutral with the whole Harry Potter thing. I actually enjoyed those books!


So I stood up and said I am a Christian, which was laughable, and that I would not be reading JK Rowling. Again, the teacher caused this big public scene. It got heated to say the least but finally she gave in and gave an alternative assignment to me as well. We were assigned to write an essay on why Harry Potter goes against our religions.


I don't want the reader to miss what is going on here. I am a wicked young man doing all sorts of horrible things, and I am convinced in my own mind that I am indeed Christian. So here I am after this very public dispute trying to act Christian. See my arrogance drove me to suddenly be super spiritual. I was delusional, and I was trying to justify myself. For months this ridiculous behavior continued. I drove a lot of my friends away for good, but it was all a part of a larger plan.


In early 2007 I was on the internet one night doing some research for my assignment on Harry Potter. Now remember until the moment I decided to start "acting Christian" I didnt know much about the Bible. It's not like my family was religious or anything. Basically I was just winging it by repeating what other men had said.


I am surfing the internet and I come across a sermon entitled "Shocking Youth Message Stuns Hearers" by Paul Washer. This man pulled the rug from under my feet. He showed me the foundation I was standing on. It was a mound of lies. Worthless.


Something supernatural happened to me that night. The Lord spoke and He told me what I was. I don't believe I heard an audible voice, yet He spoke. How do I explain this? It was an intense experience. It was as if another person had invaded my mind and He was saying I was in a desperate situation. It wasn't that I had messed up, it was that I had never done anything but mess up. My very nature was vile. I couldn't stop thinking about it! He would not leave me alone.


I was cowering in my room weeping in absolute anguish over my condition. The pain was intense and I felt hopeless. I remember crying out to Him begging for forgiveness. It seemed like an hour of this nightmare. Suddenly the love of God was shed into my heart and I knew I was forgiven. All that pain was replaced with joy and peace and that night I slept like a baby.


I specifically recall the way I felt the next day. It was as if I had a new hope. There was this underlining purpose to my life. It was like knowing a really good secret, and as my mind would drift off to other things I would always race back to thoughts about what matters. Its that way even today, God is constantly tracking me down urging me to seek Him. I have strayed, and strayed far and long since coming to Christ, yet the desire for Him remains.
 
arg-fallbackName="ArthurWilborn"/>
Hearing commanding voices and feeling sudden impulses to commit socially inappropriate behavior are both indications of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a serious biological brain condition that can impose severe difficulty on the sufferer and their loved ones. If you continue to experience commanding voices, I would suggest telling a family member and consulting a doctor to rule out schizophrenia as a possibility.
 
arg-fallbackName="Gnug215"/>
blood_pardon, I'm not exactly sure why you decided to post this.

What is your intention with it? What do you expect to achieve?

If you have come here to preach and proselytize, we're going to consider your postings as pointless spam, and take standard action.
 
arg-fallbackName="Prolescum"/>
Harry Potter was part of your British literature class? Really? That's pretty depressing.
What kind of fucked up school gives you a piss-poor children's book in a literature class? The Crucible I can understand, but Harry Potter?

This whole tale is fishy.
 
arg-fallbackName="TheFlyingBastard"/>
So let me summarize this...
You were pressured into becoming a Christian, and you asked Jesus Christ in all sincerity to come into your heart. So life went on and you behaved like a shit.

Then you read something someone on the Internet said and now you think you are a shit that needs to constantly look for the guy you already opened your heart to back when you only behaved like a shit.

Alrighty then.
 
arg-fallbackName="lrkun"/>
@ Thread STarter This is infinitely a waste of my time. Please segragate your written text into paragraphs.
The first time I was lied to by a bunch of Christians I was 14. I was invited to go to watch these guys give motivational speeches, sing, and preach. When it was over there was some psychological manipulation going on. They turned the lights down low, played that "inspriational" 'i can only imagine' song and basically wooed ppl to come forward and "get saved."


I remember my friend Landon going forward, and feeling kind of pressured to do the same. I went up stairs and talked to a councelor who told me that in order for me to be saved all i had to do was "pray and ask Jesus to come into my heart" and if i did it with enough sincerity I would be saved. Well i did it.


Weeks turned into months and months into years. This whole time nothing changed in my life. For years I thought I was a Christian because I prayed this prayer one time at a meeting. Nothing changed about my life.


It When I look back at my life prior to becoming immortal I cringe. Some of the things I did were unspeakable, and many of my sins were public. I remember that year of my conversion, if asked, a person may say that I was a jerk that did a bunch of drugs. They didn't know the half of it, but in general that was probably what I was known for. Treating people like crap and getting high.


It all started, oddly enough, with Harry Potter. I remember when I was in grade school and middle school reading those books and liking them. It was my senior year and my British literature class was assigned the series. I remember thinking that this was going to be easy, and I was happy about the assignment.


Jake Davis set into motion what would be the most significant event of my life. He told the teacher that his parents didn't want him to read the books because witchcraft is evil. If I recall, there was a big ordeal. The teacher was mad at him and his parents had to come to complain to the superintendant to get him out of it.


Finally the teacher folded and gave Jake an alternative assignment.


Now this part is kind of hard to explain. Months later I was lying in bed and this mysterious motivation just rose up in me to protest the series. I was just suddenly convinced that Harry Potter was wicked. Now remember, I was neutral with the whole Harry Potter thing. I actually enjoyed those books!


So I stood up and said I am a Christian, which was laughable, and that I would not be reading JK Rowling. Again, the teacher caused this big public scene. It got heated to say the least but finally she gave in and gave an alternative assignment to me as well. We were assigned to write an essay on why Harry Potter goes against our religions.


I don't want the reader to miss what is going on here. I am a wicked young man doing all sorts of horrible things, and I am convinced in my own mind that I am indeed Christian. So here I am after this very public dispute trying to act Christian. See my arrogance drove me to suddenly be super spiritual. I was delusional, and I was trying to justify myself. For months this ridiculous behavior continued. I drove a lot of my friends away for good, but it was all a part of a larger plan.


In early 2007 I was on the internet one night doing some research for my assignment on Harry Potter. Now remember until the moment I decided to start "acting Christian" I didnt know much about the Bible. It's not like my family was religious or anything. Basically I was just winging it by repeating what other men had said.


I am surfing the internet and I come across a sermon entitled "Shocking Youth Message Stuns Hearers" by Paul Washer. This man pulled the rug from under my feet. He showed me the foundation I was standing on. It was a mound of lies. Worthless.


Something supernatural happened to me that night. The Lord spoke and He told me what I was. I don't believe I heard an audible voice, yet He spoke. How do I explain this? It was an intense experience. It was as if another person had invaded my mind and He was saying I was in a desperate situation. It wasn't that I had messed up, it was that I had never done anything but mess up. My very nature was vile. I couldn't stop thinking about it! He would not leave me alone.


I was cowering in my room weeping in absolute anguish over my condition. The pain was intense and I felt hopeless. I remember crying out to Him begging for forgiveness. It seemed like an hour of this nightmare. Suddenly the love of God was shed into my heart and I knew I was forgiven. All that pain was replaced with joy and peace and that night I slept like a baby.


I specifically recall the way I felt the next day. It was as if I had a new hope. There was this underlining purpose to my life. It was like knowing a really good secret, and as my mind would drift off to other things I would always race back to thoughts about what matters. Its that way even today, God is constantly tracking me down urging me to seek Him. I have strayed, and strayed far and long since coming to Christ, yet the desire for Him remains.
 
arg-fallbackName="DEXMachina"/>
I am not entirely sure what to make of your story. If I were to write an anecdote about my life, I would have at least concluded with something coherent, like (this whole thing taught me... or this event [enter massive change to life here])
 
arg-fallbackName="Anachronous Rex"/>
DEXMachina said:
I am not entirely sure what to make of your story. If I were to write an anecdote about my life, I would have at least concluded with something coherent, like (this whole thing taught me... or this event [enter massive change to life here])
I don't know, I find myself often enjoying tales of pure existence.

That said, the OP simply makes me feel sorry for anyone so trapped by an ideology; like tales of women who come to sincerely believe they are of an innately inferior status.
 
arg-fallbackName="retardedsociety"/>
Religion touches all of the human defects and offers an invisible remedy to your problems, then the human brain that is capable of making fantasy into a reality plays a huge role on it. In time, when you actually stop believing, you find yourself in a big world filled with information that is almost overwhelming, so overwhelming that you still pray for a few days to get an answer from god, and yet, when days pass and you get nothing, you then feel sad.

If you think that sadness lasts forever, then you don't understand that nothing lasts forever, in time, you become aware that you are simply human, and life is something we have to enjoy and not sit around and wait for a space dad to fix all your problems.


Here is a quote from John Shelby Spong (Retired episcopal bishop) "The church doesn't like people to grow up, because you can't control grown ups, this is why they talk about being born again, when you are born again, you are still a child, people don't need to be born again, they need to grow up and accept their responsibilities"


Best quote for any ex religious person
 
arg-fallbackName="blood_pardon"/>
Prolescum said:
Harry Potter was part of your British literature class? Really? That's pretty depressing.
What kind of fucked up school gives you a piss-poor children's book in a literature class? The Crucible I can understand, but Harry Potter?

Yea I know I was like


bush_doing_it_wrong_1.jpg



They were supposed to be preparing us for college level composition but instead we degressed back to the sixth grade....
 
arg-fallbackName="Master_Ghost_Knight"/>
Unfortunatly a story tht I have heard to so may times, and invariably they have all falle flat on their faces. I will not comment forward on this since the OP didn't forward any point. Do you think because we have heard of your personal story that we will go "gosh that guy had a stereotypical religious delusions with lateer embelishments transformed in a personal anecdote and terefore there must be God, how can I have been so blind?", if that was your point then you have sincerely no idea what ex-christian atheists think about that.
 
arg-fallbackName="Amerist"/>
Did anyone posit exactly why JK Rowling and Harry Potter are contra to Christianity? :?:
 
arg-fallbackName="lrkun"/>
Amerist said:
Did anyone posit exactly why JK Rowling and Harry Potter are contra to Christianity? :?:

Because harry potter is about magic and witches. Such is contrary to god's teachings.

Nevertheless, that link contains basic information as to why they view such as wrong. Be patient while you read it.

(GUILT BY ASSOCIATION)
 
arg-fallbackName="Anachronous Rex"/>
lrkun said:
Amerist said:
Did anyone posit exactly why JK Rowling and Harry Potter are contra to Christianity? :?:

Because harry potter is about magic and witches. Such is contrary to god's teachings.

Nevertheless, that link contains basic information as to why they view such as wrong. Be patient while you read it.

(GUILT BY ASSOCIATION)
Actually I would argue it is in favor of Biblical accounts as it likewise posits the existence of witches despite a complete lack of evidence. It would not be possible to, "not suffer a witch to live," were they non-existent. That it views them favorably is to be expected... the devil's own would no doubt see themselves as such.
 
arg-fallbackName="lrkun"/>
Anachronous Rex said:
Actually I would argue it is in favor of Biblical accounts as it likewise posits the existence of witches despite a complete lack of evidence. It would not be possible to, "not suffer a witch to live," were they non-existent. That it views them favorably is to be expected... the devil's own would no doubt see themselves as such.

In the bible, they are portrayed as one of the enemies. This is also explained in that bible article. However, in Harry Potter, witches are portrayed as good. Thus, it contradicts the bible teaching. Consequently, the theists are now claiming the Harry P. Books as promoting belief in the enemies of the bible.

In the point of view of theists, the supernatural exist. That is their assumption and all they need as evidence is their bible. To them, all that nonesense is real. :?

Therefore, I agree with your comment. ;)
 
arg-fallbackName="Story"/>
Excellent story!

I have Buddhist and Muslim friends that have told me exactly the same thing.

I'm glad you found a deeper meaning to your life.

One concern though, you should consult a doctor about feeling commanded to do things. It's not natural or necessary for religious people to feel so.
 
arg-fallbackName="Giliell"/>
Prolescum said:
Harry Potter was part of your British literature class? Really? That's pretty depressing.
What kind of fucked up school gives you a piss-poor children's book in a literature class? The Crucible I can understand, but Harry Potter?

This whole tale is fishy.
Hey, nothing against Harry Potter! But I would indeed doubt that any serious school would do the series in a literature class of native speakers
 
arg-fallbackName="pdka2004"/>
Giliell said:
Prolescum said:
Harry Potter was part of your British literature class? Really? That's pretty depressing.
What kind of fucked up school gives you a piss-poor children's book in a literature class? The Crucible I can understand, but Harry Potter?

This whole tale is fishy.
Hey, nothing against Harry Potter! But I would indeed doubt that any serious school would do the series in a literature class of native speakers


And anyway no one would call it British Literature....its called ENGLISH LIT(erature)

The whole story smells like a pile of steamies to me
 
arg-fallbackName="RichardMNixon"/>
Amerist said:
Did anyone posit exactly why JK Rowling and Harry Potter are contra to Christianity? :?:

I actually had a[n Episcopalian] preacher who did a sermon on how much he loved Harry Potter and how Harry's scar was like the Holy Spirit marking all of us. He was a pretty cool guy.

Blood_pardon: cowering in a corner from angry voices in your head is not healthy. In all seriousness, please seek psychiatric help.
 
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