My journey in Christ

I've been wanting to write this for quite some time.  Aside from the Bible, I read other Christian books and listen to podcasts from other Christians.  One thing I am torn by is that so many come to Christ with huge questions in their hearts and find the answers through Him.

Me?  Although not absolute, there has never really been a time (I'm sure there were but those times were either short or insignificant) when I didn't doubt God's existence.  I assumed God was real because the Bible said so.

I grew up in a Lutheran church in northwestern Minnesota.  I was confirmed, like my other classmates.

In the early 1990's, I attended Bemidji State University.  It was during my third year (I went to college for 5 years, with a double major and a minor, with tons of student loan debt for my troubles) that a friend of mine introduced me to a Christian group.  Let's call it the IV group--I won't embarrass the group by naming it by name).  This friend, prior to me joining the IV group, had me go through a series of Bible studies.  No problem.  I loved learning about God and Jesus.  Then, when it was done, she said I was born again.

I was confused.  If I was born again, did that mean I wasn't a Christian before?  I surely didn't think so.  Even when I attended the next IV group meeting (every Thursday night. they met) they made a big deal about those just coming to Christ.  Again, I had believed before, so what was the big deal?

My first year with the IV group went fine.  I loved the fellowship, the singing, the Bible studies.  I am still friends with a handful even to this day.  But in my fourth year of college (2nd year with the IV group) that all changed.  There were times I went to the Thursday night fellowship and I was completely ignored.  Seriously.  Even my friends noticed the same thing.

You see, I could have easily blamed God and Christ Jesus for what I experienced--oh, by the way, I suddenly quit going by December or January.  But I didn't stop believing.  It certainly wasn't Jesus's fault that the leaders weren't acting Christ-like.  I blamed them.

Over the years, I've moved to a small town where my wife hailed from and have been a constant member of a local Lutheran church.  Again, I never questioned God's existence.  I did question what He had in store for me.  Then, I met some people who did question God.  I honestly didn't have an answer.  I sought those answers through Christians like Joyce Meyers and Ravi Zacharias--there are others too.

Remember that not all Christians are alike.  Not all are good.  I don't know what caused the leaders in the IV group my second year to behave the way they did.  I forgive them.  I pray that they learned to grow in their own faith.  They may never know the impact they had on me.

Again, none of it was God's fault.