Religious beliefs....

I found this in a magazine from my church and as I went through this a lot I found it very much comforting to know someone else went through it too.
Plus, I think sometimes we have a tendency to be okay with every other religion other than Christianity and I don't understand that. Because if you are going to live and let live why are you not okay with letting me love and live and believe and support me in what I believe too?

Good point isn't it?

BELIEVE!

*When we're teenagers, we're expected , to make adult decisions without actually Being an adult. In some cases, we make the right choices, like not to drink alcohol until we're 21. In other cases, we make the wrong choices, and the consequences can be severe.

In my case, a rash teenage decision could have cost me eternal life.
Falling away from the faith

I was raised in a Lutheran family and was faithful well into my mid-teens. As a child, it was easy to believe without question. I knew God loved me and that he would watch out for me. Without fail, I Would be at Sunday school and later church almost every Sunday. With my entire family attending a Lutheran church, my beliefs were solidified. I felt that I could never stray from the Lord.
Growing up, I was teased quite a bit by my classmates for my faith and for other reasons, but I never had a single twinge of doubt. As I entered my junior year of high school, that changed. The teasing got meaner. People who used to be friendly to me turned cold. Most disturbing to me was the fact that people I saw who sinned quite openly seemed to get all the breaks, while I struggled to keep my head above water.

I became much like my biblical namesake and started to question what I had accepted so easily in my youth. For as much as I learned about God in church and Sunday school, I had never considered why I believed. When faced with the teasing and general disdain my classmates seemed to have for me, I couldn't reconcile what I had learned with what I thought God was doing. In my 16-year-old mind, it appeared to me that God had turned his back on me. So I turned my back on him, and I didn't look back.

Entering college, I kept my self-imposed exile. For a while, I dabbled in atheism and agnosticism, thinking I was "too smart" to believe in God. My complete lack of faith came to fruition during a public debate my college held about the existence of God. During the question and answer period, I rattled off a logic problem I had read in a magazine designed to show that God wasn't nearly as caring as we were led to believe. When the gentleman arguing in favor of God's existence didn't come up with a suitable answer, I was proud that I'd justified my lack of faith.
Rediscovering my spiritual home after college, God never really entered into my equation. But my friend Pat really got me to reconsider my position on God. She encouraged me to seek out my own path. Our discussions about God and faith opened my eyes and heart somewhat, but I was filled with a great guilt over what I'd done in my youth. This guilt built yet another wall between God and me. The wall was difficult to scale. I felt I could never earn his love because of my sinful nature and past.
Then God broke down the last of the barriers. It was the Friday after Thanksgiving three years ago when I heard about a horrible situation involving a crowd pushing down a pregnant woman and then trampling a young woman who tried to protect the pregnant woman from being injured. I went into a deep depression. My mind simply could not wrap itself around the situation, so I asked others what they felt I should do. Their sentiments of "get over it" offered no solace.
Then I was inspired to pray. Folding my hands as I had done so many times before, I asked God for help. This time I prayed with a heart opened like it was in my youth. As I quietly prayed aloud, I felt as if I had begun a journey home. I remembered the love and forgiveness God promised, and I felt my burden lift. After 20 years, my self-imposed exile was over, and I was with him again.
The next step was to find a church that I felt comfortable with. I looked for Lutheran churches first out of a sense of familiarity. I figured the doctrine wouldn't be too far from what I'd learned, so I already had a small foothold on the subject matter. I drove by a Lutheran church every night coming home from work. I decided to try attending, but it didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. I tried one more. I went to a WELS church. As soon
as I walked in, I was greeted by the organist, Harriet, as though I'd been going there for years. A few minutes later, I met the pastor and talked with him briefly-not as an outsider, but as a potential new member of the congregation. As I sat down, more people noticed me and took the time to extend a hand of friendship. It was that Sunday that I found my spiritual home, both on earth and in heaven.
Fanning the flame into a fire
For someone with an inquiring mind, WELS is a perfect fit. WELS provides a great learning experience to its members, one that appeals to the intellectual and the spiritual. After so long, I finally understood why I believed. That helped me grow as a Lutheran. Today I understand Christ's
"sacrifice to save me from myself in a way I'd never considered before. The greatest lesson I learned from WELS and my own experience is that even the smallest flicker of faith can grow into an unquenchable fire if given a chance.
I've grown to be much more active. I am a substitute teacher for our adult Bible study classes when our pastor is unable to lead the class. Our discussions are always lively and full of fun and education. Leading this class has broadened my spiritual understanding immensely and has given me more confidence in my ability to be a leader in the church.
As part of my spiritual homecoming, I made a promise to try to help pre-teens, teenagers, and college students avoid the pitfalls
I encountered. I am working to start a youth group and also help with the fourth- through eighth-graders at a midweek church program where adults and children can have a good meal and great fellowship while learning about God. If I can help even one of them stay away from the path I took, I will have fulfilled God's purpose for me.
Twenty years ago, I made a big mistake turning my back on God's infinite, unfailing love. During that time, I was like Saul, the persecutor of Christians. I believed I knew all the answers and didn't need to listen to God. But also like Saul, I realized the folly of such thinking and was reborn in the light of the one true God. The old me is dead, as he should be, and
. the new me is here to stay!

Thomas Lindeman is a member at Lincoln Heights, Des Moines, Iowa.

*Lindeman, Thomas (2009, April). Confessions of Faith. Forward in Christ, [96(4)], 12-13.