Faith journeys are relative to a variety of different upbringings people have, and no one is exactly alike another, as God's relationship with people is personal. Moreover, my own faith journey is different from others. However, faith journeys can look very much alike in comparison.
As I walk through the doors hundreds of memories flood into my mind as the smell of yesterday’s incense hits my nose. In a way I grew up here from baptism, first communion, to confirmation. Various friends and family scattered in the pews nodding to you as you enter the church since in a small town everyone knows everyone. The church is large and ornate for where it is placed; a little town of roughly 200 people. The inside is magnificent with intricately carved wooden pillars and elaborate paintings of Bible stories on the dome ceiling.
Our club began with five students, however with God’s intervention, within two months sixty-five students gave up their lunch time to learn about my Savior. From this experience, I have come to crave a Christian environment in which I am challenged in my faith while furthering my ability to teach others about the God which I serve. California Baptist provides me with this opportunity, not only to serve others but to be served with the word of God
Part One – Christian Worldview In today’s world it is easy to become enchanted by worldly things. The deceptions that Christian’s allow themselves to believe (i.e. just this once, it’s not going to hurt anyone, I can handle it, I can stop whenever I want, etc.) come directly from Satan. There was a time when hearing a curse word or seeing too much flesh in a movie would be embarrassing; now it appears to be the norm and most Christians do not even bat an eye at such things any more.
By volunteering at my local church and helping with local service projects, I have realized the commitment and perseverance it takes to lead by example. At my local church I continue to help with the organization of my youth group. After speaking at church staff meetings for several months we made it our goal to improve the youth group by ensuring that children and teens of all ages were included and had an opportunity to participate. I was able to create a system where teens who attended high school were paired with a middle school individual of the church. This provided a sense of inclusiveness and made the youth group more enjoyable for everyone.
“True humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less” – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity Three years ago, I didn’t want to change the world: I wanted to be rich. Avarice and selfishness motivated me to succeed, and I was flippant in how I lived my life. I was not happy, but I didn’t care. I found my self-worth in what I could achieve, and whom I could impress. Later, I would find myself extricated from this material rut through a relationship with Christ – not a Christian religion.
I have taken part in many spiritual growth opportunities over the course of my life. The home school education my parents have blessed me with since second grade has enabled me to study hard, while learning in a Christian atmosphere. For the past nine years, I have attended Bible Study Fellowship which has helped me grow deeper in God’s word and my love for Him. Bible Study Fellowship’s rigorous
Within all these clubs we volunteer in the community throughout the years, like the Chapman Township Haunted House we do for the community every year. In the summer I also participate in the Saint Joe’s Festival, which is held by the church I’m a member of. I usually help run the game stations.
I try my best to participate in as many as I can. These include Student Council, People Helping People, cross country, basketball (high school and AAU), softball, church choir and Relay for Life. The past three years I have been an officer in the Student Council and a member of a team whether it was sports or church. On the basketball court I am the point guard which is the playmaker of the team.
Over the past few weeks we have been reading the multifaith manual and from reading it I have begun to see some of the other religions in a different light and leaned about ones that I have never heard of before, it has been an eye opening experience in many aspects, some more than others I have found to be fascinating. The first has to be the religion of Wicca which surprised me when I started reading about it the first time but after reading it the first time I had to go back and reread the chapter, when I was done reading all I could think about was how the Wicca reminds me of old witch covens from old stories, it was also curious to see that there are people who still worship the old Egyptian, Greek and Norse gods, gods that I had
Before I discuss my experience at Grace Lutheran Church I feel it would be beneficial to explain my Church Background, so that you can better understand my outsider view of the Sunday morning worship Service I attended. I have been raised in the Baptist/Southern Baptist church my entire life. My parents are from South Carolina, which is also where I grew up, so our idea of Church has always been a small community with a very relaxed atmosphere. I stopped attending the Baptists church when I was 16. I chose to join Bent-tree Bible Fellowship, a non-denominational church.
During my winter term, I spent time exploring my faith and facilitating conversations with other students at a national conference for FOCUS in San Antonio, Texas and following the conference I returned to Greencastle to continue faith formation as well as community outreach. My internship facilitated through the FOCUS Missionary team on DePauw’s campus was very fruitful. FOCUS is an acronym that stands for Fellowship of Catholic University Students. During this experience, I lived and worked beside the missionaries. I became a member of the team so that I could explore and discover the behind the scenes of missionary life.
We walked up magma stairs he said now do you see. Over there is a young man he died of a gun shot to the face i looked at the book of life lets just say he was at the right place wrong time. He was in a coma they did surgery but i knew his soul was mine to take the people you call doctors or mere mortal saviors couldn't stop his time from being cut short i took him to god i saw his past and he was just living his life just to fast his wife crys everyday but thats the price he had to pay his family thinks he made it past the pearly white gates god sealed his fate.
Personal Theology of Preaching As a preacher, I see myself taking on the image of multiple different preachers depending on the people of the congregation. My focus is on the congregation, and according to Thomas Long, this makes me very pastoral in nature. “Preaching should intentionally seek a beneficial change in the hearers [and] should help people make sense of their lives.” For me, this points to more than just the image of the pastor as preacher – it points to what kind of preacher image that I chose to take on. This is because the congregation, the body of Christ, is a living and dynamic body of people.
Driven Through Religion What drives you in life? That 's the question I asked Derek Rodgers. His answer was his religion. He is so devoted to his religion, and that makes him different from the rest.
