I come from a family where several members are brought on religion. We can not say that there is a belief among those born members of an awakening or a choice but rather a statement of fact, "my parents are Catholic, France is a Catholic country so I am a Catholic ".
My mother is (was?) A fervent worshiper of the Virgin Mary has made several pilgrimages to places where it is supposed to appear. It is also very involved in Catholic charitable works.
One of my uncles was part of the "Army of Mary", an organization that was among other processions in the city of Lyon, all dressed in a long white robe and two people carrying the statue of the Virgin Mary before the procession.
One of my cousins spent 11 months of the year in monasteries and never leaves that to work for a month to maintain their social rights. She also goes to all the major youth events such as World Youth Day (WYD) in which the Pope invites you to the Catholic youth.
When I was a child I was asking questions about God and faith. I was very attracted by the idea that God exists but I do not know him and the image of religion around me referred me to him made me puzzled. The atmosphere of the churches, statues or paintings depicting biblical scenes, but also religious practices did not satisfy me. I do not yet realize was going but I doubted at that time, wondering if things would really be.
I remember at the age of 14 my parents sent my uncle to spend the holidays. Yet on Saturday evening my uncle went home with him the knowledge to pray the rosary (the rosary is pray three rosaries, which is to pray 10 "Hail Mary" and one "Our Father" and this 3 times). Pray the rosary takes two hours and he's actually reciting prayers. Doing this in 14 years when one is more interested in football matches that religion is something difficult: I remember asking the question "does God really asks that so?" and I told myself that if God really asking the man to recite prayers for two hours is that 1) may be that he is deaf and must repeat and repeat again until the prayers that He hears them, or else 2) God may be someone It is cruel and takes pleasure in seeing us something we do not like and that is repulsive or 3) may be that God has little interest in us and happy that we might serve observing traditions.
I also remember, with my cousin, visiting one of his friend. While the two talked, I watched the place and I noticed on the mantelpiece of a Bible that seemed to be there because someone had taken her to read it and had relocated to this location. I asked my cousin's girlfriend when she read the Bible and before she could answer my cousin said "do not read the Bible, we must have done studies to read it properly." There I was really shocked because if you must know God in a way that is reliable, it must be a written record of oral tradition not only can alter the truth very quickly. And if God speaks to us, we need a reference tool that allows us to know and verify that he has really spoken. The paper trail should also be understood by all and not only taught to an elite.
Just wondering also questions about the person of Jesus, I know some stories of the Bible by what we were taught the catechism, but I did not understand the message of the Bible. These stories seemed to be a link between them because it revolved around the person of Jesus but I did not understand who Jesus was by, what was the link between Jesus and God and I sensed that this figure is indeed a historical figure has considerable importance if we take into account the fact that the history of the world revolves around him (are not we in 2010 AD?). The history of humanity is composed of a before and one after the coming of Jesus Christ, believed in him or not and that is an atheist or believer. On the other hand if God spoke to us and left a message, that message must surely be known, it should So to each development and to focus on what God has to say to all of us.
But not really knowing what to think, I simply leave the issue open for later.
Yet I remember that night when I was with my parents in the countryside, I loved to walk out when everyone was asleep and I looked at the sky and I was talking to God like a friend talking to a friend, and I told him about my day and my dreams.
When I became a student of tourism in Grenoble, I asked more questions and one day I came across a radio that someone was giving his testimony, how he how he found God and walked with him every day. This has been such a shock to me because everything I saw in my childhood was a list of traditions and rules to observe. There was some belief in God in what I had seen but not really love or understanding of things that concern him. In fact in my family, we went to church but faith did not affect the way we live or the choices to make, and indeed when a choice had to be done, God was not consulted . Yet I thought in the great decisions of life as much as in the small decisions, God should be consulted if indeed we truly believe in Him and He knows what we really need and make the right choices.
I heard by radio that other people who told stories of what God had done in their lives, showing how God directed their lives and how He hears and answers prayers (though not always as expected) and how God spoke through the Bible.
I wanted this relationship with God but I still did not understand how it was possible to make contact with him. My studies ended, I had to leave Grenoble but I wanted to keep the possibility of more, so I phoned the radio asking them where it was possible to get Christian books. With the address of a Christian bookstore in my pocket, I left and went to Grenoble Frejus to do my military service. After months of class, and the month when I was assigned to the unit driving school where it was allowed to pass the new recruits who engaged in a 18-month service in the DOM TOMS, I asked to enter the armory in order to read the books I bought at the Christian bookstore. In fact, in this function that nobody wanted, I escaped in the morning and good morning flag-raising and all operations on the field and I spent my nights reading.
During my last leave before the end of my military service, I saw a poster in a Christian bookstore that had an event in the region, but what had caught my attention was that you could talk with a pastor or counselor .
So I went to this gathering for my questions: 1) What is the message of the Bible? 2) God there really demand for what we observe religious traditions
The person I met was a man of the Grenoble region, pastor of a Christian assembly. When I asked my questions, he opened her Bible and made me read passages inside that answered my questions. He explained that the world is not a coincidence or an "accident" but a deliberate intention of God who created the world as the bible says. God created us to live in communion with Him, but He leaves us free to obey or refuse to obey him.
When God created Adam and Eve and placed them in a good place and he gave them freedom and a single ban. By choosing to defy the prohibition that God had given them, they have sinned, sin creates a separation between man and God. In Indeed, sin is any act independently of the will of God.
Sin is not only steal, kill or lie but it may take the form of pride, a false witness or even to see learn to do good and not to do so. God is a saint (He does not know sin and can not stand it) just (justice of God demands that the man who sins is condemned and the letter of Paul to the Romans teaches us that the consequence of sin is an eternity separated from God is spiritual death and hell), Love (because God loves man, but hates sin, He provided a way to save Man convicted of his sin deserved) and finally God is good (He came in the person of Jesus to take upon Himself our condemnation, because Jesus is God come in the form of a man, he did not know sin and dying on the cross, He took those who wish to be saved from their sins, the sins of those who trust in Him and him at their request). In this way God's justice is satisfied, the love of God as good as it has cost God. The Bible says "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
That is the message of the Bible. It is a single message in the sense that it is profoundly different from all religions that exist who know not the reason for the state of our world, which only offers to do this or go there in the hope that God an account of these works and allow hello to one who has not done enough of course to allow the man to know how much it takes to do enough to be saved. The Bible, it clearly states that man can not do anything to be saved, so God took the initiative to come to Jesus, who possessed the characteristics of being fully divine in order to save us but also fully human (through his miraculous birth of the Holy Spirit and Mary) to live like a man, taking upon himself our sins and die for us. His resurrection is a fact attested, which assures us that God's justice was satisfied and those who trust in Jesus for salvation from their sins will die not for an eternity in hell and separation from God, but for an eternity with God and in His presence.
The Bible also assures us that no man has sinned too much to not be forgiven by God but that man is sinful and must ask forgiveness of his sins. Because of this, the salvation of God is perfect and accessible to every man who makes the request. The salvation that God offers is a gift, he does not deserve, that's why they say that it is a grace (unmerited gift) of God
Now consider this, imagine that Hitler after what he did back in his senses before he died and he realized with horror of the evil he did ask for the forgiveness of sins to Jesus. Imagine also another man who strives to do all the good he can (giving his money and time to the poor and needy every Sunday and going to church, reading his Bible every day but he will never ' have asked Jesus for forgiveness the only sin he could commit in his life (even if it is a remarkable man who lied only once in her lifetime).
When these two people would die that night, Hitler would be forgiven and the second man and would not spend eternity without God.
Because the only sin that God can not forgive is that the man refused the salvation it offers to man. Answer is not synonymous with denial. If you give a gift to your son and he looks at you, smiles and walks away without taking it, you could feel a lesser extent what God feels when a man despises the gift of salvation that makes it . The
God's salvation is free, but otherwise it will cost to those who want to really know God and be saved from those sins. God has an opponent who will not be happy that someone was saved by God. Accept God's salvation, then also means the man whose sins have been forgiven no longer live for himself but is developing its relationship with God and live for God and not for himself. For me it was celibacy and separation from family (although this does not mean that things will remain so, God has plans for each of us and for me too), it can be for of Another loss of a job, loss of friends, marital conflict or divorce and many other things. But we must also know that God is sovereign and he is in control of all these things and if you pass by them, he wants our good and if we trust He will guide us to what is better for us.
was May 31, 1993, the day I realized this man the message of the Bible and that I accepted for myself. Remarkably the Bible says that eternity does not begin for the believer when he dies but when he receives the forgiveness of sins. In other words, eternity does not begin when we die, eternity starts now.
We live in a world where a lot of information floating around, including about the Bible and Jesus. Before accepting this information, I recommend the study to prove their veracity. Some are well designed and skillfully can fool many people who do not check if what they hear is true or not.
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