I grew up going to Roman Catholic Church. I went through all the motions but understood none of the meaning. I’d constantly ask my mom why I had to do all of the “stuff” and confess my “sins” to some stranger in a confessional booth. It felt hollow and mechanical. I left that tradition the moment I turned 18, determined to forge my own path.
But life has a way of humbling us. I got married at 20, had my first son at 22, and despite my best intentions, I found myself repeating the exact patterns I’d grown up resenting. Generational brokenness is devastatingly real. Another son came two years later, and after 10 years of marriage, I was spiritually and emotionally bankrupt. I’d sit alone some nights, confronting the uncomfortable truth that I’d become a narcissist. Everything I did seemed to revolve around my own needs and ego.
During this season, my wife started attending a non denominational church (Baptist roots). I was working weekend graveyards, so she took our boys with her. Honestly, I figured they’d all be better off without me there anyways as I’d wake up and marinate watching football all day. But over several months, I watched something remarkable happen to my wife. She became more patient, more sacrificial, more joyful. The change was so profound it got my attention in a way nothing else could.
God was working on my heart, creating a curiosity I hadn’t ever had. My wife had been quietly collecting Christian books, and I found myself drawn to Lee Strobel’s “The Case for Christ.” I devoured it in two days, and couldn’t put it down. The historical evidence for Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection was overwhelming. By the end, I was convinced not just intellectually, but in my soul: I was a sinner desperately in need of rescue, and Jesus Christ was real.
That realization changed everything because I knew it had to. If what I’d read was true and the evidence said it was, then this wasn’t just interesting information. It was the most important truth in existence, with eternal consequences.
In the many years since, God has completely reoriented my life. Through reformed theology, particularly RC Sproul’s teaching, I discovered that the dead saints often speak more clearly to our current struggles than most contemporary voices. Reading the Puritans and reformers showed me that God’s sovereignty and grace aren’t abstract concepts, they’re the foundation of transformed living.
The truth is, I didn’t choose God. He chose me. While I was spiritually dead, consumed with myself, He pursued me with relentless love. That grace has transformed my marriage from the inside out, revolutionized how I father my sons, and given me a brotherhood within the body of Christ I never knew I needed.
Now everything I do flows from that love. Everything I do here on Nostr is through that love. Not perfectly, but purposefully. I’m the same man, but I’m not the same man.
If you’re reading this and something resonates, don’t wait. Pick up a book. Ask the hard questions. Examine your life honestly: Are you just happy, or do you have joy? Happiness depends on circumstances; joy transcends them. One is temporary satisfaction; the other is eternal security.
I promise you, investigating the claims of Christ will be the most important thing you ever do. Not because I say so, but because He is who He says He is. And that changes absolutely everything.
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Replies (67)
Thanks for sharing! I also loved Lee’s book and if you haven’t read Case for a Creator, I highly recommend
I will look into it. Thanks brother
Dude, that is so cool. My story is eerily similar, except I didn’t grow up in the church at all. My wife started going, and I noticed the difference and everything changed.
Praise god!
wow, great post. happy for you. i know that feeling you described :
"I’d sit alone some nights, confronting the uncomfortable truth that I’d become a narcissist. Everything I did seemed to revolve around my own needs and ego."
Praise God. Everything changes.
All glory to Him.
🙏
🙏🫵🏻
I investigated the claims of the bible. I did my degree work in theology and youth work. I became a pastor. But through continued practice, study and experience concluded that I had been intellectually dishonest. My wife and I left both the “church” and the version of “faith” we had independently adopted to find better answers. It’s been an interesting journey.
Thank you for your testimony. Beautiful!
Glory to God. It’s His work.
My favorite biblical scholar is Bart Ehrman (Professor of Religious Studies at UNC). Dude was on a mission to prove the bible was the literal truth and spent years learning to read the OG Greek of the earliest New Testament bibles that exist. Got to actually work with and study those texts. Check him out.
Bertehrman.com
Brother, I hear you and respect that journey. Seminary and pastoral work aren’t taken lightly. I’m genuinely curious: in your theological studies, did you encounter the doctrines of grace as the reformers taught them, or the moralistic therapeutic deism that’s infected much of modern Christianity? What specific claims did you find intellectually problematic, because if you’re still seeking “better answers,” that tells me you’re still wrestling with truth, which I deeply respect
Will do. Thanks for the suggestion
Glad you found happiness and peace. 🐶 🫂
Glad you found happiness and peace. 🐶 🫂
You’ve fundamentally misunderstood both my testimony and biblical eschatology. The mark of the beast represents economic allegiance to a future totalitarian system, not sacramental participation in any Christian denomination. My critique of Catholicism was epistemological. Ritual without comprehension, not apocalyptic. If you’re going to engage someone’s conversion narrative, at least demonstrate you’ve understood the actual content rather than constructing theological strawmen.
You’re mixing valid reformed critiques of papal authority with literalist eschatology. The reformers called the papacy antichristical for opposing justification by faith, not because Catholic sacraments equal the mark of the beast. Childhood participation in Rome’s corrupted system isn’t the same as conscious allegiance to Revelation 13’s economic beast system.
The Beast System is a false religious and economical system tied to a false ideology based upon idol worship and being saved through sacraments, which is what Catholicism is if you look into protestant historicism like I have, particularly through the lens of David Nikao Wilcoxson.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still learning this sort of thing, but I'm by no means a futurist (I was one for years until I realized how mistaken I was).
🙏
I grew up going to Roman Catholic Church. I went through all the motions but understood none of the meaning. I’d constantly ask my mom why I had to do all of the “stuff” and confess my “sins” to some stranger in a confessional booth. It felt hollow and mechanical. I left that tradition the moment I turned 18, determined to forge my own path.
But life has a way of humbling us. I got married at 20, had my first son at 22, and despite my best intentions, I found myself repeating the exact patterns I’d grown up resenting. Generational brokenness is devastatingly real. Another son came two years later, and after 10 years of marriage, I was spiritually and emotionally bankrupt. I’d sit alone some nights, confronting the uncomfortable truth that I’d become a narcissist. Everything I did seemed to revolve around my own needs and ego.
During this season, my wife started attending a non denominational church (Baptist roots). I was working weekend graveyards, so she took our boys with her. Honestly, I figured they’d all be better off without me there anyways as I’d wake up and marinate watching football all day. But over several months, I watched something remarkable happen to my wife. She became more patient, more sacrificial, more joyful. The change was so profound it got my attention in a way nothing else could.
God was working on my heart, creating a curiosity I hadn’t ever had. My wife had been quietly collecting Christian books, and I found myself drawn to Lee Strobel’s “The Case for Christ.” I devoured it in two days, and couldn’t put it down. The historical evidence for Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection was overwhelming. By the end, I was convinced not just intellectually, but in my soul: I was a sinner desperately in need of rescue, and Jesus Christ was real.
That realization changed everything because I knew it had to. If what I’d read was true and the evidence said it was, then this wasn’t just interesting information. It was the most important truth in existence, with eternal consequences.
In the many years since, God has completely reoriented my life. Through reformed theology, particularly RC Sproul’s teaching, I discovered that the dead saints often speak more clearly to our current struggles than most contemporary voices. Reading the Puritans and reformers showed me that God’s sovereignty and grace aren’t abstract concepts, they’re the foundation of transformed living.
The truth is, I didn’t choose God. He chose me. While I was spiritually dead, consumed with myself, He pursued me with relentless love. That grace has transformed my marriage from the inside out, revolutionized how I father my sons, and given me a brotherhood within the body of Christ I never knew I needed.
Now everything I do flows from that love. Everything I do here on Nostr is through that love. Not perfectly, but purposefully. I’m the same man, but I’m not the same man.
If you’re reading this and something resonates, don’t wait. Pick up a book. Ask the hard questions. Examine your life honestly: Are you just happy, or do you have joy? Happiness depends on circumstances; joy transcends them. One is temporary satisfaction; the other is eternal security.
I promise you, investigating the claims of Christ will be the most important thing you ever do. Not because I say so, but because He is who He says He is. And that changes absolutely everything.
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Sorry somehow this event was published twice 😂
All good brother
Thank you for sharing your testimony, brother. In a week where Satan has taken his mask off, it has been so refreshing to be reminded of the redeeming power of our God through testimonies like yours. He brings dead things back to life and chases after us even when we are running in the opposite direction. Praise God. Christ is King
Thank you for sharing sir; loved reading this testimony and pray it blesses all who read. Even as a believer, isn't too hard to let life make us mechanical, cynical, and just do ritual, much like some versions of church. Then we pray less, read less, start to fill life with stuff that appears to fill the voids... Before long the whole main mission is filed in the back somewhere. There's knowing about Jesus, and then there's knowing Him. And it is a daily decision for sure.
Will be checking out the The Case For Christ. Heard about it before, so guess your endorsement seals it for me! God bless.
Inspiring testimony. May Christ be with you, brother.
Amen.Aleluja!
GM 🌞
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Thanks for taking an interest in my journey. Christian theological systems span quite a wide range of traditions. I am not sure if I fully understand what you have in mind by your descriptions but my formal theology studies were from 2 institutions that would be classified as reformed, both with roots leaning towards the English Baptist and the European anabaptist movements. If I understand your question correctly then yes I encountered the reformed doctrines of grace, from both sides of the free will and predestination camps. While my first couple of years of study was done in New Zealand, the second half was done in BC Canada. I got quite a bit of exposure to the North American variants of what I call popular Christian culture.
The best way to describe my pursuit of a better understanding of the spiritual experience a human can encounter would be to first say that I don’t deny that “there is a there there.” Something valid and meaningful can occur in the human experience that gets labelled as spiritual. My current investigation is focused on the way language develops over time from both a cultural and religious institutional perspective, and how language, its use and evolution shapes the way a human can experience both their internal and external environment. Add to this, among other things, my study of psychology. This came about mainly because both of my parents were psychiatric nurses who spent their lives dealing with a wide spectrum of mental illnesses, including forensic. The result is that I have a deep appreciation of how complex the human mind is and how belief systems are constructed.
There are a number of intellectually problematic theological positions that challenge me but they are a seperate line of enquiry to the study of consciousness and some sort of theory of mind. One interesting topic has to do with the authority of the bible in and of itself. Try building a case for the bible being the authoritative word of God without using the bible. The normal approach would be to use the bible to prove the bible matches the claim. There are many more but probably not productive at this point to create a list.
Yes I/we are chipping away at the task of quantifying “truth.” I have spent quite a bit of time forming an understanding of quantum mechanics, and more recently the simulation hypothesis due to personal experiences that challenged my previous understanding of space and time. My interactions with these subjects have no answers in any historical religious system of thinking or experience. Looking to science, math and physics as well as other related disciplines has lead to some clues about a what I think makes up at least some of my conscious experience. Like I said earlier, my assumption is that there is a there there, but I don’t think I can wrap it up nice and neatly in my previous Christian clothes.
Contra, thank you for sharing!🔥✝️🙏😎
🙏 Praise God
The case rests on what we call the “self-attesting” nature of ultimate authorities: just as you can’t prove logic without using logic, foundational truth claims are necessarily self referential.
The evidence converges from multiple angles: manuscript reliability that exceeds any ancient text, fulfilled prophecies demonstrating supernatural knowledge, transformative power that has shaped civilizations, and internal consistency across centuries of diverse authors.
But ultimately, recognizing Scripture’s authority requires the Spirit’s internal testimony, not as intellectual cop out, but as recognition that spiritual truth requires spiritual discernment.
Your consciousness question highlights the same epistemological challenge: how do we ground any ultimate knowledge claims without foundational assumptions we can’t independently verify?
Best answer
🙏🫵🏻
Likewise. 🙏
Well said
“I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the father except through me.”
Christ is King
I don't believe a man wrote this.
Mrs follow up txt message vibes
The Book of Ecclesiastus by King Solomon helped me to understand my purpose on earth.
The Book of Matthew helped me to understand why Jesus was born, baptized and sacrificed for our sins.
The Book of Revelation helped me to understand the future of whats to come. A reckoning of good and evil.
I look at religion today - Bhudism, Hindu, Moslem, Taoism, Luddite, Christian and many in between - none of them are right or wrong. Just a measure of joy, love and comfort for our fellow neighbour.
And yet, humanity still manages to corrupt, distort and even kill in the name of church and religion.
Jesus asked for 3 things from us, before he died
1. To remember the significance of his sacrifice .
2. To love our Father in heaven as much as we love ourselves.
3. To love our neighbour.
Focusing on the Lords prayer helps me to be a better person. Flawed.
But pick myself up and keep going.
Thank you for sharing this awesome testimony! God is so good! ✝️
What might seem “feminine” is actually the fruit of dying to self centered masculinity and learning sacrificial love. The gospel doesn’t make men less masculine, it makes them truly masculine by teaching them to lead through service rather than domination.
Amen. 🙏
Have you?
just ordered The Case for Christ. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and feelings, helping others see themselves in what they were searching for.
You’re welcome. I love to hear stories of this. Enjoy every moment of it.
To some degree 🫂 🐕
Service is masculine to you?
Simp vibes
Why are you online? go to church
Church isn’t a building I visit on Sundays. It’s the body of believers I’m part of daily, whether online or off. If discussing the transformative power of the gospel threatens you this much, perhaps the question isn’t why I’m here, but why you’re so uncomfortable with the conversation.
Proof you're a Playable Character or go take a walk in the park.
I’m genuinely curious. When you wake up tomorrow, what’s driving you to keep going? What makes your life worth living beyond just biological survival?
I ask because attacking someone’s testimony of hope suggests you might be carrying some real pain, and that matters more than winning internet arguments.
The Case for Christ is a great book. There’s also a documentary about his story I believed with the same name.
I’m interested in his new book- something about angels and demons which is almost completely ignored in most churches.
Yes. There was a movie made but it’s not as in depth as the book. And yes, he does have a new book out on Angels, NDE, and demons.
Agent.
What drives me is to dis-empower those that create agents, so my kin, folk and our gøds can prosper.
Just a heads up, but Ehrman is actually one of the most questionable NT scholars out there and is an apostate at this point. Any major theological scholar will warn you about him. I'd recommend any number of scholars over him. You can find a number of critiques of his work from the best names in biblical scholarship. Be very wary of him. At this point, I believe he is simply a tool the devil is using to get people to question their faith.
Example of a response to Ehrman's scholarship:
Didn't intend to comment, but appreciated your original post and couldn't let this suggestion pass un-contested.
Zondervan Academic
How God Became Jesus
The Real Origins of Belief in Jesus' Divine Nature---A Response to Bart D. Ehrman
Thanks bro. I always try and discern any recommendations of “scholars”. I have a very reliable set of reformers I read and listen to and don’t usually sway far from them.
Best endeavors bud
Thank you for sharing that! David Pawson’s Unlocking the Bible series has indeed been a powerful and insightful resource for many people seeking a deeper understanding of Scripture. His ability to provide context, historical background, and theological clarity makes his teachings especially impactful for both new and seasoned Bible readers.
For anyone interested, here’s a bit more about the series:
"Unlocking the Bible" goes book by book through the entire Bible.
Pawson focuses on the big picture what each book is about, who it was written to, why it matters, and how it fits into the broader story of Scripture.
He teaches from a strongly Bible-centered, evangelical perspective, but with clarity and humility.
It’s a fantastic supplement for anyone wanting to go deeper beyond just reading or study notes.
Thanks again for the recommendation! definitely a blessing to many!
Thanks
