My story, that lead to God...
i see that alot of atheist's and others believe all christians are a product of some sort of indoctrination or brainwash from youth. alot of them think that all christians are taught what to believe and that they are discouraged from study or any other sort of knowledge. this story is not to convince others that what im saying is right and they are wrong, nor is its purpose to bash anyone else's belief or lack thereof. this story is to merely point out that i was not raised to follow God, indoctrinated, or brainwashed. it is a story of how i came to believe what i do, how i got my faith, what God has done in my life, and why i choose to spread my beliefs. those who take the time to read this thank you and your more than welcome to question or comment. here i go, this could get long, this is my story...
My name is Jonathan Pernes, my friends and family call me nathan, I am 21 years old and come from a very large romanian family. My grandparents immigrated here back in 1980 with my uncle's, aunt's, and future parents from a communist romania. My grandparents are originally of the Eastern Orthodox faith. My grandfather became a penocostal believer when he was younger serving in the romanian national army back in the 70's. He was brought to a service by a fellow soldier and was filled with the Holy Spirit that night and became a devout man. So, my family believed in the bible as the inspired true Word of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, and living holy lives.
I am the oldest of 6 children, 4 boys and 2 girls. We were raised in a romanian penocostal church by my mother, my father drank and did cocaine and had no interest in God. This is the part where you guys say, " AH HAAAA, told you that your brainwashed". the problem with that is that i never understood what was being taught in the church because i didnt speak/understand much romanian. so, what i new of God was only that i should obey the 10 commandments and pray ( which i didnt really follow ). any way, my parents ended up getting divorced when i was 11, long story and personal, and me and my brothers lived with my father for a year and a half. He was never around and we began to go around and vandalize and smoke ciggarettes and drink with my uncle ( he was 15 or 16 ). eventually my mother got custody of all of us, my father went to prison, and we moved to Tampa. while there my mother was out of church and so were we. So lived the next 6 or so years without hearing anything about God.
My senior year i started to party hard with my buddies. I got a fake id and began going clubbing and drinking and sleeping around and smoking weed for about the next 2 years. I got a really good paying job, had a nice boosted b16 ej coupe, and lived life in my apartment with my buddy to the fullest. Every night was a huge party or clubbing. I must have slept with 4 different women in brief relationships at this time. I was young, having fun, and living life to the fullest as i could imagine. Then in the summer of 2007 i started to get depressed. I would party all night, stay up all day, and party again. I started to get tired of it all and began to think, " is this all life is about, is this all that there is? There has got to be more." My mother and family moved back to Georgia and i was left alone. they found a really great church up here and kept trying to convince me to move too. well, i lost my job, got in a fight with my room mate and got kicked out, got herpes ( just kidding ) and had nothing left. So, i moved to Georgia back with my family.
I still went clubbing up here and what not while the whole time my mom kept trying to convince me to change my life before it was too late and come to this church. I finally decided to shut her up and go once. i honestly didnt know what to expect. the very first sunday i went, God grabbed a hold of me and wouldnt let go. i went to a church called New Life Apostolic Church in Watkinsville, Ga. They taught the Word of God only, they believed in the Holy Spirit, Jesus is God, speaking in tongues, gifts of the Spirit, baptism in Jesus name, ect...they can be found here for those interested, http://www.newlifeapostolic.com/doctrine.htm Anyway, the first time i went i was blown away. the pastor preached on not being fulfilled with the things of this earth, about not finding purpose, about Jesus and the fullness of God, about more meaning to life. it was litterally like God had given the pastor a book containing my life story and all my thoughts. i was so intrigued that i had to find out how this man knew everything about me but i never met before.
So, i got myself a bible and began to read, starting in the new testament because i wanted to see what this Jesus was all about and how He apparently knew so much about me yet i knew nothing of Him. i spent about a full month studying every night for a few hours. i would read and every scripture that stood out to me or those i had questions about i would write down. i would look it up and see what science had to say about it, what psychology, sociology, theology,ect...had to say about it. then, i would come up with what it truly meant to me. as i would read and study it was as if some how the Word was alive and Jesus Himself would speak to me through it. i would have questions and then the next few versus would answer me. after studying i would look up scientific studies and experiments and papers done by men of faith and men without faith. it all led to more questions, so i decided to try and pray and go to God Himself with my thoughts and doubts. and EVERY single question or concern or thought i had the pastor would preach about the next service. i was like what in the world is going on. i started to fall in love with the wisdom and knowledge contained in the bible, i started to fall in love with this God that i had never known before. after that month i kept feeling the need inside of me to commit myself and my life to Jesus. i remember September 30 2007 was the day i did that. i was sitting in service during the worship ( songs) and began to see images of Jesus, on the cross hanging there in humility for my sins, and He looked up at me. ( this was all in my head) i began to cry suddenly and get chills up and down my spine, my insides felt as if they were on fire and i prayed, " God let me know Your will and what You want me to do." that sunday the pastor preached about the biblical meaning of obtaining salvation. He preached about repenting, accepting Jesus as Lord, baptism in Jesus name, and then the infilling of the Holy Spirit. i found this all astonishing especially since the past week i had felt i wanted to make a commitment to God but didnt know how to do it ( many pastors preach its just a prayer you pray or just saying i accept Jesus ) the pastor preached to plan of salvation according to the bible and said that once you go down into baptism you die with Christ, and are risen out of the water a new creature and that from that day on your to live your life according to the bible and turn away from your sins. so, at the end of service he asked if anyone wanted to make a commitment and turn there life over to God ( did anyone want to be baptized?) i went out into the lobby area where they had the tub of water and watched as my aunt went down and committed her life to the Lord. as i was watching, something came over me. I felt the same chills, the same fire in my chest, and began to cry as i heard a voice in my head that said," what are you waiting for? what are you scared of? come and give your life to me, i will be with you always." at that moment i kept thinking in my head, " im not ready, what if i mess up, what if i still sin?" the voice told me," dont put this off, come in and make this covenant with me, commit to me and i will uphold you". as this voice was saying this i felt a huge hand rest on my shoulder and push me forward. i turned around and there was no one near me. the hand was still on my shoulder and kept pushing me forward. that day, the hand of God Himself was on me. i decided it was time and i wasnt going to ignore the voice of God. so i went and got baptized.
since then, i have spent the last 2+ years studying, coming to more questions, having doubts, finding answers, trying to let go of my sins, quit smoking, and seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. one time i doubted and looked up one night and said, " God if Your real then show me a sign, let me witness a miracle." the next sunday i witnessed and man who had a shattered hand before and was full of pain, be healed in the name of Jesus. there were a few other healings done all to my eyewitness. it was not a show, no dancing, no fancy words or asking for money, they simply went up there, asked for prayer, were annointed with oil and prayed over in Jesus name. i witnessed my future girlfriend's grandmother, who had suffered from a stroke several years before and couldnt move her right arm, begin to suddenly raise it in the air with tears running down her face praising Jesus. i had been shut up by God and my doubts quenched with the miracle i had asked to see.
for the past few months i have really been struggling to seek the Holy Spirit. i have still been struggling with smoking and not wanting to let it go, thinking that if i could receive the Spirit that i could then quit. so one saturday night i prayed and asked God to make another covenant with me. i prayed that i would truly give my life over to God, that i would let go of everything, that i would live my life in service to Him, if He would then fill me with the Holy Spirit and prosper me. that sunday the pastor preached the old testament story of namun. He was told by the prophet Elijah to go and dip in the river jordan to be healed of his leprocy. the pastor preached, " that day God gave namun and order and that if he would follow that, then God would heal him." the pastor then continued on and talked about covenants that God made with the people, ( this got my attention ) and he then messed up his words and said this, " today nathan, if you would obey i will establish my covenant with you."( at this point i was in tears and wanted to rush to the alter to pray and thank God) the Lord had heard my prayer and made me a promise. that morning during alter call, i was the first one up there, i started thanking God for hearing me and praising Him and i began to feel something. my tongue got thick in my mouth and my lips were becoming numb. i started to tremble and had chills from my head to my toes, i felt like i was about to start floating. that day God gave me a taste of the infilling of the Holy Spirit to show that He was making a covenant with me. i spend everyday trying to get this promise and growing more and more in God.
there are countless other experiences i have had with God. He speaks to me through His Word, and by this i mean i will pray and seek God for direction or understanding or come to Him with a question and ask Him to answer me, i open my bible at random and the first thing my eyes fall on is my answer from God. this story is to tell of my experiences with God, where i got my faith and how, and the reason i witness to others is because my Jesus teaches to spread the Word, to tell others of His sacrifice and love, and to preach salvation to those who dont know how to obtain it. hope now that you all see i was not raised into this belief but came to faith by MY OWN SEARCHING! God bless you all and i pray He moves in your lives as you search the way He did in mine.
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Originally Posted by Dirty Octopus™
