growing up Christian Options

[eunie03]

I've lived a pretty dogmatic life. I haven't known much else. I started talking to a friend who's a philosophy major, and he up and tells me he thinks we just disappear after this. We have no soul, no spirit. We just live and die, and decompose. Like we never existed.

It's kind of pointless then. To live a Christian life.

I've been trying to get away from it since the end of high school. Christianity, I mean. But no matter how hard I try, it's so hard for me to believe that this is it. That there's no heaven or hell. Then I think about all the years I've wasted going to church and essentially just talking to the ceiling in my room.

It's just as easy for me to doubt it all.

Anyway, the point of my topic. If you've grown up in a church, you've probably noticed how much stronger the fire is in the newborn Christian. Growing up with it... it just makes everything mundane and routine. Have you ever denounced Christianity, just so you can have that newborn fire? Do you think it's a sin? To want to experience the world and gain some sort of insight before blindly following the faith?

[starlette]

For me, as a little girl, I never got to go to shurch. Then I made friends with a girl, so I went to shurch with her. willingly. It was so exciting to be around this group of people who beleived in someting. They sang songs and gave out free candy too. That didn't hurt. And then I moved away from my mom and in with my cousin, who was very very religious. I wasnt allowed to watch Rugrats. She used to get this Christian movie guide that would count all cuss words, even divide them into categories like hell and damn versus the f word and if they said Gods name in vain, it counted sexual references, implies nudity, sex scenes, homosexual references, everything. Then it gave it an entertainment rating and a Christianity rating. out of 4 stars positive and negative. There was even an entrie reveiw. I wasnt allowed to see the mummy, becuase it got -1.5 stars, because it was "encouraging the occult". It was rediculous. So for a long time I didn't like being Christian. I wasn't trusted, I wasnt allowed to go anywhere or do anything. I wished I could be like everyone else whos families werent religious when they were aloowed to go seemovies and go to parties and have fun. But then I stopped going to church, ( we all did) and the movie reveiws stopped. I was allowed to make my own decicions, and learn what i wanted to about religion and what not. And here I am, almost 20, still a Christian. I try to pray everyday, just to find strength to have faith. I find that going through this hell hole of a world is a lot easier when you've got the big man on your side. But it is hard sometimes. One minute I'm praying, then next I've forgotten what I'm doing, and I'm up to trouble. And I pray all the time that God can help me keep my mind on track, because I've lost the initial fire as well. But the best thing for you to do is just want it. If you want the fire, you may not get it, but you will get a renewed sense of faith, and that may just help get you through the day. And I hope you can find what you are looking for. :)