[shukcb04]

Why should I convert to Christianity (currently I am an agnostic)?

[PAmedic]

great question.

there are many others on here better than me at giving you a good answer- but I'll give it a shot.

I feel being "born again" gives you a clear sense of direction or purpose in life. You gain a sense of being part of something bigger than yourself.

a true reason just for being alive. not just existing- which can be depressing. And hope for the future- things are always in control because God is behind them.

I'd say its made me develop into what I am today- I have many faults- but if there IS anything good in me- its because of what Jesus has done; thats for sure

maybe if I think harder I can give you a better answer- thats sorta laymens terms! something I can understand
hope it helps

[PAmedic]

moral compass

I'm struggling with my kids to explain WHY things are right or wrong.

seems like everybody has a different personal standard these days- nothing is black and white, which is sometimes true to a degree I guess-

but somewhere there has to be a STANDARD- I get that from the Bible.

don't kill people
don't lie
don't steal
don't be generally maelevolant (sp?)
do to others as you'd want done to you
love others as God loves us

that type of thing seems to be forgotten these days

[TallyW]

Why should I convert to Christianity (currently I am an agnostic)?

For me it starts and ends with the resurrection. Paul acknowledged that with it our faith is the only one... without it our faith is in vain and we're to be pittied as human beings.

So I'd say to look at the resurrection and the evidences for it. Hundreds of witnesses, explosive growth immediately following it, tons of martyrs who said they saw Jesus after he rose... a lack of a body, etc.

To me the Resurrection is the reason everyone should convert to Christianity. Budda, Mohammed, Joseph Smith... all dead and their bodies are in the dirt. Jesus' body was risen from the dead and many immediate witnesses to this event supported it. Our faith HINGES on Jesus' literal bodily resurrection.


Their are thousands of 'perks' that come with Christianity but I think you can find substitutes apart from Christianity. You won't find another man who claimed to be God, promised to rise again and who actually did it. That's a reason to say "Okay, I'll put my trust in THAT!" The resurrection seals it for me.

[BrysOn_G]

the Lord holds all of our lives in the palm of His hand. although it's impossible to comprehend that... it is not meant to be comprehended. we have been told in the Bible to not lean on our own understanding.

when i think about my faith in Jesus Christ... i think:

- God can snatch my life away at ANY moment and take me off to eternity.
- every breath i take... He has chosen to give it to me. this breath, and the next one, and the next one. this keeps me asking... what will i choose to do with my next breath? it could be my last.
- truth has been found in Jesus. prophecies fulfilled. archealogical evidence all over the place.
- i'll NEVER forget a quote i read in a book that said something like: "living things are too improbable and to perfectly designed to have come into existence by chance." someone created this world. someone MUST have.
- i just can't help but want a relationship with Christ. think about it. who will ALWAYS be a friend? who will always be there to listen? you cant trust a person. have you ever just experienced something unbelievable... just almost impossible to understand? maybe a recovery... or you survived something crazy. how could it have happened? how could you (or someone else) have survived?

the world is just crazy. there is no where on earth to find constant, never-fading peace. you have to look to Christ.

shukcb04, i hate reading, but i have read one book all the way through... i couldnt put it down. it's called "one heartbeat away." i'd be willing to mail it to you. when you read this thing, you just won't even believe it. i've been part of the family of God for 12 years now... and STILL when i read this book... i just couldnt believe the scientific, factual, undeniable proof of Christ. i'd happily mail it to you.

hopefully this will help a little.

[jimflamesfan]

You have a good starting point in that you believe there is a God.

Now, if you look at almost all of the other belief systems out there besides Christianity, you will see that most of them involve some type of works/rewards system.

Muslims at the end of every day have to ask themselves, "Have I done more good than bad"...b/c in the end there is only two methods of gaining salvation to them...either have the scales tip in the favor of good at the end of their life, or die as a martyr in a holy war.

Hindism has basically the same concept of do more good than bad...so that your good "karma" outweighs your bad karma, and in the next life you come back a little higher, until you reach nirvanna.

Those are just 2 examples...if you look at all other systems, they almost always boil down to doing more good than bad.

However, Christianity is more realistic, and I beleive that is because it is TRUE. In Christiainty, God realized that we could not do enough good on our own to be righteous enough to enter Heaven. Therefore, God provided a way for us to enter Heaven, through the sacrifice of His perfect Son, Jesus on the cross. Jesus paid the price that we deserved for our sins...and if we accept the gift that He offers, He can save us. Once we do that, God literally comes and lives inside of us...so then we struggle, because the old nature still exists...but God gives us the ability to do good.

Look at it...people are naturally selfish. People want to take care of themselves. The desire to do good comes from God...he gives us the strength to do it. We can't do enough good to be perfect, and perfection is required in heaven.

Think about it...God at one time destroyed all of the people on the earth except Noah and his family...basically good people. But it didn't take long for just a little sin to bring us back to where we are now. For Heaven to be a perfect place, it needs to contain perfect people.

So, to get to heaven, we don't need to be just more good than bad...we need to be perfect...the problem is, we're not. One slip-up, and we're not eligible for Heaven. But Jesus came, and He lived a perfect life. He didn't deserve to die, but He voluntarily took the punishment that we deserved. And so, by trusting in Him, that is the only way we can obtain salvation.

[Jasmen8182]

The immutable nature of God-constant, as Brys put it-always love, always a friend. Christianity makes the most sense to me; the things that SEEM to contradict aren't real contradictions. There are a few good books that go into all of that-people setting out to disprove and becoming born-again. I see in my own life how Jesus cared for me (he is our intercessor-one mediator btwn. God and man), I was blessed and had opportunities despite hardships. The reason I failed is b/c of me- he didn't move. Yet God still takes us back b/c of Christ. There are so many facets to think abt., so much to explore. My prayer is that God show you the truth with your personality, your background, his plans for your future.

[FlamingYalieWahoo]

Dear Shuk - may I offer two books that I think you would find very helpful. N.T. "Tom" Wright's - a very readable British New Testament scholar - Simply Christian which argues for Christianity based on current issues and the Bible of course. Another very good book for someone in your circumstances is by Francis Collins the head of the human genome project called the Language of God: A scientist presents evidence for belief. He, too, was an agnostic and then an atheist but he kept encountering Christian folks who he thought should have lost their faith because of their tragic life circumstances. That's when he started to ask questions - his nephew is a student at Liberty.

[4everfsu]

I am so proud of my LU brethen giving guidance to a lost soul. I could not add anymore then what is said. Other then if you want you can exist without God, but you cannot really live a life without or apart from God. The reason it is called a new birth, a new life follows once you make that decision. Not to sound negative or turn you away, but you dont have to believe in Hell to go there, we are all born to go there. Even eternal life is destined for us, Hell is reserved for us. because of our natural birth.
When you were born say in NC and the USA, what did you have to do to be a citizen of the state and country. Go to the court house and swear an oath. NO, your birth alone made you a citizen of both. Therefore our earthly adamic birth( Gen 3, because of Adam and Eve sin in the garden, sin nature passed on to their seeds), sealed our fate that with out Jesus Christ our eternal life would be in Hell.
Now on the other hand, Heaven, when you deposit your faith into Jesus Christ, the New/2nd Adam, you have a second birth, you soul is saved and John 3:16( as BR Lakin would say, the Gospel in a nutshell) and you are therefore a new creature in Christ (II Cor 5:17).
My friend, my prayer is that you will come to know Jesus Christ not only as Lord and Saviour but the best friend you will ever have in this life(Prov 18.24).

PS I really only was going to write the first two lines, but then Someone got a hold of me and I could not quit writing

[shukcb04]

" When you were born say in NC and the USA, what did you have to do to be a citizen of the state and country. Go to the court house and swear an oath. NO, your birth alone made you a citizen of both. Therefore our earthly adamic birth( Gen 3, because of Adam and Eve sin in the garden, sin nature passed on to their seeds), sealed our fate that with out Jesus Christ our eternal life would be in Hello
Now on the other hand, Heaven, when you deposit your faith into Jesus Christ, the New/2nd Adam, you have a second birth, you soul is saved and John 3:16( as BR Lakin would say, the Gospel in a nutshell) and you are therefore a new creature in Christ (II Cor 5:17). "

uh what?

[JDUB]

he's saying that just like your a natural born citizen of the united states, your naturally born going to hell, because you are a sinner by nature.

[shukcb04]

he's saying that just like your a natural born citizen of the united states, your naturally born going to hell, because you are a sinner by nature.

that sure is an optimistic view of life lol

[Fumblerooskies]

You all are going to scare him to death...
...yes...all have fallen short of the glory of God...and the wages of sin is certainly death...but there is good news.

Christ paid the debt for all of our sins on the cross. We don't have to earn God's love or salvation...it is freely given through His grace and mercy. All you have to do is believe...and accept that Christ died for you...for your sins...and put your life and faith in Him.

[FlamingYalieWahoo]

Just in case anyone wants to take a look at the Collins and Wright books.

http://www.amazon.com/Language-God-Scie ... 663&sr=8-1


http://www.amazon.com/Simply-Christian- ... 799&sr=1-1

The Simply Christian link lets you "look inside" the book.

[JDUB]

yeah, but there is no need to try to hide the truth. i figured i would just be blunt.
the good news is, it is really easy to be saved from going to hell. Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life, and died, taking our punishment for us so we don't have to.
for an indepth look at who Jesus is, what he did for you, and how you can be saved, click here http://home.trbc.org/index.cfm?PID=9019

[paradox]

Why should I convert to Christianity (currently I am an agnostic)?

As a former agnostic myself, I decided to pick up a bible one night, and stumbled upon the sermon on the mount. I was awestruck by the wisdom and authority of Jesus' words. This
was the first time that I came in contact with the reality of the living Christ. Later, in a quiet moment, and after much deliberation, I yielded my life to Christ. At that point, he came into
my life and started to renew my spirit. There have been many challenges along the way, but I remain thankful each day for what Christ has done and continues to do in my life.

The scriptures clearly teach that if you earnestly seek him, then you'll find him. I'd start by reading the gospels so that you can actually discover for yourself who Jesus is and how he addresses the core of our existance. Once there, you may find yourself drawing closer.

[4everfsu]

Paradox thanks for sharing that testimony. For the person asking about finding God of all the Gospels I would say read John as it is the easiest of the Gospels to read. Each Gospel was written for specific people, reason as noted below.

Matthew shows Jesus as King, Jew to the Jews written for the Jews, keyword there is Kingdom.Christ is presented at the Promised Saviour, the branch of David, dealing with past fulfillment. The symbol on the scroll for this gospel was a Lion, of course royalty

Mark shows Jesus as Servant, written for the Romans, keyword there is straightway, Christ is presented as Powerful Saviour, the branch shown as a servant. dealing with present and work, the symbol on that scroll was an ox, symbol of a servant.

Luke shows Jesus as perfect man (Luke was the only Gentile writer and was a trained Doctor probably at Tarsus medical school) ,written for the Greek, keyword there is Son of Man( about 80 times), Christ is presented as the perfect saviour, the branch is man, dealing with future and progress, the symbol on the scroll is picture of a man.

John show Jesus as the Son of God,written to the World,keyword there is believe(98 times) the word life also appears 36 times, Christ is presented as the personal saviour, the branch is Jehovah,dealing with eternity and values, the symbol on the scroll is that of an eagle

That is the Gospels in a few words, but John starts with Christ from the beginning of time and if you accept him or who ever does, will be with him forever after this life, time has ended for all eternity.

[shukcb04]

4everfsu, you have officially confused me lol

[4everfsu]

Don't feel bad, I seem to do it to many including myself. Basically start reading the Gospel of John with an open mind and soul.

[paradox]

4everfsu, you have officially confused me lol

It's really not that complicated. Open up a Bible and read the words of Jesus. You'll either be compelled to Him or you'll completely spurn Him. I think that you'll find that there is no neutral ground.