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Monday, October 5, 2009

My Beliefs, My Experience, and Setting the Record Straight..

                                                 

Well, hello. I thought I would take an opportunity to introduce myself. I am Controversy's cousin, but as you will soon notice he and I disagree on a lot things, especially religion. I'm glad to be joining this site as a proud, Born-Again, non-denominational Christian. I am not stupid, I am not brainwashed, I am not uneducated (I am getting a double-major in Biology and Creative Writing, Pre-Med. Yes, I want to be an OB/GYN after medical school, and if that grosses you out, well, someone has to do it, right?). I am a fundamentalist when it comes to the Bible, and I am always up for a good discussion of actual, Biblical text... but when it comes to personal beliefs, honestly I won't waste my breath fighting because there is nothing to talk about between me and a potential opponent unless that person also beleives that the Bible is the Truth and God's Word.

When I was younger, being a Christian was something that was a part of me mainly because of my mother, and the fact that it made me feel good. But when I went through my first year of college, I was on my own and little by little I began to compromise the standards that I'd always secretly wanted to break. I didn't drink, do drugs, or have sex (proud virgin talking), but I did end up in a relationship that I shouldn't have been in, and when I broke out of that relationship, I went through a very hard time. It wasn't exactly depression, but it was very close to it. I felt so lost and so bereft and so raw with pain... I had never felt that kind of loss before. Sure, I broke up with him at my mother's request because she saw the change in my character and she knew I needed to get back on track. But I really liked him and even though I knew he was bad for me, we had really good times together and the attraction between us was so strong...


It would take so much more than this blog post to describe how lost I felt. It was at this time that I rediscovered my connection with Jesus. Before you click away to another blog post, hear me out. I repented to God for turning away from Him and I began to pray and read my Bible again. I read the Psalms over and over, because my self-worth was so low and I needed to be reminded of how God loves me. It didn't happen overnight, nor in a week, nor a month (it took time for me to break myself down, it would take time for me to build myself up), but God gave me the strenght to go through the day-to-day and one day I woke up and I was over my ex. Basically, over weeks and weeks of prayer and dedication, I discovered the goodness of God for myself without my parents' help, and I realized that I truly couldn't live without Him. The peace and the joy that I feel daily is overwhelming, and I wasn't feeling like this when I was disconnected from my Maker.


I need to take a break here and stress to you people: if you are curious/doubtful about God, ASK HIM TO REVEAL HIMSELF TO YOU! Do NOT rely on what OTHER people think. I'm not bashing the other writers on this blog, but you should view this blog as what it is: a gathering of opinions. Why don't you try crying out to God and ask Him to show himself to you?


That would have been a perfect place to end, wouldn't it? But I'm not finished :) A very wonderful young man by the name of Controversy asked me a question about Christianity that I couldn't answer at the time, and I felt very bad, because it was a very smart and valid question. He asked me over Skype, "If God is so good, then why did He command the Israelites to destroy the inhabitants of many towns as they marched toward the Promised Land?" Well, I'm going to throw a lot of information at you all in a short time, so hold on to your office chairs.


Basically, the Bible says that "God is the same yesterday, today, and forever." This means that the same love that He has now is the same love He had back then in the New Testament. The problem with most people is that their view of God is warped. IF God is love, and if He is PERFECT as the Bible says, then He must equally hate. God does NOT hate his creations. He hates the things that destroy his people, like sin and wickedness---the people that God ordered the Israelites (who were his chosen people) to destroy, were people who were dedicated to sin, wickedness, and false gods; God did not want these people to lead the Israelites astray and lead them to destruction! On the flip side, you also read in the Bible what happened when Israel failed to carry out God's instructions. The tribes that worshiped false gods attacked Israel. NOT because God was punishing them, but because by sinning, the Israelites removed themselves from God's protection.


In conclusion, Controversy is right that God is love, but the thing is that God is also holy, so holy that He cannot be around sin. Just because a lot of people have venom towards the Most High God doesn't make Him any less of what the Bible tells us He is.


And that's all for now folks :) I'm gonna do a follow-up post on this later. Time for bed...

14 comments:

Azazel said...

@ Cuzzo.
God is love? Huh? Isn't that a serious oxymoron?
If God is love, does that mean that love is God?

Azazel said...

So what happened to free will/free choice @
He hates the things that destroy his people, like sin and wickedness---the people that God ordered the Israelites (who were his chosen people) to destroy, were people who were dedicated to sin, wickedness, and false gods; God did not want these people to lead the Israelites astray and lead them to destruction

Why was God makin the decisions for the israelites? I thought we have free choice to choose whether to sin or whether not to sin? Oho, so God was now takin a stand and makin decisions for his chosen ones? And in other for his ppl not to go astray, he had to kill everybody? Pregnant women? Children? babies? men? Cattle?
Cuzzo lol i need answers, I find it really appalling that many christians find it so easy to explain away genocide on such a huge scale. No wonder, we are able to turn a blind eye to genocides in darfur

Enoch said...

I stopped reading at this point "honestly I won't waste my breath fighting because there is nothing to talk about between me and a potential opponent unless that person also beleives that the Bible is the Truth and God's Word."

Azazel said...

@ Enoch
They will accuse u of acting like a know all..
@ least she's being honest with her own, she doesn't pretend to be a christian who is open to debates about her beliefs..

Myne said...

Gentian Sage, no mind my friend controversy. It's nice to read from you. I was hoping for fiction though, I saw your old blog and I was really impressed. Nice post. Keep the faith.

Azazel said...

Lol My new hit man..
Patience is a virtue...
She's gonna do fiction, she was just introducin herself.

Omenka Helen Uchendu said...

@Myne Whitman: Thanks! I will definitely be bringing some fiction in the future!

@Enoch: You really stopped reading just because I said that I have no common ground with someone who does not believe the Bible is the truth? Are you serious? I read your posts to the full, and I respect you for your views. How unprofessional.

Omenka Helen Uchendu said...

@Controversy: You are an educated young man. Reread my post. There are rewards for following God, one of which is His protection. If you look at what I wrote, the Israelites were FREE TO CHOOSE TO DISOBEY GOD, and WHEN THEY DID, they were attacked by enemies that were not SENT by God. God told the Israelites to obey His commandments if they wanted to be a part of His protection. God will not force you to follow Him. But if you, you are party to the benefits that come from a right relationship with your Maker.

Azazel said...

The enemies where not sent by God cuzzo?
Honestly again I ask u, are u sure it's the same bible u and I read? I've seen tons of times in the book of judges when God would let this kingdom enslave israel, then save them, then do it again and then rescue them. Cuzzo u really need to know about the bible to argue about it o

Enoch said...

@Controversy
"They will accuse u of acting like a know all"
I've grown insensitive to inaccurate criticisms.

@Gentian Sage
"Unprofessional?"
If you reserve the right to disregard opinions of folks that don't believe the bible, I reserve the right to ignore ideas from folks that don't only admit to, but celebrate, close mindedness.

I consider it to be the worst kind of "sin" for a rational mind.

It leads to untested convictions and that's un-professionalism of the worst kind.

jessica said...
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jessica said...
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Michael Olafusi said...

Well I see the points in Controversy's statements. I remember losing a friend just because I tried convincing her that the God that let people die in Natural disasters and war is a loving and caring God. I also lost (this was very painful) my best online friend just because I tried preaching to him after I got bornagain.
Really, I can't defend God or falsify things in His (or better my point's) favour.
I never really took religion of God serious until one day, sometime unusually usual happened.

Keesha said...

The Old Testament contains some graphic descriptions of violence. Some Christians are disturbed by the thought that God commanded his people to totally annihilate the people of Canaan. The bloody violence seems to be inconsistent with one of the Ten Commandments: “You shall not murder”. It also seems to be inconsistent with the message of the gospel. Jesus urged his followers to turn the other cheek, when some one strikes them. The violence of the Old Testament does not make sense in the light of the gospel.

A common response to this violence is to reject the validity of the Old Testament as a revelation of God. Many people just assume that the Old Testament people got things wrong.

My approach is different. I agree that the Old Testament characters often got things wrong. They misunderstood the character of God and they did not understand his attitude to violence. Their behavior was often tainted by the violence of the cultures in which they lived. However, I am not prepared to accept that the Old Testament describes a God who loves violence. The picture of a violent and blood thirsty God that many authors see in the Old Testament is totally wrong