Hello all.

[brad5]

Hello everyone. My name is Brad (in case you couldn't guess  but no, the "5" does NOT answer how old I am  ).

I am currently in the seeking phase. I'm not a Christian, but I think I'm in the pre-rebirth transformation phase. I read alot of "Evolution Vs. Creation" books, autobios of Christians, books that cover God's promises, and of course, the Bible Itself. I also attend Church, and a youth group ministry (I'm 17 years old).

My pastor started this leadership group in which people volunteer to help the Church in different ways. The three main groups are Setup (setting up the sanctuary before each sermon), television (he wants to get the sermons on TV), and something which I don't know the name of, but it's where people at the Church surprise its regular attenders on their birthday with different things.

Even though I'm not a "complete" Christian yet, since I've been volunteering at the local TV station for about 5 years now, my pastor wanted me to help with the television field, letting me offer what I know.

Onto the personal stuff, my passion is bowling. I've been bowling on a league for 7 years now (Well, I'll be starting my 7th season this coming Tuesday), and all my best friends are either bowling coaches or minor-league-veterans so to speak. So it's nice to have so many great bowlers to work with. I also watch pro bowling every Sunday after Church. With their help, and the studying of the pro games, I finally broke 200 last year, about 5 times. First I got 210, then I got 204, then 213, then 214, and then I managed to bust out and a 254 high score. I think I've been blessed with the talent and I just think God wants me to take full advantage of it because not only did He give me the talent, but He also gave me the in-the-heart passion for it and the drive to succeed at it.

Onto other things, my brother's passion is zoology, so we have a dumptruck load of pets (72 to be exact  ), and yet he somehow manages to take great care of all of them.

Anyway, I look forward to posting here. It looks like a great forum. See you all around.

-Brad

[Soldier4Christ]

Hi Brad and welcome to Christians Unite. I'm glad that you have come here and decided to post. I hope that we see more of you.

Perhaps you could explain more by what you mean when you say "pre-rebirth transformation". Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour? Or are you saying that you are just thinking about doing so? If you could give us a bit more information perhaps we could better help you and pray for you.

It looks like you are in a good place with your church and the things that you are doing there.

[brad5]

Well what I mean by that is, is I'm thinking about doing so, but also, I'm trying to understand where evolution, and natural selection, and all that stuff is flawed.

I guess transformation wasn't good wording, but I mean I'm still in the process of understanding the evidences of creation.

I am happy to say, however, that I've finally become open-minded, and now it's just a matter of thinking outside the box on the whole Evolution/Creation topic.

I am leaning towards Creation though, but I'm still not entirely convinced, nor do I know how convinced I should be to at least comfortably take that leap of faith.

Thanks for the prayers.

[Soldier4Christ]

Hi again Brad.

I sincerely hope that you do take that step toward Jesus. He is waiting for you to do so. There are a couple of threads here in the Bible Study area on creation that you are welcome to read.

http://forums.christiansunite.com/index.php?topic=6658.0

http://forums.christiansunite.com/index.php?topic=11019.0

Evolution is flawed in a number of ways. Those two threads will clearly point out those flaws.

One thing that I point out is that believing in Jesus requires faith for by faith we are saved.

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.


We can look all around us and the things that we see day to day all speak of God's creation. Such complex creatures, plants and such that no man, not even the most knowledgeable scientists can fully understand all the aspects of. Even those scientists that think they know all there is to know soon find that they have made mistakes in understanding the makings and works of things. We are not accidents. We are the creation of God.

It is apparent that you are being called by Jesus. It is the reason that you are seeking. Don't wait for your human logic to try to explain things to you. Listen to your heart for Jesus is calling you. He loves you and wants you to come to Him right now, today. All you need to do is to accept Him and His love for you.

[Terrapin Hill]

Hi Brad,
I'm a newbie here, too. I've been a christian for almost five years. I used to ponder on these same issues quite often. Faith in God is the only thing that works for me. Science can't explain love. God's word illustrates it so that practically anyone can easily understand it. God's perfect son willingly sacrificed Himself while knowing and fearing a horrible death so that an undeserving thing like me could have eternal life. God reaffirms my faith in Him daily. I hope you get to experience this for yourself.

I DO wish I were a better bowler. I'm a decent golfer, but, i do well to bowl 150. Music is my main hobby. I've been singing and playing accoustic guitar for 30 years. I'm absolutely blessed that I can use something I've always enjoyed, to serve God. I attend a small church in the mountains of West Virginia and I'm part of a group that plays bluegrass/gospel and some P&W music as part of our service.

Anywho, it was nice to hear from you and I hope we get to chat again, God bless,  Bill

[brad5]

It is apparent that you are being called by Jesus. It is the reason that you are seeking. Don't wait for your human logic to try to explain things to you. Listen to your heart for Jesus is calling you. He loves you and wants you to come to Him right now, today. All you need to do is to accept Him and His love for you.

But before I do that, don't I need to fully believe God exists? Doesn't it say somewhere in the Bible that it is impossible to accept Jesus as your saviour if you don't believe God exist? Or is belief in God's existence brought out by faith itself, as well?

Hi Terrapin Hill. Thanks for the insight about love, and Jesus.

I'm just the opposite of you. I'm terrible at golf, but great at bowling. Then again, you win since you're at least not downright terrible at bowling. I on the other hand, am not great at golfing at all. Fun anyway, though.

I used to play acoustic guitar for a little bit (not in concerts or anything, just for fun), but eventually just stopped. I don't know why. Maybe I should pick that ole' thing up again.

[Soldier4Christ]

My point that I was trying to make is that we do not need to place God on a table and disect Him in order to believe that He is real. This is basically what most scientists do. They attempt to prove or disprove God through science. Faith and belief in God go hand in hand. We see in Hebrews 11 a perfect description of what faith is.

Heb 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

It is as Jesus said to Thomas, the disciple that did not believe without seeing and actually touching Jesus, for himself,   "Joh 20:29  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.".

We do not need to see these socalled facts in order to believe that Jesus is real. It is something that God has placed in the hearts of men but most men want to use logic which obscures it, keeps them from believing. It is a matter of believing what we already know in our hearts, that Jesus Christ is God and that He came to earth in the flesh, was crucified for our sins, rose again on the third day and lives yet today. He is the one true living God.

You are seeking Him, you have said as much yourself, but you need to look for Him in the right places. Turn within and not to science books. Jesus is knocking at the door to your heart all you need to do is to believe what your heart is telling you, answer that knock, ask Him to come into your heart.

[ibTina]

Hello Brad and welcome...what Pastor Roger said here:

It is apparent that you are being called by Jesus. It is the reason that you are seeking. Don't wait for your human logic to try to explain things to you. Listen to your heart for Jesus is calling you. He loves you and wants you to come to Him right now, today. All you need to do is to accept Him and His love for you.

 is so true.... Jesus is calling you. I pray that your heart will be opened and you will see how REAL Jesus really is and how much he wants you to except His free gift of Salvation and to become a part of the Beautiful body of Christ.

  "while Jesus was on the cross... YOU were on His mind!"
        No greater love is there in this world!!

[Shammu]

Hello Brad, and welcome to Christians Unite forum.