“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” -C.S. Lewis I am a stereotypical Christian: I grew up in a church, I was baptized when I was seven, my parents taught Sunday School, I have been the president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at my school, and the list goes on. Although all of these things may be true, my faith is as anti-stereotypical as they come. My faith has experienced many changes, some good and some bad, and it has been influenced by a myriad of things. The biggest influencers in my faith have been my family, The Fellowship of Christian Athletes organization, and ultimately, myself. As I stated before, I grew up in church. In fact, the church I attend today is the one my father started attending when he was only seven months old. I have strong familial ties to my church and that is ultimately where my faith began. I sometimes reminisce back to when my father would sing Amazing Grace with me and my mother would teach me Bible stories. Together, my parents were my Sunday School teachers from third to sixth grade. I loved going to church as a family: my sister, my parents, and myself included. My sister, two cousins, and I even formed a singing group at my church in honor of my grandmother, Minnie (we were called “The Minnie Maberrys”) Needless to say, my family has been an integral part of my faith. I have sought encouragement from them and the wisdom they have instilled in me will remain with me for a lifetime. Another crucial facet of the growing of my faith has been the Fellowship of Christian Athletes organization, or FCA for short. I was introduced to FCA my freshman year of high school because my older sister wa... ... middle of paper ... ...uly does care. It may seem like a simple story now, but it was the moment that turned my life around for the better. After camp, I decided to make a change for Christ and have been persistently seeking His kingdom. I have seen a true change in myself and the world around me ever since that day at FCA camp. My faith in Jesus Christ has had its fair share of ups and downs. Growing up in the church, I have never truly had a “life before Christ” like so many others have testified about; however, I have endured some life changing and faith altering situations. My faith has been heavily influenced by my family, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and most of all, by me. If there is one thing I have learned in my walk with Christ, just as C.S. Lewis said, it is that Christianity is like the rising sun; “not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
The Christian faith has been a major legacy left by my great-grandfather. My great-grandfather started a Spanish church in Blue Island, Illinois, and raised his family in the ways of the Lord. He taught his children the importance of having a strong foundation in the Word and the importance of coming to church. His legacy is evident in the lives of his children and grandchildren. Even when at times different family members have walked away from the Lord, their strong foundation as children has often times brought them back to God. My grandma and my mom both had similar experiences, and if it had not been for the strong foundation in the Word of God, God only knows where they would be today and if I would even exist. I grew up in church, and have a personal relationship with God, that will enable me to be apart of the Christian culture at Southeastern
My life is governed by the beliefs of the Christian faith. The teaching of Christianity is the driving force that gives me confidence, hope and self-acceptance through God’s unconditional love. God’s love enables me in faith
After seeing though the eyes of my pastor I’ve come to realize the importance of faith and committing to one’s beliefs. Returning to church after two massive losses has helped my mother in many ways and it has also taught me as a young man how small things that I could do would turn to have a big impact on someone’s life the same way my pastor impacted my life and the life of my siblings.
While reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, one argument made in book four chapter three stood out further than any other argument. The work itself caused deeper thought about why Christianity makes more sense than any other religion. Throughout the course of this paper, I will first summarize the entire book to provide context, then explain the argument that stood out compared to the rest.
Growing up, I was raised by a single mother of four and I was fortunate enough to have an extraordinary mother, who always put her children before herself and sacrificed a lot for our well being. I was brought up, in a Baptist Christian household, which has strongly influenced my beliefs, values and life decisions. My mother made it her duty to help build her children’s relationships with God. By making sure, we knew the importance of having him in our lives, and that we knew the word of God. I remember as a child, my mom use to read us scriptures from the bible and explain them to us in an age appropriate manner. I greatly appreciate her efforts because she was the force behind my connection with God and it has made me into the women I am today. Some
When notified by a few peers that they had seen my name on a nomination list for the National Honor Society, I was surprised and genuinely flattered. After researching more about what it was, it was an honor to be recognized for all I do every day in order to be successful in life. Every year I make sure I take every opportunity to get the best education I can, like all honors or AP classes. My freshman year, I took AP Biology and have to admit I was initially intimidated, but I knew if I applied myself and kept on going through the course it would benefit me in the long run and I ended with a B and was ecstatic when I discovered that I passed the AP test. Passing one AP course gave me the ambition to go ahead and take more, so next year I plan on taking three AP classes; Psychology, Environmental Science and U.S. History. Along with these, I am very set on dual enrolling. I’m willing to work as hard as I can in order to ensure my success.
My faith walk has been circuitous. I grew from a childhood in the church to a young adulthood away from worshipful opportunities. Despite the distance I placed between myself and God there was always a calling that became harder to resist. I found myself involved in a growing number of outreach activities, frequent church attendance and a greater satisfaction with life in general. I became more comfortable living as myself. If that sounds vague or difficult to understand, it is. It is not a clear-cut, divine
As time went by, I felt I didn’t have a great testimony, that my story was not important. I found myself listening to countless inspirational speakers and pastors who had mi...
Religion and faith have been a part of my life since the day I was born. My grandfather has been a pastor at Selma Church of God for 39 years and my mom, along with my grandmother and aunts, run our churches worship team. One could only assume, I have spent much of my life in the church. From years of children 's church and Sunday school, I learned of God 's unconditional love for me and His constant willingness to forgive me of my sins. My family and teachers explained the crucifixion and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. As a child, I knew all these things, these wonderful things about my God and my religion, but it was not until my early teens that I began to thirst for more.
Being from the South, church is implemented into our minds almost as soon as we come out of the womb. Family is the main reason that we are the religion that we are. Personally, I am a Christian of the Baptist denomination, and a pastor at my church. I believe family is one of the main reasons I am religious today. Nobody has a greater influence on us than our families and my family has had one of the greatest religious influences on my life. In the article it talks about the impact that family has on religion, and my family has had a huge impact on my religion.
In addition to being influenced by church and religion, I have also been influenced by my family. My parents have always been there for me and supported me in all I do. They encourage me in my schoolwork as well as my extra-curricular activities. They attend all my concerts and things I participate in including church activities. My grandparents have also influenced me in what I am today. My grandfather is a minister and has always encouraged me to do well and have high morals. They have always done special things such as taking me on trips to show me how much they love me. My sister has also helped me be the person I am today. She has been a role model to me in many things. She has encouraged me to do well in school because she excelled and was valedictorian of her class. She also has an outgoing personality and has been a role model socially.
...ollowing in my sister's footsteps, I began learning from her experiences. We tread lightly around the subject of the religion these days. Thankfully, there are no wild debates at the dinner table on holidays. We respect one another's beliefs and agree to disagree about them. She often tells me, "You should come to my church!" when I call her seeking sisterly advice or needing a sympathetic ear. I have attended her church and admire how she's strengthened her parish and community. That's more inspirational to me than any Sunday sermon - as she is one who sincerely lives in the word, even when it's difficult for her.
In today's world, there are many different ways to get involved in religion; various methods have attracted groups of all ages and races. One popular association is FCA or Fellowship of Christian Athletes. This particular group has helped me to find Christ in my own life. There are a lot of unconventional activities to help the younger generations get involved. Some of these activities included Death Week, which focused on death and pain, meetings about family and divorce, lectures to help people reach for their goals, and encouragement speakers. There is a great deal of fun incorporated into all the seriousness, though. We went on ski trips, did missionary work, and put on skits. All of these activities involved Christ in some way, and helped the younger generation to realize that being spiritual was not 'uncool.'; When I attended the FCA meetings, it was the one time that I actually felt free from all my problems. FCA helped me to find my spiritual self and gave me a sense of completion.
I became a deacon at my church, and soon after I started to build a community culture with the people in my church who shared my beliefs and values. While not every person can agree on everything, having people with similar cultures get together to not only discuss religious beliefs, but discuss family and life is very helpful in growing as a person. They were there for me, and I learned so much from the people I created meaningful relationships and connections with. This made me so much stronger in my faith than I was before, and I felt that I could put my faith in a higher position in my life. During this time I had a son, and not long after another came along; thus, shifting the culture of my family a great deal. Raising my sons proved to be a different experience altogether than raising my daughter. While I still put my faith in God first and taught that to my children, my culture shifted to include more things for them, especially as they got older and became more involved. My life was no longer about me and my priorities, but my faith and my children above everything else. My personal culture was no longer important. It was all about my family culture and what pieces of my own culture I could incorporate to raise my children in the best way possible. The biggest part of my culture that I incorporated was my faith, as I said before. Another important aspect was my family values. I am a very family oriented
I was born into a Christian family; my father was a non-practicing Catholic and my mother was a protestant. I was raised to belief in God. The Social and cultural effect of my spiritual development and religious experience. As an adult my spirituality has grown and changed throughout my life; these changes effected the many events, decisions and circumstances; in my life which have effect my spiritual development and my religious experience. I have substantively have brought an important, meaningful quality, meaning and solidity to my life. Through these experiences, I have gained a understanding in of God, my faith and my church.