Now I don't want to get off on a rant here...

My Conversion

**Recently I had an opportunity to write about my conversion experience, so rather than starting with my testimony written 3 years ago, I decided to start a fresh.**

Growing up with a Catholic father and a Methodist mother I can recall at an early age that my parents did not see eye to eye on faith. My father had me baptized Catholic and my mother took me to Methodist Sunday School until I was seven. At that point my father decided that I was going to attend catechism class which I did until the age of fourteen when I was confirmed. Once in High School I did not see a need for church nor did my parents seem especially interested in it.

This continued until I was in college where I was taking theology and philosophy classes. It was at this time that my prideful nature took hold and I concluded that there was no god. I became an atheist and would regularly engage my friends and anyone else in dialog that quickly disintegrated into arguments. My general argument was that I was in control of my life and anyone that needed the crutch of religion was weak willed. Essentially, I deemed myself to be god of my universe and enjoyed debate with anyone who disagreed.

Eventually my atheism succumbed to agnosticism and deism because I began to notice connections in my life and in the world with others that could not be explained by my prideful worldview. I still contended that Christians were weak-minded, relying on a book of children’s stories otherwise known as the Bible. My deistic point of view was basically a comparison to someone blowing their nose in a tissue paper and discarding it. There was an entire world taking place on the microcosmic level of the tissue paper, but the “creator” could care less about that world.

The idea of a connected universe began to infiltrate my thoughts as I could see recurring themes cropping up in my life that had no apparent connections. A conversation, a commercial, a song all pointing to one idea or another, but none of which were apparently related in any way. It was at this point that I met my future wife, who was a devout and steadfast Christian and the daughter of a PCA pastor. She was always willing to discuss my objections to Christianity and never became angry. I was still rather argumentative about the subject and refused to believe the childlike stories of Scripture.

She challenged to me to go back to Scripture and re-read it. Since I was still rather prideful and had a nominally Christian upbringing I brushed this idea off because I felt like I had already been there and done that. Eventually I yielded to her suggestion and began with the book of Genesis. As I read and outlined the chapters I did not get anything more from the pages than that this was someone’s version of history. She suggested I move to something in the New Testament, something that would show the work of Christ more clearly.

And so I began reading the book of Romans. One night in my room, as I got to the 8th chapter, I read these words, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8: 31-32) In that moment, I felt a real and distinct presence with me and felt as though I was floating. I’m not bold enough to say that I was levitating, but it certainly seemed like it at the time. Just then a fear came over me, not of the presence, but from knowing that my life was going to be forever changed.

During college I lived a very selfish and hedonistic lifestyle constantly putting my needs above others in the pursuit of pleasure. My conversion took place in March of 2001 when I was 23 years old and still living that same life. While I did not immediately stop living that lifestyle after the Holy Spirit gripped my heart it was not terribly long afterwards that I began to surrender more of myself over to Christ as I became further sanctified and conformed in to His image.

Posted by price at July 27, 2007 04:27 PM | TrackBack