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foundthelight
Member
| Joined: | Thu Mar 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | Central, New York USA |
| Posts: | 34 |
| First Name: | Willis | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Ex Calvinist/Reformed. Roman Rite Catholic as of 3/22/08! |
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Posted: Tue Apr 8th, 2008 12:16 pm |
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Where do I start? My story is a long one involving Agnosticism, Presbyterianism, Reformed Baptist leanings, sin and a longing for truth.
I was born into a Presbyterian family. My parents were good church goers and, as is typical, had very little knowledge of the foundation of their faith. I grew up with church and Jesus but had no knowledge of what made Presbyterians different from say Methodists or Baptists. I learned all the bible stories in Sunday School and even had fun. When I went into the NAVY in '72 I pretty much gave up on organized religion. I attended church only occaisonally and was pretty much agnostic.
I got out of the NAVY, went to college, met my wife, got married and moved to Syracuse where we started attending a Reformed Church nearby. A few years later, our second child died at the age of six weeks following heart surgery. We were devestated, depressed, and our church attendence slowed and stopped. We moved top California, then back to New York where we learned that our youngest who was then two was suffering from an Autistic Spectrum disorder called Pervasive Developmental Delay. The doc's in California had just kept telling us not to worry, some kids are just slow to talk! It just happened that there were services available for pre-school children in the county and people eager to help. With the early intervention we able to remediate the problem and today you wouldn't know. If we hadn't caught this before age three the outcome would have been different.
Fast forward a few years to Dallas Texas. Our older son had been struggling in school for years and we couldn't find out what was wrong. We had him evaluated by a psychologist who was not affilliated with the schools. He was a classic case of dyslexia except that he could read fine. We immediately went to the school district with this diagnosis and were told we couldn't speak with a school psychologist to set up a plan for four months! This was two weeks before school was to start! We home schooled that year and got him help from a private tutor specializing in dyslexia. We then put him in a private school which again specializes in dyslexia.
It was at this point that my wife turned to me and said,"You know, your **** doesn't stink. Everytime our boys have needed special help we have been where it is available."
It hit me like a ton of bricks. This wasn't due to me. It was due to God. We started attending a local Presbyterian Church and I was urged by the Holy spirit to start learning about the roots of my faith. I spoke with my pastor and started a semi systematic reading of theology. Particularly Reformed Theology.
Fast forward a few more years. We were back in New York. I was an elder in my church and fighting a losing battle against liberalism. We were looking for a new pastor, our interim pastor, placed there by the Presbytery was as liberal as they come. He spoke of such things as the "greening of scripture" which is a code for re-interpreting it in deference to today's society. What was sin is no longer because we only care about love and a loving God would never reject anyone. I had many arguments with this man. I pointed out that we are sinners and need to recognize our sin and repent in order to be saved. He called me judgemental. When the PCUSA voted to allow the unrepentent to be ordained as ministers I gave up and quit.
One discussion I had with him after resigning as an elder was concerning Homosexuals. He asked why God would create this group of people only to condemn them. I retorted that they had a choice to continue in their sin or repent. I was hit by another ton of bricks.
My answer made me re-think the Calvinist/Reformed doctrine of Predestination and Irresistible Grace. Once I realized that this doctrine was a perversion of the Word I started studying other Christian faiths as well as the writings of some of the church fathers. Once I understood the role of our free will in our salvation and the Real Presence in the Eucharist the barriers were gone. I came home to the true Gospel. I started my journey to Communion with Rome.
Last edited on Tue Apr 8th, 2008 01:42 pm by foundthelight
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Therese Z
Member
| Joined: | Sat Mar 10th, 2007 |
| Location: | Chicagoland, Illinois USA |
| Posts: | 55 |
| First Name: | Therese Z | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Cradle, Cultural, Lapsed, Passionately Catholic |
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Posted: Tue Apr 8th, 2008 01:21 pm |
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It's converts like you that re-ignite my own passion for Jesus Christ and His Church!
It's learning that it's not us, it's God that changes everything, absolutely everything in our lives. Even if we ignore God for awhile after that revelation, it won't be long before we are drawn towards Him through His Grace. Thank you for sharing your journey in this post!
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Didi
Member
| Joined: | Mon Mar 3rd, 2008 |
| Location: | Oregon USA |
| Posts: | 182 |
| First Name: | Didi | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Catholic; almost left; Now an On-Fire Catholic! |
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Posted: Tue Apr 8th, 2008 06:22 pm |
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Thank you for sharing your story! Isn't it amazing how you were at the right place at the right time to get the help and support you needed? I read a long time ago (wish I could remember where!) that we are called to have "retroactive" faith -- believing in advance what only makes sense in reverse. We've had this happen many times in our lives as well -- the challenge for me is remembering this in the middle of turmoil!
God bless you and your family and welcome home!
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