Greetings Everyone

[Welsh_Sheep]

Hi Everyone,

My name is Helena. I became a born again Christian in 2012 and have been studying the Word and God has been cleaning up my life ever since. I'm originally from Wales, UK but now live in Greece ( a very difficult country to be a born again Christian in, no congregations what so ever and the population is 98% Greek Orthodox). I did not attend church in Wales either because all around me were either Pentecostal, Presbeterian, Methodist, Victory Church, Baptist, Church of England or Catholic. It was impossible to find a home church or any other Christians in my area. My husband and I have had to go it alone so far.

So anyway, a little bit of background..

I was raised Church of England. I attended church often, including going to the Cathedral School and being an active part in the Cathedral's services and choir. Of course it didn't really mean anything to me, I believed in God but was never taught anything about what Christ did for us and found the services boring and repetative. My mother was C of E but my father was an excommincated Catholic ( but he never considered himself not Catholic ). My older siblings are Catholic and the next one down C of E but she married a Catholic...the rest of the extended family are Catholic. However our home was not that religious and we mainly attended church at Christmas and Easter. Luke warm doesn't begin to describe the attitude in my family.

Jump forward some really difficult and testing family times for me and I was a young 20 something looking for meaning in life. I met my husband at 24 and together we went on a journey to discover the truth. We took the long way round doing it,  Christianity was not on the agenda however because we had "been there" and it meant nothing - eyes and ears were not yet open at the time. New Age teaching became prevailant and I was doing alot of meditation, yoga and learning about crystals, astral projection, brain wave entrainment, opening your mind, energies and cosmic consciousness and all that nonsense. However, no matter how much I learned ( along with my OH ) the more the questions came with no answers, the more people sounded vague and ridiculously unbelievable and like they were making it up. We realised we were listening to pure garbage. Thankfully God guided our research ( which was mainly my OH's - I had to undo a lot of indoctrination that reading was hard or boring and learning how to actually think logically) and led us to the exposing of all these gurus and liars, and started popping up Christian scriptures, websites and preachers. My husband has been more blessed by God with the ability to research than I have and he discovered ( and still does constantly ) many things leading to us studying the Bible and finding truth in the verses and concepts, in contrast with what we believed at the time. We had bought KJV bibles and started reading. I can't pinpoint an exact day but there just came a point where we knew it was the truth and everything else was a lie. I repented, I believed, I cried and felt ashamed and repulsed by how I had lived and knew it had all been wrong and wicked. This happened not only in one night but over months, years, it still happens to this day. I thank God for opening our eyes and making us believers, especially together, and I continue to thank him daily for everything he gives me. Christ's sacrifice on the cross finally made sense and it was by the grace of God that I understand and repented and believed.

Since then it's been a large learning curve in obedience, with alot of failures along the way that have served to teach me further and be more vigilent in following Christ's commandments. I don't pretend to be perfect but I abhor sin and was definitely a babe in the faith for a long time. I do not celebrate any festive holiday including my birthday for many years now ( which caused all sorts of agro with the family as to be expected), as I want to obey Jesus and am finally beginning to be able to take the persecution and tribulation from loved ones ( and others) who disagree. I do not have a television for many years now, and avoid many other temptations in this world and I've learned what it means to respect my husband and do see marriage as a representation of Christ and his church. Chris' feminism series was extremely interesting regarding that, I watched a ton of real life videos on YouTube afterwards and can see it clear as day now how the women are being deceived from a young age.

Jesus is Lord and there is no other way to salvation..

I'll wind up here ( I'm not used to writing about myself! ), I'm happy to answer any questions because I've sat here for a good 2 hours wondering how much to include and making sure it's not too long - but I'm afraid it is rather.

By the way Chris I've listened to all of your videos ( teachings and church discussions ) and read all your articles. I appreciate the work you put in and all your efforts and thank God for us discovering your ministry as you've helped in many areas.


Thanks all, looking forwad to conversing with you.

[Chris]

Welcome, Helena.

In Johnson's teaching on atheism, he recalls that many atheists he has met were once catholic.  It's good to hear that you and your husband do not belong to that group.

I'm learning from others that they have a hard time finding bible believing people to fellowship with.

Hebrews 10:24-25 KJV
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: [25] Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is ; but exhorting one another : and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

I'm glad we have this forum to come together to learn.  Before receiving the teachings on this site, which are not really Johnson's teachings but God's through his word, I had a worldly understanding of love, charity, and repentance.  These are foundational understandings that I have no confidence that those in the gatherings around me would proclaim.  Sadly, none that proclaim faith in Jesus sanctify themselves of the way of the pagans.  They put crosses on their buildings, vehicles, necklaces and even their bodies (tattoos).  They decorate the place they call the sanctuary with Christmas and Easter idols.

I asked Johnson about going to church buildings that have these things before I learned of the forum, and he shared the following verse:

Ephesians 5:11 KJV
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

Thanks for sharing your testimony. I hope that we all will be edified by gathering together here to learn.

[Dee Babbitt]

Hi Helena, welcome to the forum!

Thank you for your beautiful testimony, I really enjoyed reading that.

Praise God that He brought you and your husband to repentance and to Him.

I'm happy you found CLE, it's the best place to be :-)
It's a blessing to have a place to gather with like-minded Christians.

[anvilhauler]

Hi Helena

A welcome to the forum from me too  .  I really enjoyed reading your introduction and I hope you and your husband fit right in here and become established with the rest of the group.

[ThomasHGW]

Hi Helena, its nice to meet you. That was a very well written introduction and didn't seem too long I look forward to getting to know you more and conversing with you

[Welsh_Sheep]

Hi all thanks for the welcomes!

Chris - I thank God too I did not get sucked into a Catholic existence! I remember asking my father what mass was about ( as I was taking the bread and wine and didn't understand ) and whilst C of E believe it represents Christ, he said Catholics believed it transformed into Jesus' body and blood literally...I thought that was bonkers and based on that alone the Catholics are delusional! It is true that so many Atheists were once Catholics, they don't seem to realise they are not Christians so when they see the awful practices that happen in that church they just leave it all together. The ones I know consider themselves Catholic through and through, no matter what, like an identity or a nationality.
It is very difficult to find a church of believers, especially outside of the US. Yes the sanctification from pagan customs is so alien to all the "Christians" I've met. I don't know why really, as soon as I learned what everything represented ( and the crazy consumerism that surrounds the whole thing) there was no way I could ever go back! 
I'm glad there is this forum where we can all converse, learn and edify together as well. Thanks for your letter

Dee - Thanks!! Praise God indeed - and likewise for you and everyone else in here also. I look forward to getting involved in the discussions and getting to know you better I have wanted to get stuck in and start chatting already but thought I better allow a bit of time for the newbie to learn the ropes! I'm glad I found CLE too, how did you find it and how long have you been a member?

Anvilhauler - Thank you also for your welcome. I look forward to catching with you over time and getting to know you.

Thomas HGW - Nice to meet you too! Glad I didn't bore your socks off. Yes same here, I'll be getting over to the forums soon enough. Hope you have a nice week.

God bless

[TheChickenWhisperer]

Welcome Helena!  That was a great introduction and I am looking forward to getting to know you through conversation here.

[Dee Babbitt]

I thank God too I did not get sucked into a Catholic existence! I remember asking my father what mass was about ( as I was taking the bread and wine and didn't understand ) and whilst C of E believe it represents Christ, he said Catholics believed it transformed into Jesus' body and blood literally...I thought that was bonkers and based on that alone the Catholics are delusional! It is true that so many Atheists were once Catholics, they don't seem to realise they are not Christians so when they see the awful practices that happen in that church they just leave it all together. The ones I know consider themselves Catholic through and through, no matter what, like an identity or a nationality.

It is very difficult to find a church of believers, especially outside of the US. Yes the sanctification from pagan customs is so alien to all the "Christians" I've met. I don't know why really, as soon as I learned what everything represented ( and the crazy consumerism that surrounds the whole thing) there was no way I could ever go back! 

Your words express exactly what I've been through.  I Praise God I got out of the Catholic Church, too.  My mom and sisters are, like you say, "Catholic through and through."  And there is no talking to them (although I will still try) ... You describe it perfectly, it's like it's their identity/nationality.  Being Spaniards, most of that country is Catholic, and believe it's the one true church, believe it's the right place to be,  and it will be hard for them to be convinced otherwise.  It's really sad.

And I agree, the "Christians" out there don't question where the (pagan) traditions come from, and even when they do find out, they don't want to sanctify themselves from those celebrations.  Yes, what a freedom we have, when we stop participating in these worldly pagan traditions.  :-)

Dee ...Praise God indeed - and likewise for you and everyone else in here also... I'm glad I found CLE too, how did you find it and how long have you been a member?

Yes, we are all so very thankful to God, for bringing us to repentance, and for saving us.  I found CLE when searching about
Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is: but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
and while searching, I came across Christopher's article on the 501c3 churches; my son Joshua and I checked the church we had been attending for 20 years (Calvary chapel) and saw they were 501c3... and we never went back.  Instead, we read Christopher's articles, listened to his teachings, learned SO much about God's Truth, and have been here for almost four years.  We are so happy to have found this church family :-)

So glad you found your way here, too.  :-)

[Welsh_Sheep]

Hi Tonya - Thanks for saying hi. It's nice to meet you too and I look forward to chatting. I love your chat name!

Dee - Sorry to hear about your family and your situation, it is tough. We can chat about it more as time goes on, there's so much. My OH is also from a Greek Orthodox family( he never believed in it ) and although they are not strong in their beliefs there is alot of a similar mentality - basically like the rivals of Catholics and so wrapped up in meaningless tradition. Thankfully they have calmed down regarding our faith but it's still a sore subject. We can only pray your mum and sisters leave the CC one day, if it's God's Will they will. Unfortunately my father died 2 years ago and it was hard to come to terms with the fact he seemed to cling on harder than ever when I tried to talk to him about Jesus. He seemed only interested in God and when I told him about Christmas he tried to push it on me even harder..it's as you said they feel it's the one true Church and anything else is heretical...

[anvilhauler]

When I was young it was about the same with my mother.  If ever there were forms to be filled out for whatever or anything else and it asked religion my mother would always just write Church of England.  My mother had grown up in England in the years of the war.

In growing up none of us ever went to "church" or anything like that and I knew next to nothing about the Bible.  I was the first in my family to become a Christian and after that some of my family did too (but I'm not too sure about their conversions).  My mother died a few months back but even after about thirty years it was difficult to get her to leave behind her old ways and the things she would say.  That "Church of England" mentality had become so engrained in her life, but I also know it must have been difficult for her to leave any memories and nostalgia behind her as things are a bit different when living at a time when you're regularly being either bombed yourself or all of the surrounding area is being bombed.  The "church" became more of a community centre rather than having anything to do with salvation and sanctification   ....  and I see that is fairly how much it still is today with the likes of the Baptist church etc.

Anyway, in spite of all of the things my mother used to say, I can only hope she truly was converted.

Slightly out of context, but every time I read this, I think about my mother and her "Church of England" background.

Matthew 9 Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
16 No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. 17 Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.