Hello
I'm a young Christian in my late teenage years from California. I'm currently chuchless since I am unable to drive to the church I would like to go or allowed to take other means of transport there. I wish I had a local body of believers I could be a part of so I've been seeking good Bible-believing communities on the internet.
I started out as a false convert from my childhood---assuming that I was a Christian since I was part of a family that regarded themselves as "Christian", went to a "Christian" school, attended a church building, was baptised, and of course merely believed Jesus existed. I never really thought about my sins. God was not in my thoughts, I just thought His only purpose at that point was to moderate people's conduct occassionally, but I just lived for my flesh and found His precepts as a nuissance. My younger self just wanted to keep watching bad shows, movies, video-games, and communicate profanely.
Some time near the beginning of my Freshman year in a public high school I had to take a biology class that focused heavily on evolution and this conflicted with the record of Creation that was taught at my elementary and middle school. This spurred on some research of my own into the matter. From there I remember coming accross some Kent Hovind debates which served as good information and also presented Bible verses that led me to learning the gospel.
Some time near this I was on my bed one night and feared that I had blasphemed the Holy Ghost in my thoughts. Even though I was a false convert, I did remember blasphemy of the Holy Ghost is the one sin that is not forgiven. So the possibility of me having committed this worried me greatly. Although in the end I found out that I had not committed such a sin, this made me consider if I was in danger of hellfire and I realized how sinful I was and hadn't lived for God. I had only considered myself up to that point. From there I repented in tears upon my bed that night crying out for God's salvation and wept at how horrible I had lived my life in rebellion against God. I didn't think there was any possibility of me going to heaven. I then remembered the good news of Christ from those Kent Hovind videos on how that God sent His only begotten Son to shed His blood on the cross, was buried, and rose again three days later. I rejoiced with joy that God gave me hope of salvation and offered mercy to save me from my sinful life.
From there I earnestly searched the Scriptures for more of the hope that is in Christ Jesus. At that point I remember coming accross your website and your articles helped show me some of the milk of God's word, so I thank God that He used your ministry in that way. In the following years I slowly came to learn about the dangers of certain holidays, pagan movies/videogames, new-age Bible versions, false converts, and the false doctrine of true believers in Christ being able to lose their salvation.
I was on this forum at some point before (although I just had one post XD) and I think since the forum has gone through a reset. I don't know if you remember me, I believe I had asked a question on some people thinking a world used to exist before Genesis 1:1 and the people who propogated that butchered some passage in Jeremiah and you showed me where they did.