My Religious Testimony
I have been able to trace my belief in God to an experience that I had
as a pre-teen. I was very much into making model airplanes, and I had
recently
gained a kit of a World War II plane with several movable parts.
Specifically,
the wings moved because of several small parts forming a hinge.
Unfortunately
for me, the kit was missing one of those small pieces. Being a bit
compulsive
in my behavior, I thoroughly counted and recounted the pieces to make
sure
that one was missing; then I searched for the piece here and there
where
the model kit had been in the house but did not find it. I remember
what
I did next, but I cannot remember why as my family was not very
religious
nor did they raise me with any specific religious upbringing. I prayed
to God that I would have that missing model piece. After going on a
vacation,
I came back to check the model kit. Again I counted the pieces for the
hinge and counted an extra one that had not been there before. I
counted
and recounted as meticulously as I had when I thought one might be
missing.
God (whoever or whatever he/she was) had answered my prayer. From about
that time on I held it as a fundamental truth that God existed. The
next
few years were spent using little pieces of knowledge from here and
there
to try to make sense of God and the universe. I ended up with a very
pantheistic
worldview. But (though I didn't realize it at the time) my first
experience
with God and some of my own intuitive feelings contradicted this view
of
God. My first experience of prayer, my continued prayers, and my inner
longing to go home (wherever that was) and to be with God--all these
things
went against the impersonal view of God that results from thinking that
the universe equals God. When I went to college, I attended some
religious
meetings, because they were going to talk about the Book of Revelation.
I was interested in the Book of Revelation because I was interested in
the end of the world. At these meetings, they talked about many things
from the Bible--things about which I had never heard; and at the end of
the meetings I felt impressed to commit myself to serve God and be
baptized.
As time has gone on, the significance of my decision and my
understanding
of the Bible have become clearer. I realize now more than ever before
that
true religion is not simply a matter of confessing a certain set of
beliefs;
it is a deep and lasting relationship with the Creator of the whole
universe.
(c)1999 Ian R. Brown, this document may be freely copied and
distributed
so long as the source is noted with the copy:
http://www.andrews.edu/~irbrown/Testimony.htm
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