For most of my life, I believed in God but never followed him. Starting 2 years ago, I was an Atheist for a year. Now, I believe in Him again and since I've recently began attending a much more powerful church, I've gotten the push I needed to follow Him!!!

I made that decision today after months of pondering it. The best opportunity I have to get baptized is at my new church in exactly 2 weeks from now. (the 25th)

I'm aware that this is pretty early in my life for this to happen, and I still have a lot of the fun, easier life left before I go out into the world, but I'm still gonna do it now. It'll make my life a lot better (even if following God is very difficult, which it will be), and I'll get to bond more with my cousin!!! But most of all, I might make quite a difference if I'm a God follower this young, especially since I'm pretty unique for someone my age!

Singelli :

RockmanXLan :

tornadocam :

darthyoda :

FaithFighter : I thought you all would really want to see this.

Young? I got baptized at birth, so I really don't think 14 years old is too young lol.

tornadocam : My pastor was saying today that when you read the bible, you should dive deep into the scripture. Basically, studying the bible. So that's one thing that I've been thinking about doing. Thanks so much for the advice, I've been through so much that I think I'm strong enough not to give in to temptation most of the time, so that shouldn't be much of a problem.

Yeah, join the party! Haha, congratulations man, and I don't know why you're calling it young... Most people who are baptized were baptized at birth, so if anything you're a bit old . I like how determined you are to be the best follower you can be, but just remember; the ten commandments aren't there to control your life, they're there to guide your life . Sometimes, people think they have to follow every commandment all the time and it makes them really mad and really sad if they forget one time. Anyway, what you should take from this is it's ok to make mistakes. I know you won't regret getting baptized since you seem like you believe in God so intently .

Anyway, I'll be on my way now . Peace .

PacmanandMariofan :  

Reading your post, it seems like you were searching for something and thought you found God, but never really did, since you mentioned that you became an atheist after believing in God.  There are many people today claiming to have tried out the "Christian thing" but it never really worked out for them and in the end they abandon the church and decide that there is no God after all.  That is called a "false conversion" and it is brought about by listening to and adopting a false gospel which goes something like this:  "Just believe in Jesus and all your sorrows, pain and worries will disappear.  You will prosper and live a long and happy life."  This is in stark contrast to what the Lord Jesus Christ taught in the Bible: Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me."
What does it mean to deny yourself?  It means that Jesus Christ must be everything in your life.  It means denying your selfish desires and living for Him, putting Him first in every decision, every situation in your life.  This means that you will sometimes have to make tough decisions that goes against what the world sees as "being right" and you will not be popular for doing that.  The awesome thing is that God is with you through those difficult decisions and times.  Jesus never promised a bed of roses, but He promised that He will walk with us through trials and hardships that you WILL go through when you follow Christ.  Why?  So that you will grow spiritually and become fully dependent on Him for everything, because He knows best.  He knows things past, present and future.  The committed Christian has eternity in his/her view.  This life here and now on this earth is but a breath, that is why it is so important to KNOW where you are going when you die and to make sure that you have in fact accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.  Why do we need a Savior?  Like it or not, we are all sinners.  Just take a look at the 10 commandments in Exodus 20 (God's moral law).  I have broken every single one.  I have stolen, I have used God's name in vain, I have lusted, I have lied etc.  I deserve eternal punishment in Hell, but I cannot save myself.  That is why Jesus Christ came to this earth.  He lived a perfect life and did not break a single command.  He was sinless, blameless and innocent, but yet He took the punishment that you and I deserve upon Himself and He suffered and died for us on the cross, so that you can go free.  He paid your debt.  He rose from the dead on the third day so death has no longer a hold on whoever trusts and believe that He is their Savior.  This is the key.  If you truly repent - admit that you're a sinner - and ask God for His forgiveness and trusts in Jesus Christ as your Savior, God will grant you everlasting life.  That's a promise.  It's not just lip service.  It's truly surrendering your heart to Jesus and making that decision in your heart, since God ALWAYS looks at the heart.  If you have done that, he will make you a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).  You will want to do things to please Him.  You will want to dig into His Word, because that's the manual He gave us that reveal who He really is and what He wants for your life.  You will quickly find that following God will not be difficult at all.

If you have truly done this then baptism will be the natural next step.  I don't want to put a trip on anyone that was "baptized" as a baby.  I also got "Christned" (sprinkling of water) when I was a baby.  This is actually not the biblical way of baptism since a baby cannot make a conscious declaration of faith and have no memory of the "event" so I decided I wanted to be baptized when I was 34 after re-committing my life to Christ.  It was such a blessed moment in my life and I honestly hope that it will be the same for you.  Follow Him with all your heart.  People will disappoint you and let you down, but He never will.

MCJungleKitty : Most of the time in churches I see adults getting baptized. Like SoL@R said, getting baptism as a baby isn't the bible's way of baptism since since they can't follow Christ until they are older and they won't remember the event either. So I don't count that.

If I had felt it would be all about control, I probably wouldn't be getting baptized soon. I decided to wait until I knew what a godly life would be like, and that's when I realized what Christ-following is actually about.

Of course I'll be sad if I do something wrong, but I can just apologize to God later and try to make up for it, so I'll be alright

SoL@R : Thank you so much for that powerful post! That false conversion is similar to what happened to me, but no one ever told me it, I just thought it was that way because I didn't pay much attention to anything at my church.

I've read some of God's Word but I never finished the Bible. This time I'm going to and like my pastor was saying everyone should do, I'm going to dive deep into the scripture, not just read it.

Yeah, He definitely won't let me down. He lets things happen for excellent reasons. For example, if a family member of yours passes away, it's probably because it's an opportunity for you to connect more with God through your pain.

PacmanandMariofan :

Good.

Baptism, as far as I could tell from reading the Bible isn't a necessary part of being saved, and I don't rightfully understand it myself. (I'll do a more indepth study on it later). I do believe it's a symbolic command which we should keep simply because we were commanded too though however. Though I'm even iffy as far as that idea goes too as well.

I was baptized when I turned 12. I requested to have it done when I heard our local church was offering it. It was fun cause we got to swim afterwards.

PacmanandMariofan :

Oh this is awesome to hear! 

I do think that Sword Legion is right, in that baptism isn't necessary to be saved, because the moment you take Christ into your heart all your sins are forgiven and it's all in the past.
However, the fact that you putting the 'dead man down' so to speak, and doing it in front of your church is wonderful. The moment you accepted Christ in your heart, you put down all those things that held you down in the past on the cross and walked away. 

I do have some advice to give, if you'd have it. 
The first is, much like people have said before me, read your Bible. However don't make it a chore. Do it because you genuinely want to do it, and you want to learn the scripture. 
The second is to have fellowship with other Christ-Followers. Whether it be going to church, youth groups, Bible Study etc. 
Another is to talk to God. However you may do that, whether through prayer, worship(I'll go into this in a moment), fellowship with other people who follow Christ, etc.
And when I say worship I don't just mean turning on 'Christian' music and listening to it, but everything you do in your life should be worship to him in some form or another. Whether it be dancing, drawing, singing, or something else. Worship Him in all things you do. 
Remember that the passions you have, whether they be skateboarding, to playing video games, aren't bad as long as you don't let it take over your life. 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 tells us, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. " So things that once tempted shouldn't tempt again. 

I think one of the most important things to remember about taking this journey, is to always be thankful. Colossions 3:15-17 says, "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

One of the most powerful things we can do as a follower of Christ is to be thankful for all that He does for us. For all that He has created, all that He says. Even in situations where you might feel like you have nothing to be thankful for, there is one thing you can always be thankful for-being alive and living.

Another verse to remember, and one I would suggest keeping close to your heart is Philippians 4:6. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

When you're going through scripture find verses that speak to your heart. Write them down, and meditate on it(by this I mean to study them, pray about them). As you do, you'll see how those verses can fit into your life, becoming life versus. Meaning that no matter the situation, you will always have something to fall back on. They're your core values. 

The last, and to me the most important thing to know, is that your walk with Christ isn't about how often you read the Bible, pray, etc. It's not about the rules and guidelines. Everyone's walk with Christ is different, because we all have a different relationship with Him. That's what God wants, relationship with us.

Sword legion : Lol that's perfect! I'm not going to be able to swim after mine, but that isn't gonna stop me from doing it

Sincerely_Chris : Thank you so much for that powerful post! I've been going to a Youth Group for many years of my life, and that's given me a lot of help lately.

I don't seek truth.