₦airaland Forum

TheSixthSense:
That's how it starts, the devil doesn't sleep, seek Jesus show effort you'll find Him, ask Him to lead you to where You can grow as a Christian. There are still good churches in Nigeria. You may not like the church, but it's normal just keep talking to Him about your concerns then you'll discover the church is usually for encouragement so you don't feel alone (although you're never alone with Jesus) walking in Spirit.

I go to church but not always.I go just because of praise and dance cuz I am d type that loves music and dancing. Aside that, nothing else.

Slimmos:
Fear wat? I know wat I stand gor so I cant b afraid of hell. It is ur type that makes one to b come an atheist cuz of ur nonsense threat of hell fire..

I can sense false bravado a thousand miles away. Even your signature says otherwise.

ceecee0703:
Am almost in tears, I can relate with what you now have. I was born, raised and breed a Christian. Things went awry when everything started falling apart I couldn't get a job etc. I started doubting the existence of God though I still went to church was even a choir leader. I was towing away from Christ but any day I went to church d pastor in that church will preach me. Then I realized I was empty, my peace was gone things even got worse. I thought the answer was to be an atheist just to get back at God to make him pay for not loving me, I realized I couldn't even be an atheist cos I believed there's a God and am just angry at him, I thought about drug carrying, suicide etc. Until I heard deep inside of me the resounding love of this being.
I never knew or understood the summoning of spirit that u explained but I remembered the scripture said "come lets reason togeda......" I reasoned with God wrote it on my diary and we made a covenant. I found peace. Things have since then been changing. God is real,Jesus is real the holy spirit is real. I don't know how to explain it all friends.,,,,.they exist, they do.

God bless you bro/sis for your testimony. As for me, I didn't give the devil any chance, ever since I got saved. My mind was always busy with either scriptures, gospel music, sermons, even when at work.

My favourite scriptures are 'Above all guard your heart, for out of it spring the issues of life' also 2 Cor 10:13-15. Defeat starts from the mind, that's where the devil comes in, there is always a battle for your mind.

I also face dissapointment over unanswered prayers, but I am consoled that He hears the prayer of the righteous, so I continue to make petitions.

I remember when I didn't succeed for an interview I prayed so much for. In my disappointment, almost in tears I prayed 'God even if You don't answer any of my prayers, I will still serve you' and slept. That was a significant step closer to Him for me because I would have easily abandoned at that point. But thank God I didn't,

Now the joy and peace that I experience, not because I have anything significant, it's just overwhelming. I understand when David sang the Joy of the Lord is my strength. Read Ps 63, David was in the wilderness, no water but imagine the joy with which he wrote.

We should understand we are Not our own, we belong to God, and as long as you surrender completely like in Rom 12:1-2 and do His will, Anything you ask in the name of Jesus would be answered for the Father would be glorified in the Son and the Son in the Father.

God bless you

My days, the glory of God is evident in our lives. I'm a living testimony. I've seen and will still see the glory of the living God. Every believer has got a testimony, ranging from dreams of angels and trumpets to the coming danger of the last days to the very overwhelming presence of Christ on earth. I pray for these people who doubt God's existence. I'd pray for seun and all of them. No matter how hard you argue with them in other to show them the light; they would still refute it.

4everGod:
You would wait for 100yrs for this to make front page. No thread that shows the weakness of Atheism has ever made it there. The anti christian conspiracy here is gargantuan.

but it finally did

habebe1:
I would like to let you know that this response is not aimed at discrediting your experience. However, it still does not answer a question I have been asking for a long time now? What is exclusive to christians? I am agnostic but was born into a liberal christian family. My doubts developed in my early teens even before external influences such as books or Internet.

I can't deny that there were times during my late teens and early adulthood that I felt the emptiness. This made me consciously seek God but every time I sat in church I just could not comprehend what these guys were talking about or why they used very funny fatuous stories to explain passages. I gave up, it wasn't for me. ( Guess the devil really has a hold on me)

Back to my question, what is exclusive to christians? Money, happiness, long life? I respect the christian institution and what it has done for Africa but can't understand why people freak out when I choose not to live my life according to the principles of someone whose life did not cover such important areas like marriage and owning a business to name a few ( Being very basic here). I honestly wish I was in the born again bubble sometimes, I have really tried but like I said earlier it did not work.

Maybe God would find me one day like Paul. Until then I live my life happily as I can in this tough but promising country called Nigeria while not being an alcoholic, chain smoker or drug user. I refuse to believe I would be sent to burn in a special furnace for quenching my biological needs( thats the only "sin" I think I commit now). All the same I am happy for you OP

my problem is some people think they've seen it all

they judge every other things/being by their own experiences

they measure every other things/being by their own strength

now if a Muslim narrate his own story, it won't make any sense to the op

A friend once told me, she is a nairalander too, quite popular that she is angry with Nigerian christianity nd this has forced her to stop going to church. She said, she believes in Jesus and is a christian herself but cannot see any semblance with the Jesus she knows nd the "popular jesus" of today.

I would hve.mentioned her to comment but she is on ban.

For me, i think she is right. The Op is right. Organised christianity, mainstream christianity is.frm the devil. Like one poster said or was it a caption, dat the devil is not going to oppose us but join us.

Atheists re not the.greatest enemy of christianity, d devil through false christians is

Nw i dont know if i am a true christian or not
Never doubted by myself so much like now.

hopsydboi:
Typically personal! The amount of information and environmental experience make judgement of our beliefs. Theism, athiesm, agnostic, Christian or islam. The world will never come to an agreement over which is true, just up there someone already make a comment of d op coming to almight God via islam and not a trauin god in Christ and you are never wrong and so is the others according to our belief.

You story is so pessionate. [b]Maybe God should get more busy with giving us all such personal experience[/b]At least he is almighty and all doing.

Dont quote me to open my heart! I have always been.

#agnostic

Can you get a job without looking for it in the first place?
The message here is if you want to experience the almighty God, seek Him. How?https://www.nairaland.com/3289461/atheism-jesus-testimony/12 It's already contained in the posts. All you need is to be sincere in your heart because He knows, like you do, the motive of your search.

Experience trumps any argument any day. So if you are looking for a superior argument. I'm sorry this isn't where you should be. But if you ever doubt my atheism, we can argue about that. I have more reasons to be atheist or agnostic than you probably do. But I chose Jesus.

You should experience Him. Jesus is Lord

Cautious waiting to find out your reasons for coming back to Christ.

God bless you Op. I really appreciate your write up. I am always happy to hear and read about those that know and serve Christ for Whom He is and not just because of church doctrine only. Keep up with the good work. God will uphold and strengthen you till the end in Jesus name.

Four pages in and no one has talked about the obvious flaw.

So, here's the question 1 to the theists that responded: did you refuse to talk about this flaw because of intellectual dishonesty or plain dumbness? I don't think you are dumb. It has to be the former.


Hint to flaw: Part 2 shows a guy deeply into mysticism, the occult, demonology and other supernatural stuff and his turning point is a book saying one should stay away from Ouija boards and things of the occult. His conclusion? There must be God.


No rational arguments for his change of heart, everything was soaked in supernaturalism.


Truly, in the strictest definition of atheism, you could say he was atheist. There is a non-zero probability that you can have an atheist that believes in the supernatural but this is obviously an extremely weak position since arguments from such standpoint necessarily relies on untestable claims... like those of the theist.


This leads to question 2: are you really convinced that the conversion story of a "supernaturalist atheist" is the best and most coherent argument against atheism?

habebe1:
I would like to let you know that this response is not aimed at discrediting your experience. However, it still does not answer a question I have been asking for a long time now? What is exclusive to christians? I am agnostic but was born into a liberal christian family. My doubts developed in my early teens even before external influences such as books or Internet.

I can't deny that there were times during my late teens and early adulthood that I felt the emptiness. This made me consciously seek God but every time I sat in church I just could not comprehend what these guys were talking about or why they used very funny fatuous stories to explain passages. I gave up, it wasn't for me. ( Guess the devil really has a hold on me)

Back to my question, what is exclusive to christians? Money, happiness, long life? I respect the christian institution and what it has done for Africa but can't understand why people freak out when I choose not to live my life according to the principles of someone whose life did not cover such important areas like marriage and owning a business to name a few ( Being very basic here). I honestly wish I was in the born again bubble sometimes, I have really tried but like I said earlier it did not work.

Maybe God would find me one day like Paul. Until then I live my life happily as I can in this tough but promising country called Nigeria while not being an alcoholic, chain smoker or drug user. I refuse to believe I would be sent to burn in a special furnace for quenching my biological needs( thats the only "sin" I think I commit now). All the same I am happy for you OP

So on point. I could not have put it better.

TheSixthSense:
Your testimony just made my day. You found Jesus without a doubt. Key word you used just 'Seek God' God bless your older brother for that. Just keep following, I've found most times people reject Christ because they're already in bondage to sin but they're unaware. you've also inspired me. God bless you mightily.

About Nigerian churches, read Rom 1:18-19 and also the wheat and tares parable of Jesus. God is just, He knows.
Thanks for your post.

I don't quite agree with you on that.

The problem is with Churches the world over. See the kind of nonsense pope Francis spews whenever he gets on a plane.

So it is a "world" problem. Not a Nigerian problem.

God bless

Ranchhoddas:
I can sense false bravado a thousand miles away. Even your signature says otherwise.

Can u please fucck off!?

Cc cr7lomo..

What do u have to say about this?

TheSixthSense:
I don't see any comments/questions from atheists, or is it too early? I know the Spirit of the living God is already at work and the seed has already been planted in your hearts. I only pray the enemy doesn't snatch it away before it takes root.

Part 3 would talk about the miracles, challenges, and overall experience in my walk with God. Also the strong questions I had as an atheists, as you can see from part 1. Do I have answers for them now? What do I believe in? Which is the right Christianity? Is the Jesus I know now different from the one I knew as a child or different?
I don't have a draft yet but please be patient with me. I've got quite a lot on my hands

I think Mr Seun should have at least a question

youngestland:
pain atheist in the ass why? you sound like a young guy

athiesm is not a religion bros we are not competing for humans we believe everyone should use their head

i always tell people you cant be an athiest because of another person its personal you have to be the one to take that decision after you have carefully taught of it. please e no go pain us because we no they find followers abeg

nice one op I still hope I will get an evidence that there is a god because am seriously searching but till then I they my lane

Bible Verses About Heaven And Hell
Bible verses related to Heaven And Hell from the King James Version (KJV) by Relevance
- Sort By Book Order
Romans 2:6-8 - Who will render to every man according to his deeds: (Read More...)

Revelation 21:8 - But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Revelation 21:1-27 - And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. (Read More...)

Hebrews 9:27 - And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Matthew 25:41 - Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Revelation 20:10 - And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Matthew 25:46 - And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

John 3:13 - And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, [even] the Son of man which is in heaven.

1 Peter 3:18-22 - For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: (Read More...)

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 - But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. (Read More...)

John 14:2 - In my Father's house are many mansions: if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Revelation 20:14 - And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

James 2:20-24 - But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

Before I respond to your post, my question to you is: From your moniker, you speak for the devil (lucifer). Don't you think it would be better for you to actually be anti-Christ knowing and using the dead powers that he has, than to ignorantly be anti-Christ without knowing lucifer at all?

Jesus defeated you and your master at the cross. So get behind me satan.

This is NOT where to look for superior arguments. I never posed any argument here, so I don't know what you are talking about. I was never 'deeply' into mysticism, I said I opened up ie. tolerated, didn't have any issues with. And where did you read that I got involved with the occult?...where did you get that? You know as an atheist, I thought religious people where not intellectually sound, but now I find it's just about the same with these atheists most are atheist because they are lazy or afraid of looking for the answers they seek, or simply because they want to sound intelligent.

If you doubt the the existence of the living God, go directly to Him...I thought I said that already 'Cry out to Jesus, Jesus save me'

I didn't come to argue, not especially with you, you are bound but you don't even know it.

In fact, I challenge you to say 'I belong to Jesus, you agents of satan leave this body in the name of Jesus, Jesus is Lord over me.' I hope you say it. I will pray for you. Please try to say it. Even if you don't believe. Set yourself free in the name of Jesus.

LucifersTongue:
Four pages in and no one has talked about the obvious flaw.

So, here's the question 1 to the theists that responded: did you refuse to talk about this flaw because of intellectual dishonesty or plain dumbness? I don't think you are dumb. It has to be the former.


Hint to flaw: Part 2 shows a guy deeply into mysticism, the occult, demonology and other supernatural stuff and his turning point is a book saying one should stay away from Ouija boards and things of the occult. His conclusion? There must be God.


No rational arguments for his change of heart, everything was soaked in supernaturalism.


Truly, in the strictest definition of atheism, you could say he was atheist. There is a non-zero probability that you can have an atheist that believes in the supernatural but this is obviously an extremely weak position since arguments from such standpoint necessarily relies on untestable claims... like those of the theist.


This leads to question 2: are you really convinced that the conversion story of a "supernaturalist atheist" is the best and most coherent argument against atheism?

Yes it is a world problem, but in the west people would instead of deceiving themselves by attending church regularly, they would rather not go at all. In Nigeria, almost everyone goes, at least in this region, but a lot don't even know why they go at all. They enjoy living in pretence/denial or I don't know fake lives maybe.

WhatOnEarth:
I don't quite agree with you on that.

The problem is with Churches the world over. See the kind of nonsense pope Francis spews whenever he gets on a plane.

So it is a "world" problem. Not a Nigerian problem.

God bless

Boring

TheSixthSense:
This is my story. It is quite long but quite interesting. I hope to do in 2 parts. Please read

I was baptised, as a child, in an anglican church, had a couple of years as a pentecostal then as soon as I became a teenager, attending church became optional. I only went if I really had to, but there was no compulsion. Attendance waned to almost zero as time passed. But I didn't discard my belief in God, and if I had to pray I would in Jesus’ name. Besides, how could there not be a god? when you’re never too far away to hear spooky stories from boarding school students, villagers, and people with haunting experiences; and if you, by any chance, didn’t, there was always a Nigerian movie to bring it all to your living room.

Going further, with the amount of information accessible on the internet, I started having questions about christianity, especially about the type common in Nigeria, although I wasn’t really keen on seeking for answers. But, one thing was that I became increasingly irritated by preachers living in opulence, using bullet proof cars, body guards, and jets, like pop stars while they had many poor and struggling people in their congregation, especially when I found that most of these preachers owned virtually nothing when they had started.

Didn’t the european missionaries who brought christianity, free education, healthcare and the bible - the same one we use till this day - leave the comfort of their countries, homes and families risking persecution and death for what they believed? I thought. Certainly, this couldn’t be the same Jesus, these preachers and their followers become so excited talking about. The Jesus I knew as a child from my A&M hymn book was a friend to the poor, meek and lowly; and I doubted if He were physically present, He would be the one in Armani suits using the most sophisticated gadgets. He certainly wouldn't live and act like these preachers did.

For this reason, I preferred devout muslims - not that I ever considered becoming one but because they were principled, kind and generally nicer in my experience - to the christian counterparts.

As a young lad predisposed to politics, psychology, science, and real hip hop -‘real recognise real.' I became savvy with Google search for almost every question that crossed my mind - and being a thoughtful person, I usually had a lot about everything. So, in 2014, while following the Israeli-Hamas conflict on the news - you didn’t have to watch the news for long to know about it because there were only two issues at the time and the other was the missing MH-370 - seeing the killing of people, including children by air strikes - although the Israeli claimed that they always fired warning strikes to allow for evacuation before actual decimation of targets-. However, I vividly remember an interview of a doctor, after a bombing of a UN reserved hospital by the Israeli forces, absolutely furious at the damage and injuries inflicted by the strike and how he said “...this is a hospital for God’s sake.”

I felt so much empathy for the doctor and the injured, thus, a barrage of questions started coming into my mind. I wondered if this Israel is the same one talked about in the Bible, If God supports this country, regardless, because they are His people, and from a song, or bible knowledge as a child, we were told Saul killed thousands and David killed tens of thousands: I wondered if these people killed were real people, I wondered which tribe they would be if they still exist in present day; and having those images in my mind, I wondered how God could support the murder of thousands by David because he loved God and is described as ‘a man after God’s heart.’

So, I got curious, I started my search with ‘How many people did King David kill?’ coupled with other search leads, I came across a book “God’s killings in the Bible” by Steve Wells - it counts the number of people God killed directly, and indirectly as recorded in the Bible - and bought it. To cut the long story, I didn’t finish reading the book before I became entirely uninterested in christianity. I no longer wanted to be identified with this ‘God’ that kills and supports the killings of the innocent.

However, I didn’t become an atheist after that, not yet. I only didn't want to be identified as a christian or be associated with it. I also looked up arguments, watched videos and got books from some of the most vocal atheists like Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss. Highly intelligent scientists although they’ve become more known for atheism than science. And as a scientist myself, I was impressed by their knowledge and arguments, and it only made science more desirable and fascinating to me. I am one of them, I would like to think.
Something noteworthy is that the more you know about science, you almost know evolution isn’t even an argument, you would feel stupid if you argued for creation, as an undergraduate, maybe you would get a pass, but afterwards No, just no. In fact, having faith or being religious only limits what you can achieve in the sciences. Especially with the recent discovery of the Higgs boson, the ‘God particle’ described by a scientist as ‘another nail in the coffin of religion.'

Anyway, when I returned to Nigeria, I noticed the proliferation of churches in every space like a malignant tumour, with competing ubiquitous billboards of ‘this and that’ ministry with smiling faces of pastors and their wives at every junction. Also those of politicians saying ‘God has given me the divine mandate' 'God has blessed,' 'God has appointed,' 'Power is from God’ ‘the voice of the people is the voice of God’ even by the ones in the occult, that were prayed against the previous year had turned around to become favourites of the same people. Worse still, they even get more celebrated in these churches.

Another thing I noticed was that this ‘christianity' despised the poor, that my childhood Jesus loves. I could remember in my younger days, churches used to offer hope, especially to the poor and downtrodden, but not these ones, they not only oppress the poor but also persuade them to rejoice with their pastors in their greed - I’m sure they would call it inspiration/motivation for semantics. They would tell them that it is their fault they are not rich because 'poverty is a curse’ ‘Jesus was very rich on earth’ 'If Noah wasn’t rich how did he build the ark?’ ’No faith’ ‘salt of the earth’ ‘...everything would be added on you’ and these come from same people that ask their congregation for money for every project they can think about, even for their maintenance.

The same people who had nothing and depended (often depends) on the benevolence of members to start and maintain their churches would after some time miraculously have wealth and finance tips to share - always a triangle of ‘faith, sowing seeds, and tithing’ and trust they don’t tell those without curse-laden threats attached ‘You invoke curses on yourself if you don’t pay/give...’ ‘you rob God’ ‘You can never reap if you don’t sow’ ‘You will become poor if you don’t give to God’ and ‘You are joking with your future/life if you don’t give.’ Thus, creating a society of avarice and impatience in the hearts, even among people with no skill or and qualifications, little if any. 'Everybody wan hammer', even the ones that only know a few bible verses and every detail about their pastor’s rag to riches story.

I often asked, even if this was God - because these guys often didn’t go without their wonder works that were usually propagated by their members - is it moral for someone who always asks for, not borrow, money for everything s/he is about to do to live in ostentatious opulence, brazenly up in your face? I know every nigerian is familiar with the derogatory term ‘borrow-pose’ and that’s even for borrowing.

Witnessing all these, I got even more incensed, I would have to lose a lot of brain cells to join this madness. Isn’t this why we are regressive in our development as a people and as a nation? There had to be no god, if not, why hadn’t he struck these people like described in countless occasions in the bible. There has to be no god, even the politicians knew it and they use it as tools to garner support in spite of the evil and wickedness they inflict in our society. There is no god.

I couldn’t bear all the madness anymore, better to use my time for sleeping than pray to this god that doesn’t help anyone except these preachers. So I quit and became an atheist, but remained informed about my decision.

Then came the stigma, once you say 'I don’t believe in God’ it strikes fear in almost every christian in Nigeria. They don’t ask you why, they never even, they fear you more than a known murderer and thief. In fact, keep saying that and you would find you have no friends left. Some would invite you to church, most times they don’t even know why they are going themselves, can’t even articulate what they believe in, you ask even basic questions about their faith and they would be unable to answer, but they get very uncomfortable if you refuse to go to church with them. Convince me, and I would go but no, they won’t even try, they just want you to follow them like sheep.

One thing I can take away from Steve Wells book is that most christians haven’t read the whole Bible - although he thinks, like many atheists, that if they actually do they would become atheists themselves after they find out about all the violence, ‘immorality’ and prejudice that is never preached about in sermons.- In Nigeria, it’s even worse because we don’t read at all. Probably, why many times anything that a pastor says is ‘it is written' and final, just about anything.

God bless you for the bold step and the courage you have taken to serve God Almighty, God will always see you through in Jesus Wonderful Name Amen.

Slimmos:
Can u please fucck off!?

With pleasure.

TheSixthSense:
Before I respond to your post, my question to you is: From your moniker, you speak for the devil (lucifer). Don't you think it would be better for you to actually be anti-Christ knowing and using the dead powers that he has, than to ignorantly be anti-Christ without knowing lucifer at all?

Jesus defeated you and your master at the cross. So get behind me satan.

This is NOT where to look for superior arguments. I never posed any argument here, so I don't know what you are talking about. I was never 'deeply' into mysticism, I said I opened up ie. tolerated, didn't have any issues with. And where did you read that I got involved with the occult?...where did you get that? You know as an atheist, I thought religious people where not intellectually sound, but now I find it's just about the same with these atheists most are atheist because they are lazy or afraid of looking for the answers they seek, or simply because they want to sound intelligent.

If you doubt the the existence of the living God, go directly to Him...I thought I said that already 'Cry out to Jesus, Jesus save me'

I didn't come to argue, not especially with you, you are bound but you don't even know it.

In fact, I challenge you to say 'I belong to Jesus, you agents of satan leave this body in the name of Jesus, Jesus is Lord over me.' I hope you say it. I will pray for you. Please try to say it. Even if you don't believe. Set yourself free in the name of Jesus.

Lol. I'm also not here to argue with you. Only noting my observations and questioning the people that replied to your story. I had no business with you but now I have a few objections to your reply.

A. Definition 1&2 of occult [dictionary.com]: 1. of or relating to magic, astrology, or any system claiming use or knowledge of secret or supernatural powers or agencies. 2. beyond the range of ordinary knowledge or understanding; mysterious.

You said this:

"...also opened up to a lot of mystical beliefs, there had to be a bit of truth in everything other than christianity, Zodiac, psychic reading, law of attraction, New age positive thinking, and zen relaxation."

Zodiac is astrology. Most of the things you listed are not "ordinary knowledge"

B. Yeah, you claim to tolerate supernatural beliefs but it's clear to everyone that the supernaturalism FULLY dominates your thoughts and not naturalism. Even till now, you reply [and thoughts] is rife with the supernatural.

C. Don't be fooled by my moniker. Was chosen for fun. I usually don't care about theism and supernaturalism. I only comment about religious stuff here because it's too much!




Maybe it's time to change my moniker.

TheSixthSense:
Part 2: Road to Redemption

That I didn’t believe in God anymore didn’t make me a ‘moral' person, it wasn’t even like I was man of good ‘moral’ standing before I became an atheist but I would easily pass as one, probably from my appearance and the way I speak. But I was lonely - I’m still sort of a loner now but I certainly know the difference - an alcoholic - pretty normal in Nigeria now so we don’t see it as a problem, smoked heavily, had a heart filled with darkness but for the sake of anonymity I leave out the rest.

I also opened up to a lot of mystical beliefs, there had to be a bit of truth in everything other than christianity, Zodiac, psychic reading, law of attraction, New age positive thinking, and zen relaxation. Simply put, I was miles from being a good/nice guy, so becoming an atheist didn’t necessarily give me a pass to live as I please because I don’t think I had much of a conscience at that point-, it was for reasons I mentioned in part 1. But it actually created more room, and so I could clear out the remaining bit of conscience left, without premeditation, I would often argue against religion being the basis for morality like Richard Dawkins would, saying that morality isn’t from God/religion rather it’s by living by the ‘golden rule’ ‘do unto others what you would to yourself’

Anyway, my road to redemption started after I watched the movie 'The Conjuring’ not that I am a movie person but what sparked my interest was that it was based on a true story. So I got the book about the protagonists in the movie 'The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed and Loraine Warren.’ It describes the preternatural the way it can be understood by non-religious people, because it isn’t a religious book in itself. It explains the phenomena from personal experiences as demonologists (study of spirits), and I found that they keep an occult museum where they display paraphernalia such as photos, recordings, and objects from every case, for exhibition. Some quotes from the book: ‘Some of the objects and amulets stored are so negatively ‘charged’ that just by holding one of the items it is possible to provoke the original spirit to manifest or cause possession to occur instantly’ ‘there is the long black spike a satanic witch used long ago to murder her newborn infant as a sacrifice to the devil' also skulls as chalices for drinking blood etc were being kept in the museum. Now, I didn’t need to go to the museum to find out if they were true or not, I was just utterly disgusted by even reading about them.

In fact, if you get to that point in the book, you would have gotten a vivid picture of the wickedness and darkness people get involved with. How people can in the convenience of their bedroom summon/invoke all the evil in the world by simple rituals or simply attract them in ignorance by their actions. So that when you hear a christian say God said ‘The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked’ you cannot help but agree in your unbelief.

Anyway, having read and seen all that, I realised I had no spirit in me and had being in denial all along, without even knowing. And oh how vulnerable I was to the whims of the wicked. It was obvious that living in denial does not disprove anything but rather keeps one uninformed - but I love being informed- and unprepared if/when one encounters the phenomenon being denied and in the case of these demonic spirits, vulnerable. But it also makes you reflect too, because it also explains how people invite these unclean spirits sometimes from seemingly benign habits.

Now, the book doesn’t tell you to accept Jesus or anything like that, it just advises to steer clear of Ouija boards, spell books, necromancers, and objects you don’t understand. But it affirmed the power of the name of Jesus Christ and God, prayer and religious objects as the only things that overcome the most evil of these inhuman spirits.

Excerpts: “...A particularly striking aspect to demoniacal phenomena is that the demonic spirit is actually moved to violence when exposed to religious articles, the recitation of prayers, or reference to God or Jesus Christ…the subject is not religious because I say it is or as I may want to believe, it is religious because that’s the only power that it - the demonic spirit - responds to. People might not believe in God but these spirits do…there is simply no secular - that is, no non-religious - explanation for these spirits' existence.”

Having realised my spiritlessness, even if I did, I certainly wasn’t using it at all. So, I wrote a simple sincere letter to God, funny but I did, asking for my spirit to be resurrected then I shoved it somewhere and forgot about it. I thought, just as conveniently as some people would summon spirits of darkness and control them to do what they want, seeking the more powerful God in your convenience would be better, plus I am sure He wouldn’t ask for blood rituals and the sorts. He is not like that

Now, I have read quite a number of books in my life, but for some reason I kept having a strong gut feeling, for the first time in decades, that it wasn’t a coincidence that I was reading the book at the time. So, I re-downloaded the bible app, I deleted when I became an atheist, on my phone - there has to be immense power in it, it isn’t all fairy tales. However, I didn’t know which book or chapter to open to. But for some reason Psalm 51 crossed my mind. And behold:

“Purge me with Hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, then sinners would be converted to You. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.”Ps 51:7-14

I read it over and over again. 'Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me by Your generous Spirit’ resonated so much in me. It was as if a different part of me had come alive. I could feel repentance in my spirit. I felt sorry. And in my heart I said Lord, I knew You as a child, what have I done with my life? what did I get involved in? And if there is anything to go by from the book I read is that I had opened portals from my actions. Oh! hide Your face from my sins and blot out my iniquities.

Then, I went on youtube and saw a video about a man, John Ramires I think, who was so deep in the occult that later got saved by Jesus Christ. You know youtube, so I watched a series of dead-people-coming-back-to-life videos, but one striking one was that of Ian McCormack (a former atheist who repented at the point of death) died went to heaven, saw the glory of Jesus, and returned to life in the morgue.

A common observation about these videos, is that while they may describe hell as a horrible place of eternal torment sorrow, fear and death, when they try describe the glory of Jesus Christ, they cry in awe for lack of words to describe the glory, joy, peace and love associated with it even after many years of their return to life. I don’t know about you, but when I see men especially ones who had perpetrated so much evil cry when trying to describe the glory of Jesus, you know that is no joke. Prior to this, I never knew a lot of people had died and returned (NDEs, you may call it) from many countries. If you doubt someone’s experience in Australia maybe you should try Nigeria. Atheists, muslims, pagans all tell of Jesus, hell and heaven. They are not all crazy I would believe.

So, I prayed with the CBN guys on Youtube, but I thought that wasn’t real enough, I need to have witnesses like in an actual altar call. So I prayed to God asking for a church to go to because the only ones I knew were one of those I earlier described. But at that point I would have gone to one of those anyway, as long as I can get to know Jesus. Then, the next day, on my way to the market to get stuff, I got handed a flyer. It was an invitation for a revival service, so I decided to go. I found it was a small church, hard to find even and in my utmost religiosity, I don’t think I would have found it.

Now, prior to this, I had been a lot of churches from catholic, anglican, methodist, lutheran, baptist, to numerous pentecostals because I had convinced myself that they were simply social gatherings anyway, by the way these ‘christians’ behave. But this one was different, from the moment I stepped in, I was more welcome than any other I had previously been in. But that wasn’t the highlight, it was the sermon. It was as direct as spear, it was a message for me and it was as if the preacher knew I was going be there. Also two verses from scripture I knew as a child kept coming to my mind John 8:32 ’Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’ and John 8:36 ’So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’ Then there was an altar call, it was my moment, and I answered.

** Note, I am not endorsing my church, saying that it is better than yours, maybe God led me there because of how suitable it would be for my spiritual growth. But I am only saying Jesus is calling those who want an experience with Him. I follow Jesus not my pastor or my church, but my pastor and church provide encouragement and there I listen to the word of God. I remember I always used to pray ‘Lord, I am not interested in religion, I just want to know You'

What do I have to lose if I die and find that there is no God?

Ridiculous, but let’s assume atheists are right for a second. I certainly wouldn't miss out on anything if I don’t drink, smoke, take drugs, become sexually immoral, worship idols, get oppressed or tormented by demons, get a divorce, live in bondage by anything under heaven, live in depression, live in fear, feel alone, look for love in people (Jesus is love, we have so much to share), live without peace or joy or love, live without bitterness, hate, anger or live without fortitude to persevere through trials and temptations for the rest of my life.

But what do you(non-believer) have to lose if I am right about God?

Yup, you guessed right.

The truth is heaven and hell are real and are for eternity - I would say, in a dimension not defined by time or space. Eternal life is one with Jesus and He is the source and giver of it. Like winner01 rightly mentioned, the things you think are enjoyment are actually killing you but you won’t know until God gives you His Spirit when you become born again and as soon as you start walking in the Spirit you will discern these things and probably do more than I am doing right now.

The bible says if you are not for Jesus you are against Him. And how would it feel to know you are not so different from the witch that killed her newborn, other than she probably knew she was anti-Christ, but you atheists and agnostics probably don’t know or refuse to know.

Remember, being in denial does not disprove anything, it only leaves you unprepared, uninformed, and even vulnerable to what is being denied…and no one denies death I would believe.

The answers you seek are on your smart phone. Look all over the internet, you won’t find evidence as theses or journal publications, but you certainly would find many many experiences. We have free will, so you have to choose.

Experience supersedes logic or argument any day. So, just before you dissect and critique my testimony. You may want to first ask yourself why you may be always so quick to rebut someone else’s experience before you ask the question.

Another thing, I have been an atheist, and to be honest, there’s nothing to it other than you look intelligent to other dissidents, but it is hollow, something missing, there is a void, you may not know now until you switch to the Lord’s side. Also, when you get faced with challenges and storms of life it is your spirit that fights, not your intelligence.

A UCB physics professor and former atheist, now in Christ because he saw hell and cried out to Jesus to save him, said there is a part of all of us that appeals to God. I’ve been there, I would have denied it then, but I know it’s true. Very true.

Please invite Jesus today with sincerity in heart. He is the Living God and He is Spirit. He is calling you, He is saying 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink and you will thirst no more.'
You may start by saying a sincere prayer like ‘Jesus I do not want to be condemned for eternity after I die, please save me’ and I believe your redemption is already on the way because He knows, like you would when you really mean it. And it is His will that you should not perish but come to repentance(2 Peter 3:9)

For those that do not see reason to continue the routine of religion or being religious and are looking for atheistic reasons to leave, Don’t! please don’t. Don’t give up on God. Did you know that it was the religious people that killed Jesus? although they knew all the letters and prophecies of the law and routines of the synagogue, they still didn’t recognise the Messiah, they even accused Him of working for the devil. It’s worse today, so many religious, but not many have experienced Jesus because they have made god for themselves, the one they can tame, the one that gives them all they want that lets them live how they like in the lusts of their flesh. Isn’t it funny how suddenly, God doesn’t have standards from our brand of christianity? The Holy and Righteous God.

But don’t be discouraged, look beyond the charade, He is calling, He says 'Seek and you will find'. Draw near to God and He will to you...(James 4:3) and your life will never remain the same. Taste and see that the Lord is good(Ps 34:.

Jesus is Lord!

There should be a Part 3: My Jesus Experience: The Difference

God bless you.

winner01:
TheSixthSense, I praise God for your life. I've also been in such a situation. I stem from an islamic background and later professed Christ (after someone preached to me) even though I didnt even know what I was into. I sought to know the reality of the scriptures. Nigerian churches were not helping matters. During my service year, I had to stop going to church because the preaching and testimonies and even seats were clear show off, no single regard for the poor and needy. They had few churches around and most were the same. I remember my older brother who had just got converted telling me to just seek God and keep an open mind. I had told him earlier that i'm okay and I live a good life, I didnt need anybody to tell me what to do.
I didnt want to be affliated with religion or even atheism. I just wanted to be that free intelligent and self-reliant human. My parents also encouraged freedom of religion so that made it easy.

I "enjoyed" my life to the fullest. What we call enjoyment is actually killing us. I lost 2 of my friends to alcohol. One drowned while drunk, the other died while driving him to the hospital. I remember we had an accident while coming back from a club in lagos, the car summersaulted from overspeeding, no one was injured, we all got down laughing at our drunk friends who drove.

Recently one of my very close friends called me to tell me that she does not have a womb anymore. Do I need to talk about my battle with glaucoma. Most of the friends that I had are either addicts of alcohol, marijuana e.t.c. So I smile when atheists are telling me to enjoy my life. I actually live a better life right now than the sick, unrestrained and devil controlled life I've lived as a young man. I've noticed that the devil is in control of most of the lives of those people who think they are directing themselves.

My being sober still did not lead me to Christ, an ex-cultist made me see the world for what it really is. A man who was active in a spiritual realm controlled by demons started to tell me the inner workings of such government. I started to think to myself "are these things real?"...

Bros, lemme just stop here. I've seen things in this life. I'm more than convinced that Jesus is Lord. Maybe I should just open a thread on why I am a Christian.

Am on ma knees..... please open a thread.....

I want to read ur story,especially d cultist part

TheSixthSense:
Before I respond to your post, my question to you is: From your moniker, you speak for the devil (lucifer). Don't you think it would be better for you to actually be anti-Christ knowing and using the dead powers that he has, than to ignorantly be anti-Christ without knowing lucifer at all?

Jesus defeated you and your master at the cross. So get behind me satan.

This is NOT where to look for superior arguments. I never posed any argument here, so I don't know what you are talking about. I was never 'deeply' into mysticism, I said I opened up ie. tolerated, didn't have any issues with. And where did you read that I got involved with the occult?...where did you get that? You know as an atheist, I thought religious people where not intellectually sound, but now I find it's just about the same with these atheists most are atheist because they are lazy or afraid of looking for the answers they seek, or simply because they want to sound intelligent.

If you doubt the the existence of the living God, go directly to Him...I thought I said that already 'Cry out to Jesus, Jesus save me'

I didn't come to argue, not especially with you, you are bound but you don't even know it.

In fact, I challenge you to say 'I belong to Jesus, you agents of satan leave this body in the name of Jesus, Jesus is Lord over me.' I hope you say it. I will pray for you. Please try to say it. Even if you don't believe. Set yourself free in the name of Jesus.

I can't stop rejoicing today, this is amazing!! Angels are rejoicing in heaven over you brethren. Don't stop testifying, God is great!

kazyhm:
my problem is some people think they've seen it all

they judge every other things/being by their own experiences

they measure every other things/being by their own strength

now if a Muslim narrate his own story, it won't make any sense to the op

Exactly. Op doesn't need to impose his experience on people. Still waiting for Seun lol

You just have to look at his monicker to tell where he is coming from @lucifer's tongue

My brother I want to congratulate you on your new faith in God .people should know that the church is just like a hospital people come in with different ailment don't allow them to infect you don't look on the church but look on God

My bro welcome back to the home of peace. Many genuine believers today were once atheist even for one minute. You may ask why? It’s simply because Jesus values His lost sheep which has found his way and will feed him with abundant peace and love and you will realize what you’ve been missing, just the same way a mother takes better care for her new-born child than the already grown ups.

Don’t let what happening today affect your stand for Christ. Like you mention that your faith depreciated because preachers living in luxury while the followers live in abject poverty. Look everyone will stand his own judgement before God. That’s why I personally will never be a preacher unless I hear God’s voice clearly to go ahead. I fear being a preacher because I know to work for God is not to work for fun. The judgement of preachers will be more stiffer than the judgement of ordinary men. The first question God will ask will be “did you practice what you preached? “. I can’t give more than N20 offering to any preacher but willing to spend my last kobo at the orphanages home because I know It’s the true house of God.

Being hyper religious and sleeping in the church is different from being a genuine believer and a lover of Christ. When you love God, you must be willing to do His will. An act of love please God more than being religious. He himself is not interested in religion but the love we have for Him in our heart.

I feel so fulfilled that a lost sheep has found the right pathway once again and I pray to the Lord you and I serve will give you the strength never to miss your path again till you go and meet your creator at old age Amen.