My Religious Conversion

I converted from being an atheist to an Independent Fundamental Baptist. I became an atheist at the age of 12. Some may say you can't know what you believe that young but I'm here to say you can. My immediate family is Baptist and having religion shoved down your throat isn't fun at all. So in revenge I planted little seeds of doubt in my 8 year old sisters mind. I told her that the KJV Bible was ridiculous and not inspired by God. My sister asked her Sunday School teacher if it was true and when asked who had told her, like every little sister does, she told them me. I was approached by Mom and she asked if everything was true and I told her yes it was, she sat me down and told me that I was wrong for doing so. I then placed on the water works and told her I was going to burn in hell for what I had done just to get her off my back. But leave it to trusty Bible-Believing Mom to pull out the Book and show me how to go to heaven. I bowed my head and did everything she told me to do just to get it over with and the following Sunday I was baptized. I lived letting them think that I was one of them for 4 years.

At the age of 15 my dad moved us to Kansas because he works for the Air Force. We went to a new church, had a new life, new home. It was at the new church that something changed. Maybe it was the fact I actually felt loved by someone other than my family or the fact that I was able to help more and not be able to just stand in a shadow in the background, but then my dad pulled us out of that church and forced us into another and hour away from our house that I got bitter again. After a few months I felt that feeling again I wanted to believe that God was real, I wanted to believe that Heaven was for the people that had accepted Him, I wanted that peaceful feeling again. So one Sunday night I pulled my pastor aside and told him everything. He showed me what my mom had showed me those 4 years before that and I listened like my life depended on it, and it did. I accepted Christ just by asking. My pastor showed me that all I had to do was believe that the omnipresent, omnipotent, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to save a lost and dying world and that because Christ was perfect He took the sins of the whole world on Him and spent 3 days in the pit of Hell paying for them, just so we could spend eternity with Him and spread the news to those that haven't heard of His all loving grace. All I had to do was realize that I wasn't perfect and accept by faith that Jesus had did all of that for me. It was a gift I only had to ask for, He asked for no return, I didn't have to earn it or work for it, all I had to do was ask. In all honesty until that point I had found that hard to believe but at that moment the Holy Spirit moved and I accepted Christ in faith.

Since that moment I have never felt as peaceful about when I die and get to spend eternity in Heaven with my Jesus. The calm that hits you when you know you no longer have to worry about the afterlife is amazing. Since I found that peace in my heart I'm able to do and enjoy more. I'm able to help at my church we still drive an hour away for and help on a bus route where I'm able to tell others about Jesus and let them get that same peace. I'm not claiming that I'm perfect because I'm still sinfully because it's my nature to do wrong but now I know that all of my wrong doings are under the perfect, spotless blood of the Lamb!