confused but not alone

As I said when I first introduced myself, I am a fairly new and yet undeveloped christian. The grace of God caused me to be joined by three good christian men at a very rough time for me. Now I find myself again surrounded by non-believers, or those that I am not sure of. I am not strong enough to witness effectively. I pray for fellow Christians to be sent to me to help me gain strength and witness to others.

I also am leery of things I am not comfortable with. I hear various stories from different churches, that profess knowledge of the bible and biblical teaching. I look for confirmation from the bible and my christian friends, and find no basis for what I hear. I don't want to say the other churches are wrong, or not scriptural, but they seem a bit far fetched to put it mildly.

I put my faith in God to guide me, but I seem to get more confused and discouraged. I await the day of clarity when I can fight the good fight with God, and join my brothers and sisters in his legions.

You are absolutely not alone. There are a lot of things taught that are confusing. It took us several years to find the right church. We would find one that we really liked and there would be something that just wasn't right. Pray for God to lead you to the right place. Also, pray for wisdom and knowledge to understand if what you are hearing is right. Please don't get discouraged. He will lead you to the right place. Sometimes I think we are tested in this way to show our dedication. lol

Firstly, if you are confused by what churches are teaching, or by what you yourself read in the Bible, feel free to ask us questions and maybe we'll know the answer to clear up your confusion.

It is important to surround youself with Godly people. God created us to be social, and there is something about having Christian friends that can hold you up and encourage you. Often when you ask them for advice, they tell you the truth you need to hear even though you don't want to hear it, and that causes you to grow stronger in Christ.

Vice versa, surrounding yourself with the world will almost definately tear you down. You are continually fighting off things that are not of God, if not out loud, then in your mind. It's hard to not adopt their habits and the like.

God said to forsake not the assembling of yourselves together. I'm going to get a little controversial here by saying that this statement doesn't mean you have to attend church. It just means you need to get around Christian friends on a regular basis and worship God together and talk about Him together. You can do this through having a weekly Bible study of your closest friends. You can keep each other accountible and talk openly about what's going on in your life without fear of being ridiculed. A church is the preferred method, but if you can't find one at the moment, look for other ways to assemble together. Just don't give up.

We'll be praying for you.

I think the last two posts pretty well said everything I would have said. Just want to let you know I'm here for you, too. Also want to welcome you to the board,and let you know I'll be praying for you, too.

Hello DND...
Well I can really relate to your issue. I recently left my home church and have been "visiting" local churches. It's almost like the 3 bears. This ones to hot, this ones to cold, And I'm still looking for the one that is just right. But the one thing I can tell you is I pray over it endlessly. I just keep asking God to lead me to where he wants me. And I have the faith that he will.
I get discourged myself. I feel as if I judge the church so I have tried to not just visit once but return several times. And also talk to members and get a feel for what the actual beliefs of the church are.
Now I disagree with admin (and he knew I would lol) the Bible I believe is very clear to the fact that we must gather among each other and also bring our tithes to the storehouse. But until you find your church home (and while I am looking for mine) I read my Bible alot, listen to alot of music, and pray without ceasing.
You sound as if you have a wonderful heart for Christ and he will see you through. And you can use all your Christian brothers and sisters for support and prayer.
God Bless...

i wont argue with her here though i could