On the Outside Looking In!

[DennyB]

After leaving Protestant Evangelicalism,and making my journey toward Orthodoxy,I have asked myself the question,If I decide to return to Evangelicalism,what denomination would I go back to? If Orthodoxy isn't the true church which is it? To me the answer can't be found easily,one is basically left to denying the faith all together!!  Christian teaching isn't a buffet line,you can't just pick this and choose that,you must embrace everything.  But I choose not to just having Jesus as my savior and being blown to and fro by every wind of doctrine,this is the case of the Protestant,but embracing a faith,that is whole and complete.

[Douglas]

After leaving Protestant Evangelicalism,and making my journey toward Orthodoxy,I have asked myself the question,If I decide to return to Evangelicalism,what denomination would I go back to? If Orthodoxy isn't the true church which is it? To me the answer can't be found easily,one is basically left to denying the faith all together!!  Christian teaching isn't a buffet line,you can't just pick this and choose that,you must embrace everything.  But I choose not to just having Jesus as my savior and being blown to and fro by every wind of doctrine,this is the case of the Protestant,but embracing a faith,that is whole and complete.

Some good thoughts there, Denny. Look... I spent 44 years as a committed evangelical. Many times I had Ravi Zacharias and his wife Margi in my home. Our children grew up together. As a teen I represented the youth of our city during a Leighton Ford crusade (Dr. Ford was intimately connected to the Billy Graham Crusade Ministry). Navigators, Campus Crusade for Christ, Christian Businessmen... I could go on but I'm sure you get the message. When I became Orthodox some eighteen years ago, I too had to battle with my personal doubts and overcome many hurdles. It occurred to me that the Lord knew my heart (as he knows yours). He made me, died for me, fully accepts me and knows the intent of my heart. If the Orthodox Church was NOT His Body, surely He would lead me to greener pastures. He's not anxiously waiting to squash me... to condemn me. So, Denny, it seems to me that you can entrust yourself to the Church, the Orthodox Church, without undue concern that you "might be making a fatally wrong decision". After all these years I can't imagine returning to the evangelicalism of my younger years, albeit, I also do not readily condemn my evangelical brothers and sisters as some are wont to do. In fact, I know many (my sister and her husband) who love the Lord and live sacrificial lives. Who am I to sit in judgment upon them?

All the best to you.

[GammaRay]

Your testimony is so simple and true. Hopefully, your conversion will motivate other Protestants too.

[Gebre Menfes Kidus]

I echo Douglass's comments. I too came to Orthodoxy from an Evangelical background. I was "born again" at age 19, and was a member of Charles Stanley's Church for a long time. But then I was drawn to the charismatic movement, and then left that to become a quasi-Calvinist Presbyterian. So, I understand where you are coming from.

There were many things about Orthodoxy that were difficult for me to embrace initially. Praying to Mary and the Saints was especially hard at first, since my Protestant background had conditioned me that this was a serious error. But I studied a lot and prayed a lot, and I decided that if I took the step to be baptized into the Orthodox Faith that I would embrace all of the teachings and trust God to show me their value.

One of the things I love about Orthodoxy is that it precludes an individualistic approach to God. The Church which Christ established is here to give us the correct biblical teachings, and it is best to accept these teachings with the faith of a child, as Our Lord told us to do. Every Protestant sect that I was a part of taught me valuable things. But each denomination and Church claimed with equal passion that they adhered to "Sola Scriptura" and yet they each had a different interpretation of the Scriptures. Within Orthodoxy there is much more unity of belief and practice, and I see God in that.

Anyway, may Our Lord bless you in your spiritual journey. I know that you will find your true Christian home in due time.

Selam

[DennyB]

I echo Douglass's comments. I too came to Orthodoxy from an Evangelical background. I was "born again" at age 19, and was a member of Charles Stanley's Church for a long time. But then I was drawn to the charismatic movement, and then left that to become a quasi-Calvinist Presbyterian. So, I understand where you are coming from.

There were many things about Orthodoxy that were difficult for me to embrace initially. Praying to Mary and the Saints was especially hard at first, since my Protestant background had conditioned me that this was a serious error. But I studied a lot and prayed a lot, and I decided that if I took the step to be baptized into the Orthodox Faith that I would embrace all of the teachings and trust God to show me their value.

One of the things I love about Orthodoxy is that it precludes an individualistic approach to God. The Church which Christ established is here to give us the correct biblical teachings, and it is best to accept these teachings with the faith of a child, as Our Lord told us to do. Every Protestant sect that I was a part of taught me valuable things. But each denomination and Church claimed with equal passion that they adhered to "Sola Scriptura" and yet they each had a different interpretation of the Scriptures. Within Orthodoxy there is much more unity of belief and practice, and I see God in that.

Anyway, may Our Lord bless you in your spiritual journey. I know that you will find your true Christian home in due time.

Selam

Thank you for the encouragement!

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