my faith journey (Abridged)

During the writing process, Grammarly generated responses to the following AI prompts:

Prompts created by Grammarly

- "Give me ideas for improvement"

- "Make it engaging"

- "Simplify it"

- "Shorten it"

Life can be complicated. These are my thoughts/testimony, long story, lucky for you, here's the short version, about my Christian faith. 

I grew up in the Church of the Brethren, founded in 1708 by Alexander Mack in Germany. The Brethren aimed to return to New Testament Christianity and broke away from traditional churches due to formalism. They practiced believer's baptism, held a love feast, anointed for healing, and faced persecution when they moved to North America, mainly settling in Pennsylvania. Today, the Church has about 100,000 members in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

The early Brethren shared common beliefs with other Protestants, but they emphasized peace, simple living, and a quest for truth. They actively shared their faith by sending evangelists throughout Europe.

At 15, I was unsure about attending a Bible camp due to my disability. Even though I had a fun time when I was younger, I got homesick. However, it was there that I fell in love with Jesus through reading the bible and Christian books, and later Jesus came into my heart. I got baptized at 16 and felt called to be a pastor during my senior year of high school. At 18, I was excited and shared this widely. A song by Jason Grey, "As I Am," lyrics:" You love me as I am

Not as I should be

With a love that conquers shame

Jesus, You are saving me." This especially resonated with me, especially during a time when I felt ashamed over a crush/ friendship that didn’t work out.

In winter 2019, a friend took me to a Roman Catholic mass, which exposed me to high church practices. Though I didn’t switch churches right away, I began to see myself and my faith differently. After exploring the Anglican tradition online, COVID hit in March 2020, and I began watching a Presbyterian church online. I appreciated their solid biblical teaching. 

I tried going there in 2022, but due to unforeseen personal circumstances, I stopped going there...

In Easter 2023, I attended an Anglo-Catholic mass. It was beautiful but unfamiliar due to incense and shorter homilies. I prefer longer sermons. (I'll explain the differences in the next paragraph.) And the intercession of the saints is something I do not believe in, along with other dogmas. With all due respect to my Roman Catholic and  Eastern Orthodox brothers and sisters, (I  love learning  about church history, though) 

So, what's the difference? Homilies focus on the scripture readings of a service and relate them to everyday life, while sermons cover broader topics and provide deeper teaching and inspiration.

 So I decided to try the Lutheran route again; they were very welcoming, but I decided it was not for me. 

I tried out the same  Presbyterian church. (PCA) This is a great church for me. I think that they have great sermons, I'm making friends, and growing in my faith there. I'm grateful to God that I found it. And it stuck with me. 

That's not to say I agree with my Church 100% on everything. (No church is perfect here on  earth)

I observed Lent this past year, giving up Star Wars Battlefront 2 and abstaining from meat on Fridays, which my church doesn't do, which is not a hill to die on.

I'm anti-war, but I respect those who fought, thanks to my Anabaptist roots. 

I'm not sure how God is present in Communion.

I'm not sure what the future holds, but I know who holds the future. 

P.S. No reading list. Any reading list would not do my faith justice.