Interview Meme

Here's how it works. I will ask the the first 5 people to reply to this post 5 questions. You will respond to them on your own blog and then repeat the process with 5 other people. Sounds fun! Lets get started.

Here are the questions Shrode asked me over at Thinklings

1. Tell me about your siblings. How many do you have? What was it like growing up with them? Do you still get along? Do you consider them close friends? How often do you talk to each other?

I have one sister, Deidra. She is 24 years old. We are 5 years apart (I am 29) so we didn't really hang out together growing up. But, we moved in together after she graduated high school and moved here for college. We have been very close ever since. She lives in Florida now and is school to be a Chiropractor. I talk to her pretty much every day or at least every other day. I just got back from visiting her on Monday.

2. When did you first become a Christian? How did that happen? What's your story?

Well, I was raised in a Baptist church. I went just about every Sunday with my Grandma. My parents attended a non-denominational church when I was a teenager and I went there until I graduated high school. My best friend's dad was the pastor. I guess you could say I was a pew warmer, but definitely not a dedicated believer.

Anyway, I quit going altogether after I moved to Atlanta in 1994 to go to college. From that point on I became very uninterested in anything remotely Christian or religious. I decided that I wasn't sure I even believed in "all that stuff." I thank my Liberal Arts education for that. (Just kidding...sorta)

A few years ago I went through a phase where I visited many different churches, trying to find one I liked. But, I was involved with a guy who was an unbeliever and he really gave me a hard time and I wasn't really that committed so I stopped going.

Last year, I met a guy...and if I told you what I was doing or where I was when we met, you would KNOW that I definitely wasn't seeking. But, as it would appear, the Holy Spirit was seeking me. This guy told me he was a Christian and we began talking about the Lord. I was highly skeptical. I told him that I had been to a lot of churches in my area and none of the appealed to me. He recommended a Presbyterian church and I agreed to go once just to get him off my back. Well, shortly thereafter, I found out that my dad had cancer. This was merely a month after my mom's boyfriend dropped dead from a sudden heart attack. This coupled with a lot of other personal issues, brought me to the brink of a nervous breakdown.

I should back up a bit and say that first of all, I was very skeptical of religion because no one that I knew really seemed to be better off for having it. My parents were unhappy, divorced, etc... My dad, who used to be a Sunday School teacher, was an alcoholic. My mom attended a Charismatic non-denominational church that preaches the prosperity gospel, yet she still seemed decidely unhappy. So, I thought...who needs all that? Prayer doesn't even work. I remember praying as a kid for things to happen (my grandfather and my grandmas sister to be healed from cancer) and yet they died.

That is when weird things started happening. First of all my friend recommended a book for me to read called: "When God Writes Your Life Story." I read that book (still skeptical) and I felt like my whole view of religion had been radically transformed. You mean, its not supposed to be all about me? Wow. Ok. That is definitely not what they are preaching down the street at First Name-It-And-Claim-It Community Church.

Then, I was in the library waiting for some friends to get off work so we could go to dinner and I was browsing. A book jumped out at me on the shelf. It was called, "Its Not All About Me" or something like that, by Max Lucado. I was like, "Interesting." Then I finally went to that Presbyterian church my friend was bugging me about. The message was about how we try to plan our own lifes and do it our way intead of letting God lead us. The minister said, "Its not all about us, it about God." I was like, "Hmm. Ok this is getting weird." Then I picked up a copy of PDL and the very first line of Ch. 1 was "Its not about you." Ok, I am totally spooked now. Finally, I visited one of those semi-prosperity gospel type churches on a night that the pastor was out of town. The associate pastor was preaching and all of the sudden he says, "I don't really know why I am saying this. And, I might tick some people off, but you know, its not all about you and me. We can't expect just to pray gimme, gimme when we aren't even doing our part to serve God and devote ourselves to his will. We need to seek him first and then..."

At that point, I was like, "Ok, I get it God."

I basically had shunned religion because I had a very badly misconceived idea about what it was all about. When I realized it was not all about me, but rather it was about giving glory and honor to God and letting him lead the way, my life was radically changed. I consider it one of those lightbulb moments.

I accepted Jesus in the fall of 2004 and I was baptized in March of this year.


3. Being a fairly new believer, how did you come to know so much about Calvinism? How come you are not a Calvinist? Actually, rereading some of your posts, it seems you may be a Calvinist after all. So are you or aren't you? And why or why not?

When my friend recommended a Presbyterian church I said, "Wait. Aren't they Calvinists?" He said something like, "I don't know, I think." I am just not the kind of person who can do anything without "full disclosure" so I decided to find out more. When I first started going to the Presbyterian church I talked to the associate pastor about Calvinism because I was concerned. I thought Calvinism was evil. But, of course, that is coming from someone who had never read the bible before, unless you count during Sunday school as a kid. So, you know...

Once I really started learning more about Calvinism, I became somewhat obsessed with figuring out if it was true. I read as much as I could about it and started talking to people online.

I am still on the fence, but I have to admit that Calvinism has some pretty persuasive arguments in its favor. There is just something about it that I am not quite comfortable with yet, though. But, I have to say that the more I study the word, the harder I am finding it to completely dismiss Calvinism. Esp. in light of John Ch. 10 and Romans 9.


4. What's in your CD player right now?

Sugarland, Norah Jones and a Contemporary Christian praise CD

5. If you could own any TV show on DVD from the 80's or earlier, what would it be?

Punky Brewster