Lost my faith

[ExRev]

Hi everyone. I am a Bible College grad, used to be a pastor. Lost my faith, and haven't been to church in years. would like to get back into a spiritual group, but not sure where to go.

[Anon]

Hi! Hope you will find help here. What denomination did you pastor? Are you able to share with us what got you away from it? Sorry to hear it... we hope you can find some answers.

[ExRev]

Long story but the final straw was my divorce. All the Biblical Counseling that I had been practicing on others did not work for me....So I threw it all out. I was in an IFB church.

[deafnva77]

Welcome!

you can start by the gospel

[deafnva77]

sometimes even counselors need to talk to someone, someone who will listen.

[ExRev]

Wow!! Are you suggesting that I am not born again? I aspire to reach a spiritual maturity that enables me to see the mind of God so clearly that I can discern the internal conditions of another's heart from just a few sentences. I appreciate your reply but recommend a dose of Prov 18:13.

If I did not believe so strongly in God and His Word I would have gone elsewhere to follow my path to faith. I have encountered many who immediately question another's salvation when there is a disagreement, but did not expect it here and so immediately.

[Pastorj]

I don't think that is what he was saying.

We are saved from the pits of hell. However, sometimes, we need to be saved from our situation.

Welcome aboard and if we can be of any assistance, please let us know.

Pastor J

[deafnva77]

Wow!! Are you suggesting that I am not born again? I aspire to reach a spiritual maturity that enables me to see the mind of God so clearly that I can discern the internal conditions of another's heart from just a few sentences. I appreciate your reply but recommend a dose of Prov 18:13.

If I did not believe so strongly in God and His Word I would have gone elsewhere to follow my path to faith. I have encountered many who immediately question another's salvation when there is a disagreement, but did not expect it here and so immediately.

no I don't know you. you asked where to go, and that what I always suggest.

[Lee-Anne]

Praying for you. :pray

[ExRev]

Proverbs 18:13
He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.

I'm beginning to think that I may have chosen the wrong forum to pursue my journey...

[deafnva77]

I'm sorry.

I'll pray for you.

[RayJr]

Don't get on the defencive so fast, we would be happy to try and assist you. I am glad that you have come to us, and no you have not chosen the wrong forum to find your way home. Divorce can be hard on anyone my parents divorced when I was younger and instead of turning to God I went the route you did and turned from Him. Praise God He is a forgiving God and that He will welcome you home eaven if some folks won't. :wave:

[HappyChristian]

ExRev, so sorry about your situation. We live in a world filled with sin, and we are still sinners ourselves, even though saved. So our lives are not always on the up. Many, many times we are in the valley. God has promised to be with us in those times as well, and when we are through them we can more clearly see His hand on us.

Have prayed for you and hope that you will continue to post on here. Mayhap the fellowship will help lift some of your burden.

[282Mikado]

Long story but the final straw was my divorce. All the Biblical Counseling that I had been practicing on others did not work for me....So I threw it all out. I was in an IFB church.

I would guess that the first thing that would have to be established is why the Biblical Counseling did not work. Was it a failure of God's word (assuming the Biblical Counseling was entirely Biblical) or was it a failure on the human level.

I must believe it was human failure for anything truly from God can not fail without human intervention.

From here we need to determine who did the failing. Typically we will see some amount of failure from each party concerned. It is good to understand the other parties failures and learn from them, but the more difficult to discern, and many times accept, are our own failures. Yet this is where the true growth will come from.

Finally we have to ask ourselves, if the failure came from the human elements in this scenario, why are we throwing God away with the human failures? Kinda like the baby and the bath water analogy. You're not alone here at all. While your situation may be more deeply rooted than others here, I would hazard a guess that many here, myself most certainly included, have doubted our faith to some degree. For me a good study and prayer can often get me turned around. I am currently going through Chuck Missler's Bible Survey "Learn the Bible in 24 Hours" and it is really shoring up my faith in God's Word. The design behind God's word is so intricate and complex it boggles the mind that anyone could believe it is not divinely inspired.

Now I don't know what you think of Mr. Missler and this study may not be for you, but I know I must always look for the positive in God and his word to get out of my valleys. I also DEFINATELY need to realize that I can not look too deeply at what other Christians are doing because theirs is not the example I need to follow. Often you will see the failures that initially led to you current predicament. We need to look to Christ. He knows where you need to be in your walk.

I hope I didn't come off as a rambler. I'll be praying for you.

[Annie]

Hi everyone. I am a Bible College grad' date=' used to be a pastor. Lost my faith, and haven't been to church in years. would like to get back into a spiritual group, but not sure where to go.[/quote']

ExRev, I can't speak for anyone else on here, but I will say that when I hear someone say he has "lost his faith," I get the idea that he doesn't consider himself to be part of the "Christian faith" anymore. I'm glad that is not what you meant, but I can understand why some people misunderstood you.

I would be interested in knowing a bit more about your background and your spiritual journey. I'll share mine...I was reared in a Christian home by an athiest-turned-Christian father and a cult member-turned-Christian mother. I put my trust in Christ as Savior at age four. Growing up in an IFB Christian school was interesting, since my parents were anything but IFB. I grew up listening to different perspectives on many biblical issues, and as a result was able to develop discernment in a way that most of my Christian school friends were not. After high school, I got a degree in elementary education from Bob Jones University, married my high school sweetheart, and taught fourth grade for two years while he attended seminary. God has blessed our marriage beyond measure; I couldn't be happier with my life, our home, our kids, our ministry, etc. We've had some hard times as we've worked through a brain tumor diagnosis and other struggles that come with life here on this sin-cursed earth. But God has been faithful to us, and we praise Him for His daily grace and strength.

God is faithful, ExRev, even when we are not. (I know you know this.) Even when we "lose faith" in Him, He remains faithful to us. The Good Shepherd does not forsake His sheep, even if they wander far from Him. I pray you will rest in His faithfulness, and taste of His great love for you.