Curious

[Guest Guest]

I have been going to church my whole life, but I do not know very much about the KJV viewpoint and I am curious about it.

An old schoolmate contacted my friend a while back. While in school, this person had been always in trouble and into bad things. When he contacted my friend, his life had been totally changed. He had moved to Mississippi and become a Christian who read and promoted the KJV translation of the Bible. For a while though, he was talking to my friend about everything he believed and my friend was telling me about it. He convicted both me and my friend - but after a while they lost contact and my friend, who is also a Christian, seemed to forget about it. It?s been a couple years and I am still curious.

So for quite a while now I have been wondering what to believe. It doesn?t seem to me that being saved has anything to do with Bible translation. But it is important to me that I am reading the truth, and not paraphrased verses. Assuming that one is already saved, my questions are more in regards to reading the truth and living like a true Christian. I have a KJV at home but I bring a NASB to church. Everyone at church has NIV or NLT or one of the translations that paraphrases almost everything.

It seems that most churches I see, most Christians I see, and most Bibles I see, are all very laid back - not wanting to step on anyone?s toes, allowing anything and everything to be justifiable, saying you?re saved and that?s all that matters. I know that Jesus saves people and that is what is most important, but if people really are saved, wouldn?t they want to live their lives for Him and try to be like Christ? I know nobody is perfect, and that?s why we need Christ, but it seems like people who call themselves Christians today aren?t even trying to follow the Bible and what it says. Coming to church is more like a social function for them. It disheartens me because I want to be a serious Christian and I?m not sure what that looks like because no one around me seems to be serious about their faith. I?ve looked around at churches in my area and they all seem to be laid back like that.

Are there any groups of people online to fellowship with as believers who are serious about their faith? Are people who read the KJV generally more serious about their faith? Is there a reason I should read my KJV instead of the other translations I have? I have heard some arguments against using the KJV (saying it's impossible to understand, that it's translated from the wrong source texts, things like that), but I've also heard that modern translations are translated from the wrong source texts, and the little I know about the KJV seems to make sense to me. I want to learn more, basically, if anyone has anything they want to teach me. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

[Jerry]

There are a lot of Threads in this forum that would help show you why these boards are KJVonly. The King James Bible is translated from the preserved texts, the Hebrew Masoretic Text and the Greek Textus Receptus. All other Bibles are translated all or in part from the Critical Texts. As you search through this forum, feel free to ask more questions. We would love to help you find the answers on this issue.

Yes, in light of eternity, being saved is the most important thing - but it is not the ONLY important thing. Pleasing the Lord from day to day, clinging to the Truth - all of it, not just part - is also important.

[kevinmiller]

Even more important than the KJV issue is obeying the Scripture contained within. If you seek to know God and obey what He has commanded in His Word to the sacrifice of your own wants and desires, you will grow to become a "serious" Christian. Make the Lord your single focus and He will help you to grow in Him.

[Anon]

Being a strong Christian many times requires that we be different from the world...and that we seperate ourselves from the world. Not by quitting our job or anything like that of course, but seperating our desires from that of the world. That is why many churches are "social functions"...because many people want the benefits of Christianity without sacrificing the world. We want to love Jesus but still hold on to our rock music, our drinking buddies, our bad language, and whatever else we have to fit into the world. Jesus says that if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

That's great you are searching for the truth and desiring to serve Christ more. I hope you enjoy the forums...I consider the group on Online Baptist to be one of the most dedicated-to-God online groups there are.

[John81]

If you are born again and sincerely seek to know the Lord and how to follow Him according to His Word then pray for the Holy Ghost to guide and teach you as you read your KJB and He will open the Word up to you.

From my own personal experience, after I was saved there were no solid Christians around so I didn't know what to do or how to go about it. I noticed it seemed everyone had different translations of the Bible so I bought several different ones myself thinking by reading from each of them I would learn more. What actually happened was I became more confused because the differing translations didn't seem to agree in many areas.

I finally settled on reading the NASB because it was an "American" Bible. :roll I still struggled trying to grow in the Lord and the Lord brought a good Christian friend into my life who led me to a great Baptist pastor and there I learned about the importance of the KJB.

Once I began reading nothing but the KJB the Holy Ghost opened my eyes and mind and my growth in Christ was unlike anything I could have hoped for. I've stood by my KJB ever since.

Of course, this is only my personal experience, but it's a testimony to the power of God and His Word that I love to share.

[shiloh]

John81, I have been a Baptist pastor over 30 years. I got saved with the KJV, I use the KJV and my church uses the KJV. There just simply isn't time to tell you all the reasons why. If you study His word it won't take long to see that the way the KJV is put together that it is Gods Word. As far as good sites to be part of for helps, in my opinion this is one of the better ones. The "Baptist Message" board is just a bunch of MV, Jesus drinking alcohol, KJV hating, agnostics trying to masquerade as Baptists. The "Fighting Fundamentalist" message board is chocked full of filth and obviously lacks of management. "Sharperiron" message board is a pretty good source of information. I if you stick around here you can get a pretty good cross section of stuff that will help you....if you can get past the woman that try to correct the preachers all the time. :lol:

[Guest Guest]

Thank you for the replies.

Jerry, I am sure I will learn a lot more as I read through the forums here - that was great advice. I am glad that I found this website because it seems like the Christians here really yearn for God and aren't just Christians in name only. I am sure I will have a lot more questions and I will ask as I learn.

KevinMiller, That is very true. As I read and pray more, I hope to become more aligned with God and less aligned with myself. I find that my heart is at rest when I am focused on God, regardless of what everyone around me is doing.

Kitagrl, I want Christianity to not just be a hobby or another thing on a list of interests to myself and the Christians I am around weekly at church. I don't want to be a lukewarm Christian. I want my whole life to be centered around God. Thank you for the reminder about how I can't have a love for God and the world at the same time. So far I've enjoyed reading through the forums and can't wait to participate more.

John81, Most people around me say that the KJB is difficult to understand but I picked mine up yesterday and it doesn't seem hard, give or take a few words here and there. I've read that the NIV leaves verses out in some places, and that really scared me, which is what partially fueled my desire to stop reading the NIV and to learn more about the translation issue. Thank you for the reminder to pray for the Lord to teach me, too, before I read - because I am sure that will help me understand everything better.

Shiloh, I am glad to have found this forum also. I have been looking for a long time, to find a place where I could grow and learn in the company of people who are serious about God.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read and respond.