Let me tell you my story...
Once upon a time there was a little girl (that is me). My family started off Catholic until my Grandmother realized there were many things that just were not right. In the hometown where I grew up, there were not many alternatives...Luthern, Methodist, Holiness Pentecostal. And then one day...a non-denominational church moved into town.
My Grandpa told my mother to go with my Grandma so that she was not getting into some kind of weird cult. Well, my family stayed there. We were there through numerous pastoral changes, name changes, location changes...until it finally went under around 2004 or so.
During all of that, I had a true heart to follow G-d. I wanted as much of Him as I could get and read my Bible faithfully. I did not party or keep friends that did during high school. All I wanted to do was get married, be a mom and serve the Lord in whatever He wanted me to do.
Then, real life hit...aka: Christian Feminists. Being a wife and mother was not good enough. So literally I was forced by family and "church family" to get out there and DO something with my life. So...I went to a Bible college and learned everything wrong. I was taught that the Old Testament only applied to the Jews and that since we were FREE in Christ, we could do whatever we wanted, however we wanted, whenever we wanted.
Needless to say, that did not make sense to me. Deep down I knew that was wrong, but who was I to argue with people that had Ph.d's and all kind of other prestigious degrees? I quietly faded into the background while unknowingly started to become like them. Scary.
Fast forwarding a few years after my divorce...yes, I am divorced. I got to experience the full wrath of the church and just how evil people could be. People knew the reasons behind why it happened, and they slandered me from one end of the state to the other. My name is mud in many denominations in several different states...all lies and made up stories. But, I know now why they do that...it's that whole "grace" thing.
In a way, that was the wake up call I needed to see the facade that most church people really have. I needed to be wounded horribly in order to have my eyes opened to the chaos. It was not until six years later when I met my husband (who was then a pagan) that I truly began to understand what was going on in the church.
My husband opened my eyes to the pagan practices and rituals that take place in the church. Because I had a heart for the Lord, I was horrified that I had stupidly offended Him in such a manner. He is very clear about how to worship Him and how not to, so needless to say, I knew some major changes needed to happen.
We studied together and did not know what to do or how to go about finding other people that understood that something was very, very wrong in the church. Someone told us about Perry Stone and we listened to him and understood that we needed to turn to our Hebraic Roots. That was a start.
Later on we found out about a Messianic congregation in our area and attended. We were very excited about what we heard! We loved getting to hear the Torah open up and see how Yeshua is there from the front to the back...what a blessing!
So, while we are now pointed in the right direction, we do still have much to learn. I look forward to hearing how you came to understand the Torah way of life and how your family is adapting. Thank you so much for reading and please, stay awhile!
