Exploring the Orthodox faith

Hello, Stormi! So many of us here have made the exact same journey with all the excitement and fears. Please contact me directly if I can be of any help at all. Please check my OC page and add me as a friend. Christ is Risen!

Hello Stormimay I am only a few steps ahead of you on the same journey. I was baptized two years ago, after having spent a rather active thirty years in the Protestant \\"non-denom\\" realm. I was a missionary to Ethiopia with SIM, working on Bible Translation, was a guitar thumping \\"worship leader\\", and kept my brother on his scholarly toes with my questions (he\'s the head of the bible department of Nyack College (Christian and Missionary Alliance). Yes, some of the issues and blockades seem large and insurmountable - but eventually they fall into place very nicely. It\'s like watching dominoes tumble.

Thank you so much for your responses and for sharing your experiences. I will try to remember to take it slow...it\'s not in my nature! LOL I know one thing I need to be careful about is not expecting Orthodoxy to be a \\"magic pill\\" which will just fix everything in my life and make my dreams come true, from becoming thinner to being a better mom to having more money! If nothing else, this search has led me to spend much more time in prayer and in my Bible, and that is a good thing! I am looking forward to learning more and becoming closer to God and Truth in the process. Thanks again. Christine

I grew up in the Methodist church! My parents converted (a huuuuugeee change for me) and then I converted. I have been Orthodox for 12 years now and I\'m still learning! There is sooooo much to learn. Orthodoxy has a lot of history, thousands of years of it (it was the first!), with lots and lots of spiritual men and women who give great advice; so don\'t think you\'ll learn it all right away. But there is a lot of Grace here, a lot to learn, and a lot of love! God Bless.

I\'m cradle, so I don\'t have any of these whopping conversion experiences, but I DO know that as I have grown (physically and spiritually), I have developed a great love for my faith, and have drawn closer to Christ through the Sacraments of Confession (often called \\"Second Baptism\\") and the Eucharist. I don\'t know what I would do without my Church (and I don\'t mean my parish, although that is a nice part of my life, I mean the Church at large...). Anyway, the main point of my post was to say that: some passages in the Bible are hard to understand, especially if you are coming from a Protty background where you have always interpreted them wrongly, and then that wrong interpretation doesn\'t \\"fit\\" with Holy Orthodoxy. So, to explain what the Church believes, you might wanna get your hands on a copy of the Orthodox Study Bible (you can prolly Google it). the full Bible (the *FULL* OT, plus the NT, and great commentary from the Fathers) just came out in February. \\"Our Life in Christ\\" (ourlifeinchrist.com) HAD been giving out free bibles (NT and Psalms) and I don\'t know if they still are...you might wanna check. But, if at all possible, get your hands on a copy of the new one. I\'m reading Genesis right now and I see SO MANY references to Christ and the Trinity and other NT stuff that fulfills the OT! This will really help you on your journey to Holy Orthodoxy! In the Risen Lord, Emmanuel (\\"Manoli\\")

i just want you to know that your personal spiritual journeys towards the Holy Orthodox Church are very touching and helpful for us, who have grown up as orthodox christians in an orthodox country. Your testimonies are really awaking for us. Thank you!