Greetings Everyone - Very Happy to Be Here!

[SteveW]

Hello to everyone on this forum!

My name is Steve and I hail from Portland, Oregon.  As an intro I'd like to share a little about my spiritual journey in the hopes that regulars can get a small sense of where I'm coming from.  I apologize in advance that it is so long.

In terms of the external manifestations of my spirituality, I'm 44 and have spent my spiritual life as part of various evangelical bodies, though I have not been nearly as involved over the last 5 years or so.  I've attended Conservative Baptist, Vineyard, Covenant, and non-denominational churches in that order.  I come from a very Christian family.  My grandpa was a minister for part of his life, my uncle was a Bible college professor, and my sister is with Wycliffe Bible Translators.  My father has walked with the Lord his entire life with great humility and meekness and in his later years has made numerous mission trips, up to two years at a time, to work in West Africa.  As for myself, in 1989 I graduated from Multnomah Bible College with a degree in Theology and afterwards worked for several years with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and then with a Christian organization called Frontiers.

Internally my pilgrimage has in some significant ways been away from the faith of my physical and spiritual fathers.  For me it began in Bible college when I watched doctrines that were clearly unbibilical being taught with the same vehemence as doctrines that are at the very core of the Christian faith.  I saw professors and others take a few passages and use them to discredit or deny what was the clear overall teaching of the scriptures.

I never deeply questioned the doctrine of eternal damnation, even though it was very hard to swallow.  There just seemed to be too much in scripture that made it clear.  I felt I had to believe in eternal damnation in order to treat the Bible with integrity.  As a result, during and immediately after college I was very zealous and missions minded.  I preached about God's zeal for the lost and for his son to be glorified among the nations.  I was dumbounded by the lack of concern for the lost by people in the church.

After a period of disillusionment professionally and personally in my Christian life I left the ministry and have been a residential construction contractor ever since.  About 5 years ago a woman visited our small, discussion oriented Sunday school class at the Covenant church I was attending.  She shared briefly her belief in UR.  I was amazed to hear it and that people actually believed it.  Something happened to me that day or week.  A flood of verses filled my thoughts.  At some point I made a decision.  Without knowing how it all fit scripturally I decided to believe that Jesus would draw all men to himself, that every knee would bow and tongue confess and that it would be to God's glory, and that in Christ all would be made alive and righteous.  I already knew that the Bible was unclear and vague about the end times and was content for then to believe that somehow, in God's economy, hell existed and people would go there, but ultimately he would pursue and rescue every one of his lost sheep.

Adopting that belief had a profound effect on my perception of who God is and how I relate to him.  I think it may have even had a more profound effect on how I view other people and relate to them.  Amazing grace has become infinitely mind-blowing.

Over the last 5 years I've wanted to study and research universalism, but haven't really known where to start and just haven't taken the time to do it seriously.  Other than word studies, I mostly wanted to study the early church fathers because I knew from other readings that Origen was a universalist and I wondered what the belief of the early church was.  I found a web site that literally has all of the existing Christian writings from the early church in digital format for free but reading them was a daunting task.  Then one day a few weeks ago I did a google search and found this book that Tentmaker put on the web:.  http://www.tentmaker.org/books/Prevailing.html which led me to the Tentmaker site.  Now I feel like I've come home!

I've only had a chance here and there to read a few of the articles and I really appreciate their thoughtfulness and integrity.  I recognize I have a lot to learn that flies against evengelical tradition in this area.  I'm looking forward to being able to be part of this forum from time to time as well – there are very few people I feel I can discuss this with.  Finally, over time I look forward to being able to give better answers to believers and unbelievers regarding my faith in this area.

Thanks for reading my intro,

Steve Wecks,
Portland, Oregon

[friendofmankind]

WELCOME STEVE!  GOD IS LOVE, GODS WILL IS THAT ALL BE SAVED, GOD WORKS EVERYTHING ACCORDING TO THE PURPOSE OF HIS WILL!

WHO WOULD JESUS FRY?

NOONE!

:laughing7: :bigGrin: :grin:

[fullarmor2]

   Wow.   Great testimony,  I enjoyed it.    And welcome !      I can totally relate to what you said about how this caused you to see things and people differently.    In a much more positive light.   It is a great feeling isn't it!    :thumbsup:

[WhiteWings]

As for myself, in 1989 I graduated from Multnomah Bible College with a degree in Theology

and have been a residential construction contractor ever since.

That's the same profession. Both are about building mansions :winkgrin:

I found a web site that literally has all of the existing Christian writings from the early church in digital format for free but reading them was a daunting task.

URL please!  :mblush:

I've only had a chance here and there to read a few of the articles and I really appreciate their thoughtfulness and integrity.

Just as a suggestion. Read this book:
http://www.tentmaker.org/books/HansonsFourWorks.pdf
I'm sure you already found: http://www.tentmaker.org

and afterwards worked for several years with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and then with a mission agency called Frontiers.

Is that the organisation with the doctors?

:welcome: :newb: Steve :hithere:

[junkbunny]

Hi Steve, and welcome!! :)

I personally love reading the testimonies of others who have come to the belief in UR so I want to say a big THANK YOU for posting your story.

Tentmaker.org is awesome and I know you are going to find it an incredibly useful website.  Also, in my experiences in this forum sofar, the people here are lovely and so open about discussion. 

God bless!

[Cardinal]

 :cloud9: Great testimony, good to have you on board. Welcome to the "Tent of meeting"  :welcome: :newb:

[SteveW]

I found a web site that literally has all of the existing Christian writings from the early church in digital format for free but reading them was a daunting task.

URL please!  :mblush:

These are english translations with a lot of background info on each father.  They are working on making the original greek available as well:
http://www.ccel.org/fathers.html

I've only had a chance here and there to read a few of the articles and I really appreciate their thoughtfulness and integrity.

Just as a suggestion. Read this book:
http://www.tentmaker.org/books/HansonsFourWorks.pdf
I'm sure you already found: http://www.tentmaker.org

Thanks for the link to the book, the exact kind of resources I'm looking for!

[SteveW]

and afterwards worked for several years with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and then with a mission agency called Frontiers.

Is that the organisation with the doctors?

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship is a college campus ministry somewhat similar to Campus Crusade for Christ or the Navigators if you have heard of those.  Frontiers is a Christian orgnization which specifically reaches out to Muslims.

[Cardinal]

 :cloud9: I just added "Frontiers" to my prayer list.....if there was EVER a need, that's it. Blessings...

[onlytruth]

welcome Steve...to the awesome revelation of how good our Father really is!!

I hail just north of you in B.C......where the olympics are to be held
blessings :icon_king:
p.s on a side note, God closed the door on "organized ministry" as well for me, and launched me into business as well.

[Pierac]

:welcome: to the Tent Steve!    :hihat:

Paul

[whyiloveitaly.com]

Welcome Steve!
I read only a little of your "introduction," but I'm pleased to "meet" you anyway!

That bit about the "Frontiers" group scares me a bit, personally. The Holy Spirit forbid Paul from going to Asia (I've never heard anyone quote that verse before...!  :sigh:), and I don't believe God is calling people to go to Pakistan and Iraq to preach the Gospel. I see it as very "provocative." My  :2c: anyway..
Only time (and God) will tell...

Blessings to you!
Brian

[whyiloveitaly.com]

I now see that you yourself have worked for Frontiers, Steve.. I hope I didn't offend you!
Maybe you could tell us about your experience a bit?? Did you live in a Muslim country?

Blessings,
Brian

[jabcat]

"and they were saying to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world."
John 4:42

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me".
John 14:6

Welcome to the tent Steve.

[Beloved Servant]

Welcome to the fold!

[willieH]

willieH: Hi Steve... :hithere:

:welcome: to Tentmaker!  Btw... I am your neighbor in the Northwest (Spokane)!

I think that those called to know UR, have known it all along, for they had questions about what was being taught in the church or churches they attended as your testimony indicates of your experience...

If you have a moment, reading some wonderful writings and knowledge of the these men listed below, will help you immensely, and avail much information that the "church" is WILLFULLY ignoring in Scripture:

J. Preston Eby:

http://www.hisremnant.org/eby/list.html
http://www.godfire.net/eby/

L. Ray Smith:

http://bible-truths.com/

Andrew Jukes:

http://greater-emmanuel.org/rest.html

Elwin Roach:

http://www.godfire.net/index.html

PS... ever notice that the CENTER of the word "church" is ...UR?  :laughing7: (there are NO "coincidences")

:Peace:  And again, welcome to the tent!  :reachout:

Looking forward to your involvement here, ...thanks for joining our family, and btw... kick off your shoes & stay a while!  :beach:

...willieH  :HeartThrob: