How did you come to know Christ?

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Permalink Reply by Tyler Dawson (Squirrelligator) on July 1, 2010 at 12:17pm

My story is pretty simple... my family raised me in the church. I've never really stopped being a church-goer, but I've had plenty of ups and downs in my faith. I gave my life in baptism in 2000 at a church camp, and my best friend at the time followed me a couple days later.

Permalink Reply by Aly And Cate (Two headed AlyCat) on July 1, 2010 at 3:47pm

Sounds a whole lot like my story.
I grew up in Church all my life, at age 8 I was working in Childrens ministry(still am)
and I was baptized at age 10 in '05

Tyler Dawson (Squirrelligator) said:

My story is pretty simple... my family raised me in the church. I've never really stopped being a church-goer, but I've had plenty of ups and downs in my faith. I gave my life in baptism in 2000 at a church camp, and my best friend at the time followed me a couple days later.

Permalink Reply by Doug Hanna (Dashing Flabbergear) on July 1, 2010 at 7:31pm

Well, my story is a bit longer.
It really begins when I was eight years old. I was grounded, and in my house, that pretty much just meant no TV.
I was at the library, and my mother said if she approved of them, I could get a few DVDs. I managed to get two movies, "All Dogs Go To Heaven" and "Best Of The Muppet Show." "All Dogs" was fun, but what really hit me was "The Muppet Show."
I was already performing in musical theatre, so I understood what showmanship was, but it wasn't until I saw Henson's magic that I really appreciated it. (I swear, this is leading to Christ.)

I continued to obsess over The Muppets, learning everything I could about Jim Henson, his foam-headed friends, and the genius they created. I started to enjoy other films, such as Disney, and few other studios. This gave me a dream. I wanted to found my own company, and then, with that company, become THE media corporation. I wanted to be the next Disney.

I began my journey by writing screenplays and dreaming up movie ideas. But I also took a practical standpoint: I needed to learn as much as possible, so I ripped apart DVDs, pouring over commentary tracks and behind the scenes featurettes, but I also read books.

One of the art forms I was very interested in was computer animation. I couldn't find very many books about Pixar, so I tried to find something about Big Idea Productions, the studio behind VeggieTales. I didn't care too much about the morals of VeggieTales, but loved the art of the property, very advanced animation, and hilarious jokes.
I found the book "Me, Myself, and Bob" by Phil Vischer, creator of VeggieTales. (Also the man who hired Rhett & Link to make the infamous "Bentley Brothers" songs.

Back to that in a second.

I was a student in middle school at the time, and struggled with thoughts of suicide. Nearly the entire student body knew me as the weird kid who didn't like sports.
A few people decided it would be fun to make my life miserable, so they turned the school on me. It was "uncool" to be around me.
There were also some issues at home. Since a very young age, I had communication issues with my parents. I couldn't talk to them, so I never told them about my suicidal thoughts.

One night, I was so frustrated, I ran around my room searching for a knife, or something sharp. I was ready to end it all, it had been that bad. I didn't know what to do, so I called a friend of mine. Her name was Brooke.

I didn't tell her about what I was going to do, I just talked to her. We ended up talking about my dream. My dream to run the next Disney. To be the next big media corporation. And I realized - that's why I'm living, so one day I could be on top, the kids that made me hate my life could see me on TV and think "Hey, I knew him in high school! I was a jerk!" I just wanted to beat them.

I told Brooke about all this, and she replied simply with "And what if that doesn't happen Doug?"

The room began to spin, despite the fact I was laying down. My heart seemed to stop, I couldn't breathe. I was silent for a moment. Then, I affirmed it. It HAD to happen. This dream of mine WOULD NOT DIE.

"It WILL happen." I told her, defiantly.

The next night, I finished "Me, Myself, and Bob."

I saw the rise, and eventual fall, of Big Idea Productions, and, with it, VeggieTales.

Phil Vischer seemed a lot like me. He just had a dream. His dream was to be the next Disney. (Sound familiar?) His dream came to life, exactly like I wanted mine too, but then, his dream died.
Even though it was for CHRIST, his dream died.
And Phil was left alone while bankers picked up what was left of the broken company. Phil was left alone wondering why The Lord would let this dream, that was doing so much good, died.

He found the answer.

The world, and our existence is not about dreams. It is not about impact. Phil Vischer said, "Why would God want us to let go of our dreams? Because anything I am unwilling to let go of is an idol, and I am in sin." and "The impact God has planned for us doesn't occur when we're pursuing impact. It occurs when we're pursuing God."

Tears streamed down my face. What was I doing? I was living my life on a dream, and my life was already broken! I wanted to end it!

I thought about it all as a drank a cup of white grape juice, thinking, "What is my life going to be?" And I realized, that was none of my business. I should live my life in the Divine Will of Christ, Jesus.

I went back to my room, got on my knees, put my hands together and said, "Uh... God... its me... Doug..." and I heard, "Welcome home Doug, and today, all the angels and saints rejoice because you have returned."
I had rejected The Lord for nearly all my life, and He was talking to me, and telling me He was happy I was talking to Him!

"Get some sleep Doug, I have big plans for you." (It was around midnight.)

That was the first night in a while I went to bed happy.

Since then, I have been living in Christ's Will, and already, He has made a positive impact on my life, and has lead me to do some great things, film-making, in His Will.

God bless you all. May we all be in His service, for His Grace.

Permalink Reply by Aly And Cate (Two headed AlyCat) on July 5, 2010 at 5:24pm

@Doug - That is really cool.
Wow. That's actually one of the coolest stories I've heard.
I was raised Jim Henson//Veggie Tale's(I was actually both a puppeteer and film maker for many years).
It's amazing to see how God moved through your life.
Starting with a passion for film-making, and then that passion turned towards God!
I love it!
Thanks for sharing!


P.S.
I actually know Phil Vischer's brother-in-law.
He goes to a Church in my hometown.

Permalink Reply by Doug Hanna (Dashing Flabbergear) on July 6, 2010 at 7:11am

That's pretty cool! (About his brother-in-law, that is)

And it is an interesting story, I hope those without His Grace can stumble upon it. = D


Aly And Cate (Two headed AlyCat) said:

@Doug - That is really cool.
Wow. That's actually one of the coolest stories I've heard.
I was raised Jim Henson//Veggie Tale's(I was actually both a puppeteer and film maker for many years).
It's amazing to see how God moved through your life.
Starting with a passion for film-making, and then that passion turned towards God!
I love it!
Thanks for sharing!


P.S.
I actually know Phil Vischer's brother-in-law.
He goes to a Church in my hometown.

Permalink Reply by Aly And Cate (Two headed AlyCat) on July 6, 2010 at 10:59am

For sure!

Permalink Reply by Doug Hanna (Dashing Flabbergear) on July 6, 2010 at 11:09am

And by the way, I subscribed to your YouTube channel. =D

Aly And Cate (Two headed AlyCat) said:

For sure!

Permalink Reply by Aly And Cate (Two headed AlyCat) on July 6, 2010 at 11:49am

Thank you so much :D
What's your channel name?

Doug Hanna (Dashing Flabbergear) said:

And by the way, I subscribed to your YouTube channel. =D

Aly And Cate (Two headed AlyCat) said:

For sure!

Permalink Reply by Doug Hanna (Dashing Flabbergear) on July 6, 2010 at 12:21pm

BlueSquidProductions (I think you found it, you just sent me a friend invite)

Aly And Cate (Two headed AlyCat) said:

Thank you so much :D
What's your channel name?

Doug Hanna (Dashing Flabbergear) said:

And by the way, I subscribed to your YouTube channel. =D

Aly And Cate (Two headed AlyCat) said:

For sure!

Permalink Reply by Aly And Cate (Two headed AlyCat) on July 6, 2010 at 1:07pm

Oh yeah!
awesome, well, we ' ll try and check out some of your videos when we get the time!!

Doug Hanna (Dashing Flabbergear) said:

BlueSquidProductions (I think you found it, you just sent me a friend invite)

Aly And Cate (Two headed AlyCat) said:

Thank you so much :D
What's your channel name?

Doug Hanna (Dashing Flabbergear) said:

And by the way, I subscribed to your YouTube channel. =D

Aly And Cate (Two headed AlyCat) said:

For sure!

Permalink Reply by Darrell Martens (6 Winged Lion) on July 7, 2010 at 8:21pm

I really loved The Truth, but couldn't understand why this variable of Religion is in our environment. I was raised in Church, but didn't fully understand what it was all about. Until God revealed Himself through His Holy Spirit and lead me to glorify the Son Jesus Christ. Once I applied The Word of God to the world around me then everything started to make sense. The Truth is a relative. (Our Father who art in Heaven)

Permalink Reply by John Stratman (Stratmaster J) on July 18, 2010 at 10:06pm

My dad's a Reverend, so it's sort of obvious how I became Christian. Not much to tell. I have been one almost literally my whole life!

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