Greetings to my Brother in Christ,I am so pleased to discover that I have not been alone in finding the Church of Christ as contained in Orthodoxy from a Baptist background.
Allow me to tell you a bit about myself. I do not come from a Christian family. In fact, I was originally a pagan who worshiped false gods before accepting Christ as the Way, Truth and Life. I was originally a follower of these Eastern religions: Buddhism (Theravada school); Hinduism and Taoism. God was patient with me despite my wanderings and opposition to him by allowing me to go to Christian schools as well as a Christian Sunday school. (Oddly enough, this was introduced to me through my non-Christian family who wanted me to get some religion. God was merciful in allowing a Christian friend of the family to introduce me and my sister to Christian Sunday School). In the beginning, due to some very bad examples shown to me in "Christian" schools (in this case, Seventh Day Adventist in the beginning), I was opposed to Christianity. As time passed, I was sent to a different school, where I encountered at least some semblance of orthodox Christianity, and was beginning to be challenged to consider the Bible and Jesus Christ as true or not. My faith in Christianity was not finalised until 2 events occured in my life. The first was a coma caused by my chronic asthma condition. This shook me up since I was actually at the door of death and made me consider that there is more to this physical world than we see it. This made me consider and practice the above mentioned religions. It made me read all the different scriptures of the different religions. It left me with one certainty: these religions have some elements of truth but have tainted error into it. What was now certain was that there had to be one God who is true, the question is who is He?
This led to the second point in my life: a visit to a Christian friend's house. When I entered that afternoon, I was treated to lunch and also some interesting Christian literature. In fact, it was a box filled with comic tracts by Jack Chick. Being someone who had searched through every religion (including the monotheistic religions that are not Christian.ie Islam and Judaism as well as Zoroastrianism), it intrigued me to devour the contents thereof. After going through every tract in the box, God brought this truth home: Jesus Christ is God and He is the Only One who can save you from hell and a sin filled life. I thus fully believed and accepted Jesus Christ as my salvation that day and expressed my willingness to follow Him further by going back to the church I was first introduced to with renewed vigour to study and follow the Scriptures. (The church was a Evangelical Anglican church).
However, it does not end here. After this, I experienced many waverings in the faith by getting involved with both Roman Catholicism and neo-evangalicalism as well as Charismaticism. After being confronted by the actual pitfalls they would lead a Christian into, I investigated further and thoroughly rejected both and decided to leave my environment to start a new Christian life based on unchanging truth without compromise. This led me to encounter a Fundamental Baptist Church. I thought I was home. They had come to the same conclusions that I had come to but with much more Biblical knowledge. I thus became a fully involved Fundamental Baptist and got baptised in a Fundamental Baptist Church. We opposed the same things: Roman Catholicism; Masonry; Islam; ecumenism; left-wingers and homosexual rights groups; Charismaticism; Calvinism; all the cults (Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Christadelphians, Seventh Day Adventists, etc.); modern-day 'bibles'; neo-evangelicalism;Communism and humanism;evolution and loved what was good and right. However, there was another pitfall. Whilst the Biblical knowledge and teaching was for the most part accurate, and our conclusions were there, yet hypocrisies and quasi- denials of sin occuring within our camp was evident.
In the midst of that time, I had unexpectedly come into contact with the Orthodox faith through a Jewish friend in university! Prior to that, as a strong-headed Fundamental Baptist, I was not intent on even considering the prospect of converting to Orthodoxy. However, before that meeting, I had just been listening to a set of lectures by a Croatian atheist on the Orthodox Faith, since I was doing a course on the history of Russia. Irony of ironies indeed if one was not enough! As a strong headed Baptist, I was skeptical of Orthodoxy as "another form of Roman Catholicism". However, after listening to this atheist professor present lectures on Orthodoxy as well as talk with my Orthodox friend of a Jewish friend, I came away thinking: "It seems Orthodoxy and Fundamental Baptist teaching are more agreeable than disagreeable on many issues."
After establishing a friendship with this Orthodox friend, I decided to go to an Orthodox Bookshop. As I entered the store, I was warmly greeted and sat down to explain my situation to the workers. They recommended me to go to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia rather than the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, even though they were Greeks themselves. The reason being the purity of the faith generally retained by ROCOR as opposed to the involvement with ecumenism and World Council of Churches on the part of GOA. I even arranged to speak with the Archbishop of Australia, His Grace, Hilarion.
After much discussion and investigation into Orthodoxy, I came to the conclusion (in conjunction with the Church Fathers) that the Church of Christ Visible is One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church retained in Orthodoxy. What also helped in my search at the time was the life and works of Father Seraphim Rose, whom I felt I had a lot more in common with. I have got involved with ROCOR, whilst not being a blind zealot. (I dislike strongly the anti-Jewishness and Israel-bashing stance taken by a number of both laymen and clergymen in ROCOR. I also believe that whilst there are many genuine converts, there are a number of converts who are still humanistic through and through with not one wit whole). Orthodoxy is the way of unchanging conviction in Christ being lived out in an ever-changing world.
It is a blessing that I have come across your blog. You share many of the heart felt issues I share and I do hope to hear from you.
As the Church of Christ, it is better we wash out our dirty laundry than to let the stench stink to the nostrils of heaven. We can deal with our dirty laundry much better than the Protestants and Roman Catholics can.
In the heart of every hardcore Fundamentalist is someone who is truly Orthodox. They just do not know it yet.
God bless and hope to hear from you soon.
Timotheos Kwoh
Ozzie Ozzie! Welcome home!
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