{"id":2,"date":"2009-03-01T12:43:04","date_gmt":"2009-03-01T12:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/flirtingwithfaith\/2009\/03\/who-do-i-think-i-am.html"},"modified":"2009-03-01T12:43:04","modified_gmt":"2009-03-01T12:43:04","slug":"who-do-i-think-i-am","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flirtingwithfaith\/2009\/03\/who-do-i-think-i-am.html","title":{"rendered":"Who Do I Think I Am?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Joan Ball
\nand I’m the newest blogger on the Christianity channel at Beliefnet. As I sit
\nhere on my living room couch considering the best way to kick off this new
\nadventure, a single question is running in a repetitive loop in my head,
\nhaunting me to distraction.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“Who do you think you are?”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“Who do you think you are?”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“Who do you think you are?”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It is a sensible question, really. In many ways, I
\ndon’t have what many people would consider to be the “right” credentials to
\ntake this on. I grew up in a secular home and, after some half-hearted seeking
\nin college, landed as a militantly anti-Christian atheist throughout my 20s.
\n\u00a0I converted from atheism to belief in a “power greater than
\nmyself” in addiction recovery in my 30s, but still remained highly
\nskeptical of organized Christianity and most Christians until I had a rather
\ndramatic conversion experience in 2003.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Two days before my 37th birthday, without asking,
\npraying, seeking or even needing a come-to-Jesus moment, I went from thinking
\nthat the whole Christian thing was a contrivance to becoming a sold out,
\nthrow-down-your-nets-and-follow Christian. Without an altar call or the threat
\nof hellfire and brimstone, I had an encounter that I cannot explain that resulted
\nin a faith I cannot deny.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What followed has been five years of learning and
\nchanging that has called into question everything I ever thought I knew about
\nChristianity. \u00a0I wish I could say that this change of faith has lived up
\nto the “join our team and your life will be wonderful” mantra I heard
\nso frequently as an outsider looking in, but no such luck. In fact, the years
\nsince that day in 2003 have been some of the most difficult I have ever lived. I’ve
\nbeen stripped of money, possessions and prestige as I’ve followed the leading
\nof the Holy Spirit in an uncertain direction.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>And I am so glad I did.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Going beyond predictable platitudes and allowing
\nthis change of heart to lead to a genuine change of life, I’ve found that many
\nof the things I once thought were important were actually false comforts. I’ve
\nfound in this faith a new definition of what it means to be rich.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So, without a PhD in Theology or big answers to the
\nbig questions that surround my faith and the church, I come to Beliefnet to
\nshare my journey.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“Who do I think I am?”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I am an ordinary woman who had an encounter with an
\nextraordinary God that continues transform me from the inside out. As a result,
\nI find myself in places I never expected to be with a life that is countercultural and radical – more than it ever was when I sought to live a life that
\nwas countercultural and radical. A mysterious and exciting life that I never
\nimagined I would find as a follower of Jesus.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

That is why I am excited about writing for
\nBeliefnet. I hope Flirting with Faith will be a safe place for us to share our
\nstories and to learn from one another.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

How about you? I’d love to hear who you think you<\/span> are…\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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