Yo, Yo and Heya.

[HEDGESMFG]

It's been a long, hard, road, and it's only the beginning for me.


Greetings, I am new here, and have been raised in a christian enviornment throughout most of my life. Although I do not even remember the specific point at which I accepted Christ as my only way to be saved...I do know that from my early years onward the things I learned have had a lot and it has greatly affected my life, personality, concens, and although filled with flaws from time to time, emotions.

Now, with all of this, let me make one thing clear: I believe that I am a sinner who has no chance of getting into Heaven, connecting with the one true God (Who is also responsible for the creation of this Universe, and everything within it), or truly even living a life with purpose without the one who was called Jesus Christ. He was the living incarnation of God as a man, was born of a virgin and recieved no sin from the father, lived the sinless and perfect life that I cannot achieve in this body and in this life, and then was taken to fufill the phrophecies by dying what some have said is the wost death in all of mankind as a sacrafice for our sins, and then rising again after 3 days to prove that he truly WAS God and that he had Power over Death and sin. By acknowledging that I am a flawed man and a sinner, and accepting that he was perfect and died and rose again for me, my sins are paid for and I can now live in a relationship with the one true God, and can confidently look forward to an eternity in Heaven once my life here is done.

In short, Though flawed, and still growing, I AM a biblical believing Christian and accept the Gospel in it's purest form.


I guess I'll start off with the early years:
In an odd sense, I was raised off of anime. By that I mean the first thing I was EVER exposed to as a young child was the first episode of "Flying House" which several of you may even remember. To say the least, this show was largely in my memory for the first 10 years of my life, it had a robot, large machines and blinking lights, your typical idiotic professor, and heck even the weird out there yet kinda cool designs that go through the world of anime. Of course, at heart and much more importantly, it archived the life of Jesus in a surprisingly detailed format that I've yet to see alot of Christian animated shows do. Through the influence of this, similar shows (Which the fact is, I never loved quite as much as this one), VERY loving Christian parents, and a rather good number of Sunday school years (Before the times and influence within my old churches seemed to change as I got older :/ ). I gained a rather good grasp of biblical knowledge at a young age, and in some senses grew up rather "niavely kind and innocent" for several years, but that's another issue.

HOWEVER, there was another side to this. The fact that this show also contributed to my CREATIVE side, which I have found more and more to be a God given trait, but still...I began to do alot of drawings, I began to imitate voices, I began to like the styles and designs I saw, and I began to look even more fondly upon animation as a whole. Fast forward several years when I begin to learn about the true medium of "anime" from a few friends, I am instantly grabbed by it, and become your typical hardcore Otaku before long. You know, the cosplaying, joking, "How much have you seen" type.



This "Anime fandom" is somewhat of an oxymoron in the fact that I was drawn to anime because it had a more realistic set of values and morals then alot of what goes on out there. Of course, I know it has it's flaws, there are many titles I don't personally care for, but I guess you could say I've always been somewhat optimistic in the fact that I'm encouraged when I see biblical morals and truths even in the most unexpected places. So over the years the interest grew.


At the same time I've also found myself seperated from alot of american culture and media mainly out of personal choice. Heck, I rarely even turn on the tube anymore and me seeing movies is....well, I never bother I guess. Partially out of lack of interest, and partially out of moral taste.


My own Christian life has had alot of rough turns here and there, as I grew older in my old school/Church, I stayed kinda Niave and innocent while other people....didn't. In the end I went through utter heck for it. It wasn't long before I had to leave the church, and went into homeschooling....life drasticly improved ever since, but it hasn't changed the fact that it's been hard, sometimes a bit lonely, and has given me alot of time to develop and think. I've long since forgiven the past though...


OK, ya know this rant is getting really long, but what the heck? Heck, I barely mentioned anime with this at all O.o



I guess what it comes down to is something I often end up wondering:


Has God allowed all of this, the years of anime influence, the events and people at cons, the hardships with some people and support of others to influence me for a purpose here? Am I an otaku for a reason I didn't even realize over the years? Will this just be a small step towards a much larger plan? Or is it all so insignificant in the grand scheme of my life and God's plan?





...Woah O.o Weird way to say "Hiya" But...err...Ok.

[Whitephoenix]

"Has God allowed all of this, the years of anime influence, the events and people at cons, the hardships with some people and support of others to influence me for a purpose here? Am I an otaku for a reason I didn't even realize over the years? Will this just be a small step towards a much larger plan? Or is it all so insignificant in the grand scheme of my life and God's plan?"



Hmmm... those last few comments sound interesting. Anyways, I hope you have a great stay here.

[Ashley]

I'd argue to some degree it's what you make of it. I'm not saying you have to go out and sprout your own CAA-counterpart to use anime in a Godly way, but you can use it to "further the kingdom" so to speak. On one hand, I totally believe God really does have purpose for every aspect of us (even if I'm slow to admit that), but on the other I know he gave us free choice, and that means engaging in pursuits that are not exactly Christ-based. Which, is ok, if you keep it all in perspective, you know?

Anyway, welcome here.

[Rashiir]

Hey! Welcome!

[Razgriz]

Welcome and enjoy your stay!

[Heaven's Cloud]

Welcome aboard my friend!

[shooraijin]

Hajimemashite!

[Michael]

Willkommen.

[andyroo]

Hellosa!

[DanekJovax]

Many fundamentalist greetings and such, along with the gratuitous "Yoroshkuu Onegaishimasuu!"!!

Nice to have you here, HEDGESMFG, and look forward to seeing you around the forums!

:2D

[Angelchick]

hey welcome to CAA have fun

[EireWolf]

Welcome!

[Spiritsword]

Hi there, welcome to CAA!

It was great to hear about your journey of faith (which of course is still in progress). And I agree with Ash, everything that happens in our lives is according to our omnipotent, soveriegn God's will. Of course, that's the almost unfathomable paradox--God gave us the freedom to choose, yet He already has our lives mapped out for us and knows what we will choose. So again, I agree with Ash--take the anime as far for God as He leads you with it. Just be sure to always turn to Him for guidance both before and during your endeavors.

Hope you have fun here at CAA!

Spiritsword

[Mithrandir]

Thanks for sharing, and welcome to the nuthouse!