How I became a "Starbucks Christian"

Well, as I sit at my computer pondering upon the many words of wisdom I could produce for your viewing pleasure I return time and time again to my Christain walk so how about we start there. I was born Catholic. Now I'm going to pause the story at this point for just a brief moment. Now for the Catholics who may be viewing my blog I urge you to bear with me and read the entire post before judging. Okay, so as I was saying I was born Catholic. This may have been the most damaging fact to my Christian walk (I once again urge the Catholics to bear with me). Now it has been my experience that the Catholic faith is dull and does nothing to challenge a Christian to really grow. I should know better than most because I wittness time and time again attending a Catholic High School young teenagers leaving the Church completely some of them never to return again. I have also wittnessed at times a damaging faith. I've seen it many a time where the Catholic church will turn away many potential believers due to their unwillingness to be understanding to the faiths and personal beliefs of other people. It is for this reason I was never challenged and constantly felt I was wrong in my time as a Catholic. However I changed faiths around 12 years old, and this is an interesting little story. Me and my family had just recieved in the mail a note inviting us to join Lifespring Christian Church for the sunday service. My mother thinking nothing of it tossed it in the trash. Not a month later we recieved yet another note in the mail inviting us to join Lifespring Christian Church for Sunday service. This may not sound too strange untill you learn that not a single person on our street, save our family of course, recieved even one note from Lifespring Christian Church. We were sold. We could not turn a blind eye to such a clear display of God's providence. So we went and it was just what we needed it was a free friendly environment where we were accepted with open arms. The music was contemporary the speakers were relateable and funny and the atmosphere was intense compared to what we were used to. It is in this Church where I met my greatest friends and mentors. I am also hoping to start leading worship to help me prepare for my intended position as a worship leader (whether or not this is God's will remains to be seen). So all in all this was the ideal church for us and just what we needed
This is not where my faith walk ends. In fact we haven't reached the best part... the part where my faith becomes real and serious. The month was July the year, 2010. The location Lee University in TN. The event CIY or Christ in Youth. More specificly the night session. The Aaron Pelsue band plays How He Loves (which I highly recommend listening to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0luHiWwi08). I bear no shame in admiting that at this particular point in time my eyes were soaked with tears and I was on my knees. I could feel God's presence for the first time in my life in a room filled with teenagers my age most of them crying with arms raised also moved by the sheer raw power of God's presence. It was as if I could see myself as God saw me and I looked... for the very first time. Pure. I then proceeded to realize my big problem in life which was rejection I was afraid of rejection because it was the one constant throughout my life in was uncool all the way up through sophmore year of high school. This is of course all untill I came to realize that the only person I should worry about impressing is my Lord and Saviour (I decide to use the British spelling of the word today) Jesus Christ. I was in this moment my faith became real. That encounter with God drastically changed me and I could definitely see the results. I noticed a lack of attention to the oppinions of others. I also noticed an increase in my Bible reading and prayer time. I became hungry for the word and hungry for more knowledge of God. This is How I eventually became a "Starbucks Christian".