Hey everyone -- my name is Cole and I'm a new guy 
I'm in the US Army (fourth year, one more to go!), am 23 (24 in September!), married to a beautiful fellow soldier with a child on the way (due in September and we find out what we're having on Friday!). I was raised in a fairly secular household (my father is an agnostic and my mother is more or less Baptist) -- Sunday school was free babysitting -- and around the age of 14 began to explore other religions and philosophy. At 17 I began following the OT, living pretty much as a Jew (I held Friday sabbath, followed kashrut, etc).
Eventually that dropped off and I returned to a sort of lost sense of just hanging about. I joined the army at 20 and rediscovered my faith through the New Testament. It was during my stay in Basic Combat Training when I had a rare experience (for me, at least) -- a prayer was totally and completely answered in an in-my-face sort of way that made denial darned near impossible.
Of course, I'm very stubborn so over the past few years my faith has wandered, dried out, and reblossomed. I am a student of history with a voracious appetite (I am a fan of archaeology and anthropology, especially when it leads me to discover what Jesus really meant and what he probably really said and how he lived and the world he found himself in).
So yeah, a google search led me to this site and I'm looking forward to interacting with and becoming a part of this community.
A side note: just finished reading "The Shack" (good read) and have just began "Amish Grace" (Lifetime made a movie of it, which led me to the book).
I'm in the US Army (fourth year, one more to go!), am 23 (24 in September!), married to a beautiful fellow soldier with a child on the way (due in September and we find out what we're having on Friday!). I was raised in a fairly secular household (my father is an agnostic and my mother is more or less Baptist) -- Sunday school was free babysitting -- and around the age of 14 began to explore other religions and philosophy. At 17 I began following the OT, living pretty much as a Jew (I held Friday sabbath, followed kashrut, etc).
Eventually that dropped off and I returned to a sort of lost sense of just hanging about. I joined the army at 20 and rediscovered my faith through the New Testament. It was during my stay in Basic Combat Training when I had a rare experience (for me, at least) -- a prayer was totally and completely answered in an in-my-face sort of way that made denial darned near impossible.
Of course, I'm very stubborn so over the past few years my faith has wandered, dried out, and reblossomed. I am a student of history with a voracious appetite (I am a fan of archaeology and anthropology, especially when it leads me to discover what Jesus really meant and what he probably really said and how he lived and the world he found himself in).
So yeah, a google search led me to this site and I'm looking forward to interacting with and becoming a part of this community.
A side note: just finished reading "The Shack" (good read) and have just began "Amish Grace" (Lifetime made a movie of it, which led me to the book).
