Greetings, brothers and sisters in Christ!

Hello, everyone!

I'm not too good at the whole introduction thing, but I'll do my best. My name is Yana and I'm 17 years old. I come from Bulgaria but live in Denmark for the time being.

I am a daughter to Christian parents, but I can't say I exhibited interest, much less devotion to the Lord while growing up, and my parents never really talked to me about the realities of the faith. Just before we moved to Denmark I had started going to youth group, where I began to see the faith in a more serious light and took the first steps towards conversion. However the true moment of repentance and conversion for me (although I may have had some semblance of faith before) was a few years ago, when I was spurred in my spirit to seek out the things of God. As a child of my time, this happened mostly through the internet, and God was incredibly gracious in not allowing me to be led astray with all the filth and heresy that abounds out there. But it was through forums and sites like this one that I started learning in depth about the faith, and I was inspired to read the whole Bible for myself. In some sort of sublime machination of the Spirit that is lost to my puny mind, I was convicted and led to God.

Since then it has been a pretty rough patch, and in fact there was a lengthy period of time where I grew very lukewarm and started compromising. This was mostly (I see now) because I had been trying to combat sin by my own strength, which led to a sort of depression and anxiety, a feeling of constant guilt and unworthiness that grew so unbearable, that I told myself the only way to escape it was to distance myself from God, who I saw as the author of these things, not recognizing them as my own flesh. This summer, however, returning to my home country of Bulgaria for a month, I had my faith and my soul renewed, and the Lord has truly brought me back to Himself in his great mercy which I did not deserve in the least. I have never been more full of Him and I can feel that He is in the process of purging my soul from every evil thing. Praise be to Him and may I never deign to turn my back on Him again!

Right now I am searching for a congregation of believers here in Copenhagen, as I have not been able to find a solid Bible-preaching church. (Frankly, in the past, I have not looked for one very actively.) I feel that one of the other major reasons that I was distanced from God for a time was the absence of a strong fellowship, because a lone believer cannot and is not meant to function outside the Body of Christ. My parents frequent a church that is very focused on gospel music, and it seems to me more like once-a-week concert than a gathering of believers, and in fact, many unbelievers come in order to listen to the music. The sermons are short and vapid - pseudo-Biblical psychobabble. In fact the head pastor is a psychologist.

So I would like to end this quite lengthy introduction by asking you guys to pray for me, so that I may be able to find a gathering of believers who truly yearn for the Lord and His ways, so that we may help each other in our edification and sanctification in the Lord.

I pray that you may all be blessed in your walk with Him.

For a start perhaps www.copenhagenchristiancenter.dk

Thank you all for the kind words and the encouragement you gave me (and for those Zac Poonen sermons I will be checking out). Especially the reminder not to become comfortable with the status quo.

As for the Copenhagen Christian Center (thanks for the suggestion and for taking the time), I have been there a few times and I have mixed feelings about it. However, I was actually thinking of going there again, and I suppose I should give it another try. And I'll have to get over my shyness and actually meet people. It might open doors to even better places. :)

Hi Yana,

Welcome, and may the Lord bless you
and keep you. The One that has called
you into fellowship with Himself is
faithful to keep you, and to lead you to
a company of believers that are seeking
the Lord with all of their hearts.

As you are being rooted and grounded
in the love of God, the Word will become
more precious to you, and you will
delight in feeding on the bread of life.
The Holy Spirit will lead you and guide
you into all truth.

Dear Yana,

I think that you should be very cautious about the Copenhagen Christian Centre and trust your initial feelings. I'm sure if Dolfan had checked into this a bit he woold not have suggested it. I say this having looked at their website and ministries that they are associated with (Randy Clark and Bill Johnson for example) are not sound.

I am sure the Lord will will lead you to His people in Denmark. They may not be a high profile group, but if they love the truth this is all you need.

It may be worth checking to see if some of the ministers listed on this site (like Paul Washer) ever visit Denmark and what churches they might recommend or preach at.

God bless and lead you.

Yes there are a couple of churches that have been started in Denmark that are associated with Paul Washer. I don't know if they are close to Copenhagen, but you could check it out on the web.
Also I cannot vouce anything for them, but at least we know Paul Washer is sound, so they should at least be solid.

Brothers and Yana, I posted the recommendation just by Googling evangelical churches in Copenhagen. I didn't read beyond the front page of their website. After I posted I thought to myself, "That church might be a little crazy for all I know." I actually then searched for any home based fellowships there but found none. I was at a late lunch with my wife and daughter and didn't do due diligence. That's my fault. Given the deep history of Calvinism in Denmark and the fact that I would never recommend it I didn't do what I should have. If that church is "crazymatic" as in Bethel, etc., I wince in embarrassment. So, please accept my apologies Yana and I promise to quit trying to find churches for people halfway around the world that I know nothing about. I feel like a kid who had a loaded gun. Again, I am really sorry.

No problem, brother. Really, don't be too hard on yourself.

By the way, I would like to thank you folks for setting me on the Paul Washer trail! I got in contact with a brother whi has a Christian blog, where he's written a bit about Paul and his ministry in Denmark. I asked him to recommend some churches, and there is one (not too far away) that seems very promising. They get together more than once a week, do prayer and Bible studies, and I found nothing worrying on their site. I'm hoping that it might be a good place and I'll go there next time they have a meeting. Feeling hopeful.

Again, thanks for all the help and encouragement, you guys.