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I grew up in Britain at a time when it was not that unusual
for children to go to Sunday School or belong to some church affiliated
organisation such as Cub Scouts. This didn't mean that all such
children were believers, but it was generally true to say that
children of that generation knew something about God and were
familiar with many Bible stories. Although I didn't come from
a strongly Christian family, I was encouraged to join the Cubs,
go to church for special services and regularly attend Sunday
School.
As I grew up and became aware of other belief systems, I began
to wonder about the chances of the belief system I'd been taught,
being the only one that was valid. Without any proof offered to
me, and with only a very basic understanding of Christianity,
I began to investigate other belief systems. By the time I left
school, a friend of mine had developed an interest in yoga which
I also shared. Together we enrolled in a yoga evening class and
began to study not only the exercises but the Hindu beliefs behind
them. We also got involved in meditation and began to take on
board many of the eastern philosophies. However, the more I learned
about these other ideas, the less intellectually satisfying they
became as many of the beliefs, in common with New Age beliefs,
were without any rational proof and it was becoming obvious to
me that many were boardering on the occult. The small amount of
time I'd spent dabbling in the occult quickly made me aware of
the dangers involved.
Perhaps I'd had the most sensible 'religion' all along - but
was it 100% correct? What if each of the world's religions had
a small amount of truth but none had got it all? How could anyone
be sure? It's good to ask questions of course but searching for
the truth can make a person vulnerable to all sorts of deception.
I got involved with a local group of Mormons who were very friendly
and sincere but inevitably the probing questions I kept asking
showed up many of their irrational beliefs and we parted company
after a few months. I kept up my Yoga for a while but didn't try
to get involved with any other churches. I just drifted along
like most other people - not giving the subject of faith much
more deep consideration.
Things began to change one day when my best friend announced
he'd become a Christian. Initially, I thought it was just a fad
and anyway I thought I was already a Christian. I'd been"
baptised" as a baby, brought up to go to church and yet I
had a sense that he'd discovered something I'd missed. We'd left
school and were then both attending different colleges but we
kept in contact and had many interesting discussions on religion
and Christianity despite the growing sense that we were both on
different sides of a growing divide. I was able to accept that
he'd found some kind of meaning to life but when it transpired
during one discussion that he no longer believed in evolution,
I thought he'd finally become a religious nut.
I'd always been taught that evolution was a fact and despite
not being able to explain why we were not still surrounded by
numerous intermediate forms of every animal or how something as
complex as a self replicating digital database like DNA could
arise by chance, I'd never really looked into the assumptions
and evidence surrounding the creation/evolution debate. From that
time on, I began to question everything more deeply and gradually
began to realise that he might be right.
The seeds of doubt and of faith had been sown.
About that time, I got interested in amateur radio (long before
CB came to this country). I took the exam and got my license (call-sign
G8INK). This opened up a whole new world for me (as an engineering
student, I didn't get out much). Soon I was chatting to all sorts
of odd people using a converted taxi transceiver in my bedroom
and a huge motor-driven VHF aerial on the roof which my parents
seemed happy to accommodate. One evening, I found myself talking
to someone who was obviously in a room with a group of other people
who were talking and laughing and generally having a very sociable
time. He explained that they were all members of a youth group
attached to a local church a few miles from where I lived and
invited me over to meet them. Being the kind of guy who often
had to pretend to be interested in a rubber plant in a corner
at parties, I would normally have declined such an invitation
but for some reason, this time, I didn't.
The group of young people I met were more than just friends -
it was apparent that there existed a bond between them which was
deeper and more genuine than one would expect to find at say your
local darts team. I was quickly accepted by these new friends
and began to attend the same church. I didn't realise it at first,
but I was beginning to experience the love of Christ and felt
very much as if my quest for truth was coming full circle. It
wasn't long before I was taught that being baptised as a baby
didn't make you a Christian and was no guarantee of a future heaven.
I discovered that no matter how good I thought I was or how many
good deeds I'd done, it counted for nothing because God is so
holy and our best efforts are never good enough to justify us
before Him. Once I realised why Jesus had to die for my sins and
that he is the only way to be saved from the judgement to come,
trusting in Him as my Saviour was a step I took gladly.
I don't remember the exact day this took place but I know that
my redeemer lives and that I have been saved by His sacrifice
on the cross. From that day on, things began to make perfect sense
in a way that no other belief system was able to do. I developed
a desire to read the Bible as much as I could because it had begun
to make sense to me in a way it hadn't before I was saved. My
friend called to see me a few days later but I wasn't twiddling
the tuning dial on my radio this time - I was at my first Bible
study.
Every Christian has a different story to tell about how they
were saved but in a sense, it's the same story. The realisation
that faith in Jesus is the only way to be justified before God
is a liberating and joyous experience which remains throughout
life's trials. The Bible becomes the most precious book of all
- an inexhaustible resource of God's wisdom and everything we
need to nourish our relationship with Him. Prayer ceases to be
a ritualistic recitation of words on a page and becomes the joyous
privilege of direct communication with God the Father.
So have I joined the ranks of the religiously insane? No. A deep
study of the scriptures reveals that it is not a collection of
fables devised by man. It is a collection of 66 books written
by over 40 authors over thousands of years and yet it contains
an integrated message about the fall and redemption of man before
the one and only true God which lays out both the history and
future of mankind in great detail which only God can know. Unlike
other world religions which either deny God or try to approach
God on man's terms, the Bible teaches us that it is God Himself
who justifies and saves sinners through faith in His son Jesus
who was without sin and who took the penalty of our sin upon himself
because we can never atone for our own sins.
No world religion has a God who suffers for His creation but
I have found that when you really study what the Bible says, it
makes perfect sense and the more I learn about the Bible the more
sense it makes. God doesn't ask us to believe anything which is
unreasonable - blind faith is for fools. I can say that in putting
my faith in Jesus, I know that I've finally found the truth. Now,
despite the fact that I still have many flaws and weaknesses,
I have a totally different perspective on life, a peace in my
heart and an assurance that I am eternally saved because it's
not based on my works but on His.
1Cr 15:57 But thanks [be] to God, which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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