I have been married to Kirsty for over twenty years and we have five lovely children. I have been a Pastor and a Street Preacher, and I am currently employed as Renewal North West’s Showroom Manager. I love Renewal North West and I see the work that the charity does as very much a work of the Lord.
I grew up in an average Middle-Class home, but rebelled when I hit my teenage years. I had always been interested in spiritual things, but we were never a church-going family and as I began to consider spiritual things, I became involved in the Occult. After reading several books, I began to practice witchcraft in what is known as the religion of Wicca.
Whilst still at school I tried amphetamines and Cannabis for the first time and later on, as I started college, I tried other drugs, such as LSD, Magic Mushrooms and Cocaine. My substance abuse began to get out of control as I had begun drinking heavily and using household products as stimulants.
I tried to give meaning and shape to my life by visiting a clairvoyant and trying meditation. I looked into other religions, like the Hare Krishna movement. Each avenue ended in frustration. I began to experience terrible mood swings and memory loss. The mood swings that came with my drug-taking were causing a lot of tension in the family home and after a row with my parents, I left home and spent several weeks sleeping at a friend’s house. My life had very rapidly become a total mess! It was at this time I began to think seriously about the existence of God. Was there a God? If so, which God? Which religion?
A chance encounter with an old college friend changed everything.
It was the summer holidays and having not very much to do, I phoned her up and asked her if she wanted to go for a drink. She said she didn’t go to pubs anymore. There was a noticeable pause in our conversation and then she said, “I’ve started going to a church, if you want to come along?” God’s timing is perfect! A year ago, I would have mocked and sneered at the idea, but now I simply said “Yes.”
I turned up at the church dressed all in black, with my hair hanging down in my eyes. I’m not sure what they thought of me, but the guy on the door embraced me with a massive hug, which really caught me off guard! Here was somewhere I actually felt welcome.
I sat through the morning service, and I had felt something. The words of the songs, phrases like “Lamb of God” and “The Good Shepherd,” were drawing my thoughts. The meeting ended and I was going to go home. But then my friend said, “They have another service tonight, if you are interested?” I was interested and that night I experienced the love of God. I felt a presence and I knew instantly it was God. It was as if everything else, all the people, vanished away and it was just me and the Lord.
That night I was transformed; born again by the Spirit of God. I think of a verse in the Bible, Acts 2:39, that the promise of God’s Spirit is given “to all that are afar off…” No one could have been further off than me and yet God’s love drew me and saved me. What He has done for me, I am convinced He can do for you, whoever you are.
