Ephesians 2:4-9
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
Here at Christian-Charity-World it is always great to hear about how anybody comes to Christ. As I've said before, the journey can extend a life time, or it can be quite dramatic with conversion happening almost instantaneously. I was priveleged to actually witness a friend of mine as he finally saw the light.
I came to know Jim by attending a wonderful Alpha course held by the Zion Baptist Church in Tenterden. Jim is a retired gentleman, his regional accent giving away that he originates from bonny Scotland. I was told that the Alpha course was for those fledglings, people either new to the faith or those who really wanted a greater understanding of Christianity. By focussing on both the bible and Jesus Christ, over ten weeks we would start to understand the tremendous importance that Jesus has in our lives and our connection to God through him. Jim had been co-erced into going to one of the local Men's Breakfasts hosted by "Churches Together in Tenterden" and had become a little intrigued by the faith. However he still had alot of unanswered questions and was more than a little doubtful of Christianity.
During the ten week period of the Alpha course, we attended one of our usual bi-monthly Men's Breakfasts on a Saturday morning and Jim was there too. These breakfasts always have a guest speaker who imparts some Christian message gained from their own experiences. This particular gathering, Joe Marriot was the guest. Joe has created several churches in the past and was currnetly running a flourishing church in a deprived area of Eastbourne. He had helped change the lives of many people including drug addicts. Joe was performing commendable work in that community.
His talk started by introducing his love of restoring old cars and of course this lead into the restoring of peoples lives through Jesus. Jim was fascinated by the analogy and when Joe mentioned about the spark from the spark plug igniting the petrol fumes, the comparison really sunk in for Jim. However the spark was soon to be igniting Jim's Holy Spirit.
At the end of his talk, Joe invited people to come forward in order for him to lay his hands on them and pray for them. Jim took up this invite. As the prayer was said Jim had to be stopped from falling over. He said he could feel a sensation like electricity running through him, from the point where Joe laid his hand on his head, right through his body which, momentarily took away all his strength. For the rest of the day he was in a complete daze, completely oblivious to all that was going on around him. He was convinced he had experienced the Holy Spirit with in.
It does seem that from that point on Jim is a changed man. The aggressive nature that is characteristic of many a Scotsman seems to have been quelled. He no longer gets anry. The man is alot calmer and is truly following a more Christian lifestyle. The Alpha course completed, he has followed up by attending bible study classes and is reading a whole host of Christian literature. His thirst for knowledge of the faith is almost unsatiable
This is just one story of a man's conversion to the Christian faith. There are many more stories to be told and who knows it could be your testimony that we report at Christian Charity World.
How fantastic is that?
Terry Norrington
http://www.cryinthedark.org/
http://www.christian-charity-world.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8fB3X_xdzc
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