“ABOUT US”: WEBSITE FOUNDER & THE STORY OF MY CONVERSION

As for how I heard the “Saving Gospel” of God’s Free Grace through faith in Jesus Christ, it certainly was not in any “Church Building”; and neither was it from any “Priest,” “Vicar,” or “Minister.” Instead, it came to me through my Uncle and Aunt who were “Born-Again Christians.” I had been a “Catholic” for 39 years, believing that “Salvation” was to be found in the “Catholic Church,” with its “Sacraments,” “Masses,” “Priests,” “Rituals,” “Good Works,” “Praying to Mary,” and its doctrine of “Purgatory.”

But then came those two precious relatives into my life, who showed me from the “Bible” that being permanently forgiven by God – that’s being “Saved,” “Converted,” and “Born Again” – doesn’t depend on what we do but instead on what Jesus did 2,000 years ago, namely: His perfect life, His atoning death on the “Cross” for our sin, and then His bodily “Resurrection” to prove it. His last words were even, “It is Finished!” Or “Paid In Full!”

And as for the one Scripture God used to open my eyes to the Truth of the Gospel, it was Ephesians 2:8 and 9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” It had taken me 39 years of trying to earn Heaven by my own efforts, only to realise that it was impossible; that I was just a bankrupt sinner headed to “Hell.” Instead, Jesus wanted me to simply “trust” in His finished work on the “Cross” in my place. That is, He wanted me to “believe” in Him, yes, but to do it with a “broken, contrite and repentant heart.”

Well, it’s a long story, and I won’t share it in full here, other than to say I “came to faith” finally, while I was alone at home, on Thursday 18th July 1996. For God had been convicting me of my sin for some time, when it finally dawned on me, that Thursday afternoon, that I was totally condemned and headed to a certain Hell. I was afraid; I couldn’t argue with the Scriptures; God really was Holy, Righteous, and Just; and full of wrath against my sin. But then, wonders of wonders I remembered that the Bible also said that God was merciful, gracious, loving and forgiving. For it was He, the very God that I had offended, who was offering me a way of escape, if only I looked to Jesus as my “Saviour” and “Substitute.”

And so I tried to confess my sin to Him, a whole lifetime of rebellion and living for myself. It wasn’t pretty. There was just so much of what I was ashamed, and I knew God saw it all. And so the tears came as I tried to repent, and ponder the Cross where Jesus died. Could it really have been for my sin that He laid down His Life, I wondered; for the mountain of iniquity that was my life was just so vast. But then the answer came: yes! He died for even me.

I had no idea what was about to happen, for, right there, in my brokenness, Jesus “saved” me, and it was for ever. In that very moment, I just knew God had forgiven me of all of my evil; that He was now my “Heavenly Father” and Jesus my eternal “Saviour.” I felt different; I actually started to love righteousness, His Word, His Son, as well as other “Believers.” And what I had once lived for, my sin, that I now hated and wanted an end to it in my life.

In a word, God totally changed my life in ways I could never have imagined, even moments before it happened. For, right there, was the living proof that the Bible was correct when it says that, “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17). For even way back in “Ezekiel” God says, “And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh.” It really was true: I really had experienced the “New Birth” of which Jesus spoke in John “3:3-8.” God was now so real to me, such that, since then, I’ve never doubted what Jesus did for me that day, 29 years ago.

Which brings me on to what will be the next section of this website, namely: its “Aim and Purpose;” for it is my heartfelt wish that everyone who visits this site, will hear enough of the Gospel, to “Come to Faith,” if they haven’t already received the free gift of “Salvation.”