Thunder Bay Gospel Hall
Testimonies
A testimony is something that every born-again believer has; it is the story of how a person came to the point when they were "saved"- that is, when they accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. We'd like to share a few of these stories with you and it is our prayer that God will speak to you through them. Every person is unique and every story is unique, but one thing is sure - we all need Jesus Christ.
"He that believes on the Son has everlasting life; and he that believes not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
- John 3:36
"Suddenly it was like the light went on, and I knew in my heart that Jesus was the Son of God and he died to save me."
- Donald Hutchinson
"I was elated! I could now call myself a Christian. I didn’t know any Christians; I still hadn’t set foot in a church; but I was one of his own, and I had no doubts about it.
- Jessica S.
I grew up in a devout Jehovah’s Witness family. From an early age I was involved in door to door work and attended all the regular meetings. Although I did not understand it at the time I now recognize that it is a works-based salvation system where you can never really know if you have done enough to be saved. I also believed what they taught about Jesus Christ, that he is the created son of God, and only a man. There are verses in their Bible that have been distorted to teach this doctrine. I believed as taught that the Trinity is a man made teaching, and that the Holy Spirit is just an impersonal force of God.
I remained an active Jehovah’s Witness until I was a teenager at which point I recognized that I was not living up to what I believed was true at the time. I decided that I would no longer attend their meetings, and this coincided with going away to travel and to attend university.
As I recall this time, I remember thinking that there was no hope for me based on their theology, and that I might as well enjoy my life as much as I could. To this end, when I went to university, I hoped to become a dentist. I thought this would give me a successful career and a good lifestyle.
My first year at university I worked hard and maintained good marks. By my understanding, all I needed was one more year of good marks, and I could likely qualify to enter dentistry. However, during my first year, my eczema, which I had all my life became quite severe. In fact, it was very difficult to manage. I went to dermatologists and took the recommended treatments. This included various creams, steroids, as well as anti-itch medication. Despite this, my condition remained uncontrolled. I suffered from constant itching and scaling of my skin. My skin became covered with sores and scales. I scratched my hair off, and even my eyebrows. This was very difficult to deal with. I could not sleep at night and started to feel constantly miserable.
Although I coped with this during my first year university, during the second year, it became increasingly difficult. It was particularly so because the anti-itch medication made me extremely sedated and it made it difficult to function during school. I would fall asleep in class. But most notably, I started to run out of motivation to work hard as I felt so miserable. Additionally, it was not something I could really express to any of my friends or family about how terrible I was feeling. I also began to reflect on my goals of being successful and it made me realize that, feeling the way I did, no amount of money or success could make me happy. This was quite a difficult time and I would say looking back I felt depressed and hopeless. I never expressed this to anyone. I would go out with my friends and drink and go to parties, but I never felt happy inside. My academic performance declined significantly and I decided after a couple of years of feeling like this, that it was no use going to school if I did not have the motivation to study.
I started to explore ways of improving my health and started working full-time at a nursing home. Eventually my health did start to improve and after working at a psychiatric hospital for a year, I decided to go back to university to study nursing. In nursing school I was an older student and recognized early on a group of young Christian students who were in my class. I noted them because they seemed so young and innocent and I was not only older, but smoked and drank, did recreational drugs, and it just seemed I had very little in common with them. I said to myself that I wouldn’t be hanging out with them.
While in nursing school, I volunteered for an overseas medical trip and became quite interested in humanitarian causes. Being in a helping field, I realized there was much human suffering, and that if only people would work together a lot of it could be alleviated.
I had also been through a series of relationships, which did not last.
As a student I became involved in an anti-racism group on campus and became quite an active member.
During my third year of nursing year, I had the opportunity to do a group assignment with one of the nursing students who I knew was a Christian. One night after working on an assignment together at the library, we had a conversation, and I was telling her about my personal and family background. We also discussed religion and relationships. I told her I wasn’t sure if God existed and she explained her Christian background and, although I don’t remember the details, I remember her stating that she was engaged to be married and believed in abstinence until marriage. I remember, although I did not agree with her, I realized that it took self-restraint to live out this position. She encouraged me to keep thinking about God. I do not remember the gospel coming into the conversation.
The next day I was in the university student centre talking to another student who was involved in the anti-racism group. We were discussing activities on campus, and another student who was familiar to the student I was speaking to came up and joined our conversation. He seemed quite well spoken, and I encouraged him to join our group; however, I was quite surprised and disappointed to hear when he said he was not involved in this kind of struggle. He said he was a Christian and involved in a more eternal struggle. This was not fully explained to me, but I was not happy with this as I perceived it to be a copout of doing something concrete. As someone with a more humanistic view of the world, I thought it was quite convenient that Christians did little in my estimation of helping with the cause of social justice. I stated this to him and he did not say a lot in response but told me something like I should wake up.
I did not understand at the time why what he said stayed with me. But as I went to go home and study and have something to eat, this kept on going through my mind. As I went to bed that night, I recall being a young Jehovah’s Witness, and praying at night in my bed. The desire to pray came to me, but I just didn’t know if God was even real.
The next morning I had a nursing class, and after the class stayed to ask the professor a question. The same nursing student who I’d been speaking to prior also stayed behind. We both ended with the professor at about the same time and were left standing together. Suddenly a question came to me that I wanted to ask her. I asked her if she had a moment to talk and she said she did. We went to the student cafeteria and sat down. I asked her (for a reason which I could not explain) if she had been praying for me the previous day. It was strange because I was not a Christian and I did not pray, and I did not know about how Christians pray for other people. But the question just came to me nevertheless. She smiled and said, 'Actually, yes I was." I started to feel that this was incredible, but then asked her another question: "What time were you praying for me?" She said, "About 5 o’clock." I don’t know if I showed it, but I was quite amazed because this was the exact time I had been speaking to that other Christian student and I recall that I said to myself: I can’t believe it (because I could not explain how this could have happened). However, another part of me said believe it!
This did not mean I became a Christian, but it certainly opened me to the idea of thinking about God. I remember going home and thinking about how I had forgotten about God for so long, and had no idea about whether God even existed.
I went to the chaplains at the university with this question about God, and although I did not feel pointed in any particular direction, they did give me a Bible.
I have not read the Bible for many years and went home and opened at the New Testament, and started reading the book of Matthew. I remember getting to Matthew 7:7, and reading the words of Jesus who said:
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”
Matthew 7:7-9, 11 KJV
When I read these words, I just took them for what they said, and it allowed me to pray for the first time in years, and I lay on my bed and simply said wow God if you are there I’m asking and I’m seeking and I’m knocking.
Thereafter I got an invitation to church, which I had always been loath to attend after coming from a Jehovah’s Witness background. However, I attended a service in a gym on a Sunday night, and the topic was "The Stranger Among You". It really put me at ease and I enjoyed meeting the Christians who were very friendly and welcoming.
That summer I had arranged to work at a hospital in Toronto as a summer job and thought well maybe I could find a church in Toronto that I could attend. When I was in downtown Toronto on the corner of Bloor and Young Street, there was a little old lady and I remember she had a facial deformity and she was very small and she was handing out little cards. I took one of the cards from her and on one side it said "Jesus loves you" and on the other side was an invitation to church and the church was on the same street that I lived on in Toronto. This surprised me as Toronto was such a big city. I did decide I would go and see what the church looked like. On a Sunday morning I jogged about 3 miles to where the church was. It was on the opposite side of the street and I crossed over and walked by it. I hadn’t seen that there were two men standing outside and as I walked by they invited me to come back to the evening service.
I did go to the evening service and I do not remember the message that was preached. There was an altar call at the end and I went forward, wanting to know more about what was being taught. The gospel was explained to me, and then they set me up with someone who could study the Bible with me.
I started a Bible study and it taught me that I was a sinner, and that the Bible was God’s book, and Jesus was God's son sent to save us from our sins. I had no trouble understanding that I was a sinner and that I needed Jesus as my saviour. However, I didn’t really realize it at the time as I do now, but I did not understand who Jesus Christ really was. As a Jehovah’s Witness I had learned that he was merely a created being, and only a man and not God. It wasn’t until I studied a book on the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, that I started to understand that the Bible did teach: that Jesus is God manifest in the flesh, and that he is equal with God, and that there are so many scriptures that teach this clearly. Then I started to realize that I had never understood who Jesus really is. It became clear to me intellectually that the Bible does teach that Jesus is the unique Son of God. However, just knowing that in my head did not give me peace.
I do remember distinctly praying about these Scriptures and meditating on them when I was on a bus on the way to visit my parents. I was just nearly at my stop, and suddenly it was like the light went on, and I knew in my heart that Jesus was the son of God, and he died to save me. I do remember feeling joy and knowing this. This is the moment I was saved.
My testimony since then, which is now over 30 years, is that God has been faithful to me and the Lord Jesus has never failed me. I have failed him many times but I am thankful that he has promised never to leave me or forsake me, and that my sins are forgiven according to his finished work on the Cross.
"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." - Ephesians 1:4
I did not have the privilege of growing up in a Christian home. In fact, my upbringing was instead in a place of abuse. My biological father went to prison when I was just over a year old while my mother struggled with untreated mental illness. In moments she could become violent and angry. When I was younger, my mother had installed a lock on my door and sometimes she kept me locked in there for days at a time. I spent my time in there reading the few books I had over and over. One of those books was a children’s Bible. In the Old Testament I had read about Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, and Joseph. Joseph and his adventures were a favourite of mine. The New Testament was all about Jesus, and I was always trying to figure out why he was any different than the other Bible characters. My family never went to church but even I know that something was supposed to be important about Jesus.
I would also pray often, “God save me, God help me.”
"But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me." - Micah 7:7
I wanted to know God, but there was so much I didn’t understand. How do you know if you are a Christian? What did I need to do? What did people do at church? I wanted to know God, but I had so many questions and my children’s Bible only told me stories, but I wanted to know ‘God’s ways.’
Meanwhile life at home wasn’t the greatest. One day my mother came into my room and started stuffing cloth down my throat, trying to smother me. She didn’t succeed and I was left shaken and scared. It wasn’t the first time she’d tried something like this, and I felt so hopeless. I had tried to tell some of my school friends, but they never believed me. The type of abuse I suffered had left me unable to help myself or even think I was worth helping.
Eventually when I was 14 a boy in one of my classes realized something was up. He asked me some questions and I shared some of the things I was going through. He came from a Christian home but he himself wasn’t a Christian. He went home and told his parents what I told him and the next day he made a guidance appointment for me and him at the school.
When my stepfather found out what was going on (he worked in a different city and was only home for the weekends) he separated from my mother, and I stayed with him.
Suddenly I had freedom! I promptly joined every extracurricular activity I could, except for the one I really wanted to do, which was to go to church.
After my parent’s divorce, I moved with my stepfather directly across the street from a church called Faith Chapel. I was too intimidated to go inside. I was worried someone would talk to me or worse, no one would talk to me. If I could have turned into a little mouse to hide in a corner of that building, I would have. I was still reading my children’s Bible, but I was unsatisfied. I wanted to call myself a Christian, but I knew I was missing something crucial.
Next year, when I was taking swimming lessons, a girl there and I started talking about God. She asked if I was a Christian and I said I read a Bible, but I didn’t know if I was. She told me that I could know for sure. She told me she would meet me outside after we got dressed, and she would tell me about it. I took a long time in the dressing room and when I got outside, she wasn’t there. She probably couldn’t wait for me any longer. Now I knew for sure that I was missing something, but I didn’t know what it was.
A few months later, this mystery was finally revealed to me. God reached for my timid heart gently. I was riding the city bus and stuck in the window were a couple of pamphlets I’d never seen before. Inside was scripture from the Bible. One was about promises from God and another one had the gospel in it.
I can’t remember the exact verses, but it was probably something like Romans 10:9 - "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
The gospel! Finally! This tract told me that we were all sinners and because of those sins we could not enter heaven. But there is a solution, it was Jesus! He went to the cross and was nailed there for our sins. He was the bridge to God we needed. We have the option to accept that gift of his death on the cross, and he would take our sins onto himself, and we would be cleaned and prepared for heaven itself.
There was a suggested prayer on the back that I prayed, and I meant every word. And then I prayed again in my own words in case the first prayer didn’t stick. I was elated. I could now call myself a Christian. I didn’t know any Christians. I still hadn’t set foot in a church, but I was one of his own, and I had no doubts about it.
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 5:12 - "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
I became a new person that day I prayed on my knees in my bedroom. I grew into a healthier person, through his word, and the ministry of his people.
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28
Romans 8:28 has been my favourite verse since I first discovered it when I was 16. When I think about my life I think about this verse. Sometimes I wonder if the kindness God is showing me now is a make up for the very difficult first 14 years of my life, but who can understand the mind of God. The life and testimony of Christians are a beautiful thing. We’re not perfect, far from that, but there is something so completely different I find in the homes of Christians that I cannot quite describe.
I am one of God's elect, and he has chosen me before the foundation of the world and for that I’m thankful to God.
I was a sinner unable to help myself, condemned already, but thank God, Jesus died for me.
-Dawson Allen
There is one privilege for which I humbly thank God, and that is the unparalleled privilege of being born in a Christian home where the Bible was revered as the Word of God and Christ was known as Saviour and Lord; and where from a child I was taught the Scriptures, which are able to make wise unto salvation. It was the knowledge of Scripture that arrested me time and time again, when as an unsaved youth I sought to indulge in this world's sins. I found that I couldn't enjoy sin as the other enjoyed it, and whereas it seemed to make them happy, it only made me miserable and sorrowful. The Holy Spirit worked through the written Word, convicting of sin.
In fact, my whole life as I look at it in retrospect seems to have been spent from my earliest days resisting the strivings of the Spirit. But I'm happy today that there came a time in Kingsbridge Gospel Hall (I could mark the very spot with a nail), I laid down the arms of rebellion and yielded myself as a sinner to the claims of Jesus Christ. May I add here for the sake of some that I had no great experience; I didn't see a great light; I didn't have any strange feelings within; I didn't see visions or hear voices; my conversion was simply the yielding to what I knew to be the Truth, that i was a sinner unable to help myself, condemned already, but thank God, Jesus died for me.
"Get right with God,
Before Him bow,
Get right with God,
And DO IT NOW."
I felt great relief and peace spread through my heart. I was a child of the living God, by God’s grace alone!
-Mark Wilson
I put my head down, acknowledged my guilt before God, and accepted Jesus as my personal Saviour.
-Nick Dzikowski
A changed life! How can that be? Can you change the direction and way of your life just by wishing? Can a leopard change its spots or a zebra its stripes? Surely our life pattern is fixed by the things we look and search for, habitually chase after, and become addicted to. When we desire to break free and change our outlook and pathway, do we not slip again and again?
My story began with very many privileges. Raised in a home with loving Christian parents and seven siblings, we didn’t have a lot of things but we did have a strong, caring family unit. You would think gratitude and satisfaction should have been a part of my attitude, but, no, I wanted more. My own way, my own personal gain, became the direction that I pursued. A prodigal in heart and actions, no rule was in place that couldn’t be broken. There was no one who I felt could deny me the fulfilment of my own pleasures. When just a child I chose to say I believed the Bible and what it taught about a Saviour dying in my place. So I made the claim to be a Christian. This did not make a change in my pursuit of my own way, nor in the desire for selfish pleasures. The only change was an outward conformity to the tenants and ordinances of Christianity. In short, I became a religious sinner! For eight years I continued in this state but during this time I became convicted of my sinful path and life. God was showing me that one day I would have to give account of my actions. I was becoming convinced that in the light of the holiness of God, I was most unworthy of His love and forgiveness. I deserved to be banished from His presence. I also deserved the everlasting punishment which the Bible prophesies is the lot of all the wicked. I came to feel that the weight of guilt which I carried was a burden too great to bear.
One night, as I listened to a Gospel message, it became clear in my heart that God was giving me a chance, probably my last, to find Him, receive the forgiveness of sins, and have peace in my heart. I sought Him with all my heart. The scripture was fulfilled which says, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you”. It wasn’t until the next night, a Monday night in October 1960, that I had a meeting with the Lord Jesus Christ. As the lights were turned off in my room, I was amazed that it was so pitch black in the room. The thought came into my mind that it was not as black as Hell. Throwing myself down on the bed I spoke to God. I said, “Lord if You send me to Hell, the only thing I will say is that You are just and I deserve to be there.” God graciously drew near. Into my heart and mind came the words that Jesus spoke and are recorded for us in the gospel of Matthew chapter 11 and verse 28: “Come unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” The question from my heart was “Lord I don’t know what you mean, how can this be?” In the stillness I heard the voice of the Lord say in my heart, “Break it down”. So in my mind I broke it down in three phrases:
1. Come unto Me- “Lord you say come but where are you? Where do I go?” This was the language of my heart. To my heart, again God spoke, “I am right here”. I had to abandon self and turn completely to Him.
2. All ye that labour and are heavy laden- It was easy to see this verse was written to me. I was that guilty sinner whose burden of sin was so great that I laboured under the knowledge and weight of it.
3. And I will give you rest- “Lord how can You give me rest? I am so sinful.” God spoke in the stillness of that midnight hour again with the words Jesus spoke as He died on the cross recorded for us in the gospel of John chapter 19 verse 30: “It is finished”
By faith I looked to the cross of Christ as God revealed to my heart that Jesus bore the punishment for my sins. He finished the work of salvation to the satisfaction of a Holy God. Immediately the great weight was removed from my shoulders. I felt great relief and peace spread through my heart. I was a child of the living God, by God’s grace alone! At that moment I stepped into a completely new life. The guilt and deserved future punishment of sin was removed. The power to overcome sin and live righteously was mine through my Lord Jesus Christ, and the growth in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ began. As the years go by and the joy in Christ Jesus deepens, I realize that truly the half has not been told!
“Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen” -Ephesians 3:20
“Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
-Philippians 1:6
Is there a longing in your heart to know Him? Will you make Him your own today? Repent of your sins and receive forgiveness from a God who loves you.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” -John 3:16
I was raised in a very loving and caring home, but not a “Christian home”. Our family went to Church every Sunday but our commitment to God ended there. Like most nominal (by name only) Christians, we didn’t read the Bible or speak about Jesus or pray together. There was no evidence of a relationship with God found in my life. I now know that God is looking for a personal relationship with you and I, not an outward display of works and religion.
Although it had minimal effect on my lifestyle, I always believed that God existed because I just thought it was so obvious, especially in nature. I found out later that the Bible says that God’s existence is so obvious to everyone that we have no excuse for denying him: “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So people are without excuse.” – Romans 1:19-20.
I knew that it made no sense to think that my life and your life were just purposeless accidents. However, this didn’t stop me from falling into the ways of our corrupt society in my school days – a life of selfishness, pride, vanity, anger, greed, lies, judgement, drunkeness, lust, sexual immorality...little did I know that I was actually a slave to my sins and separated from God because of these things. I was on the road that the Bible says most people in the world are on, a road that is broad and easy, deceived by the devil – the road to hell.
The first time I remember truly being convicted about my sin against God was one time when my sister called me selfish. It’s not like this was the first time, but this really stuck with me. I had to agree with her. I thought about how ugly selfishness is and how it is the cause of so much evil. However, this had no lasting effect on my life. God then brought me through a long life changing journey. After dealing with a season of depression, I started researching world issues – all sorts of corruption, deception, and evil in the realms of banking, government, business, and media. I was convinced, and still am, that evil in this world is very real and very organized. I believed in the existence of Satan and demonic powers in this world before I believed in Jesus Christ. For example, Satan’s power and presence in the music industry is undeniable for anyone who does some honest research. He is using music to corrupt, deceive, distort and destroy the listeners- especially younger ones. Occult symbolism is prominent and the focus is on selfish pleasure – having fun, having sex, getting drunk, rebelling against authority, and thereby rejecting God. I realized that this was wrong. I realized that I was a product of this very system.
My world was turned upside down over and over again. The more I learned the truth about this world, the more hopeless I became. I felt very small in a world controlled by evil. I thought that there had to be some good side, some kind of hope. I started researching spirituality in general to see what was out there. New Age theology, the idea that God is energy and that the universe is God and that WE are God really spoke to me – positive energy, love, self confidence, it all sounded so promising. I became a firm believer and I would excitedly preach this to my friends and family. Yet after a short time I realized for many reasons that this “spirituality” was all empty. In difficult times, it taught that I still had to rely on myself, since I was “God”. I had to conclude that this was NOT the Truth.
To make a long story not quite as long, one summer day I was reading a book at work that discussed the corruption and evil in this world from a Christian perspective, using Bible verses and prophecy. I was amazed at how accurately the Bible described the state of this world and of the human heart. The evil in this world was exposed as the work of Satan and the gospel of Jesus Christ was presented. I had never heard before that I had to make a personal choice to accept or reject God’s gift of salvation. My eyes were opened to the inconsistency between my so called “belief in God” and my sinful lifestyle that denied him. I understood the fact that Jesus died on the cross as MY substitute because I was guilty and his perfect sacrifice was my only hope. I put my head down, acknowledged my guilt before God, and accepted Jesus as my personal Saviour. From that moment on, Jesus has been real to me and the Holy Spirit has been working to transform me into a person that is pleasing and honouring to God. The historical and spiritual evidence for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is overwhelming and I thank God that he has shown it to me. Oh the grace, mercy, and love of God – I hope and pray that you can experience it for yourself at the cross, even today, while there is time.
So finally I realized that I was the sinner Jesus died for and I rested on God’s sure promise - He that hath the Son, hath life!
-Patricia Weston
I had the great privilege of being brought up in a Christian home where the word of God was read daily, and his name reverenced.
I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know that Jesus died on the cross for sinners and that I needed to be saved. Foolishly, however, I had decided that I would be saved ‘later’ and as long as I knew someone older than me who wasn’t saved I was okay and could wait.
About a year before I was saved, a good friend who was a year older than I was saved and a cousin, also older, was saved a few months later-this unsettled me as I was out of excuses; I finally was serious. Also, since I was in grade 8, I was concerned having heard it said that if one didn’t get saved before high school, with the busy schedule and peer pressure, it became less likely. In early July my brother who had professed to be saved two years before was baptized. I remember standing beside the pool, thinking he was getting baptized and I wasn’t even saved! The following week my cousins from Sault Ste Marie were coming for their annual visit and I knew that my cousin (close to my age and saved) would talk to me about being saved. I thought it would be wonderful to be able to tell her that I was saved!
The next Sunday there were two visiting men who took the gospel meeting and I was determined I would get saved that night. The first man spoke and got down and I wasn’t saved -the second man spoke and as he got down I was thinking - ’I’ll get saved as he prays‘, then ‘during the last hymn’. However the meeting finished and I was feeling desperate, realizing that though I thought I could get saved whenever I was ready- I now couldn’t see how to believe! After the meeting I determined I wouldn’t speak to anyone as I was afraid that my concern about being saved would fade. Going home I found out that we were having company and I worried again but thought - ’I’ll help Mum in the kitchen and not enter into the conversation.’ One of the men who had spoken in the gospel that night was one of the visitors at our home and realizing that I was in ‘soul trouble’, said to me as he left, ‘Don’t sleep tonight till you get it settled’.
I went up to my room and sat with the light on and the Bible ,open on my bed, expecting Dad to come and speak/pray with me as he usually did after gospel meetings. However as it was late he & Mum went by and went on to their room, so I had to call him back and tell him I was concerned. He came and read some familiar verses with me. I kept saying, ‘If I believe that, will I be saved? Wisely he would say, "Only you know if you are trusting -it’s between you and God." I was a little angry that he left and thought to myself-’well, I guess I’ll just have to go to hell, as I can’t see it’!
Then I thought-if I believe that I’ll go to hell if I don’t believe, why can’t I believe God that if I do accept His Son as my Saviour I can go to heaven?’ So finally I realized that I was the sinner Jesus died for and I rested on God’s sure promise - ’He that hath the Son, hath life!’ What a relief- I rushed in to tell Mum & Dad! I remember Dad said, "How do you know?". I quoted verses I knew that had never been meaningful before - ’I give unto my sheep eternal life and they shall never perish, and neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand….and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand’. What security!! I had doubts occasionally in the next year but when going back to that night I knew it was God’s sure word not my believing that had saved me. I was saved on July 16, 1962- 50+ years ago and I have found that He is faithful -all that He promised to be - truly a ‘very present help’ in need!
“God’s been good…in my life-I feel blessed beyond my wildest dreams…though I’ve had my share of hard times, I wouldn‘t change them if I could, for through it all, God’s been good!” (from a hymn by Legacy Five)