John's Testimony

WHY ARE SUNSETS IN MY TOWN the best in the world? ...
WHY ARE WHITSTABLE (my town) OYSTERS the best in the world? ...
WHY DOES LIFE SOMETIMES SEEM TO GO 'WRONG'? ...
.. not too sure on the first two, but maybe a scientist could tell you.
Has YOUR life gone wrong? My life went wrong in 1987 you might not have been born then but I was in my late 30s when strange sensations started to effect parts of my body and yet other parts had no sensations at all! Over a few months it got a lot worse. I had lots of tests and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS for short). Something like this (or any other illness, bereavement, relationship breakup, financial disaster, loss of job) puts your faith in God to the test but if you have no faith it must be a lot, lot, lot worse. At least if you have some faith you can blame God but with no faith in God how can you blame him?

But let's start at the beginning. When I was at school my best friend, whom I knew to be some sort of weirdo 'Christian' invited me to his church for a youth evangelistic evening whatever that was. I was unsure what to do but there was something about my mate, his parents, and his brother and sister (especially his sister!!) that I thought I'd give it a go. I went along and it was .. well, different to what I expected a lot different. It was one of those 'happy clappy' churches where everyone wears a permanent grin. I listened to the preacher but could not understand why everyone was so happy! I went to his church a few more times and came to the conclusion that yes, I believed in God and us and all that but I did not want to go to church on Sundays mornings I played football, went cycling or did my photography on a Sunday morning and they were far more important.

The years went by, I got married (in a church!), we had 4 kids, yes, four kids. When our eldest boy was about 10 or 11 he said that his best friend was a Christian and he had invited him to his church! De-ja-vu or what! But our son would not go on his own, he wanted his mum, dad, brothers and sister to go as well! I had been thinking about going to this church anyway it was always full to overflowing and had lots of young people - and a quite funky band in the evenings. That was in about 1984 and when I gave my life to Jesus (more of that later) I was over the moon (and Jupiter, Venus, Pluto..…). I was working on a golf course and you could hear me singing Christian chorus's as I gang-mowed the fairways, aerated the greens and divoted the tees! Life was GREAT.

But back (or is it forward) to 1987. The MS was just a nuisance for a few months and then ... It hit with a vengeance! I could not move my legs, my arms had 10 ton weights hanging from them (or so it felt) and I even had double vision! The church prayed for me - I was off work for 9 months then went back part-time (on crutches) for a time. I quickly got back to almost full health I still had funny-peculiar sensations, but my strength and stamina had come back! I could even do 25 mile hill-walks in the Lake District!! GOD WAS GREAT!!!

Life went on fantastically for several years but then I had a relapse weeks off work followed by more relapses and eventually I had to give up the work I loved.
But this gave more time for my other love - God was great but I felt a strong calling to help those in need and those who did not know this great God. Whenever I felt well enough, and sometimes when I didn't, I would try to do what I could to help. There is so much more I would like to share but this is only a small piece of paper!
Knowing God, through Jesus (who was God in a human body and is now still alive - but not in a human body), wants us to have a relationship with him. That may sound strange and even weird but I have found it TRUE!

The MS brought with it other problems that come with not working but through all this I have not blamed God. Diseases, and other nasty things, are the result of man's sin an old fashioned word but basically it means not following our maker's instructions. If you put a large flat pack together without following the instructions you can run into problems some bits can only be done in the right order! How much more critical if we live our lives without following our makers instructions! That's what has happen to mankind and we are reaping the consequences. Thankfully our God is a merciful God and He still wants us to develop a relationship with Him through Jesus 'HE wants' to be OUR mate!

I have found that only by knowing this Jesus can we be certain that this life, with all its problems, is not the end it's just the beginning!

That's Why!

My Church, New Life Christian Community Church (New Life for short), has been great in its teaching, outreach to the town in all sorts of ways, and in just being there when times are tough and when times are good just like an extended close knit family!

Like to find out more?