Listening to the radio changed my life
I was brought up in East Molesey with my Mum, Dad and brother. We used to go to church once a month and, from when I was about 5, I went to Sunday School each week.
Boring!
At the age of 8 or 9, I can remember thinking religion was a bit boring. I didn't mind going to Sunday School, but I certainly didn't like going to church. I can remember arguing with my Mum and Dad, telling them that the Bible was full of stories that people had made up and that there probably wasn't a God at all.
But when I was 10, I joined the church choir and I used to quite like walking around in the long robes the choirboys wore. Now I was going to church twice each Sunday and to choir practice on Friday evenings, and didn't mind it one bit!
Even though I was now a regular churchgoer and had been confirmed by the bishop, I had never really thought about what I believed and why. It wasn't until I started secondary school and received a New Testament from an organisation called the Gideons that I started to read the Bible.
The Bible
At the front of the Bible I was given there was a reading for every day of the year. As I followed these readings there were a lot of things I didn't understand, but some things frightened me - especially passages about the Day of Judgment and hell. The details weren't always clear to me, but I did understand that God was going to judge everyone who ever lived and that it would be so terrible that some people would prefer to have mountains and hills fall on them and crush them to death.
As I continued to read the Bible, I became more and more unsure of God and more frightened of him. I knew I had sinned against him. I had done, said and thought all kinds of things wrong and I didn't feel at all comfortable.
Radio programmes
Then, one evening, my brother was trying to find Radio Luxembourg when he stumbled across a Christian radio station. "Hey, Norman! Come and listen to this - there's a man Preaching on the radio!" I did listen, and I continued to listen every evening for many months to come.
I already knew the account of how the Lord Jesus Christ died on a cross just outside Jerusalem and then rose again. I had read about it in the Bible and I had heard about it in church. I had also heard people say "Jesus died for our sins," but it had never meant anything to me. I just couldn't see how Jesus' death on a cross 2,000 years ago could make any difference to me now. But as I listened to these radio broadcasts it started to become clear.
The programmes explained that we all deserve to be condemned by God because of our sins. In fact, they showed from the Bible that even if I had committed only one sin - just told one lie, disobeyed my parents once, been selfish, unkind or rude only once - that would be enough for God to condemn me. And I knew that I had committed many more sins than one. Even though I had never committed any serious crimes like shoplifting burglary or murder, I deserved to go to hell to be punished for my sins.
"I just couldn't see how Jesus' death 2,000 years ago could make any difference to me"
Good news!
All this was bad news. But there was another side to the message. I also heard on the radio about how God sent the Lord Jesus Christ into the world to live as a man and then to take upon himself the punishment I deserved as he died on the cross.
I deserved to go to hell for my sins. But on the cross, it's as if Jesus said, "Let me be punished for Norman's sins instead. I'll suffer the hell of separation from God, so that he can go to heaven!" I knew all about substitutes taking the place of injured players in football matches, but I had never before understood that Jesus died on the cross as my substitute.
Response
As I heard these things, I knelt by the side of my bed and very simply thanked the Lord Jesus for dying for me. I asked him to forgive all my sins and to give me strength to live for him in the future.
"My main aim is now to live for the One who loved me and gave himself for me"
Even though I had been reading the Bible, praying and going to church for some time, it was only then that I became a real Christian. And it made a big difference to me:
- I wasn't frightened of God anymore. I still respected him and took him seriously, but I was no longer terrified at the thought of the Day of Judgment. I had peace with God through Jesus Christ.
- The Bible became much more interesting. I wanted to spend time reading the Bible and praying to God every morning and every night.
- I wanted to please God and do what he said. I prayed that God would help me to obey the Bible and do what was right and pleasing to him.
- I wanted to tell other people about the Lord Jesus as well. Some of my school friends laughed at me and a few were cruel and unkind, but it didn't bother me too much. The most important thing to me was to serve my Saviour.
Twenty years later and now married with three [4 now, ed.] children, that is still my aim: to live for the One who loved me and gave himself for me.
Norman
The radio station that Norman listened to was TransWorld Radio which continues to transmit Christian Programmes in a number of languages. English programmes may be heard each morning on 41m Short Wave from 7-9am and each evening on 205m Medium Wave from 10-11.45pm.
For a programme guide please enquire at the church or write to
TransWorld Radio
PO Box 1020
Bristol
BS99 1XS
or look at http://www.twr.org.uk/.