- So, from a very young age I basically saw Christianity as the thing that my parents were telling me to do and therefore I didn't want to do it.
My name's Ben and this is my story.
I grew up in a Christian family.
I knew growing up that my life would be a lot easier if I acted Christian when it was convenient but I didn't believe it was true.
I was a very good Christian boy in the house but when I was at school and in my social life I was as un-christian if you can imagine as one could get almost.
I got into a lot of trouble at secondary school for picking fights with other children, for bullying, I would just generally was a real horror, pain as a teenager.
But I was living this double life.
When I was about 15 that tension of living this double life came to a head and I began to realise that actually this life was unsustainable, it was just too much effort.
I had to either say no or yes to God.
And so, I remember I was on a beach in the Lake District and I prayed, and it was basically a prayer of God if you're up there I wanna follow you but I need something to go on, I need evidence, can you show me a sign?
Six months later I was given a DVD, and that DVD was the debates between John Lennox and Richard Dawkins but it was the first time anyone in my life had shown me that there is evidence for Christianity, that there is reason to believe.
And so, aged 15/16 I began looking at the evidence, and then by the time I hit kind of 18 I had amassed this back log of evidence, and I suddenly realised hang on a minute, the evidence doesn't point towards atheism but actually points massively in favour towards Christianity being true, and at that point I went basically okay, fine God, you win.
I was convinced by the evidence and my faith followed suit.
My life changed considerably.
I, you know, stopped being a bully, stopped being a brat, stopped being an arrogant sod, and that wasn't an overnight switch, I'm still growing in that, and each day I do but I feel that compare me to the 15/16 year old Ben, and I think it would be worlds apart.
If you'd known me aged 15/16 you would have put me in the latter category, you would have put me in the category of there's no way he would become a Christian, he's too hard headed, he's too stubborn, he's too bad, he knows too much.
Don't ever label someone as unsaveable.
Don't ever label someone as they would never become a Christian.
We know that becoming a Christian is a miracle from God and the opening of spiritually blind eyes but God did it for me, he can do it for your friends too.
