I was on a downward spiral leading to doom, death and destruction, but God intervened in my life to save me. I was a compulsive thief, liar and angry young rebel. But God, by His grace lifted me out of the mud and misery of sin. He has totally changed my life and I give all the glory unto Him!  

In my early teenage years I became very rebellious and turned to crime for excitement. I started to vandalize buildings and break into them. It was a good laugh at the time and I used to love the excitement of being somewhere where I was not allowed. It used to give me what some people would call the buzz feeling.

I enjoyed being a part of the gang I was in and began to smoke to be like the others. This habit soon became addictive and I started stealing from my parents to buy a pack of 20.

At school girls were my main interest, the lessons were boring. I soon began to bunk off school and lose any interest in getting a good education. I left school at 16 and got a job doing car windscreen fitting. This job taught me how to break into cars by taking the windows out. So stealing car radios soon became my specialty. In those days I was a compulsive thief, if it was not chained down I would take it. I started to steal from work, family and began to break into houses. I had no moral values and total disrespect for all authority. I used to listen to a lot of gangster type rap music and this used to feed the rage inside me. The lyrics were full of hatred towards the police and violence. I became an angry young rebel without a cause.

At times I struggled with my temper. Once an ex- girlfriend and a boy walked past my house shouting abuse. I became so angry and full of rage that I ran out of my house to beat him up. I completely lost control and after hitting him to the floor I continued to kick him. I was a low down piece of dirt. I didn’t care for anybody except myself.

Like many others I initially enjoyed going to the pubs and nightclubs. I began to dabble with drugs and drink heavily. Yet, after a few years of going through the same old nightclub routine, I began to feel emptiness inside. I remember traveling home about 2 in the morning having no satisfaction and thinking the bright lights of the nightclubs were growing strangely dim. A friend and I began to think about robbing some post offices. Maybe if we had more money we would be happy.

In 1992 a young friend of mine died in a motorbike accident. It did not seem fair to me, I began to think how life is so precious and how it is so fragile that it can be taken in a moment. I began to search for a meaning to life. I was just stuck in a dull routine of waking up, going to work, drinking at pubs and going to bed.

At that time I was rising at 5 and commuting to London to work on a building site. I hated the job, it seemed to have no significance and I had much spare time during the day. I started to read a New Testament and the first thing that struck me was the wisdom contained within it. I began to read about Jesus and I started to think is He really the Son of God? Did He actually die upon the cross? Is He alive today? Is the Bible truth?

Well, it was coming up to Christmas and I decided to please my mum by going to church with her. When I went the Pastor spoke about Jesus in a very down to earth way and this continued to make me wonder if Jesus was really there?

In January 1993 it seemed like Jesus, the Good Shepherd, came looking for His lost sheep - me! It seemed that wherever I went I was confronted by Jesus. I couldn’t escape from Him. One night I was cleaning my teeth when Jesus spoke into my life in a dramatic, unexpected manner. I knew it was Him who had spoken to me, so I gave up running from Him. That night I got into my car and drove to a dark field. I had a tract with me and began to read the sinners prayer.

It was then I realized that all the bad and evil things I had done in my life God called sin. I knew that I deserved to be punished for my sin for I had caused so much hurt to other people. It was right and just that I should be punished. But then I read the Good News that God loved me so much that He gave His one and only Son Jesus to die upon the cross for my sin. Jesus took my punishment. So I confessed my sins to Jesus and asked Him to forgive me and come into my life as Saviour and Lord.

Since that night, I have never been the same. Jesus came into my life and radically transformed me. He poured out His love, grace, mercy and power into the life of a man who totally does not deserve any of it. Jesus has done the most amazing things for me! If I told you everything He has done I would need to write a thousand pages!   

Hallelujah!   

Pastor Roy Bourner