Testimony of John AM

I was born into a Catholic home, and like most Catholics, I just went through the motions. I first heard the Gospel as a child through visiting Baptist cousins and going to Church with them in Ennis. However I didn’t really listen to, or understand any of it. I definitely knew there was nothing for me in Catholicism, so when I was a young teenager I told my parents I wasn’t going to Catholic Church anymore, and I was going to look somewhere else for God. I visited a place called “The Lord’s Church” in Carrigaline and after a two hour session of people shouting AAMEN!! and Praise the Lord and shaking, I decided I wouldn’t be going there again! I didn’t find any Baptist Church around so I left it a while, still going to some youth activities with my cousins and even a retreat in Kerry. As I grew older the teenage years got the better of me and I ended up getting into all sorts of trouble, and caught in many worldly lusts.

When my Dad got saved in 2003, he started telling me all about Jesus and that I was a sinner going to Hell. How angry I was, I couldn’t even have a conversation with him anymore without Jesus joining in. I thought he was so self-righteous telling me about heaven after getting caught up with drink in previous years. I was also masking a deep fear of being misled by mankind into a false religion, what made this one, the one.

On September 11^th 2003, Dad asked me if I was to die, did I want to go to heaven or hell? By default, I answered heaven and he tried to explain that through Jesus Christ I could be forgiven of my sins and receive eternal life. I don’t think I understood fully, and I also agreed to get saved because I knew how happy it would make him. As time went by, the fact that I still didn’t want to go to church made him question my sincerity, but he was adamant that a seed had been planted in my heart. Besides all that I was pretty happy in my life, I was sure I was going to marry my girlfriend but things fell apart suddenly. I spiralled into a deep depression for some time.

When my sister got saved, I was able to discuss a lot of questions with her, but it took until Christmas 2005 for me to finally allow myself to go to Church regularly, and a week or two before the Revival in March ’06 after a discipleship lesson, I finally surrendered to Jesus fully and begged him to come into my wicked heart and save me!! Praise God he accepted me!

Cameron Arnold and Buddy Blunkall, who had come over from America for the Revival, also helped me with some further doubts and it turned out I was looking for a feeling rather than resting on my faith in God’s Word.

Since then, I’ve become a new person, and God has called me to be part of the Ministry sometime in the future. My life has been changed so much for the better and I just want everyone to know that Jesus loves them and can save them too!

John AM