Peter Collings - A Christian Testimonial.

I attended a Catholic church and school as a youngster and I was brought up in a warm loving home with broadly Christian principles and good moral values. I was given an excellent standard to follow.

I was aware (as a lot of people are) about Christianity and the cross and as an organist I was closely involved with many different churches. I enjoyed playing the organ in church and I liked the idea of 'traditional' worship.

Before going to music college, I listened to a lot of classical music that brought powerful emotions from within me. I realised that music amongst many other arts and creations is a gift from God. I also realised that God exists and that I possess a soul that will not 'dissapear' when I die.

A year after I arrived at music college, my wife Hannah (then my girlfriend Hannah) invited me to attend the Christian Union. At music college, Christian Union wasn't really a 'cool' place to be but I went to impress her. The simple truth is that I began to read the Bible and believe what is contained in it. I suppose that previously I had always believed that heaven existed and that God existed and that so long as I didn't do anything outrageously 'bad' in the world's eyes that I would go to heaven as every classic film ending seems to indicate.

The Bible does not say this.

This came as something of a shock to a person who has been attending church for most of his life. The problem is that humans often like to believe what they want to believe.

To put it simply, I began to realise that the contents of the Bible are true.

One of the things that struck me the most is that people nowadays seem to believe in things that they have no evidence for. I was one of those people - I had no basis for belief nor did I understand the true message of Christianity. But since believing in the contents of the Bible, I attended good churches that teach a Biblically-sound message. Many churches tend to miss or add to sections of the Bible, changing its meaning fundamentally.

The key life-changing things that I realised were:

1. God loves all people from all nations. He created us in his image. He wants us to enjoy His Creation in the way He intends - He wants us to glorify Him. He gives us free will to choose to follow Him.

2. By default, we choose to do things our own way and we disobey Him (sin). Therefore we distance ourselves from God and we cannot be in His presence. Our sin creates many curses on earth (famine, disease, disaster). God prevents Earth from being completely destroyed by us but still gives us free will which often results in further problems and injustice in the world. Because of sin which we are responsible for we cannot go to heaven because God is Holy and we cannot dwell with Him unless we are made clean.

3. I was right in thinking that my soul is eternal because it is. There is another place described using several different words in the Bible which is described as being a place where there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth" and "Fire and Brimstone". Not a nice place, a place where God is not, a place where some people will be and a place of eternal torment. Eternity is a long time to be wrong. Don't believe me? Read the Bible. Try BibleGateway.com.

4. Because God loves us so much, He has given us many ways of making ourselves right with Him throughout biblical history (such as in the Old Testament through sacrifices) but as humans we simply could not resist doing wrong. God had every right to destroy us since he made us. But instead, He sends himself in human form to be destroyed in our place (God the Son; Jesus). Jesus did not sin - if He did, there would be more writings about Him sinning than anything else and the Bible would be lost. Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the light - no-one can come to the Father except through me". He came as a 'rescue rope' gift from God to make us clean so we can follow Him and be citizens of Heaven. What a gift!

Jesus was accused of blasphemy (by correctly answering that He is the son of God) and was sentenced to death (as an innocent sinless sacrifice). Because He died, the cost of His Death (as God the Son) was enough to pay for all human sin.

4. By:

i) Believing that Jesus' death is the only possible sufficient payment for all my sins and the only way to heaven and

ii) Repenting from my sins and trying with all my heart and soul to not sin (knowing that I won't succeed without God's help through Jesus) and

iii) Relying on God through Jesus and living my life according to God's will as written in the Bible.

I became a Christian.

As a symbol I was baptised. Baptism did not make me a Christian - the above three points do.

Another very important thing to remember is that the word 'religion' means ceremony or doing something to please God. A key fact in a Christian's life is that Jesus did it all. If I try to do good works to get to heaven I will fail as nothing is good enough to get me into heaven. Christianity is not about religion. God is a Holy God and without Jesus, I am stained with sin, no matter what I do. Good works are the fruit of God's grace working within a Christian - it is God's Grace and providence - we cannot work ourselves to heaven. In other words, I will continue to mess up and I will not lead a perfect life. But as Christians we strive to do as God asks as he has indicated in His many words to mankind through the Bible, which is perfect.

So if you are wondering why Christians get so het up about telling the Gospel its because the genuinely don't want a person to be rejected by God and end up in eternal damnation. Its because they care. But more importantly, God doesn't want a person to be out of His presence either which is why he sent his only son Jesus to die. Imagine sending your son to die to pay for someone elses problems? How amazing is that!

If you want to know more:

1. Have a look at Two Ways to Live

2. Try listening to some of the sermons on City Evangelical Church's website where I used to go to church when I was living in Birmingham.

3. Also try listening to some of the sermons from the church I currently attend - Beccles Baptist Church.

4. Have a look at this video by John Piper who is an excellent preacher.

5. Don't hesitate to email me with any questions: email@petercollings.com

" He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose ."