'I AM STILL, GOD!'

I have led a very colorful life, to say the least. My father was a merchant seaman who was not so good to my mum, and left us when I was two years old. I grew up in a pretty rough area, and at a young age I would get drunk and fight a lot. I had a lot of mischievous friends, but one day after watching Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) boxing on TV, I decided that was what I wanted to do. I went to the local gym at nine years old and was instantly attracted to the sport, and the trainers were also attracted to me. By the time I was 14, I was champion of my country, but because of my wayward ways, I was locked up in an institution for stealing cars.

At age 15, I told my careers teacher that at 18 I was going to fight for a living, but Mr. Keating had other ideas, so I took up bricklaying and plumbing - obtaining a city and guilds license.

This did not put me off doing what I really wanted to do, and so I signed up to be a professional fighter at age 18. I was winning everything in sight, but also was living life like some sort of party animal. When I fought the world champion, Barry McGuigan, I was beaten.

Nevertheless, in my almost hopeless state of mind, I went on to beat the Italian champion, Vincent Limatola, and then went to Thailand and fought in the back streets for pittances, just to survive.

After that I came back to England after many months of craziness, but with just enough money to get a good meal inside me. This sort of lifestyle seemed to go on and on. Eventually I got involved in drug dealing, and that must have been the beginning of the end -- having sometimes to deal violently with disrespectful offenders.

One day I had this huge fight with a gang of hoods that tried to drag me into the back of a van. I learned later that they had a brick hammer and were going to beat me to death, so I went and bought a shotgun after narrowly escaping with my life. I sawed it off so that I could conceal it, and was going to shoot this gentleman as he emerged from his drinking hole. Fortunately, the police broke my door down searching for drugs and the likes, and found the gun hidden under the cooker.

By this time it was obvious that my life and career had reached rock bottom, with news that I was going to spend more time in jail. The strange thing was, I felt a tremendous peace that kept coming over me, and I would for no apparent reason - just burst into tears of joy at odd times! I knew then that Jesus was trying to get through to me, but I wasn't having any of it. One: Because I didn't know why, and Two: I was well mixed up in the world to have any time for such things.

But here comes the good part. I only received nine months in jail, which was said to be a miracle in itself, but it gets better. While I was in my cell at Wormwood Scrubs HMP in October 1996, I was listening to the radio and a record was being sung called: If God had a name, by a Miss Osbourn. This brought me to attention and I started to ask in a loud voice:

'Who is God? What is his name? What is my purpose in this life, if any?' I wanted to know and I wanted to know bad.

Then something truly amazing happened. Almost an audible voice said,'Be still and know that I am GOD!'

I responded, 'I am still, God. I'm in a 10 foot by 6 foot cell. I can't be much stiller that this!'

Then I was filled with what seemed like warm water and I had a vision, and that was awesome! I broke down and burst into tears, and began shouting out, 'I'm born again!' (I didn't even know what it meant!) But - I just had an encounter with the Creator of the world through Jesus Christ that changed my life completely. My cellmate thought I'd gone mad, and he was right, sort of. I had gone madly in love with Jesus!

After coming out of jail, our good Lord Jesus gave me another vision to publish a magazine. Publish a magazine? 'Lord!' - I said, 'I know nothing about how to do that!'

'Don't worry,' said the Lord, and He directed me to a printer in our town. I sheepishly went to the owner and said almost in a whisper, 'God has just sent me along here and told me you can help me in something I know nothing of.'

He looked at me and called his wife, Sue. I was thinking he was going to throw me out, but then he asked, 'Are you a Christian?'

'Yes!' I said, trying to be bold. 'So are we!', said Peter. 'What can we do to help you?!'

That was 10 years, four months ago, and we are still going strong. I'm also a taxi driver, and after asking God for a wife for 10 years, He gave me one at the church I was attending. I got married to beautiful Sally last June 2007, and we still attend the same church I met her at. We are expecting our first baby together in October 2008. Praise the Lord!

If any of you out there that are going through hell, as Winston Churchill once said, 'If your going through hell, keep on going, and I say if you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, then stay on the train. It's tough, but when you get there, the light is awesome.'

After all that, I'd like to print some of these testimonies from Precious Testimonies, as I think our magazine: The Entertainer is also a blessing to help sow the seeds of salvation in our town. If that's not possible, I will understand. Be blessed, and keep fighting the good fight.

Email: paulhastings2006@yahoo.co.uk

(Editorial note: Brother Paul - So good to know you are now fighting for the souls of mankind! You most certainly may use any testimony you want in your publication. They belong to God and are for His glory!)

Dear Reader - are you at peace with God? If not, you can be. Do you know what awaits you when you die? You can have the assurance from God that heaven will be your home, if you would like to be certain. You can even have that assurance RIGHT NOW! Either Jesus Christ died for your sins, or He didn't (He did!). Are you prepared to stand before God on the Judgment Day and tell Him that you didn't need the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross to have your sins forgiven and get in right-standing with God? We plead with you...please don't make such a tragic mistake.

To get to know God, to be at peace with God, to have your sins forgiven, to make certain heaven will be your home for eternity, to make certain that you are in right-standing with God right now ... please click here to help you understand the importance of being reconciled to God. What you do about being reconciled to God will determine where you will spend eternity, precious one. Your decision to be reconciled to God is the most important decision you'll ever make in this life, because in Christ, it is impossible to put a value on the worth of your soul in light of eternity.

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Remember: All that we do in this life comes back to our God-given purpose which is to serve and glorify God. The money and assets we accumulate, the fame and power we've attained or seek to attain - all of the things of this nature will one day pass away, but those lives of others we impact for Jesus Christ will last for eternity, and we will be rewarded for the part we helped play by impacting those lives ... for eternity. (Matthew 6:19-21 is our assurance)