I was brought up in a secular family by parents who were atheists.
I never gave much thought as to whether there was a God.
Just after I’d finished painting ‘The Devious TB’s’ piece with Mode 2 in 1984, I was
standing back to take it in when a couple of guys came over to me saying, “God told us
to come and speak to you.” I didn’t know quite what to do with that, but I remember we
had a good conversation about the artwork.
A while later, I heard that a Christian organisation, Youth for Christ, were looking for
someone to paint an old London double decker bus for them. I wasn’t going to do it on
principal – it was Christian, but then I thought about the potential earner. I quoted £700
which was accepted and my principals went out the window!
In a warehouse in Woolwich, I painted ‘Youth For Christ’ on one side and ‘What’s it all
about?’ on the other. I didn’t have a clue what it was all about.
A couple of times members of the bus team tried to share their faith with me, but I
wasn’t interested. I found out later they’d prayed for me. I might’ve been able to stop
them talking to me about Jesus, but I couldn’t stop them praying.
I didn’t tag the bus but was secretly quite proud of it and remember enjoying riding out
on the footplate, watching people’s reactions as we drove past.
Sometime after this, I heard that my brother had become a Christian while away at
college. My parents dispatched me to check up on him. I thought to myself,
“It could be worse; he could’ve become a drug addict or turned to heavy drinking.”
When I arrived in Nottingham, my brother seemed very bright, happy and content. I liked
his friends too. He was much less self-absorbed and arrogant. He’d stopped smoking
dope. All in all, he’d become a much better person to be around.
He invited me to church. I’d never been to church in my life, apart from one christening. I
didn’t know what to expect. I imagined a few old ladies dotted around on pews wearing
dark coats and furry hats. When I stepped into the church, I was stunned to see it full of
mostly young people, their arms raised, singing. It was a great atmosphere.
A bit wary, I sat right at the back, as near to the exit as I could get. The speaker, a Greek
guy known as J John, gave a short, powerful talk. It was not like what I’d remembered
from school, which was usually something about palm branches mixed with eggs and
bunny rabbits. This was strikingly real. He described Jesus suffering on a cross; his body
torn apart in blood and gore; it was raw reality.
Then he said, looking straight at me, “This was your God, taking the punishment you
deserve, dying for you!”
It was a bolt out of the blue. The existence of God had never crossed my mind, until
then. I was powerfully impacted.
I spent a year and a half searching and then one evening my brother suggested I pray. I
told him I didn’t know how to pray, I’d never prayed in my life. So he led me, line by line. I
acknowledged the death of Jesus on the cross for my sins. I declared that He rose from
the dead. I made him Lord of my life.
That was a pivotal moment. It was like I came alive; everything in my experience
changed from black and white, to colour.
I saw a dramatic internal change after that night. My endless mood cycles, including
depression, ended. I felt a peace I had never known before. I stopped compulsively lying
and stealing. On returning to art college the next week, I went to the shop and ordered
five sheets of paper. They gave me eight by mistake and I found myself going back to the
shop with the extra sheets. I was scratching my head thinking, “What’s happened to
me?”
Before, I’d thought nothing of stealing from shops. I’d been used to watching heavy
German porn and going round booths in Amsterdam. Now, I felt a cleanliness and purity
in my life; I was a new person.
‘If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.’
(The Bible – 2 Corinthians Ch 5 v17)
I wouldn’t say life has always been easy since that time, but I’ve known amazing
blessings in my life. I’ve had a sense of destiny and been watching a new plan unfold. I
know God is with me. That gives me hope for eternity.
Jesus said,
“He who believes has everlasting life.”
(The Bible – John Ch 6 v 47)