The Power of the Individual…..

The amazing testimony of John Young the webmaster of Harness the Power

The infinite and unchanging love of God reached down to us even when we were His enemies in rebellion against Him.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

L ooking at my life retrospectively, I see so clearly, how God has used individuals
down through the years to demonstrate His love towards me.

Around 1954, in my home town of Aberdeen, Scotland, I attended the local Church of Scotland Sunday school. I remember with amazing clarity and deep affection my Sunday school teacher, Mr. Park. He was a gentle, patient man, severely crippled, faithfully attempting to teach his class about the things of God. Sadly, his class, including myself, gave him a hard time, as twelve year old boys were prone to do. Yet fifty three years on, I can still picture Mr. Park standing in front of that class, Sunday after Sunday, faithfully fulfilling His commitment to Christ.

 “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

In my early teens I regularly attended church, the only one in my family of five who did. However, the roots of my Christian faith were tender. It was around 1958 when Billy Graham came to Aberdeen. He held his crusade in the city’s soccer stadium. I so wanted to go, I felt something within urging me to attend, but my mother said no, thinking that by attending, I might make a decision I didn’t fully understand, then later regret it. I have often wondered what might have happened had I been allowed to attend. Would my life have followed a different road? Down through the years Billy Graham has been my ‘spiritual hero.’ His lifetime of faithfulness to God has influenced millions to come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

In 1961 as a recently trained, raw soldier, with little experience of life outside my home town in Aberdeen, I found myself in the Far East, where in Singapore I served with the British Army. I was fit, played sports, and like any twenty year old enjoyed life. One day, out if the blue, I was approached with others, to help raise money to installed new washing machines at a leper colony in Singapore. We raised the money, and I, with a colleague, was asked to go to the colony to hand the money over. The culture shock for this 20 year old lad from Aberdeen was indescribable. The leper colony, situated away from any built-up areas, provided less than the basic human amenities. For the first time in my life I saw human beings disfigured by leprosy, separated from healthy family members, and, in my naivety, I believed they were abandoned, without love and hope. Wrong. I was introduced to a group of Catholic nuns, who loved and cared for these lepers in the name of Christ. That was forty six years ago, and that powerful moment is stored in my memory bank along with Mr. Park and Billy Graham.

“He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay back what he has given.” Proverbs 19:17

Jesus said, “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” Matthew 25:40

The year is 1965, I’m back in the U.K., and I respond to a Centenary Year appeal in a national newspaper from the Salvation Army. I made contact with their International Headquarters in London, and was invited to hear about their international work. I accepted, and met a Colonel in the Public Relations Department. I handed over my cheque and listened, as he told me about the international work of “The Army”. At the conclusion of our meeting the Colonel asked if he could pray with me. He knelt down and he prayed for me, yes me! I was stunned. Because this was the first time that anyone had prayed for me face to face, and on their knees. But to the Colonel, this was the very ‘life blood’ of his Christian experience. This had such an impact on me that shortly afterwards I accepted Christ as my Saviour, joined the Salvation Army, and in 1967 trained at the International Training College in London, and served as a Salvation Army officer for a number of years. Forty two years on, that sacred moment of prayer, along with Mr. Park, Billy Graham, and the Catholic nuns, were. without doubt, amazing moments in God’s unique demonstration of His love for me.

“………The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available-dynamic in its working.” James 5:16 (Amplified Bible)

1996 was a very low time in my life. I had made some poor lifestyle choices in the previous 20 plus year and was struggling to see any light at the end of my life’s tunnel. I was living in Spain, at home alone watching television, and participating in that favourite pastime, ‘channel hopping.’ I hit upon a station at random, The Hour of Power, which I discovered to be the amazing ministry of Robert H Schuller from the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove California. This minister certainly knew how to present the Christian message in an extremely positive and dynamic way. His own personal Christian journey and ministry is nothing less than miraculous. I began to look forward each week to The Hour of Power. I sometimes laughed; cried but was always deeply moved in my spirit, and as the weeks past, bit by bit God was reminding me again of how much He loved me. I’ve since visited the Crystal Cathedral on a number of occasions, and in 1997 attended a Men’s Conference that impacted my life beyond measure. I’ve read all of Dr. Schuller’s books, and watch The Hour of Power weekly, continuing to be greatly blessed.

“Who shall separate us from the love Christ?.......For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, not any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35, 38, 39.

I am able to testify, that despite my stumbles along the ‘path of life’, God, in wonderful ways has been faithful. At times of personal need, with precision timing, He has ‘introduced’ me to powerful born again Christians, whose words or actions have helped me to re-focus my mind on the things of God.

These ordinary people have unknowingly, become extraordinary saints, because they have harnessed the power of the Cross of Calvary, have wrapped themselves in the love and forgiveness of God, and shared that authentic experience with the world. And now I am able to share my faith with you, in the belief that someone who ‘stumbles’ across this website will discover Jesus, and come to know Him as their personal Saviour and their faithful Friend through life and eternity.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes……Romans 1:16