Gary Hall
I was raised as a Roman Catholic and intended to become a priest after I left school, but the Lord had other plans for me. In 1973, at the age of 17, I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour at the headquarters of the Liverpool City Mission. This immediately caused problems regarding my family. My mother and father were against what they called my "change of religion". The situation came to a climax when I arrive home one evening from a Christian friend's house only to be met by my father on the doorstep with the words, "You don't live here anymore". So at the age of 18 I would have been homeless but for the kindness of friends. One cannot rely on the goodness of others for too long, so I decided to move into a local boarding house. What I saw and experienced there cannot be written here. Eventually, after spending time living rough and in the Salvation Army hostel, I found my own apartment. I had fallen away from the Lord for two years at this time. My thoughts went back to my childhood desire to become a Roman Catholic priest. I made enquiries and found that the only real option for me was to become a monk in the Franciscan Order. The Saturday before I was due to leave for the monastery in Guildford, Surrey, I pleaded with the Lord, asking, "Lord, is it your will that I should become a monk like St. Francis?" That evening I attended a tent meeting in a local park. A preacher from Northern Ireland, Derrick Bingham, was teaching from the book of Nehemiah. During the service the preacher turned to my direction (there were about 500 people present) and said, God does not want you to become a monk like St. Francis of Assisi." Here was my answer from the Lord. From that moment I made a complete break from the Catholic Church and have come to see it as the biggest cult that this world knows. In 1979 I joined a church, The Mission, in the neighbourhood where I was living. From the moment I walked through the door of that small building I knew that I was home. The godly lifestyle and inspired teaching of Pastor Charles Bolton (promoted to glory 12 December 2003) and his wife brought me back to my first love for Christ. The church had no young people, but I never once felt that I was out of place. These people obviously loved the Lord. In my desire to reach others with the Gospel of Jesus Christ I began to give leaflets out in Liverpool City Centre. Many a Saturday afternoon was spent witnessing to those willing to stop and listen. On one Saturday in late Autumn 1979 I was approached by a girl with an Irish accent. She asked if I was a Christian and where the church I attended was located. The next morning the same girl was found at The Mission. To cut a short story shorter, six months later on March 29 1980, we were married by Pastor Bolton at The Mission. Margaret, my wife, also comes from a Catholic background, but was soundly converted to Christ and from the errors of Rome whilst visiting relatives in New York in the summer of 1979. (You may find her personal testimony one day on these pages.) In 1986 Pastor Bolton retired from the ministry at The Mission. The leadership of the church was handed over to me. To be very honest I did not fully understand what this would entail, but the Lord has been good and has led me each step of the way. Through the Lord's power we have been used to reach many hundreds of people, though our fellowship is actually small in number. In 1988 we changed the name of the church to Living Word. I am convinced that God is about to pour out His Spirit in revival one last time before the Return of the Lord Jesus Christ (see my article on Revival on this site). This revival will not come via the charismatic movement, it will not come from Toronto or Pensacola, it will not come from the ecumenical movement or the so-called Churches Together - these movements are bankrupt of the truth and the Spirit of God. This final revival will come as a result of the true believers in Christ Jesus getting right with Him. The revival will include a return to the Authorised King James Bible. My great desire is to see people coming to know Jesus as Saviour and Lord, to see backsliders returning, and to see the church of Christ revived. Though I have many failings I love the Lord Jesus Christ with all of my heart. I am willing to serve Him wherever and whenever He sees fit. The word of God is the delight of my life for I'm still amazed after all these years just how fresh and new The Holy Bible is each day!
View all articles by Gary HallIntroduction
It is easy to allow the burdens of life to hinder our walk with Christ, but this is where commitment steps in, because all but the committed will know the victory over sin, the flesh and the devil. If we have our foundation in this earthly life, then we will find our resolve to follow Christ failing, but if He is first in our lives, we will stand firm in Him to the end.
This one thing
“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before” (Philippians 3:13).
The terminology Paul uses here to describe his determination to follow Christ is taken from the Olympic sports of his day. The Christian life is like a race, not the hundred metre dash, but a marathon. Just like such runners, we must put aside every distraction and hindrance if we are going to be successful. We can say that, and forgive the pun, we must have a one track mind. And like the athlete we must be disciplined until we have won the trophy. “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 12:1-3). This means that we should have the courage to cast away everything that is impeding our progress. This patience (endurance and concentration) is needed or else we will find ourselves flagging, faltering and falling long before we reach the finishing line.
Pressing on
“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).
To “press” forward we must “forget those things which are behind.” The remembrance of our past failures and disappointments should be dismissed as Satan’s way to destroy our commitment to go on. Also, we must rid ourselves of all known sin, otherwise we cannot win the prize, for it will cause us to “come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). To “press” on we have to forget all of our human strengths, weaknesses, achievements, position and talents. “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead” (Philippians 3:7-11).
Finishing the course
Paul’s plan was to finish the race rather than take time-out for relaxation and pampering. All believers need this resolve, because it is only those who “endure unto the end” that “shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13). This means that our whole lives must be committed to God if we want to live by His grace and desire to see Him at the finishing line. Paul saw the finishing line as he neared the end of his earthly life, and was able to say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
If we want to reach the finishing line then we must stop retracing our steps by going back into the world or hankering after the things of the flesh. “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). A distinctive mark of those who desire to walk in holiness, sanctification and commitment is that they no longer feel at home in this world, instead they eagerly await the crowning day when they will hear those words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).
Conclusion
If we are going to win the Heavenly prize then we must not allow anything of this life to slow us down. “And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful” (Mark 4:19). Paul said that he was “reaching forth”, which literally means, “stretching forward.” No one said that the Christian life is easy; instead it requires us to extend ourselves beyond the desires and temptations of the flesh. It means that we ought to be passionate about our commitment to Christ. The one thing we must all do is “press toward the mark”, and since the expression in the Greek means “to speed on earnestly” we understand exactly what Paul is encouraging us to do.
