My Story: Joe Byrne

By Joe Byrne    26th June 2001    0 responses
Part of the series

Mine is not a dramatic story of a miraculous Nicky Cruz style conversion but as an elder member of my church once said, all journeys to faith are equally miraculous as they lead to another believer entering the kingdom.

I was brought up in a Christian family, was baptised in an Anglican church and raised by parents who were heavily involved in church activities, so there was an immense amount of pressure on me to conform. When I was young it was easy – I didn’t have to understand anything, just turn up to Sunday school every week, give the right answers and people would think I was on the right track.

As I got older, various issues began to arise and I began to ignore and reject the teaching I was receiving on a Sunday. However, to keep up appearances and alleviate the pressure I still kept up the facade of being a keen young believer. In reality, I was breaking up – torn between worldly and perceived family pressures to conform. I couldn’t turn to people within the Church as that broke down the Sunday Christian facade and I couldn’t turn to worldly friends as most of them didn’t even know I went to Church. I continued to struggle and was even confirmed to maintain the show.

After three years of searching, struggling and battling, I came to a turning point. In the summer of 1998 both my grandparents died and, unsure of their state of faith, it challenged me to examine my own. I also grew very close to my mum during this time and eventually I opened up about my problems. Through tackling these issues, I began growing closer to God and for the first time attempted to live as a 24/7 Christian, although I found it hard to admit to my faith at college and I still had a lot of things in my life I had to sort out.

So, somewhere between 1998 and 2000 I became a Christian, I cannot say when or why. I took the decision that I was going to follow my head rather than my heart and be a follower of Jesus and ever since the Spirit has been working to change that heart. It was a process of searching and thinking. In the summer of 2000 I went on two Christian events that helped me to grow massively in my faith. Since going to University I have continued to grow and be strengthened by the support of the CU and many others; I thank God for where I am now, for his provision and for all he has done for me.

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