TESTIMONY

Thank you to my parents, my extended family and my friends for their continued support through some difficult years as I have battled with the spiritual malaise that is known as bipolar disorder, first diagnosed in 2006.

It is a disease that has brought me to my knees but I have also experienced massive highs that are part of the emotional rollercoaster that is manic depression. It has made me re-evaluate myself, my views, my outlook and my position in the world and ultimately led me towards a belief and faith in God.

I would also like to thank fellow student Joni who gave me a copy of the Holy Bible New International Version while at the University of Nottingham in the year 2000.

I was not ready to hear the message at the time but thank him now in retrospect- to quote what he wrote on the inside front cover:

"The paradox of our time is that we have more conveniences but less time, more degrees but less common sense, more knowledge but less judgement, more experts but fewer solutions. We've increased our possessions but reduced our values. We've learned to make a living but not a life. We've been to the moon, but we still don't know our next door neighbour. We've conquered outer space, but not inner space. We've cleaned up our air, but polluted our souls. These are the times of tall men, and short character, steep profits and shallow relationships, a time when there is much in the showroom window, but nothing on the stockroom floor.

Tom,

Hope that as you read the greatest book ever written,
That God would speak to you and the Holy Spirit would reveal himself to you.
And you would know the God I know.
He exists, look at the evidence and a man named Jesus.

Joni"

Around 2014 now I first read the Holy Bible from cover to cover and the scripture certainly struck a chord with me. I don't profess to have memorised the book but the message rang true with me, as I hope it will with you. I also trust these sixty six excerpts do justice to the spirit of the original. Of course the full text is always available to those who seek it out in various translations (Bible Gateway).

I choose not to attend church but instead believe in sola scriptura, that the Christian scriptures are the sole infallible source of authority for Christian faith and practice.

In the words of Martin Luther in his speech at the Diet of Worms on 18 April 1521:

"Since your most serene majesty and your highnesses require of me a simple, clear, and direct answer, I will give one, and it is this: I cannot submit my faith either to the pope or to the council, because it is clear that they have fallen into error and even into inconsistency with themselves. If, then, I am not convinced by proof from Holy Scripture, or by cogent reasons, if I am not satisfied by the very text I have cited, and if my judgment is not in this way brought into subjection to God's word, I neither can nor will retract anything; for it cannot be either safe or honest for a Christian to speak against his conscience. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen."

As it is written:

I continue to study the Bible on a regular basis and hope scripture will help instruct how I live my life going forward. This website is merely an introduction and I urge you to read this incredible book and take heed the message within, which is necessary for our salvation through Jesus Christ.

I leave you with three of my favourite quotes from the Bible in pictures (see below).

Best wishes

Thomas Anthony Hedge
Berkshire, England
[e-mail]