Jesus and Mr Jones - The Big Change

Joseph Smith | 1 October 2007

Font size: + - | print | email to a friend

With the support of his family, Rob Jones grew up taking part in the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church.

“I was an altar boy at St Michael’s Catholic Church, Thirroul and participated in all the Roman Catholic sacraments up to Confirmation,” Rob says.

“Growing up I knew about Jesus and his death on the cross but I did not understand the significance of this event – that it was actually a perfect and sufficient sacrifice for our rebellion against a just and holy God. I also did not understand how serious a problem our sinfulness was and is before God.”

Rob says he also misunderstood how that sin was done away with.

“I thought confession of sin was only effective when said to the priest in the church building and that our standing before God was related to performance of the church’s other rituals, particularly the Eucharist. Ultimately I became dissatisfied with the repetitive ceremonial aspect of the mass.”

During Rob’s teenage years, he felt ready to tell parents that he no longer wished to attend Sunday church.

“In my ignorance, I formed the view that when it came to matters of life and death I was somehow okay with God. Maybe it was because of my baptism into the church as well as my time spent as an altar boy. I recall thinking I was somehow special and if God knew my heart He would know I was basically a good person,” he says.

Rob says studying Romans 3 later as an adult helped him deal with this misapprehension.

As a non-Christian, Rob says looking out for himself rather then his family and friends marked his life.

“God was absent from my life, except for the occasional Lord’s Prayer – and perhaps a hail Mary or two – offered up in stressful occasions like exams, plane trips and when competing in big surf. Only now do I understand the consequences of praying for God’s kingdom to come!” Rob exclaims.

As a 29-year-old in December 30, 2003, Rob returned to his friend’s apartment in Wollongong after a social evening of drinking beer.

“I was standing on the rear stairway, a common area with next door, and my friend’s neighbour Belinda was saying goodnight to some friends she had over for dinner. We said ‘hello’ and began to talk,” he says.

Rob discovered that Belinda would not date anyone who was not a Christian. He asked her why.

“Belinda shared the gospel and I asked her where and when she went to church. We spoke for the next two hours. I was going to find out more,” Rob says.

“I was invited to checkout St Michael’s, Wollongong. Belinda happened to be friends with [AFES National Director] Richard and Bronwyn Chin and so I was fortunate to be paired up in a weekly Bible study with Richard Chin, which we continue to this day before church on Sunday.”

Rob says his Roman Catholic background needed ‘some significant correction’ but after many questions and attending his first Men’s Convention at Katoomba, Rob says he was ready to make a commitment to Jesus.

“I prayed to Jesus to be my Lord and saviour. The sound of approximately 2000 blokes singing was quite stirring but God was the one at work in exposing my heart and mind to the truth through the proclamation of the gospel,” he says.

After becoming a Christian, one of the first things to change in Rob was his attitude to other Christians.

“I no longer thought of them as nice but weird. I could see they cared for you by the way they acted and talked and now I understood why. Church became a highlight of the week rather than a chore. I cut down on the amount of alcohol I drank at social events. I was more conscious of what I said around others and began to realise how different it would be to live as a Christian in a relativistic, secular world.”

Within six months of their first meeting Rob and Belinda were engaged and after a marriage preparation course the couple were married in December 2004. Rob went from living alone to living in a family of three, with Belinda’s three and a half-year-old daughter. Belinda had become a Christian when pregnant with Elizabeth in 2001. She ceased the relationship with Elizabeth’s father, who was not a Christian, and stopped living with him.

Rob now serves as a Kids Church leader on Sundays for St Michael’s 10am congregation and is also on the service-leading roster for the 5pm congregation.

“I am most thankful to God for choosing me to know Christ and for the gift of eternal life at great cost to Him. I am continually in awe that because we have been forgiven in Christ Jesus, we have direct access to speak through prayer to the God who created and sustains this huge universe.”

Click here to comment on this article for the next edition of Southern Cross