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My story...
My name is Leon Potgieter and I'm the creator and webmaster of PluckandPlayGuitar. But this specific page is not about guitars, it's not even about music at all. It's about something completely different and I'm going to tell you straight away what it's about, so that if you don't like it you can use that little back button on your browser or the red one with the X on the top right :-)
This page is about my life story of being a hopeless and lost person and how that all changed the day that I became a disciple of Jesus Christ. Like so many, you might have an immediate aversion to that - "Oh no, another fanatic who wants to sell his religion to me". But this is not religion, this is not me trying to convince you to become a Baptist or a Muslim or even a "Christian" in the cultural sense of the word. This is me trying to introduce you to a PERSON. A person that changed my life and, if you don't know Him yet, can do the same for you...
Shortly after graduating from high school, I went through a stage in my life where I was living in hopeless despair. Life seemed to be a long road leading pretty much nowhere and happiness was nowhere to be found. I'll never forget that feeling of knowing that you're lost and hopeless and that life is pretty much pointless - It's something I'll never experience again. I was living in London during that time when a co-worker invited me to a Christian meeting. I was resistant at first but ended up going anyway.
A lot of things happened during that first encounter with Spirit-filled Christians. These people were very different from the average icy Londoner who never smiled. They had an inherent joy that somehow shined out of them. Of course they weren't perfect and they had their problems, but they seemed more satisfied and genuinely happy than anyone I'd met in a long time.
A hunger for what they had immediately starting developing itself inside of me. When I compared my inner emptiness with their radiating contentment, I just knew that I had to have whatever made them that way. They introduced me to the source of their joy - the person of Jesus Christ...
Is Jesus real? If he really alive? Does he even care? Does he care about me? The day that I realised the answers to those questions were all "YES!, everything changed for me. I was transformed from a hopeless human being to a child of God who knew that he was loved by His Creator. I knew from that day on that God has a will and a purpose for my life and that, as long as I clung to Him and remained true to his instructions, everything would be okay.
Since that time I have walked with God and never looked back. Living a life dedicated to God is not always easy since, in all honesty, He demands a lot. He demands that you give up your dreams, desires, passions and basically your whole life, for Him and His cause. Yet, I would never ever trade Him for anything the world has to offer - to me life simply has no meaning without Him.
Many people will try and convince you that God is not real. They'll say that my story proves that religion is an "Opium for the masses" and that Christianity is nothing more than a crutch to lean on for those who seek meaning in life.
I've often found that those who make claims like these, have not spent ten minutes investigating God for themselves. Don't make the same mistake...
Perhaps you're at that place I was years ago. That place where life seems pretty pointless and existence seems pretty hopeless. Maybe you are searching for some meaning and direction for your life. Whatever your circumstances may be, I want you to understand that forgiveness and hope is available to you right now.
The question is not if you go to church. The crux of the matter is whether or not you know Jesus Christ. Whether you're willing to let go of your life and grab hold of Him, because apart from Him, there is no life.
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." - Romans 6:23
If you want to know how to be saved and how to become a child of God, the Bible makes it real practical and simple:
"If you confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." - Romans 10:9-10,13
Here are two links for more information about Jesus and Christianity.
Who is Jesus?
Why Jesus?
If you have any questions or would like some more info please don't hesitate to contact me - I would love to help.
I sincerely hope and pray that you will come to know Jesus as I have. There's no better life than the one lived with Him!
Because He lives,
Leon
This page is about my life story of being a hopeless and lost person and how that all changed the day that I became a disciple of Jesus Christ. Like so many, you might have an immediate aversion to that - "Oh no, another fanatic who wants to sell his religion to me". But this is not religion, this is not me trying to convince you to become a Baptist or a Muslim or even a "Christian" in the cultural sense of the word. This is me trying to introduce you to a PERSON. A person that changed my life and, if you don't know Him yet, can do the same for you...
Shortly after graduating from high school, I went through a stage in my life where I was living in hopeless despair. Life seemed to be a long road leading pretty much nowhere and happiness was nowhere to be found. I'll never forget that feeling of knowing that you're lost and hopeless and that life is pretty much pointless - It's something I'll never experience again. I was living in London during that time when a co-worker invited me to a Christian meeting. I was resistant at first but ended up going anyway.
A lot of things happened during that first encounter with Spirit-filled Christians. These people were very different from the average icy Londoner who never smiled. They had an inherent joy that somehow shined out of them. Of course they weren't perfect and they had their problems, but they seemed more satisfied and genuinely happy than anyone I'd met in a long time.
A hunger for what they had immediately starting developing itself inside of me. When I compared my inner emptiness with their radiating contentment, I just knew that I had to have whatever made them that way. They introduced me to the source of their joy - the person of Jesus Christ...
Is Jesus real? If he really alive? Does he even care? Does he care about me? The day that I realised the answers to those questions were all "YES!, everything changed for me. I was transformed from a hopeless human being to a child of God who knew that he was loved by His Creator. I knew from that day on that God has a will and a purpose for my life and that, as long as I clung to Him and remained true to his instructions, everything would be okay.
Since that time I have walked with God and never looked back. Living a life dedicated to God is not always easy since, in all honesty, He demands a lot. He demands that you give up your dreams, desires, passions and basically your whole life, for Him and His cause. Yet, I would never ever trade Him for anything the world has to offer - to me life simply has no meaning without Him.
Many people will try and convince you that God is not real. They'll say that my story proves that religion is an "Opium for the masses" and that Christianity is nothing more than a crutch to lean on for those who seek meaning in life.
I've often found that those who make claims like these, have not spent ten minutes investigating God for themselves. Don't make the same mistake...
Perhaps you're at that place I was years ago. That place where life seems pretty pointless and existence seems pretty hopeless. Maybe you are searching for some meaning and direction for your life. Whatever your circumstances may be, I want you to understand that forgiveness and hope is available to you right now.
The question is not if you go to church. The crux of the matter is whether or not you know Jesus Christ. Whether you're willing to let go of your life and grab hold of Him, because apart from Him, there is no life.
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." - Romans 6:23
If you want to know how to be saved and how to become a child of God, the Bible makes it real practical and simple:
"If you confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." - Romans 10:9-10,13
Here are two links for more information about Jesus and Christianity.
Who is Jesus?
Why Jesus?
If you have any questions or would like some more info please don't hesitate to contact me - I would love to help.
I sincerely hope and pray that you will come to know Jesus as I have. There's no better life than the one lived with Him!
Because He lives,
Leon
