In Nine Minutes Past Midnight I shared my experience as a young doctor searching to reconcile my medical training with my Christian faith. I openly challenged God that if He heals today He should prove that to me within seven days. Such was my desperation. The very next night I attended a house call where a heart attack patient died before my eyes. My efforts at resuscitation were not effective in saving her. But as I knelt by her side there came an inner voice saying ‘Now’s the time, now’s the time’. I prayed and her life was fully restored.

In this book I relate my continuing experience as a Christian doctor who has witnessed the wonderful ways in which God may intervene in the lives of doctors, their patients and families. I have learned to stand down from my own expectations and ambitions that I might step up into His purpose for my life. My learning curve has been steep and there have been many times that I have stumbled. However  day-by-day I am able to draw upon the empowering presence of God’s Spirit in my life. And perhaps my most important discovery has been to find true identity as a very much-loved son of Father God rather than in my own pursuits.

I have been fortunate to share my journey with many co-travellers and their experiences have expanded my expectation of the manner in which God intervenes when we allow Him to do so. Their stories are also told in these pages. Many have passed through deeply troubled waters. Yet God’s steady hand over the storms of their lives has allowed them to travel on unharmed and profoundly strengthened.

The philosopher John Paul Sartre has said that ‘no finite point has meaning without an infinite reference point’. Likewise the stories of people’s lives are mere anecdotes of wasted time unless they are anchored in truth. They are mere ‘scratchings on a stone’ unless that stone is Jesus. At this point they become testimonies and as such are powerful beyond understanding. They also become spiritual weapons: ‘And they overcame him by the power of the blood and by the word of their testimony’.

During my career as a Christian doctor I have moved on from a child-like perception of ‘Gentle Jesus meek and mild’ to a personal relationship with Jesus the warrior king. To an experience of one who demonstrates His power and unrelenting love. To one who touches humanity at its greatest point of need, one who cannot be limited, one who overturns the traditional and sets the agenda. He did not come into the world to found a church ‘but to proclaim a Kingdom’ an unshakeable Kingdom.

Though oceans may roar he is Lord above all. His name is Jesus and at His name every knee shall bow. And as I write this morning the words of C.S. Lewis ring loud and clear: ‘God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience and shouts in our pain. It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.’

Peter Hitchens interviewed on national television in Sydney was asked the following question: ‘Which so called dangerous idea do you think would have the greatest potential to change the world if it were implemented?’  His response:

‘The most dangerous idea in human history remains the belief that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and rose from the dead. That is the most dangerous idea that you will ever encounter.’

‘But you can’t leave it there,’ said the moderator, ‘why dangerous?’

‘Because it alters the whole of human behavior and all of our responsibility. It turns the universe from a meaningless chaos into a designed place where there is justice and hope. And therefore we all have a duty to discover the nature of that justice and to work towards it. It alters us all. If we reject it, it alters us all as well. It is incredibly dangerous. That is why so many people turn against it.’

As you prayerfully read this book. You will be drawn to make personal decisions, which carry the potential to change your life. But tread warily. As much as this is a standing   invitation, it may never   present itself to you again.

A question that I would direct to the reader is ” Who are you? Who are you really” You may wish to respond to that question at this stage. But I would respectfully ask that you to reconsider your response  after reading the stories told in this book.

You are a letter of Christ, . . . written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God. 2 Cor 3:3