How reading the Bible changed my life

A furious row developed this summer after a hospital suggested it might remove Bibles from patients’ bedsides because of fears they could pose a health risk. Dennis Niziol, Senior Minister at the Elim ‘Lighthouse’ church in Bicester, recalls how reading the Bible changed his life and urges hospital authorities to ensure all patients to have access to its transforming truth. photo Frank Blackwell

‘Armed with high hopes, and motivated by the need for change and stability, I enlisted in the United States Air Force at the age of 19. My decision to volunteer for duty in the UK was an easy one; it was that or war-torn Vietnam! A decision that was reinforced by my recruiter’s reassurance that I would, of course, be able to continue my ambitious career as a radio announcer within the USAF (I had previously been working with two local radio stations in Ohio). Predictably, the only radio I came into contact with was my Walkie Talkie, part of my equipment in the unlikely post of Security Policeman!

Those first six months in the UK were the hardest I had and have ever known. I was heart-broken and had been lied to, the two things I thought I was escaping from. The stability I sought had been swept from under my feet, alongside any hopes, aspirations and dreams. Ironically my decision to avoid danger in Vietnam brought me to the middle of violent race riots in the UK and to a near fatal collision with a base fire truck. The sense of despair was tangible as I stood night after night at my post; life had no meaning, and no purpose. Every decision I had made to try to pull myself out of the pit had only pushed me deeper into it. I was lost.

One night, in the midst of my despair, I clung to a bottle of liquor in one hand and the Bible in the other. I thumbed through pages describing the coming return of Christ and, while it didn’t all make sense, it left me with hope that a new day was coming. Not long after that, another Security Policeman came to my post and introduced me to Christ. He told me that God loved me more than any one else ever could. The love, stability and hope that I needed were to be found in the pages of that book.

That was over 30 years ago and today I still thank God for his book, the ‘Living Word’ that has reached into so many hearts, similar to mine, over thousands of years. It has shaped history in many indiscernible ways. An African chief once asked Queen Victoria ‘what is it that made Britain great?’ the reply came with a nod towards the Bible in her hand; ‘this is what made our country great!’ Similarly, on his momentous journey to Africa, Stanley Livingstone attempted to lighten his load by throwing away all his books except for one: his Bible. He is said to have read it three times, from cover to cover, on his historical journey. To quote Dr. A.T. Pierson: ‘The Bible is the greatest traveller in the world. It penetrates to every country, civilized and uncivilized. It is seen in the royal palace and in the humble cottage. It is the friend of Emperors and beggars. It is read by the light of the dim candle amid Arctic snows. It is read under the glare of the equatorial sun. It is read in the city and country, amid the crowds and in solitude. Wherever its message is received, it frees the mind from bondage and fills the heart with gladness.’ (1200 Notes, Quotes and Anecdotes A. Naismith)

How many despairing souls have found hope in hotel rooms and hospital beds, because of the presence of God’s word in the bedside cabinet? Through the centuries, how many have reached for the hope that is so available to us now? Millions? Only God knows.

The Bible says ‘I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten’ (Joel 2:25). This has been true in my own life. The decimated ambitions of my early years were later restored when Hedley Feast invited me as guest newsreader on his ‘Sunday Morning Breakfast’ programme on Radio Oxford. Therein lies the power of the Bible, in its unfailing truth. May it continue to be available to all who need hope in their time of trial.’