Former player teams up with Jesus

Among those celebrating the promotion to League One of Doncaster Rovers FC is their long-time chaplain and former player Barry Miller.

Chatting with him, he was bubbling over with joy. But this was much more about his relationship with Jesus than with any success on the football field.

Barry, 49, was sharing how God has transformed his life over recent years, although he has been a Christian since his teens.

Suffering from terrible depression for much of his life, his marriage eventually broke up, he lost his job and was made homeless. In fact, he was on the point of committing suicide when he had a vision – he ‘saw’ his kids in front of him, like on a cinema screen.

“I realised then that I would rather be in torment for the rest of my life than put them through torment for the rest of their lives,” Barry said.

“Nevertheless, there was a sense in which I was holding on grimly to the hem of Jesus’ garment, as the desperately ill woman did in the Bible. I’d read all the self-help books, but knew I needed to change the way I was thinking. So, for a start, I decided to thank God for the roof over my head (I was staying with a friend).

“Then, God spoke powerfully through a verse from the Bible: ‘Return to your refuge, you prisoners of hope,’ (Zechariah 9:12).

“The phrase ‘prisoners of hope’ made a huge impact on me. This meant that I was imprisoned by hope, a joyful expression of better things to come. I cannot escape from it.

… story continues