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You wouldn't appreciate, unless you listened, the remarkable transformation that brought him out of destructive childhood, a downward-spiraling early adulthood, and life of wreckage to where he lives today. But Geoff would be the first to tell you that nothing in his life today is a credit to his persistence, wisdom, efforts or abilities. He knows that God has transformed his life.

Geoff grew up in a broken home. An absent father and an alcoholic mother provided little sense of parental care. His mother attempted suicide several times during his childhood. In unconscious ways he imitated his mother's self-destructive behaviours. He remembers his years from high school into his thirties as a haze of alcohol, drugs and strange experiences with cults.  Broken relationships littered these decades of his life.

Geoff's early success with his business was poisoned by his tendency to make rash and unwise decisions. Both his business and his body suffered increasing difficulties because of his choices. He had to declare bankruptcy. His kidneys began to fail, overwhelmed by the flow of chemicals he was ingesting. Geoff showed all the signs of a lost and wasted life.

At some point during the final downhill slide, Geoff met Will South, a man who expressed an unexpected and genuine interest in a down-and-out. Will stepped in to care for Geoff at a time when Geoff didn't care too much for himself. Surrounded by the garbage and consequences of his past, Geoff noticed that Will was remarkably different from the people and the problems he was used to dealing with. The first time Geoff heard Will pray for him 0 out loud, by name - something began to awaken in his heart. Life had never been darker for Geoff, but Will's presence seemed like a distant light that offered a way out.

Will eventually introduced Geoff to other Christians with solid qualities and character in their lives. Geoff felt loved and accepted, but he also became more keenly aware of the vacuum in his own life.  He could see flaws in their lives, but he knew there was something happening in them that wasn't happening in him. They had hope; he felt hopeless. They seemed to have direction; he had none. He couldn't bring himself to put out the effort to be good; they didn't seem to have to put out an effort to accept and welcome him. Out of that awareness, Geoff realised he desperately needed what these Christians had. And when he asked, he discovered they were happy and eager to explain that he could simply acknowledge his need to God and receive complete forgiveness and Eternal Life through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Geoff's surrender to Christ created an almost immediate sense of security, meaning and purpose in his life. Most of his troubles were still around him, but he experienced genuine joy and peace for the first time in his life.

Unfortunately the spiritual birth that Geoff experienced at his lowest point is sometimes viewed as the end instead of the beginning of spiritual life. Just like a baby is born into the world to grow up and fulfill his destiny, so all of us when we are spiritually born are really beginning a long process of spiritual metamorphosis, not arriving at the end. The tragedy is that many people have understood that they are sinners before God and that Christ has paid the penalty for their sin. They have repented and turned to Christ for the forgiveness of their sin, asked Him to come into their lives, and been spiritually born. Yet they have been led to believe that what they have just experienced is the extent of the Christian life.  Their condition actually resembles that of a newborn whose mother leaves him on the delivery table without love, milk or constant care, saying instead, "I had the birth. Isn't that it?".

Just as birth is the beginning of physical life, spiritual birth is the exciting beginning of a whole new way of living that leads to maturity and Christlikeness. Birth starts the process. That's what Geoff discovered once he became a Christian.

Under Will's spiritual mentoring and a continual exposure to worship and teaching in a solid church, Geoff's internal priorities began to shift. He discovered a internal spiritual drive to bring the details of his life in line with what he was learning from God's Word. He found, to His delight, a natural hunger to do things that please God and an amazing and growing sensitivity to and rejection of actions and choices that were out of line with God;s Word. No one handed him a set of rules. His past desires for drugs and alcohol drastically diminished. His hunger to live God's way increased. Past relationships that put him in situations he couldn't handle were set aside. They were replaced by relationships that challenged, encouraged and taught him rather than reinforcing self-destructive behaviour.

Gradually every aspect of Geoff's life began to change under the impact of his new outlook. Work ethics, personal Bible study, budgeting priorities, time spent in prayer - all these became new central expressions in his life. He experienced setbacks and questions. It took him almost four years to get his personal finances in order. He discovered sin was still a problem. But he learned that there was help and hope. God was working. He became an avid reader of god books and a faithful student of God's Book.

Now Geoff's focus transcends his own spiritual and emotional needs. He has become a younger Will South - a spiritual reproducer. He looks around at work and sees dozens of men who live what he used to live. And rising inside him he feels a compassion for these men that overwhelms him. He feels compelled to treat them, in as many ways as possible, the way he knows he was treated when he was lost. These men raise questions and challenge Geoff to learn. He knows that the frontiers of spiritual growth and learning are still before him. He's come a long distance, but he knows God has much more ahead for him. God sent Will South into his life at a critical moment. Geoff now asks God to send him into the lives of others the same way.

I've watched Geoff grow up over the last decade. I've heard his questions, felt his struggles, cried with him in hard lessons, rejoiced in his victories. I've seen the changes. I know that God has worked His morphing wonder in my friend. Along the way, he brought a wonderful woman into Geoff's life. The personal transformation in his life is reflected in his family. The chaotic core of his life has been replaced with a deep sense of rightness with God. I'm overwhelmed by all that God has done in Geoff's life.

Perhaps because of where he started, the changes in Geoff are easy to identify. What's not so easy to explain is why they happened. When you hear about a life like Geoff's - with such definite and dramatic changes - there's a temptation to think, Wow, that's really neat. There must be a special category of Christians who have these very dramatic life-change stories. That's not me. Does God like these people more than He likes the rest of us? We tend to think it is abnormal, unusual and not really possible for all of us. Nothing could be further from the truth! What happened to Geoff was normal. He's the first to report that while he was directly involved in every decision in his new life, the effects and desire to make the right decision did not come from him alone. He realizes that God was actively bringing about transformation in his life. It didn't happen because he was smarter or favoured by God, or even because he tried harder than other Christians. It happened because Geoff came to know, understand and cooperate early in his Christian life with how God works in the holy transformation process.

What does a changed life look like?  It looks like a worm becoming a butterfly. It looks like a guy who was lost and alone, becoming a guy who can lead someone else home. the details of a changed life may vary, but remember this - it is the norm, available to all believers and something only God can do.

Chip Ingram on The Miracle of Life Change