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THE
SOLDIER BEHIND
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from the Good
Report June/July
2000
Page 1 of 4
John
G. Ridley - Australia's beloved
evangelist
John
G. Ridley was the
soldier
whose
powerful words inspired the newly
converted Arthur
Stace to write the word `Eternity' on the footpaths of Sydney and
beyond;
the word `Eternity' which lit up the harbour bridge on New Years Eve
1999/2000.
John G. Ridley
was born in Sydney in 1896. From the age of
four,
John wanted to be a soldier with a passionate desire for military
glory.
On his 10th birthday his father wrote "to a soldier and a man". At
the
age of 18 he was converted during the preaching of Rev. William Lamb at
Burton Street Baptist Tabernacle. The Spirit of God used a warning of
the
Second Coming
of
Christ and the martial message of Joseph Grigg's
great hymn, "Ashamed of Jesus", to bring him to openly stand for Christ
and experience the indescribable joy of being born again.
Although
only a teenager
at the outbreak of World War I, John persuaded his reluctant father to
let him enlist and served as a sergeant and lieutenant for the duration
of the war in the cold and mud of the French battlefields. He was
severely
wounded at Fromelles by a bullet passing through his neck and tongue
and
it was thought at the time that if he did recover he would never speak
again. But God had a plan for His servant and for his gallant bravery
he
was awarded the Military
Cross.
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