Norman Warren, who passed away on 19 June, was a Church of England priest and author of the hugely influential tract, Journey into Life, which sold over 30 million copies and was translated into numerous languages worldwide.
For years, Journey into Life was a staple evangelistic resource in churches across the country and those who credit it as being influential in their own faith include evangelist J John.
The booklet was the fruit of Warren's own journey from "cradle Anglican" to a committed follower with a real and deep personal relationship with Jesus.
Born into an Anglican churchgoing family in 1934 and active in many a church choir, by his own admission he had grown up knowing about Jesus without truly knowing him.
That all changed when, at the age of 18, he was captivated by a sermon delivered in Central Hall, Westminster, by the then Bishop of Liverpool, Dr Clifford Martin.
Warren was convicted by a question posed by the bishop in his sermon, which was based on Revelation 3:20: " Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in."
Dr Martin asked: "So is Jesus inside or outside that door?"
It was a lifechanging moment for Warren, who realised that until that point, Jesus had been on the outside. And it proved to be the springboard for decades of devoted and fruitful ministry as an Anglican priest, growing his first incumbency, St Paul's Leamington Spa, from a handful of people and the threat of closure, to a flourishing congregation, which it remains today.
It was during his time at St Paul's that he would write the booklet, Journey into Life, that was to become his greatest legacy.
Rev Joanna Parker, vicar at St Mark's, Leamington Spa, where he worshipped and where his funderal was held, said: "Norman and Yvonne have been part of our church family at St Marks for the last year and a half. His warm humour, great teaching and generous encouragement will be missed by us all."
His close friend and successor at St Paul's Leamington Spa, the Rev Canon Andrew Dow, delivered the funeral address, an excerpt of which can be read below:
Norman created a legacy for which the entire Christian world will be eternally grateful to him. An evangelistic tool, not just for his own "fishing", but to help thousands of others of us who wanted to "fish", but were less gifted.
Initially rejected by established Christian publishers as too naïve, Church Pastoral Aid Society eventually took on Journey into Life - and it became a bestseller: half a million copies year after year; even now it is still printing at about 25,000 a year, and in many different languages.
I wonder how many of us here were brought to follow Jesus Christ through this remarkable booklet, or who have given it to those who happened to come near enough to our "fishing hook".
Thank you, Norman, for "Journey into Life".
"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Yes – in Bedworth, here in Leamington, then Morden, Rochester, and long after official retirement - Snitterfield; with Jesus Christ in his heart, and Bible and "Journey into Life" in his hand.
As John 10: 10, one of his favourite Bible verses, puts it, he really did enjoy "life to the full."
But if there was lots of fun, there was also a very serious side to Norman's ministry of fishing. You see, as an integral part of his relationship with Jesus, Norman loved to read the Bible; he devoured it – and if he had ever done a lexical study on the word "follow" in the Bible, he would have discovered – and I'm sure he knew this anyway – a sobering truth from God: that if you are not following Jesus, that does not mean that nothing or no one is your leader, or guiding force.
You may not be aware of it – but you are following some other spirit, consciously or otherwise. Between them, Paul, Peter, and Jude list no less than nine magnetic forces that will draw men and women away to ultimate destruction if they do not follow the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no time to list the nine here, but in summary they represent false saviours, false ideas, false hopes, and corrosive desires.
This, amongst other things, made Norman passionate to fish the helpless out of the murky waters threatening to overwhelm them.
Do you and I have that kind of passion, and love for the lost?
"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Of course, Jesus never promised that so to follow would be easy or straightforward – and the last six months of Norman's life were a severe trial for him. It is a mystery why God permitted such anguish for Norman and family. But I think I'm right in saying that in the midst of great darkness, Norman wrote his last piece of musical composition - something based on Isaiah chapter 43: "When you walk through the fire, the flames will not set you ablaze." And "fear not, for I have redeemed you; you are mine."
Yes, to follow Jesus is to follow him through life, and through death – to resurrection with him. That's been Norman's "journey into life". Will it be yours and mine too, following Norman, following Jesus?
