The inside man

John Lord was a villain through and through. He was addicted to drugs from an early age and was considered a menace to society.

Not my words but his, although had you told him that, way back in the days before he accepted Jesus into his life, you might have been in serious danger, because he wasn’t the type of man you fooled around with.

He lived on the rough Ancoats estate – a mile from Manchester city centre – and as a youngster became involved in crime and drugs which saw him go from small-time burglar to associating with one of the city’s most feared criminal gangs. Now in his new book, Inside Out (Verité), this quietly spoken man has told the extraordinary story of how his life was turned around while he was serving a ten-year prison sentence for armed robbery and organised crime.

When he looks back at his old life today, he says, “I just had to write the book Inside Out because it is an incredible story of God’s amazing love and grace. It’s been a long time in publishing...