The second one came two years ago when he was admitted to the hospital for a quadruple heart bypass. Couple that with a deadly flu virus and a stroke and life looks decidedly different.

"When you've had a series of near death experiences, your outlook on life changes," he candidly suggests. "You're not looking for investment property.

"After seven months of pain and recovery, one thought dominated. I'm living on borrowed time.

Alex's sense of God's presence didn't start with the operation.

"As a young man, I had been looking for answers in communism, Marx, materialism and eastern religions.

"I saw what was happening to my friends with drugs and despair and I was searching for something to base my life on.

"One night I was hitch-hiking to Gloucester for work and this guy picked me up at Hexham.

"I sensed there was something different about him. He's got that something I was looking for. He started to talk about Jesus. I didn't jump straight away, but he got me thinking.

"I started reading the Bible, but this time, instead of critiquing it, I found it was critiquing me.

"As I look back, I see that God has all the time been getting my attention, making His presence felt by putting people in my path all the way. It's been a story of one person starting and another person continuing.

"My life is a miracle. God didn't bring me back to sit around doing nothing. Everyday is waiting on God and what He wants me to do."

Alex is a member of Harvest Bible Church.