A precious friend of mine (let's call him Bill, in Colorado) told my wife and I when we visited with he and his wife last month that he was writing down events in his life so there would be some "written" family heritage for his children and grandchildren. He got me to thinking about my family and the heritage I would leave for them. So tonight (it's 12:04am) I am impressed to tell a story about my past. As a sort of "disclosure" please let me say up front that I did not live in a Christian home nor did I lead a Godly life in my teens, so please do not be "tripped up" by this first story. Also, if you find the story interesting or familiar, I would love to hear some of yours.
It was the beginning of the year, 1971. Lee Michaels had just released his "Fifth" album (name of the album) and he had a Top 10 Hit called "Do You Know What I mean". It was , what I considered a "fabulous" time in my life with the whole "Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll" era that I grew up in with the Beatles and Rolling Stones and everyone so excited about the music and freedom that my generation expressed. I, naturally hung out with a very WILD group of people who were right smack dab in the middle of this whole scene.
I remember that me and the "guys" had gone to San Bernardino to make a score on a special new type of LSD...yes I said LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD, LSD-25, or acid) which was called "Orange Acid" or Mesceline (I told you I hung with a wild group). Anyway, this was supposed to be some really "BAD" stuff. We were going to take the drug and meet some other people on E-Street in San Bernardino, at a club called the Branding Iron, where Lee Michaels was to have a live performance. Well we made our "score" and went to the concert and today I remember very little about the majority of the evening. I suppose the reason I remember so little of it is because of what I am about to tell you.
With the concert over and all of us "high as a kite" we headed to my friends home for the night where we would all "crash", because, surely none of us could go home because of the condition we were in. I went into the living room at my friends home and sat on the sofa and closed my eyes. I remember listening to the Abby Road Beatles album. Suddenly the song "Oh Darling" came on the stereo and I opened my eyes and there, on top of my friends console stereo system, were 4 of the most popular Rock & Roll guys in the world, The Beatles, performing, live on top of the stereo for me and they were singing "Oh Darling" (crazy huh?). Well naturally, that was the affect of the drug I had taken and I remember it being quite "Outrageous". After their performance, of course they didn't stick around, I closed my eyes again. This time when I opened my eyes, I was being "eaten alive" by what appeared to be maggots of some sort. Millions of them all over me and just simply devouring my body inside and out and literally eating me alive. This was what was referred to as a "Bad Trip" on LSD. Eventually throughout the TERROR AND TORMENT the drug wore off and things came somewhat back to normal. Only when things came back to normal, my friends were "coaching" me, literally, out of a tree in the front yard. I was so frightened that I had climbed the tree, expecting to get away from the menace that was eating me alive. WWWooowww! Just recalling it gives me shivers (and not good ones, I might add).
Now, why would I want to tell ANYONE, especially people who know me and what I stand for, THAT story? Well, please read on!
Over 32 years ago, I surrendered my life to Christ and as I have matured in Christ over the years, I began to learn to not remember my life in "shame", as Satan might wish I would do, but rather, look at my life as being "Delivered from the very pit of Hell" for Christ's sake. Today I live with a non-curable cancer that will someday send me home to Jesus. You know they say there are consequences to our sin, however I try not to "Theologize" my past, just rejoice in my future. And I have lived a very full and meaningful life with a precious wife, 3 beautiful children, a wonderful daughter-in-law and 2 very committed and wonderful son-in-laws, along with 4 of the most perfect grandchildren...God must have picked them out for me Himself.
Here's the point of my story and today I am not ashamed to share it with you because today when I sit on the sofa, listening to my Worship & Praise music, thinking about my Lord, sometimes, I hear the clanging of metal together, like iron being pounded into swords; sometimes I hear the thunderous sound of thousands of hoofs galloping toward me. And sometimes, as I sit there, content in my relationship with my Lord Jesus Christ, I can actually "Feel the brush of angel wings" on my cheeks. That's how close I believe the Lord is in His return for us. We are in the Last Days, everyone. Now is the time that Jesus needs us to stand tall, and stand for Him. Anything could have happened to me in my "wild and unruly" days, BUT GOD! had other plans.
Well I know that this post was long and I hope you got something out of it. This is the only place I know to go to for sharing such important stuff as this (I do speaking engagements). I hope to write of other life experiences that you may enjoy, but in the meantime, if you have read this story and you are not someone who trust Jesus Christ with your whole life, then you need to ask yourself, "What is my whole (eternal) life worth, to me? God showed us what it is worth to Him! Praise the Lord!
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