Restart: My Road Toward Christ

I came from a family of hard-working skeptics, a home where believing in God was considered a weakness. My maternal grandmother was a person of deep faith, but my father’s family tree was planted firmly in self-reliance. My parents and their three boys grew up without much involvement in church or religious things—a home in which the name of God was rarely, if ever, spoken outside of profanity.

Growing up in southern California in the ‘60s and ‘70s, music, guitars, the beach and a growing hippie sub-culture heavily influenced me. A schoolmate’s house was across the street from us, and he had an older brother who lived in their garage. White smoke from burning marijuana wafted through the cracks in the garage door on a regular basis, and I was curious about the strange character related to my buddy across the street. One day while visiting my friend, the older brother lured me into the shadows of the garage to show me his drug stash and to reveal the satanic bible on a makeshift table next to what was a makeshift bed. I’d never given much thought to the subject of evil, or even God up to that point, so I readily grabbed the satanic bible I was offered and leaped to my feet to join his younger brother inside the equally disheveled house. I never felt safe in that place across the street, and my instincts always told me to run away.

            

A few summers earlier I was invited to join a vacation Bible club in a neighbor’s home about three or four doors down from my friend’s house. There I felt secure and was warmly greeted by the mom of the house before each meeting. The child who invited me to his home was also a schoolmate, and his family was deeply committed to a local Baptist church in town. There on those summer afternoons, I enjoyed the parables of Jesus, the regular-guy disciples, and other characters, especially from Old Testament Bible stories. I didn’t make a connection with God at that point in my life, but was intrigued with the love, acceptance and fun activities—free snacks were also handed out at the end of each meeting, and that was a major draw for me!

            

In 1973 The Exorcist was released. There were reports of creepy, supernatural occurrences on the set of the movie, and the subject of demon possession and demonology became a big topic of conversation across America. The satanic bible that I hid in the top of my bedroom closet a year earlier now had new meaning. I began to mull over in my mind the reality of good and evil; that there just might be a real God and a real devil after all.

            

I put these thoughts on hold through my two years in Jr. High School and, by my freshman year of High School, I met an older classmate who took me under his wing. We would hang out together after school, smoke cigarettes and occasionally smoke marijuana, and experiment with other drugs. When he wasn’t in school, my friend would break into homes and steal jewelry, cash, and anything he could pocket in his mad dash in and out of the stranger’s house. One time he brought me a diamond ring to hide for him until he could get it later. I knew it was wrong and felt guilty knowing a married couple was missing their cherished wedding ring.

I was surprised when my burglar friend all but disappeared from school one week, and our daily time together came to a screeching halt. A few weeks later he came to my house, this time with news that would alter the direction of my life. He spoke of his encounter with Jesus, and a man who visited him in juvenile hall, after this time getting caught stealing. The visitor, an evangelist named Big Jim Tucker, stopped by my friend’s room and told him that God loved him, had big plans for him, and that his misbehavior and all of his shenanigans could be forgiven, and that he could be restored to a brand-new starting place in life—just like a new baby has an opportunity to start fresh. He’d just have to reach out to God for forgiveness. My friend eventually said “yes” to Jesus, restarted his life, and then invited me to meet Big Jim Tucker and Jesus at a local gathering place for Christians.

That Friday night I found myself in a room full of other people who had recently restarted their lives in Jesus; they were reading the Bible and singing songs that sounded nothing like my grandma’s church music. I was curious, shy and scared, but I came back the next day to hang out again at Big Jim’s.

After a few weeks, I craved the love, acceptance, and care shown to me at Big Jim’s place. I went there every day after school. Easter Sunday was coming up that weekend and I accepted the invitation to join a carload of others to see a church play about Jesus’ death on the cross. During the play, I realized that it was Jesus I needed; that the devil was real and I needed to restart my life all over again with my eyes focused on God’s plans for my life and not my own. After the play, and returning to Big Jim’s place, a kind man asked me if I was ready to say “yes” to Jesus like my friend had weeks before. Unlike that dark shadowed garage with the satanic bible in hand, I leaped into a new life with Jesus, Bible in hand. I knew my choice was the right one and I was headed in the right direction.

The biggest change after that was that the Bible became my guidebook. I had to trust the words I read in the Bible every day to be true, and that no matter what, God would personally guide me through life. I was learning more every day about Him, trusting in Him—talking with Him. Even though I stumbled from time to time, I would be forgiven and He Himself would guide me back onto the True path.

I want you to know that this opportunity I was given by God can be yours, too. He wants to come into your life, help you restart and will help you get on the True path. Not only will you be walking with God in life, but also He wants to give you life that lasts forever. God wants to cut the chains that bog you down in life, tying you to things that are harmful. He wants to lift the weight of sadness and aloneness from your shoulders, to live a life with a positive future and a definite purpose. Won’t you say “yes” to Jesus like I did many years ago? He’s never left me, betrayed me or failed to deliver on a promise. He’ll be True for you as well!