Showing posts with label high school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label high school. Show all posts

Thursday, 16 April 2015

IN THE WORLD BUT NOT OF IT

Back in 1973, I looked much like any other high school student. I wore jeans, had long hair, and had a complexion that resembled the surface of Mars. Inwardly, I was anything but like my peers.

Astrology was popular back then but not with me. When people asked what my sign was, I told them that I believed in Christ. His cross was my sign. I endured plenty of scoffing remarks and insults as a result of my stand for the Lord.

Though I listened to rock music, I objected to songs with raunchy lyrics or those blaspheming God. Rather than listen to them, I turned the radio off. In addition, I made up Christian lyrics to sing along with my favourite tunes.

My fellow Christians also caused me grief. They claimed that I was listening to worldly music which would pull me away from Christ. Some even worried that I'd be possessed by a demon if I kept listening to that "terrible music." Obviously, nothing happened.

In that era of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll, I never fornicated, took drugs, or drank myself legless. The only alcohol I imbibed was during the Sunday communion and at a party which a church friend took me to. It never became a habit with me. Neither did I smoke, unlike three of the congregants of the house church I attended back then.

Gambling was not an option for me either. I learned my lesson at age five when my dad placed a bet for me at the exhibition Roulette game and it lost. I resolved from then on not to bother with such a foolish sort of game.

So how did I resist all those traps which catch most Christian and non-Christian teens? It was only by the power of the Holy Spirit living in me that kept me faithful. In spite of worried adults and nagging peers, I never bothered with messing around. Neither do I regret any so-called fun that I supposedly missed.

Better still, I had a great time during high school. Being a loner, I entertained myself with my shortwave radio and open reel tape recorder. As I listened to my music, my imagination took me far from the mundane trials of high school life. I had my church friends and a few kids at school which I hung out with as well.

I chronicled my journey from a cultic house church to a proper understanding of God's sovereignty in How I Was Razed. Read more about this amazing act of love from the heavenly Father at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Powell's Books.