Every Once in a While It is Vital to Take a Break from Fun, Fantasy and Frivolity and Make a...

I hope you're having a great time sharing my memories as you work through the pages of my childhood and teenage years.  I work very hard to make this a fun place to be.  The pages are very labor intensive.  I try to put up something new every week, but this is just a part time hobby that I work at while listening to SHOKUS INTERNET RADIO.  Stu Shostak deserves a plug because he and Mark Evanier inspired me to try to create a retro site that comes from a unique perspective.

I don't believe in pushing anything on anyone but as a full time missionary and part time pastor I feel a certain obligation to truth that has worked in my life for 33 years..  I offer this page because a lot of people who visit here are into the stuff I like and they enjoy looking around.  But there are a few who come here for a time out from wrestling with the bullies in your life.  These pages are for you because I can understand.  One of my bullies is living with quadriplegia.  Other bullies go by other names: cancer, losing a loved one to suicide, divorce, the list of life shattering experiences goes on and on, and each one of those bullies is very, very real and valid. 

I grew up loving many forms of fantasy.  When I was around 8 I believed U.N.C.L.E. was real and spent serious time trying to figure out a way to get to the 30th Century to join the Legion of Superheroes.  I had an imagination that worked overtime.  I love old TV shows, old movies, old cars, old music and old comics to this day, but I came to the point most people come to, my fantasy heroes were no match for real life calamities.  Elvis couldn't help himself, how was he going tto help me? 

.

The King of Cool couldn't give me the help I needed; but THE KING OF KINGS could...and He did.

Above is the Beatles picture I kept in my room.  That image, full of the promise of infectious joy, was the image of the group I fell in love with.  They delivered that image on film in A HARD DAY'S NIGHT and in their early records, by '65 their music was leading their fans into darker themes.  By '75 that picture was just another fantasy.  John had serious issues with Jesus and religion in general.   His bitterness is apparent in his post-Beatles lyrics and in his books.  George led the TM revolution and allegedly died in fearful seclusion.  Ringo and Paul have remained the most open to the truth of the Gospel.    Billy Preston was just one long time Christian friend of both of them.  The bottom line was that by '75 the Beatles had taken me to a very dark place and left me there.  And Elvis wasn't dead yet but he was well on his way.

In the end fantasy failed me.  Rock bands break up and idols die.  Comics fall apart. Shows get cancelled and sets get taken down.  I was a lonely broken hearted teenager with more evi in my heart than I would admit even to myself.  Then witthout  my realizing it my after school and summer job turned into an eternally  lifechanging encounter with the unconditional  love offered everyone by  Jesus Christ.

As told elswhere on this site, God sur-

rounded me with people who proved to

me God was real because they had a gen-

uine love, peace and joy that I was living

without.  Finally the love of Jesus Christ

was irresistable.  I surrendered to Him

on July 28, 1975 and have never regret-

ted that decision.  I still enjoy, as is shown

in this site, many fun things I liked before.

But when all that has turned to dust I'll be

standing on an eternal reality that I have

been looking forward to.since 1975. 

I hope you decide to share it with me.

"As someone probably said, 'It's time to pay for the soup.'"

(Edith Keeler)

As another preacher said, "It doesn't work for me because I'm a preacher because it works!"

The "Jesus" Top 5 FAQ:

1.  Was alll this retro stuff a trick to  get us here

     have us convert to whatever you are?

Not at all,   The internet is all about each

      of us sharing the things  that we are

      passionate about and the things that bring

      us joy and make our hearts sing.  This site

is certainly a pretty good representation of

who I have become.  My About page ident-

ifies me as a minister and my friends won't

be surprised to see me share my heart

here because this is who I am.  My site is

all about making what I love accessible to

my friends, and that includes the Lord. 

2.  Why don't "all roads lead to God"?  Why

can't I have mine in my way and you can

have your God your way?

      Because God is God and not a Whopper

from Burger King: He gets to choose to

save us  His way.   John 14:6:  Jesus says,

"I am the way, the truth and the life.  No

one comes to the Father  except through

me."

3.  Does that make Heaven some exclusive

    club just for Christians?

    Real Christianity is universally inclusive.

   The Bible is a portrait of the family of

   God and you need learn how to recog-

   nize yourself.  John 3:16 says that be-

   cause God loved everyone in the whole

   world, including me and you, He sent His

   Son to take the punishment for our sins.

   It  doesn't matter what faith we are born

   into:  Muslim, Jewish, Catholic like me, or

   any other flaor, Jesus died and rose for

   you!  If you don't believe that you should

   probably stop celebrating Christmas and

   Easter because that's what they're truly

   all about.

4.  How can I be sure what you're saying is

    absolutely true?

   a.  God has an unbroken track record of

        success of 33 faithful years in my life

        through good times and calamities.

His unfailing love has never let me

down (1 Cor. 13:8).  My shoulders

are never big enough to handle my

problems but His are (1 Peter 5:6-7)

  On top of that are the millions of

testimonies of others from all faiths

who have found the answer for their

hungry heart in Christ.

   b.  A holy God can't lie and a loving

  God won't lie  (Numbers 23:17).

    c.  Christ's miraculous life, death and

  ressurection are historically docu-

  mented.  I recommend the works of

  former skeptic Josh McDowell.

    d.  In the end it is a matter of accepting

  the Word of God by faith.

5.  How do I do that?

    Acts 16:31:  "Believe on the Lord J

    Jesus Christ and you will be saved."

    Simply put: Take yourself out of your

    own keeping and place your past, pres-

    ent and future in His keeping.. 

Famous Boomer Personalities that Have Made the

Leap of Faith

Both Gavin Macleod and Tim Conway are people of faith.

Tom Lester, "Eb" from GREEN ACRES and Dan

Peek from the rock group America.

Andy

          Roy and Dale                  Lynda Carter

Roger McGuinn of the Byrds

      Ann B. Davis             Donna Douglas

       Chuck Norris          Announcer Jay Stewart

                                                   Pat Priest

         Eferem Zimbalist Jr.

             Keith Thibodeaux