High School: No short cuts in the Christian Life

1969-1973: When I entered high school I saw Jesus as the answer to all my problems and actively, passionately pursued Him hoping to be fixed. I would spend several hours a day in the Word of God, meditating and memorizing Scripture (I eventually memorized about 1/3 of the New Testament and large portions of the Old Testament as well). I developed a fasting program of 1-24 hour water fast each week. I would spend that time in the mountains in prayer and in the Word. I would spend 2 hours each day before school putting Scripture to music and playing the recorder in the woods. At school I became known as the school evangelist and witnessed to a lot of kids although I still didn’t fit in nor did I have any friends at school or church. 

I went to a lot of seminars, classes and every teaching opportunity I could find including small fellowship groups. In spite of all this, I found it very hard to love myself or anyone else. I believed Jesus would heal me. I believed Him and trusted Him. I learned that the Christian life is not a free bail from all my problems. It would be a slow, painful process. In the meantime I saw God begin to use me in powerful ways.