Of late all we hear of in the media is the rivalry between outlaw biker gangs or the leader of the Hells Angels gang has done this or the head of the Commancheros has done that. Arrested for retaliation and arrested for murder seem to be the headlines, love triangles, drugs, guns and other violent criminal behaviour!
Funny now it seems a world away when I hung with a few of the outlaw bikers from the Banditos and knew several colourful characters. Those were my drugs days when to be straight was a myth....an outrageous philosophy.
I would arrive at the local hotel where a lot of unsavoury characters Hung out and we would drink and deal in drugs to the small hours of the morning from when around the hotel opened at 6am.
The lifestyle was so foreign to that which I live today through Jesus!
The language the conversation the method of survival is so alien to today's sedate yet powerful and interesting life with a whole new group of people.
I survived in that environment because Christ wanted me too, by His grace I was saved from that undercurrent of violence and drug related crime. I abused myself to the degree of being near death and I spent 10's of thousands of dollars on drugs and alienated the whole of society except for the den of shady characters I knew.
Six months after coming to know the Lord Jesus as my saviour I joined the local outreach team and played drums for the music team. One Saturday morning we went out on an outreach into the heart of Blacktown and sang songs of praise to the Lord and witnessed to His Resurrection power, love and saving grace. I had a smile from ear to ear whilst playing those drums and was caught up in the pure joy I was experiencing as a new Christian.
Well ...who should pass us by in the mall, but three of the gang! They slowed their walk down to a steady pace and did a double take and stood with unbelief upon their faces as they saw "Puss" formerly me, playing in a Christian band with an unrecognisable smile on my face which they had seldom seen....
I yelled to them "I've been born again, I now follow Jesus and it's the best ever....you can too"
They started to walk off quickly but then looked back several times with slight grins of recognition and amazement to my new found life.....my eyes followed them till they were out of sight. It was the last time I ever saw them, I wonder what the news was that travelled that grapevine and what was ever spoken of me, probably that the drugs overtook me or that I'd gone completely mad.
I know what happened.....the truth happened!
We are a peculiar people.
Funny now it seems a world away when I hung with a few of the outlaw bikers from the Banditos and knew several colourful characters. Those were my drugs days when to be straight was a myth....an outrageous philosophy.
I would arrive at the local hotel where a lot of unsavoury characters Hung out and we would drink and deal in drugs to the small hours of the morning from when around the hotel opened at 6am.
The lifestyle was so foreign to that which I live today through Jesus!
The language the conversation the method of survival is so alien to today's sedate yet powerful and interesting life with a whole new group of people.
I survived in that environment because Christ wanted me too, by His grace I was saved from that undercurrent of violence and drug related crime. I abused myself to the degree of being near death and I spent 10's of thousands of dollars on drugs and alienated the whole of society except for the den of shady characters I knew.
Six months after coming to know the Lord Jesus as my saviour I joined the local outreach team and played drums for the music team. One Saturday morning we went out on an outreach into the heart of Blacktown and sang songs of praise to the Lord and witnessed to His Resurrection power, love and saving grace. I had a smile from ear to ear whilst playing those drums and was caught up in the pure joy I was experiencing as a new Christian.
Well ...who should pass us by in the mall, but three of the gang! They slowed their walk down to a steady pace and did a double take and stood with unbelief upon their faces as they saw "Puss" formerly me, playing in a Christian band with an unrecognisable smile on my face which they had seldom seen....
I yelled to them "I've been born again, I now follow Jesus and it's the best ever....you can too"
They started to walk off quickly but then looked back several times with slight grins of recognition and amazement to my new found life.....my eyes followed them till they were out of sight. It was the last time I ever saw them, I wonder what the news was that travelled that grapevine and what was ever spoken of me, probably that the drugs overtook me or that I'd gone completely mad.
I know what happened.....the truth happened!
We are a peculiar people.
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