Growing Up: Part 2 (Niagara Falls, NY)

“No man can order his life, for it comes flowing over him from behind . . .”  (George MacDonald)

A New Church

When I was twelve we began attending an Assemblies of God church near our home. Founded in 1914 as a result of the Asuza Street Revival in Los Angeles, the Assemblies of God is the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world and one of the largest Protestant denominations. We went to the Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday evening services. I also went to the youth meetings on Friday nights and the Saturday evening prayer service. After we got settled into our new church my dad began playing guitar in the church band and eventually I got back on the drums.

An Accident

In the spring of my eighth grade year, I had a memorable experience. Each day when the school bell rang, I walked to baseball practice. On the way, my friend Nate and I began jogging across a four-lane boulevard in front of cars lined up at a red light. He stopped at the median in the middle of the road, while I continued jogging.

The next thing I knew, I was laying on the pavement in the last lane. I looked around, trying to understand what had happened. A few seconds later, I learned that as I was crossing the road a car drove through the intersection and hit me. I didn’t see it, but I felt it. I did a flip in the air and landed on my side. After classmates and others began converging on the scene, an ambulance arrived and emergency workers examined me.

I only had cuts and bruises so I was driven home in a police car. My parents came out of the front door of our home with worried looks on their faces, but I was able to walk without a problem.

Bad events can help people move farther away from God or closer to God. It all comes down to how the event is interpreted. In my case, I realized I could have been seriously injured and believed God was protecting me so I began reading the Bible daily. One Bible verse that was especially meaningful to me during this time was Psalm 18:2:

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
    my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I was impressed with how frequently David used the word “my” in this verse. He had a deep personal connection with God. God was David’s rock, fortress, and deliverer. I wanted that same special connection to God.

When a fourteen-year-old throws himself into his faith, there is bound to be some unhealthy extremes. My faith was deeply individualistic—I was focused on myself and what I needed to do and it was fueled by guilt. It was me and my Bible, me and Jesus. In my public high school, I carried a pocket Bible with me every day and read it when I had time in class, which was fairly often.

When I got home from school I usually prayed for at least an hour—many times two hours or more. I also started small group Bible studies with friends and I fasted frequently. I drove to parking lots and passed out gospel tracts by myself. I didn’t intend to, but I scared one lady as she was walking to her car. She swore at me and I wanted to swear back, but I just mumbled something under my breath then walked away.

A couple years later, I quit my high school baseball team to focus on things that really mattered like God, heaven, and hell. Why am I thinking so much about this sport when I should be reading the Bible and praying? Why do I care about my batting average or how many errors I’ve made at second base? People need to be saved. Isn’t that what I should care about? I had played baseball since I was eight years old, but I wasn’t having fun anymore. How could I, with these kinds of thoughts? So before my eleventh grade season, I called the coach, told him I wasn’t enjoying playing anymore, then quit.

In some ways I was living in another world. A world filled with angels and demons and God on his throne. I didn’t realize that if God wanted us to live in that world we would be seeing those things all the time. Instead we live in a world filled with trees and birds, dogs and cats, clouds and rivers.

Don’t get me wrong. In other ways I was still a regular teenage guy with acne, who enjoyed lifting weights and playing basketball. I also had a girlfriend for a year, and a part-time job at a restaurant. But my religious devotion was extreme and, as a result, I was highly judgmental. I examined myself constantly and was often frustrated that I didn’t do more for God so I repented frequently. And I was judgmental of others. When a friend turned on rock music in my car I turned it off immediately. I said something like, “We don’t need to listen to that garbage.”

Jonathan Edwards and Benny Hinn

My attitude was influenced by reading things like “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) and other influential writings of previous centuries. I was also influenced by Benny Hinn, the famous TV evangelist, who many believe has the gift of healing. I watched Hinn’s TV show and read one of his books. When he prayed for people on stage at his large conventions they often fell over because of “the power of God.”

But I remember having doubts about Hinn when I went to one of his meetings in Buffalo with my parents. After getting the large crowd completely silent, he blew hard into the microphone causing some people to react dramatically, such as falling into their seats. He claimed the Holy Spirit was moving through the crowd. But the way he blew into the microphone was unexpected and I could understand why people reacted with surprise. I thought he was merely manipulating the audience.

A Walk Home

I did have experiences that seemed to confirm my faith. One day, when I was in eleventh grade, I got off the school bus and began walking home. Ahead of me I saw a group of unfamiliar teenage guys at the corner throwing snowballs at passing cars. When I reached them, one asked, “You got a quarter?”

“No,” I replied.

I continued walking down the street wearing my winter coat and carrying my backpack. Then I heard rapid footsteps behind me. Seconds later I felt something collide with the back of my head causing me to stumble forward. When I turned around, I realized that I had been punched. I then saw the others start to pursue me.

Instantly, I was paralyzed with fear. I couldn’t run. I couldn’t turn around. I prayed in my mind and kept walking, without looking back. Then I heard one of them say, “Hey, look at that guy.”

I waited a few more seconds, nothing happened, then I looked back. All of them were running in the opposite direction. I searched for the person who had frightened them but didn’t see anyone.

A few minutes after I got home, the phone rang. It was my friend who was on the bus with me.

“What happened?” he asked. “We saw those guys chasing you then they all ran passed the bus. What did you do to them?”

“I didn’t do anything. I just prayed then they saw someone that scared them and ran away.”

High School Graduation

About two years later, I graduated from Niagara Falls High School. Although I was in honors classes, I didn’t care about school. My focus was on spiritual matters. I also wasn’t worried about my grades because I did not have any academic or career pressure from my parents. Despite my lack of interest in school, I enjoyed my classmates, learned how to type, and was fascinated by The Catcher in the Rye. I had not read anything remotely similar to it and I liked how it was written.

For some reason, I was voted one of the two students, “Most Likely To Succeed.” I really don’t know why. I mean that. I didn’t do anything special in high school.

Part 3

Part 1

Les Bridgeman

After graduating from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, I served as a high school Bible teacher in Asia. I enjoy traveling, writing, and playing the drums. For a deep dive into church history and the character of God, see my book Surprised by Hell.