Micah's Writings

• Changed Forever
• Becoming A Christian
• The Lottery
• Thomas Marshall
• My ConcertPaper

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Changed Forever

     The event that most dramatically changed my life is a very personal matter, but one that I am happy to share with you. Hopefully, this story will have the same impact on you that it had on me.

     My parents always said that I was the perfect child up until around the age of eight. At that point, they said I began getting bitter towards authority. I lived a relatively sheltered life all through my childhood with basically no exposure to "the real world". Once in middle school, my mind began exploring the possibilities of a world beyond my little "eggshell". In the ninth grade, I was expelled from Faith Christian School for marking on the church pew with an ink pen. However, I had really given that school a hard time and this episode was just the straw that broke the camel's back. I moved to New Life Christian School where I was suspended for having an empty bottle of wine on campus. By now, you can see what kind of trail I was walking down. My ninth grade summer was even worse. I turned fifteen and began stealing my sister's car after everyone was asleep. I would stay out until three-thirty in the morning either drinking, smoking pot or both. However, my parents caught me several times and decided to send me to military school. Military school was an unpleasant experience. After about five good fights, most of which I lost, I decided I would rather be at home. Finally the year ended and I came home for the summer. When I returned, I decided to change a few things. Instead of being so careless about my various "activities", I would be a little subtler. After all, I was sixteen years old and now had a car; it would now be much easier to sneak around, right? Wrong! Instead, I got caught with pot about three times. I was already back at New Life Academy so military school was not an option, at least not until the semester was over. Then one day, I flashed a bag of pot to the "wrong person" who told on me. My mom and dad stayed up until ten o'clock trying to get a confession out of me, and received it not. I had been sitting on the couch cushion that had all my goods under it. Knowing my dad was going to strip search me, I figured it would be a good idea. It worked and everybody went to bed. I got my pot and went upstairs to smoke it out of my window. My sister came in my room saw what I was doing, and started screaming. I was kicked out of my house that night, and my wallet was taken from me. After three days away from home, I returned for my wallet. My parents stalled me and took me out to dinner. For whatever reason, I returned to school the next day only to be expelled for my "extra-curricular activities." I spent the next two weeks searching for pot. I found some, but then something miraculous happened.

     After getting stoned, I laid in my bed listening to Pink Floyd's "comfortably numb." As I listened, I realized that God was in my room and that He loved me. The next day I asked God if I needed to continue smoking pot to find him. That night my dad caught me smoking it again. They told me that I was to spend the night in their room and they were taking me to rehab the next day. I told them what happened the night before and then burst into tears. My parents knelt down beside my couch and I asked Jesus to come into my heart. This single experience completely changed my life.

     Since this time I have not been a perfect little angel. In fact, I have even gone back into a lot of the same things I was involved in before I asked Jesus to come into my heart. The bible tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There are no exceptions to this rule. Everyone who has put his or her trust in Jesus has failed morally at one point in time or another. This does not mean that they are going to hell, but they are human. However, I cannot say that going back to my old ways was ok. Proverbs tells us that as a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool returns to his folly. In conclusion I would say that it truly is amazing grace that saved a wretch like me.

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Becoming A Christian

     The first major step in becoming a Christian is admitting that you are a sinner in need of a savior. In order to do this, one must understand first that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." The idea that man is sinful is also presented by the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes who presented the idea of Natural Law, which states that man always acts out of self-interest, in his book Leviathan. Secondly, one must understand that "the wages of sin is death" or in other words, the wages of sin is eternal separation from God or Hell. In conjunction to this one must understand that "God so loved man kind, He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to die a painful death on a cross our behalf; and if we believe in Him, we will not have to face Hell, but will have eternal life." In understanding the hopeless situation man is in without Christ, one can admit that he is a sinner in need of a savior.

     The second major step to becoming a Christian is putting one's faith in Jesus to save one from his sins. The process of putting one's faith in Jesus is done by a simple prayer spoken in faith, for the Bible states that "if you confess with your mouth and believe with your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord then you shall be saved." The Bible describes faith as "the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen." There is not an exact prescription for asking Jesus to save one's self. Many people have done it in different ways, but no matter how one does it, he must state four basic things: "I am a sinner," "I cannot get to Heaven on my own," "I need God's help to get to Heaven," and "believing in Jesus is the only way to get to God." Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me." All God expects of us is to have "faith as the grain of a mustard seed." In relating this prayer to God through spoken word, unspoken word, or song one commits his life into the hands of Christ. At this point, the life changes ownership.

     Saying a simple prayer is not the fulfillment of becoming a Christian. Instead, this prayer is just the beginning of a whole new life. I Corinthians 6:20 states, "For you have been brought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body." For those "who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh along with its passions and desires" which are "immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these." (Galatians 5:19-21,24) Becoming a Christian does not mean that one will never sin again; it means, however, that we must continually strive to live a life that reflects the character of Christ. This type of life is achieved by a continuous repentance or, as C.S. Lewis, a professor and author, writes in Mere Christianity, the process of "laying down your arms, surrendering, saying you are sorry, realizing that you have been on the wrong track and getting ready to start life over again from the ground floor." ( Lewis p.59) In order to know what God expects of one's self and what he would have one do, one must read the Bible which is the word of God which contains everything one needs to know on the Christian life. Moreover, God has given man direct access to him through prayer. In the same way that a person cannot have a relationship with another without speaking, neither can we have a relationship with God without conversation with Him through prayer. He even tells man to "present your requests" to Him (Philippians 4:6).

       In summary, through repentance, the reading of God's word, and prayer one can live this new life as a Christian.

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The Lottery

     The lottery was a major issue in the recent gubernatorial election. Many people believe that a statewide lottery could greatly increase the amount of children who would get a college education. However, in Georgia the college enrollment has only increased by one percent. With figures like this, it might make a person wonder why we need a lottery.

     Many people argue that the government needs to stay out of "my business", and let me gamble if I want to. Well the problem with this argument is that we need safety. We need safety from ourselves. This is one of the main functions of government. This is what speed limits are for. This is what most basic laws are for. Our government is like our parents; there not trying to spoil our fun, they are there to protect us from ourselves.

       It is sad, but likely that we will legalize gambling in Alabama. What do we need protection from? It will help our children, won't it? Well according to the Georgia Department of Human Resources, eight thousand four hundred youth are addicted gamblers with another thirty-nine thousand at risk. This proposed lottery is like a regressive tax, it preys on the poor, minorities, elderly and the youth. In lottery states, one third of the minors have illegally purchased tickets. In Indiana, ninety percent of all minors have gambled and sixty-five percent play the scratch off lottery. In New Jersey, a sixteen-year-old young man paid off his gambling debts by hiring out his girlfriend for prostitution. Approximately four percent of our college population will become compulsive gamblers. It doesn't sound like a statewide lottery is going to help our young people too much. Unfortunately the whole purpose of this lottery was to help the children of our state.

       What are some other problems with legalized gambling? For starters, the average annual income of a compulsive gambler is thirteen thousand two hundred dollars. Approximately 2.3 percent of Georgia's population are classified as problem gamblers. Seventy-two percent of Florida senior citizens with gambling addictions blame the lottery for their problems. The average cost for each compulsive gambler to society is thirteen thousand two hundred dollars annually. You see every dollar spent on the lottery is one less dollar spent on food clothing and shelter. Judge Peder Ecker in Sioux Falls, Idaho stated that he noticed a significant increase in bankruptcies because of habitual gambling. Two thirds of gambling addicts will commit crimes to finance their addiction. The gambling addiction usually leads to abusing spouses, children, alcohol and drugs. Gambling addicts typically lose their jobs and many times they will attempt suicide.

       It just does not add up. Gambling is a no win situation. Winning the California State lottery is a one in twenty three million chance, while winning the recent Power-Ball lottery was a one in eighty million chance. After looking at the facts, the lottery doesn't make much sense after all, does it? The Alabama Family Alliance gathered the information used in this paper.

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Thomas Marshall

     Thomas Marshall is a 17 year old young man who is a junior in high school. He has a younger sister and lives with his mom and dad. He does not say much but inside I know he thinks the same thoughts we all do.

     Thomas is also interested in basketball and fighter jets. I once asked him if he wanted to join the armed forces and fly fighters, and I was quite impressed with his response. He told me that he would love to, but he said that he did not know if that was what the Lord wanted him to do. He also has poor eyesight and is color blind. Thomas has two sled cars that we call "the tanks". They probably weigh about five tons a piece. All in all I would conclude that Thomas is going to make it, and he will have a wonderful life.

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My Concert Paper

     On Thursday, April 15, I was given the pleasure of attending one of the best piano recitals I have ever heard. The concert began at 7:30 PM in the Delchamps Recital Hall at Huntingdon College. The concert hall was completely filled with people and anticipation. I was curious myself to find out why they had come to a relatively unpublicized piano concert. However, when some of the sharpest piano playing I had ever heard. The two piano players Barbara and Ronald Shinn were outstanding. It was obvious that they were quite serious about their performance. They both played at the same time making it a Duet Recital. Being a piano player myself, I was absolutely fascinated at the sounds they were making. One piece I heard was the four-hand sonata written by Francis Poulenc. He wrote this piece at the age of nineteen. It was a very lively piece but had some contrasts in rhythm. It was faster in some parts than others. I liked it because it really displayed emotional feeling. I felt that the entire concert was a complete success. Standing ovations were given, myself included.

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