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The biggest influence for my music comes from my own life experiences.... The people I meet... the things that happen..... and the things that don't happen. There is no such thing as coincidence. That is my favorite slogan. So when I look back at my life I see many individual instances that when combined, shape me into the person I am today. Here are just two examples that helped define my character.
When I was a young boy..... I must have been only 5 or 6 years old.... my parents brought me into their church and as the preacher spoke I became bored, distracted and my mind started to wander. I gazed around the church.... looking at all the other worshippers there..... many had their children. Everyone was listening to the preacher. I gazed upwards towards the high high ceiling of the church and I noticed large windows near the steeple peak. As I looked at the window, a distinct face of Jesus Christ appeared in the window... looking at me. I was very suprised to actually SEE Jesus in the church window.... the highest window in the church... but there He was.... He was exactly like the pictures you see..... That Guy with the beard and the long hair. There was no mistaking Him. So I grabbed my dad by the sleeve of his jacket and proclaimed that I had indeed just seen Jesus Christ with my own eyes..... My dad looked at me and said "The Church does that..... there's a guy with a big sign... a big picture of Jesus and he holds it up to fool little kids into believing in Christ.". And I believed him. I believed my dad. I was FIVE YEARS OLD. Of course I believed him. But as I grew up..... I started thinking about it...... about how ridiculous it would be to believe what my dad had told me. He lied to me. Why did he lie? There was no reason to lie to me. I know I saw Jesus in the church that day. I still remember it. Vividly.
The second big experience in the bank of my life happened to me when I was just a young man of 18. I was relaxing with some friends one night in my apartment and I heard several banging noises - some kind of disturbance... at my back door. I decided to investigate. When I approached the door, all of a sudden the window busted and a gloved hand burst thru the curtain and grabbed the inner door handle! I could see the assailant's gloved hand twisting and turning the inner door knob in an attempt to gain entry into my house. I could hear this guy grunting and shoving against the door.... trying to bust in. Well, I didn't even have to think about it because it came to me naturally : I kicked the guy's arm with power from my chi. He returned the favor by backing out the window and pumping two shots of hot lead into me. Bang Bang! You're Dead! And as I felt the wallop and realized what happened ... I reached down with my hand to feel my stomach.... my wounds.... my blood.... only to find no such thing. There were no wounds.... no rips...... no blood....... no puncture.... only deep red welts. The bullets bounced off me!!! The police finally came and did their little investigations and determined that I was indeed hit with a .38 hollow point man-stopper - a bullet designed for one thing - to kill men. The detective shrugged his head and told me that "it must have been defective"...... and "In all my years, I've never seen anything like it". When he left that night, he told me that it was clear to him that I had been saved by some kind of divine luck. He told me that I had better make sure to do something with my life.... for I had obviously been chosen to live.
These are the reasons why I am here today.... why I am the way I am.
It was always meant to be this way.
There is no such thing as coincidence.
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