Introduction - Part 1

My childhood was like any other childhood; I grew up in the suburbs of a booming tech town engulfed in the shadows of a company whose name begins in micro and ends in soft. It was no small town, but I'd say we lived a very normal American life. We went to Disneyland, ate Chinese food and went to the movies.

Growing up, we never went to church (OK, maybe once), although I can't remember a time where I didn’t believe in God. Despite not practicing any religion formally, I always possessed a belief in some higher power.

It was when I was in my first year of high school that some friends brought me to a Bible study. We would usually go over to someone's house and there would be someone reading some passages from the Bible. We would talk about the significance of these words in our daily lives and how we can strive to be better people. Then, after maybe an hour or so we would play some games or have social time. All in all, it was a good time, even if I don't remember learning too much about the Bible.

Eventually I started going to church; not just on Sundays, but on Wednesday nights as well. Wednesday night was "Youth Church", which was basically what happens when Pearl Jam meets Billy Graham. No, I'm not kidding.

For about the first hour or so there would be a lot of Christian music being played, usually live, and we'd all be singing along and "feeling the spirit". After the music, everyone is pretty fired up, so the pastor begins to call out to the "sinners" in the audience, and tells them to come down to the front so the Lord can heal them.

This is probably the first time I started to question what I was doing. I mean, usually this stuff was just plain embarrassing; I knew that I was a sinner and had problems, but I didn't want to get up in front of everyone. Furthermore, why did we need the pastor to get healed by God? Couldn't God just do it if we prayed to Him for forgiveness?

Nevertheless, this went on for a few years; more Bible studies and more Youth Churches. I eventually got used to it and it became part of my usual routine. During my senior year of high school I started to slack some more as the Bible Study group sort of disbanded, although I still went to Youth Church on occasion. I became more concerned with my social life than my relationship with God.

Coming up…the college years.