INTRODUCTION
I've been driven like the wind to write and publish this story. For it is a strange, but true tale. I begin with my trip to Woodstock in August of 1969 and end with my baptism at Smith Point in June of 1970.As you will read I had a near death experience in the middle of the original Woodstock concert due to the use of some bad drugs. I write this story to share the mighty change that came over me and how I was able to give up my many teenage vices within a year. This story is also a warning to all not to do what I had done. That is never ever experiment with drugs or any substances that can harm your body.You are more precious then you can presently realize. We have a great destiny that goes beyond any drug induced trip. Life is worth living and we can change the world back into the Garden of Eden if we become believing and work together to find and magnify our individual talents.We must each find our own divine path and then pursue it at all cost. This story is the divine path God has led me down and my talent is to rise up and share it with you. It has not been easy and it has taken me twenty-five years to get to this point. Now this point is really just the beginning of our journey together.As I reviewed my own life in writing this story I'm still amazed and overwhelmed with all that God has done in my behalf. The great signs and miracles which followed me about are a testimony of the love God has for those who seek to know him and keep his commandments.In those days I began to see the hand of the Lord in all things. It seemed the music spoke to me of the love God had personally for me. I felt a message in each new verse and beat. I saw the positive messages in the popular music of the day. What really blew my mind was when songs came out that seemed to tell of my experiences. For example the song " Woodstock " seems to tell of my very own experience at that concert. This caused me to reflect and ask myself some very hard questions such as: " Why me Lord ?" and " Who am I ?" This story is part of the answer to those questions. The full answer won't come until I complete this work the Lord has assigned me to do. As I write this story, I'm showing the Lord I've accepted my lot and am willing to do my part. The days of my questioning youth are over and now is a time for action and this book is action.Publishing this work will put me two feet into the darkness as the Lord tries my faith once again. However, this is a major step in faith for me. Because, once I publish it there is no turning back. I must stand by my testimony till the day I die.Now we have a date with destiny and our hour is near at hand. We must work together to prepare this promise land for the coming of the Lamb. Read my words and see if they don't ring true in your heart. For God has given me this part and together we shall help save many souls from the devil's fire. It is our duty and great responsibility to help gather in God's lost sheep.I wrote a mere friction of my life's experience in hope that you too might seek the Lord and gain all that you desire in righteousness. There is a time, season and reason for every purpose under heaven. It is the time for me to share these special ten months. Much happened before and after which will fill volumes of books. However, I will share a few key spiritual events that occurred during my childhood that helped set the stage for what happened to me at Woodstock.I was born with a natural belief in Jesus Christ, but I kept it secret deep down in my heart. I wanted to live a normal childhood and not be perceived as a religious fanatic. About the age of ten, I had my first spiritual experience. My Sunday school teacher at the Lutheran Church challenged me to pray in secret to the Father in Heaven concerning Jesus to know if he really was the Son of God. She told us to ask the Father in the name of Christ to bear witness to us by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the very Son of God.I pondered this in my mind because I already believed that Jesus was the Son of God. I felt it might be a sign of unbelief to ask God something I already believed. However, in the quiet of my room as I laid in my bed one Sunday night I prayed for that witness from the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus was the Son of God. I got an immediate answer to my surprise. I felt a strange warm fire burn within my heart which grew until my whole small body was filled with peace. Again, I kept this marvelous experience secret. I was private and shy and didn't want to draw attention to myself.Then when I was 15, I decided to stop going to church and look for answers out in the world. I never stopped believing in Jesus but, the church taught if you believe in Christ you are saved. So with the world pulling at my flesh and my mind saying you are already saved because you believe, I stopped attending my Lutheran Church. I hoped to find a more logical answer to salvation then just belief. However, I was convinced that Jesus was Our Savior and I made a promise to myself that if I died before finding a more complete answer I would call upon the name of Jesus and put my simple belief to the test.During the summer of my 16th year a friend turned me onto an unusual book. As I read the book, my soul was stirred to the re-awakening of my spirit. My thoughts turned to God and the real meaning of life. I considered this my second spiritual rebirth. This book " The Prophet " by Kahlil Gibran enlightened both my heart and mind to greater spiritual truths. Keeping all this in the forefront of your mind will help you understand how I was enticed into the love and peace movement of the sixties and how I was able to be led by the Lord into the Greater Light.I'm a true New Yorker born in "Hell's Kitchen" in the heart of Manhattan September 10, 1949 and raised in the small town of Rocky Point on the north shore of Long Island. New York is the Empire State and The Kingdom of God was reborn here in the last days. The time and season of a great revival is at hand. Now I invite you to join me on my journey as we travel back in time on the pages of this journal divine. It will be like a "Nantucket Sleigh Ride" as we gather together to prepare the "Bride for the coming of the Bridegroom."Welcome aboard ! Peace, Love, Faith & Blessings Forever,Charlie