Mainstage Speaker :
John Michael Hinton
Magician | Storyteller |Redhead I grew up in a Christian home in Saudi Arabia as a missionary kid. I accepted Christ at a very young age but wavered from it in my late elementary and middle school years due to social rejection. Being an American in Saudi Arabia, I was beat up, spit on, and made fun of for my beliefs. Wanting so desperately to be cool and accepted, I became a Christian in word only.
My high school years reflect a very rebellious season in my life. In 9th grade, almost every word out of my mouth was a lie. In a sense, I became a con artist, faking my way through life in order to be accepted by my peers. At the beginning of my 10th grade year, I completely rejected Christ and told Him I wanted Him “out of my heart.” I then proceeded to try to break every commandment (save murdering someone) that I could.
That Christmas, my brother-in-law shared with me exactly what hell was. After hearing such an accurately scary description I decided it was a place I did not want to be--so I accepted Christ back as “fire-insurance.” Though I had made God my Savior, I had not made Him my Lord. The next six months I still lived in the world doing whatever would help me be “cool.”
Shortly thereafter, I bought a 1989 black Pontiac Firebird. (If it would have had a little better paint job, it could have been Kit from Night Rider!) My mother told me that if I got a ticket she would take away my car for a month. Inevitably, two weeks later I got a ticket, so I begged my mother not to take my car away for that long. We made a deal that she would only take it away for two weeks if I went to a youth weekend my church was putting on.
At the youth weekend I put on my “Christian mask” and just tried to make it through. I kept reminding myself that I only lost my car for two weeks. The last night, our leaders prayed for each one of us individually. When my leader prayed for me he put his hand on my back. It was as if the hand of God was touching me instead of my leader, and I fell instantly into tears (I now know that it was the Holy Spirit coming upon me). God took me to a crossroads that I either fully lived for Him, or stop calling myself a christian. I realized then that I needed to make God my Lord and live only for Him. That night I committed my whole life to Jesus Christ.
In my college years, I found acceptance in God as one night, while on a retreat, God firmly impressed on me how He thinks I am “cool”. When the Creator of all things thinks you are cool, it does not really matter what anyone else thinks of you!
Since that milestone in my life, growth with Christ has been a continual beautiful journey, full of ups and downs.
My high school years reflect a very rebellious season in my life. In 9th grade, almost every word out of my mouth was a lie. In a sense, I became a con artist, faking my way through life in order to be accepted by my peers. At the beginning of my 10th grade year, I completely rejected Christ and told Him I wanted Him “out of my heart.” I then proceeded to try to break every commandment (save murdering someone) that I could.
That Christmas, my brother-in-law shared with me exactly what hell was. After hearing such an accurately scary description I decided it was a place I did not want to be--so I accepted Christ back as “fire-insurance.” Though I had made God my Savior, I had not made Him my Lord. The next six months I still lived in the world doing whatever would help me be “cool.”
Shortly thereafter, I bought a 1989 black Pontiac Firebird. (If it would have had a little better paint job, it could have been Kit from Night Rider!) My mother told me that if I got a ticket she would take away my car for a month. Inevitably, two weeks later I got a ticket, so I begged my mother not to take my car away for that long. We made a deal that she would only take it away for two weeks if I went to a youth weekend my church was putting on.
At the youth weekend I put on my “Christian mask” and just tried to make it through. I kept reminding myself that I only lost my car for two weeks. The last night, our leaders prayed for each one of us individually. When my leader prayed for me he put his hand on my back. It was as if the hand of God was touching me instead of my leader, and I fell instantly into tears (I now know that it was the Holy Spirit coming upon me). God took me to a crossroads that I either fully lived for Him, or stop calling myself a christian. I realized then that I needed to make God my Lord and live only for Him. That night I committed my whole life to Jesus Christ.
In my college years, I found acceptance in God as one night, while on a retreat, God firmly impressed on me how He thinks I am “cool”. When the Creator of all things thinks you are cool, it does not really matter what anyone else thinks of you!
Since that milestone in my life, growth with Christ has been a continual beautiful journey, full of ups and downs.