Joseph King:
CLASS OF 1967
San Gorgonio High SchoolClass of 1967
San bernardino, CA
Joseph's Story
Joseph is from Twentynine Palms, California. Joseph's schools include San Gorgonio High School.
Music Joseph likes includes Gospel music, Aunt Kizzy'z Boyz. Books Joseph likes include Bible, The Bible.
One of Joseph's favorite quotes is:"EVERYTHING I WOULD QUOTE CAN BE FOUND IN GODS' ONLY WORD TO US. THE HOLY BIBLE.
THERE ARE CERTAINLY GREAT QUOTES FROM MANY MEN THAT I ADMIRE AND LOVE, HOWEVER BY COMPARISON, I WOULD RATHER QUOTE FROM GODS WORD.".
More about Joseph:"AS I WRITE A SMALL BIO ABOUT MYSELF, I HAVE TO START WITH...I WAS FULL OF HATE, LUST, ENVY, PRIDE, GREED, STRIFE, TURMOIL, DRUGS, AND EVERY IMAGINABLE EVIL THAT THE DEPTH OF MY LAWLESS YEARS HAD TAKEN ME TO. I WAS 19 YEARS OLD. I WAS LIVING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. I WAS EMPTY, AND DEEP DOWN INSIDE I KNEW IT.
AT THEIR INVITATION (MY SISTER AND HER HUSBAND) I TRAVELED TO ALASKA IN THE SUMMER OF 1969 ALONG WITH THEIR SMALL CHILDREN. WELL AS WE WENT THROUGH SAN FRANCISCO, I WAS TEMPTED TO GET OUT AND STAY BECAUSE I THOUGHT ALL THESE PEOPLE HAD REALLY FOUND SOMETHING GREAT, AND I KNEW THEY HAD DRUGS OF ALL KINDS IN ABUNDANCE AND I WAS OUT. PLUS, I HAD HEARD A LOT ABOUT LOVE-INS AND PEACE, AND CAREFREE LIVING WHERE THEY WERE GOING TO ALL GET TOGETHER AND TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER AND ON AND ON IT WENT. IT REALLY SOUNDED GOOD, LIKE UTOPIA.. OR EVEN EUREKA.!!ANYTHING. !! EXCEPT I NEW IT WASN'T BUDDAH OR CONFUCIOUS OR THE MAHAIRISH OR THE BEATLES. ANYWAY, FOR SOME REASON I DIDN'T STAY IN SAN FRAN. I REMEMBER THINKING NAW.., I CAN ALWAYS DO THIS ON THE WAY BACK. SOMEHOW I WAS AWARE THAT I WOULDN'T STAY IN ALASKA.
AT THE TIME, I HAD BEEN MARRIED FOR ALMOST 3 YEARS WITH 2 CHILDREN BUT MY WIFE AND I WERE SEPERATED. VIETNAM WAS HAPPENING BIG AND MY AGE GROUP WAS IN A FULL BLOWN REBELLION AGAINST EVERYTHING AND EVERYBODY. I PERSONALLY KNEW THAT MAN DID NOT HAVE ANY ANSWERS AND I WAS ALSO CERTAIN THAT I DIDN'T HAVE THE ANSWERS TO ANY OF MENS PROBLEMS EITHER. MY ONLY HOPE SEEMED TO BE DRUGS AND ALCOHOL. EVEN KNOWING A FEW OF MY FRIENDS WERE DEAD BECAUSE OF DRUGS AND ALCOHOL, I JUST KEPT IT UP THINKING NOTHING LIKE THAT COULD EVER HAPPEN TO ME.
SO, I WAS IN ALASKA, HOME SICK AND LONELY. IN ALASKA, DRUGS WERE HARDER TO GET AT THE TIME. SO ONE NIGHT I WENT OUT ABOUT MIDNIGHT OR 1:00 AM, AND FOUND A CHURCH WITH AN UNLOCKED DOOR AND I REALLY LAUGHED AS MY MOOD PICKED UP, BECAUSE I KNEW I WAS GOING TO ROB THIS IDIOT THAT LEFT HIS DOOR UNLOCKED AND I FIGURED HE HAD IT COMING. WELL, AS I WENT INSIDE, THERE WERE DIM LIGHTS LIT BUT I HAD KEEN EYESIGHT AND AS I SCANNED THE ROOM, I SAW NO ONE. WHATEVER I WANTED OUT OF THAT CHURCH WAS MINE THAT NIGHT. I STARTED WALKING AROUND LOOKING AT THE STUFF THAT I WAS GOING TO STEAL AND FOR SOME UNKNOWN REASON, I FELT LIKE I SHOULD PRAY OR SOMETHING. I MEAN AFTER ALL, I WAS IN A CHURCH AND THAT MUST BE JESUS ON THAT CROSS. THE GUY I ALWAYS MADE FUN OF AND JOKED ABOUT AND WAS ABOUT TO RIP OFF!!!! SO I SAT DOWN IN A PEW, (AT THE TIME, I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT THAT IS WHAT IT IS CALLED) THERE WAS ALSO A LITTLE THING TO KNEEL ON AND SO I DID. I CLOSED MY EYES AND KIND OF LAUGHED IN MY HEART AS I THOUGHT SOMETHING LIKE, OKAY GOD ARE YOU REALLY OUT THERE? NOW, I FELT FOOLISH AND STARTED TO OPEN MY EYES TO PEEK AND THEN I CAUGHT A GLIMPSE OF SOMEBODY SITTING JUST ACROSS THE AISLE FROM ME, AND I JUMPED UP, AS THIS GUYS SUDDEN APPERANCE SCARED THE LIVING DEATH OUT OF ME. (YOU KNOW WHEN YOU THINK YOU ARE ALL ALONE AND YOU SUDDENLY FIND OUT YOU ARE NOT) I MEAN THIS GUY WAS NOT THERE A MINUTE OR SO AGO. WELL, MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS; HOW DID THIS GUY GET HERE WITHOUT ME HEARING HIM? AND THEN AS MY MIND RACED WITH MY HEART GOING ABOUT 200 BEATS A MINUTE I THOUGHT SURELY THIS AIN'T GOD! AND THEN I THOUGHT... MAYBE HE WAS JUST ANOTHER THIEF AND SO I BOLDLY SAID "WHO ARE YOU AND WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?" (I MEAN, I WAS THINKING LIKE, I WAS HERE FIRST AND I PLANNED ON GETTING THE BEST STUFF) I WAS READY TO FIGHT AND THIS MAN CALMLY SAYS "MY NAME IS JOHN AND I LIVE HERE AND I AM HERE TO TALK WITH YOU IF YOU WANT, AFTER YOU'RE DONE PRAYING." I THOUGHT THIS GUY WAS NUTS AND SO I ASKED HIM "WHAT?" HE REPEATED THE SAME STATEMENT. WELL, I THEN TOLD HIM I WASN'T PRAYING AND I WAS DONE ANYWAY. JOHN THEN ASKED ME WHAT MY NAME WAS AND I ASKED HIM "WHY?," AS I WAS FAMILIAR WITH GIVING FALSE NAMES TO PEOPLE. JOHN SORT OF CHUCKLED AND TOLD ME HE WAS A PRIEST AND HE WOULD PRAY WITH ME, OR TALK WITH ME IF I WANTED, AND FOR SOME REASON OUT OF NOWHERE, I DID WANT TO TALK AND I TOLD HIM MY NAME WAS JOE, AND I TOLD JOHN MY WHOLE LIFE STORY. WELL A FEW HOURS WENT BY AND JOHN HAD TOLD ME THE ENTIRE STORY OF REDEMPTION THROUGH JESUS CHRIST AND ALL ABOUT GODS' GRACE AND HIS SUPREME LOVE FOR MANKIND AND ALL ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT AND GODS' WORD. THEN JOHN TOLD ME ABOUT HOW MUCH GOD LOVES ME. AND JOHN SAID I COULD HAVE FORGIVNESS AND PEACE THAT VERY NIGHT AND ALL I HAD TO DO WAS CALL ON JESUS AND RECEIVE HIM INTO MY HEART AND BELIEVE IN MY HEART AND TO CONFESS THAT GOD HAD RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD AND THAT I WOULD BE SAVED!! WELL IT ALL SOUNDED GOOD AND I FELT REALLY GOOD AND I KNEW JOHN HAD SOMETHING GOOD ABOUT LIFE, AND I WONDERED GREATLY... AND I WAS GREATLY AMAZED AT EVERYTHING JOHN SAID. THEN JOHN ASKED ME IF I WANTED TO ACCEPT JESUS CHRIST AS MY LORD AND SAVIOR AND I SAID 'NO, NOT RIGHT NOW," AND THEN I LEFT. I COULD NEVER REMEMBER FEELING LIKE THAT IN MY WHOLE LIFE. I JUST FELT UNBURDENED.
I WENT BACK TO THE TRAILER PARK AND TOLD MY SISTER AND HER HUSBAND EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT AND THEN I STARTED WRITING PAGES AND PAGES OF EVERYTHING JOHN TOLD ME. I COULDN'T WAIT TO GET HIGH AND THINK ABOUT IT. NOT VERY MANY DAYS AFTER, WE LEFT ALASKA AND HEADED BACK TO CALIFORNIA. IT WAS SUCH A LONG TRIP BACK, ABOUT 4000 MILES.
AS SOON AS I GOT BACK, AROUND 2:00 AM, I WENT TO MY WIFES APARTMENT AND WE WERE BACK TOGETHER THAT NIGHT. WE THEN MOVED TO ORANGE COUNTY, AND I GOT A JOB WITH A RETAIL CHAIN STORE AND JOINED THE TEAMSTER UNION AS A WAREHOUSEMAN. EVERYTHING WAS ALREADY CRUMBLING AGAIN AND THIS EMPTY FEELING CAME CREEPING BACK INTO ME. NOTHING HAD REALLY CHANGED, MORE TURMOIL THAN EVER. INSIDE ME AND ALSO ALL AROUND ME. EVERYTHING WAS BAD. I HAD FORGOTTEN ALL ABOUT JOHN AND HIS STORY AND I STARTED DOING MORE DRUGS THAN EVER AND THIS TIME, IT WAS FULL BLOWN. IF I WASN'T HIGH, I WAS REALLY, REALLY BUMMED. I WAS EMPTY INSIDE, ALMOST LIKE EVEN STRANGERS COULD SEE AND HEAR HOW HOLLOW I HAD BECOME. I FELT LIKE THERE WAS NOTHING TO LIVE FOR AND EVEN IN A CROWD I KNEW I WAS ALONE AND EMPTY AND MY FEARS WERE BEING FULED AND MAGNIFIED BY MY ANGER, HATRED, AND DRUGS. I REMEMBER THINKING THAT DEATH WAS JUST AROUND THE CORNER AND IF I REALLY GOT TO THAT PLACE, I WAS GOING TO TAKE SOME OF MY ENEMIES WITH ME. I WAS CERTAIN THAT THAT DAY WAS COMING SOON. I HAD BEEN PRACTICING MY "QUICK DRAW," AND I WAS GETTING PRETTY GOOD AND COULD SPIN MY GUN BACK INTO MY HOLSTER WITH A FAIR AMOUNT OF SPEED AND ACCURACY. I ALSO COULD DRAW AND SHOOT FAIRLY WELL. THERE WERE SEVERAL PEOPLE ON MY LIST AND I KNEW THAT IF I PLAN...Expand for more
NED IT RIGHT, I WOULD BE ABLE TO GET THEM ALL. THESE THOUGHTS WERE ALWAYS IN THE BACK OF MY MIND AND EVERY NOW AND AGAIN I WOULD TALK ABOUT SOME OF THEM. THEN ONE NIGHT, I HAD A REAL BUMMER TRIP AND I KNEW EVEN MY DRUGS WERE LETTING ME DOWN. THE NEXT DAY, FEAR AND EMPTINESS GRIPPED ME LIKE NEVER BEFORE. IT WAS THEN THAT I REMEMBERED JOHN AND HIS STORY SO I GOT UP SUNDAY MORNING AND WENT TO CHURCH. I KNEW THAT THE PEOPLE IN THIS LITTLE BAPTIST CHURCH HAD THE VERY SAME PEACE THAT JOHN HAD AND THAT THEY KNEW THE VERY SAME JESUS AS JOHN. YET WHEN THE SERVICE WAS OVER, I JETTED OUT AND GOT INTO MY CAR AND LEFT FOR HOME. WHEN I GOT HOME, I TOLD MY WIFE THAT THOSE PEOPLE HAVE SOMETHING THAT WE NEED AND THAT NEXT SUNDAY TO GET THE KIDS READY BECAUSE WE WERE ALL GOING TO CHURCH. I COULD HARDLY WAIT UNTIL NEXT SUNDAY AND AS PLANNED, WE ALL WENT TO CHURCH. WHEN WE GOT THERE AND AT A MANS SUGGESTION, WE PUT THE CHILDREN INTO SUNDAY SCHOOL WHERE HE SAID WE WOULD ALL BE BETTER SERVED. (I SUDDENLY REMEMBERED MYSELF GOING TO SUNDAY SCHOOL EVERY ONCE IN A BLUE MOON AS A KID. IT WAS ON RARE OCCACIONS BUT WHEN MY PARENTS WENT, WE ALWAYS HAD TO ATTEND AND I HATED IT. IT WAS EVERY OTHER EASTER OR SOMETHING AND A NEW COAT AND TIE {THEY ALWAYS MADE ME ITCH} OR SOMETHING FOR MY BROTHERS AND ME AND NEW BONNETS AND SHOES FOR MY SISTERS)
WELL, MY WIFE AND I SAT AT THE BACK (AS I HAD PLANNED, CLOSE TO THE DOOR) AND AS THE PREACHER SPOKE, I KNEW HE WAS TALKING STRAIGHT TO ME, EVEN THOUGH HE DID NOT KNOW I WAS THERE AND I WAS SORT OF HIDING BEHIND PEOPLE IN FRONT OF ME. IT WAS ALMOST THE SAME AS JOHN HAD TOLD ME IN ALASKA, ABOUT HOW I COULD HAVE GODS' PEACE AND I COULD BE FORGIVEN, AND THAT JESUS WILLINGLY SHED HIS BLOOD ON THE CROSS FOR ALL MEN JUST SO WE COULD HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD. AND THE KICKER WAS THAT IT WAS ALL FREE!!!! I COULDN'T BUY IT, I COULDN'T WORK FOR IT OR EARN IT AND IN FACT, GOD DID EVERYTHING FOR US AND ALL I HAVE TO DO IS ACCEPT CHRIST AND BELIEVE IN HIM FOR MY SALVATION. WELL, AT THE END OF THE SERVICE THE PREACHER SAID IF ANYONE NEEDS CHRIST TODAY, YOU COME DOWN FRONT AND THAT HE WOULD PRAY WITH US AND SO ON. WELL, MY KNEES STARTED TO SHAKE AND I STEPPED OUT WITH ONE FOOT AND THEN MOVED MY FOOT BACK IN AND THIS HAPPENED A FEW TIMES BUT THEN I WAS DETERMINED NOT TO GO UP FRONT AND ACCEPT JESUS AND IN FACT, I WAS HANGING ONTO THE BACK OF THE PEW IN FRONT OF ME SO TIGHTLY, THAT MY KNUCKLES WERE WHITE. AS EVERYBODY IN THE CHURCH WAS SINGING AND ABOUT TO FINISH, I LOOSENED MY GRIP SOME AND I SWORE IN MY HEART THAT I WOULD NEVER GO INTO A CHURCH AGAIN, EVER!!! I WAS TERRIFIED ABOUT GIVING MY LIFE OVER TO CHRIST. I WAS SO AFRAID...AND YET, THAT IS EXACTLY WHY I WENT THERE, I WANTED TO GET PEACE AND FORGIVENESS. I NOW KNOW THAT WE HAVE AN ENEMY OF OUR SOULS THAT HATES US AND HATES GOD TOO. HE WAS CREATED BY JESUS, (JOHN, CHAPTER 1 VS 3.) AND HAD REBELLED AGAINST GOD AND WAS CAST OUT OF HEAVEN AND IS SOON TO BE CAST AWAY FOREVER INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE. SO, I ALSO KNOW NOW THAT SATAN HINDERED ME. ANYWAY AS THE SONG ENDED, THE PREACHER SAID "YOU KNOW, THERE IS SOMEONE HERE WHO REALLY NEEDS JESUS TODAY SO WE ARE GOING TO SING ONE MORE VERSE TO GIVE WHOEVER IT IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO KNOW CHRIST AS THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR RIGHT NOW." WELL AS THEY STARTED TO SING, I STEPPED OUT AND YELLED, "IT'S ME, IT'S ME," AND I HEADED TO THE FRONT WITH TEARS FLOWING LIKE A RIVER, AND ON THE WAY UP FRONT, I WAS SAYING (THROUGH MY SOBBING AND MY TEARS) "JESUS COME INTO MY HEART AND LIFE AND FORGIVE ME OF ALL OF MY SINS.... AND PRAISE GOD, IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE, I WAS SAVED. I WAS BORN AGAIN BY THE THE SPIRIT OF GOD. I KNEW THAT WHAT JOHN TOLD ME AND WHAT THIS PREACHER HAD JUST TOLD ME WAS TRUTH, AND AS I STOOD AT THAT ALTAR I KNEW THAT I WAS FORGIVEN AND THAT I WAS A NEW MAN IN CHRIST JESUS. WHEN I GOT THERE AND TURNED AROUND, MY WIFE HAD ALSO COME FORWARD. WHAT A WONDERFUL AND GREAT DAY THAT WAS AS MY NEW LIFE HAD JUST BEGUN. MY WIFE AND I WERE LEARNING IN OUR NEW LIVES ABOUT CHRIST AND WE STUMBLED AND FELL SOME, YET JESUS NEVER CAST US OUT, AND GOD JUST KEPT FORGIVING US AND WE GREW IN THE GRACE AND KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. WE HAD CHILD NUMBER 3 IN 1971 AND WE STARTED TO MOVE AROUND THE COUNTRY SOME AS NOW I WAS DOING WELDING AND FABRICATION OF STEEL. WHEN ALL OF OUR CHILDREN WERE GROWN AND EVEN BEFORE THAT, I LET THE CARES OF THIS WORLD CREEP BACK INTO MY LIFE AND THEN I REALLY JUST QUIT GOING TO CHURCH AND FELL BACK INTO THE THINGS I USED TO DO PLUS MORE AND I JUST FORGOT ABOUT THE LORD.SO AFTER 30 YEARS OF MARRIAGE, MY WIFE AND I DIVORCED.
I GOT INTO A RELATIONSHIP WITH A WOMAN RIGHT AWAY AND 10 MONTHS LATER WE HAD A SON. A YEAR AND A HALF AFTER THAT, WE HAD A DAUGHTER. A FEW YEARS LATER AFTER TRYING TO MAKE WATER AND OIL MIX, WE WERE DONE AND AT WAR IN THE COURTS. WELL, MY LIFE WAS HORRIBLE, I EVEN FELT WORSE THAN I DID WHEN I WAS 19 AND I WAS AFRAID THAT GOD MIGHT NOT HAVE ME BACK AND I WASN'T SURE THAT HE STILL LOVED ME. I MEAN MAYBE I HAD GONE TO FAR THIS TIME. MISERABLE, LONEY, AFRAID AND MORE EMPTY THAN I THOUGHT WAS EVER POSSIBLE, I CAME BACK TO JESUS... WITH SINCERITY AND REPENTANCE AND HUMILITY I ASKED JESUS TAKE ME BACK.......AND OF COURSE HE DID, BECAUSE HE IS ALL ABOUT LOVE AND FORGIVNESS AND HEALING. I LOVE HIM WITH ALL MY HEART AND SOUL AND MIND AND SRENGTH AND WANT TO CONTINUALLY BE IN HIS PRESENSE, PRAISING HIM AND WORSHIPPING HIM....AND MAY I NEVER PRESUME UPON HIS GRACE AND FORGIVNESS AGAIN.
NOW THERE WERE PRICES THAT WERE PAID AND ARE STILL BEING PAID BECAUSE OF MY BACKSLIDING AND WALKING AWAY FROM THE LORD. I BLAME MYSELF FIRST AND FOREMOST FOR MY FAILED MARRIAGE AND ALSO MY FAILED RELATIONSHIP WHERE 2 CHILDREN WERE BORN AND OUR RELATIONSHIP WAS SUPPOSED TO END IN MARRIAGE BUT ENDED IN CUSTODY BATTLES... MILES OF DESTRUCTION AND LIVES TAINTED BY MY INIQUITY. I REALLY GAVE PEOPLE AMMUNATION TO SLANDER AND LAUGH AT MY LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST AND HE DID NO WRONG, IT WAS ME!!! I PLAYED THE PART OF THE FOOL... NOW, IN THE NEXT FEW LINES YOU WILL FIND THE STORY OF MY LIFE IN A NUT SHELL . AND NOW IT IS AN AWESOME AND FULFILLING LIFE BECAUSE I SERVE AN AWESOME GOD. THE ONE AND ONLY TRUE GOD WITH WHOM WE HAVE TO DO. WISE MEN STILL SEEK HIM!!!
I AM AN EXCEEDINGLY SINFUL MAN THAT DESERVES DEATH AND HELL! HOWEVER, ON MAY 10TH 1970, I WAS BORN AGAIN BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD, IN THE SAME MANNER AS JESUS TOLD NICODEMUS IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN CHAPTER 3, VS. 3.
SO NOW, BECAUSE OF WHAT ALMIGHTY GOD DID FOR ALL MANKIND THROUGH JESUS CHRIST HIS ONLY SON, WHO BEING WILLFULLY DRIVEN TO THE CROSS BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, DIED IN MY PLACE AND WITH HIS BLOOD, WASHED AWAY ALL OF MY SINS FOREVER. I NOW KNOW THAT I KNOW THAT I KNOW BEYOND THE SHADOW OF ANY TURNING, THAT MY NAME IS WRITTEN IN "THE LAMBS BOOK OF LIFE" SPOKEN ABOUT IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION CHAPTER 13 VS 8.
SOME OF YOU MAY ASK AMONG A THOUSAND OTHER QUESTIONS "HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?," AND MY ANSWER IS SIMPLE, I..ASKED..JESUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SO, WHY NOT YOU?? I MEAN, WHY NOT YOU????????????".
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