Michael Sewell

By the time I was twenty-two, I was a bitter and disillusioned young man. I was angry at the hypocrisy and hatred I had found in the church and two different Christian colleges. The days of looking to Jesus were gone; now I looked only at people. The beautiful conversion I had had in my early teens seemed more like an inferior religious experience that I had to move on from. My emancipation from Christianity seemed to bring new oportunites and I was free to indulge in all the things my old Christian values had forbidden. However, just as quickly everything seemed to fall apart and within months, I found myself broken-hearted, disappointed, and broke without any big recording contract. Instead of turning to the Lord, I turned to friends who told me I had simply created my own reality and had the power to create a better situation. This was my first real step into the New Age Religion. I began to read books on the subject and began to explore and practice creating my own reality. Although I was now struggling with depression, I thought I was starting to see progress. My music career offered steady club work in Ohio, and yet, it seemed to be heading no where. So I moved to New York City and attended the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute. It wasn't long before I was auditioning for movies, plays, and television shows; also starting to get parts. All the while, my spiritual search progressed taking me deeper and deeper into mystic practices which now included yoga, drugs, astrology, the I-ching, self-hypnosis, tarot cards, macro-biotics, out-of-body experiences, and light therapy. Although my career was progressing with another possible record contract and regular small parts of a soap opera, my depression grew worse. I began to feel trapped by drugs and constant demonic influence brought on by my occult involvement. Success, sex, drugs, occultic spiritual activity all seemed to only make my growing emptiness more painful. Therapy offered no hope and friends came hopelessly short of understanding. Within a month, I became completely despondent; sometimes not leaving my apartment for days at a time. But I called out to the Lord and said, "Jesus, if you're the true God, come and help me and I'll do things your way. If not, I'll take my chances". Immediately the Lord gave me hope! I repented and found complete forgiveness and Jesus began to put my life back together and heal a very broken man.