A TESTIMONY OF EXPERIENCE                                                                                                                               The Search of My Life For my first 23 years, I experienced a very secular life. Although I grew up in a very fine Greek Orthodox family, we were not particularly religious, visiting church perhaps only twice a year. It was in this environment that I developed my sense of truth, of right and wrong, which was much bolstered by a worldly education. I also acquired an acute interest in music, especially rock and jazz. Eventually, I would be trained in Canada by the nation’s most-renowned jazz musicians; it seemed I very much had everything going for me. But I soon began sensing that something was missing. I wanted a rational, time-tested ideology by which to live. My response to this void was studying philosophy and psychology at York University in Toronto. I delved into the classic works of Plato, Aristotle, Hume, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche and submerged myself in classes that promoted humanistic thinking. I focused my energies on worldly ideas such as determinism and evolution, listening to professors teach at great length how the world functioned on scientifically determined naturalistic laws in a universe that could be explained away by natural causes alone. Yet after all this study, I was nowhere closer to filling that void. I felt confused and bewildered, because although these ideas represented a variety of possible answers, their potential truths rested solely on their own presuppositions. In that light, each answer could be true. But which one was right? I began to wonder if we could really know the truth; indeed, maybe one was true, maybe all of them. Worse yet, maybe truth really didn’t exist at all. Soon I was convinced that truth, if it existed at all, simply rested in the eye of the beholder. Amazingly, it was against this chaotic backdrop that I finally heard and accepted the universal truth of the three angels’ messages. These messages of warning brought certainty to a world crumbling all around me. As much as goodness, my rational mind demanded logical truth. That’s exactly what the messages provided; they offered a complete system of truth that appealed to my mind as well as my searching heart. The Bible became the final authority in my life, and I realized that it could settle issues without being contradictory, as so many of my mentors taught openly. I believed in Sola Scriptura, Tota Scriptura, and Prima Scriptura—the Bible and the Bible only, the whole Bible, and the Bible first. I finally understood that I could know the truth, and it would set me free. I rejoiced in joining a movement that knew truth existed whether I accepted it or not. This truth was not simply something in the eye of a beholder, but an objective and universal system. The Psalmist says, “The truth of the Lord endureth forever” (Psalm 117:2). I was rescued, and it opened my eyes to the world in which I had lived for 23 years—a life I knew so well and deeply that I am qualified to speak the truth about it.                               My First Set: An Addiction Begins
The drum set has always fascinated me. When I was very young, my parents took me to
several Greek dances, and the one object that held all of my youthful fascination was the drum
set. It was loud and commanded attention. I remember thinking that’s what I wanted to do
when I grew up.
I purchased my first drum set when I was just 13 years old, and I also financed my own
lessons. My joy in life was practicing for endless hours and imagining that someday I would hit
the big time. So I pursued playing the drums to the best of my ability.
Then the inevitable happened: By the end of elementary school, I was introduced to rock
music. It changed me completely. The driving rhythms powered by the drums absorbed all my
attention, and all day long I listened to it dreaming one day it would be me powering those
drums in a rock or jazz band.
I spent hundreds if not thousands of hours (and dollars) listening to such groups as Rush,
Yes, Led Zeppelin, and many others. But what is it that attracted me to this music? It certainly
wasn’t the words—I never really cared about lyrics even though I’d memorized them easily.
Indeed, the bands I listened to produced many songs that had little or no words at all.
These songs appealed to me the most—their high energy and sheer emotional impact
mesmerized me. They captivated my senses with their feverish kinetic sound, and the seduction
was enhanced by its entertainment and popularity wherever I went.
In fact, it became more than just a way to pass time or a vocation. It became my religion.
And every time I would listen to the music, it was a religious experience—full of visceral spiritual
power.
The Church of a Rock-n-Roll Religion
The Bible says there may be pleasure in sin, but it lasts for only a season (Hebrews 11:25).
And this certainly applied to me. Soon I almost couldn’t function without rock music. Time stood
still as I listened, and rock music proved to be the perfect vehicle to escape life’s problems. It
was a cure for all my ailments. It gave me an identity, worth, and a life’s mission.
Practicing soon became a rock-n-roll church experience full of spiritual meaning, especially
as the rhythms became more complex. During this intense time of practice, I was oblivious to
my surroundings; the outside world didn’t exist. The rhythms engulfed me; real but unreal, like a
drug.
The goal was to internalize that rhythm and become “one” with it. When that was achieved,
it became easier to play counter rhythms. A teacher once said that a good performance feels
as though you’re not playing—but that something else is playing through you. He was describing
the “oneness” that is supposed to exist between the performer and time, the rhythm that
powered the music. When “oneness” is achieved, it becomes hard to tell who is really playing. I
never realized that in my playing, I was inviting demons into my life.
During high school, I played in garage bands and even in bars. I also drummed in the school
jazz band, which performed twice a year and went on tour in Boston. Like addicts of a different
sort, my grades in high school were terrible. I spent most of my time practicing and playing with
as many other musicians as I could find.Naturally, I soon began experimenting with alcohol and drugs. In the rock-n-roll religion, part
of the faithful experience is using drugs. It’s almost impossible to be free from alcohol, drugs,
the occult, and sex while in the rock industry—they go hand in hand.
In my final two years of high school, I spent more days out of my right mind than in it. This
state of mind would only lead to an even greater mistake.
Switching “Denominations”
After high school, I went on to attend York University to study jazz performance. I still loved
rock music, but my tastes desired rhythms that were more challenging and complex. Jazz was
the easy answer.
I have had a chance to play with and be trained by some of the best jazz musicians in
Canada. I excelled in my playing and school work in regard to jazz. In two years I went from a
simple beginner to being in the best workshop in the school, taught by the very best.
I was involved with four bands playing different styles of music—jazz (which included the
jazz workshop for the college), fusion (meaning fusing rock and jazz together), 50’s and 60’s
music, and a band called Indigo Blue that played in nightclubs hunting for a record contract.
I have been totally immersed in rock and jazz music. I know what it means to be a part of
that experience. Indeed, I would have received a bachelor’s degree in music and no doubt
pursued my childhood ambitions of rock-n-roll stardom had not the Lord specially intervened.
Rescued
While still attending a university full of heathenism and skepticism, the Lord revealed Himself
to me. The special truths that make up the three angels’ messages made it possible to take a
stand for Christ made impossible in the trappings of rock and jazz.
Its reasoning and appeals were undeniable, and I fell in love with the Carpenter that so
many in my environment despised. I began to follow something different than anything I’d
known, and it became a great test.
The Sabbath in particular was a great bulwark against the life I’d led. Musicians thrive on
playing Friday and Saturday. Yet on learning about Jesus and His Sabbath, I had to take a
stand. I knew it would be a decision that would alter my life greatly; indeed, I had to turn my
back on everything.
Of course no one could understand my decision, and it wasn’t long after that I stopped
playing. No one would want a drummer that couldn’t play Friday or Saturday nights. My bands,
and my career, had ended.
Even though I abandoned all for which I had ever worked, I felt a great sense of peace
unlike anything I had ever experienced. I knew I was doing the right thing, and I wasn’t going to
walk away from the certainty of Jesus.
I believe it marked the beginning of my true manhood, and it meant everything to me. Jesus
and His Truth gave me self-respect and a purpose in life. Real answers that rock and jazz could
never provide. This blessing was infinitely greater than all the praise and adoration that millions
of fans could give.
Furthermore, Jesus was coming, and I wanted to live eternally with Him.A Questionable Transition
Once I found a church, it wasn’t long before I was urged to “use all of my talents” for the
Lord. As yet unaware of the complexity over issues concerning music and worship, I gladly
agreed to use my talents with the drums.
My wife, who happens to be the real musician, would always form a singing group wherever
we went, so we gathered the best singers we could find and formed a group in our new church.
I was probably the first drummer to ever set up a drum set on that University Church Campus,
and it was an awkward step “using my talents” for the Lord.
And soon I began to feel even more uneasy about it. I started reading some materials on
music that said some pretty striking things I’d never heard before. One particular passage
caught my attention. It described a church using unconventional worship and music in its
services, and what would happen if it were allowed to persist in God’s end-time church:
“Every uncouth thing will be demonstrated. There will be shouting, with drums, music,
and dancing. The senses of rational beings will become so confused that they cannot be
trusted to make right decisions. And this is called the moving of the Holy Spirit. … No
encouragement should be given to this kind of worship. … Satan will make music a
snare by the way in which it is conducted.”
1
The part of the quote about drums that I’ve highlighted here really caught my attention. It
was my instrument, referenced by the same brilliant author of The Great Controversy. That
book proved to be an incredible blessing in my life, and I knew the author to be a well-
respected church leader and inspired writer. From that great work, I had chosen to follow
Jesus no matter the earthly sacrifice.
I was soon convinced about the awful role drums would play in church just prior to Christ’s
return. I no longer wanted to be used by the devil to bring confusion and deception into God’s
church, so I determined never to use the drum set again.
I withdrew from our popular group, disappointing eight singers and a bass guitar player.
They were sincere, loving Christians, so it was difficult for me to articulate to them why I was
no longer going to play the drums.
Like me, they realized all Christians have talents, be it drums, sports, or entertainment.
Each of us feels an awesome obligation and privilege to advance the good news of Christ’s
soon return, which can often mean using our talents. We look to Matthew 25, which speaks of
the importance of using our gifts to build God’s kingdom on earth, and we are saddened when
we hear about the servant who buried his “talent” in the earth.
So we go forward without thinking the issues through. We’re told that as long as we praise
God from the heart, it doesn’t really matter what style, expression, or form we use because
God looks on the heart. But I know this just isn’t true, because I know what rock, jazz, and
most especially, what drums are all about.
My experience here is not unique. Many have faced these same questions in different ways.
However, I studied music with some of the most respected musicians in Canada, and I know
the culture that it creates. I hope the information I share here will be a blessing to you as much
as it has been to me. Keep an open heart, and pray in Jesus’ name for discernment as you read.
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1. Ellen G. White, Selected Messages Book 2 (Washington D.C.: Review and Herald, 1958), pp. 36-38.