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they called me white jesus

Moody Publishers

Contents

Acknowledgments........................................................................................................9Foreword...............................................................................................................11Prologue...............................................................................................................131. Half-Breed To understand who I am, you have to understand where I'm from...........................................152. Vertical Leap This is what I became................................................................................233. White Jesus I didn't want to know God, but He knew me and had given me a girl......................................334. Death of a Dream My life headed toward disaster....................................................................435. Caught I learned that no matter how fast you are, you can't outrun God.............................................516. Satisfied Customer Not everything changed overnight, but I learned that prayer was amazing.........................597. A New Peace I learned so much about forgiveness....................................................................698. A New Identity My life was transformed.............................................................................779. Nothing Held Back There are no limits on what God can do...........................................................8510. The Word I love the Bible because it is all about God.............................................................9311. Promptings The Holy Spirit became my guide........................................................................10112. Waiting The best things come when we obey God by standing still...................................................11313. Front-Row Seats The key to pleasing God is faith..................................................................12114. Family Matters I found out that my ultimate Father lives in heaven................................................13115. Plenty of Good News Whether we say anything or hot, we are always telling others about Jesus......................14116. Troubles I learned God is faithful and good even when things don't go as planned..................................14917. Timing God does things His way ... perfectly!.....................................................................15918. Always Talking to God For me, prayer is life......................................................................16519. When All Is Said and Done The cross is what matters...............................................................173Epilogue...............................................................................................................179

Chapter One

I doubt you've ever heard of me, which is OK because this book is not really about me anyway. It's about God-how He found me when I wanted nothing to do with Him. It's also about the incredible things I've seen God do since then.

But before I get to all of the "good stuff," I need to tell you some things about me and where I came from.

I was born in 1960, a decade perfect for me because I had a taste for rebellion. My family lived in a neighborhood called Second Little Italy in East Harlem, better known as Spanish Harlem, New York City. Second Little Italy was a five-block area, filled with decaying brownstones, where the most dominant employer was a family business called the Mafia. Many of the neighborhood's restaurants, candy stores, and joints were fronts for illegal activities-running of numbers, prostitution, drugs. The FBI was always filming secret videos in the hood, trying to trap the organized crime guys. As a kid I'm sure I appeared many times on-screen -unknowingly-in those fed flicks.

Second Little Italy did not have the notoriety of Little Italy in Manhattan, except for a few landmarks like Rao's Restaurant, which was four doors down from our brownstone walk-up. Rao's was a famous Mob restaurant in New York City, a tiny place seating about forty, very similar to the eating place portrayed in the movie Goodfellas. The current co-owner, Frank Pelligrino, had a part in the TV series The Sopranos-as well as Goodfellas. In December of 2003 there was a Mob-related shooting at Rao's, so the joke around the city was, "Let's go to Rao's for a couple of shots!" New York humor for you.

Harlem was populated predominantly by blacks and Puerto Ricans, with the streets ruled by gangs and thugs. Every day was combat-you didn't know when you would need to run, hide, or fight, but you'd better be ready for one of them. You could get killed in a place like this, and I almost did, more than once.

In Second Little Italy an Italian flag flew from more windows than the Stars and Stripes. My mom, Rosalie, was full-blooded Italian, but my dad, William, wasn't, which meant that William Rieser Jr.-me-was considered a "half-breed" Mom's Italian family had warned her not to marry a man whose "crime" was his German (and other) blood. But she loved him and followed her heart.

When I showed up, my parents and older sister, Ann Marie, lived in a fourth-floor apartment in a brownstone on 114th Street. Our place had rive small rooms-two bedrooms, bath, living room, and kitchen.

Roaming the Hood

My dad left when I was a year old. My mom, who was one tough lady, used to tell the smileless joke that my father "went out to buy a pack of cigarettes and never came back." When he disappeared Mom had just given birth to my younger sister, Thea, so now Rosalie had three kids under age three to raise on her own. She did a great job of keeping us fed and under a roof, but the battle to survive consumed her.

Mom's parenting style, especially during the hot summer months, was summed up by "you better be home by 11 p.m. or else!" But when Mom was working late on some job, I'd take off. So as a little boy of twelve, I took to the streets. That's what i remember most from my childhood-roaming the hood and trying to avoid the human scum slumped on street corners and sprawled on the stoops.

Some relief came from my extended Italian family, like my uncle Dominick, who had a heart of gold but was one of many "characters" I knew back then. Some were funny or dangerous or both. Their names were clues to their uniqueness-"Johnny Babaloo" and "Vinny the Bird." Vinny had received his nickname because it was said his nose walked into the room two minutes before he did! Too funny. Another guy named Johnny was a character too, as in "bad character." More on him later.

A Trip with Uncle Dominick

I was four years old when Uncle Dominick called my mom and asked, "Could I take little Billy to a hockey game tonight?" My mother, welcoming some father-type influence for me and a little space for herself, said, "Sure, Billy would love to go to a hockey game." What Uncle didn't tell her was that this was an away game.

Dominick came by and we drove off in his car, stopping first for sandwiches at Katz's Deli on Houston Street. We then drove and drove on a highway. Dominick finally told me that the...