Once Life Matters: A New Beginning - Softcover

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Marty Angelo, author of the testimony book, Once Life Matters: A New Beginning, a powerful life-changing account written by this former music business entrepreneur. The book reveals how Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ totally transformed Marty's life from the snarls of drugs, booze, rock/disco music and prison into a strong witness of God's saving grace and mercy. This is a '70 x 7 Series' book from Prison Impact Ministries and thousands of copies are being offered free to inmates, prison ministries, churches, and rehab programs. _________

Prior to Marty Angelo's dramatic conversion to Christianity in 1981 he worked in the entertainment business for 20 years getting his start with the late Jimi Hendrix. Marty was a personal manager for the rock bands, the Raven and the Grass Roots starring Rob Grill, a successful record promoter, and creator, producer and writer of the popular late '70s show, Disco Step-by-Step®, the first television show dedicated to disco dance music. Marty is featured in numerous documentaries, magazine articles and radio/television productions. _________

Disco Step-by-Step® - was the first television show dedicated to disco music, dance instruction and hustle dancing. It aired in the late '70s. It is documented and preserved for future generations by the U. S. Library of Congress. It is also a part of the Experience Music Project's: Disco: A Decade of Saturday Nights which was exhibited in EMP's Seattle, Washington's headquarters, the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan and the New York Public Library Performing Acts Center. Videotape copies of the show are also archived with the Buffalo New York Broadcast Pioneers Foundation. _________

The show is featured in the VH1 television documentary: When Disco Ruled the World and the recently released disco documentary: Disco: Spinning the Story produced by Passport Productions. Angelo was the associate producer of the PBS television special: KC and the Sunshine Band Presents: My Music - Get Down Tonight - The Disco Explosion. The show was also mentioned on numerous National Public Radio broadcasts, national and local newspapers/magazines and Internet websites. _________

When Disco recently made a slight resurgence in the last five years, Marty participated (for historical purposes only) in the promotion of Robert DiNiro's Tribecca Film Festival salute to the movie, Saturday Night Fever, Paramount Pictures dance related movies DVD releases (Grease, Saturday Night Fever, Stayin' Alive, Footloose, Urban Cowboy, and Flashdance), and the ABC Family television show, Dance Fever. Video clips of Marty's television show were recently used in a CBS "Sunday Morning" news segment entitled: Disco Daze. _________

In 2005 Angelo received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Hustle and Salsa Dance Organization. He is considered one of the nation's first disco disc jockeys dating back to 1969 and was voted one of the Top 20 djs in the country responsible for breaking thousands of hit dance music records.

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This is not a Hollywood exposé. Names have been changed, but not so much to protect the innocent, as there are few innocent people involved. No, this is the story of how I went astray and how you can avoid the mistakes I made. I want to tell you how I found a whole new life and what I discovered while finding it. I've faced many problems in the fifty-plus years of my life, most of them brought on by myself. I hope you will find my story helpful. I believe God's purpose for my life is to tell others what happened to me so they might find their way back to Him.

My life has been a messy series of events that combined to create a mosaic--the way tiles combine to create an image. As sordid as some of those experiences were, I don't have any regrets and I don't look back in despair. Why? Because they led me to Jesus Christ and salvation. Many people never find God, whether their experiences are good or bad. I want to help people realize that they have an opportunity right now to be a part of God's kingdom here on earth. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20)

I was always searching for something but was never satisfied when I got it. I searched for the next big music trend, my big show business break, and the next chance to get high. I was always after something. I kept putting things off, hoping for a better future. But seek ye `first' the kingdom of God... (Matthew 6:33)

Once I learned about my relationship with God--through His Son, Jesus Christ--and the true meaning of what He does for us, I realized that we could have the peace of God right here, right now. Even when we made mistakes, God was there to forgive.

My story is not so much about what I experienced in my two and a half years in prison and seven years on parole, but my life before and after. The most dramatic time in my life came just before I was sentenced. That's when I found salvation. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

It took me thirty-five years, but I finally found peace through Jesus Christ. The decades of the wild life I led, along with the few times when I was close to finding the right path, weave an amazing story. I'm not proud of the many problems I created for myself--the incredibly stupid things I did--but I'm not running from them or trying to cover them up either. In fact, by telling my story here, I hope you, dear reader, can learn the lessons I learned without going through the trials and dangers I faced.

Ultimately, this story isn't about me. It's about Jesus Christ and how He willingly and faithfully pulled me out of a lifestyle that had little hope. I can never repay that love and faithfulness, but I'm not supposed to. That's the beauty of grace.

Those of you who already know Him understand grace. If you have a relationship with Jesus, you'll find my story interesting to compare with your own. Then you can share it with a family member or friend who might be in need. This could be the spark of encouragement they need to begin their own relationship with Jesus Christ.

Part of the reason I want to tell my story is to help people understand that no matter how bad things might get, you can change and start with a clean slate. You can find Him, just like I did. How did I do it? It's all here. Please read on.