THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF
KEITH MALCOLM HUNT
Part five
I told you early on that at age 7, I moved up to the middle school of the Church of England educational system, and it was on that first day of school, that we were given a Bible. The teacher read to us Genesis chapter one and two. I told you when she read “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…..” A light bulb went off in my head—— it was the answer to all the wonderful creation I could see around me. It was all made, created by a being the mind could not really grasp, a being called “God.”
From that very day I believed there was a God being. And if He could create this whole universe and our earth with all its beauty and massive array of creatures in the sky, earth, and sea, then He could inspire people to write down His words in the Holy Bible— His word then would be fully inspired, without contradiction, and it would not only tell us about Himself, but also how we should live.
The creation around us should tell us someone, some being, brought it all into existence, just having it evolve even over billions of years, as I found out some believed when I was about 10 years old; that idea made no sense to me, I actually laughed at it when first presented to me. I thought how on earth do you have an apple seed evolving and different from an orange seed; how do you have a seed that grows into an oak tree, evolving differently from a seed that grows into a thorn bush; how do you have a banana seed tree growing differently from a coconut tree; how do you have a seed that grows into a blueberry bush evolving differently from a seed that grows into a raspberry bush; and how do you have a caterpillar telling itself to devise a cocoon and melt itself into a butterfly????
On and on my mind would reason, and even more so as I grew in age, to laugh at evolution.
I was shocked at age 9 when a teacher in this Church of England school in one class, started to tell us about how modern mankind came about by a gradual slow transition from a monkey to an ape to mankind. I could not believe what I was hearing from this guy who was a teacher in a “Church” school trying to tell us we evolved from apes. I just about went to him after the class to confront him on his teaching compared to Genesis chapter one. I was a kid who never backed down….I was disgusted at his teaching, and I had no respect for him from then on out. Fortunately I did not have to sit in his class very often, and eventually not at all, as they moved us around to separate the “gifted” ones from the not gifted; I was in the latter group, which thinking back now, God had it all planned for me that it was to be this way. Certainly at age 9, I could see my only gift was running fast, and getting to be good writing and at artwork.
As the years moved along in that middle school, we were taught by our main teacher we had, to move through the book of Genesis; some great stories in that book. Then we moved into Exodus when I was 8 years old. O indeed the story of Moses and the children of Israel coming out of Egypt. We arrived at chapter 20 of Exodus. We read the 10 Commandment—— I do remember how I thought they were terrific; my mind could imagine how wonderful the world would be if all nations obeyed the Ten Commandments.
Our lady teacher said, “Okay boys [this middle school was only for boys; guess the girls had their own middle school], I want you to memorize the Ten Commandment, every word as it is here in the King Jame Bible.”
I set out to do so and only in a day or two I had every commandment memorized word for word, and that of course included the 4th one [see it in Exodus 20]. Will come later to the incident in Sunday school about the weekly Sabbath commandment.
Through ages 9 to 11 we covered Exodus, Joshua, some of Judges, the stories of Gideon, and Samson, first and second Kings; the story of Samuel, Saul, David and Goliath….well of a David’s life. We covered all of those interesting lives of men and women. All the things that a young child up to age 11 would really get into with their imagination.
From ages 7 to 11 the first half hour of school was in the Bible—— I loved it!
Then at the same time, over those same years, I was attending a local Sunday school in a “Congregational” church [that was its official name].
We naturally were learning about Jesus Christ, and reading parts of the Gospels. We had cut-outs of Jesus and his disciples.
As we got older—— 10, 11, 12; our Sunday school man would get us talking about things in life; asking us what about this situation and that situation, what would we do. I well remember by age 12, 13, 14, we were into some really great deep conversations about Christian life. O yes must back up a little—— by about age 11 I had accepted Jesus as my Savior. I indeed had a deep relationship with the Father and His Son Jesus. I loved the Bible.
I well remember Billy Graham the evangelist coming to Britain. Now remember Britain at the time was quote “religious”—— towns closed down on Sunday. Billy Graham came on TV and preached Jesus as Savior. I thought to myself, well you ain’t telling me anything I do not already know. He would speak about Jesus becoming very personal to you. I thought to myself, you ain’t telling me anything I do not already know.
I already had a personal relationship to God the Father and to Jesus Christ.
I thought well okay it is good someone like you is teaching that, in a huge stadium with thousands in attendance, and all this on TV all around the British Isles. But it ain’t news to me, I’ve believed this for years. So Billy Graham was no big happening to me. Kinda put him out of my mind and got on with my Christian life and school and sports.
It was I think at about age 12 that what I’m going to relate to you happened.
Sunday school was staring; we were all in our various classrooms. The teacher was marking the attendance sheet. This kid next to me said, “Sunday is not the 7th day; my dad told me Sunday was the first day of the week.” I could not believe what he said. I replied, “O that is crazy, just not so.”
“Yes, my dad told me Sunday was the first day of the week; and Jews keep Saturday.”
I thought who on earth are Jews to observe the 6th day of the week.
Then I said to him, “Your dad is wrong, can not be correct, for the 4th commandment says we are to observe the 7th day of the week, clear and simple.”
The teacher at my words, looked up with a shock on his face and immediately got us all changing the subject.
I walked away from that class, still believing Sunday was the 7th day of the week, and the lad’s dad was very wrong—— I put it out of my mind and never thought about it till I was 19 years old—— come to that later.
I think it was about age 14 that I started to attend the regular church service, after Sunday school. So I became a regular 11 am church attender.
In the Church of England school we would at certain times of the year, like Easter time, well a day or two before, all of the school go to the Anglican church for a service. We would all walk because it was only about half a mile away. From the beginning of that, well maybe it started when I was about 8 or 9. Anyway whenever, I was somewhat amazed at all the fancy dress the priests were in, all the rituals, and all the mumbo-jumbo [found out in time] of the Latin being spoken. It all just did not sit well with me. I could not see anywhere in the Bible, well New Testament [the Old had its Temple and priests] for sure, that such rites and dress and mumbo-jumbo taking was part of original apostolic Christianity. But I was there as was the whole school, so I would really enjoy the hymn singing, and put my heart and soul into it, so much so that after one service [where adults were there also] this lady came up to me after the service and said, “You really liked singing those hymns, I could see you just putting your all into singing them.”
I thanked the lady and told her, “Yes I do enjoy singing the hymns.”
She walked away with a smile on her face.
So I was now attending regularly the local church’s 11 am service.
It was about a year later, so I’d be 15, that a lady member, who knew me from way back attending Sunday school, came to me after one Sunday service and said, “Keith I’ve watch you for years attending so regular, so I have a littler gift for you. Here is the New Testament, with red letters for the words of Jesus.”
Wow O wow!! Was I thankful to her. I had never seen a Bible with the words of Jesus in red. It was a treasure to me for the rest of my teenage years. It was now so simple to read the words of Christ—— they were in red—— WOW GREAT!
That New Testament was my close companion; I would read some of the words of Christ at bedtime, reading it and then lights out and sleep time.
I must have read the four Gospels dozens of times over my years to age 18, when I left to come to Canada.
I never heard from the Church of England or the local church, that Jesus was going to return to earth one day. Not any person, priest or teacher, ever talked about the return of Christ.
I was now reading over and over the words of Christ in red, and reading into the book of Acts. I could see that Jesus and the angels in the first chapter of Acts, said He would return in power and glory— Matthew 24 I read many times.
I was standing in the local church congregation one Sunday, a friend of mine next to me, and adults all around. I told my friend the New Testament tells us Jesus is coming back to earth one day—— this man looks around at me with a shocked look on his face—— I knew he did not believe it would be so. The man never came to talk to me about what I had said, but I hope he went away to think about it and maybe look for himself.
The God in heaven showed me a number of things during my teen years that the Church of England and the local church never talked about. For instance, here I was going to the “Holy Trinity” Church of England school, but never had anyone tell me what the Trinity was. I was reading the New Testament red latter edition, and never, just never ever, saw the Holy Spirit as an individual person up in heaven, next to the Father and Son. O I saw where Jesus ascended back to heaven after His resurrection, and was sitting on the Father’s RIGHT HAND! But I never saw where a third individual called the Holy Spirit was sitting on the Father’s LEFT HAND, or sitting ANYWHERE in heaven!
It was not till I was in Canada and going to a Baptist church, and the minister came to visit me and somehow we got talking about the Holy Spirit and he said it was the third person of the Trinity in heaven. I literally LAUGH AT HIM! He got a little embarrassed and never continued that part of our conversation. He seemed happy to drop the subject.
I was 17 and had to work for a year or so before setting off for western Canada.
I worked for a short time in a leather factory; interesting work it was, and I learned some shoe-repairing from a man there who was skilled in that work.
Then I worked in an office with two young ladies my age. They were very nice and one was engaged to be marries in the not too distant future. Maybe into 6 months working with them [just us 3 in that office] I told them I played the guitar and song cowboy songs, and I loved the singing of Slim Whitman. It was only a few weeks before leaving for Canada I told them the news. They said “Please bring your guitar and sing us a song.”
I did do that, and sang them a Slim Whitman song called “WHY.”
The first part goes like this:
“Why am I lonely when I’m without you; why am I blue when we’re apart; Why does my heart feel a fool about you; why did I love you from the start”
Weeellll I sure had two huge fans for two weeks.
Six months before singing to the two girls I had
gone to the Canada Immigration Office, to put into action what I had planned from age 7.
To be continued
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