Face to the Floor (An Atheist Faces GOD)

By Butch Berardesco

Face to the Floor is the detailed account of one man’s journey from bondage to freedom and fulfillment in life. Butch’s two death experiences were not your typical, wonderful glimpse of Heaven; after all, he was a professing atheist who found himself having an encounter with God.
It took him 28 years to discover the key that would finally set him free, yet it only took a few months to implement. Years of reckless living and a lifetime of destruction could have been avoided if only this key had been revealed to him sooner.
His purpose in writing this short story is to share hope and deliverance with those that struggle with sin of every kind. Bondage comes in all forms but the key is always the same. It unlocks the door to real hope, real freedom, and real life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Butch Berardesco
• Release date: Sep 17, 2012
• ISBN: 9780983535522

Butch Berardesco

Butch Berardesco, the most unlikely writer of our time; graduated from Asbury Park High in 1965, at the bottom of his class. He was voted the most likely to die before 30. He was educated on the streets of the Jersey shore, with priorities that valued partying above all else. He quickly fell into the outlaw biker world of, drinking and drugs. In 1974 at the age of 27 and shortly after his first child was born, he had an after–death experience that should have changed his life. Trapped in a world of drugs and riotous living, he over dosed in 1979. However, with God’s mercy, he was given a second chance– a second time. Butch taught himself to read or write in his mid–twenties. 1992, God blessed him with an academically superior wife, named Patricia; who helped him with his first endeavor – writing a trade manual, “The Complete Guide To Handrail Installation” God then inspired Butch to write, “The Genesis Chip”. After countless rewrites and editing by Patricia, this book achieved a 5 star rating on Amazon. Butch just completed a short story prequel to The Genesis Chip, taken from one of its many colorful characters; entitled “A.K.A. The Vapor”. In addition, Butch is happy to finally add, “Face to the Floor”, the true account of his incredible journey from death to life.

Book preview

Face to the Floor

By Butch Berardesco

Copyright 2012 Butch Berardesco

Smashwords Edition

Table of Contents

1 A Fools Demise

2 An Untimely Date with Destiny

3 Not Again

4 A Second Chance A Second Time

5 Miserable–Defeated–Backslidden

6 The Eight–Year Wilderness Journey

7 Hope or Hopelessness

8 The Life Changing Revelation

9 Free at Last

10 A New Beginning

About the Author

1

A Fools Demise

This day started out ordinary; just like yesterday and the day before that. I was not given a clue; nor the slightest hint to prepare, that this very day – I would die!

Men fantasize that impressive headlines would be associated with their death. Man Died Honorably, Man makes Ultimate Sacrifice for a Stranger. My personal favorite being, Man Given Hero’s Burial in Final Selfless Act of Extraordinary Courage. Those were dream headlines, but they would never be associated with me.

My death was very much like my life– pointless! I lived foolishly and died the same way. Not a single contribution to the betterment of humanity. No accomplishments! Nothing that would set me apart from the rest.

I was a risk taker; sometimes I felt indestructible. Cheating death was enjoyable. It gave me stories to tell at parties; like the one where the bus crashed into my car and slammed it against the tree, leaving my body lying in a heap on the sidewalk. People gathered quickly and I could hear their faint voices whispering, He’s dead. Their expressions were priceless when I opened my eyes, smiled and stood up.

I should have died numerous times during my outlaw biker days. I was a menace on my Harley. Sometimes being so drunk or high, I’d forget to put my feet down when I stopped. One time I lost control of my bike at 120 mph, with cops chasing me. I slid 350 feet, side–to–side, then upside down. I walked away with severe road burns, but no broken bones. My uncle called in favors that took care of my legal issues, and I was able to I walk away again –unscathed.

It was 1965 and all this was taking place during my stint in the Naval Reserves. I joined to prolong my active duty status. By the time I was called to active duty in 1968, I already accumulated too many disciplinary actions against me to go to war. So while my buddies were putting their lives on the line in Vietnam; I was stationed in sunny California, 4 hours south of San Francisco. It was the height of the hippie drug era. Although my military haircut kept me from looking like a hippie, I was definitely part of that drug culture, along with many other druggies stationed there. We were fighting our own war– the severe shortage on base of every variety of drug. We were in a panic!

An Airman buddy had a contact in San Francisco; we could get a kilo of pot at a great price, we just needed cash. Seeing an opportunity to get high and then sell it for profit, I was in! Several hours later, we met up with his scroungey contact on the corner of Haight–Ashbury, who steered us to a home nearby. As we approached the rundown house with the front door wide open, we could hear their yelling and arguing from inside the car, something about a rival gang. We were about to step into a very hostile situation.

I took the lead, and as we hustled through the door, those inside were loading their guns. My buddy and the scrounge bailed quickly yelling as they flew out the door, We’ll come back for the buy tomorrow.

But not me! We got to do the deal now! I shouted.

The drug dealer, with pistol in hand, shoved me into the kitchen. With his free hand, he pulled a package from an overhead cabinet and shoved it into my chest, screaming, Now go. I dropped the cash on the counter, and hustled toward the open front door, when suddenly a car screeched to a stop. I was the only one standing; everyone in the room had already hit the floor. The couch had been overturned and was now a