My Danger Zone

No, I am not talking about the movie, “Top Gun,” and the iconic theme song played for the film’s intro. 

I am not talking about Kenny Loggins singing those lyrics like…

 “Revvin’ up your engine, listen to her howlin’ roar, metal under tension, Beggin’ you to touch and go.  Highway to the danger zone, ride into the danger zone.” 

What a box office hit that movie was.  Grossed 357.3 million dollars worldwide.  The highest grossing film of 1986. 

 

Moving on into my personal, real-life events of what I call my Danger Zone.  

It was not a hit song that was played on my behalf.  

There was no fiction involved in this take on my life.  

 

Unlike in a movie, I was not given a bunch of chances to get my “scene” correct or memorize my lines.  

It was all improv, without the comedy.  

Sick and twisted was I. 

 

Influences.  

Music, drugs, sex and rock and roll, before the era of 1977 and Ian Dury’s song by the same name, “Sex, and Drugs and Rock and Roll.”  

Lyrics like, “Sex and drugs and rock and roll is all my brain and body need, sex and drugs and rock and roll is very good, indeed.” 

 

So much for 1977.

 I lived in this era, beginning in 1971 through 1977.  

Music played a big part in my demon possession.  

Yes, demon possession, not oppression.  

There is a big difference. 

Rock and roll with the influences and lyrics of AC DC’s Highway to Hell, was truly prophetic as I was literally on my way to the abyss.  

Definition: seen as a prison for demons.  

This usage was picked up in the New Testament.  

According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus sent the Gadarene swine into the abyss.  Luke 8:31. 

 

Graphic?  

Yes.  

I was in a true danger zone.  

Revelation 11: 7, “When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.”   

 

This signifies a time of opposition and persecution against those who faithfully preach God’s Word but also highlights the Divine timing and purpose behind events, as the witnesses complete their task before being overcome. 

 

The Book of Revelation has several places in which the abyss is mentioned. 

My abyss that Satan had planned for me began on earth when my mother died. 

I opened the door to the occult by taking drugs.  

Not starting out easy.  

I began with Marijuana laced with a secret white powder which was hallucinogenic.  

I was an addict the moment I took this demon drug.  

I craved it to cover up the pain of watching my mother die a slow death from liver cancer. 

 

My danger zone was plural.  

Zones after zones of drug experimentation.  

Dangers around every puff from a pipe to the dirty needle going into my vein that was tied off with a string to make the vein pop up for easy injection of the Meth and L.S.D. 

 

Demons came in, and I did not realize it until I turned 18.  

Kenny Loggins’ song was not intended for me to Rev up my engines of insanity. 

 

With this theme of 1970’s songs, and how they played into my demise, I turn to the song “Le Freak,” by Nile Rodgers and Chic from 1978.  It came out after my salvation in Christ in 1977 while in prison, but I have a point to one of its lyrics. 

 

“All that pressure got you down, has your head been spinning all around?  Feel the rhythm, check the rhyme, come on along and have a real good time.” 

 

Reality?  

There was a good time to be had on the dance floor.  

My problem was that I never hit the dance floor.  

I hit the vein with my drugs.  

I never did anything this song was coined for except the lyric of “Freak Out.”  

Yes, freak out.  

I freaked out on drugs. 

 

I freaked out on the Police in Austin, Texas.  

I freaked out when I shot my best friend with a pistol.  

And I, ultimately, freaked out on a cop in Dallas which sent me to the ultimate FREAK OUT.  

Prison, maximum- security style.  

 

 Texas style had no style points.  

The razor wire was sharp.  

The steel bars of my cell were not rusty.  

The guard towers stretched upwards to 30 feet in height, allowing the officers inside them to see the entire perimeter of the prison.  

 

No escaping this Danger Zone.  

My danger zone that I put myself in.  

I did it.  

I committed the crimes that landed me in prison.  

 

Yes, I was possessed by the Devil, Himself.  

Obviously, a normal human being would have never done the things I did, but I opened the spiritual door by using drugs, and listening to demon- possessed music. 

 

Whatever you do, do not burn your vinyl records now.  That may be too toxic if you breathe the fumes from the burn barrel outside. 

 

The old saying, “Garbage in, garbage out.”  

This is true, whether we want to believe it or not.  

Whatever we listen to or watch on television has an impact on our walk with Jesus Christ.  

 

As a Christian, we must guard our hearts by only feeding our lives with His Word and observing the dos and don’ts of our personal walk with the Most High. 

 

I am not talking about legalism.  I am talking a lifestyle. 

 

Once I walked the gangplank off the ship of stupidity and then into the ocean of drugs that I was addicted to, I found myself drowning.  

I was drowning in a pool of despair, brought on my mother dying and my Daddy being murdered.  

I could use these two issues as a crutch or an excuse for not being healed by Jesus Christ.   

 

But I am healed by Him.

 I do not remind myself any longer about all my self-inflicted wounds of the past.  

I ignore the temptation to dwell on the past sins and mistakes I made.  

I only refer to them when I preach.  To, hopefully, win the lost in prisons that I preach in. 

 

Influences we allow in, DO make a difference of whether we will enter a spiritual danger zone, or avoid a pit of perversion of His Holy Word.  

 

Yes, we can be deceived.  

We can get entangled in the doctrines of men and find ourselves in a danger zone of being a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.  

 

Are your ears itching?  

 

Living Wisely and Intentionally: 

 

Ephesians 5:15-16, “Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but a wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” 

 

This verse highlights the importance of making wise decisions and using time effectively, recognizing the influences of the surrounding cultures.  

Music, television, theatre, etc. 

 

Proverbs 4: 26, “Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.”  

 

(All means all).

This verse emphasizes the need for careful consideration in our actions and a consistent commitment to righteousness and holiness. 

 

Guarding your Heart: 

 

Proverbs 4:23, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it flow the springs of life.” 

 

Protect your inner self, and your thought life, words and actions. 

 

Remember, we are not cookie-cutter Christians trying to be robotic in our lives.  

We are saved by grace, yet we do not want to take His grace for granted.  

Some call this “greasy grace.”  

Sin is sin. 

 

The television programming has changed from the “Leave it to Beaver” era I grew up in. 

The love at home that I did not get was a true vacancy for my young 8-year-old heart. 

Finding love for my mother was hard considering the abuse issues I faced.  

I was not the only one.  My sister suffered more than me. 

 

Leave it to Beaver, the Real McCoys and Father Knows Best were the only shows I watched where I felt true love.  

Until, of course, when I was told to turn off the television and go to bed.  

“Don’t forget to tuck yourself in, Joseph.”  

My mom would holler that statement from the kitchen as I walked slowly down the hall to my bedroom.

From the den, where my love was left behind on a Motorola black and white T.V., I had to wait until the next day to feel love again.  

These love substitutes for the attention I craved eventually died.  

Mom died when I was 15.  Daddy died when I was 18.  

It was too late for me then to know love.  

I hated myself, God, and life. 

I hated everyone around me, except for my drug connection. 

My vinyl records of Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple and the like, were my heroes of Rock and Roll. 

I was about to rock, alright.  

Making little rocks out of big boulders in prison with a sledgehammer.  

I was about to roll too.  

 

I would roll out of my pathetic two-inch mattress in prison, to another day of torture in the cotton fields.  

Rehabilitation, Texas style. 

 

The simple point is this.  I learned the hard way. 

 

We can’t go back in time and unlisten to those records.  

Even if they were the Carpenters or soft rock like “How deep is your love” by the Bee Gees in 1977.  

I was in prison in 1977. 

I had to listen to records playing in the Dallas County Jail over the intercom in 1974 when I had my first attempted murder charge.  

Daily, over and over, until lights out at 10 pm.  

The Doobie Brothers hit, “Black Water.”  

Lyrics, “Well, I built me a raft and she’s ready for floating, Old Mississippi, she’s calling my name.  Catfish are jumping, that paddle wheel thumping, Black Water keeps rolling on past just the same.” 

 

My mind was already tormented because of drugs.  My demons inside my soul were very healthy and ready to do more damage. 

 

See, the influences in our life are real.  

People.  Preachers. Iconic actors.  Friends, and even enemies.  

Hopefully we do not have an enemy, but if our neighbor is not so friendly, well pray for him, or her. 

 

Ear gates.  Eye gates.  Touching things that are inappropriate.

   
Allowing our minds to wander into a fantasy world.  

I will let you figure that one out on your own. 

 

Do not try and convince me that garbage in, garbage out is not real.  

I lived it in the 70’s and all my bad influences almost killed me.  

Jesus Christ rescued me.  He gave me a second chance. 

 

The true Danger Zone is this.  

Not knowing Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and then allowing Him to rule your life as your Lord and Master. 

 

 “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart (your heart right now as you pray this with me) one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  For whoever believes on Him (Jesus) will not be put to shame.”  

Romans 10: 9-11. 

 

It is a simple prayer.  Just ask Jesus to forgive you and believe in your heart He died for you.  

Ask Him right now, as you have read this story, and Jesus will forgive you for all you have done which is contrary to His Word, and you will be saved.  

Simple. Just do it and believe it.  

It is real.  Jesus is real. 

 

I avoided the Danger Zone.  I was in it, like the movie “Top Gun.”

 I was flying high on drugs.  I was a fast mover, burning fuel which was pumped into my veins with drugs and alcohol. 

I was almost burned out and burned up, headed to Hell. 

 

Once you ask Christ into your heart, cut lose all the bad influences that so easily keep you saddened and sorrowful.  

Truth is, that when I hear those songs from my past occasionally in the store or in the mall, I have memories.  

Real, bad memories. 

 

The key is, I do not live on the Black Waters in Mississippi any longer.  

I am not on the highway to Hell like AC DC wanted me to be on.  

I do not “freak out” any longer because of the Holy Ghost in me. 

I live and let live.  

Not live and let die like the movie from 1973, the James Bond film with the same name.  

The song, by the same name said, “When you were young and your heart was an open book, you used to say, “Live and let live.  But in this ever-changing world in which we’re livin’, makes you give in and cry.” 

 

Yuk, another depressing song.  

My point.  

Live.  

Let the dead stuff in your life die. 

 

Christ Jesus will help you shed the old man or woman and be all He wants you to be. 

 

Avoid the Danger Zones. 

 

I am not going to give in and cry, like that song.  

I will not, as a preacher of this Gospel, let those I see who are dying and headed to hell like I was, stay in that condition.  

I am going to tell them the answer.  

His name is Jesus.  He is the Name above all Names. 

 

He is the protector.  

He will keep you from all the danger zones in your life.  

Just do not enter them on purpose.  

Purpose to live for Him, and Him alone.   

 

I am on the right path or highway now.  

It is a Highway to Heaven, not hell.  

Goodbye forever the songs from the past.  

If they do not Glorify God, well, they are glorifying something. 

 

Be good to your ears.  Be safe with your eyes.  

And if need be, wear gloves in the bitter cold of life.  

We are supposed to be the hands, feet and voice of Jesus.  

Do your best, and He will do the rest.  

It is His promise to those who believe in Him. 

Copyright © 2025 by Joe Wilkins