Jay's life would be forever changed when he received a skateboard for Christmas. It quickly became apparent that the young Haizlip was a natural. He began to make ramps, skate ditches, and pools quickly gaining respect in the fledgling industry. Routinely appearing in magazines like Thrasher. Jay was known for his aggressive pool skating.
On the surface, Jay's life appeared to be a dream, appearing on the cover of magazines, music videos and print ads, but behind the hype lay a darker core. "Things weren't so great" Jay says, "I was living in Newport Beach, Calif. And there was a model that lived down the beach from me. We became friends and she turned me on to the first line of cocaine I ever snorted."
That first line began a twelve-year streak as a major drug addict, leaving Jay strung out and existing from one fix to the next. As bad as you can get and still be alive and constantly in misery
"All I cared about was living for the moment, punk rock, rockabilly shows, cocaine, skating, and surfing" he says.
Jay later described his life at that time as out of control.
"I reached the point where I was in constant torment whether I was high or not."
At a particularly low point after a three-day bender, Jay reached a moment of clarity.
â€..I sat on the edge of my bed and looked up at the ceiling and cried out to God, "If you're real, why won't you help me? You know I don't want to be like this!"
A short time later while on route to buy still more cocaine, Jay says a man that he feels God put in his path shared Jesus with him.
"As I was talking to this guy, all of the sudden I heard myself asking him, "How do I become a Christian?" He opened his Bible to Romans 10:8-9, read it to me and lead me in a prayer to ask Jesus to take over."
Almost immediately Jay answered the call to preach and in 1990 he returned to the place where in years past he had scored cocaine on so many occasions with a new agenda, the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Since that time Jay has travel all across the United States and the rest of the world speaking in churches, doing school assemblies, and city wide festivals. Jay's stops have included Haiti, Jamaica, England, Indonesia, Malaysia and more. Jay says his heart longs to see real revival come to the church of America.
Not content to rest on what God has given him, Jay continues skateboarding and being a part of the current youth scene in addition to his role as senior pastor at the Sanctuary Church in Huntington Beach, CA. His current sponsors include: Hosoi skateboards, fly paper grip tape.
"I think the future is ministry" says Jay "I believe that God is going to use this ministry to fan a flame in the youth culture to create a revolution. The Uprising is here!!!!!!
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