Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life.
Psalm 23:6 NLT
From poolroom to pulpit
By the age of thirteen, Johnny Hunt was already heavily abusing alcohol. His mother worked two jobs to provide for her family, and Johnny capitalized on the lack of adult supervision by getting into all kinds of trouble. When he was fourteen, he found a fake ID and gained entrance to the local poolroom, where he began playing pool five to eight hours a day. Johnny dropped out of school at sixteen and was hired as the manager of the poolroom.
When he married, his wife, Jan, soon began to talk about going to church, but that was not part of his plan. Then a man named Mr. Pridgen began coming into the hardware store where Johnny had taken a part-time job. As Mr. Pridgen paid for his purchases each week, he would tell Johnny how Jesus had changed yet another life and invite him to church. He finally gave in.
After a few weeks Johnny was surprised to feel the Lord working in his heart. Each week, during the invitation hymn, he began to weep. During the morning service of January 7, 1973, Jan noticed his tears. At the evening service that night, Johnny went forward and put his trust in Jesus.
From that moment on, Johnny Hunt was a changed young man. He went to all his old hangouts, sharing with his old friends what Jesus had done for him. When a skeptic asked him, "What are you going to do now that you're saved and going to heaven?" His answer came easily, "Take as many people with me as I can." To achieve that goal, Johnny decided to finish school and become a pastor.
from The One Year® Book of Christian History by E. Michael and Sharon Ruten, Tyndale House Publishers (2003) pp 14-15
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