God’s Pugilist

We aren’t talking here about Cardinal Ratzenberger in his pre-Pope years, or any of those evangelical leaders who are vocal about politics, but about a real boxer; namely George Foreman.  It appears that in his post-boxing years he has become a pastor in Houston.

HOUSTON — The Rev. George Foreman flipped his Bible open to the Book of Genesis, let fly with a left hook for Jesus and sent Satan sprawling into the ropes.

“You’ve got to learn how to fight!” he exhorted. “If you believe in God, you’ve got to fight for him.”

The Sunday morning faithful, warmed by a hand-clapping round of gospel singing, rocked on their hard wooden pews with the verbal punch.

The article quoted above goes on to speak of an incident in 1977, following a boxing match, in which Foreman had a vivid experience in which he felt he was struggling with death, and realized that he didn’t truly believe.  He then felt a sense of Christ’s presence plucking him out of darkness.  Read it all:  New York Times

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