Celebrity Testimony 7 Kevin Sorbo True Strength(Hercules the Legendary Journeys)

Kevin Sorbo True Strength: Chapter 21 The Good News My good Christian parents raised me in the Lutheran Church and I am a believer. But Im also kind of ticked off at the Big Guy. I need someone to blame for what happened to me and God was in the wrong place at the right time. Going to his house was not really on my to-do list. Then again I reason I need all the help I can get. In the church my heart pounds along with the swelling music. Its energy courses through my body. There had been a time recently when I thrived on this kind of rush. Not any longer. My head starts throbbing. The song ends and Tommy opens with a short prayer and then starts gently strumming his guitar the chords settling on the reverent crowd like a cozy morning fog. I have a father He calls me his own He'll never leave me No matter where I go He knows my name He knows my every thought He sees each tear that falls An hears me when I call I lose my inner battle my tears fall silently on my lap. My father had whispered to me, "Don't let him crack your neck." Twice In heard that warning and had failed to act upon it. Why warn me? Why let it happen? Why,God why? My questions keep time with the music The song finishes and the pastor, Mark Pickerill, begins to speak. I like him immediately Im accustomed to the preacher in the pulpit throwing down warnings like lightening bolts, cautioning about Gods wrath. Mark is an entirely different kind of messenger with more enticing ideas about God along with a healthy sort of humor. I listen in interest as he describes a loving savior who seeks our hearts. Although my soul is heavy for the first time I feel validated in church

Kevin Sorbo True Strength Chapter 26: Breathe MY meditation carried me to Gods feet. This arrival wasn't so much a choice as a result of my mind walking a path that always lead to something greater than me. While I was growing up Pastor Nording shouted, down hellfire and eternal flames of misery on us sinners every Sunday. He was a scary guy for a little kid but I recognized manipulation when I saw it. Rather being frightened into submission I rejected his teachings and I rejected him. Even as a young boy I was able to differentiate between the church and the God who founded it. I remember asking my mom when I was 12 if God was really that mad at us-because I didn't really think so. If God could be so evil why serve him? He gave us free will. I thought that, if anything,God was probably sad a lot of the time sad for the destructive choices so many of his children make. I regard our pastor as a messenger who had somehow gotten his message confused. I trusted in a loving forgiving God. I knew God had tried to warn me about the head thing. I blamed myself for failing to understand failing to react in time. Before my illness I was fully preoccupied with the material side of life. Moving at the speed of light I ignored the spiritual side the unseen. God created this world but I was determined to live it to the fullest to get the most of it I figured he would want that. Lying on the couch with nothing but spare time I conversed with God and told him my problems. I asked his forgiveness for my stupidity for not listening for my stubbornness even for my wasted anger at people. I had worked so hard to get where I was yet I was not satisfied. Before this I always wanted more. Now I just wanted different I begged him for some understanding. Thanked him for not letting the strokes kill me and for still giving me a chance to still be a father. I asked him to make me whole again. But if this was the best I was going to ever feel then I asked God to make me strong enough to handle it stronger than I was now.

Kevin Sorbo True Strength Chapter 41: Freedom If I was just a puppy afraid of the rain maybe God was looking at for me after all My hurricane had hit a full year before and it was still raining a pretty hard in my life. I struggled everyday working limited hours. But compared to what I had already experienced, I had come a long way and my symptoms were simply the tempest a part of me I ought to accept. I needed help to do that. I rededicated myself to finding a way to God through prayer. I decided to start praying simply for faith, humility, and vision for things working out alright. I longed to hear his gentle voice again like a child yearns for his daddys reassurance on a dark night. I was stronger and feeling better for longer periods. Even my ability to handle strong feelings had improved. It was finally sinking in that I was dead yet. The depression was suddenly lifting as my brain healed lightening my outlook. Recognizing that I had proved the doctors wrong augmented my confidence. My perspective shifted I saw myself with a way out. It finally crystalized that the doctors words were not the gospel. I did not tell most of my friends all the details of my troubles. Partly because of the secrecy issue but all because sharing my frail side would be to difficult. Even my parents were far away physically and understandingly. I only had Sam(his wife) and God, but helps those who help themselves. Getting better was up just to me. I began to try to lead instead of beg and succumb. I wasn't going to give the strokes anything and I would take back what was rightfully mine. I finally figured out that the strokes had no real power. It was more about being happy than healing. I began using my grateful prayer again. I thanked for the warning that September day. Although I didn't listen I wondered if he could have done it simply to let me know he was there. Perhaps that was blessing enough. I thanked him for the gratifying workouts and the good night sleeps at night. I thanked him for saving my arm,my speech, and what I had left of my sight. I thanked him for Sam and Giz(her dog) who had entered my life at the right moment. And for the character of Hercules, who was saving my life. I had defined myself by my job so I thanked him that I still had one. And although I would never measure to Hercules strength I battled his stamina for my everyday battle just to live a normal life.

Kevin Sorbo True Strength Chapter 51: God had tapped me on the shoulder with an aneurysm that might have seemed like a small thing but it wasn't. It was an enormous, life changing fortunate event that continues to affect me and always will. My strange brush with death along with the battle for my health that ensued abruptly and profoundly transformed my world. In time a quiet strength gradually returned my symptoms slowly abated my tolerance grew and I became not simply renewed but actually reinvented. In spite of myself I eventually began to see beyond the losses and appreciate the rewards of this changed life. The act of suffering does not make you a victim only your point of view can do that. Even loss can enrich you.