{"id":5261,"date":"2023-11-23T11:20:27","date_gmt":"2023-11-23T11:20:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/used82.com\/?p=5261"},"modified":"2023-11-23T11:20:27","modified_gmt":"2023-11-23T11:20:27","slug":"george-foremans-near-death-experience-led-him-to-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/used82.com\/?p=5261","title":{"rendered":"George Foreman\u2019s Near-Death Experience Led Him To Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Boxing legend George Foreman opened up about his near-death experience that changed his life forever by leading him to Jesus Christ. The former heavyweight champ shared a profound message everyone needs to hear.<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_84549\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-84549\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-84549 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/taphaps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/GeorgeForemanJesusChrist-640x390.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/taphaps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/GeorgeForemanJesusChrist-640x390.jpg 640w, https:\/\/taphaps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/GeorgeForemanJesusChrist-550x336.jpg 550w, https:\/\/taphaps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/GeorgeForemanJesusChrist-768x468.jpg 768w, https:\/\/taphaps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/GeorgeForemanJesusChrist.jpg 800w\" alt=\"George Foreman\" width=\"640\" height=\"390\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-84549\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">George Foreman (Credit:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?t=73&amp;v=8lWDIgMto6A&amp;feature=youtu.be\">YouTube<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>George Foreman is one of the most celebrated boxers in American history. The Texas native skyrocketed to fame in 1968 when he won the Gold Medal in the boxing heavyweight division at the Mexico Summer Olympics. In 1972, Foreman became the heavyweight champion of the world by defeating Joe Frazier.<\/p>\n<p>By 1977, however, everything changed when Foreman retired from boxing after a near-death experience brought him to the Lord. He recalled how, in his dressing room in Puerto Rico, he understood the truth of the Gospel for the first time. \u201cI was dead. There was nothing left of me,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI stared at nothingness, no hope. I was pulled out of this dirty place, and given a second chance to live. That has kept me grounded.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_84548\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-84548\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-84548 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/taphaps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/GeorgeForemanBoxingGold-640x564.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/taphaps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/GeorgeForemanBoxingGold-640x564.jpg 640w, https:\/\/taphaps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/GeorgeForemanBoxingGold-550x485.jpg 550w, https:\/\/taphaps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/GeorgeForemanBoxingGold-768x677.jpg 768w, https:\/\/taphaps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/GeorgeForemanBoxingGold.jpg 800w\" alt=\"George Foreman\" width=\"640\" height=\"564\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-84548\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">George Foreman defeated Russian Ionas Chepulis to win the Gold Medal in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. (Credit:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?t=104&amp;v=iswHPKP5sEU&amp;feature=youtu.be\">YouTube<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>With the release of his biographical film\u00a0<em>Big George Foreman<\/em>, the heavyweight boxer-turned-pastor is reflecting on God\u2019s faithfulness throughout his storied life and sharing wisdom with the next generation of believers. \u201cYou come to a point in your life and you realize the only important thing in your life is [to be] an evangelist,\u201d the 74-year-old\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianpost.com\/news\/george-foreman-says-knowing-jesus-is-more-important-than-fame.html\">told<\/a>\u00a0<em>The Christian Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2018Evangelistic\u2019 is the word that has been so powerful to me in my life. If something happened to me tomorrow \u2026 I know I\u2019ve done a good job, and I\u2019m happy about that, trying to spell out to the world, \u2018Jesus Christ has come alive in me.\u2019\u201d But Foreman\u2019s path to a successful boxing career \u2014 and eventually, the ministry \u2014 has been anything but easy.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><iframe title=\"4 Times George Foreman Showed Super-Human Power\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IQYzM9450m8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"640\" data-height=\"360\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Born in 1949 in Marshall, Texas, Foreman was one of seven children and had a problematic childhood defined by instability, violence, and poverty. After dropping out of school in the 10th grade, Foreman began abusing alcohol and engaging in violent crime on the streets of Houston\u2019s Fifth Ward.<\/p>\n<p>In 1965, he\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/George_Foreman#Early_life\">left\u00a0<\/a>Houston for the Job Corps in California, a program developed to help disadvantaged youth by teaching them vocational job skills. It was there that Doc Broaddus, who was a Job Corps counselor and a boxing coach, encouraged Foreman to channel his anger through boxing. However, after that near-death experience, Foreman was determined to spend the rest of his life sharing the Gospel.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_84547\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-84547\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-84547 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/taphaps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/GeorgeForemanShow1980-640x472.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/taphaps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/GeorgeForemanShow1980-640x472.jpg 640w, https:\/\/taphaps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/GeorgeForemanShow1980-550x406.jpg 550w, https:\/\/taphaps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/GeorgeForemanShow1980-768x566.jpg 768w, https:\/\/taphaps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/GeorgeForemanShow1980.jpg 800w\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"472\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-84547\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Boxing greats George Foreman, Joe Frazier, and Muhammad Ali appear together on the 1980s TV show Wogan. (Credit:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/av\/boxing\/15616563\">Screenshot<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Foreman became a minister and founded The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in 1980. However, financial hardships compelled the former champ to step back into the ring. In 1994, he became the oldest fighter to ever hold the heavyweight championship at 45, after he bested reigning champion Michael Moore in the 10th round.<\/p>\n<p>Foreman documented his remarkable story in his 2000 book\u00a0<em>By George: The Autobiography of George Foreman\u00a0<\/em>which has been made into a major motion picture. Foreman said that he wanted God\u2019s faithfulness throughout his life to serve as a focal point of the film. \u201cSo many people helped me in life,\u201d he shared. \u201cI didn\u2019t know that. I thought I was doing so much \u2026 but there are so many good people in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><iframe title=\"BIG GEORGE FOREMAN: The night I met Jesus Christ\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8lWDIgMto6A?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"640\" data-height=\"360\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Even in the most turbulent times in his life, George Foreman said he knew God was present, but he had to undergo a series of difficulties before realizing just how desperate he was for a Savior. He credited his\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/taphaps.com\/carlos-sepeda-jr-note-waitress-23c\/\">mother\u2019s prayers<\/a>\u00a0with keeping him alive as a youth when he should have died. \u201cIn hindsight, [God\u2019s faithfulness] was all over my life, period,\u201d he reflected. \u201cThere I was, a thief, on my way to jail, underneath a house, hiding from the police, covering myself from head to toe with slop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Foreman said he is grateful for his success but firmly believes in the power of living life in light of eternity. He shared that Psalm 1:1 guides his life: \u201cBlessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/taphaps.com\/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson-23d\/\">sinners<\/a>, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.\u201d He added, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what you achieve, what you accomplish in this life. The most important thing is to keep your eye on the true prize, and that\u2019s serving God. Find God, have faith in God. It doesn\u2019t matter what happened, believe all things are possible. Don\u2019t ever give up on possibility and your life can be turned and changed for the better.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-2\">\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-47509\" src=\"https:\/\/taphaps.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screen-Shot-2020-05-20-at-9.55.23-PM-640x50.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"50\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Boxing legend George Foreman opened up about his near-death experience that changed his life forever&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"views":43,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/used82.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}