Last month I wrote concerning Alice Cooper, the rock star who had come to know Christ.
Today I am going to write about another celebrity whose profession had caused him to become bitter, aggressive and violent, all of which changed when he too found Jesus as his Lord and saviour.
I doubt that there is a single wrestling fan anywhere who would not recognise the name Hulk Hogan, widely touted as the most popular professional wrestler of the 1980s and unquestionably one of the best of all time.
In a recent interview on YouTube titled “Hulk Hogan: Feeling Lost at the Height of Fame”, he explained how he first became involved with the church when he was 14.
He believed in Christ but, as he put it, he “derailed”, “not knowing the power in being a believer.”
With this, he explained how he went through his teen years and then “got into this crazy wrestling business which derailed me even more.”
He continued, “finally, I got tired of crashing and burning. I got tired of making mistakes and getting up and moving forward, I got tired of getting so many scars on me.”
He then explained how, having “gone through a couple of wives”, he met his current wife - a true believer in Christ - and things started to change.
To that point, the wrestling business had made him very aggressive. As he put it, when things weren't going his way, he had a “trigger finger.”
But after he remarried, with his third wife being already a committed Christian, he explained how, with patience and guidance, in their discussions she was able to pass the peace and the knowledge of Christ that she had found on to him.
At Christmas 2023, he, together with his wife, were baptised in a very public celebration.
As he put it, “We just got baptised and it's been a whole new thing ever since.”
On his Instagram page, he wrote, “Total surrender and dedication to Jesus is the greatest day of my life. No worries, no hate, no judgement … only love!”
He is now often seen wearing a tee- shirt with the words “John 3:16 Devotional Team - Believe.”
Peace is the hallmark of the true Christian.
We have peace because we have complete faith and trust in Christ who, no matter what may happen here, has promised a far greater existence in eternity than anything that this world could ever offer.
The prophet Isaiah said, “You keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”
In the Gospel of John we read, “Jesus answered them, 'Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world'."