Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a soul like me!
I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.

Through many dangers, toils and fears, I have already come,
twas grace that brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home.

When we've been there ten thousand years bright shining as the sun,
we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun.

Evel Knievel, an American legend, a good man he is, and what a great reputation he has all over the country for his generosity, his kindness, his integrity and his honesty. He would risk death and not to break a promise to his fans who were expecting something. Throughout his career, he suffered life-threatening falls, such as Caesar’s Palace where he cleared the fountains but had a disastrous fall and would be in a coma for 30 days. Wembley Stadium in London England, the Snake River Canyon, but he always did his best to get back up from a failed jump, he never stayed laying on the ground unless he was totally out. Because of his fighting spirit, Evel obtained legendary status such as successful jumps at the Houston Astrodome, the Canadian National Exposition and the historic LA Coliseum. This is the Los Angeles Coliseum. I jumped 52 cars in this coliseum.

“ Nothing’s impossible! ” Evel Knievel had taken a lot of leaps, but on 1 April 2007, he was taking the greatest leap he had ever taken, a leap of faith in Jesus Christ.

“ I grew up in Butte Montana worked in the mines there underground a mile. And I had a tough life growing up. I was raised by grandparents and they just loved me to death, but I don’t know how I got on the wrong tracks. I started off just being a wild person doing things that weren’t right, against society. I never wanted to be told what to do. Anyway, I went on to different businesses in my life and I finally ended up in Los Angeles, started my motorcycle show and I earned. As time went on I earned a lot of money. And my name got to be known.” He was in the Guinness Book of Records, having broken more bones than any other human.- the man who broke the most bones, 38. At the Caesar’s Palace jump he broke his pelvis, his legs and his wrists and was being unconscious for almost 30 days.

“ The god I was praying to was a god that I thought maybe could answer my prayers but I didn’t realize that I needed to go through a living God and I had, I did, and I’m just beginning to really get the feeling of Jesus Christ inside of my body. And it’s growing and growing and growing, it’s become such a wonderful thing. I never thought that I would be here, ever. I just was a person who always believed in God, there was a God, power, but I always had trouble believing in THE Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I don’t know why I fought it so hard, I just did. But I think maybe it was the power of prayer, maybe God just got sick and tired of me fighting it so much, He reached out and grabbed me and said, “ Look, I just want you.. you’ve got to stop this nonsense, you just come with Me”. I called a friend I hadn’t talked to in 30 years. I talked to him and he has his whole church praying for me. My daughter’s had her whole church praying for me in Bozeman Montana and my ex wife Linda, she’s had her whole church praying for me in Butte Montana and she’s prayed for me for 25 or 30 years that I would become a Christian. I get letters from people, hundreds of letters from people saying we read an article about you where you don’t believe in organized religion. You’ve got to believe in Jesus Christ.

So I don’t know what in the world happened. I don’t know if it was the power of the prayer, or God Himself, but it just reached out either while I was driving or walking down the sidewalk or sleeping, and it just the power of God in Jesus just grabbed me. It just took a hold of me, so strong, I can’t tell you how strong it was and I became a person who was filled, was just filled with Christianity. All of a sudden I just believed in Jesus Christ. I did, I believed in Him! I rose up in bed, and I was by myself and I said, “Devil, devil you bastard you, get away from me. I cast you out of my life”. I just got on my knees and prayed that God would put His arms around me and never, ever, ever let me go. I just, all of a sudden was just overcome by the Spirit of God Almighty. And my wife Crystal had been trying to help me with things I wanted. She went out and got me a bible , a videotape called Jesus of Nazareth, and a book called The Case for Christ. I’ve had so much help from my whole family.

I wrote a book called, “Evel Ways.” I said I’ve had a life better than any king, any president or any prince. I didn’t have Jesus Christ in my life. I was talking about the Rolls Royce’ I had, five of them. The Ferrari’s I’ve had, five of them. The Stetsons, the Lamborghini’s, the jet airplanes, two of them. I flew one alongside of the other so I could read my name on the side of it. Yeah! Evel Knievel. The diamonds and the gold and the racehorses and the women and the booze.

I want to tell you something: I’d been a sinner; you’re looking at a real sinner, but not anymore. You’re not looking at a sinner anymore, and I’ve had everybody; I’ve had everybody in my family try to help me. My son and my wife came here today from Montana and Las Vegas and friends that came to see me and be with me and I’m so happy. This is the biggest step that I have ever taken in my life. Isn’t it a wonderful feeling? Isn’t it a wonderful feeling to say I have a God that I can believe in, a real God that I can believe in? I’m going to think about Jesus Christ. It’s such a warm, wonderful feeling to me.

Dr. Schuller, I don’t know how to thank you for asking me to come here, you’re 80 years old but you came to see me. You wanted to take my hand and hold it, give me a hug and bless me. I think that you have a message to give to everyone in the world and I think you’re doing such a wonderful way, I wanted to scream to the world that I am a born again Christian and I’m so proud of it. I’m just so proud of it.

RHS : Evel Knievel, would you like me to baptize you?
EK : I said I’d give anything to be baptized by you, to be a Christian; I’d give
anything to do that.
RHS : Evel Knievel, you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and
Savior.
EK : Yes, I have.
RHS : And you believe that on the cross He died to save you from all your sins.
EK : With all my heart I do.
RHS : And you believe He lives by His Holy Spirit within you this very moment.
EK : He’s here, He does.
RHS : Yes, then I baptize you, Evel Knievel in the name of the Father, in the name of Jesus Christ His Son, your Savior, and in the name of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
EK : Thank you.
RHS : And now may the Lord bless you with eternal life and continue to bless you with
the exploding power of faith and hope and joy and love and peace that’s in your
life today like you’ve never had it before. Thank You Jesus Christ for coming into
his heart and life, to renew our faith in You and to see that You are alive, reaching
out to people and answering prayers. Give him health; help him through these
times when he experiences pain. Bless his loved ones, and the special blessing he
needs more than anything else is something I don’t know and only You know it.
He’d guess wrong but give it to him God, Amen.