John Grisham: Accepting Jesus Christ Was 'the Most Important Event in My Life' (Gospel Light Minute #33)

Summary: He is a New York Times bestselling author many times over. He is also an attorney. He is best known for his popular legal thrillers such as "A Time to Kill". He began writing in 1984, and had his first novel "A Time To Kill" published in June 1989. <br><br> As of 2008, his books have sold over 250 million copies worldwide, and he is one of only three authors to sell two million copies on a first printing. His first best seller was "The Firm". Released in 1991, it sold more than seven million copies. The book was later adapted into a feature film. Seven of his other novels have been adapted into films as well, including: The Chamber, The Client, A Painted House, The Pelican Brief, Skipping Christmas, The Rainmaker, and The Runaway Jury. His books have been translated into 29 languages and published worldwide. <br><br> He and his wife teach Sunday School at First Baptist Church of Oxford. He says of the millions that he makes from his writing, "I used to ask God all the time, why me? I don't know why it happened to me. God has a purpose for it. We are able to contribute an awful lot of money to his work, and maybe that's why...Both my wife and I have middle-class backgrounds and we’ve struggled with the overnight financial rewards of being a best-selling author. We give a lot of money to churches, missions, charities." He not only shares his wealth but he also shares his time by taking missions trips and putting his physical back to work along with his financial backing. The missions trips help him remain aware of how much he has and how little some other people have on which to survive each day. <br><br> He tells of his salvation experience, "I was eight years old. We lived in Arkansas at the time. Back then, my father often worked seven days a week. My mother had us bathed and scrubbed and in church every Sunday. She's a devout Christian. I came under conviction when I was in the third grade, and I talked with my mother. I told her, 'I don't understand this, but I need to talk to you.' We talked, and she led me to Jesus. The following Sunday I made a public confirmation of my faith. In one sense, it was not terribly eventful for an eight-year-old, but it was the most important event in my life. It did not readily change me, but it was very real nonetheless." His name is John Grisham.