Editing George Foreman (section)

==Ministerial career==
[[File:George Foreman 2016.jpg|thumb|Foreman in 2016]]
In his youth, Foreman grew up largely without religion in his life.<ref name="NYT2015"/> His spiritual change and ministry have been well documented.<ref>{{cite web |title=From Knockouts to Religion: George Foreman's Journey of Faith |url=https://ecerkva.com/en/articles/world/1372-from-knockouts-to-new-life-george-foreman-s-journey-of-faith |publisher=eCerкva |access-date=March 24, 2025}}</ref> After a boxing match with heavyweight Jimmy Young, Foreman was in the locker room and suddenly felt that he was dying.<ref name="NYT2015"/> Wanting to survive, he prayerfully offered "to devote his boxing prize money to charity" when he heard a voice saying "I don't want your money...I want you."<ref name="NYT2015"/> ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported:

{{Blockquote|Then a "giant hand" plucked him into consciousness. Foreman found himself on a locker room table, surrounded by friends and staff members. He felt as if he were physically filled with the presence of a dying Christ. He felt his forehead bleed, punctured by a [[crown of thorns]]; his wrists, he believed, had been pierced by nails of the cross. "I knew that Jesus Christ was coming alive in me," Foreman said. "I ran into the shower and turned on the water and — hallelujah! — I was born again. I kissed everybody in the dressing room and told them I loved them. That happened in March 1977, and I never have been the same again."<ref name="NYT2015"/>}}

Foreman stated that in this crisis experience, he became a [[born-again Christian]].<ref name="NYT2015"/><ref name="Gonzales2015">{{cite web |last1=Gonzales |first1=Carolina |title=George Foreman journey to being a born-again Christian |url=https://www.chron.com/this-forgotten-day-in-houston/article/George-Foreman-journey-to-being-a-born-again-6689364.php |publisher=[[Houston Chronicle]] |access-date=June 23, 2024 |date=December 10, 2015}}</ref> Following this, HBO boxing commentator [[Larry Merchant]] commented that "There was a transformation from a young, hard character who felt a heavyweight champion should carry himself with menace to a very affectionate personality."<ref name="NYT2015"/> Foreman was welcomed by [[church membership|members]] of The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, a [[Holiness Pentecostal]] church on Lone Oak Road in [[Houston]], where he eventually became the pastor in 1980.<ref name="NYT2015"/> Under his leadership, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ opened the George Foreman Youth and Community Center to minister to children and adolescents in the area.<ref name="NYT2015"/> Foreman declared that "I'm always studying the Bible" and stated that "The more you learn, the more you realize how much you don't know."<ref name="NYT2015"/> Foreman led three [[church service]]s a week, in which he aimed "to reveal something about the Bible that they [his congregation] didn't know".<ref name="NYT2015"/> Foreman opined that "It doesn't 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's serving God."<ref name="Klett2023">{{cite web |last1=Klett |first1=Leah MarieAnn |title=Boxing legend George Foreman says knowing Jesus is more important than fame: 'It doesn't matter what you achieve' |url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/george-foreman-says-knowing-jesus-is-more-important-than-fame.html |newspaper=[[The Christian Post]] |access-date=June 23, 2024 |language=en |date=April 21, 2023}}</ref>