Reinhard Bonnke’s power was not limited to his podium preaching. Former South African cricketer Peter Pollock paints a vivid picture in his autobiography ‘Clean Bowled’ of an experience he had while watching Bonnke on TV, debating with critic and self-styled cynic, Stephen Grenfell.

Pollock, who was opening bowler for South Africa, and had gained the reputation as the most fearsome fast bowler in the world before his retirement from cricket, had been alarmed that his wife, Inez, had recently become a Christian. And, as he says, one of those “happy-clappy charismatic movement” Christians too! Peter takes up the story of how he came to be ‘clean bowled’ by Jesus Christ:

“Inez had been a Christian for just about a month and on a couple of occasions I had expounded to her about the hypocrisy of her new-found faith. Because I remembered a smattering of the Sunday school stories out of the Bible I reckoned that I knew all about religion and I felt that I was almost convincing in exposing this ‘passing phase’ in her life. Perhaps the most impressive part of my argument was the loudness of my voice and the fact that I did not permit any counter assaults. You just can’t win against that type of bloody-minded aggression but now, on television, Stephen Grenfell was saying most of the things that I had propounded. I called Inez suggesting that while she couldn’t be blamed for not believing me, now my views were being confirmed on TV, she had no option but to agree!

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