When I got out of the army in 1973 I was dealing with a lot of issues.  There is hope for you because I was saved in 1975 from alcohol, drugs, smoking, and other emotional issues.  Now I'm a new creature in Christ Jesus and I'm running a brand new race.
 

Let me tell you a story:
     When I was in Minnesota, I was there for a little time off.  I satyed at this place in order to stay there you had to say that you were an alcoholic, when I said that, "I am a brand new creature, I have been set free from drugs and alcohol, they told me you have to say that you are an alcoholic to stay here."  So, I went to bed that night, but I couldn't sleep for the Lord put on my heart to speak the truth that I was set free.  So the next day I said I'm a brand new creature in Christ Jesus; I've been set free!  And if that means that I'm out of here, I am just out of here.  So the instructor said go ahead and stay.  For the six months that I was there I administered the word from the Bible.
 
    I started doing Superbowls since the Green Bay Packers vs. the Denver Broncos, I run around the football stadium with my Jesus football and banner and then preach the gosepl to the people.  I use a football parable, "Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready for the gospel?"  "I didn't say rumble, I didn't say football, but are you ready for the coming of the Lord?"  That is how I open up and the people really respond.
 
    In October 1998 I had a vision of running a "Jericho run (run seven times around every capital building in America) and preach on the streets of every capital city in America and other cities.  So far I have been in 25:  Washington D.C., Little Rock, Arkansas, Topeka, Kansas, Springfield, Illinois, Olympia, Washington, Sacramento, California, Des Moines, Iowa, Montgomery, Alabama, Jackson, Mississippi, Tallahassee, Florida, Nashville, Tennessee, St. Paul, Minnesota, Mdison, Wisconsin, just to name a few.  Through different Christians and non-believers, God brings money to me so that I can do the work.  The Lord takes care of me.  In fact, I have found $200 in Los Angeles, California, $100 in Touscon Arizona, and $50 running back from the Superbowl in Miami
 
    I have slept outdoors when I wasn't able to find a mission or place to stay because I love the Lord.  In St. Louis Missouri, I was preaching the gospel and a police officer pulled up in a squad car and he got out and asked me what I was doing?  I told him I was preaching the gospel.  He told me, not here and handcuffed me.  He placed my Bible and gospel tracts in his car and drove me downtown to the local jail and placed me in a cell with six other young men.  The leader of the six guys said to me, "Why did they put you in jail?"  I said, "For preaching the gospel on the street corner."  Then he said, "They threw you in jail for that?"  I said, "Yes they did!"  Then he said all you preachers need to be in jail.  You are nothing but crooks who want people's money.  I said, "Stay where you are you'll hear one that is for real."  So I began to preach the gospel in the jail cell.  And all six of the men scattered away from me.  And two jailers came running in saying what's all the noise?  And I replied, "Now I'm preaching the gospel in your jail cell."  Then they said shut up.  Then I replied, "You threw me in jail for preaching in the street corner, If I can't preach in your jail cell don't arrest me no more.  They hit me in the stomach and beat me with a knightstick.  Then they said take your clothes, we are going to put you in the cooler to cool off.  So they walked me down the hallway to a waiting cell and threw me in the cell.  Then they turned the air conditioner on.  So I sat down on the cold bunk and I said,."Lord, this is different, I am butt naked Jesus and I'm only trying to do your will."  And I heard the word of the Lord in my spirits say, "Shall nakedness seperate you from my love?"  And I said, "No sir Lord"  Then I stood up and began to preach the butt naked truth.  Then two other guys in the other cell I asked them if you heard the gospel?  They replied yes man we want to be saved.  They said that if you can preach butt naked like that we can give our heart to the Lord.  So I let these two men to the Lord.  That is the butt naked truth.

    Preaching compels me because I see the compassion.  I see how God gave up his life for all of us.  I try to give my life back by serving him and ministering the love of God.  There is hope in the Lord and savior Jesus Christ no matter how down you may feel  Because of the cross that he died on, was buried, and rose again that we might have a right to the tree of life.
                   
 
 
 

                                     THE KANSAS CITY STAR

                            April 20, 1998 Monday METROPOLITAN EDITION
 

The word of God always part of evangelist's zeal for running

STEVE ROCK, Staff Writer
 
Michael Wheeler has his share of detractors.

He was stabbed, he said, in   Seattle while preaching in the
streets.  One   woman in Los Angeles asked if she could borrow   his
Bible, then promptly smacked him across the   face with it.

Even in Kansas City, where   he has lived for more than 40 years,
he faces   pessimists like Mike Lundgren.

"I see   him," said Lundgren, the Missouri state   record-keeper
for running road races, "and I   run the other way."

But that's not going   to stop Wheeler, a 46-year-old
self-described   "street evangelist" who preaches on the   run.

Literally.

"I was in Los   Angeles to run a marathon, and I saw despair   on
the streets," Wheeler said. "That's when   it touched me to start
preaching on the   streets.

"I was preaching to them while   I was running."

That was 1988.  Today,   Wheeler's act hits the running   world's
most-celebrated stage - the Boston   Marathon.  There, according to a
flier   distributed by Wheeler, he will be "running   for Jesus."

Perhaps you've seen him.

When Wheeler hits the streets clad in running   shoes, and he does
so in hefty 15- and 20-mile   bursts, his attire often displays
religious and   biblical messages.  Today's ensemble,   incidentally, will
include the message "Repent   America" on the front and "Time is
running   out" on the back.  The "Jesus" hat will be   there, too.

In the last six months,   Wheeler has even added a huge flag,
scrawled   with the word "Jesus," to his repertoire.

Wheeler won't run with the flag in Boston, but   it has become a
popular accessory to his Kansas   City jaunts.

Ironic, perhaps, that Wheeler   has juxtaposed preaching and
running.  After   all, running was something of an escape from   the
preaching lifestyle, a lifestyle shared by   his father, his
grandfather and four of his   uncles - all of them Baptist ministers.

"I didn't want to be a preacher," said   Wheeler, a veteran of
more than 100 marathons   whose best time has been under 2 hours,   45
minutes. "I wanted to do something   different.

"Now, this is a joy to me,"   said Wheeler, who paid $ 69 in bus
fare to get   to Boston. "I think I have a chance to reach   more people
when I'm running."

Wheeler   has his convictions and isn't afraid to share   them.

Wheeler clasped his hands and said a   short prayer before nibbling
at his chicken   mushroom soup recently at a downtown eatery.

He calls Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all   things through Christ
who strengthens me" -   his favorite Bible verse.  And on the   streets,
his soft-spoken demeanor undergoes   something of a transformation.

"Are you   ready? " his voice booms. "Are you ready for   the
gospel?"

"I feel the spirit of the   Lord," Wheeler explained. "It
amplifies   me."

This is Wheeler's career, his life.    In the early 1980s, he said,
"I finally   surrendered to my calling."

But not   before a sad chapter that really "messed me   up,"
something he talks about openly but   solemnly.

In the 1970s, while in the   service, Wheeler was introduced to the
world of   drugs.  He mentioned soldiers getting together   during the
weekends to drink a lot of alcohol,   smoke marijuana, maybe drop some
acid.

"At first, I was kind of ashamed for   experiencing (drugs)," he
said. "Now, it's   like a blessing.  I can relate to people who   are
hooked on drugs."

Wheeler has   preached, he said, in Japan, Korea and   Guatemala.  In
the United States alone, he   said, he has been arrested 46 times,   for
everything from trespassing to disturbing   the peace.

According to the Kansas City   Police Department, Wheeler has been
found   guilty or paid a monetary fine in no fewer than   10 cases since
April 1986.  Trespassing.    Disorderly conduct.  Obstructing and
resisting   an officer.

And that's not counting the   times when charges were dropped.

"He'll   stand in one spot and run in place and yell   about
Jesus," Officer Russ Dykstra said.   "Sometimes, he does it here at
Police   Headquarters.  Sometimes, he does it on the   stairs of City
Hall.

"It gets a little   obnoxious, but he's not hurting anyone."

Still, Wheeler has spent more time in jail than   he cares to
remember.  In 1986, according to an   article that ran in The Kansas
City Star, he   was sentenced to six months in the city jail   for
refusing to leave a restaurant.

After   he was sentenced, according to the article,   Wheeler had
this to say to the judge: "God   bless you, sir.  You have to stand
before the   Lord yourself and be judged."

The judge   slapped him with an additional one-year   sentence for
summary contempt.

"He really   gets at it," said Jerry Morrison, a staple in   the
running community who is familiar with   Wheeler's work. "He preaches
everywhere.  He's   got his beliefs, and he gets 'em out.

"I   almost feel sorry for him.  People basically   ignore him.  Not
many people want to see that   stuff."

Still, Wheeler perseveres.  The   naysayers, of course, aren't new
to him.

One time, just about a year ago, a man   approached him.

"He said, 'Man, take that   to church somewhere.  You're
embarrassing   me,"' Wheeler said. "That's the way I was   years ago.

"People just don't   understand.  That's what I'm trying to change."

Copyright 1998 The Kansas City Star Co.