Newspapers / The Kings Mountain Herald … / May 20, 1992, edition 1 / Page 1
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"I didn't have God fooled." says Gage By RENEE WALSER It's hard to imagine -- by looking at the confident young man with uncommon good looks and a long stride coming around the high school football stadium to the stage where he would preach and try to win some souls -- it's hard to imagine him on his hands and knees in front of an audience cry- ing out, "God forgive me. Take control of my life. Save me." But life had come to that for Rick Gage at age 25. “] surrendered my all Jan. 15, 1984," he said re- cently during an interview. Since then Gage has turned his back on sin, he said, and made winning souls for the Lord the cen- ter of his life. "It was like a thousand pounds were lifted off m shoulders," he said. : What brought Gage -- outwardly, a "typical, clean- cut” youngster from Texas who was involved in all types of sports during his growing years and came from a religious family (his father is Freddie Gage, a famous evangelist) -- to his knees that night? Gage is the third of four sons. His father has preached the gospel for 41 years. At age eight, Gage walked down the aisle of his Southern Baptist church and made a profes- sion of faith. He thought that was all there was to it. All the time, claiming to be a Christian, Gage said he got involved in all the things teens are involved in today -- drugs, alcohol, par- ties. "I would live like the “devil during the week, but come Sunday, I would be your all-American boy," he said. "I had my folks fooled. I had my Sunday School teacher fooled. Obviously, I didn't have God fooled." During his teens, he would rededicate his life at various crusades, but it did- n't seem to make a long- term impact on his life. He would still participate in the temptations facing col- lege students, even though he was on a four-year schol- arship for playing football. "I got sucked in with my peers,” he said. "I knew how to play both sides of the fence. "Spiritually, I never questioned whether or not I would go to heaven if I died. That didn't hit me un- til I truly met the Lord. All I knew was football." Upon graduation from ; college, Gage said the only . thing he was interested in doing was coaching. He was. hired at Texas Tech. ~ See Gage Page 6 Rick Gage spoke to 1,100 high school students and 900 middle school students while visiting Kings Mountain.
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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May 20, 1992, edition 1
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