(PHOTO BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
BELIEVE … John L. Winright stands while holding his new book, an autobiography titled “Only Believe And Never Give Up.”
By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jacob@thevillagereporter.com
Local Minister John L. Winright recently published a new autobiography called “Only Believe And Never Give Up.” The book covers the life of John as he trudged through many of the challenges life threw at him, before going through a complete transformation. This transformation, or in a way a transfiguration, took place when John accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior.
In an effort to have everyone read the book, many details for the life of John will be brief. John is currently the Senior Pastor for two churches, Revelation Chapel in Archbold and Revelation Chapel in Ray, Indiana.
He was born on April 5th, 1944, in Defiance, Ohio. Later, his parents moved to Edon where he graduated from in 1962. He and his first wife were later married two years later, with the two of them having four sons.
He worked his way up the ladder of the Mohawk Tools shop in Montpelier before obtaining his licensure in real estate.
Time moved on and in 1975 John created a golf course just to the north of Edon. Fortunes however changed just a couple years later when John and his wife were divorced. The golf course was sold and John struggled throughout seven years with depression and heart break.
Time continues to tick forward though, and John moved on to become a CEO and general manager for some manufacturing companies. The title of salesperson of America was also bestowed to him while working at a company in Dallas, Texas.
John also had the privilege of serving as Mayor of Edon from 2000-2003. He also met his current wife later on and together they had two sons.
Even through all of the good times though, negative times seemed to find their way through. But sometimes these negative things can lead to something special.
John explains some of the negative aspects of life that he experienced included loss, loneliness, and the thoughts of suicide just to name a few.
God rescued him from all of those hardships and led him further down the path carved out for him. His first realization of this came during a night of drinking at a bar.
Time was spent “carousing” the bar scene and “living in the world among sin” before something along the lines of a change took place.
The next day, John explained, he accepted Christ into his life. He went home and threw away all of the booze and everything else not needed for salvation. Most importantly, he never turned back.
“There’s a lot that can be said about not giving up. All of it can pertain to relationships, it can pertain to jobs, it can pertain to businesses, children, finances, health and really any aspect of your life you’re struggling with.”
“I’ve thought about giving up. Many times, those thoughts come before the victory. If you can hang on a bit longer, normally you can overcome what you’re going through. Since I am saved, I will never give up because I know God is with me all the way.”
“What I have found in my life, when it comes to other people in my life, those that knew me many years ago can’t believe I’m a pastor and that my life was changed or that I am a completely different person today. But once I changed and learned to trust God, it made all the difference in the world.”
John’s story, and his experience of life before and after faith, can be viewed in his new book.
The team at Christian Faith Publishing helped to bring the book to life and can now be found at Walmart stores, Barnes and Noble, Amazon and others.