Another Special Life in Christ

These testimony lives are not stories of "role models". Jesus is the role model!
These are lives wonderfully touched & changed by Jesus!

John Fletcher Redman, M. D.:

Born about 1938, he resides in Little Rock, Arkansas. He graduated from the UAMS medical school there in 1963 & won the distinguished faculty award in 1993. He was the 2014 UAMS Hall of Fame inductee, HERE. Long before the 1990's, Dr. John Redman had reached the pinnacle of success!  By the age of 55, he had written every textbook but one in the field of Urology, and had received every national and international award that a medical professional in his field could receive.  Dr. Redman was known and highly respected around the world, and had been serving for 25 years as the Chairman of the Department of Urology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Arkansas.  His brilliance was renowned, reflected by his being asked in 1973 (at a younger age than ever before in the history of the school ) to take on the position of Urology Department Chairman.  You didn't get any higher up the professional ladder in the field of medicine than Dr. Redman had achieved!  

Although his professional reputation was sterling, he also had a broad reputation for being foul-mouthed, a lady's man, and a  party specialist.  His lifestyle outside of his professional career was fast and wild.  Full of himself, John often bragged about his escapades, including being responsible for starting the Poker Club at the Medical School.  He had several failed marriages behind him, and no relationship at all with his parents, who were devout Christians.  Dr. Redman had been exposed to Christianity at an early age, but rejected it as a life plan for weaklings (see Ted Turner).  And he viewed himself as anything but weak!  He had a world to conquer, and no namby-pamby, goody-two-shoes religion was going to slow him down!

One day Dr. Redman was 'speed walking' around a track in Little Rock, and found himself cooling down next to one of Arkansas's most famous joggers, then-Governor Bill Clinton!  They chatted for a few moments, and that was that.  Several years later, when Bill Clinton became the President of the United States, one of Dr. Redman's friends made note of that encounter by commenting that John had formerly been talking with the most powerful man in the world. John considered that encounter to be no big deal, since he saw himself as having also reached the top of his field!  There was no shortage of arrogance at the Redman household!      

Dr. Redman had, many years previously, estranged himself from his parents as a result of their efforts to guide him toward the spiritual straight and narrow.  He was determined to live life his way.  And then his world was crushed when his mother died.  Ironically, John's mother died at about the same time as Bill Clinton's mother died [Clinton's mom's grave] and her story, HERE).  The two funerals were held on the same day, at approximately the same time.  This 'coincidence' ultimately had a life-changing impact on John's life.

While Dr. Redman was sitting at the tiny graveside service, a scripture was quoted that he had heard as a small boy..."What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his own soul?"  He began to consider the fact that both he and the most powerful man in the world were both doing the same thing at the same time, i.e., burying their mothers (Jan. 1994).  At that point, he realized that no matter what level of success you achieve on this earth, you are still going to be put in the ground someday.  All of your success and the adulation from others would one day end.  And what then?

Dr. Redman soon came to realize that he was a lost soul with no hope of eternal life with his parents or with God.  And that began to bring great turmoil into his life.  His heart was under great conviction, but he didn't know how to fix his problem.  Knowing that this was a spiritual problem (but still incredibly full of pride), Dr. Redman wasn't about to humble himself to go and talk with a preacher!  So he spent several restless nights tossing and turning, unable to sleep.  One Saturday, he went to his office to work because his heart was so burdened with the lostness of his soul's condition.

As he was cleaning out his desk, he came across a stack of unopened letters sent to him by his father before he died four years previously.  When John had received them, because he knew that they would be full of religious comments, he simply threw them (unopened) into the bottom drawer of his desk. 

But now he was more than eager to read the legacy left by his father!  As he opened each letter, he discovered the pathway for his soul to eternal salvation!  Privately in his office, he cried out to God and admitted his rebellion.  He asked for forgiveness and expressed a willingness to turn his life around.  He now understood that Jesus had already paid the penalty for his sins by sacrificing his life on a cross.  So Dr. Redman humbled himself, asking Jesus to take up residence in his heart.  He followed his father's written advice to surrender his life totally to the leadership and guidance of Jesus Christ, the living son of God.

And his life began to change dramatically!  Shortly thereafter, as a result of the difference she saw in John's behavior, Anna (John's live-in girlfriend) also gave her life to Christ, and they were married!   They then followed the Lord's leadership to outwardly demonstrate (1) their rejection of the old way of life and (2) their new commitment to follow the Spirit of the living God through the act of baptism!  And there is no question in anyone's mind (of those who know them) that these two physicians have experienced a radical life change!

Since that time, Dr. Redman has extensively exercised the gift of evangelism that the Lord blessed him with.  He has become a powerful speaker for the Lord, and has allowed his new Spiritual Father to position him in many high-level positions to share his testimony of how the Lord can bring salvation to even the most hardened sinner.  In similar fashion, Anna utilizes every opportunity to share the good news of life through Jesus Christ, even being blessed to lead some of her patients to Christ in her office!

This is truly a victory story of reaching the pinnacle of what the world has to offer, coming up empty, and finding the pathway that leads to real life [written for me 7 Jan. 2004 by my...and Dr. Redmond's...friend D. O.].

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(posted 10 January 2004; updated 7 September 2015)

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You have just read a very brief example of the powerful, supernatural transformation of a person's life which is possible through the acceptance of Jesus as your savior. Are you tired of life as it now is for you? He will accept you just as you are right this second! Consider accepting Jesus now [check it out]!