Hollywood Actor Kevin Sorbo’s Journey With Jesus

Actor Kevin Sorbo has had a storied Hollywood career, but despite fame, money, and the wild success of TV shows and movies like “Hercules” and “God’s Not Dead,” he’s never strayed from his childhood faith. “In later teenage years in my twenties, I did a lot of stupid things,” he recently told CBN News during a wide-ranging sit-down interview. “But I never went away from my faith. I never had that crisis where I didn’t believe in God or believe in Jesus.”

Sorbo, a second-generation Norwegian, described growing up near Lake Minnetonka, in a small town about 20 miles outside of Minneapolis to loving parents who were “very devoted Christians.” “My mom’s still alive at 92,” Sorbo said. “My father passed 12 years ago. My best friend, he’s the best man at my wedding. My dad, I miss him every day.”

As a teen, Sorbo was part of a youth group, listening to sermons that made the Bible applicable to his young life and experience. But something happened when he was just 13 that set a powerful faith rooting in his life. “When I was 13, we took a field trip to the St. Paul fairgrounds with the Rev. Billy Graham,” Sorbo said. “It was a hot August night. There [were] like 300,000 people there outside. It was amazing — full moon was out and Billy Graham’s like incredible, even though he’s a mile away on the stage.”

Little did Sorbo know, but he’d end up meeting Graham that night. As he was sitting and talking with someone, he felt a hand on his head. “I turned around and it was Billy Graham,” Sorbo said. “And he had his security guys with him, of course. But his head was perfectly behind the full moon. It’s like these rays coming out of his head. And I … got goosebumps.”

The encounter stuck with Sorbo. Years later, the actor made it big and then publicly recounted the story to the late TV host Larry King. That’s when Graham’s publicist reached out to tell Sorbo they were looking to do a “Chicken Soup” book based on Graham. Sorbo’s story was included in the book, and he even ended up helping with publicity for the project. “It was really cool,” Sorbo said. “I’ve become good friends with [Graham’s son] Franklin Graham ever since then. … That was kind of an important time in my life.” Watch Sorbo tell his story.