At events, he often asks the crowd if they know what held Jesus on the cross. “Most of the time they holler out, 'The nails!'” says Heslep (tommyheslep.com). “And I tell them, 'The nails were the instrument, but what really held [Him] on the cross was love.' Then I show them what I like to do with nails.”
What he likes to do with nails is drive them into boards with his hands. But he says his goal is to glorify God, not himself. Last year, he was diagnosed with Crohn's disease and lost more than 20 pounds as a result. He says God orchestrated a miraculous recovery after he read The Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin, who also suffered from the gastrointestinal disease.
Now when he bends a bolt or rips telephone books in half, he's also sharing his testimony: “I tell people, 'Look what Jesus can do.'”
