By Nell Mohney
I could feel my face stiffening in horror as I heard the words, “He murdered four of his five children.”
“My reaction was the same as yours,” said Dr. Harold Bales, a United Methodist minister now serving in North Carolina. “I was so repulsed by what had happened that I became nauseous every time I picked up his letter.”
The man we were discussing is Robert A. Johnson, murderer turned Christian disciple. “The letter” referred to one written by Johnson to Dr. Bales when he was director of publishing at Tidings Publishing House in Nashville.
Inundated by guilt and the tormenting awareness of his heinous crime, Robert Johnson was visited by a Christian friend who left him a booklet on God’s forgiveness, published by Tidings. Through the booklet and the encouragement of his friend, Robert experienced the miraculous forgiveness of God through Christ, and his life began to have hope and purpose.