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Pastor Al & Judy Jandl
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On Sunday morning at Living Stones you can see a miracle in motion. That miracle is Pastor Al Jandl, who at 32 years of age met Jesus Christ and began a whole new life.
Until that time, he had experienced more destruction and heartaches than most people would in several lifetimes. The miracle is that God not only transformed his life, but also now uses him to help countless others find the same path out of defeat.
Pastor Al was born in Minnesota, the second of five children. Their family was like most during the depression — wondering if they would make it from day to day. Alcoholism and family violence were everyday occurrences, and even at a young age, he sensed rejection within his family and from his peers.
He was kicked out of public school in the first grade and sent to a Lutheran school. At age 12, he lived in a boys’ home for several months and later moved in with an aunt and uncle. Everywhere he turned, it seemed he didn't fit in — that no one really wanted him. This hopelessness lured him into drinking at a young age. He took life-threatening risks by driving too fast, jumping rail cars and picking fights with the biggest guys around. He ran with the roughest people he could find and sometimes rode with a motorcycle gang.
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Al & Judy Jandl
Senior Pastors |
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 Right out of high school, he married a girl already pregnant by a married man. He saw an opportunity to have a family of his own and gladly accepted the responsibility. By this time, he was working for a national grocery chain and it looked as if his life might turn around for good.
They had a baby of their own, but his happiness came to an abrupt halt when he discovered his wife was again pregnant, but this time by her former lover. Pain, anger and rejection began to control him. On the night of that child’s birth, he could no longer suppress his feelings. He shot and wounded the other man. He went before a judge, and the charges were dismissed by the grand jury. But he decided bad guys always win and good guys lose, and told God to get out of his life. He declared that if there was a devil, he wanted him to come in.
 Life went from bad to worse. His drinking increased. He divorced and remarried, but that marriage soon ended in divorce. A third marriage ended when his wife was killed in a plane crash. His lifestyle was out of control, except for his job, where he excelled as one of his company's best and brightest.
Early one morning, while working in the Houston area, he was shot with a 380 automatic during an attempted robbery. He had an out-of-body experience, and in the moments that followed, asked God to give him another chance. Immediately, his spirit returned to his physical body. He was rushed to the hospital and later released. Doctors said the bullet that had entered his head ricocheted into his neck, making his condition inoperable.
 While in the hospital, a pastor came to see him and prayed with him, but Jandl did not experience salvation at that time. For two more years, he continued to struggle with alcohol and a chaotic life.
One day he discovered his fourth wife had abandoned him for another man. He left work and spent his day drinking. On his way home from the bar, he planned to drink enough to achieve the necessary numbness to shoot himself.
As he sat on the bed with a gun in his hand, Jandl decided that life had been hell since he was a little boy, and if he died and went to a real hell that would be even worse. He asked God to keep him from hell and began to pray the only prayer he knew — the Lord's Prayer.
 For a long time he prayed and thought about the prayer, over and over. He found an old Bible in his closet and began to read. That's when the miracle happened. God's presence hit him on that bed. He jumped up and ran to the kitchen, throwing away the beer and liquor that was left. He wadded up his cigarettes and threw them in the trash. He ran out into his driveway yelling, "This is the happiest day of my life." His circumstances had not changed, but Al Jandl had.
 The rest of the story can be seen by all. God called him to preach two years later. That was more than 30 years ago. He's been married to a born-again Christian woman since 1976 and they have two daughters. God is still restoring his life. The life that was destined to fail has been transformed by a God who doesn't want any to perish.
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