Outlaw
4 Christ...Doc
Dalton by
Charles White
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Two very loving parents from
Northern New Jersey adopted Doc. His adopted father was, and still is, a huge
influence in his life. “My father was the greatest man that I know,” Doc
proudly declared. “He would
give you the shirt off his back. He had a great sense of humor and he was
always lending a hand. He was and still is my role model.” Dubbed “The American
Outlaw” or “America’s Favorite Outlaw”, Dalton entered the world of
professional wrestling, where he met with great success. Eventually, he was
approached by a local police department to use his wrestling persona to aid
at-risk youth. The result was a program called “Body Slam On Drugs,” that
reached numerous children in the area and caught the attention of other law
enforcement agencies and legislators. However, despite the success
that Doc had achieved, one day he just walked away. He found himself in a very
dark place. He was battling clinical depression. “I spent years being
depressed and going to doctors and ending up in the hospital not once, but
twice,” Doc explained
That was a very healing
experience for Doc. To date, he has written over 150 poems. Writing taught him
an important lesson that he shares with others. “For me it really helped,”
Doc offered. “I consider myself to be the average guy and 80% of the
people out there are just like me: no better and no worse. I had a feeling
that if it works for me, it could work for a lot of people.” However his experience
didn’t just show him that he needed to write, it also showed him there was
something missing in his life: God. He quickly realized that he needed to find
a church and that he wanted to explore his relationship with God. It took him
two years to find a church he was comfortable in and another year before he
was baptized. This journey demonstrated to
him that it can be difficult to get involved in the church and begin a journey with Christ. Sometimes people can get discouraged, but
it is a matter of taking the journey one step at a time. “I say, come to Church and talk to God,” Doc stated.
“Sometimes we make it too complicated and we make it scary.”
Instead, he finds his
greatest treasure elsewhere: his daughter. “Being adopted, she is the first
thing that is really part of me. She is, without a doubt, the biggest joy in
my life and she is a hero of mine.” What words of wisdom can Doc Dalton impart? It’s pretty simple really: seek truth and have a strong, true relationship with Christ. “Be true to yourself. Listen to your heart. Talk out loud to God…he listens to you. You may not think he is listening, but he is.”
Drop by Doc's site and learn more about his ministry, his radio show and even catch a few podcasts of his show at
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