Powerlifting champ mixes spirituality, strength in local programs

CROTHERSVILLE — Steve Carrier may be in the “Guinness Book of World Records” for breaking 30 baseball bats over his thigh in 53 seconds.

He may have been the most valuable player of his high school basketball team.

He may be able to rip phone books and license plates apart with his bare hands, bust 7Up cans in a matter of seconds, bend steel bars over his head or knee and break concrete blocks with his elbows.

These things may make Carrier seem powerful, but it’s not about the glory or the title or the fame. It’s about the message he relates while doing these things onstage.

“This is not a bodybuilding program,” he told the audience at First Baptist Church in Crothersville on Monday. “This is a faith-building program.”

Through his work with Mega Force Ministries, Carrier, who stands at 6-4, weighs 290 pounds and has 22-inch biceps, focuses not only on the rare feats of strength, but the power of his words.

“I have a heartbeat and a passion for this type of ministry,” Carrier said, as he’s been doing it for 16 years.

His message has made an impact anywhere he’s gone.

Carrier talked about, as he was getting ready to do one of his programs at a school, he heard a boy crying. Carrier approached the boy and asked what was wrong.

The boy told Carrier he was tired of kids picking on him, his parents were going through a divorce and he was contemplating suicide. The boy was a fifth-grader.

So what did Carrier do? He asked the boy if he would like to help him onstage during the program that day at the school.

The boy then lit up and his outlook totally changed. He was a different person when he was onstage, and the thoughts of suicide totally escaped his mind.

“It doesn’t get any better than that,” Carrier said. “If I hadn’t been sent as a missionary, I don’t think this young man would be here today, to be honest.”

Tracy Hougland of Crothersville had attended the program Carrier delivered earlier Monday at Crothersville Junior-Senior High School. She said one girl had been so positively affected by Carrier’s words that, after the program, she went to her locker and came back to him with a box of razor blades.

She used those razor blades to cut herself, but after hearing Carrier’s words, she didn’t want to do it anymore.

That’s exactly the impact Carrier strives to make, helping children make the right decisions.

“Kids are falling into this well, and all I’m trying to do is reach in and pull them out one at a time,” Carrier said.

Pastor Jon Pearce of First Baptist Church of Crothersville was glad to have Carrier back. Carrier had done programs at the church a couple of years ago, and he presented a program Sunday and Monday and will do one more at 7 p.m. today. Then on Wednesday, Carrier will do a finale at Cornerstone Ministry Center in Seymour.

“He has a great message, and I’ve gotten more response from his revivals than I’ve had with any evangelist or revivals,” Pearce said.

Pearce said Carrier’s message is “long-lasting.”

“A lot of kids don’t think anyone cares and they lack vision,” Pearce said. “(Carrier) brings the vision back. They have value, purpose. His message is you are not born a winner or a loser, you’re born a chooser.”

Ashley Isenhower, 14, an eighth-grader at Crothersville Junior-Senior High School, attended the program at school and at the church.

She liked when Carrier ripped the license plates because “I’ve never seen anyone do that before and it’s entertaining.”

But, she said, after seeing Carrier do that, “I realize anything’s possible with God’s faith.”

Terry Stout of Crothersville also felt the impact of the program.

“He lightened me up a little bit more,” Stout said of Carrier. “His ministry was wonderful. This is real powerful ministry. He gives a more focused message, and he’s right to the point about Jesus Christ and tells it exactly like it is. It’s truth, and truth is God and Jesus Christ.
“God has given him a wonderful gift. He’s powerful in his ministry, and he has the strength because God gave him the strength to help people out.”

If you go
What: Performance of unusual feats of strength mixed with inspirational messages
Who: Powerlifting champion Steve Carrier of Mega Force Ministries, presented by Community Outreach for Youth
Where: First Baptist Church, 401 E. Howard St., Crothersville, and Cornerstone Ministry Center, 1088 Sarasota Drive, Seymour
When: 7 p.m. today at Crothersville and Wednesday at Seymour
Cost: Free
Information: Call Tim Goodpaster at (812) 498-0249 or visit stevecarrier.org.