To say Jackson’s ministry started two years ago would be a fact. In many ways, however, it started 46 years ago when he was born, 22 years ago when he met his wife and nine years ago in the Bahamas.
Jackson was born in a Catholic home, played in a Catholic youth basketball league and attended Catholic high school and college St. John’s. But he wasn’t much for going to church services, and he wasn’t “born again.”
That changed soon after Desiree Coleman, a successful Broadway performer and R&B singer, caught his eye on TV. One look, and Jackson told his roommate he had found his wife – well before he had met the singer.
After Coleman turned him down twice, including an offer that included a first-class flight to Houston and courtside tickets at the 1989 NBA All-Star Game he was playing in, Jackson finally got a first date. But Coleman’s full approval of Jackson didn’t come at the dinner table or the movie theater of their first date, but in the closing minutes in his car – when she broke down her definition of salvation and he committed to it. They were married in 1990.
“I wasn’t a bad kid,” Jackson said. “I didn’t have any drugs or drinking in my background. I didn’t have anything crazy in my background. I was a college graduate. I bought my parents a house and a car. I loved my family. I was doing things the right ways, but, according to my belief, I was still on my way to hell.
“My life and my afterlife changed that night.”
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