Another Special Life in Christ

These testimony lives are not stories of "role models". Jesus is the role model!
These are lives wonderfully touched & changed by Jesus!

Charles Barry Mayson (1944-2007):

Is this "Hell's Angel" a "fallen angel"?: Born the same year as I (1943), he was a rider with the Hell's Angels in the 1960s-70s. He wore a "1%" patch on his jacket in response to a police official's remark that 99 percent of the public is law-abiding. In those days, the only way "out" of the gang was death...that's the rule of life of the Hell's Angels, the then most notorious and dreaded motorcycle gang in the United States. The life of the Hell's Angels supposedly only consists of drinking, drugs, power, prostitution, and stolen goods.

He had grown up in Charleston, South Carolina. He had no recollections of his father; he thought he had died. His 5-foot-tall, 80 pound mother did all she could sweetly do to raise him in a Christian home; and he made a profession of faith in Jesus at age 9. But, he later learned that his father was in jail serving a life sentence for murder. When Barry was age 16, his stepfather, Ben Mayson, died of malaria. By cheating his way through high school, he managed to graduate. But his college career was short-lived...the small Baptist college in which he was enrolled in the mountains of Georgia soon expelled him. He joined the Army, married, and fathered two sons.

Then, after seeing the motorcycling movie, "Hell's Angels on Wheels" with the seeming carefree life on the road, the motorcycle entered his life. To him it spelled freedom, a chance to break out of the ever-narrowing circle of life. He began to ride with a small Atlanta club called the Rising Suns. His marriage fell apart. When police raided the club, Barry fled to stay out of jail. He was 26. From the Rising Suns, he moved to a feared South Carolina club, the Tribulators; they called him Barry-Barry. Four years later he met the Hell's Angels and became a member on the East Coast. He was soon involved in terrorist-type activities. He had guns with silencers and 25 pounds of explosives hidden in his backyard. "Everything was well organized and secret, but I knew that people were getting killed," he says. Oddly, his mom came bursting into the club one day, "Praise the Lord! God gave me a vision to tell you that you aren't a Hell's angel; you are a child of God!" Soon, the gang life that had spelled freedom had become an enslavement!

In 1976 this biker went to California for the funeral of an "angel" who had been shot and killed in San Diego. Here he was given orders to kill several members of a rival club on the East Coast. Although he had been involved in crime for several years, he balked at the thought of himself committing murder. He refused, was rejected by the gang and became the next target of his "own" gang. On luckily spotting the gang set for the "hit", he ducked into a restaurant to contemplate his last minutes alive. And, deeply troubled (from San Francisco), he called, "Gypsy", his second wife who was staying with his mother in South Carolina. He previously feared or respected no one -- except his mom -- a devoted Christian who had always sweetly, lovingly, and fearlessly spoken to him and his biker and prostitute friends about the love of Christ. He now expected to be killed. He wanted to tell his wife and mother that he was sorry for all that he had done that pained them over the years. He felt afraid, lonely, and empty. But Barry's mother began to give him hope. No one is beyond forgiveness, she told him, quoting the Bible promises of God's love and offer of salvation. The telephone conversation lasted three hours during which his loving mother lead him back to Jesus again!

He hung up the phone and looked up into a wall mirror and thought he saw FBI agents behind him. He thought, "I can't believe Momma went and called the FBI and got them here so quick!" He walked out thinking they were behind him; as he got away, he realized that no FBI was actually there. Barry is sure that he was accompanied by angels who could be seen by others as FBI agents. It was later known that Barry's mom had been given a vision at that same time of Barry being protected by a hedge of fire.

At age 33, something happened to Charles Barry Mayson that night of 27 October 1976. In his own words, "A new hope, new joy, and healing power swept over me as Jesus gloriously made me a new creature." The Hound of Heaven made a life changing visit. "Barry-Barry" and "1%-Barry" died; a new Barry emerged. The new Barry went to a Bible college in Florida, was ordained a minister of the gospel, and returned to Charleston to start a youth and prison ministry called Heaven's Saints Motorcycle Ministry which is much involved in youth prison prevention efforts. He even wrote to the Hell's Angels and sent them Christian literature!

But if Barry was finished with the gang, the gang was not finished with Barry. One day a member came to his door, claiming to have quit the Hell's Angels and asking for help. He stayed with Barry for six weeks. One day when he was drunk he confessed that he had been sent to kill Barry but could not bring himself to do it. After that, the Hell's Angels, concluding that Barry was a "nut," left him alone.

How do you account for Barry's story? That something happened to him that night in the San Francisco diner is obvious...something dramatic, something radical. Barry Mayson became a new person. "Gypsy" accepted Jesus that same night; and Barry & Fran had 2 boys and a girl, the two youngest raised as Christians. Of his 5 children, the 3 oldest went through really severe problems. Barry still travels through the country but now trying to be in the service of Jesus Christ. As best he is able, he trys to help prisoners and young people in trouble. In schools he also gives advice concerning alcohol and drugs and especially wants to warn about the awful consequences of all kinds of addictions. In "Fallen Angel," a 46-minute Christian video interview, Barry Mayson tells his life story. You can obtain a copy of this and his gripping book, Fallen Angel: Hell's Angel to Heaven's Saint (revised & updated...Barry Mayson with Tony Marco) from Time for Hope.

UPDATE: On Dec. 16, 2012, one of Barry's oldest boys sent me an e-mail illustrating what almost all of us who have been rescued by Jesus learn: seldom is our transformation...day-to-day...complete. And, even in the wake of change, consequences (?) of prior behavior churn forward within one's children as they struggle to cope. At least two of Barry's children are gay (see THIS). In this communication with me, his son...having struggled with the fundamentalist' tendency to justify condemnation of gays with Bible interpretations...offers the following book as a real eye-opener as to what the Bible may REALLY have said about gay behavior: "Growing up in a Christian fundamentalist community and being gay was challenging, to say the least. This is why the book, What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality ( Daniel A. Helminiak), was important in forming balance in my life as a Christian and gay."

On 9 July 2019, Gloria Cook emailed me: "In the 1980’s I was friends of Barry and Fran.  They lived in West Columbia SC and I lived in nearby Columbia.  I did some bookkeeping for his ministry and went to Forest Drive Baptist Church-which they frequently attended.  They were both wonderful people, and I loved them."

Hound of Heaven: In some cases, salvation is forced onto someone. I call these instances "Hound of Heaven" rescues. [Wikipedia note, HERE.] In addition to former Hells Angels biker, Barry Mayson, I consider the following as sometimes even more dramatic rescues: famous originally bad-ass heavyweight boxer, George Foreman; famous Gospel blue grass artist, Lily Fishman Isaacs; famous news commentator, Kirsten Powers; former bad-ass, rough-man bully, Kirk Martin; and, former druggie captured by murderer, Ashley Smith.

COMMENT: During the past 4 years (2009-2013), my pastor has focused on (1) Jesus' clarification of the earthly component of the Gospel as being all about right relationships ("righteousness"). And (2) he has amply demonstrated how the ancient mind, able only to understand through the "mindset" of suzerain thinking, has failed to lay down a record that rightly reflects His emphasis of the primary love and grace of God, our Father, for all (not His condemnation and punishment).

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[revised & posted 23 Jan. 2002; significant update 27 July 2013; latest addition, 9 July 2019]

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You have just read a very brief example of the powerful, supernatural transformation of a person's life which is possible through the acceptance of Jesus as your savior. Are you tired of life as it now is for you? He will accept you just as you are right this second! Consider accepting Jesus now [check it out]!