From Running Drugs to Running Toward Jesus

“When I got busted, it wasn't a bummer. It was like God really grabbed me by the shoulders and said, ‘I've let you do it your way. Now, I'm going to do it My way.’”

Apr 29, 2026

One might think that getting sent to prison for running drugs would be the lowest point of your life. But for Bill Gray, he experienced something unexpected—total peace.

Not because of his circumstances…but because he knew God was taking over.

Join me on the podcast for a conversation that will challenge you, encourage you, and remind you that no one is too far gone—and that God can use every part of your story for good.

Below is a snippet of our conversation. You can listen to/watch the full conversation on Apple, Spotify or YouTube.

Tell us your story.

I was one of 14 kids. Classic Irish Catholic in South Minneapolis. Parents were pretty religious. I was an altar boy, went to Catholic grade school. I was the 10th of 14 and, you know, I always grew up going to church and thinking I was a Christian.

Really went through the drug phase and high school rebellion. I moved out of my parents’ home when I was 16, was a sophomore in high school, and just really didn’t wanna live by their rules. Very selfish. Started using drugs, partying, things like that.

And I got mixed up, I can’t really say ‘with the wrong crowd’ — I mean, I was part of it – I can’t say I was heavily influenced, I was just a bad kid, but thought I was great. Very egotistical and things like that.

So, I was just doing drugs. And I was a very small player, playing in the drug world, if you want to call it that. Back then, this would have been 1976, 1977. Ran drugs for a little bit.

Got a scholarship to a small school out in Massachusetts. Kind of blew that away as I was doing drugs in my first year and just partying. I took some classes at the University of Minnesota, didn’t really know which way I was going to go.

And friends of mine who, when I moved out of my parents’ house at 16, kind of adopted me, made sure I had food in the house and they were very instrumental in just kind of loving on me.

At the time I didn’t know they were Christian, but I saw how they went to church on Sunday nights, which as a Catholic was like, wow, that’s crazy. Why do you go to church on Sunday night and Wednesday night?

And so I really thought that was interesting, but they never really preached Jesus at me or to me, they just lived it. And then once in a while they would share the Gospel with me. And I thought, well, you know, I believe that.

Then basically, through that period, I came to know the Lord as they shared with me that it was a personal relationship. It wasn’t a do’s and don’t of the Catholic Church.

And I’m not bashing the Catholic Church. I know there’s a lot of believers in the Catholic Church. But for me at that time, my works were gonna outweigh my bad works and I’m gonna get to heaven. I didn’t know Jesus Christ as my personal savior.

So they led me to the Lord and then I was like wow I’m really starting to do my drug trade, which was very small, but I thought I could compartmentalize it, thinking I’ve got my Bible study friends over here, my Christian friends over here, and I’ve got my drug deals over here.

And I was a very small player, you know, pot and cocaine, really not that big a deal, but I really wasn’t hurting anybody. I had the best of both worlds and was really playing the game.

And over about a 12 month period, I really got convicted. The Holy Spirit was convicting me that hey, you’re being hypocritical, you know, this is what the Bible says about being a hypocrite.

So anyway, I was picking up drugs in Gainesville, Florida. I hadn’t slept for a couple of days — high on cocaine, smoking pot, partying — and ended up getting busted.

I ended up spending time. I was a juvenile in the state of Florida, but I spent time in prison, which scared me straight, for sure.

But when I got busted, it wasn’t a bummer. It was like God really grabbed me by the shoulders and said, I’ve let you do it your way. Now, you’re not getting it done, I’m going to do it my way with you. And so I really had a lot of peace about what was going on.

What was it like being in prison?

I was very blessed throughout the whole time frame. I was only in for almost seven months. And then I had four and a half years probation, where I had to report to a parole officer every month.

And through it all, I was protected. I didn’t have any issues other than seeing bad things, but God protected me and I was smart enough or discerning enough that, you know, if you just keep a low profile and keep your mouth shut. I saw other people not do that.

So I realized, I’ve just got to get through this and, you know, I deserved to be there. So I didn’t have any self pity. It was kind of like, let’s get this over with God, get me out of here, please.

And God just took care of me as I went through that, came out, and all the dumb things I still did even as a Christian. I was just like, okay, God’s working in my life. And we have our ups and downs obviously.

But, for me, it was a lot of fun because I even had siblings, my older brothers, I got together with them one time early and had lunch and they were like, what do you think, you’re an apostle now? And, I mean, they were really questioning my faith.

And I’m like, no, you know, I really don’t know other than it’s a relationship with Jesus Christ. I want to get to know Him better.

And at that time, it had been several years since I moved out of my parents’ home. I had no contact with my parents then. And so it was through this that I reconnected with them.

And on that note, I kind of became the Jesus guy in my family. So my family was like, hey, Billy went through the drug phase. Now he’s going through the Jesus phase. He’ll grow out of it and then he’ll be normal with us. And obviously here I am still in the Jesus phase.

How has your relationship with the Lord evolved since then?

It’s a hard concept for anybody, not just Catholic, to realize the concept of grace and to realize this God of the universe wants a relationship with you.

You know, if man wrote the Bible or was in charge of things, he would never have done it how God has done it. He takes imperfect people like us, like me. And I mean this blows me away…I can speak a kind word to somebody and that might affect them for eternity. That blows me away.

And for whatever reason, you know, I can’t even tell you exactly when, in Oklahoma City, we helped a guy at the homeless shelter. And so we’ve been doing that for 40 years. And it’s just one of those things we do.

At first, maybe we had the mindset we’re working our way to heaven, but no, it’s something we want to go do because by the grace of God, we can make a difference in light of eternity, which still, to this day, blows me away — that God lets us have a part in that.

And we were heavily involved in the youth group at our church in Oklahoma. So we taught high school and junior high for 20-some years. And it’s just been amazing how many times I could recognize a kid that, number one, might not have been getting along at home or was quietly using drugs.

And we were able to, by God’s grace, at least have a conversation as we developed a relationship with those kids that wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been through my own experience.

I joke quite a bit that Catholics make great Christians because, you know, we’re guilted into doing works. My wife and I joke about that because we both grew up Catholic. But on that note, I just think realizing that life isn’t about you.

And I’ll always remember this, I had an experience, I was fairly young and I was witnessing to a customer. And I did not want to. He was much older than I was and, you know, big drinker and the whole thing and did a lot of business. I didn’t want to offend him and I wasn’t very good at sharing my testimony or witnessing.

And I was so nervous. I was out in the parking lot and I was praying, I got a track and I’m gonna go in to this customer. He might be so mad, he’s gonna throw me out, all that kind of stuff.

And I went in with the track and I couldn’t have butchered what I was gonna say any more. I didn’t have verses memorized, I mean the ones I thought I had memorized — just blah. And I’m giving him the track.

But basically, I ended up saying, ‘Hey, God loves you. And I put my faith in Jesus.’ And I mean, I just stumbled it out. Here’s a track and I was ready to get out of there.

And the guy has a tear in his eye and he pulls out of his desk drawer — his kid was a Christian and the night before had given him Paul Little’s book, Know Why You Believe.

As God as my witness, that is exactly how it happened. That was in Minneapolis before we moved to Oklahoma City. I lost touch with him. I couldn’t tell you what happened after that, because we ended up moving and I lost touch with him.

But I was so nervous and couldn’t have done it worse if you wanted to script something. And here, I had no idea, nor did I take into consideration, that somehow God had somebody else in his life that was working on him.

And so knowing your work done for the Lord is not in vain. And really believe it, even if you don’t see it. Just know God’s there and God sees it and you’re doing it for the Lord. And you don’t have to worry about anything else.

Listen to or watch the full conversation on Apple, Spotify or YouTube.

Thank you for being here,

Katharine

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