Kristoffer Polaha, 42, is an American actor who is known for his Christian faith. He has appeared in dozens of episodes of TV shows from Castle to CSI Miami, Hawaii Five-O and North Shore. He has also starred in several movies and has publicly stated he favors Hallmark movies, because he wants to be able to sit with his seven year old son as they watch shows.

He stared in Hallmark’s hit Rocky Mountain Christmas.

Though today a devoted Christian, it wasn’t always that way. And he recently shared his story on The Billy & Justin Show about God’s remarkable protection that brought him back to faith.

In an article on Pureflix, Kristoffer said he grew up in a home with a Pentecostal mother and Catholic father and when he was 17 years old, he took a sabbatical from his faith.

He was wondering if his success could be attributed to his faith in God or his own personal abilities and decided to test that by not praying for six months. He added:

“That six months turned into six years.”

During this six years, he dabbled in other religions but towards the end was slowly starting to pray again, but that all dramatically changed while walking down New York City’s 9th Avenue with a friend, a woman named Catherine.

Incredibly, they ended up beside a restaurant just as the owner was blowing it up. Just before the blast, Kristoffer said he felt that he should move to the other side of his friend telling her that he felt better being on the other side.

Shortly after he moved, the restaurant exploded with Kristoffer taking the full force of the blast. In an interview with The Blaze, Kristoffer said:

“This fireball engulfs us, the glass hits us, the next thing I know, I’m standing in the first lane of traffic looking downtown …. she’s standing, but she’s above the blast facing uptown.”

Because he changed position, Kristoffer’s body protected Catherine from the large glass shards that slashed into into the actor resulting in over 180 stitches on his face, arm and leg. He still has a scar on the left side of his face as a reminder of what God did.

At the hospital, the fire marshal told Kristoffer:

“You know it’s a miracle that you’re alive right now. You should have been decapitated.”

But this wasn’t the only miracle that night. Because of a red light, there were no cars traveling down the road, when Kristoffer and Catherine were blown on to the street by the blast.

Because of this miraculous protection, Kristoffer realized God was still with him and this jolted him back to a serious faith in God.

This is exactly the thought the Apostle Paul was expressing when he wrote:

Sources:

• Actor Who Stopped Praying and Fell Away From His Faith Reveals the Death-Defying Moment That Brought Him Back to God: The Blaze
• The death-defying moment that brought this actor back to God: Charismanews