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God had been knocking on Jon Kitna's door for a while, but Jon sure wasn't listening.

So God quit knocking … and pulled out a battering ram instead. There had to be some way to get this guy's attention.

The first knock—a near-death experience Jon's freshman year in college—should've been loud enough. Jon had been out drinking all night, then passed out while driving home the next morning. He crashed into the curb, popping two tires, and barely missed smashing into a telephone pole at 40 mph.

The second knock—during his sophomore year—came when Jon and a buddy were arrested for shoplifting at a grocery store. Jon had to go to court and pay a $500 fine.

Still, Jon didn't give God even an inkling of a thought.

So God quit knocking and barged through Jon's front door instead.

Here's what happened:

Jon had been dating his girlfriend, Jennifer, for a year and a half, and they'd just had a spat at his apartment. Jennifer stormed out, and a little later, another girl showed up at Jon's place. A couple hours later, Jon and the other girl went to bed. Together.

That's when Jennifer came back. She walked through Jon's door … and caught 'em in the sack.

"Nothing had happened between me and the girl yet, because we'd just gotten into bed," Jon says. "Still, Jennifer wasn't happy about it."

The other girl left. Jennifer stayed, and she and Jon had a very big talk.

Jon spilled his guts. He told Jennifer he couldn't figure out why he kept doing all these stupid things. He was the star quarterback for the college football team. He had great friends, a wonderful family, a terrific girlfriend, and just about everything anybody could ever want—but he kept messing up.

Then he dropped the shocker: "I don't know what's going to happen between you and me, but I need to find Christ."

Jennifer's jaw hit the floor.

How does a guy go from the point of totally ignoring God to seeking a Savior, practically overnight?

Jon tells the story.

"I think God sometimes works in three stages to get your attention," he says. "At least that's how he worked in my life. First he woos you by showing you the good things that come with trusting in him. For me, God had tried to show me through my grandmother and through Christians I knew in high school.

"When that doesn't work, he wounds you. That's when I got caught stealing and almost got killed by drinking and driving.

"And when those two things don't work, I think you're either taken from this earth or you're just turned over to your sin. That's where I was. I really think I was at the end of my rope as far as the wounding went."

Jon had been a good guy in high school, though he wasn't a Christian. Still, he grew up in a loving family and had tons of friends. He rarely partied, made great grades, and was a three-sport star.

But when he went off to Central Washington University to play football, the freedom of college—no parents, few rules—was too much for him to handle. It wasn't long before he was drinking heavily, and he soon got into shoplifting and, to use his term, "womanizing." As a freshman quarterback who rarely played in games, Jon was having sex more often than he was taking snaps.

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