Oliver North, who was recently picked to be the new president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), says his life was changed during military service after a superior officer advised him to read the Bible.
The former U.S. Marine stopped by at the Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Dallas to deliver a speech during a Memorial Day service on Sunday.
Derric Bonnot, creative director of Fellowship Church, said North was invited to speak at the church to help congregants understand the significance of Memorial Day.
"Who better to help us understand the sacrifice that these men and women had made than somebody who had been there," Bonnot said, according to NBCDFW.
In his speech, North recalled how a superior officer had risked his career to share the Gospel with him.
"Read this. You have to get to know your Lord and Savior," North recalled the officer as saying, as reported by Dallas News. "You tried that today — a superior officer telling a subordinate — you'd get a court martial," he added.
The retired Marine lieutenant colonel said that he eventually came upon the Gospel of Matthew, which tells the story of a man of position asks Jesus Christ to heal a servant.
North contended that the senior ranking service member did the same thing for him when the officer urged him to commit his life to Jesus Christ.
"My life was completely transformed at the age of 35 because a leader who made a commitment to our Lord and Savior showed me I needed to have that same commitment," North recalled, according to Dallas News.
North, who has served as the host of "War Stories" on Fox News, was convicted of three felony counts in 1989 in connection with his role in the Iran-Contra affair during the Reagan-Bush administration.
The controversy involved the sales of weapons to Iran, which was under an embargo at the time as part of an effort to persuade the regime to release U.S. hostages. North's conviction was later overturned on a technicality, according to The Guardian.
The NRA, which made the announcement about North's new role earlier this month, hailed the retired marine as a "legendary warrior for American freedom, a gifted communicator and skilled leader."
Dallas News said hundreds of congregants were present during North's speech at Fellowship Church. Dozens reportedly stayed behind after the service to ask the retired marine to sign copies of his book "Under Fire: An American Story," which chronicles his trial over the Iran-Contra affair.
