Rich Brown: Webb City pastor 'Hooked' on what God is orchestrating
3/28/09
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Have you ever thought you just don't have enough time in the day to get everything done? If you are human, the answer would be yes.
Any time you think life is passing you by and you are too busy to enjoy it, consider Howie Nunnelly. What this Webb City pastor accomplishes day in and day out is remarkable.
Not only does Nunnelly pastor The Road, a nondenominational church at the corner of Madison and Daugherty streets in Webb City, but he also oversees the operation of four substance-abuse houses as well as holds a weekly radio program each Sunday morning. But, wait. There's more.
Nunnelly recently began taping a weekly one-hour television show, "Hooked TV," that will air for the first time on KODE at 2 a.m. Sunday, April 5.
The bottom line is that this 34-year-old Joplin native does it all to help others overcome many problems, including substance abuse that he fell prey to during his 11 years as a talk-show host in such major markets as Kansas City and Dallas.
"I hit rock bottom doing cocaine, alcohol and pills and it just about stole everything, including my life," he said.
Seven years ago, Nunnelly returned to Joplin from Dallas where he was disc jockey of a Wild 100 FM radio show.
"I was one of those crazy FM DJ's," he said.
A medical emergency and a little bit of heavenly help turned his life around, according to his Web site, www.hookedradio.com.
After suffering a heart attack, Nunnelly tells on the Web site of his amazing recovery and much more.
"While the paramedics worked on me, I just knew the next breath I took was going to be either in heaven or hell," he said. "Tears rolled out of my eyes and at that point I said 'Jesus, please save me,' and he did."
Being miraculously healed from cocaine, alcohol and pain-medication addiction, Nunnelly has come back to the Joplin area to not only help others overcome their substance abuses but, also, be closer to his four children.
The first action he took upon his return was to establish two substance-abuse discipleship houses for men and two for women called Impact Dwellings. The men's houses, with about 18 occupants, are in Webb City and the women's, with six or seven residents in each, are in Joplin.
Nunnelly and Phil Stotts, co-pastor of The Road, are the men's directors, while Juliette Rose serves as the women's director.
"The program has been wonderful," Nunnelly said. "We have had a very high success rate. Five to six out of the 10 men or women who leave our program are rehabilitated and have regained their lives. The only thing that qualifies you to come into the program is you have to be desperate."
All participants, who stay with the program nine months to a year, are required to attend three Bible classes a day given by area pastors, as well as church twice a week. Services are held at The Road at 7 p.m. Wednesday and 11 a.m. on Sunday.
"We have contemporary worship with contemporary dress," Nunnelly said. "We usually have 125 to 130 attend each service with about a 50-50 mix of people in recovery and those not in recovery."
Not bad for a church that began with a congregation of about 55 people. Nunnelly took over the pastoral reins about a year and half ago from Stotts, who started the church three years ago.
Last August, Nunnelly returned to the airwaves but this time as host of a Christian show, "Hookedradio," on KQYX 1450 AM. The show airs every Sunday morning from 8 to 9 o'clock.
"We talk to people from all realms of life who have dealt with grief, not only from substance abuse but, also, from loss of loved ones and even porn addiction," he said. "It kind of paints with a broad brush. It's a show about people who have been lost, found by God and are now free. It's sharing the life-saving gospel through the stories of people who have overcome one addiction or another."
Now the time has come for Nunnelly to venture forth into another media realm, "Hooked TV," with a 2 a.m. air time providing Christian outreach at night.
"I believe there is a segment of the population not being reached with the good news (Christian message) overnight," he said. "A lot of good programming reaches people, except overnight. This will be something that gives people hope."
Nunnelly said that each week he will have a different guest.
"We will talk one-on-one in front of a live studio audience and have guests share their stories," he said. "We will have former drug and alcohol addicts as well as some from abusive backgrounds and bad homes who fell into an addiction of misery. They will share their stories about how they got free."
Nunnelly said that a huge part of "what God is orchestrating" is Jeff Allender, who is doing all the work on production and using his camera as service to the Lord.
Not only are people being helped through all the aforementioned Nunnelly ministries but, also, through the Hookedradio Web site.
"On our Web site, people are given a chance to make a decision for Jesus and it is so nice to get an e-mail about salvation being received," he said. "We have been so blessed in so many ways."
Address correspondence to Rich Brown, c/o The Joplin Globe, P.O. Box 7, Joplin, Mo. 64802.
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