Tommy Heslep is uncommonly strong. He can crush potatoes with his fists and bend coins in his teeth.

 

At only 5 feet 10 inches and 170 pounds, Heslep, 33, has one of the strongest grips in the world, and he uses his impressive physical ability as a tool for evangelism. He often visits churches near his town of Front Royal, Va., and ministers to the youth at his home church, First Assembly of God. But he also has appeared in unlikely pulpits, such as on the Tonight Show With Jay Leno and at last year’s Awakening Music Festival, where he performed feats of strength before a crowd of 10,000.

 

At events, he says he often holds up a nail and asks the crowd if they know what held Jesus on the cross. “Sometimes people won’t know the answer. Most of the time they holler out, ‘The nails,’” says Heslep (tommyheslep.com). “And I tell them, ‘The nails were the instrument, but what really held [Him] on the cross was love.’ Then I show them what I like to do with nails.”

 

What he does with nails is drive them into boards with his hands; he is one of only a few people worldwide who can pinch grip 90 pounds. But he says his goal is to glorify God, not himself. Last year, he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and lost more than 20 pounds as a result. He says God orchestrated a miraculous recovery after he began reading books by author Jordan Rubin, who also suffered from the gastrointestinal disease.