Some things you just have to take on faith. Like the life of Arthur Blessitt - could it possibly be?

Yes, apparently it is. The zesty 68-year-old has spent 40 years carrying a 45-pound cross around the world and preaching Jesus. He tells audiences he's been jailed 22 times, slogged through deserts and jungles and stuck "Jesus" stickers on Soviet machine guns. He's charmed the guys behind the machine guns. He's schmoozed with the world's slipperiest and noblest characters, from Moammar Gadhafi and Yasser Arafat to Billy Graham and John Paul II.

Eighteen years ago, when he married his second wife, Denise (they met in London), "I was on one side of him," Denise says, "and the cross was on the other."

On Sunday, the adventuring Blessitts, plus daughter Sophia, 4, were in Broomfield, to tell their epic tale to a flock of 150 at Holy Spirit Anglican Church. Take your pick of incidents, like being rounded up by armed soldiers in Burundi: "The situation seemed out of control, but God was in control," said Denise, who spoke first.

The flock, by the way, has had adventures, too. It's one of the latest to split from the crumbling Episcopal Church. They now rent Sunday worship space in the regal ballroom at Chateaux at Fox Meadows. Pastor Chuck Reeder says they aren't looking for permanent space; they want to direct all their resources to inspiring members to go into the world and evangelize for Christ. One way is to expose them to inspired Christians like Blessitt, who now lives in Denver, and spoke for free.

Not that they could imitate Blessitt, exactly. Who's like Blessitt?

"I always wanted to be the emergency crew for Jesus - go out there and say, 'There's hope,' " Blessitt tells the riveted crowd. In jeans and work shirt, with a handsome bearing and intense blue eyes, he looks like a seasoned movie star.

Well, close enough. In the 1960s, this Mississippi boy went to Hollywood to preach. He became known as "the minister of Sunset Strip." He says on Christmas Day 1969, God called him to take up his cross, literally, and go around the world.

Along the way, the self-described "insane crazy guy with a big cross" had five kids with his first wife and developed a support system of Christians who supply him with funds and vehicles. (Denise drives while he walks.) A modest but well-timed home purchase in Florida years ago sold crazy-good years later. Now the Blessitts live in a Lowry townhome.

Funny, in all his journeys, he's never been sick, "not a bunion, not a callus."

But come on, ever want to quit?

"Not even for one day," he says stoutly. "God has a mission and a plan for each of us. Sure, there are difficulties and struggles. But here's how you live it - one step at a time. Just like the way you walk around the world."

torkelsonj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5055