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Daredevil Completes Skyscraper Tightrope Walks

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Nik Wallenda does it again.  This time with his most challenging tight-rope walk ever.

The daredevil successfully completed two skyscraper tightrope walks over Chicago as millions watched.

He survived a 50-story high walk between skyscrapers at a 15-degree incline in one of the gustiest cooridors of Chicago and for part of it, he was blind-folded!  And There was no safety net and no harness.

On a recent beautiful evening in Sarasota, Florida, a crowd gathered to watch hometown hero Nik Wallenda practice what he does best.

Wallenda comes from seven generations of high-wire artists, including his own mother. The two shared the wire in Puerto Rico in 2011 in honor of his great-grandfater Karl Wallenda, who fell to his death there in 1978 at the age of 73.

Nik Wallenda successfully crossed Niagra Falls in 2012 and the Grand Canyon in 2013.

CBN's Wendy Griffith asked Wallenda if he ever feels like he's tempting God with these dangerous acrobatics.

"You know, I don't," he said. "Don't we walk by faith, not by sight?" (Referring to the scripture in 2 Corin. 5:7.)

"This is something that I have trained for my entire life. I've trained to walk a wire since I was 2 years old. If I were to not train at all, if I were to tell you, 'Wendy, you're gonna walk the city of Chicago blindfolded,' that would be tempting God, in my opinion," Wallenda said.

While Wallenda is a great showman and loves to thrill the crowds with his death-defying acts -- he said his main mission is to point people to "the One" who holds him while he's up there on the wire.

"I choose to use what I do as an occupation, to bring glory to God's name. It is me living my life, and I think that's why there's so much respect in the mainstream media," he said.

"There was very little negativity to me saying the name of Jesus over 60 times in front of 200 countries around the world, millions of people, 20 million people in the United States alone watching that live," he said.

Wallenda said the testimonies that come from his performances motivate him to keep pushing.

"One woman said, 'I didn't walk for four years, and I saw you proclaiming the name of Jesus with a balancing pole in your hand, and I couldn't walk without a cane. So I grabbed my cane, I put it in my hands, and I started calling out the name of Jesus, and I took the first five steps I've taken in three or four years!" Wallenda recalled her saying.

This WAS Wallenda's first time publicly walking the high-wire blind-folded. He knew it would be challenging but he wasn't worried.

"I have peace in where I'm gonna end up if I were to lose my life. However, I have a beautiful wife and three beautiful children. I have no desire of losing my life on a wire," he admitted. "That's why I train so hard, that's why I train, knowing that I won't even step foot on that wire if the winds exceed 50 miles per hour that night."

And as you might have guessed, many prayed for unusually calm winds over Chicago Sunday night.

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About The Author

Wendy Griffith
Wendy
Griffith

Wendy Griffith is a Co-host for The 700 Club and an Anchor and Senior Reporter for the Christian Broadcasting Network based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. In addition to The 700 Club, Wendy co-anchors Christian World News, a weekly show that focuses on the triumphs and challenges of the global church. (https://www.facebook.com/CBNCWN). Wendy started her career at CBN on Capitol Hill, where she was the network’s Congressional Correspondent during the Impeachment trial of former President Bill Clinton. She then moved to the Virginia Beach headquarters in 2000 to concentrate on stories with a more