I was talking to a friend yesterday and he told me that his brother upon hearing of the news of his decision to follow Christ said he would wait and see if it was just another phase he was going through, or whether or not it “stuck” before he made the decision to do likewise. My friend’s name is Dennis Rice and he was one of infamous Charlie Manson’s most hardcore followers.
On August 21, 1971, Dennis Rice and others were involved in the robbery and shootout at the Western Surplus Store in Hawthorne, California. They drove a white van to the store, and once inside, the group brandished guns and ordered the store patrons and clerks to lie on the ground. They then took 143 rifles from the premises, loading them into their van, while a store clerk tripped the silent alarm. According to police officers, the group then debated whether to kill all of those in the store.
The group’s plan was to hijack a Boeing 747 and threaten to kill one passenger every hour until Manson and fellow Family members were released from prison. When a police squad car arrived, they opened fire on it, shattering the windshield. As more squad cars arrived, they blocked the van from fleeing the scene, spraying it with over 50 bullets; the Family members fired nearly 20 rounds at the officers. Police finally gained control of the scene and apprehended the group and off they went to prison, (including Dennis).
During his prison incarceration in notorious San Quentin, Dennis became a Christian and today he operates Free Indeed Ministries, a nonprofit Christian organization based in Tempe, Arizona. He speaks at approximately 150 prisons per year and that’s how I met him, (through the Bill Glass Behind the Walls Prison Ministry).
Dennis will be speaking at our May 12th Honey Lake Church and Worldwide Ministries church service and you won’t want to miss his fascinating first-hand account of being caught up in Manson madness and how God transformed his life and delivered him.
We have an outstanding lineup for Honey Lake Church coming up over the next few months, and I cannot thank God enough for bringing these amazing folks to our neck of the woods. This weekend, (March 10th), we have “LeRoy Mack” and his wife Janice. LeRoy became incredibly successful as a guitarist and played with everyone from Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead, Charlie Daniels, Vince Gill, John Denver, and even old Andy Griffith of Mayberry fame. His rising fame and success started tearing him down but his wife Janice, who happens to be a Messianic Jew (who has an amazing story of her own of how she found Jesus to be the true Messiah), prayed and encouraged him back to reality in Christ. Today he serves the Lord with passion and one of his sons is a pastor at Element 3, (a local Tallahassee church).
Then on March 31st on Easter Sunday you DEFINITELY don’t want to miss Walter Santos, who recently performed at the Villages and received standing ovation after ovation. Santos is a former heroin addict percussionist from Bronx NY who has played music and traveled worldwide with so many big name bands I can’t list them all here. He loves the Lord with passion and now uses his amazing musical gift exclusively to glorify God. He is an unbelievable singer and performer and mixes his sermon in with his music and there is no question that he will have you feeling good, loving life and most of all praising our Savior Lord Jesus before you go home that very special day of worship. He will also perform at the Gospel Sunday Brunch prior to the Easter egg hunt for the kiddos.
April 14th we have one of my closest friends T.K. Wetherell former Speaker of the House, President Emeritus of Florida State University, renowned lobbyist, and turkey hunter extraordinaire. He is known as one of the most powerful and influential people in the entire state of Florida and his accomplishments are legendary, however he shrugs it all off, preferring to put his quiet faith in his God and Savior. T.K. has lived through the highs and lows of battling stage 4 prostate cancer for over ten years and has endured the pain and mental anguish of chemo, radiation, and other treatments with a ready smile on his face. He will share first-hand how his faith in God has lifted him up far away, above, and beyond any thought of wallowing in an abyss of self-pity. I can’t think of anyone whom I would rather be sitting in the woods awaiting that first gobble of the morning and watching the sun come up with than my buddy T.K. He loves God, is a fascinating speaker, and you won’t want to miss his testimony. Make plans now!
So, finally, I get back to my original paragraph about Dennis Rice’s brother. After thirty some odd years of waiting to see if this Jesus thing was going to “stick” with Dennis, he came to the conclusion that yes there must be something to this Jesus thing and he accepted the Lord as His personal Savior last weekend.
Dennis Rice found that Charlie Manson couldn’t save him, prison couldn’t change him, and that only Jesus Christ could set him free. His brother learned that same lesson. Halleluiah!
After hearing this great news, I laughed with delight and rejoiced with Dennis over the phone and told him to tell him that I’ve been stuck for 41 years now myself; it also stuck with Jack, (Murf the Surf), Murphy, LeRoy and Janice McNeese, Walter Santos, T.K. Wetherell, Bill Glass, and a myriad of people throughout the world.
It sticks because it’s real. Lives are transformed when Jesus Christ comes around folks. I hope you get caught up in our great cloud of witnesses to the transformational power of Christ. Come see us at Honey Lake Church and Worldwide Ministries or find a good group of Bible based Jesus loving believers of your liking and join them and feel the transformational power of God.
Allow God to transform you into a new person and even change the way you think according to his will for you…You will never be sorry…
Romans 12:2
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.