Thursday I drove down to Lakeland Florida for a fundraiser for the Christ based Talbot House Ministries – www.talbothouse.org – I spoke to about 1000 people at their annual fundraiser to try to help raise money for this worthy organization that serves some 900 meals per day to the homeless, provides a warm, safe, dry shelter for them to sleep at night, has a medical facility, addiction recovery program, vocational training, job placement department, woodworking shop, daytime safe haven refuge, psychological counseling, and even a cemetery for the ashes of those who die with no known family.
Just before going on stage I got a disturbing e-mail from someone that I know whom I thought was my friend. As so often happens to me, it seems that this so called friend was attempting to con me into sending them a large sum of money. It always upsets me when I find that someone whom I thought was a friend was not interested in me or my ministry, but only in trying to rip off some money.
Blah!
Then I happened to think that it was no small coincidence that I received this e-mail on my Blackberry literally minutes before I was to walk out on stage in front of 1000 people to give my testimony. The timing was simply too coincidental to ignore. I believe it was an obvious attempt by satan to distract me from the job at hand
I recognized it for what it was, (a satanic attack on an organization dedicated to Jesus Christ), and shook it off and went forth boldly to give my testimony, unruffled and fully focused on the job at hand. My talk was met with a standing ovation which I directed away from me and towards God, and then I asked them to give generously to Talbot House and judging from the activity of those filling out pledge cards I fully trust that they opened their hearts and wallets to God.
The next morning I participated as a platform speaker for the Bill Glass Champions for Life Prison Ministry – WWW.billglass.org– I began my day at Polk Correctional Institution which was a big prison just down the road from where I had spoken the previous night. After speaking at Polk later that afternoon I spoke at Lake Correctional Institution, and on Saturday yet another prison, and I finished up by going tier to tier at Orange County jail speaking to several groups of prisoners.
It was great to be a small part of it and to be around the 141 other dedicated servants of God enlisted for the weekend. Listen to this: 1787 people responded to our alter calls and 899 first time decisions were made to accept Christ as their Savior in the two days we were in the prisons.
I spent the first day with founder Bill Glass. He told me that his strategy is to get the prisoners to come over to our location; he calls this “chumming” them up. These are all hardened criminals and hearing about Jesus is about the last thing that any of them want to do while out in the yard and they do not come near us at first. So a variety of things are used to get them to come over to where we are set up including very loud Harley Davison motorcycles, rock bands, Nascar race cars, country music stars, ventriloquists, comedians, karate experts, the best basketball handler in the world, high wire acts, pool shooting experts, the world’s strongest man, famous athletes, celebrities, model airplanes flying 100 miles an hour over the yard, the most decorated military man in the world, and more. There’s so much cool stuff going on that it’s irresistible to all but the most hardened criminals to come check it out.
When the crowd has formed and is primed and ready, the platform speakers give their testimony. The speakers are comprised mostly of either famous athletes or people who have run afoul of the law, served time, and been transformed by God. People like famous jewel thief Murf the Surf, Dennis Rice, (the guy who tried to break Charlie Manson out of prison), former gang leaders of the fiercest gangs in the country, and gulp…yours truly…
After we shared our stories of how Jesus Christ transformed our lives, we would ask them to raise their hands if they wanted the peace, joy, and love that we now have. Most of them raised their hands. Next we instructed them to gather into small groups where our teammates could show them how to receive Christ into their lives. These people had been thoroughly trained ahead of time to provide the inmates with well written tracts with key verses concerning finding salvation and how they can not only improve but completely change their lives. They then lead them in the sinner’s prayer and congratulate them on making the best decision of their lives.
All of this occurs as the platform speakers are being whisked away to another prison in the surrounding area where the process will be repeated. The teammates who remain to pray with the inmates are mainly local people who will continue to visit the men and work with them to strengthen their newfound faith after the weekend is over and the rest of us are long gone.
It’s a great program…
As with the Talbot engagement however, we encountered countless problems. One example, the paperwork for the drummer for the band was not in order and he had to wait with me as they searched for it and all the while he desperately needed to be setting up his drums because theirs was the first performance. When we finally got into the prison yard, the band didn’t have adequate power for their equipment and they had to perform with only one guitarist because the amps would not support it. We had a guy flying model airplanes over the yard to attract prisoners over to the stage and his microphone kept cutting in and out. We had the world’s best basketball handler and she was trying to dribble the ball on a rickety trailer with three inch wide cracks in it. It was one demonic inspired snafu after another, after another, but every member of our team remained unfazed and it worked like a charm. Everywhere I went I saw delays, and impediments to our effort and yet we maintained our cool and got the word of God out to those who desperately needed to hear it. Satan has to be licking his wounds after this great weekend.
So-o-o-o… What did YOU do this weekend? I bet you didn’t have as much fun as I did. This weekend amounted to one of the highest points of my life. Satan lost his battles and God was victorious.
If you missed out, not to worry. Bill Glass has a big event coming up in New Orleans in October and a mega event the same weekend as my seminar in November in Dallas Texas. (I wish I could go to it instead of my own seminar.) I encourage you to go, or at a minimum contribute some money.
Get this! On average 50,000 people per year give their heart to Jesus because of this organization. How many get saved in your church?
If you have an aversion to helping prisoners find salvation, how about the homeless. Many folks that I met when I went for my tour at Talbot were not criminals, alcoholics, or addicted to anything other than a bad run of luck. If you want to help either of these organizations I’ve included both websites for your ready access.
I encourage you to volunteer to be a witness for Christ. Give those who desperately need and want to hear about Jesus that opportunity. I guarantee you will never regret it! Don’t let the razor wire, tattoos, and guard towers frighten you, I saw plenty of Godly saintly men and women speaking boldly out on those prison yards. God has promised His servants protection. If being on the yard’s not your bag there are plenty of opportunities to work behind the scenes manning registration tables, driving buses full of volunteers to prisons, or perhaps preparing food for us when we returned at night. If you don’t want to travel, send money. Bottom line you can be a part of something great! Don’t let satan deprive you of your blessing…
Proverbs 34:7
“The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.”