I don’t know about you but I had a terrific weekend. I traveled to Huntsville Texas last Thursday as a member of the Bill Glass Weekend of Champions prison ministry. Over the next two days 450 of us went into 17 prisons and the results were pretty amazing; 2,420 inmates made decisions to follow Christ! 1,469 rededicated their lives and 951 made first time decisions.
Praise the Lord!
It is difficult to put an experience like this into words. I’ve led a fascinating and rich life but it all pales in comparison to seeing hundreds and hundreds of hardened lost souls standing, or in some cases kneeling, with tears streaming down their faces humbly asking Christ into their hearts as their Savior, knowing that they will now be allowed to live forever in paradise because of what Christ did on a cross for them “yet even while they were still sinners”.
One volunteer excitedly came up to me and mentioned that it was wonderful to see so many men accepting Christ, “but just imagine how they will affect others for years to come”.
I thought about that conversation on the long plane ride back home from the prisons of Texas to my beloved Honey Lake. Thousands of people come forward during crusades and revivals. Billy Graham used to see them stream down the aisles by the tens of thousands, but I’ve often wondered how many of them remained believers after Billy headed back home to North Carolina. There is a Bible analogy that Jesus used for this phenomenon comparing it to sowing seeds on different types of soil that represented spreading the seeds of the Gospel to different people. Some seed fell on rocky soil and quickly got burned up by the hot sun; Jesus said this represents those whose faith is weak and shallow. Some seed came up but soon got choked out by weeds; the Lord said the weeds represented those who allow the pleasures and lusts of this world to snatch away the word of God from them. But Jesus said some of the seed falls upon fertile soil and it grows and thrives mightily.
I didn’t really think much about another deeper meaning of that text aside from the obvious until I thought about how plants not only grow strong and thrive, but they also produce new seeds of their own that can and will sprout new life far after they have served their purpose and died. It is the purpose in their lives that lives on far after they are gone and forgotten.
So it will be with many of those who accepted Christ this weekend. Some will falter, but many will go on to lead fruitful lives and sow seeds to others including perhaps their children and families, who will do likewise, and the good news of the Gospel will spread like a wildfire by those who are “on fire” for the Lord for generations to come. (The next time you sow a seed for the Lord think of that compounding interest and how the seed that was sown just keeps on giving and serving the Lord and smile.)
I met plenty of those seed sowers who are on fire for the Lord this weekend. Some were the platform speakers for the Bill Glass ministry. There is Dennis Rice known more for trying to break Charlie Manson out of prison and getting into a shootout with the police; Murf the Surf the famous jewel thief who stole the star sapphire diamond; Sandi Fatow who used to be a groupie with the Jimi Hendrix band and went on to become a heroin addict for five years and now is married to a converted Jew who is evangelizing tens of thousands all over the world; Tino Wallenda 8th generation famous circus and high wire celebrity that walks 100 feet above the prison yard on a tighrope sowing seeds; Bobby Greenwood, former vicious Miami gangster and now follower of Jesus; Tanya Crevier famous basketball handler extraordinaire who loves the Lord and has devoted her entire life to serving Him; Bill Glass and other super bowl champions. There are country music and rock and roll stars, weight lifting champs, bikers, yo yo champions, ping pong whizzes, the bodyguard to Jennifer Lopez, highly decorated military veterans and covert military gurus; you name it.
And then there are the good folks who aren’t famous (or infamous as the case might be). Most are involved with local churches in the area where they live. They go into the prisons with us and after the speakers give their testimony and are long gone they keep going back and talking one on one and encouraging them to remain strong. They are working hard for the Lord; they also drive buses and cars shuttling volunteers to the prisons, cook food for the hospitality rooms, shuttle people to the airports, and in general do whatever is needed to help pull these huge events off. Not to be forgotten are the hundreds of people who cannot attend but offer their money to help pay for it. Even with volunteer help, the cost is still upwards of $75K to finance just one of these events. (If nothing else I highly encourage you to help out with this.)
Well this morning the event is over and I’m very tired. My plane ride coming back was messed up by bad weather and at midnight I ended up having to stay in Atlanta for a few hours in a crummy hotel and then get up before daylight to catch the next flight out. Getting to and from Huntsville was difficult and so was getting in and out of so many different prisons. As one might imagine security is of top concern and it is not easy getting in, (or out), of those facilities. Plus it is physically and emotionally draining to speak so many times in such a short period of time.
In the last prison in which I spoke I was inside the prison in a cell block speaking to prisoners who were locked inside their cells. After I had finished and was exiting an old black man (probably 80 years old) was yelling out to me as I was leaving and wanted to shake hands. When I stopped at his cell he told me that he was blind and wished he could see me. I told him that one day he would see me, but more important he would see something that eye has never seen the glory of God in paradise forever. A soft smile crossed his face as he listened to me describe heaven and the hope of Jesus Christ filled his mind.
Yes I shed a tear on that one.
How was your weekend?
I hope you were as fortunate as I was, if not there is today, and tomorrow, and …
Matt. 25:40
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’