I left out for Texas on Thursday to join the Bill Glass Champions for Life prison ministry, and returned home late yesterday afternoon. The event seemed fraught with problems from the beginning. Consider just some of them:
- That part of East Texas has suffered severe drought of almost biblical proportions for a very long time, and yet it rained, HARD during our event – That is a good thing for drought weary Texans, but we’d been planning for months to conduct the event outside in the yards and the rains were not kind to that plan
- Three platform speakers had to drop out at the last moment including one who actually tripped on the escalator at the airport when he arrived, and severely pulled a hamstring. Their absence left the program shorthanded.
- A guard was attacked at one of the prisons that we were going to visit and they shut it down
Well some of the folks were slightly panicking at these and other problems, but most of us just smiled as we recognized the “fiery darts” being thrown at us as we prepared to serve the Lord. We prayed that those fiery darts being thrown by satan and his minions would be extinguished and that we would have a great revival at those prisons that we could minister to.
On Friday we were able to speak on the yard, but it rained intermittently throughout the day. The next day it came a downpour and the team leadership got up long before daylight and went to work meeting with everybody from the warden on down in order to quickly regroup and change plans that were months in the making.
This was no easy task for a high security prison. Instead of going to the rainy yards, they moved the program inside hot and humid gymnasiums. Due to the danger from gangs and other violent prisoners, who do not like each other – (Duh…), and the serious crimes of these inmates, each prisoner had to be individually patted down and searched before they were allowed to enter, leaving less time to minister to them.
Ordinarily we hold several events simultaneously, but due to the shortage of speakers and of course the rain, we combined them, but the good news is that we were still able to talk to all of them.
Okay so yesterday on the way home I got the following e-mail: 162 Teammates went into 5 units this weekend in San Diego, Beeville and Corpus Christi, TX. 1,239 inmates made decisions to follow Christ with 698 of those being first time and 541 being rededications. Praise the Lord!
I spoke numerous times throughout the event, but the last was to a group of guys numbering perhaps 300 or 400 who were seated on the gymnasium floor. After I was finished, we asked those prisoners who wanted to hear more about how Jesus Christ could save them from their sins to raise their hands. Every hand in the auditorium went up. Man the hair on my neck stood on end as I saw them assemble into small groups and 29 volunteers began to share how they too can have their sins forgiven and one day go to heaven by simply calling upon the name of Jesus Christ and accepting His healing salvation.
My theme was and is that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Jesus took time to delay the redemptive process for all of mankind in order to tell the thief on the cross who was being executed that he would join Jesus that very day in paradise. If Jesus literally stopped the redemptive process long enough to minister to a lowly prisoner who admittedly deserved to die for his crimes, how much more so should we emulate Him? We need more volunteers telling prisoners the same message. Selah…
Jesus didn’t reserve His compassion just for prisoners, He looked down upon the snarling, jeering, cursing, hate filled crowd who were crucifying Him and asked His Father to forgive them. It was a vivid example of just how much He loves all of us. If you are down and out today, think about this. You are not alone facing your problems and know that your problems are not too big to be resolved and your sins are not too black to be forgiven. Keep the faith in Jesus Christ and allow Him to dominate your life today.
Years ago as I was struggling with accepting Christ as my Savior, I scolded my nurse and told her that I could never change. I was a lowly drug addict, severe alcoholic, criminal, diagnosed incurable sociopath full of hate, bitter, all alone, and my body was broken and twisted from a car crash caused by me being drunk. She looked at me and said, “Jesus is GOD! He can do anything He wants including changing your sorry tail”.
I was entirely right in that, “I” could never change my life, but what I didn’t know at the time was that what “I” cannot do, “Jesus” can do! It’s not about me, it’s about Him. Without Christ I was an incurable sociopath, but Jesus is the great “Healer” and could change all of that.
As I thought about it I conceded that she was right, but why would he want to save a scumbag like me. I didn’t know, and I didn’t know why he would want to forgive those who were crucifying Him either?
The answer is that He loves us more than we can ever imagine. Your father, mother, wife, husband, kids, siblings, friends, acquaintances, et al might not love you, but Jesus Christ loves you more than you will ever know. Let him into your life today and surrender completely so you can allow Him to bless you.
My good friend, neighbor, and employee Brian Sirois suffered a heart attack yesterday evening. He is loved by the Honey Lake staff and those who know him. He is a kind man who loves the Lord with all of his heart. We are praying for him, and I ask you to please take a moment or two and do so as well, (right now wherever you might be). The Bible tells us that the prayers of the righteous produce wonderful results. I’m asking you to pray that Brian will experience those wonderful results from the great Healer with a full recovery.
James 5:16
…The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.