GOD BLESSES BEYOND OUR WILDEST DREAMS
“We have a God of Great Grace and of Great Mercy”
We have a God of Great Grace and of Great Mercy. Yesterday as I was writing to inmates in a Florida Prison, I was thinking about how the Lord has Blessed us in so many unimaginable ways. Then last night Stacy and I were driving to Nashville to the Airport to pick Bethany up from her trip out to Escondido California, we got to talking about the old days and how even at UCI in 1984 God was moving in our Lives and how the Lord brought good Godly people into our lives in a season of deep need. There was one man Johnny who was a successful Engineer and Businessman who would drive from Hattiesburg, Mississippi to Union C.I. Raiford, Fl. to visit me and mentor me. He did this 2 or 3 times before I was transferred to ACI West Unit. Then while at UCI, Mr. Weston, the Carpentry Paint shop instructor and part-time Baptist Preacher would let me come down to his shop and he would disciple me, give me books to study and to read and challenge me to grow in Christ. When Stacy and I became engaged, she moved down to Florida and she and another inmate’s fiance Sharlene actually stayed at their house in Starke until they each got their own place. After I got out we stayed in contact. Amazingly the Weston’s later moved to Tallahassee which was near us and he was one of the minister’s that married us. He and his wife were like Family to us, and were some of the first ones to hold Bethany as a newborn baby. Also, we recall when I was moved to Holmes C.I., God sent a couple from Panama City, Debbie and Gary. They were our Prison Ministry family both while I was in and after I was released. They were in our wedding and were there to celebrate the birth of our daughter Bethany. God blessed us with family in prison and out.
Looking back, Stacy and I see the hand of God in so many ways, and in so many people. On the drive to Nashville, we were sharing about the Ministry and how now the Lord is using us to go into the prisons to be that light and spark of hope in the darkness like those folks did for us.
On the way to the Airport in Nashville, we have to go by the Metro Davidson County Jail Detention Complex there in Nashville, and that is where as a Prison Ministry we go in sometimes to minister, and Stacy remembers last time how we were visiting confinement cells and sharing and praying with guys. One big dude was in a holding cell cage, and we were sharing with him and I asked him if he wanted me to pray with him. It was a holding steel cage for the shower, he couldn’t reach out his hand because it didn’t have any open bars, so I put my finger up to the little triangle opening of the cage and he put his finger up to the other side of the little open triangle in the cage and we prayed...The Spirit of God was so real there, and even today Stacy and I tear up when we recall that touching moment.
That is how amazing the Lord is, he sent us to that guy and allowed us to minister to him. Even when the barriers of steel were between us, the Spirit of God was able to move beyond that and encourage that man in his hour of need. We will never forget that day.
Over and over again Stacy and I look back at how God moved in our lives even back in 1984 at Union Correctional Institution “The Rock” one of the worst prisons in America. Yet, the Spirit of God was moving on brothers, and we had great chaplains and powerful Chapel services and Prayer circles.
It was Awesome. It was Amazing and It was the Life Changing hand of God.
Stacy and I thank God for where we are today, but we also Praise God for where we have been.
Because in the dark and hard times we have seen God work in our hearts and lives. We experienced the comfort and hope that can only come from the Holy Spirit working in and through us.
We are preparing for a Prison Revival for the 4th of July weekend going into the Georgia Prison for a Revival Service July 4 and 5th.
Praying that the Spirit of the Lord will be real and many hearts, souls and lives will be saved and changed for eternity.
Please Continue to pray for us and for the Ministry.
