Raising the Bar
Last month, I shared a little about our plans to put more focus on ministry training for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are currently incarcerated. I want to expand a little on this subject by highlighting some phrases the Apostle Paul uses in Ephesians chapter 4 and then a short example of how this has worked for me.
Paul talks about equipping God’s people to do his work.
As they get equipped, they will become mature in the Lord.
They will no longer be immature like children.
They will grow and become more like Christ.
Sometimes volunteers who go into prison ministry overlook the potential of those they are trying to help. I too have been guilty of this in the past, but I have a strong sense that the Lord is raising the bar for me and in turn is raising the bar for those inside. As I was praying about this, here is what I sensed the Lord saying to me:
Gary, the prisons are full of hurting and desperate people. I still want you to tell them about me, but once you get past the introductions, I want you to explain to them that I have a purpose for them from this moment forward, and it begins immediately. You know exactly what I’m talking about because you have lived it and are living it.
Many of you know my story so I’m not going to explain in detail, but I am going to share some bullet points of what I did and what God did. None of these actions took place because I was such a good or smart person. They happened because of two things: I was desperate without a clue as to what to do; and God helped me do them because I trusted in Him.
It all began in county jail with the realization that I had ruined my life.
I told the Lord I was tired of living life my way, and I wanted to do it His way.
During my first 36 days in prison, I was in lockdown. There was nothing to do. I had a Bible, so I read it for eight-to-ten hours a day.
After I was transferred to my permanent location, the restrictions of lockdown were removed, but I continued to read the Bible for at least an hour each day, and during recreation times, I would walk around a cinder track talking to and connecting with the Lord. I had a lot of wrong thinking that needed to be cleaned out of me: pride, selfishness, anger, and unforgiveness.
It took over a year for me to become an overcomer in some of these areas, but the Lord was patient and faithful.
Once I was released from prison, there were new challenges for me to overcome, but I remained steady. In fact, steady is just about all I could do. All I can remember doing for three-and-a-half years is going to work, having supper with my family, going to bed, and starting all over the next day.
In 1996, I sensed the Lord was calling me into ministry, but I didn’t know what it was he wanted me to do. I continued to work my regular job but spent more time alone with the Lord. I had no agenda, just time alone with Him.
My wife Susie and I attended a small group at church.
A few months later, we facilitated a small group.
A couple of years later, I was asked to apply at the church as an associate pastor, and they hired me.
For the next seven years, I served at the church helping train others for the work of the ministry.
I wrote a book, Plain Vanilla Wrapper (the story of my journey with God in prison).
In 2006, at the Lord’s urging, I resigned my position at the church and started a prison ministry.
Over the course of the next fifteen years, I wrote two more books, shared my testimony to thousands in prisons and jails, provided a correspondence course, developed a life coach training program, and started pastoring my own church (since 2011).
The truth of it is, everything that’s happened hasn’t had much to do with me, in terms of personal ambition and “wanting to make a difference.” I didn’t have a specific plan or goal with any of this. All I’ve been doing for the past thirty years is get up every day and do what I feel the Lord is telling me to do for that day. Nothing more, nothing less. And it’s been incredible.
I am sharing all of this to emphasize a bigger idea. Anyone in or out of prison can do this. All they need is for someone to show them the way. That’s where this ministry comes in. These men and women who are or have been incarcerated need to see and understand that God is calling them. He has a purpose for them. He has Kingdom work for them to do. He wants to raise the bar with them.
As someone who thought his life was over that first day in county jail, I can attest that nothing is more exciting in life than seeing God redeem your past and provide purpose for your future.
Thank you for your prayers and financial support of this ministry.
God bless you!
Lessons for Life Ministries Gifts to Lessons for Life Ministries
P.O. Box 62293 are tax deductible as provided in
Colorado Springs, CO. 80962-2293 Section 170 of the IRS Code
For more information about this ministry, visit www.prisontalk.org