Transformation and Purpose

Some time ago, I received a call from a friend. “Gary, I have someone I’d like to refer to you. He used to be in prison, and I thought it might be good for the two of you to meet.” 

     Calls of this sort are common in our ministry. I’m regularly meeting with those who have been incarcerated at some point in their lives in order to counsel them in their relationship with the Lord, the people in their lives, how to navigate the future, etc. 

     “Sure, have him call me,” I said. 

     Soon after, I got that call, and a time was set with this person to meet at my office. What generally happens with this first meeting is the person will tell me their story, where they are with the Lord now, and what their future plans are, and I will listen and determine whether or not our ministry can be of any assistance and whether we should meet again. Usually, this first sit-down session takes about an hour, but this time was different. As this person told me their story, I realized there was no way we’d be done in an hour, and I felt the Lord urging me to forget any time limits and just keep listening. I invited this person to continue sharing his story with me as I ran some errands that I had previously committed to, and we finally ended up going to lunch. I had never heard a story quite like his. In fact, there were some points during lunch where I had to ask him to lower his voice because there were parts, if taken out of context, that were quite alarming. Actually, it was all quite alarming even in context. 

     Out of respect for this person’s privacy, I’ll leave out those details. They don’t really matter anyway, because that is all over and done with. The Lord has forgiven it. What’s important about this begins with the end of our meeting. We were back in my office, and I didn’t have a clue what to do. His past was messy to put it mildly. He was still on parole in Texas and would remain so for several more years. He was still struggling with some very serious anger issues. As the meeting wound down, I thought, I’m out of my league here. He needs a professional.

    We finished up with prayer. As I laid my hands on this person’s shoulders and prayed, he quietly wept, and so did I. The Lord was sharing some things with me about this man’s heart. It was good. All of a sudden, I knew I wasn’t supposed to refer him to a professional. I was supposed to offer to come alongside him as a brother in Christ and continue to meet with him and see how God would work in the both of us. 

    That was about six years ago. A lot has happened since then. The first steps were careful ones. After that first meeting, I didn’t feel comfortable even inviting this person to our small group because I didn’t know if he was safe. But we kept meeting, kept praying, and soon enough the Lord told me to invite him. Since then, this man, along with his 

wife, has become a leader of this small group. He is now an associate pastor at our church and a member of our elder board. He also oversees our local jail ministry and averages about a thousand personal visits each year. Though he is still on parole, he works closely with the local parole office to help parolees find employment and get on the right track. He recently completed the requirements for certification to be a life coach. His name is Guy McIntyre. 

    The Lord is amazing. Six years ago, I was thinking there was a decent chance Guy would lose his temper with me at some point and stuff me in a dumpster somewhere. Today we are the best of friends and co-workers for Christ. Six years ago, almost everyone would have dismissed the idea of Guy doing anything serious in ministry, certainly not teaching, mentoring, coaching, or any of the duties he currently has. Yet, in this short time he has influenced thousands for the Kingdom of God, and I am honored to be his brother in Christ. 

    Guy would be the first to say this has all happened because of the infinite grace of God in his life. Yet, Guy has been obedient to God’s call throughout. No matter how bad something starts to go, he always turns back to the Lord. There are three concepts that I promote all the time and Guy applies them faithfully. They are honesty, humility, and surrender. These are key to growing in our walk with God and stabilizing that relationship. We all get off track from time to time, but if we return to these three principles, we recover quickly. 

    I’m writing about this because some of you might be wondering how you can change and how you can become more active in God’s work. You might be thinking time has passed you by, and you are too old now, and it’s too late to make a difference. Just so you know, those are lies. I am in my mid-sixties and Guy is in his late-sixties, and we both feel like we are just warming up. 

    The goal of this story is to be an encouragement. If the Lord can use Guy and Gary, He can definitely use you. Think and pray about this idea of honesty, humility, and surrender. Then tell the Lord something simple like, “Here am I. Send me.” Keep doing that every day and see what happens. I am confident you will be amazed. 

Thank you for your prayers and financial support of this ministry.

God bless you!