Sunday night our motorcycle group went to prison! We joined Terry Buice of Barnabas Prison Ministry at Gwinnett Prison to help conduct a worship service for the inmates. Terry works in several prisons full-time, counseling and assisting inmates in many ways. We go in with him on Sunday nights from time to time to help with worship services. After some spirited music and singing (hearing a room full of inmates singing hymns and songs to God is amazing), I got to preach, and I talked on Real Freedom in Christ: getting free from the sins that imprison and enslave us. After I finished, 5 men wanted to place their faith in Jesus Christ, several more wanted prayer for struggles in their lives, and 4 were getting ready to go home by the end of the month, so we prayed over them, for their paths to continue with God. In all, it was an amazing, Spirit-filled night. So often, like those inmates, people must hit rock-bottom from their own bad choices before they look to the God who loves them and can redeem their lives. I find that in many of those men, and too little out here in the "free world." We get imprisoned by so many things in our lives- the only real freedom comes from knowing and living with the One who created, knows, and loves us.
"If the Son has set you free, then you are truly free." -Jesus