For nearly 20 years a group of men from Fruit Cove Baptist Church in Florida go to the chapel in state prison. This is a discipleship ministry whose mission is to encourage, pray and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with inmates. As a result men are growing in their faith in Christ and also sharing the gospel with other inmates.
Each week we have a worship service and the events this week were similar in nature, but not ordinary. As the service opens with prayer we ask one of the inmates to volunteer. Then we move into a time of preaching and the reading of God’s word. It is especially encouraging for us to hear the men actively listening and responding to the gospel. Often we hear loud affirming AMEN! PRAISE THE LORD, HALLELUJAH!
Now comes another high time of worship, the music worship. The music worship is led by the inmate praise team. Here 8 inmates have accompaniment from drums, guitars, keyboard and saxophone and a solo worship leader singing.. Each man in the perfect symphony leads the service in music worship. The joy on their faces, and the excitement in their voices is all too amazing. Here in prison men are worshiping the one true God, Jesus Christ. It is as if you have been ushered in with the angels. I have to tell you, after worshiping in churches all over the country and abroad, nothing compares to this time of worship in prison.
Looking around the chapel you see men clapping, singing, and hands lifted up. This is not simply men getting caught up in a beat or clapping hands to a good tune. No, these men are worshiping in Spirit and Truth. Many of the songs are traditional hymns along with some contemporary Christian worship songs. In a chapel the size of a small church that would seat approximately 120 people, its standing room only. You stand in worship shoulder-to-shoulder with men who are worshiping the Lord with voices that shout the praises of God. The men sing and shout but their hearts shout louder!
Once the meal has ended we move into an interactive time of testimonies. Prison is a place where inmates are vulnerable. It is very difficult for inmates to share their struggles, hardships, and sins. However these inmates break down that barrier. We heard from inmates who gave their testimony of how they came to faith in Christ. We heard men who struggled with deep anger and sexual sins. We heard testimonies of how men’s lives were changing to the point where they were ministering to family members outside of prison through phone communication and visitation. Some men began to weep in a place where you’re not supposed to weep, Other inmates rushed in to lay hands and pray for inmates who were weeping and struggling.
Yet perhaps one of the singular moments was a time of testimony where I asked for volunteers to answer various questions about their faith, redemption, forgiveness and salvation. I explained to the men as I asked more questions we would be going deeper into these topics and some might be hard.
Now we are in a chapel in prison with about 100 men. Many of these men are serving life sentences. They will never walk out of prison a free man. As I moved to the last question it was undoubtedly the toughest question I asked: “Would you rather have freedom from your prison sentence or freedom from sin? The two men who volunteered to answer are the most spiritually mature and strongest Christian men I have ever known in my life.
Without hesitation they answered “freedom from sin.” Well that is the answer a person would want to hear in a Christian worship service, but one of the men said he knew God had forgiven him for killing another person. The hard part was asking the families of the victims for forgiveness. It was his deep hurt for what he had done, but he has said on many occasions that only by the shed blood of Jesus on the Cross and faith in Christ alone and repentance could he receive ultimate forgiveness and redemption. He said, “I’ve already been set free.”
Celebrating with these men on what God has already done through his son, Jesus Christ is the paramount of our worship time in state prison. I read from the gospel of John 8:36 where the Scripture says, “So if the son sets you free..” then the inmates shouted “you will be free indeed!” Men incarcerated in prison and many for life know that only the Son, Jesus Christ can set you free from your sins, do you?
