I have a story. I’ve had an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ myself. A lot of my story’s backdrop is seen in darkness. I was raised in a fatherless home, single parent home, poverty, brokenness, alcoholism, drug addiction, stealing, lying, sin, you name it, I was involved in it. It seemed like for five years straight, from 13 to 18, my life was just hell bent. One day, as my life was progressively getting worse, I found myself sitting in a jail cell facing a life sentence for first degree murder. And I just knew, like, my life is over. I ruined a life and my life is over. At that moment I felt like listening to the lies of Satan, which I now understand that’s who it was, listening to his lies, and desiring to commit suicide. I remember shortly after that or within that time frame, somebody came and articulated the gospel message to me. 

It’s the simplicity of the gospel that Jesus Christ came to save sinners, of which I was, and at that time I just knew – I believed in the gospel intellectually. Kind of do a little head nod and stuff and say, yeah, I believe that. But the truth of the matter is when I went to lay my head down at night, I knew I didn’t have peace with the Lord Jesus Christ. I didn’t have peace with God the Father. And I knew that if I had died, suicide or any other death, I would have gone into a Christ-less hell. That’s not the only reason why I believe in Jesus Christ, but I knew that was the truth. And so I remember October 15th, 2001 surrendering my heart to the Lord Jesus Christ right there in the jail cell. A lot of the times I say it wasn’t at a church pew, it wasn’t at an altar call, it wasn’t being raised all my life in the church, it was right there in a moment of brokenness and darkness in my life, suicidal and ready to give up. But at the same time, realizing that spiritually my life was bankrupt, and I was in need of the transaction. Today I understand that that transaction would be God’s grace imparted to me through the cross of Christ. Ever since then my life has been on a different trajectory.  

Circling back to my crime, I ended up pleading guilty to 1st degree manslaughter. I received a 45 year sentence. I did 21 1/2 years incarcerated. During that time I was incarcerated I was able to work two jobs that involved the church, so I was able to be discipled, and through that process just grew as a Christian behind the walls and fences of incarceration. I knew that God had a purpose throughout all that. And as I’ve gotten out of incarceration, I found God’s people, God’s faithfulness to still be a very real thing to this day.  

I just would take time to share with anybody out there who is feeling suicidal, hopeless, helpless, brokenness, fatherless, given up on, abandoned, drug addicted, you know, whatever sin, whatever vice that you feel yourself up against, whatever hopelessness that you’re experiencing. I would just tell you that the gospel is found in the cross of Christ. That Jesus Christ came to save that which was lost, bankrupt, and broke. If that’s how you find yourself today, I would encourage you to look to Jesus Christ and receive the gift of salvation. Trust Him for eternal life, and He will not fail you. I’m speaking from 21-22 years of experience of having walked with Christ and Him having never let me down, even on my darkest day, even in a prison, He never gave up on me. He never quit and never forsook me. He’s been faithful all these years.