DFW Weekend of Champions Wrap Up

This past Saturday marked the end of the 2012 Bill Glass DFW Weekend of Champions, and at 3:30 PM on that Saturday, I and 41 other team mates walked out of the Sanders Estes Prison Unit in Venus, TX to our cars and back to our normal lives.

As I unlocked my car and opened the door, I couldn't help but look back at the grey walls of the prison surrounded by fences topped with razor wire sparkling in the afternoon sunlight and think about the men in white who were staying behind.  They would stay there until each had finished his individual  sentence or was granted parole, but there were a few who had been spiritually paroled over those last two days and their spiritual death sentences had been fully pardoned by the only one who could redeem them from their sins and make them righteous before God.

Out of the over 1000 men in that unit who had the Gospel presented to them, several had made that life changing decision to follow Jesus Christ.  I had the honor to be able to lead two of them.  No, I don't count them as some sort of spiritual notch in my belt; I count them as new brothers in Christ.  You see, one prayer I always pray to God, is that He would use me however He sees fit.  During this weekend this is how He saw fit to use me and I couldn't be happier knowing that these two men had their spiritual shackles thrown off of them, replaced with robes of white.

Then came the email Sunday from Bill Glass' organization giving the totals for the weekend.  Over 800 men and women went into 18 prison units and 4,234 inmates made life changing decisions for Christ. Of those, 1,572 made that decision for the first time.  Talk about an email to smile about and rejoice over!


But that isn't the end of things.  Some may wonder what happens next for those inmates who did make that life changing decision to follow Jesus.  Well, the information is given to the prison chaplains and there is aftercare arranged to help the new Christians grown in their faith.  One of the things they will do is be enrolled in a class called Experiencing God.  When I took this course, I took it through the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and it was a wonderful course that I highly recommend for everyone.  There are also other programs that will come in to help these new brothers and sisters in Christ grow in their faith.


Eventually I am hoping to grow and lead one of those programs.  I love to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to those in prison, but I also want to make sure they have the aftercare they will need as well.  It is one of my goals in life to do this.  But that will happen in God's time.


For now, I and the team mates I was with continue to regain our strength and rest as we go back to our normal lives.  Going into prisons to tell those behind the walls the good news of Jesus Christ is exhausting in every aspect, but it is so worth it.  Not only in this lifetime but in the eternal lifetime to come.


Thanks for reading.  Have a great rest of the day!