Last week, I was talking to a seasoned, hard, angry, loud, violent life-long gangster and criminal, who has till very recently, not received Jesus. But over the past few weeks, he has started to love Jesus. And this formerly ravening wolf, has become soft, loving, obsessed with serving others, with reading Scripture, and reading advanced theology books.
At one point last week, he was talking about how much he appreciated Kalamazoo Jail Ministry, and he started to cry when expressing his appreciation. I of course told him it was all GOD doing the work (working inside of us), and that He gets all the credit.
For years I have known this inmate. I have seen him come in and out of jail, boasting about his violent crimes, yelling at everyone around him, and where nearly all of his sentences were dominated by taking the LORD’s name in vain. He would constantly boast about all the people he’d killed, and all those he plans to kill (to my knowledge, most of it was mere boasting, and not about actual events). But now everything is different. It is like a whole new self inhabits this inmate’s body, now, with different reactions, words, thoughts, and energy.
This inmate wants to get out and start a ministry. He has all sorts of plans and calling, and he wants KJM to help him set up this new course in his life. If the LORD can save and change this man, then the LORD can make mountains move.