May 2, 2025 • 35 mins
Today, on Karl and Crew, we finished the week discussing identity in Christ. As followers of Christ, we cannot conform to the expectations and culture of the world; our identities are found in Him. We turned to John 14:6, which affirms that, as it says, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one can come to the Father without going through Him. We also turned to 2 Corinthians 5:17, where Paul tells us that we are new creations in Christ. Therefore, our identities should align with Him. Jon Kelly also shared his testimony on finding his new identity in Christ. Pastor Kelly is a husband, father, and Lead Pastor of Chicago West Bible Church. He is also an alumnus of Moody Bible Institute. We also had Heather Rice Minus join us to discuss prison ministry. Heather is the President and CEO of Prison Fellowship, the nation’s largest Christian nonprofit serving prisoners, former prisoners, and families. She also works to deepen church partnerships with prison ministries. You can hear the highlights of today’s program on Karl and Crew Showcast.
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:00):
Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2 (00:08):
Well, have you ever wanted to reinvent yourself? You know,
you could think about all the ways that that's what
January is for, right? January. You know, when I was
in high school, I wanted to reinvent myself. And I
went to I was a high school volleyball player, went
to a volleyball camp, a summer volleyball camp. So it
(00:28):
was only going to be maybe 3 to 5 days max.
And so I decided that I wanted to try out
a new name. Oh, you. You've got me hooked now.
So why is this new name? Although most people call
me Allie. My full name is Alexandra, which is actually beautiful. Well.
(00:50):
Thank you. I love that name. So I thought, I
don't really want to be known as Allie this week.
I think that I'd like to be known as Alex. Cute. Yeah,
because I thought Alex was such a cooler, edgier nickname.
So I go to this volleyball camp and I introduce
myself as Alex. I'm feeling kind of cool. Yeah. Alex
(01:13):
over here playing volleyball. Not a big deal. Move along.
Just I got this. And so here was the problem.
There came a point really early on, by the way,
where one of the coaches or somebody was trying to
tell me something. And they're going, Alex, Alex, I'm just
(01:33):
looking around. I wonder why Alex is not answering. And
then I went, oh, oh. Oh, wait.
S3 (01:43):
Are you kidding me?
S2 (01:44):
That's me. Remember, you're not Ali this week as you've
been for the last. At that point, 17 years of
your life, you're Alex. Or at least you tried to
be Alex this week. Very, very short lived was my
stint as an Alex. I went back to Ali pretty quickly.
Trying to change yourself doesn't really work. You can try
(02:09):
out a new name, you can buy new clothes, you
can get a new career. You can move to a
brand new place where nobody knows you. But here's the problem.
You follow you wherever you go, right?
S4 (02:26):
Yes you do.
S2 (02:27):
And so we're stuck with this frustrating reality that I
can't change me. I can't be different than who I am.
Not in a very deep, meaningful way because I can.
I can try on Alex for a couple of days
and maybe fool some people. But the deep change that
(02:52):
we seek seems very elusive. and ask anybody who's tried
multiple times, countless attempts to make themselves different, to reinvent themselves,
to be the quote unquote best version of themselves. Yeah,
you follow you wherever you go. So this morning on
Freedom Friday, we are going to be really celebrating and
(03:15):
holding out at the forefront the power of the gospel
to give us a new identity.
S5 (03:21):
Oh, Amen.
S2 (03:22):
In the deepest, most profound, most important way. Not window dressing,
not a before and after extreme makeover. It's not losing
a bunch of weight, getting a new hairstyle, getting a
new wardrobe. The inside out change that we're seeking is
actually something much, much deeper. And I want you to
(03:42):
hear a testimony. This actually was from our live broadcast
or our we're live every day, but our live studio
audience broadcast that we had earlier this week from a
pastor who explained how God gave him an absolutely new identity.
He was no longer the same person that he was.
(04:03):
His whole life wasn't a name change. It was something
much deeper. You're going to hear the story from Pastor
John coming up here on Freedom Friday mornings.
S1 (04:14):
Walking closer to Jesus every day. You're listening to Carl
and crew.
S6 (04:19):
Well, sometimes people step into our studio and then we
hit them cold.
S2 (04:25):
Which, Carl, you do so well. So, are we getting cold?
S7 (04:29):
I knew you were going to bust me on that one.
S6 (04:31):
John Kelly standing in front of us here. He got
a bio on this guy.
S2 (04:34):
He is the lead pastor of Chicago West Church right
here in Chicago. We hear that you have a testimony.
You are pastoring. You are in the trenches. Tell us
a little bit about what God's done in your life.
S8 (04:47):
Yeah, yeah. I was born in Chicago but grew up
in Philadelphia in a very, I would say very violent, Um,
under resourced community with a high level of prostitution. So
I wasn't exposed to maybe the best scenes, the best environments. Um,
by the time I was 12, I was selling crack
and crack houses. Really? The first time I ever got arrested,
I was about 12 or 13. That's the first time
(05:08):
I ever got convicted. I was in and out of
juvenile detention centers pretty much my whole juvenile years. I mean,
just to give you a context, I mean, I felt
the seventh grade went to four different high schools and
my freshman year dropped out. So it was high every day.
Always getting shot at, shooting at someone. Seen a lot
of stuff that I probably shouldn't have seen by the
time I was 14 or 15. Just following that path
(05:30):
of foolishness by the time I was 19. Let me
back up a little bit. Actually turned to Islam for
a little bit. So about six years was a professing
Sunni Muslim, but still was in the streets doing dumb stuff.
And then by the time I turned 19, went with
a group of friends to rob a drug dealer in
the neighborhood. And one of my friends shot and killed him.
So we all got arrested and I was 19 years old,
had just lost my son, who was still born at
(05:53):
the time, was at the lowest point and was sitting
in prison looking at the death penalty or life in
prison with co-defendants. I was in solitary confinement, just at
a low point when a prison guard gave me a
copy of God's Word. I needed something to read. This
was 2002. Back then, you could get a newspaper. So
I was like, man, give me whatever you can. And
he was like, I'll get you a Bible. I was like, whatever,
give it to me. And he gave me a copy
(06:13):
of God's Word. And I began reading for the first
time in High School Dropout. And I began from Matthew,
and I read nonstop. I probably would have been like
24 hours straight until I got to Hebrews chapter four,
verse seven. It says, today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your heart. And I gave my life
to the Lord right there in the prison cell. So
when I came to faith in Christ, I didn't go
to a church service, didn't hear a sermon. God's word
(06:35):
was enough. And so, as a preacher of the gospel,
I have so much confidence in God's Word that he
uses us, but he doesn't need us.
S6 (06:42):
To.
S9 (06:42):
Speak to that because the Word of.
S6 (06:44):
God, when given, we find here on air pastor, that
when we feel like, Lord, where would you have us go?
And we break open the word and read it?
S8 (06:55):
Yeah.
S6 (06:56):
There is something about the Word of God.
S8 (06:58):
The power is in the gospel and the spirit working
through the living Word of God to soften hardened hearts
and redeem souls to Christ. Yeah. And we can get
so caught up in the vessels. And it was interesting,
because God can still redeem a lost soul through a
weak vessel that's not on their A-game that day. Amen.
And for me, in that cell, it was just vital
(07:18):
for me because I'm in solitary confinement. So like, in,
you know, in the streets, if you get in trouble,
you go to prison. In prison, if you get in trouble,
you go to solitary confinement in the hole. You're in
23 and one, and you come out one hour a
day handcuffed and shackled. You're allowed no human contact. I mean,
I couldn't even get toilet paper and a blanket sometimes,
but God got his word into the, you know, the
hardest place and got it into my hand. And his
(07:40):
word was enough.
S6 (07:41):
How was that the grace of God that got you
to that point? Some people, some people Pooh Pooh jailhouse faith.
S8 (07:48):
My lawyer did. He was Jewish. I was like, you're
supposed to get this thing, you know?
S6 (07:51):
What's the matter with you? You're in the book here, man.
It's to the Jews first.
S8 (07:54):
And then.
S6 (07:55):
The Gentiles.
S8 (07:55):
To jail and finds God and you know.
S6 (07:58):
But you said I really did.
S8 (08:00):
And I would say it's extremely hard to be a
devout Christian in a penitentiary. It's not an environment that's
conducive for you to to truly live. You don't turn
the other cheek there.
S6 (08:10):
Yeah.
S8 (08:11):
And so my faith was really tested in the fire.
So God was gracious. Here's a funny thing. It's not funny,
but it's just what you do. About 2 or 3
months went by and I really was feeling convicted that
I'm pleading not guilty of a crime that I'm guilty of.
And I felt convicted that I was going in front
of the Lord.
S6 (08:26):
Holy Spirit.
S8 (08:27):
And not a judge. And so I told my lawyer
some months later, hey, I'm a Christian now. I'm a
Christ follower. I know you think this jailhouse religion, but
I can't say I've repented of something that I'm pleading
not guilty to. Whoa. And so you can go to
the judge and tell them that I just want to
ask for forgiveness and whatever they want to do to me,
they could do to me. He was like, well, you know,
this is foolish. You got an opportunity, I think, to
beat this thing. It's not about beating it. I'm going
(08:48):
in front of God's presence and I'm guilty paying you
to get me off. And so I went in front
of the judge. I went in front of the young
man's family, looked his mother in the eye and told
her my testimony and said, I'm a Christ follower now,
and you know your son lost his life, but he
was created in God's image. And if I could trade places,
I would. And whatever you want to do, it's right.
The Bible says, an eye for an eye, a tooth
(09:08):
for a tooth. And when it was her time to speak.
You know what she said? Nothing. She showed me mercy
and grace.
S6 (09:16):
Oh my goodness.
S8 (09:16):
And so I ended up with 6 to 20 years
for third degree murder. And I went on to the
state penitentiary, and it's there. I got my GED.
S6 (09:24):
How much time did you do?
S8 (09:25):
I was supposed to do about 18. You know, you
do like, you know, 85%. I did six years and
came home on parole and a couple of years later
ended up at Moody.
S2 (09:35):
Coming up, you've got a special guest here going, who
is this John Kelly with us right now, lead pastor,
Chicago West Church, right here in the city of Chicago.
Coming up, we're going to find out how he went
from the penitentiary to becoming a pastor. More coming up.
S1 (09:49):
Your shot of hope to help you through the day.
This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S6 (09:55):
Ali, this is an amazing story from John Kelly.
S2 (09:58):
Pastor here in Chicago. His name is John Kelly. He
just shared his story. I spent six years of a
much longer sentence. He was convicted of third degree murder
that he confessed to after he found Jesus in solitary confinement.
Reading the Bible got to Hebrews. What was your verse?
S8 (10:15):
Hebrews four seven which says, what? Hear his voice. Do
not harden your heart.
S2 (10:18):
So you you get out. After six years, you're a
brand new man than the man who went in. How
did God call you to now, pastor?
S8 (10:27):
Well, I felt called when I first came to faith
in Christ. I just wanted to preach the gospel. Make disciples.
I didn't know what that meant. We were starting, you know,
we were trying to plant churches on every cell block.
We had prayer groups in every cell block.
S6 (10:38):
Planting churches on cell blocks. Now there's a church planting
effort right there.
S8 (10:42):
We did that by God's grace. When I came home,
I just submitted to the church. I was going to
Christian Stronghold Church. Pastor Willie Richardson, and he used to
do the pastor's conference here. We had quite a few
pastors that had went to Moody, and so I had
felt called to ministry. He recommended Moody. He supported that
and moved out here in 2011 with my wife to
walk in that call into the church and to get
(11:02):
trained in the gospel.
S6 (11:04):
You know, I got to tell you something. Your bride
sitting here maybe shooting some video right now. She loves her, man.
I do. Yeah, you could hear that from a distant mic.
How in the world did you meet this fine bride
of yours?
S8 (11:21):
It's a long story, but I met her at church.
We both served in youth ministries. A very large youth
ministry was not for the faint of heart at all
with those youth. And one of the men that was
discipling me was like, you know, her dad's not in
her life. If you're going to approach her, you need
to go ask her mom for permission to talk to her.
That's what I did. So I went to her mom
after a Bible study. I was like, man, I've been praying.
Your daughter seems like a sweet woman. If you say no,
(11:42):
I'll walk away. I won't ask her permission. She gave
me her blessing.
S6 (11:45):
Honorable man. You know what her mom saw what we
see and hear right now. A broken, humble, dependent man
on the grace of God. There's 20 plus percent. Who knows?
Maybe upwards of 30% of people listening right now all
across the globe who hear your story. And they're like,
Could God? Is his arm too short for me? Could
(12:06):
he reach me? Pour out your heart, man. What's the
good news?
S8 (12:10):
Man, the good news of the gospel is that God
not only loves us so much, but he's willing to
go down the pit and get us himself that Christ died.
When we say Christ died, it's not a cool slogan.
It's not something we just say on Easter Sunday. It's
a reality that God loved us so much that he
sent His Son to come get us. And for me,
when I'm in solitary confinement. What brought me to tears
(12:33):
was that my Savior loved me so much that he
was willing to become a convicted felon, that I might
become free. And like the thief on the cross, he says,
today you will be with me in Paradise. So I
don't care how far you've gone, how much you've messed up.
You're talking to a guy that's had abortions, a guy
that's stolen from his family, been strung out, living in
his car, and took the life of a young man
(12:55):
who didn't deserve it. And Christ says, my love is
there for him, and I will change him and make
him whole and new. And I would just say, no
matter where you are, no matter what suicide, thoughts of
suicide is doing, depression, alcohol, giving up, you want to
harm yourself. Christ came that you might have new life
in him if you would just turn to him wherever
you are right now. Yeah. Your prayers don't have to
(13:16):
be all nice and clean. They have to be sincere
with a broken heart. And he won't forsake a broken heart. Yeah, man. Ever.
S6 (13:23):
You know, I just the thing that hit me is
that there's a lot of people in solitary confinement, but
they aren't in a prison. They're in the prison of
their own life.
S8 (13:32):
I learned that when I came out.
S6 (13:34):
That there's a whole world of solitary confinement. Speak to
that person right now who feels all alone and out
of reach of God.
S8 (13:41):
Yeah, well, I would just say is, you know what?
You might truly feel like the people around you don't
get you. And there might be some valid points of
that because of what you're going through. But God understands you.
We do not have a high priest. We do not
have a Savior who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. He
was tempted as we were, yet without sin. He knows
the struggle. He knows what it's like to be rejected.
(14:03):
He knows what it's like for people to turn away
from him. He knows what it's like to be homeless.
The Son of Man has no place to lay his head.
He knows like to endure pain. Yeah, he knows what
it's like to lose a stepfather, to lose someone you love.
And so I would just say, um, don't allow Satan
to bring the lie into your mind that God can't
relate to your pain. If anything, he enters into it
(14:25):
and he fully understands it.
S6 (14:27):
So let's do this together. You and me, brother. Pastor
to pastor here. Uh, there were some troubled hearts one
day when Jesus was telling some men that he was
going away, and he said, don't let your hearts be troubled.
Believe in God, believe also in me. He said, I'm
going to prepare a place for you. That's unbelievable. Then
he said, I am the way. I am the truth.
I am the life. What does it mean to come
(14:48):
off the broad path and go God's way? There's repentance
involved there, isn't there?
S8 (14:52):
Yeah. It means you have to acknowledge, right? I always
say you can. You can't get healed from something you
won't acknowledge. You got to acknowledge and say, man, you
know what? Looking at my life, I'm pretty broken. I'm
not perfect. I don't have it all together. I don't
know one person. Yeah. And human history on this planet
right now that will say I am perfect. I have
it all together.
S6 (15:12):
But those that admit it.
S8 (15:13):
That admitted that God's like man. I can work with that.
Come here and I will make you whole.
S6 (15:19):
I am the way he said. That means we got
to turn around off the broad path. Just turn around
and he'll do the rest. We're just turning toward him.
I am the truth. Meaning we can no longer fly
by the seat of our pants and our truth. It's
God's truth. We're sinners, separated from God. What seemed impossible?
Jesus bridged that gap and he saved us. While we
(15:41):
were yet sinners. Christ died for us and he rose again. Pastor,
pour out your heart. He wants to give resurrection power
to everyone right now.
S8 (15:48):
Yeah. I mean, you know, we can go to therapists,
we can go to counselors, we can listen to podcasts.
But when we say that he is the truth, we're
saying you are the primary voice in my life right now.
I've tried every other way. I'm listening to your voice
and your voice alone. I need you to direct me.
And you are the life. I've been around a lot
of death. I've been around a lot of suffering. But, Jesus,
I'm turning to you right now to take these broken
(16:08):
pieces of my life and build a beautiful mosaic that's
a reflection of your image. And there's so much hope
in that, because it not only means that God can
change where we are right now, but it means we
have an expectant future that's full of joy, that's going somewhere.
We're going to see like man, like if we were
to like, leave this planet in the next 24 hours, man,
(16:28):
we could we could leave knowing that where we're going
as far greater and far better than everything that's behind us.
And so it's instant joy and it's guaranteed. It's not
a wish. It's not something I hope for. It's practical
and it's real. It's real as you are hearing my voice,
I believe that right now God is pricking someone's heart.
He's speaking to you right now. You know he is.
(16:50):
And all he wants you to do is just surrender.
S1 (16:52):
You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't
take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew.
It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2 (17:02):
You just heard an incredible testimony from Pastor John Kelly,
who's a pastor right here in Chicago, Chicago West Bible Church. And,
you know, we talked about this verse, John 14 six.
Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and
the life. No one comes to the father except through me.
That is the spiritual reality, that there is no path
(17:25):
to peace with God apart from the work of Jesus Christ.
So if today, if today, you hear his voice, don't
harden your heart. If you know that today is the
day that you need to surrender to Jesus Christ. I
want you to listen to these words. I want you
to confess that you are a sinner, that you have
(17:46):
missed the mark. You've not lived a perfect life. I
want you to confess that you need a Savior, and
that it's not just anyone who can save you. It's
not trying to be a better person, that it's Jesus.
Want you to say Jesus, today is the day I
surrender my life to you. I'm a sinner and I
know that only you can save me. And so today
(18:08):
I turn, I repent, which just means make that 180
degree turn. I turn from being the Lord of my
own life to making you my Savior and my Lord.
Today is the day I follow you. And if that's you,
you have that honest conversation with God. There's no special
set of words that like, seals the deal. You don't
(18:29):
have to be in a church. You don't have to
be with a pastor. There's no magic formula to this.
This is an honest cry of the heart between you
and God, where you acknowledge Him as Savior, where you confess,
you repent, and today you believe. If that's you, I
want to pray for you. Lord, for this person in
(18:51):
this moment, who by the power of your spirit is
becoming a new creation, I pray that you would give
them such great joy in that Lord, that you would
bring them to a place where they can meet other believers,
where they can flourish in you. God, I thank you
that you loved us so much that you sent your
son to die on a cross for our sin, that
(19:15):
you rose him again on the third day so that
we could have new life in Christ. Today, that new life.
Someone's taking a hold of it, Lord. And you know
their name. You've numbered the hairs on their head. God,
you've always known them. And today they're right with you.
And they know you. And they're called your child. So
(19:37):
I thank you for that. I thank you, Lord Jesus,
for what you're doing. In Jesus name, Amen. So if
that's you, I want you to do something when you
can safely do so, just text the word new just
so we can follow up with you. Get some materials
into your and into your hand really onto your phone.
You can print them out if you like, but just
text the word new to 800 555 7898. Text new
(20:03):
new to 800 555 7898. Today you are new in Christ.
You've been rescued.
S1 (20:12):
He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then
he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Carl
and crew on Moody Radio.
S2 (20:22):
So. Well, coming up, we've got a special guest. We
are going to be talking about ministry to the currently
and formerly incarcerated. Now, lest you think that that's a
narrow category, a narrow topic. It touches way more people
than you even realize. We'll go there. Coming up.
S1 (20:41):
She was trying to earn her way to God, but
God showed her she didn't have to. Ali is in
the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2 (20:51):
Well, how is this for a statistic? Maybe a bit surprising.
1 in 3 people in this country have a criminal record.
2 million people currently incarcerated in a staggering 79 plus
million more. Live with that criminal record. And all of
the stigma that can sometimes go with that surprising to
you that those numbers are so high.
S10 (21:11):
Pretty surprising. I mean, that's a lot of people. I
know the country is big, but still, that's a lot
of people.
S2 (21:16):
And maybe this is not a topic that you think
about often. If prison has not hit home close to you,
either through maybe your own experience or a loved one,
but the challenge is to reentry into society. The barriers
to employment, the stigma can be almost overwhelming. Heather Rice
joining us right now, president and CEO of Prison Fellowship,
(21:38):
the nation's largest Christian nonprofit serving prisoners and their families.
It can be challenging for people who have served their
time and are now trying to reenter society. Why is
there still so much of a stigma around having served
time in prison?
S11 (21:54):
Yes. You know, I think that for a lot of people,
there's some fear that comes with someone who has a
criminal record. But as you said, 1 in 3 Americans
do have one. And the reality is there are neighbors
and they're hopefully sitting in our pews. And so, April,
we celebrate a Second Chance Month to raise awareness about
these barriers and to invite people to extend a second
(22:17):
chance to these neighbors, and to also realize the contributions
that people with a criminal record are making to our
communities and churches.
S2 (22:24):
95% of prisoners are released. Sometimes I think people think
about prison in very black and white, like somebody goes
away and they're there for life, but for 95% of
people they will reenter society. So this definitely is something
that concerns all of us. Give us a little bit
of the kind of the high level view of what
Prison Fellowship does.
S11 (22:45):
Yes, I would love to. So we've been around for
nearly 50 years, and we're the nation's largest Christian nonprofit,
reaching people impacted by incarceration. That includes people living in prison.
We provide faith based programming, really helping people step into
a second chance, starting when they're behind bars. We work
with wardens through our Warden Exchange program, helping them to
(23:06):
think about transformational leadership skills, how to promote a positive
prison culture. And we also realize that it's not just
the individual behind bars who does time, their family is
doing time with them. And so our program, Angel tree,
helps keep kids with incarcerated mom or dad connected to
them starting at Christmas time with providing a gift on
(23:26):
behalf of their mom or dad to them through our
amazing church partners. Um, but really opens the door to
year long outreach to those families. And then finally, we
also realize, you know, we can't just tell someone you
can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Um,
but when you get out, as you mentioned, you hit
those barriers to housing, to jobs. And that's why, um,
for decades, Prison Fellowship has also been involved in advocating
(23:49):
for justice reforms at the federal level and in several states.
S2 (23:53):
When you think about the hope of the gospel and
that we've all been given a second chance as Christians,
we are better positioned than anyone else to show the
kind of mercy and compassion that's needed when it comes
to helping prisoners reenter into society. Why is this sometimes
still challenging for the church?
S11 (24:14):
You know, I think sometimes we accept that second chance
from Christ and and we just, you know, don't think
about the practical ways we can extend that second chance
to others, extend that sense of belonging that we all
get to feel as Christians. And so one of the
things we're doing to help churches along on this path
is encouraging them to host a Second Chance Sunday, where
(24:37):
we preach on the message of redemption. We hear testimonies
of people who have transformed their lives, and we give
people an opportunity to volunteer through various opportunities at Prison Fellowship.
And so I've been really encouraged to see churches take
hold of this concept and have been able to attend
some second chance Sundays across the country. And it is
(24:57):
a powerful thing to see.
S2 (24:59):
And we are all about celebrating changed lives. Give us
a story that has encouraged your own heart as you've
done this work in this ministry through prison fellowship.
S11 (25:08):
Well, the one that comes to mind for me is, uh.
Q pastor Q Marshall. But Q as we call him,
and pastor Q um, was once in prison in Iowa
and actually went through our academy program. The Prison Fellowship Academy,
while he was there. And he had made a commitment
to Christ but didn't know how to walk it out.
(25:30):
And it was the volunteers coming in from a local
church who showed him what it looked like to live
as a man of God, and as he was experiencing
this mentorship on the inside. That same church was also
reaching out to his family through prison fellowship, angel tree,
his then young daughter and girlfriend. He ended up getting
married while he was in prison to to her, and
(25:51):
when he got out, he couldn't imagine going to any
church but the one that had come alongside his family
during his time behind bars and also shared, you know,
the Christmas gift through Angel tree and invited his wife
and daughter to their church. And so they joined that church,
and many years later, pastor Q actually had a church plant,
(26:12):
and that church supported him. And so they planted Hope
City Church in Iowa. It's a thriving congregation. They actually
just opened another campus in prison and they do prison fellowship.
Angel tree for children of the incarcerated now in Waterloo.
And I'm so thrilled that pastor Q has joined the
Prison Fellowship Board. It is such an honor for me
(26:34):
to be under his leadership and to see his story
really come full circle.
S2 (26:38):
How has this work affected your own faith? What is
your why for this?
S11 (26:45):
Well, you know, I've received a second chance through Christ.
And one of the things that amazes me about what
our founder, the late Chuck Colson, called the church inside.
Those brothers and sisters who are following Jesus behind bars
is just their intensity of spiritual disciplines, their prayer lives, Scripture, memory,
(27:05):
their worship. Um, just this last Friday, I was behind
bars in a Virginia prison, worshiping with some brothers there.
And there's just something powerful about that I come home
recharged every time I get to experience a Hope event,
or visit one of our academy, or grow programs and
hear what those inside are learning, and they're sharing with
(27:26):
me about the people that are coming to know Christ
behind bars. And some of the best prison ministry evangelism
that happens is actually because of the incarcerated. They can't
help but talk about Jesus because they've experienced his grace
in a raw and real way, and they don't take
it for granted. And so that's what gets me up
(27:46):
every morning. I love what I get to do. I
love the team I get to do it with. And
I'm so grateful for the volunteers and churches that we
get to partner with as well.
S2 (27:54):
Final thought on what are some practical ways for our
listener to get involved. You mentioned the Angel Tree Ministry,
which some are familiar with. What are some some ways
that people can get involved if they're hearing this and
they're stirred?
S11 (28:08):
Well, I would love for anyone who's thinking about how
they can step into taking part in the mission of
encountering Jesus with those impacted by incarceration. There are some
volunteer opportunities. One of them might be getting your church
to sign up for Prison Fellowship Angel Tree program, which
begins at Christmas. But this is the time to go
ahead and sign up, because we will assign out those
kids in the fall that are local to you, and
(28:30):
you can decide with your church if you want to
deliver gifts or host a Christmas party. You can volunteer
behind bars at one of our local programs and Academy
or grow. You can also advocate for justice. We train
everyday Christians on how to go. Speak to your lawmakers
about why you care about reforms from a biblical worldview. So,
so many ways that you can get involved, even if
(28:52):
it's signing up for our newsletter to hear more. And
then my final plug is we have a conference, an
annual conference, our Restore conference. It's taking place at Rock
City Church this year in Columbus, Ohio, September 9th and 10th.
You can come to our website to register for that
as well.
S2 (29:06):
We've got a keyword for you to make it a
little bit easier, just text prison to Five, 7898. If
you want to explore the opportunities, get partnered up with
this ministry. Just text prison to 800 555 7898.
S1 (29:21):
She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her.
Super die is in the crew. It's Carl and crew
on Moody Radio.
S2 (29:31):
There are plenty of things that people try to reinvent themselves.
On January 1st of every year, all of us have
some thing that we're going to try this year that's
going to make us different. New years resolutions, anyone?
S4 (29:48):
That's the big one. Yeah. How's that going?
S2 (29:50):
And we all know how that goes, right? It usually fails,
and we just can't seem to make ourselves different than
we are. And it's the kind of the struggle of
the human condition is that we're trying to be better,
but we just can't. Only in Christ do we actually
get to reinvent ourselves. But it's not us reinventing ourselves.
(30:12):
It's being given a new nature, a renewed nature, a
new heart, a new way of thinking, a new power source.
I want to read to you a verse. This comes
out of Second Corinthians. Second Corinthians five verse 17. It says, therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
(30:34):
The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come.
So then all of a sudden, when you are new
in Christ, it's not about you trying to reinvent yourself.
When you have the power of the Holy Spirit, you
actually find yourself becoming different than what you once were,
and you're not even trying. It's not you deciding I
(30:56):
am going to be this or this. Now you have
the power of the Holy Spirit and he's changing you.
So on this Freedom Friday, I want to open the
phone lines. And I want to ask you this question.
When you became new in Christ, what's one thing you
noticed change in yourself? Could have been obvious to everybody else,
(31:16):
or maybe only obvious to you, but when you became
new in Christ, I want you to tell me the
thing that was most noticeable to you about yourself that changed.
800 555 7898 I'm excited to hear your answers on
this because I think literally, it runs the full gamut.
There's so many different ways you can go with this.
S4 (31:38):
And it's so cool because it's so personal, right? I mean,
so that's what makes it so interesting to hear and
what God can do.
S2 (31:44):
All right. We're ready for you. When you became new
in Christ, what's the biggest change you noticed in yourself?
805 55 7898 let's hear from you. 805 5578, 98.
S1 (31:58):
You're listening to Curl and Crew on Moody Radio.
S2 (32:01):
Well, when you are in Christ, you are a new creation. Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come.
That second Corinthians five, verse 17. I read some commentary
notes on this, and I want to read this as
a quote out of one of the commentaries. It says,
the concept of being a new creation is rooted in
(32:21):
the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. This transformation is
not merely a moral or ethical change, but a fundamental
renewal of one's nature, fundamental renewal of one's nature. So
I'm asking you this question on this Freedom Friday when
you became new in Christ, what's the biggest change you
noticed in yourself? 800 555 7898 let's go to Jamie
(32:46):
calling in this morning from Illinois. Tell me, what's the
biggest thing you noticed that changed?
S12 (32:53):
Well, there's a few things that changed quite a bit.
One thing I noticed in my nature that the Holy
Spirit changed. That I was capable of compassion to other
people and have mercy and forgiveness for other people.
S2 (33:03):
Wow.
S12 (33:05):
That was calmer and calmer. Like I can respond to
things more calmly. And, uh, there's like revelation of the
grace of God, the forgiveness and the grace of God.
S2 (33:17):
Yeah. Jamie.
S12 (33:18):
And, uh.
S2 (33:18):
Oh. Go ahead.
S12 (33:21):
Uh, as you know, I mean, the the mercy and
the the mainly the. I don't know how to describe it.
This the.
S2 (33:32):
I think I think I get where you're going, that
mercy and grace, all of a sudden you receive the
mercy and grace from him. And it shifts even how
you view other people. Jamie, thank you so much for
your call this morning. Let's go to Cathy in Illinois. Here. Cathy,
what's the biggest thing you notice change in yourself when
you become new in Christ?
S13 (33:51):
Well, when before I accepted Christ as my Savior for real,
I was always in church. I was raised in church
as pew baby, as it were. But when I sincerely
accepted Christ for myself, I was no longer petty. When
people would do things to me. You go low, I
would go lower. We're going to go to Hades. But
when Jesus came into my life and the Holy Spirit,
(34:12):
he's like, uh uh, even now, as a grown person,
many years after I accepted Christ in 1989, my cousin
led me to Christ, my cousin Sylvia. So thankful to
her for that. And she was 14. I was 11,
and now I, I go ahead I he said erase
that Facebook post and I erased it because the Holy
(34:33):
Spirit is faithful.
S2 (34:35):
Oh, Cathy from Chicago. You know what I appreciate about you, Cathy?
You are honest, and we all have been there. We're
all of a sudden that text you want to send,
that post you want to put up that conversation, you
want to have the power of the Holy Spirit because
we have a renewed nature. All of a sudden there's
(34:55):
a check to that, and you have the ability to
walk it back, to not say it, to delete it
before you put it out there. I love that.
Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2 (00:08):
Well, have you ever wanted to reinvent yourself? You know,
you could think about all the ways that that's what
January is for, right? January. You know, when I was
in high school, I wanted to reinvent myself. And I
went to I was a high school volleyball player, went
to a volleyball camp, a summer volleyball camp. So it
(00:28):
was only going to be maybe 3 to 5 days max.
And so I decided that I wanted to try out
a new name. Oh, you. You've got me hooked now.
So why is this new name? Although most people call
me Allie. My full name is Alexandra, which is actually beautiful. Well.
(00:50):
Thank you. I love that name. So I thought, I
don't really want to be known as Allie this week.
I think that I'd like to be known as Alex. Cute. Yeah,
because I thought Alex was such a cooler, edgier nickname.
So I go to this volleyball camp and I introduce
myself as Alex. I'm feeling kind of cool. Yeah. Alex
(01:13):
over here playing volleyball. Not a big deal. Move along.
Just I got this. And so here was the problem.
There came a point really early on, by the way,
where one of the coaches or somebody was trying to
tell me something. And they're going, Alex, Alex, I'm just
(01:33):
looking around. I wonder why Alex is not answering. And
then I went, oh, oh. Oh, wait.
S3 (01:43):
Are you kidding me?
S2 (01:44):
That's me. Remember, you're not Ali this week as you've
been for the last. At that point, 17 years of
your life, you're Alex. Or at least you tried to
be Alex this week. Very, very short lived was my
stint as an Alex. I went back to Ali pretty quickly.
Trying to change yourself doesn't really work. You can try
(02:09):
out a new name, you can buy new clothes, you
can get a new career. You can move to a
brand new place where nobody knows you. But here's the problem.
You follow you wherever you go, right?
S4 (02:26):
Yes you do.
S2 (02:27):
And so we're stuck with this frustrating reality that I
can't change me. I can't be different than who I am.
Not in a very deep, meaningful way because I can.
I can try on Alex for a couple of days
and maybe fool some people. But the deep change that
(02:52):
we seek seems very elusive. and ask anybody who's tried
multiple times, countless attempts to make themselves different, to reinvent themselves,
to be the quote unquote best version of themselves. Yeah,
you follow you wherever you go. So this morning on
Freedom Friday, we are going to be really celebrating and
(03:15):
holding out at the forefront the power of the gospel
to give us a new identity.
S5 (03:21):
Oh, Amen.
S2 (03:22):
In the deepest, most profound, most important way. Not window dressing,
not a before and after extreme makeover. It's not losing
a bunch of weight, getting a new hairstyle, getting a
new wardrobe. The inside out change that we're seeking is
actually something much, much deeper. And I want you to
(03:42):
hear a testimony. This actually was from our live broadcast
or our we're live every day, but our live studio
audience broadcast that we had earlier this week from a
pastor who explained how God gave him an absolutely new identity.
He was no longer the same person that he was.
(04:03):
His whole life wasn't a name change. It was something
much deeper. You're going to hear the story from Pastor
John coming up here on Freedom Friday mornings.
S1 (04:14):
Walking closer to Jesus every day. You're listening to Carl
and crew.
S6 (04:19):
Well, sometimes people step into our studio and then we
hit them cold.
S2 (04:25):
Which, Carl, you do so well. So, are we getting cold?
S7 (04:29):
I knew you were going to bust me on that one.
S6 (04:31):
John Kelly standing in front of us here. He got
a bio on this guy.
S2 (04:34):
He is the lead pastor of Chicago West Church right
here in Chicago. We hear that you have a testimony.
You are pastoring. You are in the trenches. Tell us
a little bit about what God's done in your life.
S8 (04:47):
Yeah, yeah. I was born in Chicago but grew up
in Philadelphia in a very, I would say very violent, Um,
under resourced community with a high level of prostitution. So
I wasn't exposed to maybe the best scenes, the best environments. Um,
by the time I was 12, I was selling crack
and crack houses. Really? The first time I ever got arrested,
I was about 12 or 13. That's the first time
(05:08):
I ever got convicted. I was in and out of
juvenile detention centers pretty much my whole juvenile years. I mean,
just to give you a context, I mean, I felt
the seventh grade went to four different high schools and
my freshman year dropped out. So it was high every day.
Always getting shot at, shooting at someone. Seen a lot
of stuff that I probably shouldn't have seen by the
time I was 14 or 15. Just following that path
(05:30):
of foolishness by the time I was 19. Let me
back up a little bit. Actually turned to Islam for
a little bit. So about six years was a professing
Sunni Muslim, but still was in the streets doing dumb stuff.
And then by the time I turned 19, went with
a group of friends to rob a drug dealer in
the neighborhood. And one of my friends shot and killed him.
So we all got arrested and I was 19 years old,
had just lost my son, who was still born at
(05:53):
the time, was at the lowest point and was sitting
in prison looking at the death penalty or life in
prison with co-defendants. I was in solitary confinement, just at
a low point when a prison guard gave me a
copy of God's Word. I needed something to read. This
was 2002. Back then, you could get a newspaper. So
I was like, man, give me whatever you can. And
he was like, I'll get you a Bible. I was like, whatever,
give it to me. And he gave me a copy
(06:13):
of God's Word. And I began reading for the first
time in High School Dropout. And I began from Matthew,
and I read nonstop. I probably would have been like
24 hours straight until I got to Hebrews chapter four,
verse seven. It says, today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your heart. And I gave my life
to the Lord right there in the prison cell. So
when I came to faith in Christ, I didn't go
to a church service, didn't hear a sermon. God's word
(06:35):
was enough. And so, as a preacher of the gospel,
I have so much confidence in God's Word that he
uses us, but he doesn't need us.
S6 (06:42):
To.
S9 (06:42):
Speak to that because the Word of.
S6 (06:44):
God, when given, we find here on air pastor, that
when we feel like, Lord, where would you have us go?
And we break open the word and read it?
S8 (06:55):
Yeah.
S6 (06:56):
There is something about the Word of God.
S8 (06:58):
The power is in the gospel and the spirit working
through the living Word of God to soften hardened hearts
and redeem souls to Christ. Yeah. And we can get
so caught up in the vessels. And it was interesting,
because God can still redeem a lost soul through a
weak vessel that's not on their A-game that day. Amen.
And for me, in that cell, it was just vital
(07:18):
for me because I'm in solitary confinement. So like, in,
you know, in the streets, if you get in trouble,
you go to prison. In prison, if you get in trouble,
you go to solitary confinement in the hole. You're in
23 and one, and you come out one hour a
day handcuffed and shackled. You're allowed no human contact. I mean,
I couldn't even get toilet paper and a blanket sometimes,
but God got his word into the, you know, the
hardest place and got it into my hand. And his
(07:40):
word was enough.
S6 (07:41):
How was that the grace of God that got you
to that point? Some people, some people Pooh Pooh jailhouse faith.
S8 (07:48):
My lawyer did. He was Jewish. I was like, you're
supposed to get this thing, you know?
S6 (07:51):
What's the matter with you? You're in the book here, man.
It's to the Jews first.
S8 (07:54):
And then.
S6 (07:55):
The Gentiles.
S8 (07:55):
To jail and finds God and you know.
S6 (07:58):
But you said I really did.
S8 (08:00):
And I would say it's extremely hard to be a
devout Christian in a penitentiary. It's not an environment that's
conducive for you to to truly live. You don't turn
the other cheek there.
S6 (08:10):
Yeah.
S8 (08:11):
And so my faith was really tested in the fire.
So God was gracious. Here's a funny thing. It's not funny,
but it's just what you do. About 2 or 3
months went by and I really was feeling convicted that
I'm pleading not guilty of a crime that I'm guilty of.
And I felt convicted that I was going in front
of the Lord.
S6 (08:26):
Holy Spirit.
S8 (08:27):
And not a judge. And so I told my lawyer
some months later, hey, I'm a Christian now. I'm a
Christ follower. I know you think this jailhouse religion, but
I can't say I've repented of something that I'm pleading
not guilty to. Whoa. And so you can go to
the judge and tell them that I just want to
ask for forgiveness and whatever they want to do to me,
they could do to me. He was like, well, you know,
this is foolish. You got an opportunity, I think, to
beat this thing. It's not about beating it. I'm going
(08:48):
in front of God's presence and I'm guilty paying you
to get me off. And so I went in front
of the judge. I went in front of the young
man's family, looked his mother in the eye and told
her my testimony and said, I'm a Christ follower now,
and you know your son lost his life, but he
was created in God's image. And if I could trade places,
I would. And whatever you want to do, it's right.
The Bible says, an eye for an eye, a tooth
(09:08):
for a tooth. And when it was her time to speak.
You know what she said? Nothing. She showed me mercy
and grace.
S6 (09:16):
Oh my goodness.
S8 (09:16):
And so I ended up with 6 to 20 years
for third degree murder. And I went on to the
state penitentiary, and it's there. I got my GED.
S6 (09:24):
How much time did you do?
S8 (09:25):
I was supposed to do about 18. You know, you
do like, you know, 85%. I did six years and
came home on parole and a couple of years later
ended up at Moody.
S2 (09:35):
Coming up, you've got a special guest here going, who
is this John Kelly with us right now, lead pastor,
Chicago West Church, right here in the city of Chicago.
Coming up, we're going to find out how he went
from the penitentiary to becoming a pastor. More coming up.
S1 (09:49):
Your shot of hope to help you through the day.
This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S6 (09:55):
Ali, this is an amazing story from John Kelly.
S2 (09:58):
Pastor here in Chicago. His name is John Kelly. He
just shared his story. I spent six years of a
much longer sentence. He was convicted of third degree murder
that he confessed to after he found Jesus in solitary confinement.
Reading the Bible got to Hebrews. What was your verse?
S8 (10:15):
Hebrews four seven which says, what? Hear his voice. Do
not harden your heart.
S2 (10:18):
So you you get out. After six years, you're a
brand new man than the man who went in. How
did God call you to now, pastor?
S8 (10:27):
Well, I felt called when I first came to faith
in Christ. I just wanted to preach the gospel. Make disciples.
I didn't know what that meant. We were starting, you know,
we were trying to plant churches on every cell block.
We had prayer groups in every cell block.
S6 (10:38):
Planting churches on cell blocks. Now there's a church planting
effort right there.
S8 (10:42):
We did that by God's grace. When I came home,
I just submitted to the church. I was going to
Christian Stronghold Church. Pastor Willie Richardson, and he used to
do the pastor's conference here. We had quite a few
pastors that had went to Moody, and so I had
felt called to ministry. He recommended Moody. He supported that
and moved out here in 2011 with my wife to
walk in that call into the church and to get
(11:02):
trained in the gospel.
S6 (11:04):
You know, I got to tell you something. Your bride
sitting here maybe shooting some video right now. She loves her, man.
I do. Yeah, you could hear that from a distant mic.
How in the world did you meet this fine bride
of yours?
S8 (11:21):
It's a long story, but I met her at church.
We both served in youth ministries. A very large youth
ministry was not for the faint of heart at all
with those youth. And one of the men that was
discipling me was like, you know, her dad's not in
her life. If you're going to approach her, you need
to go ask her mom for permission to talk to her.
That's what I did. So I went to her mom
after a Bible study. I was like, man, I've been praying.
Your daughter seems like a sweet woman. If you say no,
(11:42):
I'll walk away. I won't ask her permission. She gave
me her blessing.
S6 (11:45):
Honorable man. You know what her mom saw what we
see and hear right now. A broken, humble, dependent man
on the grace of God. There's 20 plus percent. Who knows?
Maybe upwards of 30% of people listening right now all
across the globe who hear your story. And they're like,
Could God? Is his arm too short for me? Could
(12:06):
he reach me? Pour out your heart, man. What's the
good news?
S8 (12:10):
Man, the good news of the gospel is that God
not only loves us so much, but he's willing to
go down the pit and get us himself that Christ died.
When we say Christ died, it's not a cool slogan.
It's not something we just say on Easter Sunday. It's
a reality that God loved us so much that he
sent His Son to come get us. And for me,
when I'm in solitary confinement. What brought me to tears
(12:33):
was that my Savior loved me so much that he
was willing to become a convicted felon, that I might
become free. And like the thief on the cross, he says,
today you will be with me in Paradise. So I
don't care how far you've gone, how much you've messed up.
You're talking to a guy that's had abortions, a guy
that's stolen from his family, been strung out, living in
his car, and took the life of a young man
(12:55):
who didn't deserve it. And Christ says, my love is
there for him, and I will change him and make
him whole and new. And I would just say, no
matter where you are, no matter what suicide, thoughts of
suicide is doing, depression, alcohol, giving up, you want to
harm yourself. Christ came that you might have new life
in him if you would just turn to him wherever
you are right now. Yeah. Your prayers don't have to
(13:16):
be all nice and clean. They have to be sincere
with a broken heart. And he won't forsake a broken heart. Yeah, man. Ever.
S6 (13:23):
You know, I just the thing that hit me is
that there's a lot of people in solitary confinement, but
they aren't in a prison. They're in the prison of
their own life.
S8 (13:32):
I learned that when I came out.
S6 (13:34):
That there's a whole world of solitary confinement. Speak to
that person right now who feels all alone and out
of reach of God.
S8 (13:41):
Yeah, well, I would just say is, you know what?
You might truly feel like the people around you don't
get you. And there might be some valid points of
that because of what you're going through. But God understands you.
We do not have a high priest. We do not
have a Savior who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. He
was tempted as we were, yet without sin. He knows
the struggle. He knows what it's like to be rejected.
(14:03):
He knows what it's like for people to turn away
from him. He knows what it's like to be homeless.
The Son of Man has no place to lay his head.
He knows like to endure pain. Yeah, he knows what
it's like to lose a stepfather, to lose someone you love.
And so I would just say, um, don't allow Satan
to bring the lie into your mind that God can't
relate to your pain. If anything, he enters into it
(14:25):
and he fully understands it.
S6 (14:27):
So let's do this together. You and me, brother. Pastor
to pastor here. Uh, there were some troubled hearts one
day when Jesus was telling some men that he was
going away, and he said, don't let your hearts be troubled.
Believe in God, believe also in me. He said, I'm
going to prepare a place for you. That's unbelievable. Then
he said, I am the way. I am the truth.
I am the life. What does it mean to come
(14:48):
off the broad path and go God's way? There's repentance
involved there, isn't there?
S8 (14:52):
Yeah. It means you have to acknowledge, right? I always
say you can. You can't get healed from something you
won't acknowledge. You got to acknowledge and say, man, you
know what? Looking at my life, I'm pretty broken. I'm
not perfect. I don't have it all together. I don't
know one person. Yeah. And human history on this planet
right now that will say I am perfect. I have
it all together.
S6 (15:12):
But those that admit it.
S8 (15:13):
That admitted that God's like man. I can work with that.
Come here and I will make you whole.
S6 (15:19):
I am the way he said. That means we got
to turn around off the broad path. Just turn around
and he'll do the rest. We're just turning toward him.
I am the truth. Meaning we can no longer fly
by the seat of our pants and our truth. It's
God's truth. We're sinners, separated from God. What seemed impossible?
Jesus bridged that gap and he saved us. While we
(15:41):
were yet sinners. Christ died for us and he rose again. Pastor,
pour out your heart. He wants to give resurrection power
to everyone right now.
S8 (15:48):
Yeah. I mean, you know, we can go to therapists,
we can go to counselors, we can listen to podcasts.
But when we say that he is the truth, we're
saying you are the primary voice in my life right now.
I've tried every other way. I'm listening to your voice
and your voice alone. I need you to direct me.
And you are the life. I've been around a lot
of death. I've been around a lot of suffering. But, Jesus,
I'm turning to you right now to take these broken
(16:08):
pieces of my life and build a beautiful mosaic that's
a reflection of your image. And there's so much hope
in that, because it not only means that God can
change where we are right now, but it means we
have an expectant future that's full of joy, that's going somewhere.
We're going to see like man, like if we were
to like, leave this planet in the next 24 hours, man,
(16:28):
we could we could leave knowing that where we're going
as far greater and far better than everything that's behind us.
And so it's instant joy and it's guaranteed. It's not
a wish. It's not something I hope for. It's practical
and it's real. It's real as you are hearing my voice,
I believe that right now God is pricking someone's heart.
He's speaking to you right now. You know he is.
(16:50):
And all he wants you to do is just surrender.
S1 (16:52):
You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't
take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew.
It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2 (17:02):
You just heard an incredible testimony from Pastor John Kelly,
who's a pastor right here in Chicago, Chicago West Bible Church. And,
you know, we talked about this verse, John 14 six.
Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and
the life. No one comes to the father except through me.
That is the spiritual reality, that there is no path
(17:25):
to peace with God apart from the work of Jesus Christ.
So if today, if today, you hear his voice, don't
harden your heart. If you know that today is the
day that you need to surrender to Jesus Christ. I
want you to listen to these words. I want you
to confess that you are a sinner, that you have
(17:46):
missed the mark. You've not lived a perfect life. I
want you to confess that you need a Savior, and
that it's not just anyone who can save you. It's
not trying to be a better person, that it's Jesus.
Want you to say Jesus, today is the day I
surrender my life to you. I'm a sinner and I
know that only you can save me. And so today
(18:08):
I turn, I repent, which just means make that 180
degree turn. I turn from being the Lord of my
own life to making you my Savior and my Lord.
Today is the day I follow you. And if that's you,
you have that honest conversation with God. There's no special
set of words that like, seals the deal. You don't
(18:29):
have to be in a church. You don't have to
be with a pastor. There's no magic formula to this.
This is an honest cry of the heart between you
and God, where you acknowledge Him as Savior, where you confess,
you repent, and today you believe. If that's you, I
want to pray for you. Lord, for this person in
(18:51):
this moment, who by the power of your spirit is
becoming a new creation, I pray that you would give
them such great joy in that Lord, that you would
bring them to a place where they can meet other believers,
where they can flourish in you. God, I thank you
that you loved us so much that you sent your
son to die on a cross for our sin, that
(19:15):
you rose him again on the third day so that
we could have new life in Christ. Today, that new life.
Someone's taking a hold of it, Lord. And you know
their name. You've numbered the hairs on their head. God,
you've always known them. And today they're right with you.
And they know you. And they're called your child. So
(19:37):
I thank you for that. I thank you, Lord Jesus,
for what you're doing. In Jesus name, Amen. So if
that's you, I want you to do something when you
can safely do so, just text the word new just
so we can follow up with you. Get some materials
into your and into your hand really onto your phone.
You can print them out if you like, but just
text the word new to 800 555 7898. Text new
(20:03):
new to 800 555 7898. Today you are new in Christ.
You've been rescued.
S1 (20:12):
He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then
he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Carl
and crew on Moody Radio.
S2 (20:22):
So. Well, coming up, we've got a special guest. We
are going to be talking about ministry to the currently
and formerly incarcerated. Now, lest you think that that's a
narrow category, a narrow topic. It touches way more people
than you even realize. We'll go there. Coming up.
S1 (20:41):
She was trying to earn her way to God, but
God showed her she didn't have to. Ali is in
the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2 (20:51):
Well, how is this for a statistic? Maybe a bit surprising.
1 in 3 people in this country have a criminal record.
2 million people currently incarcerated in a staggering 79 plus
million more. Live with that criminal record. And all of
the stigma that can sometimes go with that surprising to
you that those numbers are so high.
S10 (21:11):
Pretty surprising. I mean, that's a lot of people. I
know the country is big, but still, that's a lot
of people.
S2 (21:16):
And maybe this is not a topic that you think
about often. If prison has not hit home close to you,
either through maybe your own experience or a loved one,
but the challenge is to reentry into society. The barriers
to employment, the stigma can be almost overwhelming. Heather Rice
joining us right now, president and CEO of Prison Fellowship,
(21:38):
the nation's largest Christian nonprofit serving prisoners and their families.
It can be challenging for people who have served their
time and are now trying to reenter society. Why is
there still so much of a stigma around having served
time in prison?
S11 (21:54):
Yes. You know, I think that for a lot of people,
there's some fear that comes with someone who has a
criminal record. But as you said, 1 in 3 Americans
do have one. And the reality is there are neighbors
and they're hopefully sitting in our pews. And so, April,
we celebrate a Second Chance Month to raise awareness about
these barriers and to invite people to extend a second
(22:17):
chance to these neighbors, and to also realize the contributions
that people with a criminal record are making to our
communities and churches.
S2 (22:24):
95% of prisoners are released. Sometimes I think people think
about prison in very black and white, like somebody goes
away and they're there for life, but for 95% of
people they will reenter society. So this definitely is something
that concerns all of us. Give us a little bit
of the kind of the high level view of what
Prison Fellowship does.
S11 (22:45):
Yes, I would love to. So we've been around for
nearly 50 years, and we're the nation's largest Christian nonprofit,
reaching people impacted by incarceration. That includes people living in prison.
We provide faith based programming, really helping people step into
a second chance, starting when they're behind bars. We work
with wardens through our Warden Exchange program, helping them to
(23:06):
think about transformational leadership skills, how to promote a positive
prison culture. And we also realize that it's not just
the individual behind bars who does time, their family is
doing time with them. And so our program, Angel tree,
helps keep kids with incarcerated mom or dad connected to
them starting at Christmas time with providing a gift on
(23:26):
behalf of their mom or dad to them through our
amazing church partners. Um, but really opens the door to
year long outreach to those families. And then finally, we
also realize, you know, we can't just tell someone you
can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Um,
but when you get out, as you mentioned, you hit
those barriers to housing, to jobs. And that's why, um,
for decades, Prison Fellowship has also been involved in advocating
(23:49):
for justice reforms at the federal level and in several states.
S2 (23:53):
When you think about the hope of the gospel and
that we've all been given a second chance as Christians,
we are better positioned than anyone else to show the
kind of mercy and compassion that's needed when it comes
to helping prisoners reenter into society. Why is this sometimes
still challenging for the church?
S11 (24:14):
You know, I think sometimes we accept that second chance
from Christ and and we just, you know, don't think
about the practical ways we can extend that second chance
to others, extend that sense of belonging that we all
get to feel as Christians. And so one of the
things we're doing to help churches along on this path
is encouraging them to host a Second Chance Sunday, where
(24:37):
we preach on the message of redemption. We hear testimonies
of people who have transformed their lives, and we give
people an opportunity to volunteer through various opportunities at Prison Fellowship.
And so I've been really encouraged to see churches take
hold of this concept and have been able to attend
some second chance Sundays across the country. And it is
(24:57):
a powerful thing to see.
S2 (24:59):
And we are all about celebrating changed lives. Give us
a story that has encouraged your own heart as you've
done this work in this ministry through prison fellowship.
S11 (25:08):
Well, the one that comes to mind for me is, uh.
Q pastor Q Marshall. But Q as we call him,
and pastor Q um, was once in prison in Iowa
and actually went through our academy program. The Prison Fellowship Academy,
while he was there. And he had made a commitment
to Christ but didn't know how to walk it out.
(25:30):
And it was the volunteers coming in from a local
church who showed him what it looked like to live
as a man of God, and as he was experiencing
this mentorship on the inside. That same church was also
reaching out to his family through prison fellowship, angel tree,
his then young daughter and girlfriend. He ended up getting
married while he was in prison to to her, and
(25:51):
when he got out, he couldn't imagine going to any
church but the one that had come alongside his family
during his time behind bars and also shared, you know,
the Christmas gift through Angel tree and invited his wife
and daughter to their church. And so they joined that church,
and many years later, pastor Q actually had a church plant,
(26:12):
and that church supported him. And so they planted Hope
City Church in Iowa. It's a thriving congregation. They actually
just opened another campus in prison and they do prison fellowship.
Angel tree for children of the incarcerated now in Waterloo.
And I'm so thrilled that pastor Q has joined the
Prison Fellowship Board. It is such an honor for me
(26:34):
to be under his leadership and to see his story
really come full circle.
S2 (26:38):
How has this work affected your own faith? What is
your why for this?
S11 (26:45):
Well, you know, I've received a second chance through Christ.
And one of the things that amazes me about what
our founder, the late Chuck Colson, called the church inside.
Those brothers and sisters who are following Jesus behind bars
is just their intensity of spiritual disciplines, their prayer lives, Scripture, memory,
(27:05):
their worship. Um, just this last Friday, I was behind
bars in a Virginia prison, worshiping with some brothers there.
And there's just something powerful about that I come home
recharged every time I get to experience a Hope event,
or visit one of our academy, or grow programs and
hear what those inside are learning, and they're sharing with
(27:26):
me about the people that are coming to know Christ
behind bars. And some of the best prison ministry evangelism
that happens is actually because of the incarcerated. They can't
help but talk about Jesus because they've experienced his grace
in a raw and real way, and they don't take
it for granted. And so that's what gets me up
(27:46):
every morning. I love what I get to do. I
love the team I get to do it with. And
I'm so grateful for the volunteers and churches that we
get to partner with as well.
S2 (27:54):
Final thought on what are some practical ways for our
listener to get involved. You mentioned the Angel Tree Ministry,
which some are familiar with. What are some some ways
that people can get involved if they're hearing this and
they're stirred?
S11 (28:08):
Well, I would love for anyone who's thinking about how
they can step into taking part in the mission of
encountering Jesus with those impacted by incarceration. There are some
volunteer opportunities. One of them might be getting your church
to sign up for Prison Fellowship Angel Tree program, which
begins at Christmas. But this is the time to go
ahead and sign up, because we will assign out those
kids in the fall that are local to you, and
(28:30):
you can decide with your church if you want to
deliver gifts or host a Christmas party. You can volunteer
behind bars at one of our local programs and Academy
or grow. You can also advocate for justice. We train
everyday Christians on how to go. Speak to your lawmakers
about why you care about reforms from a biblical worldview. So,
so many ways that you can get involved, even if
(28:52):
it's signing up for our newsletter to hear more. And
then my final plug is we have a conference, an
annual conference, our Restore conference. It's taking place at Rock
City Church this year in Columbus, Ohio, September 9th and 10th.
You can come to our website to register for that
as well.
S2 (29:06):
We've got a keyword for you to make it a
little bit easier, just text prison to Five, 7898. If
you want to explore the opportunities, get partnered up with
this ministry. Just text prison to 800 555 7898.
S1 (29:21):
She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her.
Super die is in the crew. It's Carl and crew
on Moody Radio.
S2 (29:31):
There are plenty of things that people try to reinvent themselves.
On January 1st of every year, all of us have
some thing that we're going to try this year that's
going to make us different. New years resolutions, anyone?
S4 (29:48):
That's the big one. Yeah. How's that going?
S2 (29:50):
And we all know how that goes, right? It usually fails,
and we just can't seem to make ourselves different than
we are. And it's the kind of the struggle of
the human condition is that we're trying to be better,
but we just can't. Only in Christ do we actually
get to reinvent ourselves. But it's not us reinventing ourselves.
(30:12):
It's being given a new nature, a renewed nature, a
new heart, a new way of thinking, a new power source.
I want to read to you a verse. This comes
out of Second Corinthians. Second Corinthians five verse 17. It says, therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
(30:34):
The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come.
So then all of a sudden, when you are new
in Christ, it's not about you trying to reinvent yourself.
When you have the power of the Holy Spirit, you
actually find yourself becoming different than what you once were,
and you're not even trying. It's not you deciding I
(30:56):
am going to be this or this. Now you have
the power of the Holy Spirit and he's changing you.
So on this Freedom Friday, I want to open the
phone lines. And I want to ask you this question.
When you became new in Christ, what's one thing you
noticed change in yourself? Could have been obvious to everybody else,
(31:16):
or maybe only obvious to you, but when you became
new in Christ, I want you to tell me the
thing that was most noticeable to you about yourself that changed.
800 555 7898 I'm excited to hear your answers on
this because I think literally, it runs the full gamut.
There's so many different ways you can go with this.
S4 (31:38):
And it's so cool because it's so personal, right? I mean,
so that's what makes it so interesting to hear and
what God can do.
S2 (31:44):
All right. We're ready for you. When you became new
in Christ, what's the biggest change you noticed in yourself?
805 55 7898 let's hear from you. 805 5578, 98.
S1 (31:58):
You're listening to Curl and Crew on Moody Radio.
S2 (32:01):
Well, when you are in Christ, you are a new creation. Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come.
That second Corinthians five, verse 17. I read some commentary
notes on this, and I want to read this as
a quote out of one of the commentaries. It says,
the concept of being a new creation is rooted in
(32:21):
the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. This transformation is
not merely a moral or ethical change, but a fundamental
renewal of one's nature, fundamental renewal of one's nature. So
I'm asking you this question on this Freedom Friday when
you became new in Christ, what's the biggest change you
noticed in yourself? 800 555 7898 let's go to Jamie
(32:46):
calling in this morning from Illinois. Tell me, what's the
biggest thing you noticed that changed?
S12 (32:53):
Well, there's a few things that changed quite a bit.
One thing I noticed in my nature that the Holy
Spirit changed. That I was capable of compassion to other
people and have mercy and forgiveness for other people.
S2 (33:03):
Wow.
S12 (33:05):
That was calmer and calmer. Like I can respond to
things more calmly. And, uh, there's like revelation of the
grace of God, the forgiveness and the grace of God.
S2 (33:17):
Yeah. Jamie.
S12 (33:18):
And, uh.
S2 (33:18):
Oh. Go ahead.
S12 (33:21):
Uh, as you know, I mean, the the mercy and
the the mainly the. I don't know how to describe it.
This the.
S2 (33:32):
I think I think I get where you're going, that
mercy and grace, all of a sudden you receive the
mercy and grace from him. And it shifts even how
you view other people. Jamie, thank you so much for
your call this morning. Let's go to Cathy in Illinois. Here. Cathy,
what's the biggest thing you notice change in yourself when
you become new in Christ?
S13 (33:51):
Well, when before I accepted Christ as my Savior for real,
I was always in church. I was raised in church
as pew baby, as it were. But when I sincerely
accepted Christ for myself, I was no longer petty. When
people would do things to me. You go low, I
would go lower. We're going to go to Hades. But
when Jesus came into my life and the Holy Spirit,
(34:12):
he's like, uh uh, even now, as a grown person,
many years after I accepted Christ in 1989, my cousin
led me to Christ, my cousin Sylvia. So thankful to
her for that. And she was 14. I was 11,
and now I, I go ahead I he said erase
that Facebook post and I erased it because the Holy
(34:33):
Spirit is faithful.
S2 (34:35):
Oh, Cathy from Chicago. You know what I appreciate about you, Cathy?
You are honest, and we all have been there. We're
all of a sudden that text you want to send,
that post you want to put up that conversation, you
want to have the power of the Holy Spirit because
we have a renewed nature. All of a sudden there's
(34:55):
a check to that, and you have the ability to
walk it back, to not say it, to delete it
before you put it out there. I love that.
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