Thursday, May 12, 2005
I received a letter from a former friend of my mine who I played numerous softball games with during the late 70’s and 1980’s. His name is Bill but he was into surfing back then so his nick name was Surfer Joe. During softball games we just called him Joe. Joe went to prison for dealing in cocaine. He was released on parole about a year ago. Joe was placed in a hotel across from our church and that is where we reconnected.
I invited Joe to our services. He was embarrassed about the type of clothes he had to wear. I assured him that our church wasn’t into a fashion show and in fact, we had men who sometimes served on the Lord’s Table wearing shorts. I could tell Joe was still nervous about his attire so we found some members who wore the same size as Joe and they gave him some clothes. My wife and I ended up giving Joe around $500 to help him get started in his new life outside prison. The church allowed him to eat out of our pantry. Joe began to attend services and I had high hopes for Joe. You can probably guess what happened.
Joe’s attendance began to fall off. The calls for help and money kept coming along with excuses. Joe was a 2 time “loser” and when he was pulled over for traffic violation he was incarcerated for another 5 to 7 years. I plan to go visit Joe in prison and I wonder, how does one get out of the toughest prison off all time – the prison of the cycle of sin? I know that Jesus is the ultimate Parole Board but how does one get someone to see the need to be paroled? I wish I had the answer.
I invited Joe to our services. He was embarrassed about the type of clothes he had to wear. I assured him that our church wasn’t into a fashion show and in fact, we had men who sometimes served on the Lord’s Table wearing shorts. I could tell Joe was still nervous about his attire so we found some members who wore the same size as Joe and they gave him some clothes. My wife and I ended up giving Joe around $500 to help him get started in his new life outside prison. The church allowed him to eat out of our pantry. Joe began to attend services and I had high hopes for Joe. You can probably guess what happened.
Joe’s attendance began to fall off. The calls for help and money kept coming along with excuses. Joe was a 2 time “loser” and when he was pulled over for traffic violation he was incarcerated for another 5 to 7 years. I plan to go visit Joe in prison and I wonder, how does one get out of the toughest prison off all time – the prison of the cycle of sin? I know that Jesus is the ultimate Parole Board but how does one get someone to see the need to be paroled? I wish I had the answer.
