Attitude

Halleluiah! Praise the Lord! Wow! Every Tuesday that I go into the prison is an uplifting experience. But to use a sports metaphor: Tonight went into overtime. From the very beginning, Dan was chock full of attitude. He stepped up for Woodside when our fearless leader, suggested that we could be intimidated. He made it clear that while we were not from the streets, we could show street “chutzpah”.

After a couple of early songs, that Michael led us in, Bob asked the guys to stand up and pray for our ministry. This reinforced the fact that while we may be there ministering to them, they give us back so much in return! We feed off of each other. Ray gave us great love in his prayer.

After that Bob was very exuberant in his worship. Leading our worship, for our Lord. The energy tonight! It was different, it was rocking, and it was loud! As Bob described after the service, “I wanted to sing badly tonight” (By the way: A few of us pointed out that he succeeded in his desire). It was effective though.

“Biker Bob” spoke the message tonight. He had a connection with the men that I cannot match, that I will never try to equal. It comes from spending so much of his time on the street. The guys felt it and I could tell that they were moved by it. Except for the years as a parent of a young child, when references to “the street” meant Sesame Street, the street to me has always been something to ride a bike or a car.

At one point, I guess Bob realized he hadn’t been on the mike for some twenty minutes or so and came forward to chastise some of the men for leaving early. This rattled “Biker Bob” a little. I think he thought Bob was pulling the plug on him. Or, as the old saying goes, being gonged. It did stem the flow of men leaving. Bob recovered well and tied up his message.

At the end of the night, when it was time to come forward, I believe over a dozen came forward. As Royce read the final prayer, Pat, Dave, Dan & I all felt that additional contributions from us just weren’t necessary tonight. Just being there was enough.

After service a huge number of guys came forward to talk to us. The path that Christ has placed us on is truly incredible. I joke about tonight’s service, but it was truly powerful. All I can say is that God has found a way to work through our ministry. Whether there are two or twelve of us, we are ready to follow wherever the Lord leads us.

Say a prayer for somebody today.