My Pastor, Mike Holm of Calvary Chapel Tampa has recently been coming with me to that jail for the weekly Bible studies I have been leading. Because he had just recently completed the volunteer orientation that they require for certain visiting privileges, he was also able to join me at this first special once-a-month service. 38 men were in attendance and heard the Gospel and my testimony through the lens of a Bible study. It was a great time! Most times I give Bible studies inside a jail or prison, some of the guys will be fidgety and restless. But this time, they were all listening and some were taking notes!
The last half hour of the allotted time was devoted to a question and answer session. The men asked a lot of questions like "how do you start over?" and "how do you deal with old friends that are still living the old life?". When we got done, I asked everybody to stand up so we could pray together. I could tell that God was really speaking to some of the guys. While we were waiting to leave, one of the inmates came over and gave me a sketch that he had drawn of me during the study. That certainly was a first! My pastor said that the sketch portrayed me in a way that resembled Charles Spurgeon! Haha!
God is really opening doors at the Pasco County Detention Center! In the coming weeks, I will be training multiple believers who want to serve there, which is very exciting for me. A big part of the Full Throttle Freedom Ministries vision has always been to train up others to effectively share the gospel and disciple those who place their trust in Christ. Without Jesus, I know that I would not have gotten sober, met my wonderful beautiful wife, been married for 22 years, and have six awesome kids! Christ truly does give new life and definitely life more abundant.