Last night at Knox County Jail went well as Mark went in for the Saturday night worship service. Justin Humes went in also, fresh off the road returning from North Carolina just 19 hours earlier. Justin shared from the book of Judges chapter 16, about the life of Samson with the first group of 6 men. I then shared my testimony with this group. As often happens, the group was a mixed bag of those looking to learn from God's Word and worship together, and also of the jokesters who want to get out of their cells and see friends. This first group was such a group, with a young man bragging a lot about what he did while under the influence of "bath salts", glorying in his sin and hoping to distract the rest of the group. After the meeting, this young man seemed more calm and spoke of his family and how he wished he had not hurt his family through his sin.
Samson's strength was from God, but his sinful desires to lay with the women of the enemy brought him much pain. Samson didn't seem to learn from the first, second, or even third times that Delilah tricked him and bound him, supposing to deliver him for money's sake to his enemies. I spoke with this young man about how sin is bondage to us, but that freedom comes only in Christ. Justin followed this up with a few verses from John's Gospel chapter 8.
For the second group, Justin spoke on Joshua 7 and the sin of Achan after God delivered Jericho for Joshua. The sin of Achan, taking forbidden goods that God had banned and hiding them after this battle, cost his family their lives along with 36 men who died at Ai. Achan's sin of coveting, lying, and then hiding the evidence (God knows the thoughts and intents of our hearts) effected the whole nation with fear as they lost their trust in God and trusted the wisdom of man in the next battle. The people convinced Joshua that Ai was so small they could win the city with their own power, and so they sent just 3,000 men in man's wisdom and were defeated.
While it is sobering to consider the defeat of God's people and the shame that was brought to the name of Israel at that time, it is beautiful to consider that once they did what was right before God and purged the sin from the camp, God then delivered Ai into their hands and gave the victory as promised. This time, they did things God's way instead of relying on the strength of man.
The second group had 3 men who were very attentive, short timers who seemed very blessed by the Word of God. This opportunity to preach God's Word, share the Gospel, and serve the Lord is a great blessing to me and I thank the Lord for allowing me to see all He is doing in Knox County Jail.
Please pray for all those who hear God's Word through study times, personal visits, worship services, and so much more that the Lord is using to souls to Christ at KCJ. Many minister week in and week out with no fanfare in the jails and prisons all over the world. These love and care for the souls of men and women who are incarcerated for any of a thousand reasons. I thank God that He saved me and now uses me in some small way to bless the lives of others and proclaim His Gospel in this way.
Mark Cowperthwaite
