Todd's Blog

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Riding High Ministries just concluded a one day instructional clinic for the participants of the famous Angola Prison Rodeo. Angola is an 18,000 acre property that is home to approximately 5,300 of Louisiana's most dangerous criminals. Until the last decade or so, Angola was considered the bloodiest prison in the United States and held the notorious reputation that "If you go to Angola, you die in Angola." Because of what the Lord has done through the warden, Mr. Caine, Angola has a half dozen churches, a bible college, and hundreds of trained pastors as inmates. Angola is now the model for rehabilitation and is considered one of the safest prisons we have. One of the main events of the year is a prison rodeo that draws 10,000 people each day to come watch inmates try their hand at rodeo events. As you would guess, bareback and Bull riding are at the top of the favorites list. One of the problems however is that these men have no knowledge of livestock or rodeo. It is a dangerous enough sport as it is, and these men have made it at least 50 times as bad. So I felt like the Lord had asked us to go and give them an instructional day and wrap it up with a presentation of the Gospel. Because of Franklin Grahams commitment to this facility and the favor they have given us, we got that very opportunity. This past Thursday we as a team; Jody Newberry, Mike Lee, Josh Koshel, Mike White, Jordan Hupp, JC Navarro, Brooks Brewer, Darrel Vesta, Lloyd Blackwell, and myself all had the opportunity to love on a group of men who the world has given up on. Of these 5,300 inmates, 95% of them will never get out and about 85% will never receive a visitor during their entire stay.

I am not sure what I expected to happen that day. But I am certain that whatever I thought, I was wrong. I knew we would spend our day with murderers, rapist and thieves, but I didn’t expect to find men who were just like me. They all had stories of victories and defeats, highs and lows, love and hate, families that loved them and failed them, fears and failures, dreams and callings. Just like me, they had regret. They were haunted by memories of decisions made that hurt people around them, but were rendered helpless to erase the past. They could not bear their sin away, all they had was the rest of their natural lives to pay for them and a fear for their eternal life. The only difference between us and them is that they crossed a cultural boundary that ruled them to be unsafe to the rest of society. So I had to ask, Am I safe to the people around me? Are you? Jesus taught us that hate is like murder, lust is fornication, and coveting (wanting your neighbors stuff) is like robbery. Although the visible destruction may be different, it is all sin, it all causes hurt and it all separates us from having a right relationship with God. If only we could all realize as these men do, that our sin has destroyed us. No one needed to tell them that living in prison to sin is the worst kind of slavery. In contrast, we saw men who live in a maximum security prison yet live out the freedom that Jesus spoke of when he said he would make us free. I had to question how many Christians I know that are really free. The Bible teaches that if you practice sin, you are a prisoner of sin. Jesus said that if you are set free through him by choosing to follow him, you are truly free. Jesus said that if you love him you will follow him. Follow close enough that you can see what real love for God and for people looks like. I can speak for all of us when I say that our time at Angola changed us. We have each asked for forgiveness for judging these men and in some ways we each desired that we would learn to live as free as many of them.

Following our time of instruction, we set up a round pen and I did a horse breaking illustration that became the most powerful moment of my short ministry life. The horse that our Father provided fit perfectly for this group of men. Of all the horses I have trained, this horse was the most violent and deceptive animal I have ever worked with. After about 45 minutes and multiple attempts on my life and a bunch of bumps and bruises, he surrendered. You could hear a pin drop when I asked the question, "Are any of you watching tired of running and fighting against God? Do you want to surrender all your fears and failures to a Father who wanted to embrace you?" We were amazed. Nearly every inmate, staff member and prison guard came into the arena with me. So there I was, in a prison, standing in the middle of a round pen that was surrounded by prisoners who longed to be free. They had ears to hear and our Father spoke. He spoke through the pure example of love shown by bull riders, through the rebellion of an animal and through the spoken word. Our Father said he would come to seek and save that which was lost. Are you lost? Are you a prisoner? Please examine yourself to see if you, as these men, have been separated from God by sin. If so, a pardon is being offered and you can be free. Admit your need for forgiveness and tell the Lord you need him. Invite him to come into your life and make you a new person. Jesus said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and My burden is light." In the name of Jesus, Todd

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