Win the Man!
I thoroughly enjoyed the article [on] Captains Dennis and Sharon Young at Syracuse. Having been associated with Syracuse since 1978, it took on even greater meaning.
In the Army we have a tendency to think we can win the children and then the parents will come along—or if we win the mother the family will come along—but the Youngs get to the heart of it—if the man is won for Christ, the whole family can certainly be brought along!
I had the privilege of being at the Syracuse Citadel [church] on Father's Day. There were 20-plus men in the choir, and that would have been worth the visit, but the testimonies of lives truly changed was the blessing. There was not enough room in the corps chapel, and people stood throughout the service. Easily 200 in attendance.
Thank you, Priority!, for this great article, and to Dennis and Sharon for a job well done.
Pauline J. Sharp
Vernon, CT
Finding Jesus in Solitary
Marvin Alexander, a prison inmate, wrote this letter in answer to a question that appeared in a 2003 issue of Priority!: "Where and when did you first hear the name of Jesus?"
I first heard about Jesus as a small boy sitting with my grandmother. She had me memorizing the books of the Bible and Scripture [verses]. But she died when I was in the second or third grade, and it all went right out the window.
My parents tried to keep me in church, but it didn't mean anything to me at all; it was just something to try and get out of if I could on Sunday mornings. When I got old enough I swore I would never go back. I ran from the Word of God and the church my whole adult life.
I was in a jail cell. Not just any jail cell. I was in "the hole," a place for the worst of the worst. I had lived a terrible and sin-filled life and ended up where I belonged. Not just once or twice, mind you, but seven times—in and out, back and forth.
There was a Bible in that cell. That's all there was.
I picked it up, then put it down. I had heard that when a man "takes religion" in jail, it means he is a beaten man. I was determined not to be beaten—but I was and did not know it.
I called out, "Whose Bible is this?" No one answered. I called out again, "Anyone want this Bible?" [Then] I heard a voice say, "Read it!"
So I started reading it, just for the stories, or so I told myself. It was a contemporary English version, so it was easy to read and understand. When I got halfway through Genesis, I started to put it down when I heard that same voice say, "Read on! You've tried my patience long enough!"
Right then and there, the Holy Spirit entered me for the first time in my life. I read that Bible from cover to cover over the next few days, and I have not been the same since. Amazingly, no one bothered me for that Bible until I was done.
One week later, on Nov. 29, 2005, I woke up crying and praying and receiving sermons from the Lord. It's my belief that I was called to witness. At first I thought I was being called to preach. But I don't think that's the case because I can't talk about Jesus and the love I found, or the joy He gave me in that cell without crying like a baby.
Either way it goes, I know I was saved on that day—I begged God for forgiveness. I believe Jesus is His Son who died for us. I believe the Bible is the Word of God.
I found a War Cry [Salvation Army magazine] and sent off for the Bible Correspondence Course [produced by the Army's Prison Ministries] and have completed the first six lessons.
I thank the Lord that I am one of His soldiers now. I must tell you that I have never been a happy man until God reached down and pulled me out of that dungeon and filled the "hole" in my soul. I tried everything to fill it—drugs, sex, alcohol, crime. Everything! Nothing worked. The Lord filled it in an instant. What took me so long?
Marvin Alexander
Elmira, NY
Email this article to a Friend