on the road

Down in the panhandle of Florida, we Young Isaac-ers have just been BLOWN AWAY by all that God has done in the last five days! He has so far surpassed all our expectations!! We’ve played 9 shows in 5 different prisons, and have had such an unbelievable response from the inmates at every location. These guys are just STARVING for the new life and hope that Jesus offers. Despite sick singers, stickler security guards, shows in 100% humidity and 100 degree heat, and the general atmosphere of oppression that hangs over these institutions, Christ has claimed 95 hearts for himself. And beyond that, we’ve had a huge number of men request more information about knowing God, and have had countless conversations with inmates that are still wrestling with, yet intrigued by Him.

We’ve noticed a recurring theme in our conversations with these men: the feeling that their lives are not yet presentable to God, that they have to clean up their act before falling at his feet. One comment card read, “Does God save prisoners? Do we even deserve it?” What a privilege it is to be the one to break the good news that Christ’s love transcends who we are right now; we don’t “fix” our lives before coming to Him, but rather, we invite Him into the mess and heartbreak… then HE is the one who changes our lives! I had one special conversation with a guy my age named James. I asked him what was holding him back from giving his life to Jesus, and he told me that he didn’t want to “make a decision I couldn’t follow through on.” He was scared of giving his life to Jesus and then failing later. I promptly informed him that I’ve been following Jesus for 17 years and that I still fail on a pretty regular basis, but I told him some of my story, and my similar struggle with inviting God into the messy parts of my life. One thing led to another and I ended up getting to go through the KGP booklet with him, and at the end James invited Jesus into his life—as did Joey, the guy in front of us who had eavesdropped on the whole conversation!

This is just one little story from all that we’ve experienced this week. Please join with us in praising God for the incredible work He’s doing here! Also, a prayer request – there is some sickness sweeping through our band, particularly among vocalists (yeah, go figure). And as great as Adam is at stepping in to do background vocals… we’d love to be back at 100% soon ☺

Love and peace!