Speaking in the Light – Charles Is Not in Charge!

I want to tell you about a man who once found himself at the bottom of a pit. We have all at one time or another found ourselves in some ways down in the dumps. This guy’s name is Charles Johnson. Charles is about 57 years old. He had his own business, was married, and had several kids. You might think Charles is a lot like many of us, except that Charles Johnson spent 34 years, almost half of his life, in various prisons.
Charles was raised on the streets of Chicago. As a teenager, he became involved in drugs, and soon his hunger for drugs began to consume his life, and he progressed from marijuana to cocaine to heroin. He became involved in drug trafficking across Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, shuttling drugs between crack houses, using a fair amount of it himself.
Charles’ first visit to the prison system came shortly after he committed an armed robbery in order to gain some money for drugs. The same day he committed the crime, he was identified and arrested, and on the first day of his first prison term, Charles had not even arrived at his prison cell before someone offered him a joint. He said his cellmate at the prison made his own wine under the bed. One could only imagine how he made it.
Every morning, Charles and his cellmate would start the day in prison by smoking marijuana and having a few sips of this wine. This is not our correctional system at its best. Well eventually Charles served his term, and got back out on the streets. It wasn’t but a few months before he was back in the same prison, greeted by his old buddies. They all knew each other. They were regulars.
For some three decades Charles was in and out of state prisons. While he was out on the streets, he was shot on three different occasions…once in a robbery attempt, once in a drug deal, and once in retaliation from a gang member. Each time, he ended up in the same ER in Chicago, and was told by the same emergency room staff that he should have been dead a long, long time ago.
Shortly before Charles’ last prison term, while he was in jail waiting sentencing again, another inmate invited him to attend a chapel service at the jail. Well Charles had no intention of going to a chapel service. He stood up, grabbed this guy by the collar, was about to tell him what he thought of this invitation, and the words came out of his mouth, “I’ll be there.” So he went.
He heard a pastor explain the gospel and invite those listening to give their lives to Jesus, but Charles just sat there.
The next week, Charles came back to the chapel service, not because he was interested, but because it was a nice break from sitting in his jail cell. As the preacher finished his message, he said, “With every head bowed and every eye closed, if there are any who want to give their lives to Jesus Christ and experience His forgiveness and new life, just raise your hand and with every eye closed, I’ll be able to see you.”
Well nobody moved, so the preacher continued on awhile longer. He shared the same invitation again. This time Charles heard the preacher say, “You right there, I see your hand. Praise God for your decision. I want to pray with you when you’re done.” Charles was kind of curious, so he opened his eyes and he peeked over, and there was his right arm sticking way up in the air, and he was thinking, “I didn’t even know I did that.”
After the service, Charles came over and talked with this preacher, and the minister prayed with him. He received Jesus Christ as Lord of his life, and four days later, Charles appeared before the court. When asked if he had anything to say before sentencing, he said to the judge, “Your Honor, while I was in jail this past week, I found Jesus.” To which the judge replied, “That is wonderful news, and now you can take Jesus with you back to prison for seven more years.”
And that is just what Charles did. Only this time he didn’t do the drugs. He didn’t drink. He studied the Bible! Charles got his GED while in jail. He invited other inmates to chapel services, and when he was finally released well into his middle age, Charles began an inner city ministry to at-risk youth in Gary, Indiana.
Today, Charles runs an AIDS awareness and prevention ministry to teens through his church. He travels to other churches to share his story about how Jesus Christ transformed his life. You see, the prison system did not rehabilitate Charles Johnson because no human institution could, but Jesus Christ did. He drew him up out of the pit; He crowned him with love and compassion, and gave him a hope and a future. Charles Johnson overflows with gratitude. Here’s a man who has every reason to be bitter, but his life flows with thanksgiving.
Now we may not be as bad off in one sense as Charles was, but if God could bring about such a transformation in a life like that and forgive his sins and heal his diseases and draw him out of the pit and crown him with love and compassion, what could the same God do for you? What does the same God need to do in you? Will you allow Him to?
November is the month of Thanksgiving! The Bible says, “Praise the Lord and forget not all His benefits that satisfy your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s is. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.” That’s the bounty coming from the God we that praise. All blessings large or small come from God, but the deepest blessings God gives us are the blessings that cannot be taken away from us because they are blessings that are intangible and immaterial.
If you’re going through changes or difficult times, and your circumstances aren’t that great right now, you’re not alone. God goes with you. He will give you strength. Tell Him, “Thank You.” If you’re down in the pit, whatever it might be, God will not leave you nor forsake you. He will lift you out. Tell Him, “Thank You.” If you are weary and carrying heavy burdens, He will give you rest. Tell Him, “Thank You.” However you want to express your gratitude to God, do it right now.
Make this an entire season of gratitude. Make it a new beginning of bountiful praise. And just like Charles, it all begins with less of you and more of God. See how much better life is when we all admit that Charles is not in charge.
Write Pastor Rudy pastorrudytlc@comcast.net