From Death (Row) to Life

I had dinner last night before our service with a dear friend and former inmate. Butch served about 30 years in prison starting on death row in the 70's. His only reprieve then was a Supreme Court decision to banish the death sentence, thus commuting his sentence to life in prison. I first got to know him eight or nine years ago at Charlotte Correctional Center. At that time he was the hardest convict in the penitentiary. Gambling, numbers, loan sharking - he had a hand in all of it. "Watch out for crazy old Butch" they'd say, "He runs this place." Who better for a chaplain to get to know, right?

Scrabble. That was Butch's entertainment. I wasn't very good. At first. He beat me unmercifully every day, sometimes twice a day, for months. But slowly I got better. And everyday, as we played, we talked. As we talked, his heart softened. We talked about everything - sports, his life, my family and ministry, the gospel. Then it happened. One evening, during the church service, I saw Butch slide into a seat in the back of the chapel. He listened intently and when the invitation came he shot to the altar to say yes to Jesus Christ in his life. His transformation was so radical it was noticed by everyone. Correctional officers noticed. Inmates noticed. Even the prison superintendent noticed. He called me to his office one day a few months later to ask, "What's going on with Butch? He's not acting the same." He gave up all of the gambling and other illegal activities and began a real, vibrant walk with the Lord. He once told me that getting saved beat him out of about $500 per week he was making in illegal activities on the prison yard.

Butch has been out of prison for about six months now. That in itself is a miracle. He's married now to a wonderful, godly woman. He goes to work everyday on a job where he is highly thought of by his employer and respected by coworkers. He's in church every time the doors are open.
As we enjoyed dinner together last night we talked about all of that. He said something that struck me, something I won't just dismiss. He said, "Chap, I was on death row with an execution date set. God spared me. He kept me through all those years in prison, and He saved me. I don't deserve any of it, but I know He has a reason for it all. I just want to serve Him with the time I have left."

I'm so proud of Butch. He inspires me to keep going on in the work of the Lord in this dark place. He also humbles me. The Lord has made such a change in his life. He has great faith. I really think the student has surpassed the teacher in so many ways.

Oh yeah. I finally did get good enough to beat him fairly regularly in Scrabble, too.