This was really intense. I got into the Ramsey unit (Texas prison) and I got to witness. There was about two thousand men in there, I believe, in the unit. There was this one dude in there. I kept being drawn to this one guy several times while I was witnessing. It was a tremendous outreach. But this brother came forward, brother Gracia, I'm going to refer to. He came forward and gave his heart to Jesus Christ. Now, I didn't know why he was in there. But I could tell that, with all these men in there, that there was some really heavy things goin' on. But again, for some reason, this brother and I just connected, you know.
I was in Houston (Texas) last week. When I got to Houston on Thursday night, I walked into a place about this size to witness. We were having a witness to the streets in the area. And this dude walks up to me. And he says, 'Yo, man, what's happenin'? You remember me?' I looked at him and thought, I remember this guy. He said, 'I was in the Ramsey unit. I gave my heart to Jesus. I've been set free. Not only have I been set free', he said, 'but they turned around and paroled me, man, years a head of time. And I'm out here now and I'm serving the Lord.' Praise the Lord.
And he had his little wife with him. She was hugging up to him, you know. And I looked at her. And I said, 'How 'bout you? You've given your heart to Jesus?' They said, 'No. She's a Catholic.' I said, 'Whew-ew-ew-ew.' :) I said, 'Well, you know what? Even Catholics love Jesus. I'm not telling you to give up anything. I'm telling you to receive. Receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You've got a new husband here. Do you see what Jesus has done for your husband? Now, you need to give your heart to Jesus. Why are you being so stubborn here?!' And we talked for a while. Then she said, 'Alright.' And she very quietly prayed the sinner's prayer and gave her heart to the Lord Jesus. Now, they're a new marriage.
Now, again, for some reason I was drawn to this man. And the Lord told me; I spent some time; I prayed with him; I shared with him. It was something about him. I don't know if it's just because he's real aggresive or what, but I liked it. I liked it. I thought, this dude is rowdy, you know, and I liked that. And I gotta feelin' that he was the kinda person that won't back up. I was talkin' about personalities.
God doesn't change our personalities. He changes our hearts. If you didn't back up when you were in the world, I'll tell you right now, you're going to be moving forward in Jesus. You don't have to back up in Jesus. These are days of warfare. We battle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, and rulers in high places. We need people standing side by side that will not back up. And that will stand for Jesus with one another. And support one another in all that we come against. The Word of God says, Do not forsake fellowship. Fellowship, we're suppose to fellowship with one another. You know, where one person can bind 10,000; two, what can two do? Bind 10 trillion? I don't know. I'm not a theologian. :)
So, anyway, I told this brother, 'Brother, here's my phone number. This and that. Here's some stuff. I'm staying at such and such hotel. If God puts it on your heart, He's told me I need to spend some time with you.' Now, I had a flight the next morning. So, I had to get up early and meet him for breakfast. You know what that is for a musician? To get up early and meet somebody for breakfast? That's a miracle of God right there. :) I woke up and I opened my eyes and I thought, if the rapture comes, I'm going. 'Cause it says, And the dead in Christ shall rise. :) I thought, whew-ew-ew!
But I got up and I met brother Gracia. That's when he told what he had been delivered out of. We were sitting at a table. And we were having some breakfast in this luxury hotel. This was a place where - I'll stay, I stay anywhere - this particular place I was staying was a really gorgeous hotel. So, we're sitting down there. Brother Gracia has got his 'toos all over the neck and everywhere, you know. I'm sitting there in my long hair and my leather coat on, or whatever. And there's all these people in three piece suits, all eating all around us, you know. And brother Gracia's goin' (talking with large hand movements). :) He's sitting there. He's talkin', man, I mean if you tied his hands behind his back he could not talk. You know what I mean? :) 'Oh, brother, I mean, it's been good. Oh, praise the Lord.' You know?
We're having breakfast. All of a sudden these three men in these really expensive P----type suits came up to us. And, uh, (laughter), this one dude walks over to me. And he goes, 'Hi, praise the Lord, I know you.' And he shoke my hand and he was really friendly. The two guys who were with him saw their friend stop as they walked past the table. And they looked and they were goin' (rolling their eyes with horror on their faces). :) This guys goin', 'I love you. My wife loves you. Praise the Lord.' You know? Then he starts telling these guys, 'You've got to meet these guys.' Right? So, they came over. They were shaking our hands. They were goin' (shaking hands but looking the other way with disdain). Yeah.
Well, I sat down with brother Gracia. He started filling me in on what had happened in his life. He was raised in a drug family. His father was a kingpin in the drug cartel. They belonged to the Texas syndicate. And they worked with the Columbia drug cartel out of Bogata, Columbia. Right before he went into prison, his brother was shot thirteen times while he was asleep. And he said, 'In the gang warfare, you never shoot a man in his sleep. You let him fight. You let him atleast have a chance.' But they walked up and the first bullet hit him, right in the head. They shot him thirteen times and killed his brother. And he swore, he said, 'I'm goin' to get 'em. I'm goin' to kill 'em.' He said, 'I started goin' crazy, vengeance was on me.' He got busted for heroin and for drug trafficking. He got sentenced to prison. He went into prison. Somebody made a mistake in prison. They put the man that had hit his brother in the same prison he was in. So he said, 'I laid for him, man. One night, I got him. I got a hold of him. I cut him; I killed him; I stabbed him; I brutally murdered him; I killed him. I was put in solitary confinement for four and a half years.'
How would you like to be in lock down for four and a half years? Where you are not allowed to see anybody or speak to anybody. All you do is get your food pushed under in a tray and you're allowed to walk out like an animal for one hour a day. And that's for four and a half years this brother stayed in prison. Then they let him out of solitary. It was in a couple weeks from that when several men from the opposing gang of Columbia druggers were inside the prison. They were affiliated with the man he hit. So, they hit him. He said, 'All of a sudden, he found himself in a room. Everybody left the room except four men.' They were all carrying shanks. They all had something to stick him with. He said he knew immediately, when the room emptied and these four men started walking toward him, that he had been set up. They had paid the guards.
Do you know there is corruption even in prison? Do you know the prison system, do you know the political system in this world is like a jukebox? You drop a quarter in them and they play anything. But I'm goin' to tell you somethin'. Everyone is goin' to answer to God. God's the law that reigns.
So, these people backed off. And they thought, 'Oh, what's this Gracia over here. He's murdered somebody. Who cares if we turn our backs and let some druggers kill him. Maybe we'll get a new Cadillac out of it. Maybe we'll get this. Maybe we'll get that.' Brother Gracia said he saw them coming at him. He saw the knife coming at him. He raised his arm. And the guy was going for his heart. He put his arm in the way. He stuck the knife through his arm and caught an artery. It was stuck so deep through his muscle, that the guy couldn't get the knife back out of him. He came up underneath of him. He was stabbed eight times. And was able to take two of the men out. Now this is a bad dude. He survived this, he survived this.
I haven't shared all the testimony. I haven't shared the part about where he got shot on the streets and was blind for thirteen months. He had a bullet up in his head. When he was sitting at breakfast one morning with the prisoners, he sneezed and a bullet came out of his nose. :) (laughter) He said everybody thought he was putting them on. But his nose was bleeding. They had to go in and they had to fill up the hole. I said, 'That must have been pretty rough.' He said, 'Yeah, I couldn't go swimming for a longtime, man. My head would fill up.' :) (laughter)
God spared his life, time after time after time after time. I'm paraphasing but there is somewhere in Scripture where God says, You will hear a voice behind you saying walk ye this way. Not turn to the left nor the right. I am the Lord your God. Walk ye in righteousness. Jesus said, Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy ladened. He said come unto Me all ye from the Columbia drug cartel. Come unto Me all you head-bangers out there. And let's start banging the devil's head in the name of Jesus. Come unto Me all you businessmen that are raping the world in terms of finance. Let me tell you somethin'. You, the same as anyone else, are going to answer to the Lord Jesus Christ.
This guy Gracia, he thought he was a bad dude. And he is. He is a bad dude in terms of physically. And yet he said that, that one day in the Ramsey unit, God sent him in to hear what he thought was going to be a rock concert. And yet he saw a long haired man stand up and say, 'I've been delivered of drugs and violence.'
Now I wasn't bad and I wasn't rough like brother Gracia. OK? I couldn't fight terribly well, you know. But I had people around me that could. :) They used to protect my voice. If I'd ever get punched, they'd say, 'Is your throat alright man?' And I used to have body guards where you'd look at them. Somebody would sass me or something, when I was out there, and I'd go (hold up fingers, one at a time). That would mean they were in the hospital one week, two weeks, or three weeks. You know what I mean?
But anyway, brother Gracia said that he came in there. And he heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. He heard people witnessing, not just me but others witnessing. He gave his heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. And not only did God save his soul, but a miracle happened. He was paroled within two months. Paroled to the streets. They came in and they said, 'This is amazing. You're kicked out of here, man.' And he got hatched right there. He got set free. He hit the streets. The drug cartel put a hit on him because he refused to carry four kilos of heroin somewhere. So this brother started serving the Lord. And God is working in a mighty and miraculous way.
That's the God I serve. That's the Jesus that I serve. Maybe we aren't all brother Gracias. Maybe we aren't all this or we aren't all that, but I'm going to tell you something. Jesus loves every single one of us. No one that's in lock down is beyond God's sight. No one out there in prison is beyond God's sight. God said, Darkness is as light unto Me. Even to those who are in sin, they may think they are hiding from God. But surely there comes a day when there will be an end. (Jeff strutted for emphasis) God's raising up his hand now. And I'm tellin' ya, I feel in my spirit that we're getting close to some explosive times. And we need some brothers and sisters that won't back up. Are you ready to serve the Lord Jesus Christ? Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord. I'm going to have brother Gracia meet me on TV one of these days. And you'll hear for yourself what God is doing in the streets. Praise the Lord. We've had so many testimonies of God's greatness, what He's doing. How many of you praise God that he's still alive and well; and on His throne; and still loves His people; and even those that are lost? Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord Jesus Christ!
My Deepest Love,
Jeff
California, Winter, 1991