Danny knows a lot about prison walls.  He has spent the last 18 years behind them after a conviction for Accessory to Murder in 2004.

Danny, whose mother died when he was 8-years-old and whose father died when he was 12, had no relatives to take him in, so he was shuffled between foster and group Homes until he was 18.  He grew up basically alone on the “mean streets” of Jacksonville, FL.

While being held in the Camden County Georgia Detention Center pending his trial, he began reading a Bible for the first time.  He also began attending a weekly Worship Service hosted by the St. Marys (GA) Church of Christ.  He was one of the first inmates to line up for baptism once approval was granted by CDC officials in early 2004 to perform the baptisms inside the complex. 

Currently, Danny teaches a weekly Bible class to fellow inmates at Walker State Prison near Rock Spring, GA.  His topic this past weekend was the discipline (and deaths) of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11.

When asked to sum up the class, here is what Danny had to say (slightly adapted):

We discussed punishment as a deterrent for bad behavior.  Some were divided on the subject.  How does one determine whether or not the punishment is helping or is it the shame of the act itself?  I said the punishment helps for one to reflect on the act, and the shame would – or should -- naturally arise from the heart. The imprisonment we face at the moment, though it may be excessive in our opinion, and the time spent behind these walls help us to reflect on the situations that led us to where we are.  Though God does not always "imprison" people physically, the mental imprisonment of the sin and the consequences that follow are the walls. Here we find the opportunity to reflect on our lives and to seek forgiveness and turn away from that which caused us to be where we were in that moment.

Danny says sin is like being behind prison walls.  Sin captures us and keeps us from being free.

Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34).  Jesus also said those who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).

Although Danny remains in a physical prison, his spirit is free.  He added:  “It's my pleasure to be of service to God and His will. Regardless of where we are in life, whether in the world or in the belly of the whale, we all have a part to play and must fulfill what we are called to do.”

God will free from sin and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).

Sin imprisons us, but Christ can set us free.  “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).

-- John Massey (former evangelist for the St. Marys Church of Christ) and David A. Sargent

David A. Sargent, Minister

Church of Christ at Creekwood 
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama  36695

Archived issues of Living Water can be viewed and accessed from our website at: www.creekwoodcc.org