Free

The sound of prison doors shutting behind you is a scary thing.  I am thankful that I have never served time or been arrested, but I have been to prison.  To visit.  I preached in a prison a few times in south Mississippi and shared my faith with those in solitary confinement that could not come to worship.  Door to door, cell by cell, man to man, a different situation each and every time.  Some would curse and yell from the other row.  Some would cry when they saw you.  A neat way to serve the Lord.  My prison congregation was all male, about 90% black and very engaging.  The choir would sing and sway...it was awesome.  And those in prison, who realize the only hope they got is in the Lord, they will preach you to death.  Never have I preached before a more engaging, praising, amening audience.  Its fun.  I was afraid to go to the bathroom, but it was fun.  It was fun for me because when I got done, I walked out through the courtyard and back out those steel gates, and went home. I was free.  What an opportunity when you see that others are not. 

I am not only free in the U.S., I am free in Christ. Listen to the Psalmist http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hosea%2013,14;%20Psalms%20100,101,102;%20Hebrews%205
Psalm 102:18-22  - Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord: that he looked down from his holy height;  from heaven the Lord looked at the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die, that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord, and in Jerusalem his praise, when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.