{"id":4947,"date":"2017-09-23T19:46:40","date_gmt":"2017-09-24T00:46:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/?p=4947"},"modified":"2017-09-23T19:46:40","modified_gmt":"2017-09-24T00:46:40","slug":"grace-prison-cell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2017\/09\/23\/grace-prison-cell\/","title":{"rendered":"Grace in a Prison Cell"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Robert Smith, Sr.
\n[Editor\u2019s Note: <\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Evolution cannot explain the existence of morals. If humans really did evolve from ape-like creatures then there really is no absolute right or wrong. After all, people may simply be acting on their \u201cprimeval instinct.\u201d But humans do acknowledge that there are absolute right and wrongs. Using God\u2019s Word as a template, many nations have formed laws that enforce virtuous behavior. The following article reveals what happens when the ideals of morality are thrown to the wind. The old adage of \u201cgarbage-in-garbage-out\u201d can clearly be seen as Robert describes his walk that put him behind bars\u2014but from behind those bars he learned about New Testament Christianity and was baptized into Christ. We have purposefully made only minor editions for space considerations.]
\n\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\nMy name is Robert Smith, Sr. <\/em><\/strong>I am a sinner, saved by the grace of God. I was born on March 14, 1958, in Eustis, Florida. Our home, growing up, was very unstable and abusive. We were taken away from our parents many times and passed around to other family members. As time passed so quickly by, I became bitter, hurt, and I felt unwanted. I began to give my parents a hard time. I started skipping school, running away from home, stealing and doing whatever else I could get into. At age 14, I set one of the portables at school on fire. I got caught and was kicked out of school. As a result, I was not allowed to go to any of the schools in the county.
\n 
\n\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>I was searching for something that would give me peace, happiness, and most of all to be loved. I hadn\u2019t found it, so I tried smoking pot, then acid, and later mushroom tea. None of these was working, so I began drinking alcohol, whiskey, or whatever I could get my hands on. After a year or so of mixing all these things together, I was at the end of my rope. On December 23, 1973, I stole my grandpa\u2019s .22 caliber pistol out of his house and shot myself in the stomach. The pistol was a .22 hollow point and it separated upon impact to my stomach. A piece of lead came out of my back. My parents told me the doctor said that I \u201cdied\u201d three times on the table. I was in the hospital for several months as my body slowly healed.
\n 
\nAfter I got well again, I went right back to getting into trouble, in and out of detention centers for juveniles. I just got worse and worse until 1975. I was 17 yrs. old. I threw three fire bombs on a small store where I lived. It was made of three Pepsi bottles filled with gas and a rag stuffed in the top, and I lit them and threw them. No one got hurt. But they caught me as usual. This time was different. The judge waived me over as an adult, and sentenced me to ten years in the Department of Corrections. It was a split ten years. I had two five-year sentences running consecutively. That means I did one five-year sentence, then started the second. Well, I did, and got paroled on the second five-year sentence.
\n 
\nI got out in March of 1979. But, I hadn\u2019t changed and went back to drinking, and in 1980, I violated my parole and was sent back to prison. As time passed by, I was paroled again in February of 1982. Again, I hadn\u2019t changed. In July of 1982, I was riding my daddy\u2019s motorcycle and a car hit me and broke my left leg in 4 places. So now I couldn\u2019t work, and was limited to what I could do. I had a cast on from my foot to my hip.
\nA month or so later, I was introduced to a woman and we became friends. Then in December of 1982, we got married. In the years to come we had three beautiful daughters and a son. But I kept on drinking and getting in trouble. So we moved away to the northern part of Florida. Then in 1997, I was arrested for grand theft, and was sent back to prison with a 33 month sentence. \u00a0I was sent to Florida State Prison Work Camp.
\n 
\nI worked outside the fences at the waste water plant. I had this crazy idea that I had to die in order to get out of my situation. I had lost my freedom again, and was away from my wife and kids. In the mornings when I went to work, I would get me a cup of coffee and pour half of it out and fill the cup back up with the anti-freeze that was in the radiators of the motors in the plant. But it didn\u2019t work. I did this for several weeks, several times a day. Then, I really got myself into trouble by lying on someone else. They sent me next door to Florida State Prison\u2019s Main Unit\u2014that\u2019s where they execute people. I was put in a 6 x 9 single-man cell. I got to shower and shave only 3 times a week, other than that, I was in that cell 24 hrs. a day, 7 days a week. When my wife and kids came to see me, we had our visits in the same room as death row inmates. That was not an easy feeling. That\u2019s when my wife informed me she had found someone else and wanted a divorce.
\n 
\nAt this point in my life, I had lost everything, so the desire I had to die was fueled even more. So, using some nylon plastic coated clothes line in my cell, I hung myself. But it broke. I just didn\u2019t want to live anymore. I was sick-and-tired of being sick-and-tired. So I got this bright idea to crush up my light bulb in my cell in a milk carton and use coffee to swallow the glass. Maybe it would cut my guts open and I would bleed to death, so I did it. But I passed every bit of that glass and never bled a drop.
\n 
\nEventually, I was placed in confinement and they took everything from me, even my clothes. All that I had was a plastic mattress and a piece of cloth wrapped around my waist. One evening, as I was lying there on that mattress, I went to crying. I mean I was crying like I have never cried before and I said; \u201cLord, help me.\u201d That was the beginning of my relationship with God\u2014in that 6 x 9 cell. It was in that cell that I finally found the love I was so desperately looking for. God loved me! God had a job for me, and praise God, ever since then I have been doing it\u2014that is telling everyone I can about the great things God has done in my life. That night I sang Amazing Grace and realized it\u2019s God\u2019s Grace (Jesus) would save a wretch like me.
\n 
\nTwo months later, I left there and went to Union Correctional Institution, where I met Gary Wyder, the Lake Butler church of Christ prison minister. I\u2019ll never forget what he said to me.\u00a0 He did not try to push religion on me. But rather, he said \u201ccome see what\u2019s going on.\u201d I did and then became a New Testament Christian. I spent fourteen months in his class, then I got transferred.
\n 
\nIn January of 2003, I was able, by the grace of God, to sit down and talk to Governor Jeb Bush of Florida. I told him about the prison ministry I was involved in. I wanted to open a transitional house which would be called the \u201cHouse of Grace.\u201d I\u2019ve been involved in the prison ministry for four years. April, 2006, will mark the six-year anniversary of being out of prison. There are many, many events that I left out. But the most important point is the dramatic change in life\u2014a change that only occurred because of Jesus Christ. I now know He exists and He has changed my life. He will do it for anyone\u2014because He loves all of us (John 3:16; Deuteronomy 23:5). He has given me a new life and a new way of dealing with everyday life. He has given me, and you, everything pertaining to life and godliness. I now know love and I know there is a right \u00a0and wrong.
\n 
\nIf you would like to know more about how God has changed my life or would like to get involved in prison ministry or The House of Grace please feel free to contact me:
\nRobert Smith<\/em><\/strong>
\nP.O. Box 331<\/em><\/strong>
\nWorthington Springs, FL 32697<\/em><\/strong>
\n 
\nPlease pray for me and my family that God\u2019s will be done in our lives.
\n 
\n 
\n 
\n 
\n 
\n 
\n 
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Robert Smith, Sr. [Editor\u2019s Note: \u00a0Evolution cannot explain the existence of morals. If humans really did evolve from ape-like creatures then there really is no absolute right or wrong. After all, people may simply be acting on their \u201cprimeval instinct.\u201d But humans do acknowledge that there are absolute right and wrongs. Using God\u2019s Word […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[898,315,975,976,954,955,142,101,977,978],"class_list":["post-4947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-think-excerpts","tag-898","tag-alcohol","tag-arrest","tag-execution","tag-february","tag-february-2006","tag-morals","tag-prison","tag-prison-ministry","tag-robert-smith-sr","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nGrace in a Prison Cell - Focus Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2017\/09\/23\/grace-prison-cell\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Grace in a Prison Cell - Focus Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Robert Smith, Sr. [Editor\u2019s Note: \u00a0Evolution cannot explain the existence of morals. 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