Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed out of the hand of the enemy.

(Psalm 107:2).

I am a born-again Christian, a third day believer.  This wasn’t always the case for me. Like the majority of religious and nonreligious people, I had no clue whatsoever that I was completely selfish and self-absorbed, The purpose of my life was to be the purpose of everyone else’s life. I was totally caught up in the “me, myself and I” syndrome.

Then came prison.

At age 22 and as I sat in  a crowded jail cell, I felt no remorse at all that I had gone on a state-to-state rampage, first robbing a bank in my hometown of Texas City, Texas  and escaping by the skin of my teeth, and then robbing people at gunpoint in their homes throughout California cities and towns, until finally being busted in the northern coastal city of Monterey.

NOTHING WRONG WITH ME

Confined in a city jail, awaiting trial and with no chance to escape, I’d ask  myself a lot of questions. What in the world was I doing locked up in a place for bad people and criminals? So what if I had robbed a bank and then robbed people in the worse place you can rob them, in their homes. So what if at age thirteen a buddy and I were “rolling” (beating up) drunks for their money and pressing knives to the throats of good Samaritans who were foolish enough to give two young hitchhikers a ride and demanding their wallets, watches and other valuables.

So what if at age fourteen I was burglarizing homes and then pawning off the stolen merchandise to buy beer and other things that I wanted but my parents couldn’t afford to give me, I wasn’t a bad person. So what if I was sniffing glue and gasoline to get “high.” Why, I had never spent a moment in juvenile hall. In my mind I was a juvenile decent, not a juvenile delinquent. Never was busted for any of the crimes I had committed as a kid. So why was I in prison now?

So what if at age eighteen I was using other drugs besides alcohol, including marijuana, LSD and “speed.” I was still a good person. I was still a normal guy. I was civilized, and not chemicalized or criminalized like so many other people I knew. Why, at age twenty I was married and had a good job. Even though I stole money from my employer, cheated on my wife, and stayed out late almost every night, there wasn’t anything wrong with me. So why was I doing “time”?

GENETIC THROWBACK OR HOMO DELINQUEN?

It wasn’t until years later that I found out what was wrong with me. I even found out why I thought there wasn’t anything wrong with me. But it wasn’t until I went to prison for my crimes that I found out why I was doing the  wrong things I was doing, and thinking it was all right to do them.

Some experts who study crime and criminals will tell you that individuals who break the law are either genetically predisposed, or inclined by nature to commit criminal acts; atavists, or genetic throwbacks to an earlier form of man (dubbed “homo delinquen”); or XYY males, possessing an extra Y (male) chromosome, and who usually tend toward violent or aggressive  antisocial behavior. In other words, criminals are born and not made.

Other experts argue that criminals are not born with genetic tendencies or extra Y chromosomes which cause them to commit crimes and become violent or anti-social individuals. Rather, criminals choose to willfully break the law.

MY REAL PROBLEM

Prison Mug Shot Taken One Year Later After Being Incarcerated. Only Jesus Can Set Criminal And Chemcial Captives Free From The Crime and Time "Misery-Go-Round" Lifestlye.

As I adjusted to the fact that I was going to be in prison for a few years, I would often lie on my iron rack (bed) and wonder just what kind of individual I really was. Was I a criminaloid, and therefore born to a life of crime and time? Was I an atavist, a genetic throwback to primitive and crude man? Was I an XYY man who was born with an extra chromosome that made me act more hostile and aggressive than most males? Or did I willfully decide to commit crimes and hurt individuals?

What was wrong with me, especially since I didn’t think anything was wrong with me? Why did I believe it was okay to rob, steal, hurt other people, and live the way I lived? What made me do the things that even I didn’t want to do? Why didn’t I feel bad about the crimes I had committed and all the people I had hurt? Why was I in prison and murmuring and complaining that everyone was out to crucify me?

It took an evangelist to tell me what was wrong with me. I soon realized that it didn’t matter if experts believed I was a criminaloid, an atavist, and XYY man, or a criminalized and chemicalized individual who willfully broke the law. The real problem was my heart.

The evangelist told me and hundreds of other inmates that God wanted to give each of us a brand new heart and a brand new life. This new heart and new life would turn each of us into a brand new person that would never have to do “time” ever again.

As I sat in the bleachers of the prison gymnasium and listened to the evangelist’s message of hope, the words that penetrated my mind the most were the words he quoted from Jesus Christ: “Do not marvel that I say you, ‘You must be born again’ ” (John 3:7). On February 9, 1973 I took Jesus Christ at His word and became a born-again Christian, a third day believer, and a convict for Christ.

(Note: I’ve been drug-free and crime-free since 1973. Upon parole in 1975 I immediately went into full-time ministry work, which includes sharing with convicts and ex-convicts that their only possibility of true freedom from jails, prisons and drugs is to be set free by Jesus from the worst prison there is, the prison of the mind. If you know someone in jail or prison or on probation or parole, e-mail me at Tom@WalkTheCross.com. I’ll send you some very helpful brochures you can give to your incarcerated or paroled family member or friend.)