The Leap That Landed Me in Prison

By Frank Gregory

I have always been intrigued by the life of Johnny Cash. I grew up listening to his music and singing his songs. I have read several of his biographies, some of which he co-authored. My daughters, who also grew up listening to him, were a little annoyed when the popular movie Walk the Line was released, and resulted in legions of new Johnny Cash fans. His earthiness and ability to engage made a tremendous impact on me.

When he seemed to be on the brink, going into prisons basically resurrected his career. He was quoted as saying, “I had to go to prison to get a TV show.” Although he never did hard time, he will be forever linked to the lives of the incarcerated. Part of that mystique drew me to prison ministry at an early age.

I was a junior at Hillsdale College (now Randall University) when Shirley Combs approached a group of students about going to a nearby prison to minister. Her husband Jim was the prison chaplain. This was just before the Combs returned to Brazil to finish their service as missionaries. Becky and I were not yet married, so we were roughly 20 years old at the time. We went with a few other students and ministered on a Sunday afternoon. It made a profound impact on me. That was in 1982.

Fast forward to 2010, 27 years later. My second book, Never Alone, was about to be released. The book deals with abandonment, which I experienced at an early age when my father died in 1971. I had a huge desire to get the book into prisons wherever I could. I knew many inmates suffered from “absent father syndrome.” I had lived with the demon of abandonment for decades and experienced powerful healing and deliverance during a pastors’ prayer summit in Texas in 1999. When the book made its way into several prisons, I was hooked on prison ministry for life.

Becky was already a “badged” volunteer, singing in a choir that visited correctional facilities. I was badged in 2010 after volunteer training and going into prisons with the choir. I did not preach or have a significant role in the beginning. It appeared God was testing me to see if I would simply go and prayer walk the sanctuary before worship and attend faithfully. Before long, however, an opportunity opened, and I was able to share my story.

In 2015, Mike Wade, Oklahoma promotional director, asked me to consider helping a church in Paden. At the time, I was working in management at Reasors grocery store. The church was independent, not a member of any association, but I saw great potential there. The campus also was located only eight miles from John H. Lilley Correctional Center. I provided interim ministry at the church for six months and left after they called a pastor, only to return in June 2016 and become the pastor the following December.

The next year, September 8, 2017, my world imploded when my mother died on my birthday. Her death shook me to the core because she was all I had for 46 years after my father died. I knew there must be some significance to her death on my birthday, that God was trying to communicate something to me in a very specific way.

In August 2019, God began to deal with me about leaving the grocery store. I was being asked to perform duties that would not allow me to maintain my integrity with God. The Lord spoke extremely clearly during one of my own invitations that it was time to leave. Completely knocked out of my comfort zone that morning, I was prompted by the Holy Spirit to share with my people how conflicted I was about working at the store as I attempted to be their spiritual leader. Reasors had begun requiring employees to hold a liquor license, and I wanted no part. God made it clear that it was time to leave, even though I would not have a job when I left. I cried all the way home from church (an hour’s drive) but knew God would take care of me. Becky did not feel well that day and did not go to church. But when I called her and shared my decision, she was completely supportive.

My birthday fell on a Sunday that year, and I felt God leading me to do something unique with the opportunity. I reached out to my family in Arkansas and told them I wanted us to remember our mother on that day—the two-year anniversary of her heavenly journey. About 30 family members made the trip to my church that weekend. I preached about our mother’s tremendous legacy and how she always lived out the call to holiness, including her abhorrence of alcohol. I took the liquor license I had recently obtained, placed it on the altar, and proclaimed it was time for God to do a new thing.

The next morning, I took the leap that landed me in prison! I walked into the store office and put in my notice. As God had revealed to me, and despite my best efforts, I did not have a job when I walked out of the store for the last time.

A week later, a man from my church who worked for the Department of Corrections told me a chaplain position had become available. God was at work! I immediately went to the website and applied for the position. Two weeks later, I interviewed in Oklahoma City for the chaplaincy at Eddie Warrior Correctional Center. Although I did not get that post, they offered a position about to open at John Lilley. After a final onsite interview on December 18 (my anniversary), I began working as chaplain in January.

In the middle of March, with the rise of the COVID pandemic, all prisons closed to volunteers. By the first week in April, we were in complete lockdown. In the fall, we suffered over 500 cases of COVID among the inmates, including ten deaths. Our staff was also ravaged by almost 50 cases, and I was included in that number. The chapel where I am writing this article was used to quarantine inmates, with beds even set up in the sanctuary! We weathered the worst of it by December and eventually opened the doors to volunteers in May 2021.

Through all this, God worked tremendously, and we are beginning to see sparks of revival on the yard. We anticipate the Lord’s plans for the coming year. By the time you read this, I believe God will have done a transformative work unlike any previously seen behind these walls. We have seen someone saved out of a gang. Although the decision resulted in severe beating—two concussions, several broken ribs, and other injuries—he is faithfully walking with God and playing in one of the chapel bands.

Are you ready to join a team that pierces the darkness like no other? Here is what you can do.
Pray! Pray for the staff that works tirelessly to help inmates. Pray for inmates to have a favorable disposition to the gospel. Pray for the officers who protect the inmates from each other and from the outside world.

You can also be instrumental through giving finances and resources. Prison ministries operate totally by the donations of God’s people. Chaplains are paid by the state, but those are the only funds provided. All literature and worship resources are donated by individuals and other ministries. Inmates give tithes and offering as well.

Get badged and become a volunteer. Prison ministry is a challenge that will reshape you like few other ministries. Find out what you must do in your state to get involved and begin the process of getting trained.

We also desperately need churches to help former inmates assimilate into culture after release. This is by far the biggest obstacle our society faces. How willing are you to reach out to a felon and help him or her get started again in life? I do not have to remind you, but much has been written about redemption in a book called the Bible.

I am still active as a pastor in local church ministry, but I have never seen a larger need than reaching inmates with the love of Jesus. It literally can change the future of our nation. Pray for the courage for God to use you in a way you never fathomed.

Take the leap that will land you in prison! You will never be the same again.

About the Author: Frank Gregory answered the call to preach at 17 and began his first pastorate at 21. He has since pastored churches in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Currently, he is the chaplain at John H. Lilley Correctional Center in Boley, Oklahoma. He earned a B.A. in Theology at Randall University, and an M.A. at Wheaton College. He and his wife Becky have been married nearly 40 years and have three daughters: Bethany, Stephanie, and Tiffany, and seven beautiful grandchildren. He has published two books: Aren’t You Glad Jesus Asked? and Never Alone.