October 20, 1999

By R. E. Knodel, Jr.

As Christian student John Reyes enters his seventh week of incarceration in the Lynchburg City Jail for witnessing at a public high school, all heaven is breaking out! Satan wanted him in jail, and now -- as they say -- he'll just have to "deal with it!"

John told me last Tuesday (10/12/99) that any number of people have urged him to become a "trustee" of the jail, which would enable him to get out of jail a bit early. But he said, he's been telling them he doesn't want to do that for two reasons. First, he doesn't want to take a trustee position from another inmate who would have children waiting for that inmate's release. John's not married and has no children. Second, John said, "Pastor Knodel, I' m having such a great ministry in here, with the men, that I don't want to get out of jail a day earlier than necessary!"

My spirit soared to hear such testimony of this dear brother who's incarcerated for Christ and His kingdom! I would have thought that by now he would at least be bored, if not scared and disheartened. But John has taken to this Christian martyrdom like a duck to water.

And he's inflicting injury on the enemy! Within two weeks of his entry into jail seven men had prayed with him to receive Christ. These were not quickie, superficial prayers, but men who had counseled with John and confessed their misery and great need for forgiveness. One of them who had the street name "Homicide," had intimidated the other men in the cell. But he came, like Nicodemus, late at night and spoke to John of his agony. Since his conversion, he has been attending unto John's discipling on a regular basis.

Since this "beginning," John has established both nightly Bible studies and discipleship classes in his twenty-five man cell. Over a dozen Bibles have been distributed to the men and more have been requested! About half of the original seven have left jail since the earlier days, but the Lord has replaced them with others. Nine men, more than a third of the men in the cell, attended the Bible Study last Tuesday. In late September a man named Matt who had been released at 5:30 a.m. walked an hour and a half to our church to join us for worship. He testified that the atmosphere of the cell had "totally changed" since John's arrival, and that he praised God for John's ministry to the men.

When our judicial authorities sent John to jail, it was a great discouragement to me. I thought the AFA Law Center had done so much good, but that men's evil had triumphed. But in what has occurred, I have seen the glorious victory of the Lord. While many of us only "talk of revival," real revival has broken out in our city jail! It is God himself who has brought about a hunger for His word in the Jail. It is the Lord who is convicting these debtors and trespassers of their sins, and is giving them a desire to learn from their resident "reverend," our own John Reyes!

In this case, men said, "John Reyes deserves to be in jail." But that which they condemned, God has justified by His redemptive work within our jail! It's like the good name of our Lord Jesus. Caesar, through Pontius Pilate, condemned Christ. He declared him a capital criminal worthy of death! He was the "offscouring of the earth!"

But was He? Do men command the final word? Of course not! "It is not he who commends himself who is approved, but whom the Lord commends!" (2 Corinthians 10: 18) And so when the Apostle Paul wrote to Rome, he addressed this in the first four verses of his letter. He preached that Jesus Christ was "(D)eclared to be the Son of God with power ... by the resurrection from the dead!" Caesar decreed Christ to be trash worthy of the public shame of crucifixion. God declared Him to be the Righteous Son of God with power!

God stuck His decision "in their face" by the resurrection from the dead! It was a Divine act of political dimensions, inasmuch as man tried to sanctify/magnify his rejection of Christ with political warrant!

I believe we're seeing the same thing here in Lynchburg. Judge Richard Miller found John Reyes to be especially abhorrent. His penalty for a contrived trespass was much more severe than many felony convictions. He intended that John become a "byword" as the Bible says, or someone to be "hissed at," a public spectacle if you will. But God continues to justify that which men, in their wickedness, have condemned!

We in Lynchburg continue to give thanks to the Lord for all the help the AFA Law Center has been. And we rejoice that in Christ, even when we "lose," we win! Please remember John and his continued incarceration in prayer!

Thanks so much!

Pastor Richard E. Knodel, Jr.
Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church
Lynchburg, Virginia