“Do you know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior?”
These are the words that my friend and brother in Christ asked our waitress yesterday as we finished up our lunch. I was not surprised.
Several years ago, Stephen and I were introduced to one another, sitting over burgers at Litton’s Restaurant in Fountain City, TN. I immediately was drawn to this guy who shared my hair style, had tattoos that revealed a life of many roads, was more interested in me and my spiritual state than anything else at that moment and was intense in his discussion about the amazing grace and mercy that only comes from Jesus. As we prayed over our meal and talked, laughed and shared, I knew that God had gifted me a lifetime brother who would sharpen me and challenge me.
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35 (NIV)
Fast forward a couple of years of meeting, growing, sharpening and working together on Kingdom efforts, Stephen and I were a part of a Mens Bible study that met on Saturday mornings. As Stephen was sharing with the group, he mentioned that part of his story involved being an inmate at a prison in Mansfield, Ohio. Immediately my eyes looked up at what I had heard. I asked exactly where and learned that he had been in the Mansfield Correctional Institution. After some more discussion I learned that Stephen had been an inmate at that prison while I was president of a company that was down the same road that ManCI was on, at the same time that he was a incarcerated, and I shared that I could see the prison from my office. Two brothers, equally broken, both imprisoned, one literally and one mentally. Both crying out to the same God, asking for the same thing and both destined to receive what only Jesus can provide.
So there we were. The prisoner and the president, equal in every sense of the word because we are God’s beloved sons that he allowed to travel different paths. Two men from vastly different backgrounds and life experiences brought together by God’s amazing plans and bound together by Jesus’ unfathomable love. It’s a crazy and beautiful ride when you surrender to Christ and he will place you in rooms with vastly different and exactly alike brothers and sisters. What an unexplainable gift Stephen is to me. Much like the grace and mercy that my Father in Heaven showers on me: so underserved and so, so needed.
“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Colossians 3:14 (ESV)
So my brother from another life dimension sharpens me. He motivates me. I value the time he gives me because I witness the joy, love, hope and life that is Jesus, in human form. Jesus, the great equalizer and eternal life giver, brought two of his kids together with experiences that sharpen one another as only he can and will. Just ask him.
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17 (NIV)
To learn more about Stephen’s story, check out his recent interview on CBN (link below). If you have a group of church looking for a speaker/preacher who will set your hearts on fire, reach out to Stephen. He’s that good.
Myron Speaks 
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