America has been described as the land of second chances. This description may be due to the fact that our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles that include forgiveness. We are a people who have a history of forgiving others when they make a mistake and who we actively root for as they attempt to make a comeback. I’m sure you can think of someone – particularly an individual on the national stage such as an entertainer, athlete, or politician. We may look at these individuals and think that if we personally made a mistake so egregious that it caused us to lose the respect of others, our careers, our freedom (or all of the above), that people would forgive us and would give us a second chance… a chance to start over with a clean slate.

And this is where a phrase you may have heard – or even have said – comes into our conversation – “There but for the grace of God go I”. But, did you know, one of the earliest attributions of the saying is to John Bradford, an English Reformer, who supposedly said it as he watched people led to execution for their crimes? There but for the grace of God go I is a statement of humility and gratitude that acknowledges one’s own sinful nature and the need for God’s grace. In a sense John Bradford was saying, “That could have been me but for God’s grace.”

It is appropriate that this phrase was uttered as an individual was being led to execution for a crime because, after the Fall in the Garden of Eden, we were all subject to an Eternal Execution based upon the sin that had come upon us. We were seen as offenders and enemies in God’s eyes, no longer worthy to be in His presence because of our sin transgressions. However, because of God’s grace and His sending Jesus to be executed in our place, we now have Eternal Life. God gave us the Ultimate Second Chance with the Second Adam – Jesus.

This is just as true for us as it is for the men of Freedom Lake – the men who have been accepted to continue their spiritual growth and path to being men on mission. These men were once incarcerated, who made a mistake, who lost someone’s respect, who wronged someone, who lost his freedom, who is now seeking a second chance as a man of God, with a spiritual clean slate. The path to a second chance from God came while they were incarcerated and now they are looking to go deeper in their relationship with Him. The path to a second chance in society is a bit more challenging because there is a stigma that comes with incarceration of any kind for any period of time.

Freedom Lake has always been meant as a place where second chances are launched through Jesus.

We have seen – and documented in many of our posts – that too many men we’ve mentored have been pulled away from God by the influences, pressures, and desires of the world.

But not anymore.

The men who are part of the Discipleship Training Center (DTC) at Freedom Lake will have a place of quiet, a place of study, and a place where the world will have no pull on them. Moreover, these men are not here to be passive learners but to be active engagers as men on mission for God, to be fishers of people, to come alongside people and sharing the Gospel, and to be encouragers of Christians of all stages of spiritual maturity. They have experienced the need for a second chance – even though at some points believed they were not going to get one or believed they were not worthy of one – until God came along and showed them there was nothing they could do that would stop Him from pursuing them. They want to be able to share with all who will hear it the second chance at Eternal Life God has for all of us.

I cannot adequately express how on fire these men are for God.

Tony was once where these men were – literally! – and they see what God has done for him and through him and these men not only want it for themselves but want it for others as well.

They want to be a better friend of God, better followers of Christ, obedient disciples who are faithful in all things, and who have a story of the Ultimate Second Chance to share. A second chance they know is an incredible gift God has given them and the world around them.

These men will be equipped, edified, and encouraged to change lives, change communities, and even the world through the power of Jesus Christ, the Word of God, and the full life that is available to all of us because of a love that was greater than any mistake we could ever make.

And there but for the grace of God go us.