When A Non-Violent Felony Becomes a Life Sentence.

 Should every prison sentence be a death sentence?

courtesy of Haley Bell Photography

Of course, that answer is no.  

But please listen to the story of three personal friends who are finding out that second chances in society are not so easy to come by. 

• Friend 1 actually is as good of a thinker as I know. He thinks brilliantly. Yet he has a non-violent felony on his record. Last week we talked after a job hired him and then immediately rescinded their offer as they processed his background check. 

• Friend 2 is younger. We went on job searches on and off for months. He even came to my house and filled out applications online. I was a reference on all of his applications. No one would hire him. Two weeks ago, he called and told me had gotten in legal trouble making money by illegal means. His quote to me was, "C, you know I'd tried to get that money the legal way." 

• Friend 3 has been taken every step he knows to rebound after a recent prison stint. He's just trying to take steps forward, but every step now requires an income. And an income requires a job. And so far, no one will hire him.

I listed three people, but this list could have been 33 people. I didn't write this blog just so you could feel sympathy for these guys. I didn't write it to justify their previous bad decisions. I know what they did was wrong. They know what they did was wrong. This is about the frustration we feel in watching people whose debt to society has been paid try to move forward, only to be consistently sent backward. 

And it's a call for help.

How can you help? 

Here are three ways. 

1.  If you know of an employer that believes in second chances, please help me get in contact with them. 

2. Help fix a broken system. The saddest thing is that this problem is systemic. If we don't create a way to help people find tangible ways toward a preferrable future, I'll write this exact same blog a few years from now about some different friends or students. 

3. We need career coaches. Maybe you are not in a position to hire. However, in every circumstance I mentioned, my friends could use a mentor in how to succeed in business from successful businessmen. We've all been taught how to work for money. No one ever teaches us how to make money work for us. It would be great to have a businessman meet with these guys and start a business leaders academy and be accountable for helping them be successful. 



Redemption stories are my favorite. They remind me of the gospel, in that Jesus Christ came and lived and died in my place, so I could have a chance and entering into a personal relationship with God. The Bible is the world's greatest redemption story. If you are fan of redemption stories, please watch the 3-minute video of Michael Vick above, and then help me get involved in creating some new redemption stories.

I write these blogs as conversation starters. My hope is that you will contribute to the conversation with your thoughts on this topic. 

Chris Lassiter is a Christ-follower, a husband to Emily (read her blog here), a father to five amazing kids, a journalist and a freelance writer. Moody Publishing recently released his first book, You're Grounded, which you can read about here.  

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How I became just like Tim Tebow and three things I learned from it

No, I didn't become muscular or win a Heisman Trophy. I didn't engineer an overtime touchdown drive in the NFL playoffs. I can't claim part to any college football national championship.

But I can relate to Tim Tebow.

Not in the success, but in the struggle.

I became like Tebow when I became unemployed.

 

Lots of people are looking for employment,but here's what make Tebow and me the same. 

We may be jobless, but we're not hopeless.

For the past decade - longer in one case - I have worked bi-vocationally as a journalist and a youth worker. I loved both jobs. But, as a father of five, I surveyed what my wife and five needed from me, and I knew it was time for change.

The transition hasn't been an easy one.

The job search is taking longer than I would have hoped. Money has been tight. And the uncertainty has forced me to put other things in my life on hold until I figure it out. In the midst of the uncertainty, however, here's what I do know to be true. It's the same truth Tebow tweeted out after being released by the New England Patriots.

I don't know that the future holds, but I know Who holds the future. 

These are not circumstances I would choose, but the Lord has been faithful to teach some things along the way. Here are three.

•  God is God. I am not. During the times I have been discouraged, it has mainly been because I feel like God should have answered my prayer a certain way. I wanted God to deal on my terms, and I wanted to use prayer as a way to twist God's arm into doing what I wanted. While we could and should ask the Lord for our requests, the true purpose of prayer is to walk with the Lord to develop a friendship. I knew my heart was wrong, because when God didn't answer my prayers the way I wanted him to I lost the desire to pray. My motives were wrong from the beginning. 

•  God's timing is not my timing.  Being a husband and a father to five kids really reveals my impatience. I want my kids to finish their homework fast. I want everyone at the dinner table to finish their stories fast. I want God to open up a door for a job fast. I'm learning - slowly - that the Lord works things out in his own time and not when I am ready. 

• In uncertain times, there's still reason to be thankful.  I usually try to start my prayer time by reading Psalm 100, a chapter on thankfulness. Then I try to thank God for everything I can be thankful for that day. The chief of the those reasons is the gospel;  that Jesus Christ would exchange my rebellion toward God for His perfect standing before God. And there are have been countless reminders during this difficult season that God is still incredibly kind to me and my family. If I only remember one thing from this season of life, I hope that it's that God is good apart from all of my circumstances.

What about you? What is your Tebow moment? Where did you go from success to struggle? And what did you learn from it?

Chris Lassiter is a husband and father of five. He has written for The News Leader, VIBE, Young Life Relationships, Rapzilla.com and HipHopDX.com. He is the author of You're Grounded, which you can find here.