8 Sep, 2009
Prison to Prosperity
Texas DNA exonerees find prosperity after prison
DALLAS – Thomas McGowan's journey from prison to prosperity is about to culminate in $1.8 million, and he knows just how to spend it: on a house with three bedrooms, stainless steel kitchen appliances and a washer and dryer. McGowan was exonerated last year based on DNA evidence after spending nearly 23 years in prison for rape and robbery.
He and other exonerees in Texas, which leads the nation in freeing the wrongly convicted, soon will become instant millionaires under a new state law that took effect this week.
Exonerees will get $80,000 for each year they spent behind bars. The compensation also includes lifetime annuity payments that for most of the wrongly convicted are worth between $40,000 and $50,000 a year — making it by far the nation's most generous package.
His payday for his imprisonment — a time he described as "a nightmare," "hell" and "slavery" — should come by mid-November after the state's 45-day processing period.
The biggest compensation package will likely go to James Woodard, who spent more than 27 years in prison for a 1980 murder that DNA testing later showed he did not commit. He eventually could receive nearly $2.2 million but first needs a writ from the state's Court of Criminal Appeals or a pardon from the governor.
Charles Chatman, who was wrongly convicted of rape, said the money will allow him some peace of mind after more than 26 years in prison.
"It will bring me some independence," he said. "Other people have had a lot of control over my life."
(To see full story by AP Writer, Jeff Carlton, go to yahoo.new.com 9/4/09)
I Peter 2:24-25 [MSG]
He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to live the right way. His wounds became your healing. You were lost sheep with no idea who you were or where you were going. Now you're named and kept for good by the Shepherd of your souls.
Galatians 5:1 [MSG]
Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.
John 10:10 [MSG]
"I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of."
What does God's Story teach us about being set free?
Can you imagine sitting in prison one day with no hope of getting out...and then the next day, not only being set free, but given riches beyond what you have ever had!?! That would be crazy!
In many ways, that is exactly what has happened to us. God, through the sacrifice of his Son, has taken away all of our sins and set us free to live new lives...ones that are full of his amazing riches! That also is crazy!
Now we are "free to live the right way". Now we can live "life to the full". Now we can live a "free life"...no longer bound up by whatever has been holding us prisoner.
How does God want to set me free?
We can be held "prisoner" in many different ways. Some of us are held prisoner by our own unforgiveness. The debt we hold against someone who has wronged us doesn't even affect them...but it totally consumes us on a daily basis.
Others are held prisoner by addictions...alcohol, drugs, pornography, bad relationships or even more "harmless" addictions like a consumption with being on line for any number of reasons.
Perhaps you are even "taken prisoner" by a need to follow every command God has given us. This doesn't sound like a bad thing, but it can still control you in bad ways. God, instead, has called you to live a life of grace and freedom in Him. This will allow Him to change you rather than you having to work so hard at it.
In each case, God wants to set you free...and then He wants to bless you with amazing riches...like peace, joy, contentment, purpose, love, thankfulness, happiness...etc. Now that is going from prison to prosperity!
How does God want to set my friend free?
- Ask your friend this question: "If there is anything in your life that sometimes has control over you, what would you say it is?" Maybe they will say that it is anger. Perhaps it is a drug. It might very well be a fear.
- Be ready to be real. If appropriate, share something that has "held you prisoner" in some way.
- Then share with them what God has done (or is doing) in your life to set you free from that. God has taken away our chains and has set us free! He can do that same thing for your friends!
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