Manslaughter to ministry: How prison ministries model Christ’s heart for all of us
The Daily Article
The Denison Forum
4.9 • 576 Ratings
🗓️ 11 May 2022
⏱️ 7 minutes
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Summary
Robert Hyde was sentenced to thirty-five years in prison, where his life changed forever. He found Christ through a prison ministry and eventually became the lead pastor of Grace Baptist Church in 2019. He was released a few weeks ago on parole. In The Daily Article for May 11, 2022, Ryan Denison shares the life-changing work prison ministries are doing all over the country, reminding us that God’s plan for our lives are irrevocable and to a higher standard.
Author: Dr. Ryan Denison
Narrator: Chris Elkins
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Daily Article Podcast for Wednesday, May the 11th, 2022. |
| 0:08.7 | I'm Chris Elkins with the Denison Forum narrating today's article written by Dr. Ryan Denison. |
| 0:14.1 | Robert Hyde, a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, had a rough life growing up. |
| 0:19.4 | He lived with his abusive stepfather until he shot |
| 0:22.3 | Robert's mother, after which Robert moved in with a grandfather who did little to give the young |
| 0:28.0 | man guidance. An existence defined by substance abuse and the occult eventually led to homicide |
| 0:34.7 | when Hyde killed another man at a party in 2001. |
| 0:38.3 | However, as Brian Blackwell describes in his profile on Robert, his life began to change for the better while in prison. |
| 0:47.3 | As Robert describes, because of my domestic violence history, I realized I had become the very thing I hated, a violent |
| 0:56.4 | man. It broke my heart. I was completely ashamed and at the end of my rope. As is often the case, |
| 1:04.4 | that's where God stepped in. After asking the prison librarian for a Bible, he began to read and hide chairs, |
| 1:12.0 | the Holy Spirit let me know I had a father and was a son. Right there, I wept like a baby |
| 1:19.4 | and learned who Jesus was. I was ashamed of who I had become, but I knew I was forgiven. |
| 1:26.9 | And although he was eventually given a 35-year sentence |
| 1:29.3 | for manslaughter, he was already a changed man. Robert began to lead Bible studies at the various |
| 1:36.0 | corrections centers where he was incarcerated before eventually ending up at the Louisiana |
| 1:41.0 | state penitentiary in Angola. While there, he started taking classes at New Orleans |
| 1:46.8 | Baptist Theological Seminary Extension. He earned his associates, bachelor's, and master's degrees |
| 1:53.3 | through the program and was ordained by Grace Baptist Church in 2017 while serving as their associate pastor. |
| 2:05.6 | He became their lead pastor in 2019 and served in that position until his parole a few weeks ago. If you're wondering how a prison inmate could |
| 2:11.7 | serve on a church staff, it's because Grace Baptist Church exists solely within the walls of the Louisiana State Penitentiary. |
| 2:19.6 | It's thought to be the first Southern Baptist Church of its kind, though it's doubtful that it'll be the last. |
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