Brandt Russo was released from jail in Lakeland, Florida on Friday, August 29th. Russo plans on returning to minister to the group of homeless living near Ignited Church, who had him arrested in the first place (article here). Brandt goes into further detail, clearing up some of the questions about his arrest in his blog. Brandt says after attempts to have Ignited Church help the homeless, he heard from Stephen Strader, pastor of Ignited Church. "He wrote me back saying he appreciated what I did for those people, but he didn't know what to do with them. That they were not a homeless shelter and basically weren't equipped to help anyone but his congregation and the people at the "outpouring". He went on to tell me he wanted to talk to me but couldn't because of his busyness due to the fact that his church was losing thousands of dollars a day."
Russo also tells about his time in jail.
"My cellmates were the most beautiful spirited men I have ever met. Just so broken and humble. We stayed up late reading the bible together and joking around about how horrible the food was (as the food network played in the background...torture). The two days I was there, God was there with me the entire time. It was so beautiful walking in the cell with the orange jumpsuit and having all the inmates immediately call me preacher boy because of my tattoos. I felt so blessed to not only see another side of the least of these Jesus spoke of in matthew 25, but to be one. We stayed up late talking about Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jesus, and the early christians and apostles who also seemed to be getting into so much trouble. We discussed how amazing it was that some of the most powerful parts of the new testament, and King and Gandhi's most powerful letters and speachesI(sp) were birthed by the spirit of God in a cold jail cell."
We must now wait and see what will unfold in Lakeland. Though Russo has been bailed out of jail, he still is to go before a judge September 25th. Some have speculated that Ignited Church will drop the charges due to the negative publicity they have been receiving. If that is so, I wonder how they will deal with the homeless in the future. Again I urge you to continue to pray for Brandt and his ministry, and the homeless of Lakeland, Florida, as well as how God would have each of us minister to those less fortunate than ourselves.
2 comments:
Grace and peace be with you all. Thank you so much for all of the support.
i'm glad you posted on my site, it's so encouraging to me to see how many people are staying on top of Gods work and the needs that are all around us. you're right, brandt's pretty inspiring, and i think teh fact he stands up for all that is JESUS, just shoots all that glory straight to the One who deserves it. thanks for the reminder to pray for todd bentley; i think in my prayers for Ignited i've overlooked todd and his family. also, there's a guy named sean who posted a msg tonight saying that 7 of the homeless men came in to have dinner and bible study with brandt's group tonight. PRAISE GOD. :) peace to you - much love.
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