Pastor Michael Knox (featured right) is known as Pastor Riip to his congregation at Living Waters Baptist Church at the Marshall County Correctional Facility. This Saturday night, he is preaching out of 1 Corinthinans, chapter 2.
“But just as it is written, things which eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him,” says Knox, reading 1 Corinthians 2:9.
Knox reading at all is nothing short of a miracle. He says he couldn't read a single word several years ago when he found himself in solitary confinement for assaulting a guard.
At the time, he was a baby Christian. Someone gave him a Bible, and he heard God prompting him to read. He argued with God for a bit that he couldn't read, until he opened up the Book.
“It didn't take long for me to know. I was like ‘man.’ I closed it back as fast as I opened it. And I just knew I could read, and I was almost scared to open it again,” states Knox.
He says the Word of God transformed his life. He was discipled by some inmates who had taken seminary courses offered by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary to the point where he took over Living Waters Baptist Church as their pastor. They meet every Saturday night at 7:30 in the Marshall County Correctional Facility gym.
He says that he's aware of a growing revival on the outside, but he says the revival in the Marshall County prison is unbelievable.
“Men are coming. They're coming by droves, they're getting saved, they're coming to the altar, they're giving their lives, and they're being baptized. They're coming to discipleship class to be discipled,” says Knox. “They ain't just professing. They really want to know how to walk it out.”
