Today is April 20th. While many associate this date with marijuana use, symbolized by “420,” it’s important to acknowledge the darker side of this date. White supremacy groups sometimes use it as a quasi-holiday, coinciding with Adolph Hitler’s birthday. However, there’s another story, one that begins with marijuana but culminates in God’s mercy and transformation.
This is a story that can only be explained by God’s power. In 1982, Danny Duchene was arrested for the deaths of two people in a robbery he participated in as an 18-year-old drug addict. While awaiting trial in the county jail, Danny accepted Christ, and his life was radically changed by the mercy of God. Despite this transformation, he faced the consequences of his actions and received a double life sentence.
Danny spent the next 32 years as a Christian in prison. In 2003, he wrote to Pastor Rick Warren, expressing that he had read “The Purpose Driven Life” and wanted to participate in the 40 Days of Purpose Campaign with other inmates. Rick Warren and other staff members visited Sierra Prison in Northern California, where many inmates surrendered their lives to Christ. They established a church within the prison, with Danny serving as its pastor. The sight of rival gang members from different races uniting under the power of the Holy Spirit was truly remarkable and has endured over time.
Last year, Pastor Rick Warren wrote to the parole board, advocating for clemency and Danny’s release so that Saddleback Church could hire him as a pastor of Prison Ministries, and they agreed! Earlier this month, as part of Rick Warren’s message, “God Can Use Anybody,” Danny shared his full story and was publicly commissioned as a new pastor at Saddleback Church!
Danny’s life is a testament to the grace and mercy of God and its transformative power! It doesn’t diminish his past but magnifies the life-changing power of our Father in heaven!
Danny Duchene sharing his story at Saddleback Church. (YouTube)
While today is 420 in the eyes of the unmerciful, I must share Acts 4:20. Preceding these words, Peter and John were hauled before the Roman Council, and told to answer for their actions—spreading the gospel of Christ. “[F]or we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” That is 420 of another kind!
-Jim
#Godsmercy #Godsgrace #420ofanotherkind #dannyduchene