The news today is filled with the word that Chuck Colson has passed away at age 80. He was a great voice and thinker for the conservative evangelical movement. Over the years I’ve been much impacted by his speaking and writing.

Chuck had two halves of his life: a first half living for the power and things of this world – only to be imprisoned for his deep role in the Watergate scandal; and a second half living for Christ – having been truly transformed by grace, he was a completely different person in every way.

It will likely be that the world will remember him more for the first half, while the church will remember him for the latter. This alone is a display of grace.

Many of us who listen to Christian radio – such as our local WCRH – will most remember Colson for his morning commentaries called “BreakPoint.”

I get a regular email from Prison Fellowship, and this is what they had to say upon the death of Colson:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that Chuck Colson — our friend, founder, and brother in Christ — has passed away. Though we mourn the loss of a great leader, we rejoice knowing God has welcomed his humble and faithful servant home.

When Chuck Colson left prison, he promised to remember the men who remained behind bars. “I will never forget you guys!” he told them.

And for 36 years, Chuck faithfully kept that promise. In 1976, he founded Prison Fellowship, a ministry dedicated to living out Jesus’ command to remember the incarcerated and share the transformational love of Jesus Christ with them and their families.

“I could never, ever have left prison and accomplished what has been accomplished but for God doing it through me,” Chuck once said.