Essential Instruction Executive Director Ron Gruber came to Redeemer Church men’s Steak Fry to share with others what was lost through sin and crime and now gained through God’s Grace.

Gruber reflected upon his tragic home life as a child, which led to his search for some a family connection to fill his empty soul.  “Unfortunately, this carried me to a life of crime and prison,” he said.  “As a young adult my ‘family’ became the notoriously-destructive motorcycle gang, ‘Sons of Silence,’ one of the most violent Biker Gangs in the United States. I ultimately became what is known as ‘An Enforcer,’ which was very ugly.”

Spending time in and out of prisons he was ultimately indicted for major crimes of violence.  “After I witnessed a fellow gang member blow himself away something inside of me began to change.  I know now that God was leading me elsewhere.”

Taking a risk, Gruber told his gang that he wanted out.  The members let him go and he disappeared for a time into the country, working on the farm of an older devout Christian couple.  “They lived their faith before me,” he said.  “And little by little it began to penetrate my empty heart.”

He goes on to say that Scripture tells that Jesus says we must die to self and follow Him. “That was the message I heard in my head. Either I was going to kill myself or die to myself and live life abundantly with Christ as my center.  I chose Christ.”

Turning himself in to authorities, he was sent to prison.  But this time he joined Prison Ministries and Prison Fellowship, taking his life down a completely different path. “Finally, I was free. God’s Grace had broken my chains and given me wings.”

Gruber’s life is now spent teaching communities how to understand and respond to those around them involved in criminal lifestyles.

“There is a way out,” he says. “It’s Jesus.”