John Stroud: Setting Captives Free

Great and simple men alike have known the horrid chains
Of sin's enslavement and defeat of struggle without gain.

This battle common though it be takes daily casualties
And leaves the wounded living without hope of being free.

They walk in silent solitude behind their painted masks
And wallow in their private sins until somebody asks,

"Hey brother, how may I and these who know your desperate plight
Walk side by side with you in grace to end your pain and strife?"

We've known defeat and sorrow in this battle you now see,
But now we spend our lives instead in Setting Captives Free.

Your battlescars and stories of entrapment and of blame,
we know them all, we've lived them all, we understand the shame.

Step up and walk beside us now, we're going the same way
We're seeking life in Jesus Christ and trusting more each day

That He will change our hearts and minds so we might come to be
Ones who pass the truth along by Setting Captives Free.