Hi, This is Tex. My calling is discipleship: knowing, being, making and teaching others to make disciples for Jesus. A big part of being a disciple is in being involved with “extra-church” activities, where you develop relationships with people who are NOT your garden variety church-goers. Prison ministry is one of those activities. I’ve been involved in prison ministry for about 16 years now, and the Holy Spirit moves in prisons in a way He hardly ever moves in traditional church. Below is a letter from Jim, a brother of mine in the Jubilee Prison Ministry. This story is about a prison ministry weekend that happened a few weeks ago near Houston.
I have been serving in prison on Jubilee or Kairos weekends for 17 years. Many of you have supported my efforts over the years (thank you!) and have often asked me what happens on these weekends. So I thought you might enjoy the following story – I’m a CFO, cynic and pessimist but this story is miraculous (or very close to it).
I was the leader of Jubilee #1 at the Scott unit in Angleton 3 weeks ago. One of my jobs was to assign the 25 or so talks to our volunteers. Most of the Scott #1 volunteers were new, so I didn’t know them – so had little insight to help assign the right talk to the “right” person. So I asked God to somehow intervene as I made “random” talk assignments. I assigned the “Forgiving Others” talk to Joseph, one of 3 volunteers who came from San Antonio to serve. Joseph is a relatively new Christian, and is also an ex offender, so when he heard about Jubilee he believed God had called him and agreed to participate. Our weekend started early Friday morning. Joseph’s talk occurred Saturday afternoon. Here is a summary of his talk:
“My little brother was murdered on April 1st. I was very close to him, and was unbelievably upset, angry and full of hatred at the man who killed him. I started planning my revenge – when, where and how I was going to kill the man who murdered my little brother. But then I agreed to serve on this Jubilee weekend. Continue reading
1 Thessalonians 2:14 says, “14 You too brothers and sisters, became imitators of the churches in Judea, because you suffered the same things from your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews, 15 who killed our Lord Jesus and the prophets, and have driven us out. . . . 1 Thess 3:2, “We sent Timothy to encourage you in these afflictions; . . . 4 in fact we told you in advance that you (we) would suffer persecution.”
“Work toward unity, live in harmony; don’t be snooty; make friends with humble people. Don’t think you’re better or smarter than them; you’re not.” Rom 12:16
Vince,
John 4: 5-42 tells the story of what happened when Jesus met the woman at the well. You know the story, noontime in Samaria, the disciples have gone to town to get food, Jesus is waiting by the well, and here comes a woman to get water. It was a telling visit. Jesus says, “Give me a drink of water.” The woman says, “You are a Jewish man; I am a Samaritan woman; why are you even talking to me?” Jesus, “If you knew who I was, you’d ask me, and I’d give you living water.” If you’re not familiar already, please read the “rest of the story”.
Have you heard that line, “If you want to teach a dog or a kid, you’ve got to say it over and over.” I just made that up. But it’s true. Whatever it is you want ’em to learn; if you say it enough, if you demonstrate it enough, it will finally soak in. You create those neural links in their heads and their bodies. You can bet on it. I think God had that same policy in mind when He dictated the Bible to the writers. One subject I’ve noticed lately (over and over) is about HEARING AND DOING. I don’t know how many times my momma said it, but I finally got it, “YOU’VE GOT TO DO WHAT I SAY!” (whether you like it or not; if you want to live long and do good.)
lifevolumeone 