Greetings Brother,
Wishing you the best during this holiday season. Knowing first hand how difficult holidays are for those incarcerated, I encourage you to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas in your heart. Keep watch like the Shepherds, follow the signs like the Wise Men, worship like the Angels, be fearless like Joseph, and humble like Mary. Then you will experience God’s gift of grace and peace, the true meaning of the season.
Things are going well for me, but everything is taking longer to get organized than anticipated. Please note the return address and feel free to write. Getting the ministry up and running was a major milestone. CCP Ministries stands for Christ, Crime and Punishment. Its mission is to encourage those behind bars, educate the public regarding prison conditions, and seek discourse with those in government about the importance of religion in the rehabilitation process.
On a personal note, God has continued to bless me beyond my expectations for reunion with my family. I have plenty of work to keep me busy helping out around the house, as my mom is dealing with knee issues. For the first time in years I decorated the house for Christmas. It was just like getting my driver’s license. Yes I passed the test, enough said. I put up my grandmother’s motion sensitive singing Christmas tree on my dresser and her wreath on my bedroom door. These were her Christmas decorations during the last year of her life when she was in the nursing home. I’ll be baking Christmas cookies next week to take to the local nursing home. Wish I could send you some. I’m not trying to rub it in.
I had dinner with my other grandmother the other night. She is 96 and still kicking. Her stories about hospitals, rehab centers, and convalescent homes sound an awful lot like prison, except for the ritual sacrifices. I think she imagined those. There are some universals when dealing with institutions of all types.
I’m attending a small church with a good worship team and a pastor that brings a good sermon every week. Still looking for a small accountability group. I’ve been re-reading Richard Foster’s “Celebration of Discipline.” This was the book that first exposed me to the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I highly recommend this book as a great read if you want to take your walk with Christ to a deeper level.
Know that you are not forgotten. I pray for you every day. Your Brother in Christ.
Christ, Crime and Punishment 