We can't change the past, but we must take from it lessons and learn from both our mistakes and our successes. Treasure the things that truly matter such as family and friends. Put work in its proper perspective. Seek to live at peace with everyone. Let go of past hurts. Share your blessings. Keep the faith.
Category: Psalms for Prisoners
Spring 2018 News Letter
To be taken seriously let alone believed, we as Christ followers coming from different denominations, walks of life, men, women, free or prisoner must be united. Not just speaking the same words of Scripture, but with our own firsthand account of what Jesus Christ has done for us as our Lord and Savior.
April 2018 Letter
My observation is that leadership is often a thankless task that involves the arcane skill of herding cats. Christian leaders do it from their knees with their hands firmly clasped together and their heads bowed. While this sounds like a Zen thing it is really a Sinai thing. Moses is the archetype of a Christian leader.
A Meditation on the Aspects of Prayer
Prayer is a personal experience no two people will have exactly the same encounter with God. Our own experiences change over time as our spiritual health and maturity are not static. Only God never changes. Periods of spiritual dryness and silence in response to our prayers is a well-documented fact for even the most devote believers. But Scripture is clear that this is only our perspective. God will never leave us or forsake us. We just need to trust and obey the admonition to pray without ceasing.
Summer 2018 News Letter
How often in life have we found ourselves in a place where we can't fix what we've broken? Why can't relationships be as easy to fix as a toaster? Is it because there is no manual? Actually there is: the Bible. The problem is we don't study it enough. We also fail to understand that is not about fixing others but our own part in relationships.
August 2018 Letter
Joy is a feeling of gladness and rejoicing is the expression of that feeling. Trials build Godly character and we should be thankful to be counted worthy. It is thankfulness that brings joy. The problem is that we humans have such limited perspective that when we are going through trials we have a hard time seeing the big picture. We lack the eternal perspective. We just wish we weren't considered so special. Well, I'm here to tell you that you are special. Like it or not.
Fall 2018 News Letter
Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, "For every thing there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." Every season will end. Life moves forward whether we want it to or not. Life is change. Whether for better or worse is often how we interpret it, either optimisticly or pessimisticly. If like gives you lemons make lemonade, otherwise the sour look on your face has no up side. Trust God to be faithful. He is in control even when we feel like life is out of control.
January 2019 Letter
Forgiveness is the cornerstone to reconciliation. Without reconciliation there can be no relationship between two people separated by the gulf of hurt, shame, anger, and retribution. Reconciliation is a foreign concept in todays legal system and the reason why it has failed. Most 12-Step programs have a step in which you need to seek forgiveness from those you’ve wronged (if possible). But they also go on to say that even if the other person won’t forgive you that’s their choice. You must move forward in your life. If the other person choses not to forgive then they are choosing to live in the past and continue to give someone else power over them. Forgiveness breaks the bonds that are holding a person back from healing and moving forward.
Winter 2018 News Letter
Jesus our Savior has come into our lives and our past has been overwritten by a new and glorious future. We become the center of attention for those around us who see in us something that is so different from the world. We aren’t Oreos, Vanilla Wafers or Fig Newtons we are something that can’t be bought in any store. We are made to serve others with our lives. We give ourselves selflessly to bless others. We don’t choose who we will bless but rather by making ourselves available God will lead us to those who need us. The fragrant aroma of our lives living out the will of God will attract those who hunger to know God.
Spring 2019 NewsLetter
Jesus Christ experienced the Criminal Justice system of his day and went from a free man to a dead man in 24 hours. Never once did he complain about his treatment at the hands of abusive officers, a prosecutor with a political agenda, a judge that didn’t have the courage to follow his convictions, or a fickle populace that in one week went from a joyous throng hailing him as a king to a blood thirst mob demanding his execution. Instead he said, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,” even as his life was ebbing away (Luke 23:36).