Day 209: Going Inside The Prison Walls: Testifying To Love
Read: 2 Corinthians 5:11 - 21
Well, my friends, I have returned home from the Kairos (Inside) Prison Ministry four day retreat at Maryland Correctional Institute at Jessup Maryland where In was one of 36 other Christian men called by God to bring the message of God's unconditional love and message of reconciliation and forgiveness to 42 residents of
the facility. It was truly an absolutely awesome once in a lifetime
Kairos moment. God's own special moment of time, God's anointed
time, God's appointed time. Moments that are so far beyond historical,
steeped with immeasurable significance for these men and us too. He,
Jesus, who had no sin but became sin for us, met with us inside the
prison walls. But not just the walls of Jessup.
One of the most foreboding of places to
contemplate - Prison, a place where people are housed who are deemed
unsafe to live in normalized civilized society. Scary, very scary,
very intimidating, dangerous because this is the safest place where
truly the most dangerous of men are kept separated by high thick walls,
miles of strung razor are housed. There are guard towers everywhere. I was sufficiently intimidated. But I was also drawn to this place, called by God to this Kairos moment. Basically to receive
an education, answer the most pressing question on my heart: Just what
is heavens name can Jesus do here, in a place like this? What message
does he want us to give to those at Jessup, to ourselves?
Their hearts are too cold, too evil, too antisocial, too selfish, to receive anything from me. At least that is what I went in there with. So why go in at all? In a word - Love: '13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound
mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, ....' And
this is where I would ask that each of you begin to prayerfully
meditate within your hearts to consider this question: Is there anyplace
where the testimony of God's love, the message of the Cross of Jesus
Christ should not go? I ask you to consider this in your own right,
because I recognize in your heart, and I so respect that your heart and mine too might just be a victim of one of their heartless crimes.
Being victimized is no fun place to be and for me it is best avoided at all costs. I have been there and done that and had no fun living each day through it.
However, it is still very important to consider where you are in this
matter. In your heart do you believe that the message of the
unconditional love, forgiveness, reconciliation of The Father, Son and
Holy Spirit belongs or should be taken inside these walls. Take some Kairos time, God's time for yourselves. For to reach the point where we feel that we
become so beside ourselves, so sound of mind and spirit, where we are compelled, controlled by the love of Jesus Christ, we must first testify inside the prisons within our very own hearts of God's love.
Let Us Pray: We come to you praying God-Most-High master and eternal
life giver of the universe, we are praying thee for forgiveness,
reconciliation, cleansing, guidance and blessing. Father, we are praying
and hoping that in your mercy you would please forgive us all our life
sins, and that you would make us spiritually clean each of any
impurities that may affect our souls; and thus, we would become worthy
to pray to you and our prayers of forgiveness and reconciliation would
be heard and accepted. We are praying in the hope that we would
receive your forgiveness, reconciliation cleansing, guidance, and
blessing, and after receiving them, let us be your humble servants. In
the name of The Father, and of The Son and of The Holy Spirit. Amen
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Read: 2 Corinthians 5:11 - 21
Well, my friends, I have returned home from the Kairos (Inside) Prison Ministry four day retreat at Maryland Correctional Institute at Jessup Maryland where In was one of 36 other Christian men called by God to bring the message of God's unconditional love and message of reconciliation and forgiveness to 42 residents of the facility. It was truly an absolutely awesome once in a lifetime Kairos moment. God's own special moment of time, God's anointed time, God's appointed time. Moments that are so far beyond historical, steeped with immeasurable significance for these men and us too. He, Jesus, who had no sin but became sin for us, met with us inside the prison walls. But not just the walls of Jessup.
One of the most foreboding of places to contemplate - Prison, a place where people are housed who are deemed unsafe to live in normalized civilized society. Scary, very scary, very intimidating, dangerous because this is the safest place where truly the most dangerous of men are kept separated by high thick walls, miles of strung razor are housed. There are guard towers everywhere. I was sufficiently intimidated. But I was also drawn to this place, called by God to this Kairos moment. Basically to receive
an education, answer the most pressing question on my heart: Just what is heavens name can Jesus do here, in a place like this? What message does he want us to give to those at Jessup, to ourselves?
Their hearts are too cold, too evil, too antisocial, too selfish, to receive anything from me. At least that is what I went in there with. So why go in at all? In a word - Love: '13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, ....' And this is where I would ask that each of you begin to prayerfully meditate within your hearts to consider this question: Is there anyplace where the testimony of God's love, the message of the Cross of Jesus Christ should not go? I ask you to consider this in your own right, because I recognize in your heart, and I so respect that your heart and mine too might just be a victim of one of their heartless crimes.
Being victimized is no fun place to be and for me it is best avoided at all costs. I have been there and done that and had no fun living each day through it. However, it is still very important to consider where you are in this matter. In your heart do you believe that the message of the unconditional love, forgiveness, reconciliation of The Father, Son and Holy Spirit belongs or should be taken inside these walls. Take some Kairos time, God's time for yourselves. For to reach the point where we feel that we
become so beside ourselves, so sound of mind and spirit, where we are compelled, controlled by the love of Jesus Christ, we must first testify inside the prisons within our very own hearts of God's love.
Let Us Pray: We come to you praying God-Most-High master and eternal life giver of the universe, we are praying thee for forgiveness, reconciliation, cleansing, guidance and blessing. Father, we are praying and hoping that in your mercy you would please forgive us all our life sins, and that you would make us spiritually clean each of any impurities that may affect our souls; and thus, we would become worthy to pray to you and our prayers of forgiveness and reconciliation would be heard and accepted. We are praying in the hope that we would receive your forgiveness, reconciliation cleansing, guidance, and blessing, and after receiving them, let us be your humble servants. In the name of The Father, and of The Son and of The Holy Spirit. Amen
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Testify To Love | Avalon
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VERSE
1: All the colors of the rainbow All of voices of the wind Every dream
that reaches out That reaches out to find where love begins Every word
Your commission is a hard one for most to even think about, God's blessings are all around you brother.
ReplyDeleteYour commission is one that most of us vere from, Gods blessings are all around you brother.
ReplyDelete