Departments Staff List Staff List MORNING STAR A Multimedia Christian Publication P.O. Box 7755, Nashua, NH 03060 Phone: 603-883-4624 - Fax: 603-883-0466 EDITOR IN CHIEF Toby Trudel - Nashua, NH EXECUTIVE EDITOR Pastor Geoffrey Kragen - Roseville, CA SENIOR EDITORS Teresa Giordanengo - Canonsburg, PA Al Murillo III - El Paso, TX ASSOCIATE EDITORS Jerry Johnson - Modesto, CA Norb Novocin - Jacksonville, FL Pastor Russell Walden - Bunkie, LA Mike Wilkinson - Citrus Heights, CA Dr. Charles Wootten - Matoaca, VA CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Chuck Bennett - San Jose, CA Jody Fauss - Lindale, TX Dr. Paul A. Kienel - Whittier, CA Zola Levitt - Dallas, TX Dennis R. Mallory - Albany, NY Joseph A. Nigro - Oradell, NJ Jeannine Robinson - Mississauga, Ontario, Canada Moishe Rosen - San Francisco, CA Dale Strand - Dublin, CA Rick Thrasher - Santa Clara, CA J.C. Trudel - Naples, FL Terry White - Washington, DC SENIOR PUBLISHER - DOS and WINDOWS Editions Steve Paulovich - Pembroke, NH SENIOR PUBLISHER - MACINTOSH Edition Toby Trudel - Nashua, NH SENIOR PUBLISHER - Hard Copy Edition Ray Reed - Beaumont, TX PRINTER - Hard Copy Edition Phillip Speckter - Lumberton, TX OFFICE SYSTEMS TECHNICIAN Patrick Auriemma - Nashua, N.H. U.S. DISTRIBUTION DIRECTOR OF BBS DISTRIBUTION Walter H. Bauer Jr. - Sugar Land, TX AMERICA ONLINE NETWORK DISTRIBUTION Jerry White - Germantown, MD COMPUSERVE NETWORK DISTRIBUTION Kathy Ruess - Albuquerque, NM Dr. Charles Wootten - Matoaca, VA GENIE NETWORK DISTRIBUTION Pastor Geoffrey Kragen - Roseville, CA Mike Wilkinson - Citrus Heights, CA DISK SUBSCRIPTION DISTRIBUTION James Byers - Sun City, AZ Del Fletcher - Mountaintop, PA Joe Giacco - Durham, CT Michael W. Law - Moffett Field, CA Craig Olson - Springfield, OR Charles Richardson - Greenville, SC Dale Strand - Dublin, CA MORNING STAR is produced and published monthly, by a staff of born again believers in Jesus, located across the United States of America. Correspondence to MORNING STAR may be sent via the U.S. Postal Service or one of several computer networks. ELECTRONIC MAIL LINKS INTERNET: mstarmac@aol.com FIDONET: 1:106/3118 CHRISTIAN FAMILY NETWORK: 8:3003/0 CHRISTIAN DISTRIBUTION NETWORK: 8:2013/0 POLICENET: 150:402/53 If you run a bulletin board system and would like for your BBS callers to be able to view Morning Star on line by running a door program then contact: Alan Graff P.O. Box 131 Wheelersburg, Ohio 45694 Fidonet 1:2260/50 Editor's Letter Editor's Letter Hello and welcome to our thirtieth issue of MORNING STAR - And what a special issue this is! Our theme this month is "Prison Ministry" and the Lord has (once again) blessed us with a great collection of material to share with you. In the Feature area and other places throughout the magazine we have articles and stories from inmates, former inmates, a prison guard and prison ministry workers and leaders. I urge everyone who is not in prison to share this material with your pastors, prison-ministry leaders as well as friends and family of those who are incarcerated at this time. For those of you reading this who are in prison, we hope you find encouragement and hope in the pages of this issue of MORNING STAR and urge you to share this with those around you. As it's our 30th birthday so to speak, let me fill everyone in on the state of affairs with this magazine: The computer editions of MORNING STAR are presently available on the America Online, Compuserve, GEnie and Delphi networks in the United States. The number of people who belong to these networks totals over 2 million. If you are on one of these networks, we ask that you help pass the word around and encourage other members to download a copy of this magazine. MORNING STAR is available in three formats online. Our DOS edition can be read by any DOS-based computer - which is over 90 percent of all computers. Their is also a WINDOWS edition, which is a bit more "colorful" and a MAC edition for those using Macintosh computers. MORNING STAR is available on numerous electronic bulletin boards (BBS) across the country and abroad. Presently, there are over 100 BBS in 27 states carrying the magazine. Three or four times a year we publish a list of all BBS carrying MORNING STAR. People in Canada, Mexico, Norway, Finland, United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan, South Africa and Russia are receiving one of the computer editions. Our new hard copy edition has 1,000 issues printed each month. Of these, we are sending issues free to 150 prison chaplains each month. Hard copies are also going to people in France, Israel and the Philippines who do not have access to the computer editions. This makes a total of 18 countries that are receiving MORNING STAR in some format. What can one say but, "Praise God!" Help us keep this going strong. We need: Your prayers... for continued growth into new countries as well as for the staff who are continually under attack from the enemy. Your stories, articles and testimonies... as we do not have a big writing staff, we need material from you our readers. Your support financially... for the new hard copy. Everyone involved with MORNING STAR does so voluntarily - 100 percent of all donations goes to printing and mailing the hard copy which we send free to those who request it. Donations should be sent to our hard copy publisher: David's Mighty Men, Inc., PO Box 5093, Beaumont, TX 77726 Thank you and enjoy this wonderful, special issue of MORNING STAR. Remember those in prison. (Matthew 25:36) In service to the One who sets men and women free, Toby Trudel Letters Letters Letters from our readers... This was the first time I had ever read your electronic newsletter. I just wanted to tell you I enjoyed it very much. I particularly enjoyed the article dealing with the prosperity issue and FALSE COMFORT: CLICHES THAT DISCOURAGE by Dr. Linda Jean Schupp (Vol 3.4). Keep up the good work. Yours in Christ, David Lelek Quitman, Texas Choice Christian Greetings! I want to express my appreciation to you for sending me the "Morning Star" magazines. The articles are inspirational. May God's presence be very real to you, all year long. Ralph R. Volpe Senior Pastor Central Assembly of God Church Houston, Pennsylvania We want to express our heartfelt thanks for the Morning Star magazines sent to us each month. All the articles give us encouragement as well as blessings. Let us all be true to Him till the end! Roger and Fe Obe Iloilo City, Philippines People Profile People Profile MORNING STAR editor Toby Trudel conducted this interview with Terry White, editor of "Inside Journal," a publication of PRISON FELLOWSHIP of Washington, D.C. Toby: Tell our readers a bit about yourself how you got into this field and how you came to know the Lord yourself. Terry: I was born and raised in western Pennsylvania, I've been involved in journalism since seventh grade when I started as a sports stringer for my local paper. I took some detours to be a public school music teacher and to serve on the staff of a large church for 12 years, but have always been involved in journalism. This included entrepreneuring one newspaper and two magazines along the way. I accepted Jesus Christ into my life as Savior through a Daily Vacation Bible School program when I was a child. He has been faithful to me though the years, and I've been privileged to serve Him in a large number of Christian organizations and churches in the states of Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, and now Virginia. Toby: How did you first come to find out about Prison Fellowship (PF) and what made you get involved with them? Terry: I was ''structured out" of my previous job by a reorganization. In looking for a new opportunity I asked the Lord for a place in a full-time Christian ministry, with about equal parts of editing and publishing, public relations and promotion, and management. Prison Fellowship's open position with "Inside Journal" was the only opportunity I found that fit all these criteria. I joined the staff of PF in October, 1992, moving here with my wife from Minneapolis. I perceived (and still do) Prison Fellowship to be a well-managed, well focused organization with a unique ministry bringing Christ and Christian growth to prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families. There is tremendous opportunity for ministry, and that is very motivating. Toby: Who is Chuck Colson and what is his role with Prison Fellowship? Terry: Chuck Colson was special counsel to the president in the Nixon White House. He was often referred to as "Nixon's Hatchet Man" because of his hardball tactics. He along with others, was convicted following the Watergate scandal and spent some time in prison in the mid-1970s. About that time, he was introduced to Jesus Christ and began his personal relationship with Christ. His growth was nurtured by an odd assortment of politicians, some of whom had previously been "the enemy." Following his release from prison, he founded Prison Fellowship in 1976. Since that beginning, PF has grown to have field offices all across the U.S. Prison Fellowship International is involved in prison ministry in some 55 countries around the world. Specialized ministries have emerged in the areas of assistance to victims, children of prisoners (Angel Tree), legislative reform (Justice Fellowship) and aftercare. Chuck Colson is chairman of these organizations, which means he is the chief spokesperson and fund raiser the "point man." Others are charged with administering the day-to-day operations in the field and here in the Washington office. Toby: What is "Inside Journal" and what are its principal objectives? Terry: "Inside Journal" is Prison Fellowship's newspaper for prisoners. It is an eight page tabloid, and this year we will publish eight issues. At present, our press run is 330,000 copies (one for every three prisoners in the U S.) and we're distributed free to prisoners in 1,388 institutions. Inside Journal's objectives are to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to help Christian prisoners grow in Christ, to help prisoners deal with incarceration, to encourage prisoner involvement in Christian programming and to help prisoners prepare to live crime-free upon release. Toby: For those who have never seen this publication, what kind of material goes into it and who are the writers? Terry: Each issue has an inspirational role-model lead story. Often they are sports figures, or those who have overcome hardship to achieve significantly in a field such as medicine or education. We dispense hope hope and encouragement that one can always improve and make an impact. In addition, we have specialized columns for incarcerated veterans, women, those about to be released, and others. Each issue contains at least two articles written by prisoners. Usually there are one or two articles from free-lancers, as well. The remainder are written by our staff, or are re-written from material submitted by specialists. Each issue has a clear presentation of the Gospel, and each has a short inductive Bible study. At present, we're in an eight-part series on "Great Prisoners of the Bible" featuring lessons from the lives of Paul, Samson, Jeremiah, and other biblical characters who were incarcerated. Toby: How has "Inside Journal" grown in subscription numbers over the years? Who receives it? Terry: We get a tremendous response. In its three years of existence, the paper has received nearly 14,000 letters from readers, which is an astounding response. Most of them request further information on one subject or another, and we have a computerized database from which we can fish out information on nearly any subject or any geographical location they request. Our first issue, featuring Stevie Wonder on the cover, was in the fall of 1990. We published 88,000 copies and sent it to 83 prisons. The January/February, 1994 issue published 330,000 copies and went to 1,388 institutions. The paper is distributed free in the prisons, usually through either the chaplain's office or through a library or program director. Individual subscriptions are also available at $10 a year, for those on the "outside." Toby: Do you get feedback from the prisoners themselves? What are some typical responses you get from these inmates? Terry: We are always thrilled to receive responses from a prisoner who says, "I prayed the prayer to receive Christ. Please send information to help me grow." But we also get pleas for help, people venting their rage, and a lot of other interesting responses. We have a "highly interactive" audience! Toby: What other operations or programs does PF sponsor? Are there new ones being planned? Terry: Prison Fellowship has traditionally been a strong leader in conducting in-prison Bible studies and holding weekend seminars on specialized topics such as marriage enrichment, self-esteem, life-planning, and more. There are support groups for families and for ex-prisoners (Philemon Fellowships). PF sponsors Community Service Projects in which prisoners are released for short periods of time to work on home renovation and other physical-labor projects. "Neighbors Who Care" is our ministry to victims. Justice Fellowship deals with legislative reform and restoring biblical standards of justice to the court system. Among PF's newest projects are an aftercare pilot program in Detroit called TOP (Transition of Prisoners) and a youth mentoring program in Boston called MatchPoint In the spring of 1994 we will be doing an intensive in-prison evangelistic program called Starting Line in the prisons of Indiana and Texas. PF's largest program, by far, is Angel Tree, which this year is providing Christmas presents to approximately 350,000 children of prisoners. Toby: If anyone wanted to get more involved with PF or prison ministry in general, what would you tell them? Terry: There's a local office near you, and we'd be happy to give you the address or phone number to contact. Any Christian who wishes to do so may begin a penpal relationship with a prisoner. Volunteer training is available for a multitude of prison ministry experiences. Toby: Are there any final thoughts you would care to leave with the readers of "Morning Star"? Terry: Well, we're always grateful for opportunities like these to "tell the story" of prison ministry. It's a tremendously exciting, dynamic ministry with great rewards and real opportunity. The electronic highway is something we want to explore much more. We can, for example, foresee a time when Christians all over the U.S. are able to answer prisoners' letters utilizing materials and training we can provide from the office here. You're on the cutting edge of a communications technology that we want to explore and use for God's glory. Keep up the good work, and let us know how we can cooperate together in the future! For more information contact: Prison Fellowship P.O. box 17500 Washington DC 20041 Or call (703) 478-0100. Editor's Note: Read about PRISON FELLOWSHIP'S various ministries in this issue's MINISTRY FOCUS column. This month's RESOURCE column has a list of PRISON FELLOWSHIP area offices. Ministry Focus Ministry Focus Prison Fellowship Volunteers In Your Prison. At Your Service. "Currently, a range of 45 to 65 percent of prisoners released from federal or state custody, respectively, will be back in custody within a three-year period. That's something we in corrections are constantly trying to improve upon. And we think we can improve upon it if we can get more people involved in volunteer efforts like Prison Fellowship." J. Michael Quinlan, Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons Prison Fellowship: Breaking the Lockhold of Crime Launched in 1976 as a small movement of Christians committed to helping prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families change their lives for the better, Prison Fellowship has grown into a multifaceted organization encompassing 43,000 volunteers. This growing volunteer network has enabled PF's programs to spread to more than 90 percent of state and federal prisons in all 50 states. PF's volunteer base and programming are managed by more than 50 field directors, whose tireless efforts are supported by a national office staff team in Reston, Virginia. Prison Fellowship's high-quality programming, dedicated professional staff, and well-trained volunteers have won the trust and involvement of inmates, as well as the respect and endorsement of corrections officials across the country. An Expanding Volunteer Network Prison Fellowship's commitment to a volunteer-driven organization stems from a twofold premise. First and foremost, PF sees an expanding web of well-trained volunteers as the most effective channel for serving the needs of prisoners, ex-prisoners, crime victims, and their families. Caring volunteers provide the flesh-and-blood dimension that makes programming successful by offering friendship, accountability, teaching in life skills, and support. Second, the volunteer model allows PF to serve the community by providing its residents with many opportunities for challenging service and personal development. "Paradox best describes my prison experience. In giving, I have received. In teaching, I have been taught. In seeking to change, I have been changed. My world has been enlarged, enlightened, and enriched." Prison Fellowship Volunteer Volunteer Training PF requires its certified volunteers to complete an intensive 4-part, 20-hour training program, which has been tested, reviewed, and refined to ensure that volunteers are well equipped to work inside the prisons. The full training series embodies 16 training manuals, award-winning videos, and other resource materials to enable volunteers to address the distinctive needs of prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families. Training includes guidelines on how to reach out to victims of sexual abuse (the majority of women inmates), and abusers of drugs and alcohol. Many corrections officials have voiced their appreciation for PF's quality and depth of training. Officials in some states have recommended that all prison volunteers, even those not associated with PF, complete PF's training series. "PF greatly exceeds all other groups ineffectively preparing volunteers for coming into prisons. David Roth, Volunteer Services Supervisor, Mohawk Correctional Center, New York "The training is tremendous. It's exciting to see the thoroughness and depth of the material. I think it should be mandatory for all volunteers regardless of experience. It goes beyond rules and deals with attitudes, conduct, and accountability, which is crucial. I think it will really help people see how they can minister effectively to prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families." Linda Bowman, Prison Fellowship Volunteer Seminar Series PF's series of 15 In-Prison Seminars is designed to address pertinent needs of prisoners in a way that will help them "get their lives in gear" and moving in a productive direction. Seminars are taught by certified volunteer instructors, who work closely with a team of volunteer small-group leaders responsible for guiding discussions and other group activities. PF's fastest-growing seminar in the series is the Life Plan Seminar, popular among prisoners and promoted by corrections officials for its emphasis on giving inmates near release some practical goal-setting skills to help them adjust to the outside. Content focuses on finding a job, managing money, using free time productively, and building healthy relationships. PF's Marriage Seminars teach prisoners and their spouses how to strengthen their marriage, despite the strains of incarceration. These seminars are taught by volunteer instructor couples, many of whom have faced prison life themselves. Seminars are generally followed up with ongoing study/discussion groups and/or mentoring relationships where volunteers "come alongside" prisoners to offer support, friendship, counsel, and a positive role model. Such ongoing relationships provide an accountability structure for offenders who are really serious about living a crime-free life. "The volunteer can provide the kind of help on a one-to-one or group basis that will significantly tell the offender that people care about him or her, and that there's an importance of maintaining a crime-free lifestyle upon release. And these things will really make a difference, I believe, after release. They will lead to a lower level of repeating criminal behavior and a lower rate of recidivism. So we see the need to expand dramatically the number of volunteers, and we'd like to work with groups like Prison Fellowship, under the great leadership of Chuck Colson, to see if we can't expand those programs." J. Michael Quinlan, Director of Federal Bureau of Prisons Recidivism Study PF's files are filled with anecdotal evidence of how PF programs and volunteers have benefited the lives of offenders and their families. To acquire a more statistical measure, PF called upon independent researchers from Loyola University in Maryland to evaluate program effectiveness. In its resulting "Recidivism Study" published in August 1990, the research team found that inmates who attended PF's Washington Discipleship Seminars (forerunner of the current In-Prison Seminars) were 11 percent less likely to be rearrested after their release than similar inmates who did not attend the seminars. Among women inmates specifically, only 19 percent of those who attended PF seminars were arrested for subsequent offenses, compared to 47 percent of those in the control group. Plans call for studies on other PF programs, to be published over the next two years. Angel Tree Now in its tenth year, PF's gift-giving program for prisoners' children helps to bridge the gap between inmate-parents and their families trying to cope with financial pressures and the pain of separation. Inmates sign their children up to receive Christmas gifts; volunteers then contact each family to find out the children's "gift wishes." They and other volunteers then purchase the gifts and deliver them personally on behalf of the incarcerated parent. Besides helping bring Christmas joy to hundreds of thousands of children each year, Angel Tree opens up opportunities for PF volunteers to stay in touch with families, offering year-round support and assistance. In 1991 more than 32,000 Angel Tree volunteers across the U.S. helped make Christmas a little brighter for 202,000 children of prisoners. "I want to praise your network for the special care you made in even asking what the children might like or need. This is unique and shows a real consideration for our families. You are more than a faceless charity fund, but real and caring people who deal with real people who are also victims (our families) of the legal and social 'system' gone rabid." Donald, Wisconsin Inmate "As these guys are being ministered to inside [prison] and their lives are changing, they need to come home to families with changed lives also." Willie Jarrell, Prison Chaplain and Angel Tree Volunteer Inside Journal America's most widely distributed newspaper for prisoners, PF's "Inside Journal" reaches 280,000 inmates in more than 1,000 state and federal prisons. The free, bimonthly paper profiles athletes, celebrities, and political leaders who serve as positive role models, and gives advice on surviving prison and the adjustment to life on the outside. Inside Journal has "broken ground" in many prisons that have no other PF programming. "I have always found the Inside Journal a source of inspiration to inmates and corrections professionals alike. The Journal is not only a guide, but a tool that lifts the spirits of many downhearted individuals and provides them with a sense of hope. The staff at Prison Fellowship is to be commended for their hard working efforts in providing such an enlightened and valuable resource." James Gondles, Executive Director, American Correctional Association Justice Fellowship Justice Fellowship's task force volunteers work closely with corrections officials, legislators, and judges to bring about just and cost-effective reforms in the criminal justice system. Specifically, JF volunteers work for programs that will help alleviate severe prison overcrowding by diverting nonviolent offenders into non prison punishments, such as community-service projects and restitution. They also work for laws that promote victims' rights. In 1991 JF volunteers played a key role in the passage of 21 criminal justice reform bills. "Justice Fellowship was a primary sponsor and force that led to the passage of a community corrections act for the state of Alabama. They have continued to be a very positive force with regard to corrections reform. Any corrections commissioner who has any questions regarding the nature and effectiveness of Justice Fellowship and their programs should talk to me." Morris L. Thigpen, Commissioner, State of Alabama Department of Corrections "There's a need for reliable data and information on corrections and how we ought to approach it. I look upon Justice Fellowship as a clearinghouse of ideas, a resource, and we want to continue to tap into that resource as new concepts come online and successes and/or failure become apparent." Stan Stephens, Governor of Montana Neighbors Who Care Officially christening its ministry to crime victims in June 1992, PF has now come full circle in reaching all major areas affected by crime: offenders, government, community, and victims. Trained in crisis management, Neighbors Who Care volunteers offer encouragement and support in the traumatic aftermath of crime, as well as practical assistance such as shoring up home security or repairing vandalized property. "... I think [Neighbors Who Care] can be a tremendous asset to the law enforcement community simply because it will take so much of a burden off of the police officer in trying to effectively deal with victims." Officer Quinn Wilhelm, Lakewood, Colorado, Police Department The Vision of Chuck Colson In his political heyday as special counsel to President Richard Nixon, Charles Colson was driven by a no-holds-barred passion to secure and intensify the power of the presidency. When the public exposure of Watergate crimes brought down the president and his men, Colson's subsequent seven months in prison caused him to rethink the important values of life. In a recent CBS television special on Watergate's twentieth anniversary, Colson told journalist Mike Wallace that what is important is what goes on "in the human heart." Released from prison in 1975, Colson soon adopted a new passion: to reach to the heart of prisoners still languishing in U.S. prisons - often without hope or any tangible help to successfully break out of behavior patterns and destructive values. The outcome was Prison Fellowship, whose volunteers have brought hope and caring assistance to incarcerated men and women for 16 years. Response Card I am interested in knowing more about Prison Fellowship's programs. Please send me more information on: __ In-Prison Seminars __ Angel Tree __ Inside Journal __ Justice Fellowship __ Neighbors Who Care __ Volunteer Training Please have a Prison Fellowship representative contact me about getting PF programming into my facility. City: State: Zip: Return to: Prison Fellowship P.O. Box 17500 Washington, DC 20041-0500 Attention: National Field Ministries. If you want information only on PF's prisoner newspaper, contact Inside Journal, P.O. Box 16429, Washington, DC 20041-6429. Praise and Prayer Praise and Prayer PRAISE AND PRAYER is our international prayer link column. Send your praise report or prayer request to MORNING STAR for publication in our next issue. Call on your brothers and sisters worldwide and together we will call on God! PRAISE REPORTS Kevin in Washington reports that his church's annual Living Christmas Tree show did 14 live shows and 1 for TV - there were 1,400 decisions made for Christ and it is possible that as many as 200,000 people watched on T.V. Praise the Lord! Anita in New York praises the Lord that her father-in-law, Frank, hasn't had a blackout in weeks and her mother-in-law, Bridget, has received a very good report from the doctor, after a bothersome bronchitis. Marie in Pennsylvania would like to offer praise for the peace of Christ that has come to a friend. He has recently been confined to a wheelchair due to bone disease, but yet, he has found strength in Christ. Carolyn in Virginia thanks the Lord for a new job after looking for six months. Aida from Cheyenne, Wyoming had a baby girl, naturally. She praises the Lord and wants to thank everyone for the prayers. Mother and daughter are doing great! Margo in Minnesota praises the Lord for the wonderful changes the Lord has brought about in her job. Joe thanks the Lord for a new job he will be starting in Connecticut. Margo in California praises the Lord that she had a reconciliation with her two sisters who have not spoken to her for eight years. Mike in California thanks the Lord that both of his brothers have found jobs after just getting out of jail and recovering from drug abuse. Cyndi in New Jersey thanks the Lord for the support group that has just started this year for epilepsy. Pray for this group. G.K. from Missouri thanks the Lord for the unexpected letter that included finances needed for his daughter's college tuition. Chris on the AOL network praises the Lord that her dad got a job after searching for one year. Denise in Florida thanks the Lord that she has been able to go back to work without problems from her foot that she had surgery on lately. Wayne in Pennsylvania praises God for his new wife and asks prayer in their new life together, and for a safe and happy honeymoon. Deb in Maryland thanks the Lord that her husband just got a new job, one that gives all of them health insurance. PRAYER REQUESTS Gretchen asks prayer for her friend, Charity, in New Hampshire, who has to have brain surgery to remove calcium deposits in her skull which are causing her to have strokes. She has a 4 1/2 month old baby who needs clothes and medical care too. Her boyfriend left her without any means of support. Candy in Illinois asks prayer for friends Kathy and Dennis and their teenage daughter Heather, who has attempted suicide due to the divorce of her parents. Pray for Candy's brothers Christopher and Andy too and her estranged husband Archie. Also pray for Jeff, Bruce, Jimmy and Doris who all have problems with drug abuse. Bert in Ohio needs to find work through his union hall because he has been out of work for 8 months now. Also he hopes his wife's condo will sell fast so she can join him in Ohio. Joanne in Arizona has accepted a new job at a different firm and requests prayer for the new workplace due to their attitude. Pray for Janette in California who is struggling in her job of more than 3 years - she needs prayer for direction either for a new job or peace where she is. Also pray for husband Geoff's part-time job which is changing format, and the money will not come in consistently. It would be a real blessing if the support of the ministry would become more constant. Di in New York needs peace in her life, especially on the job. She needs to find 2 lost documents. Remember her elderly parents' health too. Larry, an 18 year old at West Point, needs spiritual guidance in his life. Joy in Florida is searching for the right church. Tony in Pennsylvania needs prayer due to losing a 19 year old son. There is lots of confusion and bitterness here. John in Arkansas asks prayer for Kati's son, a 16 year old, who has attempted suicide. Pray that the Lord will carry him through these suicidal tendencies, and that his heart be opened to the Lord. Mike's mother-in-law in New Jersey had an operation. Please pray for her healing and continued strength for the family. Jeff in New Jersey has been offered another job in a totally different field since his present employer is laying off many people. He needs the Lord's guidance and grace to make a decision. Sidney in California was recently diagnosed as having multiple sclerosis. They have three children age from 3 to 10. Please pray for her healing and strength for the family. Pray for Sage, a Christian college student in New York who continues to dabble with drugs and alcohol. Dotty, the mother of a faithful organist in New York, does not know the Lord and is having cancer surgery. Pray that she will open her heart to the Lord. Brian in Florida has the flu with fever of 104 and a cough. Remember his father, Paul, who is still unemployed and is looking to the Lord for answers to his prayers. His mother, Denise, is under much stress through all this too. Jay needs a touch from the Lord for good health. Also there needs to be a lot of healing in family relationships. Pastor Bonnicci in Virginia is having open-heart surgery. Cyndi's friend in Virginia has a 9 month old daughter who is having surgery on her hips. She had problems since she was born. Chris on the AOL network wants a closer walk with the Lord and some Christian fellowship. Pray for Jay and Alice in California who just got back together again and their house burned to the ground. This is a very trying time for them and their children. Kevin in Massachusetts and Frank in Florida who both need salvation. Terri and her husband in Colorado have separated. They will time-share an apartment and have custody of the children every other week for six months. Please pray for a reconciliation for this family! Gail in Colorado needs full-time employment. Pray the Lord will open doors for her. Robin, a young teen from Ohio, is a new believer in the Lord. Pray for her spiritual growth. Margo in California is starting a new job after not working outside the home for two years. She needs strength from the Lord. Jeff in Kansas asks for prayer for the major financial trouble he is in right now. Pray also for one of his brothers in Missouri who is in the occult and is recovering from drugs. Pray also for his parents who are having marriage problems. Mike in California is looking for a home church. R.I's husband has been out of work for over 4 months. Tom in California requests prayer in getting a job that he recently took a test for. Linda asks that we continue to pray for young Andrea. The doctors finally diagnosed her condition as a brain injury. Please pray that they will now find the correct treatment for her injury. S.T. in Georgia asks prayer for M.S. who is in school and having a hard time with stress due to finances and workload. Reg in California asks us to pray for cousin David, age 42, who is on life support at a medical center. He has three small children. Lois Ann in Pennsylvania asks prayer for a Christian Drama Team called the "Facts Machine." They perform for teens about abstinence and may be in need of a director soon. G.K. from Missouri asks prayer for his daughter who has a very painful broken rib. Barry age 36 from North Carolina suffered a heart attack. Remember him in prayer. Scott from California has requested prayer for a co-worker's husband who was suddenly stricken with a rare and possibly terminal disease. He also requests continued prayer for a friend, Slinkey, that God will let her know of Jesus' love for her. Cynthia from California requests prayer for her bible study group and help for the group. Melody From New Jersey is involved with the occult. Pray that the Lord will open her eyes and heart to Him. Carolyn and Ray from Florida need the Lord in their lives. Ray also needs a job. Harry's Associate Minister's wife Patti from Illinois had a six-week premature baby boy. He is in intensive care. Both the baby and parents need prayer. Patti and her husband in Colorado are going to see their Pastor about all that is troubling them. Pray that all goes well. Pete from Ohio is leaving his job, after five years, to work for his father. Ann in Indiana has Parkinson's disease and is very lonely since her husband died ten months ago. Her daughter Joann asks for prayer that her mother will be comfortable and that she can accept whatever God's will is for her. Also pray for Joann and her seventeen-year-old daughter who has walked away from the Lord. Jeff in Illinois needs guidance from the Lord if he is to continue the Christian magazine, "Kidstuff", he publishes for teens. Thomas asks that the Lord confirm his vision for the Emmanuel Christian Fellowship in York, Pennsylvania. After praying for two years for some direction for the church, God has touched the elders on possibly a missions vision. Pray for Amy in Ohio who had an abortion. Pray for Dale's sister Carrie in Maryland. She is a successful business woman, but is depressed, and is drinking. She is into New Age Philosophies too. Bill in Nevada needs healing for a recurrence of Carpel Tunnel syndrome. Don's Mom is having memory loss possibly due to a recent stroke. Please pray for her recovery. Maury has a cyst. Please pray that it will not be cancerous and he will have it removed soon. Mark was in a construction accident and as a result has a major head injury with internal bleeding and is paralyzed on one side. Please pray for his speedy recovery and that his wife and young child are comforted by the Lord. T.H. from Texas asks us to pray for the principal of her daughter's Christian school and his family. Their youngest child, 3 year old Timothy, drowned on Christmas Day at their family gathering. The family needs the prayer support of the brethren at this tragic time. David in Virginia needs finances to either repair his truck or get a new mode of transportation. Melinda in Illinois is seeking God's direction for her life. Patti from Illinois had a six-week premature baby boy. He is in intensive care. Both the baby and parents need prayer. JoAnne in Arizona asks the Lord's wisdom and guidance in her new job. Pray for Mae in Florida who still has back pain and other health troubles. Pray for Toby in New Hampshire who is having continued problems with his elbow which could affect his employment. Chris wants a closer walk with the Lord and some Christian fellowship. Pray for Jay and Alice in California who just got back together again and their house burned to the ground. This is a very trying time for them and their children. Kevin in Massachusetts and Frank in Florida who both need salvation. Mike in Oklahoma asks us to pray for Christians who are running for seats on a local school board. Persecution began almost immediately after they announced their individual decisions to run for office. Dan in Arizona asks prayer for friend Gary whose daughter and two children were in a car accident. The oldest, Jordan age 3, has suffered a coma and is in a critical care ward in Phoenix. Dan's 5-year old son Christian, just recently went to be with the Lord. Keep this family in prayer. Matthew from Arkansas - his health is improving but he still needs our prayer support for healing of Cystic Fibrosis. Kristy from Arkansas needs prayer for strength and the Lord's healing of her family. Gen from Pennsylvania is a new believer who is in need of our prayer support. Leon in Georgia needs prayer for spiritual strength and financial support. Crystal on AOL, who is diabetic, asks the Lord to aid the recovery of her leg which has a serious infection. Daniel from New Jersey needs prayer for spiritual strength and for the healing of his Pastor. Tim from New York is in need of Christian fellowship and prayer. Linda from Georgia has cancer and requests prayer for herself and her family. Gywla from Tennessee asks for strength in the Lord and support in recovery. Dale lost his job in Maryland. Pray the Lord will make a way for him soon. INTERNATIONAL REQUESTS: Frank in Ontario, Canada has been a diabetic since he was 7 years of age. Now at the age of 30, he is jobless and almost blind. Pray for salvation and a healing touch from the Lord. Pray for salvation and strength for his father, Frank Sr., as well. Pray for success for two Ngochang men coming to Chiangmai, Thailand, for the purpose of continuing the work of literature and Bible translation. The Ngochang Bible translation effort affects the spiritual welfare of almost 50,000 in Burma and China, both countries off-bounds (legally) to western Christians. They are in desperate need of an IBM or compatible computer which can run Wordperfect 6.0 for DOS. Amnesty International fears that Mehdi Dibaj is at imminent risk of execution. According to information received by the organization, he was sentenced to death by an Islamic Revolutionary Court on 3 December 1993, and in January 1994 he was given 20 days to appeal against the sentence. He is currently held in a prison in Sari, the provincial capital of Mazandaran. He is married with grown-up children. Before his arrest he was an evangelist and missionary to Afghanistan. More than ever, Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6a). Resources Resources PRISON FELLOWSHIP AREA OFFICES (Revised 7/93) ALABAMA P.O. Box 530357 Birmingham, AL 35253-0357 ALASKA (See Washington) ARIZONA P.O. Box 37577 Phoenix, AZ 85069 ARKANSAS (see Mississippi) CALIFORNIA Bay Area P.O. Box 8653 Emeryville, CA 94662 Fresno P.O. Box 4436 Fresno, CA 93744-4436 E/S Los Angeles P.O. Box 3067 Cerritos, CA 90703-3067 S/C Los Angeles P.O. Box 44959 Los Angeles, CA 90044 Sacramento P.O. Box 2550 Sacramento, CA 95812 San Diego P.O. Box 152677 San Diego, CA 92195-2677 COLORADO Englewood P.O. Box 3215 Littleton, CO 80161-3215 Colorado Springs P.O. Box 25128 Colorado Springs, CO 80936 CONNECTICUT P.O. Box 360 Middletown, CT 06457 DELAWARE (see Maryland) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA No. 5 Thomas Circle, NW Washington, DC 20005 FLORIDA East Florida 3500 South Atlantic Ave. Suite 202 New Smyrna Beach, FL 32169 Ft. Walton Beach P.O. Box 2080 Ft. Walton Beach, FL 32549-2080 West Florida P.O. Box 5438 Lakeland, FL 33807-5438 GEORGIA P.O. Box 450106 Atlanta, GA 30345-0106 HAWAII (See SW Regional Office) IDAHO (see Oregon) ILLINOIS Springfield 960 Clocktower Drive Suite A Springfield, IL 62704 Chicago 175 West Jackson Blvd. Suite 1800 Chicago, IL 60604 INDIANA Indianapolis P.O. Bo 50376 Indianapolis, IN 46250-0376 Ft. Wayne P.O. Box 9591 Ft. Wayne, IN 46899-9591 IOWA P.O. Box 13168 Des Moines, IA 50310-0168 KANSAS P.O. Box 9065 Shawnee, KS 66201-1665 KENTUCKY P.O. Box 23063 Louisville, KY 40223 LOUISIANA P.O. Box 40865 Baton Rouge, LA 70835-0865 MAINE (see New Hampshire) MARYLAND 540 Lynn Lane P.O. Box 321 Columbia, MD 21044 MASSACHUSETTS (See New Hampshire) MICHIGAN Western MI P.O. Box 411 Comstock Park, MI 49321-8904 Detroit 24333 Southfield Road Suite 105 Southfield, Ml 48075 MINNESOTA 1515 East 66th Slreet Richfidd, MN 55423 MISSISSIPPI P.O. Box 22484 Jackson, MS 39225-2484 MISSOURI P.O. Box 105121 Jefferson City, MO 65110 MONTANA 20 E. Olive Suite 2-C Bozeman, MT 59715 NEBRASKA P.O. Box 642345 Omaha, NE 68134-8345 NEVADA/UTAH 7380 South Eastern Suite 124-154 Las Vegas, NV 89123 NEW HAMPSHIRE P.O. Box 10686 Bedford, NH 03110-0686 NEW JERSEY P.O. Box 7291 North Brunswick, NJ 08902-7291 NEW MEXICO P.O. Box 27706 Albuquerque, NM 87125 NEW YORK Eastern NY P.O. Box 3865 Albany, NY 12203 Western NY P.O. Box 532 Grand Island, NY 14072 New York City P.O. Box 960 Peck Slip Station, NY 10272-0960 NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh P.O. Box 58112 Raleigh, NC 27658 High Point P.O. Box 6279 High Point, NC 27262 NORTH DAKOTA (see Nebraska) OHIO P.O. Box 27147 Columbus, OH 43227-9998 OKLAHOMA P.O. Box 18882 Oklahoma City, OK 73154-0882 OREGON P.O. Box 2052 Salem, OR 97308 PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia P.O. Box 13048 Philadelphia, PA 19101-3048 Pittsburgh P.O. Box 10613 Pittsburgh, PA 15235 S. Williamsport P.O. Box 5071 S. Williamsport, PA 17701 RHODE ISLAND (see New Hampshire) SOUTH CAROLINA P.O. Box 4886 Columbia, SC 29240-4886 SOUTH DAKOTA (see Nebraska) TENNESSEE P.O. Box 242045 Memphis, TN 38124-2045 TEXAS Dallas/Ft. Worth P.O. Bo 360008 Dallas, TX 75336 Houston P.O. Bo 720492 Houston, TX 77272-0492 Huntsville P.O. Bo 9147 The Woodlands, TX 77387-9147 Austin P.O. Box 16075 Austin, TX 78761 UTAH (see Nevada) VERMONT (see New Hampshire) VIRGINIA Richmond P.O. Box 71355 Richmond, VA 23255 WASHINGTON P.O. Bo 2504 Woodinville, WA 98072 WEST VIRGINIA (see Virginia or Maryland) WISCONSIN P.O. Box 18646 Milwaukee, WI 53218 WYOMING (See Englewood, CO) S.C.U.D. WARNINGS ! S.C.U.D. WARNINGS ! S piritual C ounterfeits U ndermining D octrine W A R N I N G S By Jerry Johnson Rash Limburgh and the Liberal Agenda (Imagine, if you will, a pounding, rhythmic set of drums... followed by a "kick-it" bass... followed by a wailing lead guitar and then, finally, a stentorian voice booming from your radio) Welcome to the Integrity in Exhortation Network. This is Rash Limburgh representing the God who is 100% right 100% of the time and welcome to all you Amenheads out there! As you no doubt remember, yesterday we thoroughly debunked the ludicrous concept that Christianity is just another religion, but that it is, in essence and in fact, unique because it is not a system built by man to reach God, but one built by God to reach man AND it is the only system smart enough to acknowledge that we CAN'T be good enough to earn salvation, so if we are going to get salvation, it must be received it as a gift. Totally unique and distinct. (the sound of hands drumming a table) Today we sadly acknowledge that we have entered our twenty-second year of "America Down The Toilet." Yes, as hard as it is to believe, it has been that long since the Supreme Court, in it's accumulative wisdom, declared that prayer in school was harmful and abortion was beneficial. In honor of that momentous act of human audacity posing as wisdom and enlightenment, we have declared today "Get A Clue" day. Today we will be looking, in no particular order I might add, at some of the silly ideas of the liberal agenda that America has been swallowing hook, line and sinker. But first, this commercial message: (Sung to the tune of "Old MacDonald") Do you feel life's not good? Call Doc Kavorkian. Sick old parent in your way? Call Doc Kavorkian. With an I.V. here and a bullet there, Plastic bag, Demerol, anything to end it. Check out any time you like. Call Doc Kavorkian. Like to try at playing god? Call Doc Kavorkian. Decide when life's not worth it all. Call Doc Kavorkian. Choose your time and your place. He's assuring No one's gonna stop you. Life's worth nothing, that we know. Call Doc Kavorkian. Yes, folks, it doesn't take a Rhodes scholar to see that in the last 22 years respect for the sanctity of life has taken a major beating in the U.S., and why? Well, it's pretty obvious that once it is considered a need and a right for an innocent, unborn child to be killed because of the crime of being inconvenient, that killing a person because they have a pair of too expensive sneakers that you want but are unwilling to work for, or that killing former co-workers on the job because you were mad about getting fired for doing a bad job seem quite reasonable in comparison. I mean, let's get real here! Since those two infamous decisions two decades ago this is a far less safe country to be in. People are killing people for little to no reason and people are serving twenty year jail terms for stealing banks, but only seven years for killing someone. What kind of value system do you think that projects? Also, have you ever thought how odd it is that the liberals consider saving whales and spotted owls humanitarian efforts, while trying to save an unborn child, a human, by talking to someone entering an abortion clinic is repressive and a violation of human rights? Also the liberals have protested that when pro-lifers show pictures of aborted children it is deemed obscene, yet the act that produced the object of the photo is a protected right. Seems a bit strange, doesn't it? Then there is the liberal response to these conflicts. They say that these events are the effect of a too conservative environment and poor self-esteem and that all this nation needs is a larger dose of liberalism. GET A CLUE! That's like being in a sinking boat and saying we need to poke holes in the bottom to let the water out! It is the liberal "we are all gods," "it isn't your fault," "you have the right to have everything you want without earning it" mentality that has lead to the proliferation of this self serving violence and denigration of life that we see! Well, before we address yet another logical loose end of the liberal agenda we need to pause for station identification. (The voice of Darth Vader speaks) This is the Integrity in Exhortation Network. We are back with "Get a Clue" day as we take a shotgun approach to pointing out some of the logical absurdities of the modern liberal agenda. But first we do have a caller from the Land of Lincoln. What is on your mind, caller? Caller: Amens from America's heartland, Rash! Rash: And amens to you. We have a lot to cover today, what would you care to share? Caller: Rash, what really bugs me is the liberals' obsession with evolution being a "fact" and creationism being religiosity. When you consider the odds that would be required for a single mutation resulting in a more sophisticated life form, it makes the Lottery look like shooting fish in a barrel. Then you add to that the fact they expect us to believe that a string of these cosmic flukes resulted in the sophisticated biological and botanical systems that exist today is totally beyond me! Rash: Right you are caller. Not only that but the Law of Thermodynamics states that energy always flows from a more complex and concentrated form to a simpler and more diverse form. That's the Biblical concept! Everything God created was complete and whole, then as sin took place things began to deteriorate. Adam and Eve's immediate descendants lived to be in their 900's because they were genetically whole, but as sin took its toll, so did the reality of Thermodynamics and we have fallen apart to the point that most of us will only live to our 70's. GET A CLUE! Except for the advances of medicine to overcome some of the effects of the curse, man, throughout recorded history, has pretty much been the same, selfish creature he has been. And I know the liberals will cry that recorded history is only a couple of thousand years long and it takes millions of years to make these changes, but that it based on their THEORY that takes far more faith than believing God spoke everything into existence over the course of six days. Evolution is direct contradiction to both the Law of Thermodynamics as well as common sense. Consider this, you take the most brilliant, educated and erudite liberal and put a simple wooden stool in front of her/him and ask if it had been manufactured and he/she will say yes. Then put that same liberal in front of a human being with the most incredibly complex and effective system of cell structure, circulatory and purification systems, as well as an organic brain that can maintain and process millions and billions bits of information and input and that liberal will declare it a series of cosmic flukes with no designing hand involved. GET A CLUE! We now interrupt this program to bring you an item that the liberals will no doubt offer before long: IT IS TIME! In the tradition of the Unisex Bible of the Methodist Church, the "Coalition for Biblical Correctness" now offers, for the first time ever, the "Politically Correct Bible!" That's right! The Unisex Bible merely removed gender-specific phrases regarding God, but we felt that was far too little. Have you read the Bible lately? It is one of the most politically incorrect books in existence... and we have decided to update and improve it to make it more relevant to today's society. So open the "Politically Correct Bible" and read: * The story of the oppressed minority surrogate parent, Mary * Read the epistles of the Apostle, Pauline * Read the Ten Suggestions * Study the lives of the 12 disciples: Peter, James and Joan, Felipe and Bertha-Lomieux, Thomasina and Matthew the civil employee, Jane offspring of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus Mohammed, Simone the Politically Involved and Judas (who, typical of males, was unable to make and hold to a commitment) * Read the new, improved John 3:16. "For the Spiritual Entity, whatever you conceive her or him to be, so positively affirmed the world that she/he/it/I approved whatever they did, that whosoever believes in anything or nothing at all, shall not experience negative circumstances, but have on-going situational pleasure." * Read the Great Commission of Jesus to go and make everyone comfortable with whatever beliefs they already happen to hold * Read the book of Revelation where it is foretold that everyone, in every way is getting better and better FINALLY, a Bible that will make sense, a Bible that will not make you feel guilty, a Bible that will not pretend to know it all: THE POLITICALLY CORRECT BIBLE! Folks, that's just a joke, but I'll probably be getting calls from liberals asking for copies! And that brings up yet another "GET A CLUE" topic: the liberals tendency to believe that if something doesn't make immediate sense to their obviously superior minds, that it must not exist. They have a hard time believing their is a God, so he must not exist; or they have a hard time believing that a God that may exist would have any standards, so there aren't any; or if they have a hard time resisting the temptation to engage in sexual sin, all sexual activity must be amoral. And then there's my favorite liberal axiom: there are no absolutes. In fact, they are so sure that there are no absolutes, that they affirm that there are absolutely no absolutes, absolutely. What I'd like to do is take some liberals, tie them onto the front of a politically correct car so their heads are sticking out and drive them into a twelve foot thick brick wall and prove to them that, absolutely, the brick wall is stronger than their thick heads! It is the liberal teaching that there are no absolutes and that everything is relative that has lead to the violence and chaos growing in our society. After all, if you tell people they can do whatever feels right to them, and then tell them there is no true right or wrong, then they'll simply do what feels good or expedient to them. Hold on. We have a caller from New York. Yes, caller? Caller: Rash, you are the most closed minded, overbearing, egoistic, religiously fanatical bubble brain in the world! Rash: I assume this call is from a liberal? Caller: (Censored) right I am! It's repressive mentalities like yours that makes this world a terrible place! If we all could just look to the children as our future we'd all be much better off, because the children are pure of heart and are only corrupted as they interact with the repressive society you fundamentalists have built! Rash: Excuse me, but when is the last time you babysat a roomful of two year olds?! These "pure of heart" children are inherently self-serving and unsocialized. What do you think parenting is all about?! It's about taking these little beings who think about nothing but their own needs and, for years, training them to be considerate of someone else besides themselves. This is exactly the point I was trying to emphasize and this person from New York made it for me. Our society is looking more and more as if we let children growing up do whatever they want, so instead of hitting someone over the head with a stuffed animal because they took the toy you wanted, they now shoot you with an AK47 because they got fired and you didn't. GET A CLUE! Any civilization or society that has functioned has done so because of a societal allegiance to the concept of a structured and ordered rule that governs and limits the acceptable bounds of social interaction. Or to put in language a liberal can comprehend: if your game doesn't have rules, it doesn't work, nothing gets done and no one has fun. That's what really frosts me about the liberal mentality. This country did extremely well for nearly two hundred years by aligning itself to Biblically based concepts. Granted, anytime we got too caught up in ourselves we pulled some aggressive or indiscreet acts. But what we have now is not a rebellion against the concept of authority and structure, but a denial it exists. In the 60's and 70's there was a huge backlash against "the system" and "the man," but at least it was acknowledged that there were authority figures and structure. What we have now is an increasing tendency for people to believe that they are the ultimate authority and, thereby, anything they want to do is valid. If they do not want to acknowledge authority, they simply choose to ignore it. We have more and more serial and mass murderers, people who have no concept of the value or worth of anyone's needs but their own. The L.A. riots after the Rodney King verdict were a classic example. People, many of whom had very nice cars and clothes, were being interviewed as they left stores with stolen items and many of them said they "deserved" the items because of societal injustice and the wide profit margins of the stores. Right. As if the stores and the insurance companies didn't have to end up charging more in the long run because of their losses. So, as we approach the end of this show, but no where near the end of the myriad of GET A CLUE topics the liberals have provided us with, I must again advise the liberals who are enjoying themselves so much right now, GET A CLUE! There is so much more in this world than your, or our, puny minds can conceive. Please take off your rose colored liberal glasses and truly look at the effects that your teachings have caused. Our God is an awesome God and you liberals haven't got a clue. This is Rash Limburgh and the Integrity in Exhortation Network, signing off. Next time: Gullible's Travels Commentary Commentary CHRISTIANS ARE OUR ONLY HOPE! By Jeff Park In the early 1600's, Christians in the state of Pennsylvania (Quaker sect) created a system of restraint where offending members of society were placed in a jail-like setting where they were to be still and reflect on their errors - to do penitence and then helped back to godly living. These became known as penitentiaries and formed the foundation of America's prison system. How far we have strayed, however, from the purposes of those early beginnings. For much of this century, prisoners in America have been under the leadership of secular humanists. Their espoused philosophy is to create a peaceful, protected society by isolating offenders and hiring professionals to "rehabilitate" them before their being allowed to return to society. This philosophy has only produced failure. Though our prisons cost taxpayers more than 20 billion dollars yearly, three out of four men sent to prison return within 3 years and most become a lifetime burden to society. Our prisons offer essentially no practical rehabilitation while costing nearly twice as much to keep a man in prison as it would to send him to Harvard University to be educated. Former director of all federal prisons, Norman Carlson, acknowledged while in office that "our prisons don't rehabilitate anyone. All rehabilitation must start in the heart." It is not that politicians and prison officials don't care - crime and prisons are at or near the top of every campaign and government budget. It is just that they don't have the answer. Two principal things prohibit their success. First, current civil liberties prevent prison from being a sufficient deterrent to crime. Secondly, most men coming out of prison (or going in) don't know how to live correctly within the law even if they want to. To elaborate, the threat of being arrested and sent to prison is not significant to many of our poor, urban community. Surely they are better fed and housed in prison than on the street and they often feel more a part of prison society than outside. This is not to advocate being inhumane to prisoners, but it points out that for many; "going to prison" is not like "getting burned by the hot stove". Secondly, for some, prison is an effective punishment and they want desperately to change and get their lives together. Prison offers little to help but rather detracts. Prison philosophy punishes by sending the prisoner as far away from home as possible. This, in effect, destroys both the negative and positive community relationships (like marriage and family). Usually the only relationships a prisoner leaves prison with are those he developed while inside. Besides, prison is an "artificial environment." Adjusting to prison life (giving up responsibility, etc.) is counterproductive for any kind of life outside other than welfare rolls. Happily, many penal system officials are awakening to their dilemma. Judges in my community have told me that they will release any first time offender (man or woman not yet sent to prison) who is not a significant or violent threat to society to any program I recommend. That's because they know a prison sentence will usually hurt, not help. Similarly, in recent years prisons have done an about face regarding religion. In the seventies, many prison systems threatened to replace chaplains with "religious coordinators" or psychologists and counselors to secularize the prison. That idea was a failure and is history. Interestingly, in a society that prohibits prayer and the Bible in schools, it is now more than welcomed in it's prisons. Today's trend in prisons (and rightly so) is to encourage as much community involvement as possible. The church is welcomed and encouraged to participate. Positive community teaching and relationships are encouraged before an inmate is released. All this presents a great opportunity for the Church in the 1990's. Jesus gave the simple solution to the prison problem: "I was in prison and you visited me" (Matt. 25:36). The Church, with its biblical Gospel alone, can present a change of heart to inmates. While society tries to punish inmates into submission, the Christians know that "it's the goodness of God that leads us to repentance." Even a secular research study (John Gartner of Baltimore) concludes that recidivism is cut down among inmates who come to Christ to only 40%. For women inmates, those becoming Christians had a recidivism rate of only 19%. These were findings that those of us involved in prison ministry already knew but the world is only now acknowledging. The Church of Jesus Christ must, however, respond to this acknowledgement and respond to opportunities to present the "Answer". Too long, the Church has been apathetic and content to let the worldly government stumble along running the prisons. The Church must not only go to prisons but must go with it's best talents and resources, not with it's rookies and leftovers. We must learn and use prayerful, intelligent strategies. We must be willing to invest money, time and people to teach and disciple - to build relationships and to care enough to build bridges from our prisons to local churches. Church, we have the "ANSWER". It is needed and welcome. Will we go? Will we give? Jeff Park is the Executive Director of C.O.P.E., Coalition of Prison Evangelists, a world wide affiliation of prison ministers dedicated to winning the world's inmate population to Jesus. Features Countdown to Paradise Countdown to Paradise COUNTDOWN TO PARADISE By Bob McAlister On South Carolina's death row, two men were facing their final goodbyes. Ronald (Rusty) Woomer was sentenced to die. Prison Fellowship volunteer Bob McAlister was visiting him. Bob was torn between two loyalties loyalty to this man he'd adopted as a son, and loyalty to his boss, the governor, the man who could pardon Rusty from execution. Bob McAlister, deputy chief of staff for the governor of South Carolina, tells the story of Rusty's last days. The condemned man sat on the edge of a bed, his freshly shaven head and right leg glistening with a thin coat of conducting gel to aid the transmission of 2,000 volts of electricity through his body. "Paps," he told me, "the only thing I ever wanted was a home. Now I'm about to get one." Less than an hour later on April 27, 1990, Ronald Rusty Woomer, 35 years old, killer of four innocent people in one of South Carolina's most notorious murder sprees, died in this state's electric chair. When I first met Rusty in October 1985, I had been a Christian for just over a year and had been visiting death row as a volunteer for Prison Fellowship for just under a year. Late one evening, as I looked into the last cell, I saw Rusty, his face the color of chalk, sitting on the floor motionless. Dozens of roaches covered the walls and floor. But what froze my soul were the roaches crawling on the man, his lap, his shoulders, and such was his despair that he did not flick them off. I sat down on the floor and tried to talk to him. He could not talk back. He just stared. In vain I tried to rouse a response. "Rusty, just say the word Jesus," I finally pleaded. With much effort, he pursed his lips together and whispered, "Jesus." "Just look at you," I gently chided. "Your cell is filthy and so are you. The roaches have taken over and you're spiritually a dead man, son. Jesus can give you something better." Through tears, Rusty prayed for forgiveness. I went back to see him the following Monday. I walked up to his cell. It was spotless. Gone were the dirt and roaches and porno magazines. The walls were scrubbed, the bed was made, and the scent of disinfectant hung in the air. "Bob, how do you like it?" exclaimed a smiling, energized Rusty. "I spent all weekend cleaning out my cell 'cause I figured that's what Jesus wanted me to do." Rusty and I became brothers in Christ. He loved to sit and listen as I read the Bible. During these quiet times of Bible reading, talking, and praying over four-and-a-half years, I hope I taught Rusty something about living. He taught me how to die. As his appeals were turned down and his execution became a certainty, Rusty developed a simple vision of the hereafter: "When I get to heaven, Jesus and my mama are gonna be waitin' for me," he would say in his thick West Virginia drawl." And my mama and me are gonna go fishin." Going fishin' with Mama was Rusty's picture of heaven, and I later learned why. According to court documents, Rusty's childhood was one of poverty and abuse. He lived under bridges and in restrooms in his teen years. Income from Woomer's father was first spent on alcohol, followed by food for hunting dogs and then food for the children. But Rusty never used childhood poverty and abuse as an excuse for his murderous rampage. Despite the certainty of God's forgiveness, Rusty was haunted by his crime, tormented by the hurt and suffering he caused. "If my death will bring peace to the people I've hurt so bad, then it's time for me to die," he said of the victims' families just hours before his death. The summer before, he'd received a letter from Lee Hewitt, a brother of the woman for whose murder Rusty was to be executed. It was a letter of forgiveness. Lee described his life of sin and how the Lord had entered his life after his sister's murder. "The Bible says Jesus won't forgive us unless we forgive others," Lee later said. Twelve days before Rusty's execution, I took Lee to meet Rusty for the first and only time. With tears in his eyes Rusty said, "What you have done made God's word complete for me." Rusty spent the last three days of his life stripped of his possessions, confined to a clinically clean cell about 30 paces from the electric chair. Here in the deathhouse he was under around-the-clock surveillance by guards. A nurse routinely stopped to make sure his vital signs were good, the ultimate irony. It was 3:58 P.M. Thursday, nine hours before Rusty was to die. His father, two sisters, and brother had been with him all day. Now it was time for final farewells. As his sisters and brother sobbed and his father stood stone-faced, Rusty gathered them together. "I wish ya'll would stop living so far apart," he told them. "And I wish ya'll would fight less and hug more." When Rusty's family left, he and I were alone. It was 7:21 P.M. Rusty was emotionally exhausted from a day of final good-byes. I lay on his bed and he sat in a chair as the last ray of daylight he would ever see faded through the window. We kept silent for about 20 minutes. Then he said, "Ya know, Paps, I feel real happy. I just want to go on home now. I don't want to stay here; things are just too bad down here. I just feel real peaceful, and I know Mama's waitin' on me up there." At 11:45 PM I accompanied Rusty to the preparation room. I sat at his feet as a Department of Corrections barber, surrounded by a dozen officials, began the grotesque process of shaving his head and right leg. "Paps," he said, "read me the Bible one last time." I opened to Revelation 21, the description of the new heaven and earth. As the electric razor hummed, I read, "... and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain..." A clump of Rusty's hair fell on my lap; another clump fell on my Bible. I looked up, and saw that, with a half-shaven head, Rusty was smiling a peaceful smile. At 12:55 A.M. they came to get Rusty. After reading him the death warrant, Warden George Martin asked, "Rusty are you ready?" "Let's go," he replied. Rusty was strapped into the chair, a leather strap over his right leg and a leather helmet attached to his head. I heard his last words: "I'm sorry. I claim Jesus Christ as my Savior. My only wish is that everyone in the world could feel the love I have felt from Him." Rusty's body died at 1:05 A.M. But I am convinced that he and his mama are fishin' in heavenly streams. From INSIDE JOURNAL A publication of PRISON FELLOWSHIP A Look at Death Row A Look at Death Row A LOOK AT DEATH ROW By Joe Fauss International Director, Calvary Commission Gatesville, Texas THE HOME OF THE WOMEN PRISONERS IN TEXAS There are 4 women on death row in Texas. They are scheduled to be executed. Their cases are in the courts. The chaplain led 5 of us to the death row section of the Mountain View Unit. As soon as the door was opened, we were greeted by four smiling ladies. We were able to be with them in a day room area and sit with them on wooden benches. In another secured area, there was a sewing room where the inmates make dolls. We knew we were among Christian sisters. They began to share testimonies of what God had done for them the past week. We quickly bonded together in Christian love. They were sisters to us, Carla, Betty, Pam, and Fran. They have renamed it "Life Row". They said to us, "We have something planned for you." They stood up and turned on a tape in the "boom box" that the chaplain had brought in. Talking about a cell group - Wow! We were two or three gathered in the name of Jesus and He was truly in our midst. The first song was "Lord Make Me A Dwelling Place". They had learned sign language and they signed as they sang. I remember one of the lyrics that said, "We're Lifting Holy Hands." Oh, the power of the Blood of Jesus - to turn evil hands into holy hands. One lady told us she arrived on death row a very violent person. She said, "God has truly changed my life." These ladies facing death have discovered the life in the Word. They shared scriptural passages that they have learned to live by. "Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear... What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice, yes, and I will rejoice. For I know that this shall turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I shall not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ shall even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Philippians 1:12-14, 18-21)." They sang again for us, "We Are Standing On Holy Ground" and "Know That There Are Angels All Around." I've been working in prisons for almost 19 years, but it surely did not seem like death row, for the Life of Jesus was flowing through that place. We shared with them the goodness of God. They sang one more song for us, "Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine... Oh for a Foretaste of Glory Divine... Perfect Submission... All Is At Rest. Please pray. It is serious for all of them. The next few days are very critical for Carla. Pray for us as we continue to reach out in hope. Thank you for standing with us. A LOOK AT LIFE AFTER PRISON Hope Christian Fellowship Graduation Tyler, Texas "HELP THEM WHEN THEY GET OUT" That is the word the Lord gave us about 19 years ago. We have started the new year with a graduation of our students who have made a great start into a new life. I want to share with you a portion of the evening events. These men have found life after prison. Andy Bednarek, Basic Christian Training School Director said, "I saw a sign the other day that said, 'Born To Lose'. I thought, Well, because of sin that is true, but we're 'Born Again To Win.'" HEAVY - "I'm living proof that you don't have to stay a loser. After 20 years of drug addiction, I didn't put it down. God took it away. This place and you people have made Jesus real to me." VERNON - "After 12 years in prison, I had no family. Now, I do. I don't have to walk in darkness no more. I've go to go out and feed God's children. I've got to go out in the darkness again, but this time, I got light to take with me." ELVIN - "I just want to thank God" (He began to cry and went back to his seat. He had said it all. Although he had not been to prison, his cocaine use had destroyed his career and put him into a prison of fear and mental bondage). GARY - "I've got something to say. Just let me know when I've said too much. I am so glad that the Lord entered my heart with thankfulness. I want to get more learning and also work on my G.E.D. I was once dead, but now, I'm alive in Christ Jesus. I thank Calvary Commission for their help." As the service ended and the festivities began, I thought of the lyrics of our theme song that says: "God you are my God and I will ever praise You. I will seek You in the morning, And I will learn to walk in Your ways, And step by step You'll will lead me, And I will follow You all of my days." Thank you for your interest, prayers, and help. This is our first communication to you this year. I hope we have inspired you and blessed your day. Your hands are part of our hands as we reach out and touch these precious souls. We would love to hear from you. With great hope, Joe Fauss, Carla, Betty, Pam, and Fran They have renamed it "LifeRow." The Prisoner The Prisoner THE PRISONER By Charles W. Colson The prisoner said nothing as people shouted charges against him. He had been roughly pushed from cell to cell and questioned through-out the long night. His body hurt, but he stood straight before his accusers. He knew what it was to be alone. Many people hated him. One of his closest friends had become a snitch and turned him in. Then the long night of abuse. Now he stood before the governor, the man who could set him free with one stroke of his pen. The governor tapped his fingers on his desk as he spoke to the man's accusers: "Why are you pressing charges against this man? He doesn't belong in my courtroom. Try him yourselves!" "We don't have the authority," they said. "You judge him." The governor sighed. He could see that the man was innocent. But the prisoner did have an odd way of speaking when he spoke. For the most part, he kept silent, and the governor was not comfortable with silence. The prisoner's trial had now become public. A restless crowd lined the fences of the governor's mansion. The governor, always aware of his public image, tuned in to the crowd's mood. He offered the prisoner a chance to plea-bargain, but the man would not lie in order to save himself. He looked steadily at the governor. "I was born, and now live, to bear witness to the truth," he said. The words sounded strange in that room of deals and copping pleas. The governor shook his head. "Truth," he said tiredly. "What is truth?" He turned to the angry crowd pressing against the gates. "Make your deals!" they cried. "Release another prisoner, but not this man! Execute him!" They screamed until their voices gave out. They were like a pack of dogs barking for fresh blood. The governor shrugged. The mob grew quiet as he stood to speak. "I personally find this man not guilty," he said. "He has committed no crime, and certainly doesn't deserve the death penalty. But he's your business, not mine. By the power vested in me, I sentence him to death today. "The air was still for a moment, then filled with cheers. The governor's public image was safe. The guards sprang forward and tightened the bonds of the condemned man. Then they led him from the governor's palace to a cold cell on death row. They ripped off his clothes and strip-searched him, and beat him with nail-studded whips until his back was a mass of bloody flesh. Then they forced him to the place of execution, a hilltop outside of town at a well-traveled crossroads. They laid Jesus, the prisoner, on a rough wooden cross. Blood flowed from his hands and feet as the guards pounded spikes through them into the hard wood. To the jeers of the onlookers, the cross was lifted into the air. It stood dark and ugly against the morning sky. People for miles around saw him suffer. They were old hands at such execution. They knew what would follow: he would hang there for hours, slowly dying as the blood drained from his body. It was terrible pain, but proper punishment for one who claimed he was God. Two convicted thieves hung on crosses on either side of him, also in pain. One angrily cursed Jesus: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" The other criminal understood what the first did not and rebuked him: "Don't you fear God? We were condemned fairly we are guilty. But this man has done nothing wrong." Even though he was in pain, his mind was clear. He believed that this man hanging next to him could forgive his sins. "Jesus," he cried out, "remember me when you come into your kingdom!" Jesus turned toward him, "Today you will be with me in Paradise." The blood continued to flow from Christ's ragged wounds, his breathing grew labored, then shallow, then stopped. After hours of agony, the ordeal was over he was dead. That horrible execution took place 2000 years ago. But the execution was not the end. That same prisoner, condemned and killed for claiming he was God, proved his claims were true. Three days later, fulfilling the Bible's prophecy, he rose from the dead. He walked and talked with his disciples again. More than 500 eyewitnesses saw him alive during a 40-day period. Then He returned to Heaven, where He rules today with God the Father. Yes, Jesus Christ, the innocent prisoner, lives today. That fact gives hope and meaning to every person who has ever been accused and condemned, whether justly or unjustly. We have all done wrong; we have all fallen short of what God wants for us. What does he want? A personal relationship with each of us. He wants to know us and he wants us to know him. And nothing we or others have done can prevent Him from knowing us. If you are a prisoner, this man Jesus knows what you are and are going through. Millions of comfortable, respectable people don't what it is like to be cut off from the world, to hurt inside, to suffer the pain of prison. But Jesus does. Jesus has been where you are today. Do you think that Christ can be found only in beautiful churches? History shows that he walked on dusty roads; he laughed with friends; he knew pain and sorrow. He wasn't a member of the high society. He owned nothing. He was born in a borrowed manger, rode a borrowed donkey, was buried in a borrowed tomb. Most of his friends were losers, prostitutes, loudmouths, poor fishermen, and criminals. He touched the eyes of blind men and they saw; he spoke to the crippled and they threw away their crutches. He lived among the poor and comforted the oppressed. He saw through the political games and phony lives of the religious people of his day. In the end, these so-called religious people did him in because he cared for the poor, the downtrodden, the prisoners, and they didn't. He exposed them as fakes. They did not want to see the ugly sores in society. They did not want to hear the heart breaking cries of the hurting. They did not want to face the rejects and outcasts. They killed him because he wouldn't let them claim to love God and forget human need. But Jesus' love was real. His love was tough enough to give everything. He died as a prisoner in order to overcome death for the rest of us. He became like us so that we could become like him, righteous before God. You can be like that first thief next to Jesus complaining angrily to God, mocking Jesus. Or you can be like the second thief. You can recognize Jesus for who he is, the holy Son of God. You can admit that you are sinful and guilty, and ask him to be your Savior. Think about it when you are alone tonight, maybe in your cell or walking across the prison yard. If you're like the second thief, then Jesus makes the same promise to you that he did to him. You can be with him right now. That prisoner Jesus will be in your cell with his hand on you. He will make you God's own son or daughter. At that moment, a new life begins for you. This is the Gospel. It seems like a failure; it is the opposite of what the rich and powerful expect. Yet over the last 2000 years, millions from every nation and walk of life, from prison cells to the White House, have recognized that Jesus Christ is God. Jesus the prisoner lives today. Only He can set the rest of us prisoners free. A Letter from a Prison Guard A Letter from a Prison Guard A LETTER FROM A PRISON GUARD Gary S. Hilburn CO1 St. Clair Correctional Facility Springville, Alabama As I write you, I sit in a tower watching and waiting above one of the largest prisons in the state of Alabama. I felt a need to write a letter to tell parents and young adults some of the things that I do and see every day in my chosen profession, as a Correctional Officer. I see many sorrows, few smiles and less joy. The sorrows come by many things; one person may have missed an approved visit that he may have worked hard to get. The reason may have been that the inmate broke a rule and the visit was denied or postponed as punishment, or "his people" didn't come for some reason - or no reason at all. Many sorrows come by a death in a family or perhaps an illness, and often the inmate cannot get in touch with any one to find out what has happened, or what is being done about the situation. I have heard an inmate not much older than myself, preparing funeral arrangements for one of his parents, from prison. A funeral that he would not attend. I caught myself trying to grasp how he must have felt, and could not imagine the pain nor the sorrow. Many times the only thing that they can do is to sit and wait, for hours, sometimes days. I have watched grown men break down and cry from frustration over things that you and I don't ever stop to think about, such as a busy signal over a telephone. Many of us consider no mail a blessing sometimes; however many inmates consider "junk mail" a blessing because it was sent to them alone. Many receive no mail at all. Some inmates don't know where their family is, or how to contact them - sons, daughters, wives or grandchildren. No one. Some people will carry a sorrow to their grave, because they will never see the "other side of the fence" as long as they live. Some make the best of the situation. Can you pause for moment to think what it would be like to never watch T.V. alone again, or be able to watch what you wanted to, or never to go fishing or hunting, or to hear the sound of the fall leaves rustle under you feet as you walk through the woods with your girl or your wife? If that doesn't shake you, then how about never being able to hold your husband or wife when ever you wanted to, to pull them close to tell them that you love them never being able to share their company alone again, or make love again, as long as you both shall live. You won't be able to enjoy your children as you should, or be able to watch them grow up, to watch him play football, to watch her go out on her first date, and to wait up until she is safely home. You won't be able to watch your grandchildren grow up, after your children get married, at the wedding that you missed, because you were sitting in prison serving a sentence of "life with out parole" or on "death row" - where some people fear, some people pray for their time to come - for the execution of their sentence. Many of us work in a noisy environment, we will stand the pressures and the stresses of the day, to race home for the comfort of our home and see our wife and children, waiting with open arms to greet us when we arrive. Imagine living in a environment where the noise seldom stops and the frustrations always run high and you have very little, if any, choice in what you eat, wear, do, or go. You do the same thing day in and day out, day after day, year after year, with little change. There is no one to turn to, no one to lean on, in a place where friends are nearly non-existent and close relationships are even more rare. Debts can cost you all you have to your name, they can cost you your body, even your life. My fellow officers and I come to work each day and see the toll it takes on a man to be placed behind a fence and bars, to be stripped of the most private and personal acts of being a human being, such as openly caring for someone, or to cry in front of other people, because it may be taken for a weakness. You and I take our freedom for granted. I promise you that an inmate will treasure the moments that they get to spend on an eight hour pass with their wife and children. That is the very few inmates that are allowed to take advantage of this privilege. Many inmates have only a letter or a post card to hold on to keep them going. I have sat for hours and talked with men about their problems - their wife has left them with sole custody of the children or their parole officer is delaying a parole over a simple matter such as paper work, or a medical examination. Or the officer "didn't get to it" because he was on two weeks vacation. I have sat and looked at pictures of families, a wife, children and pets and many other things. I have heard stories and tales about the people in the pictures and have felt compassion for both of them. I Have even cried and prayed for these men when I was alone, by myself. I have often wondered if I had the right to shoot some one that would attempt to escape. Within my reach I have a 12 gauge shot gun loaded with .00 buckshot. If the need were to arise that I should have to use it, it would certainly maim or kill. I have found an answer. It is in my Bible. It tells me that I am to obey all authority: the state of Alabama is my authority. It tells my that I am to stop an inmate if he attempts to escape, to use the force necessary to accomplish this, which includes deadly force. If it weren't for God's approval the government wouldn't exist. My job is hard. I must see the sorrows and the fears of these men and have compassion as a Christian. As an officer, I must at times do things which seem to show little or no mercy. Parents and young adults, please listen to what I have to tell you. Teach your children well, to do what is right, teach them how to tell the difference between right and wrong. Teach them that it is never too late to come back to a living Savior, but most of all teach them how to serve him day to day. Because if you don't, I have told you some of the things that I see and witness each day. I will leave you with this Bible verse; "Train up a child in the way that he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22:7) Yours truly, Gary S. Hilburn Dear reader, I have worked in jails and prisons since 1983, law enforcement since 1979. I am now a Federal Officer at the Federal Correctional Institution at Talladega, Alabama. I have been through two riots and have seen murders, homosexual rapes, assaults and many other things that I do not care to describe to you. People it is important to tell the generation that follows us that prison is not the place where they can go to escape and become a well rounded individual, it is a place where people go when they can not function with other people. Jesus is the one that wrote the book on personal relationships. Young people are taught to look up to inmates through things such as movies. In the movies prison is glamorized, one can see inmates portrayed as being macho, almost hero like, they murder, commit crimes and the result of his actions is a happy ending to the movie. It does not show the family of the inmate that was murdered. In many prisons the inmates that die in the prison are buried on the prison grounds, because no one can be found to claim the body. The chaplain and the officers conduct the funeral, a handful of the officers that knew the inmate. In the movies the officers or the prison staff are portrayed as being evil, crooked or stupid. I can tell you from personal experience that a lot of inmates have only the prison staff to lean on, and keep them in touch with the world out side the prison fences. Did you also know that a majority of the prison staff of this country hold a college degree in many fields of knowledge? Such as police sciences to medicine. If you have never visited a jail or prison I would like for you to try it sometime. People talk about how our prisons have turned into country clubs and complain how their taxes are being wasted. Contact a jail or prison in your area ask if you may visit, some have an open house from time to time. I promise your opinion will take a dramatic change when the door slams shut behind you. Remember that our Lord was a prisoner at one time awaiting his own death, he instructed us to visit those that are incarcerated, the rewards can be great. I do not mean to sound as if I am against punishment, I am not. I believe that there is a price to be paid for a crime. The inmates are sent to prison as punishment, my purpose is assure the safety of the people that I work with and the inmates under my supervision. If your church does not have a ministry for those in jail or prisons, it would be worth while. I myself was brought to the Lord while working in a county jail, listening to a jail ministry that was visiting before church one Sunday morning. I pray that the Lord will keep you and yours safe. Please pray for those men and women incarcerated in our jails and prisons, as well as for the officers and staff that have chose to work in them. May God bless you until we meet face to face. The Future Is In Your Hands The Future Is In Your Hands THE FUTURE IS IN YOUR HANDS By Frank Matowitz London, Ohio Many times during my incarceration I've heard prisoners complain that there is no organization that provides pre-arranged jobs, housing, clothing, transportation and other necessities for released prisoners. They apparently think someone else should provide these things and that all of this is owed to them. That attitude of dependence was partly responsible for my committing the crime for which I am incarcerated. As a teenager I envisioned myself wealthy and wanting for nothing. I worked several manual-labor jobs biding time, just waiting for the "magic opportunity" that would set me on easy street for the rest of my life. As I reached my mid-twenties I became impatient, so I chose to do whatever it took to become wealthy. I made the choice; no one forced me to do it. I alone am responsible. When my incarceration began I reflected on my life, as so many of us do. I quickly realized that I would never be the recipient of any "magic opportunity." I had to take responsibility for my past, present and future. I used all of the resources available tome and took advantage of the education provided. I set a new direction for my life with specific goals. If we leave the system with the same level of education or the same skills, how can we expect anything to be different? It would then be even more difficult to reach our full potential with this strike against us. We need to find every resource available to us and use it to the fullest. Don't waste your time "kick'n' it with the boyz" or playing cards. It is the weak and immature who want someone else to do the work for them, just as their mothers took care of them. No organization, Christian or otherwise, is responsible for supplying us with anything, and nothing is owed to any of us. The best advice I can offer is something I learned upon entering the system: "Hope for the best and expect the worst." By preparing for the worst you will not suffer disappointment. Yet you are not living a defeatist life because you keep hope in your heart. For all the people and places that give us leads and what help they can - thank you and please continue your efforts. This is valuable, time saving information and does do quite a bit of good. Do not let the lazy, unmotivated persons who complain discourage you. Whether you are inside or outside, do not let others determine your standing with Christ. The first thing they will attack, when you do not respond the way they want, is to tell you that you are not being a Christian. Do not let anyone rob you of your joy. YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE If you'd like to have the sense of purpose author Matowitz describes, and if you are ready to make this simple but crucial step of becoming a believer in Christ: - CONFESS YOUR NEED. Use simple language. Say something like, "God, I know I'm a sinner. I want to make a permanent change in my life." Look up Romans 3:23 and 1 John 1:9 in your Bible. - ACCEPT JESUS. "Jesus, I accept the free gift of Your salvation and all the benefits that come with it. Please come into my life and change it," is a good way to say it. Read John 3:16 in your Bible. - DETERMINE TO GROW. Begin to read your Bible daily - perhaps starting with the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament. Join a Bible study. Talk with your chaplain. Read some Christian literature. Begin doing what is right. Act on the knowledge that Jesus is in your life, rather than on your feelings. - TELL SOMEONE. Tell another believer. Write a letter home. Tell your chaplain. Tell "Inside Journal." We care, and we will help you get started on your new Christian life. Welcome to God's forever family! From INSIDE JOURNAL A publication of PRISON FELLOWSHIP The Best Volunteers The Best Volunteers THE BEST VOLUNTEERS By Lennie Spitale Burlington, Massachusetts Prison is an opportune place to minister in the Name of Jesus Christ. It is a place where men and women have come to the end of their own righteousness and their own means. God draws close to the humble; and prison is a humble estate. Ecclesiastes 7:2 says that, "It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the end of every man and the living should take this to heart". Prison is a place where a man or woman can slow down long enough to take a hard, long look at the way their life is going. The awareness that they are on a self-destructive course is heightened and they have time to think about it. They are broken-hearted and away from their loved ones. They are "harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." They need someone to point them to the Great Shepherd. They are often open to that visit. Enter the prison ministry volunteer. The dear Christian who has followed the Lord's leading to visit Jesus in prison. He or she has a message to bring. A message of comfort; a message of forgiveness and hope to those who will hear it. Some are better at bringing this message than others. Some just have a way about them. A presence that allows the hurting one to know that true comfort, true understanding, may be found here. What makes the difference? Is it just personality? As Coordinator of Prison Ministries for the Evangelistic Association of New England, I feel somewhat able to speak to this subject since my work involves training and equipping Christians to do prison ministry. I began as a volunteer at a local jail myself, 17 years ago, and have been full-time in the work since 1979. Perhaps the biggest barrier to effective prison ministry, or any ministry for that matter, is not being in touch with our own hearts. Inmates particularly have an innate way of sensing who is speaking down at them, many times even when the speaker himself is unaware of it. Prison ministry will challenge the heart of anyone who is serious about ministering behind those walls. It will definitely challenge our hidden attitudes. Unconscious though it may be, I have felt over the years that some Christians probably do feel that they are better than "those people" in jail. They reveal their prejudices in little comments that they make. How can we guard against such feelings? The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector is a good place to begin because it puts its finger on the heart of the subtlety. (Luke 18:9-14) We are all familiar with the story. The Pharisee gets up in the temple and prays "about himself." He declares, "God, I thank you that I am not like other men - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector." He could just as easily have said, "God, I thank you that I'm not like those in prison." And yet we know it was the other man, the one who knew he was a sinner, (and had been humbled by that awareness), that went away justified in God's sight. My own heart is so deceptive that I can read that passage and am sure that I am not in the Pharisees shoes. But if I were to take the time to examine my heart further on the issue, I think that I would discover that I don't place myself entirely into the tax collector's shoes either! I think I probably place myself somewhere in between. Oh, I was probably in his shoes when I first became a Christian, but now I'm much better. But here is where the enemy is extra subtle. I believe that I'm better, but better than what? Better in what way? Better than I was? Or better than the tax collector? My heart needs to be challenged at just this point. And when it discovers the truth it needs to let the Holy Spirit pursue it further and ask why there is any "better" in my thinking at all! I must come back to the cross. I must realize afresh that the abominations of my own actions rightly deserve the eternal death penalty, were it not for a God Who loved me and had mercy upon me, and gave me the grace to believe that He had crushed His own Son to free me from that end. Would you like to know who make the most effective volunteers in prison ministry? It is those dear tax collectors who have been humbled by the awareness of their own past sins. And would you like to know who among those dear people continue to be effective over the long haul? Those who are still aware of their current sinfulness - and mourn over it. God has promised comfort to those who mourn; and the comfort will ever be the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The awareness of sin brings humility; and humility plows the ground for grace. The apostle Peter says a curious thing in 2Peter 1:9. After giving a list of things that will cause one to be an effective and productive Christian in verses 5 to 8, he goes on to say that the thing that will keep one from this effective ministry will be that the person will "forget that he has been cleansed from his past sins." The awareness of sin brings a humbling; and humility puts us into the position God loves to visit. He resists the proud but draws close to the broken-hearted and the humble. That's why He draws close to prisoners. That's why prisoners can sense His presence more clearly in the life of a truly humble volunteer. They can see the effects of His grace more clearly, and more powerfully. I am not saying that one should be in a continual state of being downcast over their sins, for that would deny the true joy of grace; but my caution is for those who minister to hurting people without the humility that produces that true joy. The great Puritan writer, Christopher Love, once taught that when a soul is troubled over its own sins the purpose for it is twofold. One is to have us hate the sin and the other is "to provoke a soul to look out after Jesus Christ." When we are aware of our own sinfulness we abandon our own righteousness and look for the only clothing that will cover us effectively, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. When I was in prison, no one told me about Jesus, at least not that I remember. But I know that I wouldn't have listened to someone who gave me the feeling they were better than me. I wouldn't have been able to find Christ in the mannequin-like countenance of someone else's righteousness; but I might've been able to see Him in the face of a broken doll He had fixed. Lennie Spitale is Coordinator of Prison Ministries for the Evangelistic Association of New England, which is located at 279 Cambridge St., Burlington, Ma. 01803. Their work covers the six New England states and is responsible for assisting hundreds of volunteers from local churches all over the region find ministry in more than 120 jails and prisons in the area. Lennie, an ex-prisoner himself, has been in prison ministry since 1977. Freedom of Choice Freedom of Choice FREEDOM OF CHOICE By Jeannine Robinson Mississauga, Ontario, Canada "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12 NIV) Freedom is light. Have you ever wondered what it's like to be in darkness? If you have ever lost your freedom, you will probably have a very good idea how Adam and Eve felt when God banished them from Eden with terms and conditions to live out the rest of their lives. All that because of a temptation - a fleeting fancy to go against the grain! Freedom is a privilege we all have from birth but we sometimes learn to abuse it, take advantage of it. Freedom is so precious that God, in the beginning, gave freedom of choice, otherwise, he my as well have created Adam and Eve robots. But, even though Adam and Eve were a disappointment to God, He did not stop loving them. He only made some rules by which they had to live and thus he gave them a second chance. He could have simply blown them away and started over. But you see, God loves us, so much that he sent his only son, Jesus, to come and take the rap for all of mankind. That was God's way of giving us a second chance. But folks haven't changed much since Adam and Eve. They didn't even change after the flood! And after everything Jesus suffered, still, people rebel, take freedom for granted, idolize things that give them more things. Jail is punishment and not always a just and/or civil punishment either. It becomes a stigma for the rest of the convict's life because it leaves a bad taste in the mouth of society. Society may be willing to offer them a job but not willing to offer forgiveness. God forgives everything. It's important to an inmate's rehabilitation that somebody cares for them and somebody is willing to forgive them. It means the difference between a further offense and a brand new life, and WE, as individuals, as caring Christians can an MUST make that happen. Before the penal system (which can pass as merely a social placebo) can have any remedial effect on these broken people, a spiritual foundation to reach their souls must be built. Programs are always concerned about healing or changing the mind or body of the prisoner, but these same programs seen to bypass the healing of the SOUL, and if you can't reach the soul, you'll never reach the mind. It's our duty as Christians to see that the broken people and the lost sheep are led to the one and only healer - Jesus Christ. He is the ONLY one who can help us all. Years ago when I was gathering research material about the benefits of pet-oriented psychotherapy, I had the privilege of speaking with and relating to the authorities connected to the Ohio State Prison for the Criminally Insane, as it was called then. During the research, I found that these men, who could and had committed horrendous crimes, were also capable of an unconditional love beyond imagination. Their care and concern for the small animals they loved (yes, loved), was profound. Some of the inmates for example sacrificed weeks of privileges or items like cigarettes or chocolates or other pleasurable things in order to buy food or medication for their little furry friends. Prison is punishment for a crime against man - a sin against God. Punishment is useless unless it teaches us something. What can an inmate learn from an institution that breeds more violence and hate. The system doesn't work. Jesus works! His Word is medicine. His word is a choice these men and women are given, contrary to their restricted lives in prison. Nobody can take Jesus from them. Nobody can shut Jesus out of the life of an inmate no matter how deplorable his/her environment or crime. Jesus is a second chance to get right. Jesus means it's NOT OVER. But, He has to enter their lives, often through us because it's our job to spread the Word to those in need - to all the lost sheep. "As Christians," says Marilyn Brown Oden (ADVENT, A calendar of Devotions, 1993, Abingdon Press), "we are the embers, fueled by the Flame. We glow with the light of God's love and are sent to bear witness, to dance that love into the world". Convicts have generally lost faith in people. People have lost their credibility, perhaps even more so in the present, often corrupt, penal systems. Maybe that's why the Ohio program worked because an animal gives unconditional love. It's love never changes. God's love is like that. He's the same today as He was yesterday as He will be tomorrow. We can put our entire trust in the Lord. With Jesus, we're never alone. With Jesus, an inmate will grow spiritually, become a new person, learn to love, not hate. We must help them Jesus said: "Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me." (Acts 24: 16-18 NIV) Even if the prison system fails them, even if their families fail them, even when there's nothing left to fail in their lives, Jesus never fails them but it's our responsibility to bring them to Him. Get involved in Prison Ministries. Somebody has to direct the lost sheep to the Father. For more information on how you can become part of prison ministries, write to P.O. Box 4594, 81 Lakeshore Road East, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5G 4S7. Studies Old Testament Studies Old Testament Studies With this column we return to the Old Testament with a couple of studies on the Psalms. Starting next month, we will present a special series on the "Letters to the Seven Churches" found in the book of Revelation. During this upcoming series, the column will be called "New Testament Studies." Future studies will include Psalms and books from both the Old and New Testaments. HOW DO YOU SPELL RELIEF? Psalm 4 By Pastor Geoffrey Kragen When I originally gave this message Louis L'Amour had just died. Many found this a significant loss for he was a great American storyteller. He wrote authentic, well crafted stories of the west, with a moral code sadly missing from today's society. Mr. L'Amour was an American success story. He had written over one hundred books. His name on a book guaranteed its success. Many of his stories have also been tape-recorded. Many highly respected him, and rightly so. Here was a man with traditional morals who wrote enjoyable books which don't contain "adult" language and gratuitous sex scenes. Why is his death sad? Because the loss of an American heritage? Yes! But his death is sad for another reason. He died suffering from an undetected condition. Physically, he died from cancer. He also suffered from a spiritual disease, idolatry; that is, worshiping something else instead of God. If you read his books carefully, especially "The Haunted Mesa," you will find that L'Amour was a mystic, probably even a pantheist. Unwilling to accept God, but needing some answer to life, like the modern theologian, he was a proponent of religious mysticism. How sad that a man who brought such joy to so many had no idea of the source of true joy. He was a man suffering from distress without even being aware of it. If he had only asked: "HOW DO YOU SPELL RELIEF?" David was also suffering from distress. It wasn't that he had eaten to much, or that he had a headache from trying to keep his wives happy. Nevertheless, he was clearly suffering. The questions we should ask are: What was the cause of the pain? What was the cure for it? Could he find any relief? Psalm 4 deals with the answers to these questions. It answers the question: "HOW DO YOU SPELL RELIEF?" No one appears to clearly understand the background of this psalm. We don't know the circumstances of David's life that caused him to pen it. Leupold speculates that it directly follows Psalm 3 and was written in the same context, that is while David was in flight from Absalom. (1) On the other hand Dahood translates verse 6: "Many keep saying, 'Who will show us rain?'" He sees the entire psalm as a prayer for rain. He believes the thrust is David's challenge to those seeking relief from nature deities instead of the Lord. (2) Any conclusion related to the background of the Psalm is speculative. Therefore, since we can't identify the context, let's move on to the text. Verse 1: First, the psalmist was distressed. He responded to this condition by crying out to the righteous God. The natural response of the believer in distress should be to turn to the Lord. Unfortunately, many in the nation Israel went to other gods for help. The source of David's deep concern was the people's idolatry. Their rejection of the Lord overwhelmed him to the point of despair. David goes to the Lord in pain, yet trusting Him based on his past experiences. It is absolutely vital we understand that David's faith wasn't an unreasonable one, "a faith in faith," a concept that David couldn't have understood. Instead, it was a reasonable position grounded in the reality of God's righteousness. "O Lord, God of Israel, you are righteous" (Ezra 9:15). Verse 2: David first expresses his trust to God. Then he speaks to the sin of the unrighteous. David was outraged because of their affront to the Lord, because God's people were abandoning Him. As with modern man, these individuals had chosen to believe foolish lies. They were living a life of delusion by choice. They would label themselves godly, but they had placed other gods ahead of the Lord. This righteous anger that was expressed by Jesus at the temple. "Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 'It is written,' he said to them, 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of robbers'" (Matthew 21:12-13). Verse 3: David tells the wicked that God has set apart or sanctified, the godly. The heathens could cry to their gods and place their confidence in things other than the Lord, but they wouldn't receive a response. In contrast, David knew that the Lord would hear him, because he trusted in the Almighty. God is the one who chooses the godly and rejects those who turn their backs on Him. Verses 4-5: David challenged the people to be aware of the presence of God, to stand before Him with fear and trembling. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding" (Proverbs 9:10). He called them to turn from the direction they were going. This call is the same as the one John and Jesus later gave; The call to repent. The people David was addressing should have examined their hearts to recognize how far away they had moved from the Lord. David called them to move from rejecting to accepting God. They needed to show this repentance by offering "right sacrifices." Verse 6-8: David had now moved from distress to peace. The ungodly didn't know where to look to get help. But in contrast, David knew that the Lord looked upon him and gave him peace and joy. The unrighteous cried out for someone to fill their needs. But their needs can never be met, because they ignored the one true need, the need for God. While the ungodly received false satisfaction from material prosperity, David received true joy and peace, through obeying God. About man's demand for good, Adam Clarke said: "There are multitudes who say, Who will shew us good? Man wants good; he hates evil as evil, because he has pain, suffering, and death through it; and he wishes to find that supreme good which will content his heart, and save him from evil. But men mistake this good. They look for a good that is to gratify their passions; they have no notion of any happiness that does not come to them through the medium of their senses. Therefore they reject spiritual good, and they reject the supreme God, by whom alone all the powers of the soul of man can be gratified." (3) Where David had been in distress, unable to sleep, he found relief and restful sleep. How do you spell relief? -- T-R-U-S-T ! No matter what the problem, the circumstances, the distress, we can find comfort and peace by trusting in the Lord. "In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?" (Psalm 56:4). Which category do you fall into: believer or unbeliever? The unbeliever suffers from the distress of foolishness. He looks everywhere except to God for relief from life's pain and emptiness. As we look around, we can see that most of the activity of life is focused on either finding some meaning separate from God, or else denying there is any purpose at all. Mankind is expending phenomenal amounts of energy running around fighting against the reality of a personal God who interacts with men in the real world. Often, the unbeliever doesn't even understand that He is in distress. He isn't aware of a higher purpose to life above material wealth, power, success and personal pleasure. The more one has, the less it means and the greater the battle to find more satisfaction. Thoreau described the consequences as: "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." Why else are there so many substance abusers? As one psychologist stated: "The only way to get through life is by the use of drugs or alcohol." I suspect He's correct, unless you bring the Lord into the picture. HOW DO YOU SPELL RELIEF? -- T-R-U-S-T! The Lord is trustworthy. He is the only one who can provide purpose in life. And to find this purpose, it is first necessary to accept His definition of man's distress is separation from Him because of sin. "... as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all me so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men" (Romans 5:18). What is the solution to the problem of sin? The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the payment for that sin. To find relief you must first trust in God for your salvation. "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). The unbeliever must be told that some day he will recognize who Jesus really is. The choice is: Will he accept Jesus, therefore enter into eternity with him, or face an eternity of separation from God? "'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God'" (Romans 14:11). Now, what about the second group, the believers? Are we concerned about the broken lives we see all around us? Are we angry because God is not getting the honor He deserves! I suspect that the answer is "no!" We do not choose to see the world as the Lord sees it. We are often unaware of how depraved mankind really is. It is this rejection of God which caused Jesus to weep over Jerusalem. "As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, 'If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace -- but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you" (Luke 19:41-44). While it's appropriate to be distressed by a fallen world, we don't have to be overwhelmed by life, by men's actions against God and against us. We are to find relief from the same source David did. T-R- U-S-T! -- Trust in a God who is in control over all. "Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me'" (Matthew 28:18). David's initial distress was a result of circumstances around him; he was looking at the problems instead of the Lord. More often than not, our trials are the primary source of our distress. This is an understandable and human reaction. When there is very little money, we wonder how we'll meet the house payment, or buy groceries. When our kids are making choices that could lead to a lifetime of pain, it's hard not to be anxious. When our job has been eliminated and we haven't got another one coming up, then we start to worry about what we are going to do. There are lots of reasons that we can become overwhelmed by life, if we choose to let life affect us this way. If we do choose to become overwhelmed, we are in sin. We no longer have to sin, but we can still choose to sin. How can I say being overwhelmed by life is sin? It is sin because we are not to respond this way. God commands us not to respond this way. "Do not be anxious then saying, 'What shall we eat?' or, 'What shall we drink?' or, 'With what shall we clothe ourselves?' For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:31-34). The point is, we too can have relief from the distress of daily living. The source was and always will be trust in the Lord, because He knows our needs. He understands our pain. In fact, we shouldn't try to avoid pain in our lives. We grow in our dependency on God through our trials. The only acceptable goal in life is to grow in our relationship with the Lord. We must let Him have control over anything that could take first place in our lives. As we look to Him in dependency, our problems won't go away, but we can finally place them in perspective. We can see them as opportunities to mature in wisdom. We can be blessed because, as we have seen, our pain becomes the basis of our progress. As God said about Paul's "thorn in the flesh," his suffering: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Paul then responds as we should: "Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10). Let us call upon the Lord in our distress, and say with David: "Lift up the light of Thy countenance upon us, O Lord! Thou hast put gladness in my heart... In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For Thou alone, O Lord, dost make me to dwell in safety" (Psalm 4:8). And with Jesus let us say: "My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Thy will be done" (Matthew 26:42). 1. H. C. Leupold, EXPOSITION OF PSALMS, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1969, p. 66. 2. Mitchell Dahood, THE ANCHOR BIBLE, "Psalms I," Doubleday and Company, Inc., Garden City, NY., 1965, pg.23 3. C. H. Spurgeon, THE TREASURY OF DAVID, MacDonald Publishing Company, McLean, VA, p. 41. New In Christ New In Christ "New in Christ" is a regular MORNING STAR column written primarily for people who wish to learn more about the basic teachings of Biblical Christianity. The editorial staff of MORNING STAR encourages all readers to freely use this information to help new Christians grow in their walk with the Lord. THE HIDDEN HELPER by Toby Trudel Over the past ten to fifteen years Hollywood has released many movies about spirits, ghosts, psychic phenomena and demon possession. This trend began back in the seventies with the movie, "The Exorcist." Since then, there have been hundreds of films and books dealing with supernatural forces. I can confidently say many people believe it's possible that forces such as these exist. In fact, they might accuse you of being "narrow minded" if you said it was totally out of the question. Have you ever tried to explain how a person can be literally possessed by the Holy Spirit? Many respond: "This is utterly ridiculous and it's all phony." This shouldn't come as a surprise. Sadly, the world has always been ready to believe in anything seductive and evil, while rejecting that which it really needs. The Bible clearly states that all Christians are in fact possessed by the Holy Spirit. "... the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows Him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you" (John 14:17 - also see Romans 8:9, 1 Corinthians 6:19, 2 Timothy 1:14, 1 John 2:27, 3:24.) The Holy Spirit is a person, not just an influence or something similarly vague. His many attributes are mentioned in the New Testament. He has a mind: "And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will" (Romans 8:27). 1 Corinthians 12:11 states He has a will. "All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines." He has feelings: "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30). He also engages in personal activity: He reveals. "For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21). He teaches. "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever..." (John 14:16). He witnesses. "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, 'Abba, Father'" (Galatians 4:6). He intercedes. "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express" (Romans 8:26). He commands. "... having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to" (Acts 16:6,7). He testifies. "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me" (John 15:26). Because the Holy Spirit is a person, He can be lied to. "Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit ..." (Acts 5:3). And as He is God, He can be blasphemed. "And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come" (Matthew 12:31, 32). One of the most incredible things the Bible tells us, is that when we become born again believers we actually are changed into an entirely new creature. "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin ..." (Romans 6:6 - also see 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 4:22-24, Colossians 3:10) However, scripture does not say, that our lives undergo a complete transformation in a split second. We do receive the Holy Spirit as soon as we turn from sin and accept Christ. "God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us" (Acts 15:8 - see Galatians 3:2-5) The change in personality, thoughts, behaviors and desires is more gradual. We are born again, not into spiritual maturity, but rather as spiritually newborn babes. "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation ..." (1 Peter 2:2). This means that we have some growing up to do. God's word calls the growth process a renewal. "He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit ..." (Titus 3:5) The transition from a baby Christian to a more spiritually adult takes time. This occurs only as fast as we allow the Holy Spirit to work within us. And everyone's rate of growth isn't the same. To put it another way; you aren't the one making the changes. However, you can stop or slow down the process. You control the brake pedal, which is your will. It's your choice whether or not to take your foot off it. Just because you possess the Holy Spirit, doesn't mean you lose your free will. Also, it is still possible to commit sin, although you're a lot less likely to do so. In fact, the rest of your life is going to be a constant struggle between your new self under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and your old self (old nature) which wants to do as it pleases. They are completely opposed to each other. "For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want" (Galatians 5:17). Of course, if you've made a sincere commitment to the Lord, you should give God control over your will, directed by His word. It is up to you to enforce self-discipline and control over your body. As Paul noted: "No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize" (1 Corinthians 9:27). The good news however, is that all Christians can rely on the Holy Spirit. He gives them strength in their battles against their human (sinful) nature. This strength is obtained through prayer. That's one reason He comes to those who believe; to be a powerful source of strength and guidance, whom can we call on at any time. "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come" (John 16:13 - also see Ephesians 3:16) By reading God's word and praying, the Holy Spirit within you will let you know how to deal with the everyday complex affairs of life. "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature" (Galatians 5:16). Christians should pattern their lives after the teachings of Jesus. They should continually pray to the Lord for guidance in the difficult areas of life. God's word refers to this behavior as walking after the Spirit. "That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:1, KJV - also see Galatians 5:25) It is called this because it's the presence of the Holy Spirit within us, that gives the power to resist evil. It is also the Holy Spirit Who will one day resurrect our bodies, just as He did Christ's. (see Romans 8:9-16) The Holy Spirit is a busy person. You might not hear Him, but when you pray, He prays with you. He asks for those things you don't know how to ask for, or for those things you don't even realize you need! "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will" (Romans 8:26,27). The Holy Spirit is the one who bonds all Christians together in one spirit. (see Ephesians 2:18, 2:22, 4:3) That's the biggest reason for the smile you see on the faces of so many Christians. It's the comfort, joy and hope they have in their hearts, given them by the Holy Spirit. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13 - also see John 14:16-18, Acts 9:31) Born-again believers have the wonderful reassurance that God oversees their lives, and that He is with them. They know this by the presence of the Holy Spirit within them. "Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us" (1 John 3:24 - also see 1 John 4:13). Growing in Grace Growing in Grace This column constitutes part two of a three part series on the subject "Christ in You." The theme in this month's column deals with the problem of idolatry within the Church. CHRIST IN YOU Part 2 of a 3-part series By Pastor Russell Walden "God would make known (to the saints) what [is] the... mystery ... Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus" (Colossians 1:27-28). Christ in ME does YOU little good. Christ in Galilee two thousand years ago cannot greatly impact your life. Jesus Christ dwelling IN YOUR heart by faith is everything. When Christians become more oriented toward Jesus in others, or Jesus in the doctrine, or the church, a subtle form of idolatry is evidenced. "Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21). John wrote these words in the latter part of first century. Surely the Christian Church, after nearly two generations of Christian faith, understood that bowing to a rock or tree is SOMEWHAT left of God's PERFECT will? What is John getting at? He knew that believers are as capable of creating CHRISTIAN idols as is any heathen. In Numbers 29:8-9, God instructs Moses to make a serpent of brass to deliver Israel from a plague. Moses lifted the snake on a pole. Those bitten who looked upon it lived. Years later (2 Kings 18:4), King Hezekiah destroyed this relic because the people worshipped it. Likewise today we see Christians looking to mere man as a resource for what only God can provide. Anything or anyone lifted up into the public eye can become an idol. When those characteristics that are attractive and charismatic to men become equated with spirituality, then all discernment is lost. There is a difference between natural charisma and the anointing on a minister's life. Charisma draws attention to the man. The anointing draws attention to the message, and the message points to Jesus Christ. Why does God hate idolatry? Because (as previously mentioned) idolatry proposes the dwelling place of God to be somewhere other than the human heart. Idolatry is any attitude, or dependence in your life provoking God's jealousy. When the pastor, preacher or religious institution become more central to your life than your personal relationship with Jesus, then you've found an idol! Do you think that this can never happen to you? All right, then TAKE AWAY the church, the pastor, the outward vestiges of your Christianity and what is left? What practical, daily evidence remains of your relationship with God? Many believer's frame of reference triangulates from the pastor, to the church dogma, to Jesus two thousand years ago. He is more real historically, or doctrinally than personally. They picture him in Arabic dress with long hair, etc. Or perhaps He is more real in their parents' lives, in the pastor's life or in the church than he is in their own life. This is not evil in and of itself; but when this condition is FOSTERED through the leadership philosophy of a religious institution, there is a problem. This is not to say there is no basis for esteeming leadership. The early church had more honor for its leaders than any subsequent generation. In this day the greatest evidences of deep commitment to human leadership in religion are mostly negative (i.e. Jim Jones, David Koresh, etc.). This speaks of an INWARD deficiency. Jesus within is minimized. Jesus is viewed as being less than he is capable of within a believer's heart and life. Thus general shallowness is evidenced. Before dying, Moses warned against idolatry (Exodus 32:7-24; Deuteronomy 4:15-19; 9:1-24). He pointed back to the mount where God had given the law, reminding his people when they looked in the fire on the mountain they saw no form, of animal, man, etc. Why did he take time to stress this? If you recall, when Moses delayed his return, the people made a golden calf to worship. When Moses rebuked Aaron for making the idol, Aaron replied, "We threw our earrings into the fire and this calf jumped out!" What is Aaron saying? The nation of Israel camped before this mountain burning with SUPERNATURAL fire; They peered into the fire thinking they saw the image of a calf. They made an image to worship. Moses years later reiterates, "I don't care what you THOUGHT you saw. Jehovah gave you NO IMAGE in that 'holy fire.'" An overconfident Protestant may readily see the error of a Catholic brother petitioning a saint or erecting a statue, yet in the same stroke be blind to the icons in his own faith, whose existence is just as unfortunate. We hear references to "Revival Fire," and that's acceptable in itself. But how many ministries build on the credibility of a past outpouring of God's Spirit? Many carefully craft their image in the context of some revival emphasis. Why? Because they know insecure people throw their gold into the fire. We throw our gold into the fire and Jimmy Swaggart, or Jim Bakker jumps out. (All the non-charismatics say, "That's right! But, what about your Falwells, or Grahams?) This is not meant as a charge against these ministries, for an idol does not make itself. It is fashioned by an idolater. The Spirit has been saying for a generation that the day of the "Big Preacher" is over. Why do we continue to have so many big preachers? Its much easier to see Jesus in a larger-than-life figure behind a pulpit, robed in vestments, or standing behind a state-of-the-art Plexiglas pulpit. In Samuel's day, the people wanted a king "head and shoulders above the rest." They were not content with the centrality of the temple or presence of God over the mercy seat. They wanted a palace, a king riding a gold chariot. Yet they were not benefited, but rather suffered as a result of cushioning their own insecurities. The accouterments of the faith (pastors, churches, etc.) are only valid in the eyes of God insofar as they promote personal relationship to Jesus Christ. Two preachers may give the same message, however, one gives it a slant leaving you in awe of HIS spirituality and wisdom. The other minister, preaching the same message leaves you impressed, not with HIS greatness, but with the immensity of Jesus Christ within your heart. This is the difference between a false influence and a true servant of God. A false ministry promotes outward dependence. A true minister makes Jesus Christ loom larger in your own heart; Christ in you, the Hope of Glory. Give Jesus what he paid for. Don't obligate him to share his formative impact on your life with merely human influence. Put away your Swaggarts, Bakkers, Grahams and Hagins. If you see these men as spiritual giants having attained a favor with God beyond what you can experience, you probably haven't heard the gospel they have given their lives to communicate. There is a sanctuary deep in the heart where only Christ's footsteps may legitimately tread. There is a depth in your heart where only His very real, personal influence should reach. This is the dominate aspect of Christianity. This is the well from which the living water is drawn. It is time to dig again the wells of salvation in your heart. Purpose to maximize the full potential of the indwelling of Jesus Christ. There are many alternate influences and substitutions for what Jesus desires to provide you. But, the centerpiece of the faith is NOT the church, the minister, or religious institution. The focal point of the faith is JESUS. Ministry, structure, and administration are irreplaceable, but the highest priority is PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. This is the foundation of all else. If you are not bringing the lost into personal relationship with Christ, you have only made a Christian proselyte, not a child of God. You are saved to HIM, not to the church, minister, or religious institution. Only HE can make good on the promises of the Word. Many disappointments beset believers because they succumb to false advertising. The social, intellectual or emotional dynamics of the church afford no greater support than the Kiwanis club or the Optimists. As a member of the "church club" you must be trained to centralize your spiritual experience on the discovery and exploration of intimacy with Jesus. Next time we will finish this three part series by looking at "Intimacy with Christ." The WORD for Today The WORD for Today In this issue we start a new series on Communication in Marriage. It is our intent to examine communication problems in marriage from a biblical perspective. We will show how couples can apply God's word to their marriage. The companion book to this study is H. Norman Wright's COMMUNICATION: KEY TO YOUR MARRIAGE. The book is published by Regal Books and should be available from your Christian book store. This is the first of ten articles inspired by a series given by Pastor Geoff Kragen through Foothill Bible Church in Lincoln, California. SO, WHAT'S MARRIAGE ANYWAY? INTRODUCTION: A basic problem I continually observe in counseling couples is their inadequate communication skills. It is no wonder marriages are so shaky, since couples are unable to discuss their difficulties. Our society has lost the art of communication. We sit in front of the television and think we are sharing quality time. I'm told that we have an attention span of thirty seconds, (thank you "Sesame Street"). It is no wonder that we are unable to work out our misunderstandings. Some marriages do function better than others. Nevertheless, we all can improve our communication skills. In this series, I intend to provide some aids to improve these skills. I recommend that you get the supplemental text. Also, the book will be of maximum benefit if you and your spouse do the exercises in each chapter. These articles will discuss the same themes found in the text. However, you do not need the supplemental text to follow this series. Finally, in some of these articles I will provide what I have defined as basic rules of communication. These are in addition to the topic discussed and will give some easy suggestions that will immediately help you with your communication. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RULE 1: Do Not Mind-Read! Too often couples assume what their spouse is thinking. Haven't you ever finished your spouse's sentence? Haven't you become defensive, believing that your spouse is angry at you, even though there is no reason to think so? "If my husband/wife loved me, he/she would do this for me without my asking." This too is mind-reading, although in this case you expect your spouse to read your mind. Talk to one another. Tell your spouse what you want, or what you are feeling. Ask what he/she is thinking. Don't assume anything. DO NOT MIND-READ! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Before talking about how we can improve our marriages, it is a good idea to see what the Bible teaches about marriage in general. In the first three articles, we will discuss some facts about marriage. In this article let us examine what the Bible has to say about the definition of marriage. We should in Genesis 1 and 2. Genesis 1 gives a summary statement about the creation of man. Chapter 2 gives the specifics of the creation and the establishment of marriage. "The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him. É Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man." For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh" (Genesis 2:18, 22-24). This passage presents several issues that show God's intent for marriage. First, note that God presented marriage to humanity before the fall. He didn't initially give the sacrament of marriage to Abraham, through the Law, or only to the Church. Marriage was given to humanity. God's standards for a good marriage are applicable to all, believers and unbelievers alike. This is why marriages which ignore these standards fail. And the resultant misery isn't limited to Christians, but to all peoples. The factors that make up marriage and destroy it are intertwined with the creation of mankind, male and female. What does this passage teach about marriage? First, marriage was created for relationship. God created us to have relationship with Him and then with each other. Marriage should be the most intimate relationship possible between man and woman. Relationship requires communication. Frequently, the quality of our relationship with God is sadly lacking because we spend so little time with Him in prayer and fellowship. Likewise, our relationship with our spouse is often lacking because of inadequate time and communication. The quality of our relationship with God and with our spouse requires time and effort. As God completed each aspect of creation, He saw that it was good. (see Genesis 1) It is only when He sees the potential loneliness of man that He states that something is not good. It isn't good for man to be alone. And so woman was created, so humanity would experience companionship, relationship and fellowship. Some see the primary purpose of marriage as procreation. And, we know from Genesis 1 that God intends marriage to be the source of procreation. But, as we can see from Genesis 2, God is concerned first that man will not be alone but in relationship. We must never lose sight that as important as children are, the first relationship in marriage is between husband and wife. Children are not to be allowed to interfere with that relationship. Second, we can see that marriage is a unique relationship in which two individuals become one flesh. This is reinforced by the fact woman was originally taken from the flesh of man, and therefore the two together make a complete whole. This factor has some specific implications. One flesh does not mean that the husband and wife are to lose their individuality. Where the distinction between the two is lost, we have fusion. And this portends serious danger to the marriage relationship. Next month we will look at some passages in Ephesians about marriage roles which show the husband and wife are to maintain their individuality. But a new entity comes into existence with marriage -- the couple. The two are to function as one in many ways: physically through their sexual relationship,; similarity of goals, and recognition of God's place within the marriage structure. The main contrast between the Christian marriage and that of the unbeliever is the presence of a third party, the Lord. The marriage is blessed only as a couple lives before the Lord. This is why scripture warns of the danger of a believer marrying a non-believer. Throughout the Old Testament, we see the sad results of God's children marrying the Devil's. And this is why Paul says: "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" (2 Corinthians 6:14). And just as God is concerned we don't marry inappropriately, once married, for good or bad He requires that we remain married. It is the uniqueness of the "one flesh" that undergird God's demand that marriage remain inviolate. "Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate" (Mark 10:9). God intends that once married couples remain married. (And yes I know that scripture does allow exception, but that isn't my focus here.) "I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel" (Malachi 2;16). There is one other phrase that should be noted here. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). With the establishment of the marriage relationship old relationships are changed. There is to be a significant realignment in the relationship between husband/wife and the parents. The couple must now take responsibility for their own lives, as individuals and as a couple. This does not mean that the relationship to parents has to end. But the responsibility for the marriage must fall on the husband and wife, and not their parents. It is appropriate to go to the parents for wise council and respect their many years' experience. But too frequently I find that marriages are seriously damaged because the new couple is entangled with the parents. The parents are not to set the direction for the couple in any area of their lives. I have seen some relationships with parents that are positive and many more that are destructive. I was blessed to have my grandfather live with us for a good part of my childhood. And I know that it was because he lived in a Christian home that he accepted Christ in his eighties. Although he lived with us, my parents did not depend on him, but the Lord for direction in their marriage. Conversely, I have seen marriages where one parent exercises the authority. They are allowed to cause conflict between the spouses. The husband chooses his parent(s) over his wife, or the wife gives into the demands of her parent(s) over the desires of her husband. God says to honor your parents, but to live your own life with your spouse. The two of you decide what is best for your family. Love your parents, appreciate them, but leave them. Let me summarize what we have seen about marriage. 1. God ordained marriage for humanity in general. 2. Consequently, marriage is a blessing in that it gives the opportunity to experience intimate relationship. 3. Once a marriage is established, it is God's intent that it continues without the option of divorce. 4. The new couple is to leave their parents and set up their own family with responsibility to care for one another and to put each other first, ahead of all others. 5. The Christian marriage is blessed above other marriages because of the presence of the Lord in its midst. It is only when we are committed to total obedience to God that each of us as individuals will be totally committed to our marriages and the necessary dependency on the Lord to make them effective. Next month we will examine the differences in the roles of husbands and wives. All this is in preparation for an in-depth study on improving the quality of our communication within our marriage. Special Studies Special Studies This month, we present the third and final part of our series on the Dead Sea scrolls. These articles are the actual transcript of a recent television series produced by Zola Levitt Ministries. We are grateful for their permission to reprint this material. In this issue Zola speaks with Professor Michael Wise of the University of Chicago, an expert in Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic, and also with Dr. James Tabor, a Scrolls expert from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. SECRETS OF THE SCROLLS New Revelations From the Dead Sea Scrolls Part 3 of a 3-part series At the University of Chicago, Professor Michael Wise has just recently obtained photos of Scroll segments. Dr. Wise is an expert at Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic, and has found excerpts which address the Messiah in a very unique manner. Wise: Now this is the fragment that has gotten some attention. It starts off by quoting Isaiah 11:1: "A shoot shall come forth from the root of Jesse"... of course, Jesse, the father of David. So here was a reference to a son of David, which was, of course, often a Messianic way of referring to future figures. They had to be a son of David in order to qualify as the Messiah. Zola: The Bible even specifies that the Messiah when he comes - whoever he may be, must be out of the family of David. Wise: That's right. And the people knew that. So anyone they would describe as the Messiah had to qualify in that way. The fourth line here is the one that's really interesting. It says (Hebrew) "And they will put to death the prince of the congregation". Now we know from other Dead Sea Scrolls that the words (Hebrew), "prince of the congregation", refer to a Messianic son of David figure. They are speaking of Messianic figure here who is evidently being put to death. Now that's very, very important for us, and especially is in the next line, throws a little more light on it: (Hebrew) "and with piercings a priest shall give order." And we don't know what followed after - again, it's broken. Zola: Piercings as in, "They shall look upon me whom they've pierced." Wise: That's right - "They shall look upon him whom they have pierced." And it's the same Hebrew word. So it seems to be that this text is bringing together quotations from various portions of the book of Isaiah, applying them to a figure. Zola: Yes, but this author trusted Isaiah to the degree that he's reiterating this prophecy, applying it to a Messianic figure of the times. Wise: It's very interesting, too, that he appears to be referring to Isaiah 53, because we don't have evidence in general that very important chapter of the Hebrew Bible was understood Messianically among the Jews at the time of Jesus apart from this text. Of course the early Christians in the very beginning understood that text to refer to Jesus: so they had a Messianic understanding of that portion of Isaiah. But scholars have always said, "But did the Jews other than those who became the early Christians have this understanding"? And our evidence has always said that the majority of the Jews - the only evidence we really have - suggested that the Jews thought the chapter didn't refer to an individual, but rather to the nation of Israel as the suffering servant. Zola: That's usually the answer, if one is trying to prove that passage to be Christological to a Jew, he says, "My Rabbi said that's the nation of Israel - that's God's servant" - but evidently what you're saying is the people who wrote these scrolls thought this applied to a man, not a nation. Wise: That's right. And it should be emphasized that this is one way of interpreting the scroll. Scholars are going to be writing about this scroll and many others for many years. There's very little that's absolutely straightforward as we study these materials. Zola: Am I completely crazy to say that this is one of the great finds of modern times - that people are going to talk about our century as the time that the Dead Sea Scrolls came out? Wise: I don't believe that's an exaggeration at all. Zola: I'm so excited, I don't know how to tell you. I was from the first day that I heard of this, especially these Messianic texts. Wise: Well, we have another Messianic text, if you'd like to look at that one. This is a text that starts off at the beginning here speaking apparently, it says, (Hebrew): "The heavens and the earth will listen to (Hebrew), His Messiah, (Hebrew): that is "The Messiah of God". The text goes on to describe some of the marvelous things that this - and it's not clear whether it's God himself is doing it or the Messiah who's doing it - and I don't believe it's really important, because the two are so closely fused in the text, which goes on again to quote portions of Isaiah. We have here, down in this line, a reference to (Hebrew): "He shall raise the dead" - literally "make to live the dead." Zola: So this is peculiar only of Jesus if the Gospel's believed. Wise: That's right. We don't have evidence of such belief about a Messiah at the time of the scrolls apart from the Christian Gospel, that there would be a Messiah who would raise the dead. Zola: So what does all of this mean? What effect will these new revelations from the Dead Sea Scrolls, written here at Qumran some 2,000 years ago, have on Christians and Jews today? Tabor: I think there's a lot at stake. What's at stake is the Jews are going to have to learn - and will learn, I think, from more finds - that Messianic Judaism is a acceptable form of Jewish faith. Now, I'm using Messianic Judaism in general terms: Jews who believe in a Messiah; that many Jews have, they think someone's the Messiah and so forth - that is not leaving the Jewish faith - to believe someone's the Messiah. And so Jews will come to know a wider view of Judaism than just the Rabinnic view, which is one stream of Judaism. There are many streams of Judaism, and this stream of Judaism is quite an important one. And I think the Christians in the West will learn from this; that the real roots of their faith are out here in this desert with these people who are very serious about the Word of God, and the promises of God and the prophecies and so on, and were not interested at all in Greco-Roman philosophy and secular culture. I think the Christians will see, as more connections are made, that this is actually the birthplace of Christianity. Zola: Well, we should appreciate that we're just scratching the surface of this profound subject. Some of the information we've presented this evening has just been uncovered within the last few months - and I must say not all scholars agree on the findings: there are disagreements as to translation - the Hebrew language was written without vowels for some time, and when scroll writers write without vowels, some words are up for grabs a little bit - different people take a different view. And so we've listened, and we've considered all sides and tried to present the different sides. But all agree, however, that these wilderness Zealots were anticipating a Messiah. Some imply that he could have been Jesus of Nazareth. Biblical terms like "Son of God" or "branch of David" "stripes" or "piercings", "being put to death", "raising the dead" - of course all ring a familiar chord. THE WRAP UP Well, what do the Dead Sea Scrolls amount to? To try to recap all of our programs, what do we have in the new translations that have been released so far? Of course, we pointed out in our first program that there had been a new release, practically a pirated edition - the scholars who had the Scrolls were just suppressing them. I don't know how to say how shocking it is that they would hold those Scrolls - waiting there hidden in people's trunks and desks - all this time, with such beautiful Messianic salvation messages. Finally they're out, to be seen by the whole world. What do we have? Well, we have an extra-biblical record of those times, at least. In other words, it's not just the Scriptures that cover first-century Israel, the appearance of Messiah, the signs of those times, the writing, the thinking, but we have a record other than our Biblical one. You know, if you compared the Scrolls with Greek and Roman literature, they're much more valuable than any of those. Or to say it another way, the only discovery comparable would be to dig in some ancient cellar in Rome and find, not a few pieces of paper but a thousand-page stack of records of those times, written clearly so we could read them in the native language and find out what their culture was about. That's the first level. Secondly, we have a wonderful Bible-corroborating set of transcripts. In other words, we can determine that our translations of the Bible are perfect, thanks to the Jewish people who kept these Scrolls for these millennia - centuries leading into millennia - recopying them perfectly every time. Thanks to those Jewish people, we can have our churches, some of whom you've even seen on this program, defame the Jews! But, by gosh, thanks to the Jewish people we've got an accurate Bible to read. And then we have a record there of Bible-minded people - that's a third thing. We have discovered the Essenes were not some kind of retiring, quiet monastic group that hid out in the wilderness for their own ascetic reasons - not at all. They were active, Messianic, praying, worshipping people of the Bible, full of hopes and dreams. They were not so much interested in politics - Rome and Israel's arguments, occupation, taxation, etc. did not occupy them - but they were Messianic. They looked for that ruler to come out of Israel. On one of our programs we showed that Josephus said it was the belief that a messianic ruler, a world-renowned ruler, would come out of Israel that kept these people going. And we have out there the roots of Christianity. This was the beginnings of what is now the Church - a "Jamesian" kind of Christianity - very Jewish, very legal. Our current Messianic congregations, you might say, would certainly trace their lineage right there to Qumran. But more importantly, all churches would. This predates Paul's journeys: this is different from the Christianity we read about in the Empire, in the epistles to the Romans and the Greeks. Really this is the heart and root of Christianity, and of Biblical Judaism: Not Rabbinic Judaism - that doesn't go back to anywhere so ancient, but Biblical Judaism the way it is reflected in those texts. And there's much more to come. I personally await that great discovery - that "Yeshua text" - where somebody names the Messiah who came, who died for His people, who rose from the dead - that's the one I'm waiting for. Daniel 12:4 says, "In the end times, people will run to and fro, and knowledge will increase." I think this is a direct fulfillment of that Scripture. Knowledge is increasing like crazy. I want you to understand all of it! To order the video series of this transcript, or to receive the free LEVITT LETTER write to: Zola Levitt Ministries Box 12268 Dallas, TX 75225-9987 (214) 690-1874 The Roots of Our Faith The Roots of Our Faith THE ROOTS OF OUR FAITH This is the first in a series from Pastor Chuck Cohen of the King of Kings Assembly in Jerusalem, Israel. The editors of MORNING STAR hope all believers will benefit greatly from this wonderful collection of articles. IS THE OLD TESTAMENT STILL THE WORD OF GOD TODAY? By Pastor Chuck Cohen "... I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets." (Acts 24:14) Messianic terms and/or abbreviations used in this and future teachings: Yeshua = Jesus Messiah = Christ Tanach = Old Testament God's shalom to you from Jerusalem. This is the first of a series to enable the worldwide body of Messiah to become rooted and grounded in the foundations of our faith. Only then can we stand strong in His Word in these last days and bear fruit for the glory of God our Father. The Holy Scriptures contain warnings that in the last days, many deceptions and winds of false doctrines would blow against the congregation of Yeshua. In Romans 11, Paul described us as part of an olive tree. Since that is the case, we need to develop strong, deep roots. A tree without a well-developed root system is easily felled by strong winds. Therefore, in order not to be swayed by every wind of doctrine, let us allow the Holy Spirit to strengthen the roots of the faith, in our theology as well as in our daily walk. If we view ourselves as the Olive Tree, then the Spirit of God is the life-bearing sap which brings nourishment and water from our roots in the Tanach to the fruit-filled branches of the New Testament body. Without roots a tree is cut off from its source of life. This fact mirrors the state of much of the organized Christian Church during its history. (Many old and resurgent heresies, such as Gnosticism and Replacement "theology" come from a misunderstanding or a misuse of the Word of God in the Tanach.) The recognition of the current validity of the Old Testament to our walk with God today, is of the utmost importance to keep us scripturally balanced. When our Messiah walked the earth, there was no New Testament! When Peter preached to the Jews on the day of Pentecost (Shavuot), he preached from the Tanach! When Yeshua defeated Satan in the wilderness, He quoted the "Law of Moses" (Deuteronomy) three times, and the devil fled! Paul preaching to the Gentiles used the Tanach. In fact, in the letter to the Romans, Paul uses Old Testament verses as his proof texts about 50 times to validate New Testament doctrines. This shows that the basis of Paul's doctrine and revelation of Messiah was found in the Tanach. Consider the following questions: Do we really believe in the same scriptures that Yeshua and the apostles based their faith upon? If the Tanach was the Word of God then, is it still the Word of God today? Is it as much the Word of God for us today as is the New Testament? The answers to these questions need to be settled in our minds and hearts so we can understand the total revelation of Himself that God has given to us. How often have you heard someone say, or said yourself, "I'm a New Testament believer." We prefer not to claim to be cut off from our roots! We are Bible believers. We recognize that the written revelation of God begins at Genesis 1:1 and goes to the end of the book of Revelation. In fact, if Genesis 1:1 is not the tent peg of our faith, that is, faith in God Who is the Creator of all, then everything else we believe is built on sand! Realizing, then, that the New Testament refers to the Old Testament when using the term "scriptures", consider these verses: John 10:35: "... the scripture cannot be broken..." John 5:39: "Search the scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life and they... testify of Me." 2 Timothy 3:16,17: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction., for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." There are two fundamental questions we can answer which will fully convince us of the truth that the Tanach is still God's Word for us today. 1. "What is the New Testament view of the Tanach?" 2. "How did Yeshua view the Tanach?" WHAT IS THE NEW TESTAMENT VIEW OF THE TANACH? According to Walter Kaiser Jr., in his excellent book "Toward Rediscovering the Old Testament," there are approximately 300 direct verse citations, 200 unacknowledged and 1,100 reworded or paraphrased verses used in the New Testament from the Tanach. Thus, about 1,600 verses found in the New Testament for doctrine, to teach and encourage, to warn and prove that Yeshua is the Messiah are taken from the Old Testament. Consider that the New Testament does not make a distinction between what God says and what the Tanach says. If the Tanach states something, the New Testament writers assume that it is God Himself who states it, even if it is not directly credited to Him. Here are a couple of examples. In Acts 4:24-25 the apostles are praying, "Lord, You are God... who by the mouth of Your servant David has said, 'Why did the nations rage..."', etc. They are thinking of Psalm 2 which was written by David. They correctly assume that it was God Himself who wrote this through David, His servant. Paul, in Galatians 3:8 states, "the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham saying, 'In thee shall all nations be blessed"'. Notice, Paul claims that the scripture says this when, in the original account (Genesis 12:1-3), it is God Himself speaking. Here are other examples: Matthew 19:4,5 with Genesis 1:27; 2:23,24; Romans 9:17 with Exodus 9:16. We have already mentioned 2 Timothy 3:16,17 which is the New Testament statement on the relevance of the Tanach for believers. Do we really grasp what God's Spirit is saying here about the benefits of "the Old Testament"? Let us examine this verse in detail. 'All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect thoroughly furnished unto all good works." Now consider: "All scripture..." - that means both the Old and the New Testament. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God..." - is God-breathed by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20,21) and just as accurate as if God Himself used the pen. "All scripture... is profitable for doctrine..." - profitable means useful; doctrine means teaching. Paul is urging the church to study the Tanach to get her doctrine and teaching material! He knew we cannot have solid doctrine without this part of God's Word. For example, we cannot fully understand salvation and what occurred at the cross without understanding Leviticus 16 (Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement), Isaiah 53 (the Suffering Servant), and many other pictures in the Tanach that fully reveal Calvary. "... profitable [useful] for... reproof [rebuke]..." - this is an act of mercy on God's part. (see Proverbs 1:23; 3:11.) Has God ever rebuked you using the Tanach? "... profitable for... correction..." - correction literally means "restoration to an upright position or right state; setting straight that which has become bent or twisted." The Tanach can be used as a tool in the hand of God to restore us to Himself after we sin. "... profitable for... instruction in righteousness..." - this pictures the submission of a disciple to the rules of instruction given by his teacher. It implies growth from childhood to maturity, from weakness to strength. Note also that this righteousness is a righteousness which is by faith. The New Testament constantly uses Old Testament saints and/or verses to prove that "the just shall live by his faith", a verse originally found in Habbakuk 2:4. (see Romans 1:16,17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38. Also Romans 4:3 and 10:5,6. In Romans 10:6 Paul uses Deuteronomy 30:12-14 to describe "the righteousness which is of faith.") "That the man of Cod may be perfect [mature] thoroughly furnished unto all good works." To one who is born again, spiritual maturity is the fruit of the study of the Tanach. In this chapter, verses 14 and 15, Paul encourages Timothy to "continue in all the things you have learned". This includes "the holy scriptures [Paul's name for "the Old Testament"] which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Messiah Yeshua." Hallelujah! People can get saved by reading and/or hearing God's Word in the Tanach and seeing that Yeshua is the promised Messiah! We can preach the Gospel out of the Old Testament, just like Peter on the Day of Pentecost! Can you, using only the Tanach, present the gospel message of Yeshua the Messiah? It is amazing how many Jewish people will listen to scriptures from "their" Bible! (see Acts 28:23) HOW DID YESHUA VIEW THE TANACH? Yeshua saw the Tanach as the Word of God. In Matthew 5:17,18 He warns us against even thinking that He has come to do away with the Tanach. He states that it will stand as God's Word until all has been fulfilled, which means until there is a new heaven and earth (Isaiah 65:17). In Mark 7:1-13 Yeshua reveals that a lack of respect for God's Word revealed in the Tanach is the basis for the Pharisees' hypocrisy. In Verses 7-10, He accuses them of teaching man's tradition as opposed to "the commandments of God... making the Word of God of no effect..." Consider in what ways we in the church may be guilty of the same thing. Here are other verses where Yeshua says that the Tanach is God's Word: Mark 12:24,29-31,36; Luke 10:25-28; 16:29-31; John 10:35. Yeshua also used the Tanach to settle arguments. In Matthew 12:1-7, when some Pharisees saw His disciples on the Sabbath plucking heads of grain to eat, Yeshua's defense was the story of David using the shewbread to feed his hungry men. Also see Matthew 21:15,16; 22:29-46; John 5:39, 45-47. Yeshua had faith in God's Tanach! When tested by Satan in the wilderness, He defended Himself by quoting verses from Deuteronomy. Yeshua actually used "the Law of Moses" as a sword to defeat the enemy (Luke 4:1-13)! His teaching used Tanach quotes frequently, both directly and indirectly. For example, His teaching on His return (Matthew 24:29-31) is taken from many Tanach scriptures: Isaiah 53:10; 34:4; Daniel 7:13; Zechariah 12:12; Isaiah 27:13; Deuteronomy 30:4 and Zechariah 2:6. Even His ethical teachings are rooted in this same soil. See Matthew 7:12 and 19:16-19 as classic examples. Finally, the basis of His own role as the Messiah depended entirely on the conviction that He must fulfill the Tanach. There are so many scriptures in the Gospels to support this that we will cite only three and list a few others. In Matthew 11:36, in answer to John the Baptist's question as to whether He was the one who should come, Yeshua says 'yes' by telling John's disciples to report what works they see Him do - works listed in several prophecies from Isaiah 29:18,19 and 34:5,6. In Luke 4:16-19 Yeshua announcing His ministry, while in a synagogue, quoted Isaiah 61:1-2. Then He said, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4:21). And in John 5:37-39 Yeshua declares that we need to "search the scriptures [the Old Testament] for... they testify of Me." That is where He points us for proof of His Messiahship. Here are a few of the many other examples: Matthew 22:41; 23:37-39; 26:24; 27:46; 31:54-56; Luke 12:49-53; 18:31-34; 22:22,37; 24:25-27, 44-49. CONCLUSION There is no doubt that the New Testament authors viewed the Old Testament as the Word of God, which was still valid for them in their walk with the Lord. There is not one sermon or teaching in the New Testament lacking a solid doctrinal foundation in that soil. In future lessons we will explore the basics of the Gospel and show how all of the Gospel is rooted and grounded in God's Word as found in the Tanach. That is where the seeds were planted, the tree watered and weeded, pruned back and watched until the fullness of time. Then the fruit was ripe - and our Messiah appeared - "a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Thy people Israel." (Luke 2:32) Messianic Studies Messianic Studies "Safehouses" in the Land of Israel CITIES OF REFUGE "And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers" (Ezekiel 36:28) While Arab claims on the Holy Land may have a measure of credibility for some people, the wide extent of Israel's right to possess it is unmistakable in Bible terms. Not only has Israel defeated every Arab attempt to end her existence but Israel's territories have steadily expanded over the years. Recently, Australia's Foreign Minister, Gareth Evans, was "stunned" when he saw the number of new Israeli settlements emerging in the disputed territories. This progression is in accord with Bible information. For example in Obadiah, the Golan, Gaza, the West Bank, south Lebanon and north Jordan are all spoken of as in possession of the Israelis. That process is well under way right now, most of it having first come under Israeli jurisdiction in the 1967 war and only now being slowly incorporated by settlement - a two stage process over 25 years so far! And it is by no means finished. There are literally dozens of Bible passages referring to this expanded Israel of the last days. "And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant wherein your fathers have dwelt: and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children and their children's children for ever" Ezekiel 37:25. Note the length of possession - "for ever" and Amos 9:15 says "they shall no more be pulled up out of their land". One of the characteristic phrases to describe the extent of Israel's land in the last days is that found, for example, in Ezekiel 36:28, "And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers...". The land finally occupied by the twelve tribes after their conquest of Canaan was far less than that originally promised them or their fathers. This came about by their lack of faith and endeavor in subduing it for God was not going to give it to them on a plate. So a measure of the future borders of Israel may be gauged by looking at the size of ancient Israel and some interesting concepts may be discovered by a study of the ancient cities of refuge. The Law of Moses, given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai and expanded in great detail thereafter, was the governing law of ancient Israel in all matters, civil, hygiene, penal, administration, worship, etc. Summary punishment on the basis of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, administered by priest or relative of the victim was a feature. In the case of an accidental killing with no witnesses present to vouch for the lack of intent to kill, the slayer was in grave danger of an improper immediate "payback" death by the close relatives unless a "safe house" could be provided. Six Levitical cities throughout Israel were set aside as "cities of refuge" to which the accidental slayer could flee and into which his revenge killers could not enter. The first item of significance for us to note is that these six cities were a key provision of the national system of justice; they were of the utmost importance to the fair and just application of the law. The second piece of information to note is that each geographical area of population in Israel had to be within practical distance of one of these cities. We may therefore expect that the geographical distribution of the cities would reflect the needs and distribution of the people. The first surprise is that three out of the six cities were EAST OF THE JORDAN RIVER. We are used to the idea that the land of Israel is WEST of the Jordan River and even then the Israeli possession of a major part of that land is in dispute. But in the ancient land of Israel, a replica of which is yet to be restored to present day Israel, half of the vital resources of the justice system were located on the east bank of the Jordan. It is to be expected that the Jordan River would have been a barrier to an innocent slayer trying to reach safety and it may be observed that the six cities are neatly placed half on each side of Jordan and more or less evenly spaced north to south so that, no matter on which side of the Jordan River an Israelite was, he/she would have a fair chance to reach haven. But it also says something about population distribution. We are aware that God granted two and a half tribes (Reuben, Gad and half Manasseh) their land allotments east of Jordan and that nine and a half tribes possessed the land to the west. From this we might expect that more "cities of refuge" would be located on the west to service a bigger population but not so. The "east of Jordan" lands of Israel were very important, so much so that half of the "cities of refuge" were located there. Surely there is a modern day implication in that simple fact. And it is an implication which is backed up by many Bible prophecies. The occupation of the Arabs on the east of Jordan will be ended as well as present Arab claims to the west so that the modern equivalent of the ancient "cities of refuge" can be established in the future judicial system under the rulership of Jesus with his twelve apostles on twelve thrones, administering both sides of the Jordan River. A second surprise on the "cities of refuge" map is the almost equidistant north-south spread of the three cities to each other on each side of Jordan. Furthermore the cities on the east are not near the river but set in the high plains behind "the mountains of Moab." This reflected the more dispersed grazing society of the two and a half tribes who occupied vast tracts of land eastward. The point here is that the future Israel will, by divine promise, occupy these selfsame lands, vast tracts to the east of Jordan which were once part of the tribal lands of ancient Israel. These facts make the present bickering over comparatively small disputed territories in present day Israel a trifling matter compared with the expansion in store for Israel in the future. One day soon, the present arguments over the control of Gaza, the West Bank and Golan and the surrender of land for peace will seem irrelevant. Far bigger events, involving the complete evaporation of Arab claims, and the expansion of Israel to all the territories promised to the ancient fathers, will have overtaken these trifling disputes. Lest there should be any cavil about this conclusion, and doubt about its inevitability, take note of these Bible facts and be aware how we have already used ancient details by which we can be faithfully guided to future events. Here is another set of facts. At the conclusion of Israel's forty years wandering in the desert, they approached "the promised land" on the EAST of the Dead Sea where south Jordan is today. The 21st chapter of Numbers describes Israel's conquest of the Amorites and Og, king of Bashan; that is today's central and northern Jordan. Verse 35, "So they smote him and his sons and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land." That is how the two and a half tribes could happily settle on the EAST of Jordan. Now look at the prophecy of Obadiah about the latter days and about exactly the same land 3500 years later! "And the house of Jacob shall be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame and the house of Esau for stubble and they (the Israelis) shall kindle in them and devour them and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau: for the Lord hath spoken it." It is the forecast of eventual doom for Jordan. You had better believe it because it has happened before! Now here is the third surprise and perhaps the biggest surprise of all. We know that modern Israel is a national entity being erected on the foundations of its ancient lands and that the six cities of refuge were a major part of the structure of the nation. Yet if we examine the position today only ONE of the SIX locations is indisputably in Israeli jurisdiction!!! That is a measure of the huge amount of progress which Israel's borders are yet to make. Kedesh, north of Galilee in the land of Napthali (Joshua 20:7) and near the ruins of Hazor, is the only site of the six cities of refuge in undisputed Israeli control. Shechem is in the West Bank, a predominantly Arab area of high tension and danger. Kirjath-Arba (Hebron) is an Arab administered city - see following story. On the east of the River Jordan, Golan is in the center of the northern high plains, the western edge of which drops into Galilee and only this western edge is in Israeli hands. To the south, Ramoth is even further east and seems to have catered for the herdsfolk who moved with their cattle "into the wilderness" (the word "into the wilderness" (the word "desert" in the NIV is quite misleading - it is desert now but it wasn't then) in the direction of the Euphrates River (see 1 Chronicles 5:9). Further to the south again, Bezer was a city several times mentioned in the Bible. Its exact location is not known but it was noted as being in ruins on the Moabite Stone. After King Solomon's death, the gradual decline of Israel set in. Golan was lost to Israel soon after his death and Bezer was lost around 850 BC. This study of the six "cities of refuge " is part of the process of coming to understand the Bible concept of the restoration to modem Israel of the "land which I gave to your fathers." Of these six immensely important cities, two are presently in areas of disputed control and three are located in central Jordan, yet all six were a vital part of the fabric of the ancient nation of Israel. The restoration of all six cities will involve a major upheaval in the Holy Land which, in turn, is only a hint of the enormous changes that lie ahead for Israel, her immediate neighbors and the rest of the world. RECLAIMING HEBRON Hebron is a city of ancient renown. It was Abraham's resting place and the grave of Sarah. It was King David's capital city for seven and a half years. It was a major south Israel communication point, the entry to the Negev. And as we have noted already, it was a "city of refuge." By the Christian era, it had become the Idumea of Herod's day; the Idumeans had migrated from the east and were helping the Jews against the Romans. In view of Hebron's modern history, it is more than interesting to note that Hebron had an Arab population so far back. Long before the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, Hebron was populated by people who brought the name of Idumea from the east of Jordan, typical of non-Jews who were gradually displacing Jews in Israel. From the 16th century, Jews from all over the world made pilgrimage to Machpela in Hebron but, during Ottoman rule, Jews were often forbidden entry to this site. The modern history of Hebron includes the arrival of increasing numbers of Jewish migrant families during the 19th and early 20th centuries to live among the Arabs there. In August 1929, Arab mobs rampaged through Hebron, killed the chief rabbi and 67 other Jews, turned the synagogue into a public latrine, sacked the hospital and destroyed a major part of Jewish property. The British, unwilling or unable to protect the remaining Jews, evacuated them and the Hebron community of Jews was dissipated. Several times in the next thirty-seven years, Jewish efforts to populate Hebron were repulsed by Arabs. In 1967, determined settlers were only permitted by the Israeli government to build next to Hebron in a community called Kiryat-Arba (Hebron's ancient name). In 1979, a handful of women and children occupied the hospital ruins in Hebron. Jewish authorities then allowed no more Jews to enter and, if leaving, not to reenter. To maintain a Jewish presence, the women and children were trapped. On Sabbath evenings, students from the local yeshiva went to the wire fence to sing and dance encouragement for the trapped occupiers until, one evening, terrorists sprayed them with machine guns and grenades. Six boys were killed and 16 wounded and it was this tragedy which finally moved the Jewish government to allow Jews to live in protected areas in Hebron. Hebron is still a predominantly Arab city but now it seems, with the determination of some Israelis to maintain the establishment of new settlements in Hebron and elsewhere despite international objections and despite US refusal to guarantee loans for Israel to provide facilities for newly arriving refugees, Hebron will assume an increasing Israeli character. The story of Hebron is only one of hundreds in a movement which has its origins in the purpose of God to restore the nation of Israel to its former lands. The story of Hebron is especially significant because it was one of the key Israelite "cities of refuge" and, as such, stands as a symbol of the renaissance which only now has its mere beginnings. In the purpose of God, Hebron will be a major Israeli center one day in a restored nation which will have its rightful place as part of the nucleus of the Kingdom of God on Earth. Reprinted From PRESENT DAY EVENTS No. 404, The Gospel Publicity League, P. O. Box 14, Epping, N.S.W. 2121 Australia Columns Anee M'Amin Anee M'Amin GARY WEITZ My Testimony Praise the Lord! You don't hear the average Jew saying that, so why am I? The answer to that will require some background first. My sister and I were raised in a household that was Jewish by birthright. Yiddish expressions and jokes were common in our house, but God and religion were not. Thus we never went to a synagogue or observed any religious rituals except for a Christian one, a Christmas tree. This was my mother's wish because she had not been allowed to have one as a child. As for me, I just liked the presents underneath it. What my sister, Linda, thought of this ritual, I don't recall, as my relationship with her was not close at the time. Linda, being eleven years older than I, was into her own world and resented the times she had to baby-sit me. She still had time to get into all kinds of trouble, but I was certainly no angel, either, for I beat up classmates and harassed teachers. But my parents thought I could do no wrong and always came to my rescue. This extra attention they bestowed upon me did not help my sister, for she became more rebellious. She began trying many different religions in the hope of saving her second failing marriage. This continued until her announcement that she believed in Jesus. By this time, my parents thought Linda had lost her mind, and believing in Jesus was further proof of that! When I heard this news, I was both angry and ashamed. How could my sister believe in a Gentile God? By then I felt that religion was useless and I wasn't even sure if I believed in God or not. Over the next few years I went through college being a "good kid," that is, I didn't smoke or do drugs. I did chase the women, though, but didn't see that as a fault at the time. During those years Linda and I got closer. She talked a lot about Jesus, but I chose to ignore her comments on the subject. I did notice, however, that she had changed. Her love for me was now genuine and her life was in better order. I was happy for her, but did not really attribute the difference to Jesus. About that time, my dad accepted Jesus into his life! That really did it for me. I never wanted to hear "Jesus stuff" again! But somehow my dad convinced me to go to a church service with him. All I saw there were people acting weird, singing Gentile songs, and saying, "Praise the Lord." I knew it wasn't for me, but I couldn't talk my father out of it. Years later I was doing quite well with my own advertising business. By this time my sister and her three kids had moved to Israel and the letters she was sending were still about this Messiah of hers, but now she was calling Him by His original Hebrew name - Yeshua - and was worshipping Him in a Jewish way. This was beyond my understanding. So I kept to my work and eventually fulfilled the American dream: I had money, a nice house, two cars, and plenty of women to enjoy this with; but the more money I made, the more I wanted to make. Money had become my god. In 1984, I took a break from this money-making to spend a month in Israel visiting Linda. By this time her conversations about Yeshua started to make a little sense to me, but I still felt no need for Him in my life. I enjoyed my visit but was not moved spiritually as Linda was hoping I would be. Then, in 1985, I met Debbie, who later became my wife. She was Jewish, raised kosher, and had an uncle in the family who was a rabbi. But she rebelled against their rituals. By the time she was in college she was convinced she didn't need any religion, but she always felt Jewish by culture. So we fit together well - neither of us wanted synagogues or any spiritual discussions. We dated for a year and a half before she moved in with me. For her it was a trial to see if we'd be compatible for marriage. For myself, I viewed it as a relationship where I could still bail out if necessary. I thought it was much too frightening to bind myself to a marriage, but for "her sake," I let her think that someday we would "tie the knot" legally. In July, 1987, my sister planned a visit to come meet this girlfriend, but Debbie was not at all thrilled. She'd read enough of Linda's letters to know what a "Jesus freak" my sister was, so she was not looking forward to having her live with us for two weeks! About a month before Linda's visit, I was flipping across the car radio dial when I heard this guy talking about Jesus Christ. I changed the station quickly, thinking He would be crammed down my throat enough when Linda got here! Next thing I knew I heard a voice (I was alone in the car). I'm not sure if it was audible or in my mind, but it said, "I love you," and "put the station back on"! Startled, I turned back to the station to hear the host (Bob Larson) talking to a fifteen-year-old dope addict/prostitute who had been sexually abused by her father before she left home. While she was crying her eyes out on the air, I realized that I was crying for this stranger, too. The show host asked the young girl if she wanted to pray with him to accept Jesus Christ into her life and she agreed. I suddenly realized what a sinner I had been all these years just thinking about myself and neglecting God. I found myself praying the same prayer that the young girl did. Afterwards, I felt a peace I've never felt before and from that moment on my life has never been the same. I tried to explain all this to Debbie, but she got very angry. She was also more frightened of Linda's upcoming visit, since she saw her as a threat to totally steal me away to "fanatic land." Even with all her fears, however, Debbie instantly liked Linda. It's hard not to like a person who radiates Yeshua's love like my sister does! Linda's visit was timed perfectly for she was there to answer Debbie's questions that I was not yet able to answer. The love and understanding that Linda used to answer these questions helped Debbie open her mind and heart a little. Before Linda left she introduced me to Beth Yeshua Congregation. The people and rabbi there have really helped me grow in the Lord, and I thank them for that. These people are warm and care about each other's lives, not about their material possessions, which is something Debbie noticed on her first visit there, a stark contrast to the other synagogues she'd been in before. So this self-made man who didn't need God is reading the Bible (Old and New Covenants) daily to get closer to God! Debbie did come to accept the Lord into her life before we got married, and we have been praying and growing together ever since. Our marriage is one of the big changes for me since becoming a believer because I know that I would not have made this kind of commitment if I had not allowed Yeshua into my life. But I know that the best thing I ever did (besides accepting Yeshua, of course!) was to take Debbie as my wife. Old friends look at her to see what trick she used to finally snag this swinging bachelor, but all they need to do is look up to God to find the answer! Since then my business has failed along with the economy, but money is no longer my god. As a result, I have stopped worrying and I rest in the Lord's promise to take care of us, which He has been doing wonderfully. I have also been able to get along better with my parents and have been able to control my anger (now that I recognize it is from Satan and that I have authority over anger in Yeshua's name). Am I a Gentile now? No. I'm a Jew who has found that his Father in Heaven really does care about him! So I can "Praise the Lord" and pray that you can, too! Reprinted with permission of New Leaf Press, Inc., P.O. Box 311, Green Forest, AR 72638. From "Love 101" by Robert Strand. Copyright 1993 by New Leaf Press, Inc. Testimony Testimony CAUGHT WITH MY OWN HOOK By Ernie Hollands Peterborough, Ontario, Canada "This escape must not fail," I told myself, as I eased toward the prison wall, determined to make it this time. With only one month left of my four year term at Dorchester Penitentiary, Canada, the warden had informed me I had been found guilty in absentia in the United States of armed robbery, and sentenced to 15 years to life at Jackson State Penitentiary in Michigan. That was when I decided to try another daring escape. Only this time they wouldn't catch me as before. Everything had been planned carefully. I had placed a dummy, assembled from an assortment of items, in my bunk to fool the guards, then hid until the right moment. With beads of perspiration on my brow, a strong grip on the rope I'd stolen, and two meat hooks taken from the kitchen, I began to scale the wall . Once over the wall, I made it safely to Halifax, and wasn't missed for 10 hours. Although I had planned the escape very carefully, I hadn't done the same with my life. The police eventually caught up with me. One day I got out of my car with three guns pointing over the hood at me. I was sentenced for another nine years. Because of my record of continual escapes I was taken to Kingston Penitentiary. You don't escape from there! This could mean only one thing Ñ many boring hours. So I started hobbies: building television and radio sets with a TV repair shop in my cell, and tying artificial fish flies. The prison had labeled me "habitual criminal." I had spent 25 years behind bars on various charges. My life revolved in a vicious circle - from one crime to the next, one prison to the next, one daring escape to the next. There was always that inner compulsion that made it impossible for me to stop. No One Told Me I was born the oldest of five children in a two-room shack with no plumbing in the slum area of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Dad, injured on the job, was unable to work, so we were very poor. I remember eating lots of bread and molasses, and occasionally a little bologna. I never saw the inside of a church. Jesus and God were swearwords used by my mother and father. No one ever put their arms around me and told me they loved me. My mother taught me how to steal at the age of eight. It was the only way our family could survive. The first time we had bacon and eggs was when I stole them. At Christmas I broke into cars, taking food and presents to give to my parents. As a result, I was placed in a reform institution at the age of 12, and was in a penitentiary by the time I was 18. More and more my heart became rebellious and full of hate for society and authority. I hated everyone and everything. While serving the sentence at Kingston, my extradition hearings were finally dropped, and I was transferred to a medium-security prison and eventually paroled. Eight unsuccessful job attempts and seven months later, I returned to the only life I knew - crime. I remember well the capture that followed. As Ottawa police were putting the handcuffs on me, one officer said he thought I was happy to be going back to prison. He was right! I had become institutionalized. In prison, I was somebody. I was secure. Of course it wouldn't last long and I would escape at the first opportunity. But I couldn't handle the pressures on the outside. No one had ever told me about Jesus or that He loved me no matter what I had done. Four years later, given a weekend pass, I skipped the country. Once again I was apprehended following an armed robbery. But something totally unplanned happened. There was a gun, a policeman, and a scuffle. The gun went off and the policeman fell to the ground wounded . I immediately surrendered and was sentenced to Millhaven Maximum Security at Kingston. Retreating to my cell, I resumed the hobby of making artificial fish flies. Making Contact Over the years it grew into a prosperous business. I started making contacts with sports stores as outlets for selling the fish flies. Grant Bailey, the owner of one such store in Pembrook, Ontario, wasn't sure he wanted to purchase the flies but decided to acknowledge my letter enclosing a sample. At the end of his letter he added a brief Christian witness. Later he sent me a Bible and shared the beautiful story of his recent conversion to Christ. He was the first person ever to tell me about God, that Jesus had died for my sins, and that He really loved me. Thinking I might impress the guards, I started reading the Bible. The words started getting to me till I was reading 15 to 20 chapters a day. Something was happening inside me! I didn't hate anymore. I stopped arguing and made friends. Then one night in my cell a tremendous miracle took place. Instead of just praying words, I began praying from the depths of my soul - and I saw Jesus! He came into my cell, put His hand on my shoulder, and said, "Ernie Hollands, your slate is wiped clean." The love and compassion that flowed from His being was wonderful. I will never forget that moment. Long into the night I sat on my narrow cot, my tears mingling with the cleansing flow of God's forgiveness. The hardened habitual criminal" became a new creation in Jesus Christ! Old things passed away and all things became new (2 Corinthians 5:17). My scoffing at religion stopped, and my dirty, filthy mind and rotten habits were replaced with an indescribable love. Twenty-three months later I walked out of Joyceville Institution, three and a half years before the end of my sentence. I had been twice set free - first free in my spirit, then free from prison bars! Grant Bailey was waiting with a van to transport 34 cartons of fish flies. He opened his home, had a job waiting for me at his store, and a church full of Christian brothers and sisters ready to receive me. Free Indeed Since my release, God has been restoring those 25 years wasted behind bars (Joel 2:25). I started out by speaking to young people at a local coffeehouse, encouraging them to lead honest lives, even helping them to return stolen items and going to court with several to speak on their behalf. Sunday afternoons found me back in jail, but for a different purpose - I was sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and telling them that only He could set them free and wipe the slate clean, as He did for me. In 1976, I became so busy speaking for Jesus that I had to give up my job at Mr. Bailey's store. Now I am in the prison ministry full time, speaking at churches, Full Gospel Business Men's meetings, high schools, universities and over television, and given clearance by the penal system to return to minister at reform schools, jails, prisons and penitentiaries throughout Canada. I love to visit jails and witness. In one jail alone, 27 men gave their hearts to the Lord. Prisoners are not "habitual criminals." They are men who have gone astray and need God. God also answered my prayer for a family of my own. I was 47 years old and had never been married. Every night I would pray, "Lord, I'm getting too old to start raising a family. Would You give me a ready-made family?" Then I would thank Him, because I knew He heard and would answer. One year later, while I shared my testimony on television, a widow and her three children were watching. The two older children heard me say I was praying for a ready-made family and began to pray, "Lord, would you give us Uncle Ernie for our daddy?" This concerned their mother very much. But the Lord spoke to her heart, she attended a Full Gospel Business Men's meeting where I was speaking, and a few months later Sheila and I were married. God has promised in Matthew 6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." There is no creed, philosophy, or rehabilitation program that can do what Jesus did for me. Only the power of God can change the heart of a "habitual criminal" into a temple of the Holy Spirit. For further info contact: Mr. Ernie Hollands Box 924 Peterborough, Ontario, Canada K9J 7A5 Missions Missions WHERE HAVE ALL THE JUNGLES GONE? By Chuck Bennett, President of PARTNERS INTERNATIONAL His church near Jogjakarta, Indonesia was started by a seminary student from the distant, primitive province of IrianJaya, formerly known as Dutch New Guinea. It illustrates the revolutionary change in Christian missions in recent years. Let me explain from my own experience. Years ago, on my very first day as a 22-year-old missionary recruit, I processed pictures of a tiny mission airplane landing on a lake in the interior mountains of Dutch New Guinea. That was the first contact with half a million stone age people who had no previous knowledge of the outside world. (A few months later five heroic missionaries were killed by "Aucas" in the jungles of Ecuador.) Later, as a mission pilot, I searched the vast jungles of southern Venezuela, among half-mile high waterfalls cascading from "islands in the sky", to locate the elusive circular villages of the Yanomamo. I also dropped gifts to former headhunters in Borneo who were hacking out some of the very first airstrips in the interior of that Texas-size rain forest. Back then our goal was to conquer earth's jungle barriers with the message of Christ's love. And, with God's help, we succeeded. The jungles aren't all gone yet, of course, but missionaries have now identified and contacted all the isolated jungle tribes in the world. The "jungle-hero" phase of missions is over. What amazing changes in a single generation! The children of unclothed, stone age Dutch New Guinea tribes have not only completed university and seminary but have planted churches among the proud Javanese, whose complex culture dates back thousands of years. Children of Dyak headhunters, the "wild men of Borneo," have done the same. In South America, Auca and Yanomamo Christians carry the Good News to their jungle neighbors. We have now entered a new era in missions. We are still faced with barriers of culture, of language, of religion, and in spite of the breakup of the Soviet Union, formidable political barriers as well. But we also have new resources. World population has doubled in my adult lifetime, but the number of third world Christians has increased six or eight fold. And probably forty or fifty times as many Christians from Africa, Asia and Latin America now serve as "missionaries" of all kinds. For them the barriers of culture, language and nationality often don't exist. Partners International has been assisting such indigenous missionaries for fifty years... long before it was the popular thing to do. As the number of indigenous missionaries skyrockets, requests for our help are soaring. We are barely scratching the surface of need during this time of the greatest expansion of the Christian faith in all of history. Here at Partners International in recent months we have redefined our goals, reduced overhead, streamlined operations and committed ourselves anew to God as we move with confidence and excitement into our next fifty years of ministry. Partners International is committed to multiplying resources for God's world via strategic partnerships with credible, effective indigenous ministries. By partnering with national Christians, whose financial needs are often a fraction of the average western missionary, and who are at home in their local culture and language, Partners is able to maximize resources and increase effectiveness. Scope of Partners International Ministries: - 57 Ministries assisted - 49 Countries being worked in - 2,255 Overseas workers assisted - 4,611 Children sponsored _______________________________ "TARGET 300" Banquets Equipping New Frontline Leaders Around the World This spring, Partners International will host a series of exciting "Target 300" banquets. A first-hand field report from an outstanding international Christian leader and the dramatic new video production "God's Unsung Heroes", will be presented. Plan to bring your friends and relatives as we celebrate the opportunities God is giving to equip 300 new frontline leaders around the world in 1994. Santa Ana, CA April 11 Culver City, CA April 12 So. San Francisco, CA April 14 Oakland, CA April 15 San Jose, CA April 16 Sacramento, CA April 18 San Jose, CA April 19 Seattle, WA May 12 Minneapolis, MN May 14 Atlanta, GA May 17 Charlotte, NC May 19 Fort Lauderdale, FL May 20 Schedule a speaker for your church! Jose Cruz (Latin America) Feb. 19 - Mar. 13 (Southwest USA) Francisco Velasquez (Middle East) Feb. 17-28 (Southern California) Dr. Vijayam (India) Feb. 19 - Mar. 13 (Northwest USA) Mar. 14-20 (North Central USA) Mar. 21-31 (Southern California) Simon Lau (Taiwan) Feb. 14 - Mar. 13 (Chinese Churches) Jui-Ling Wang (Taiwan) Feb. 14 - Mar. 13 (Chinese Churches) Herman Heyman (Belgium) April 15-27 (Northern California) April 28 - May 8 (Minnesota) Dimitrije Popadic (Macedonia/former Yugoslavia) May 9-24 (Southern California) May 25-29 (Open) For more information contact: Partners International PO Box 15025 San Jose, CA 95115-0025 Partners International Ministries is a charter member of ECFA, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Education Education You can get quite an education from studying the Bible. Real-life lessons can be learned by studying the lives of real-life people! The following mini-Bible study is from INSIDE JOURNAL, a publication of PRISON FELLOWSHIP. Although designed as a study for prison inmates, anyone can make good use of this and similar type studies. SAMSON: The Strongman Who Died of Fallen Arches The story of the strongman Samson is found in the Old Testament book of Judges, chapters 13:1-16:31. These 96 verses tell the story of this colorful, exciting and frustrating Old Testament character. Suggestion: sit down with three or four others, or by yourself if no one else is available or interested. Read straight through these four chapters of Judges in your Bible. Then think through and talk through the questions below. You may want to make some notes so you can apply what you've learned. All the advantages Samson had all the advantages in the beginning. He was born into a good, religious home. His parents really wanted to have a child. And they had the young Samson specially dedicated to do work for God (read Numbers 6 to see what it meant to take the vow of a Nazirite). But Samson, for all his early advantages, ruined much of his life because he was ruled by his passions. He had two main weaknesses: * He couldn't control his lust for women * He often reacted with a hot temper and vengeance. The result was that he ended up in prison, in the custody of the national enemies of the Israelites. They put out his eyes, so he was blind. And he was reduced to doing the lowest kind of work - grinding out grain in the prison mill. Understanding Samson 1. What indicates that Samson was especially blessed of the Lord? 2. Which events showed Samson's temper and vengeful attitude? 3. The Bible mentions at least three relationships Samson had with women. One was his wife, and the other two were prostitutes. Analyze each situation as to how Samson handled himself, and what the results were. What can we learn? 1. How could Samson have made better choices regarding the women in his life? 2. What does the Bible teach about marriage, about visits to prostitutes, and about honesty in a marriage relationship? 3. In your own relationships with the opposite sex, are there any mistakes you need to repair, or lessons you can learn from Samson's mistakes? 4 In what ways did Samson's vengeful attitudes get him in trouble? 5. What would have been a more constructive way for Samson to handle his anger? Suggestion: Take a piece of paper and draw a vertical line down the middle. On the left, list unhealthy ways of dealing with anger and disappointment. On the right, list some healthy ways of dealing with the same. If you're stuck for suggestions, get some ideas from the chaplain, from Prison Fellowship volunteers, or from fellow Christian prisoners. Then work on putting into practice those suggestions in the right-hand column. A smashing conclusion 1. How did Samson's end come? Was this pleasing to God or not? 2. Overall, did Samson make more positive contributions, or negative contributions, to his society? What did he accomplish that God would approve of? 3. Was Samson's source of strength in his hair, or in something more universal? How did he misuse that strength? How did he use it positively?. 4. Once he was in prison, we have no record that Samson was ever released before his death. What indications do we have that he turned back to pleasing God while in prison? 5. What is the secret to self-control? How can you make it happen in the areas where you are weak? 6. Must we be perfect for God to use us? Or can He be pleased with us while we are a work-in-progress? Is it ever too late to start over? A closing thought: Samson had power which he used unwisely. You, too, have power and influence. Use it for right, not for wrong. This will please God. Music Music THE PRISONER'S SONG By Lennie Spitale Y'know I watched you movin' as you shuffled 'round the yard, Your face was lined in bitterness, your eyes were cold and hard. And if you had some wounds inside, well ain't no one else can tell. 'Cause your role it is the hard man and you play it oh so well, You play it oh so well. But every night's a nightmare, you know every day's the same, You wake up in the mornin' and you play the hard man's game. You are a prisoner's prisoner, a con among the cons. You got your money on tomorrow, but all your dreams are gone, All your dreams are gone. But you don't need no preachin', no one tellin' you what to do, You've been to the valley and I know you've paid your dues. You've been to the valley and I know you've paid your dues. But late at night, when you're locked up tight, and you lie there all alone, The mask comes down and you're free to think about things all your own. You gaze up to the window, past the towers and the lights, And you dream about some loved one who seldom seems to write. And you see a star that's twinklin' there, somethin' natural that appears, And your mind inside is screamin', "Boy, what are you doing here?" "What are you doing here?" But you don't need no preachin', no self-righteous saints To tell you what you is, my friend, or to tell you what you ain't. 'Cause they ain't none no better to be talkin' down at you. You've been to the valley and I know you've paid your dues. But you still got a hole inside ain't no one else can fill, And I got a Friend waitin' outside, I know He always will. He'll give you a peace like you've never known, He'll bind up all your scars. You ain't gotta wear a mask for Him, 'cause He knows right where you are. Don't wait for a day that never comes, it's just another lie, If there were somethin' you could've done, then why did Jesus die? Just take the gift He offers you, run to His side and say, "Lord, you know that I've been wrong. Come in my life today. Come in my life to stay." But you don't need no preachin', no one tellin' you what to do, But He's been to the valley and I know He went for you. I know He made that valley 'cause He's been there for me, too. He's been to the valley and He paid up all our dues. "The Prisoner's Song" is a single cassette tape. Just a single song on each side. Some prisoners wish there had been "more songs on it", like an album. But the one who wrote the lyrics is neither a professional songwriter or singer, so there was never any original goal "to do an album." The reason I know all that is because it's a song the Lord gave me several years ago to sing in the prisons. As a young man I was constantly in trouble. I was rebellious and angry and was locked up on several occasions for that same rebelliousness and anger. I was also a restless individual, always looking for "happiness" anywhere but where I currently was. But that restlessness and rebellion ended in 1975 when the Lord opened my heart and enabled me to see His grace and His love in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The invasion of God into my life was the difference between night and day, death and life. I once thought one way and now I thought another. No program, no philosophy, no social adjustment could account for it. I had become a different creature than what I had been before. The Lord was doing as He promised He would do. By far, the favorite verse among the inmates is 2 Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" Less than two years later, in February of 1977, the Lord led me back into prison, this time not as part of the problem, but as part of the solution. Our problem is the sinful nature, and the Scriptures declare that the whole world is the prisoner of sin. (Galatians 3:22) Only forgiveness through Jesus Christ can break those chains. A simple message, the Gospel, but what power! Power to forgive sins, power to change lives, power to guarantee eternal life! What began as strumming a few chords to assist the singing in a weekly service at a local jail, grew to leading a weekly Bible study, which in turn led to doing cell-to-cell ministry up on the tiers. Two years later, the Lord led my wife, Wendy, and I into full-time prison ministry. He raised our support through individuals and local churches and we joined the prison ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. Through the next three years we served in prisons throughout Southern California and were eventually sent to begin a ministry at the Florida State Prison in Starke, Florida. This was daily duty at a maximum security unit which included Florida's death row. The Lord used us to expand the ministry there and by the time we left, 25 volunteers had been added to assist the chaplain. We returned to New England under the auspices of the Evangelistic Association of New England. I have served as their coordinator of prison ministries since 1982. The work covers the six New England states. We assist the local church by training volunteers for prison ministry and establishing programs within the prisons, supplying volunteers, chaplains, materials, and setting up new programs in facilities that need them. The work continues with great strength today, strictly by God's grace, and every correctional facility in New England pretty much has the Gospel going into it on at least a once a week basis. Often it is much more than that. The song was given to me one night after I had been doing prison ministry for a couple years. I say "was given to me" because I did not sit down with the intention of writing it. I woke up about two o'clock in the morning with the images of prison life flashing through my mind. I recalled my own time in prison and could see again the old mental pictures that never seemed to fade. That's when the words to the song began to come. In a very short time, the lyrics had been worked out and I knew that if I didn't get out of bed and write them down, they would be gone by morning. This I did, waking my puzzled wife in the process. In the next day or so I had worked out a tune on the guitar and the song was finished. In those early days, when we were raising our support for full-time ministry, I would play the song for churches. They thought it was nice, but it never received the response it did with the inmates. Because it was written for them and to them, they feel it in a way that others do not seem able to. It was the response to the song in prison that made me realize that it truly was a tool of the Lord to reach prisoners. I am still amazed at the way it is received by them. Inmates from all kinds of prisons and all kinds of backgrounds seem to be truly touched by its message. More often than not, there are tears in the eyes of some of the listeners. It doesn't seem to matter whether they are lifers, or tough guys, or old guys, or young guys, men or women. The common denominator is that they are prisoners. One evening, while leaving the women's prison in New Hampshire, where I had played the song and given the message, one of the volunteers asked if I would be interested in having the song recorded. Her feeling was that it would enable inmates in other places to hear it. I thought it was a good idea and my first response was, "Great! Who will we get to sing it and play it?" She then told me that she would be willing to put up the money for it only on the condition that I would sing it myself. She felt it was my song and the two had to go together. The tape was produced and was used not only as an encouragement to existing Christians in the prisons but also, and perhaps primarily, as an evangelistic tool. There is a short testimony on the inside which includes a Gospel message. The song is not written in "Christianeze", but in a way that inmates can relate to. Since then, we have been able to pass out several hundred of the tapes to inmates in New England and also in Canada, through a prison ministry up there. But at this point, the effort has pretty much stalled. There are two reasons for this. One is that the song can only be distributed to prisoners in correctional facilities where they are allowed to have tape players in their cells. Some institutions allow them; some do not. The other reason is a publicity one. While we have made efforts to get the word out to other institutions in the country, the results have been minimal. Another challenge is that the tape is always to be given to inmates free of charge. The way we worked that out here in New England is that individual Christians could make donations to EANE (The Evangelistic Association of New England) to cover the cost. We really donÕt know what the future of the tape will be. It may well be that it has gone as far as it was meant to go. The Lord does what He wants, when He wants to. As for myself, the work in prison continues. The song has been a part of the ministry, but it is only a part. The primary goal is, and will remain, bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those in prison. The main ÒtoolÓ toward that end is the Church. Although the Lord has used EANE staff to establish many prison ministries throughout New England, none of them would know themselves by that name. We may be used to help them get started but the responsibility for the ministry comes under the local church from which the volunteers are drawn, thus ensuring the best possible maintenance, accountability and support. If individuals would like a copy of the tape sent to them, or sent to a prisoner, they need only send a check for five dollars to: The Prisoner's Song EANE 279 Cambridge St. Burlington, Ma 01803 This price includes shipping and handling. Chef's Corner Chef's Corner It has been said that the world is made up of two kinds of people: those who are Irish and those who wish they were. Whether you are Irish or wish you were, St. Patrick's Day belongs to all of us. In my hometown I have seen men dye their beards green and women painting green shamrocks on their faces. Almost everyone tries to remember to wear something green that special day and spread some joy to others. Why not catch the highlights of a St. Patrick's Day parade in the big cities on television and settle down to good Irish food for dinner! IRISH CORNED BEEF WITH CABBAGE; Wash a 4-pound piece of corned beef in cold water and place it with 1/2 pound salt pork in a pot with three quarts boiling water. Add 1/2 cup sugar, 3 bay leaves, and a clove of garlic. Simmer for three and a half hours or until the meat is tender. Peel three yellow turnips and slice thickly. Add to meat with three scraped, cut-up carrots, eight white onions, peeled, and six scraped parsnips. Continue cooking until the vegetables are tender. Core one small head of cabbage and cut into six wedges. Place in separate cooking pot. From the corned beef pot, dip out two cups cooking liquor. Combine with enough boiling water to just cover the cabbage. Cook cabbage until tender. Serve on heated platter with corned beef and vegetables. O'BRIEN POTATOES; Cook six medium potatoes in their jackets, adding 1/4 cup apple juice for flavor. Cool, peel, and dice. In a saucepan combine 1 1/2 cups milk and 2 tablespoons butter. Cook until slightly thickened. Add 1 cup diced cheese, 1 small finely diced onion, 1/2 diced medium green pepper, 1 small jar diced pimento, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook until thoroughly combined. Pour sauce over diced potatoes; pour mixture into baking dish. Cover with fine cracker crumbs and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. SHAMROCK SALAD; Dissolve one 3-ounce package lime gelatin in 1 cup hot water and cool. Add one undrained can crushed pineapple. Pour mixture into a large mold. Chill until set. Dissolve one 3-ounce package lemon gelatin in 1 cup hot water. Whip 1 cup cream with one small package softened cream cheese. Add to lemon gelatin mixture. Pour the mixture on top of the set lime gelatin. Chill until set. Mix 1 cup whipping cream with one small package of softened cream cheese and 10 marshmallows, cut into pieces. Refrigerate overnight. Whip just before serving and serve with salad. LEPRECHAUN PEAS; Brown 2 tablespoons chopped onion in 2 tablespoons butter in skillet; stir in 2 tablespoons flour until bubbly. Add 3/4 cup milk gradually, stirring constantly, until smooth and thickened. Add 1/4 pound American cheese, cubed; stir until melted. Add 2 boxes frozen peas, thawed. Pour into baking dish. Top with crumbs or crumbled potato chips. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes or until peas are done. Yield: 8 servings. SODA BREAD; Sift 4 cups flour with 3 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon soda. Add 1 cup seedless raisins, and 1 3/4 cups buttermilk and 1/4 cup cooking oil. Mix just until moistened. Shape dough into 2 mounds on greased baking sheet. Cut deep cross in top each loaf with sharp knife. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. IRISH STEW; Cut 1 1/2 pounds boneless lamb shoulder into 1-inch cubes. Combine 1/4 cup flour, 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and 1/2 teaspoon paprika in a bag; add lamb. Shake to coat well. Reserve remaining flour mixture. Brown lamb well in 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Remove lamb. Add 1 cup sliced fresh onions to drippings in pan; brown lightly. Arrange browned lamb and onions in center of 1 1/2 quart shallow casserole. Arrange 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced pared potatoes around lamb; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon reserved flour mixture. Repeat layers twice. Pour 1 1/2 cups beef bouillon into casserole; cover. Bake in 375-degree oven for about 1 hour or until potatoes are tender. Remove cover; bake for 15 minutes longer or until potatoes are lightly browned. Yield: About 4 servings. LIME PARFAIT PIE; Dissolve 1 6-ounce package lime gelatin in 2 cups boiling water; stir in 1 teaspoon shredded lime peel and 1/3 cup lime juice. Add 1 quart vanilla ice cream by spoonfuls, stirring until melted. Chill mixture until partially thickened. Pour into pastry shell; chill until firm. Top with whipped cream; garnish with cherries. IRISH BLARNEY STONES; Sift 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt together. Beat 6 egg whites until stiff. Beat 6 egg yolks until thick, beating in 1 cup sifted sugar gradually. Beat in grated rind of 1/2 lemon, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and half the egg whites. Fold in flour mixture and remaining egg whites. Spread batter in ungreased square baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool cake; cut into squares. Dip cake squares into thin confectioners' sugar icing; roll in 1 cup crushed pecans. IRISH PUNCH; Dissolve 2 packages lime drink powder mix and 2 cups sugar in 2 quarts water; stir in 1 46-ounce can pineapple juice. Chill. Pour over ice in punch bowl and add 1 quart ginger ale, chilled, just before serving. Float scoops of lime sherbet in punch. Yield: 50 servings. Bible for Prison Inmates Bible for Prison Inmates "Free on the Inside" An NIV Bible for Prison Inmates! Do you use Bibles in jail or prison ministry or know someone who does? "Free on the Inside" is a Bible created especially for prisoners, with more than 70 pages of helps that speak directly to the personal concerns and needs of those behind bars. Softcover (5 1/4" x 8 3/8") Features include: - Easy-to-read "New International Version" text - 4 full-color pages with testimonies of former inmates - Bible overview - Topical Bible studies - Study guide section that deals with topics such as "Finding Forgiveness in Jesus," "How Do I Live as a Follower of Jesus?" and "The Bible's Answers to Hard Questions" - Dictionary and concordance #00121 - $3.50 - 24/$70.80 $2.95 in case lots! Mail check/money order to: International Bible Society PO Box 35700, Colorado Springs, CO 80935-3570 Order by credit card 1-800-524-1588 Order by Fax: 1-719-488-0870 Take Care of Yourself Take Care of Yourself TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF by Mike Wilkinson "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones" (Proverbs 3:5-8). It is good for a person to be guided by the Lord. There is a confidence that belongs to those whose paths are directed by Him. This comes from the assurance that life is going in the right direction. This is true no matter what difficulties are encountered along the way. Trusting God brings peace. This confidence and peace is good for the soul. We acknowledge Him by asking for His help, and being grateful for His answer. "We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you" (Psalms 33:20-22). He will help us along our way, while shielding us from disaster. But we must take care to flee from evil. We must not follow human reasoning in matters where it would lead us astray from following the Lord. Sin brings about guilt. Guilt is a burden which can even affect the health of the body. God's love, peace and forgiveness are waiting for those who will live for Him. God calls upon us to trust in Him, and not on our own understanding so that we may enjoy all these blessings from Him as He leads. "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers" (Psalms 1:1-3). Take care of yourself by letting God take care of you. News Clips News Clips NEWSCLIPS BIBLES CHANGE PRISONERS' LIVES KISHINEV, MULDOVA (NIRR) - The Bible is setting prisoners free in a prison in Kishinev, Moldova. The prison's vice warden told the American Bible Society recently that he had recognized noticeable changes in those prisoners who had become Christians and had been baptized. "They have changed their attitudes, their visions for the future, their whole outlook toward life," he said. As a result, prison authorities in the former Soviet Republic plan to allow Christian representatives more access to prisoners because, the warden said, "these visits produce good results in behavior and education." Consequently, church groups regularly lead services for the 1,000 prisoners at the medium-security prison. Seventh-day Adventist, evangelical Baptist, and Orthodox leaders are preaching and teaching in both Russian and Rumanian. One inmate told ABS representatives many Moldovans were looking for standards to follow, including a Western, capitalist way of life. "But here in prison," he said, "we are preaching the Gospel of Christ, which has no borders and no economic system." The inmate compared it to having someone tell him he could go free because someone else would serve his term for him. "I know that is what Christ has done for me," he said. CONVERTED IMAM RELEASED KHARTOUM SUDAN (NNI) - Sylvador Ali Ahmad, 38,| a Sudanese Muslim imam who converted to christianity five years ago has revealed that he was imprisoned by a Khartoum court for six months during 1991 for having converted to Christianity. A graduate of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Ahmad served for 11 years as imam of the Shagra district of Khartoum. Militantly anti-Christian as a young imam, Ahmad started to read the New Testament in preparation for beginning a Ph.D. in comparative religions. He found himself deeply disturbed by what he was reading, recalling, "I didn't believe it, and I was afraid to follow it, but it touched my heart." After six months of comparative study of the Bible with the Koran, he finally decided to become a Christian in September 1988. Although his wife initially went along with the decision, eventually she bowed to her father's denunciation of Ahmad as an infidel. Taking their four children, she left him and sued for divorce. Nearly a year later, under the intensified Islamization drive, when Ahmad was called in for questioning, he said he readily admitted that he had attended church the previous Sunday, and that he was a Christian. He was immediately arrested and put in chains in solitary confinement. In addition to a six-month prison sentence, Ahmad was stripped of his military rank, dismissed from his teaching position, forbidden custody of his children, and dispossessed of his car, house and bank account. The judge then warned, "If you refuse to return to Islam, and keep your belief in Jesus Christ, your prison term will be renewed for another six months." But after six months, prison authorities apparently changed their minds. Undaunted in his Christian witness, Ahmad soon had small Bible studies and prayer groups started all over Omdurman Prison. "By the end of three months," he said, "there were 305 known Christians in our prison, at least seven from Muslim background. "Finally, labeling him "a very dangerous man," the prison imam requested that he be transferred to Gerif Prison, a work facility in east Khartoum. Ahmad continued evangelizing, and soon there were eight Christians meeting together. A week later, 50 were gathering around a tree in the prison courtyard. After two months, the 115 believers were given a room for Christian services. "When so many were getting converted around me in the prison," he concluded, "they must have decided it was better for me to be outside the prison!" The Roadblock of Worry The Roadblock of Worry THE ROADBLOCK OF WORRY By David Roberts There's a story flying around (that I verified firsthand with two airplane pilots) of a man who thought of a novel way to visit his neighbors. He conceived the idea of tying several helium balloons to his lawn chair, floating over the fences of his friends and dropping in for a visit. If he got too high up he would just prick one of the balloons and come down. All went well until he floated up several hundred feet. His anxiety soon led to panic. Passengers landing at a nearby airport saw our friend floating around in the clouds with a look of terror on his face. When the Rescue Squad helicopter got the thankful man down to earth, they asked why he did it. "You just can't sit there. You've got to do something," was his reply. Any one of us would naturally be fearful, anxious and worried if we were floating around in a lawnchair at 1,100 feet. But most of our worries are unfounded. We become preoccupied with what may happen in the future that we forget how to cope with the present. We are being crucified between two thieves, the regrets of yesterday and the worries of tomorrow. The word anxious means "to be pulled apart." The last time you worried, I'm sure you were pulled apart. Your mind said, "Oh don't worry, it will work out." Your heart said, "It will never work out." Your heart and mind were pulling against each other. This is why worry affects you physically, making you unable to sleep or eat properly. Worry consumes your thoughts, disrupts your work, family, your joys and your inner peace. Also, it negatively affects the way you respond to God and others. Worry also means "to strangle." Have you ever been strangled by worry? Literally, we can get a pain in our neck, develop headaches, ulcers and even have a heart attack because worry is pulling us apart. Worry robs us of the enjoyment of today. Are you enjoying today? Some of us are not enjoying today because we are regretting yesterday and worrying about tomorrow. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 6:25-34, "Look at the birds! They don't worry about what to eat, they don't need to sow or reap or store up food, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to Him than they are. Will all your worries add a single moment to your life?" Said the robin to the sparrow, I'd really like to know - Why these anxious human beings - Run about and worry so. Said the sparrow to the robin, It surely must be - That they don't have a loving heavenly Father - To care for them like you and me. Jesus also went on to say, "So don't be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time." (Matthew 6:34). So about the future, don't waste your time worrying! Trust the Lord, for His guidance (Proverbs 3:5,6; Jeremiah 29:11). Confess any sins of regret of the past and accept His loving forgiveness and healing (1John 1:9). Seek the Lord in prayer like the psalmist who said, "I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears" (Psalm 34:4). Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you (1Peter 5:7). Then sing this song: Cheer up ye saints of God, There's nothing to worry about, Nothing to make you feel afraid, Nothing to make you doubt. Remember! Jesus never fails, So why not trust Him and shout, You'll be sorry you worried at all tomorrow morning. Reprinted with permission: From HIGHWAY a publication of Transport for Christ International P.O. Box 303 Denver, Pennsylvania 17517 The Road of Life The Road of Life THE ROAD OF LIFE At first, I saw God as my observer, my judge - keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die. He was out there sort of like a president. I recognized His picture when I saw it, but I really did not know Him. But later on when I met Jesus, it seemed as though life were rather like a bike ride. But it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that Jesus was in the back helping me pedal. I do not know just when it was that He suggested we change places, but life has not been the same since. When I had control, I knew the way. It was rather boring, but predictable... it was the shortest distance between two points. But when He took the lead, He knew delightful long cuts, up mountains, and through rocky places at breakneck speeds. It was all I could do to hang on! Even though it looked like madness, He said, "PEDAL!" I worried and was anxious and asked, "Where are you taking me?" He laughed and did not answer and I started to learn to trust. I forgot my boring life and entered into the adventure. And when I would say, "I am scared," He would lean back and touch my hand. He took me to people with gifts that I needed, gifts of healing, acceptance and joy. They gave me gifts to take on my journey, my Lord's and mine. And we were off again. He said, "Give the gifts away. They are extra baggage, too much weight." So I did, to the people we met, and I found that in giving I received, and still our burden was light. I did not trust Him, at first, in control of my life. I thought He would wreck it. But He knows bike secrets. He knows how to make it bend to take sharp corners. He knows how to jump to clear high rocks. He knows how to fly to shorten scary passages. I am learning to shut up and pedal in the strangest places, and I am beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face with my delightful constant companion, Jesus Christ. And when I am sure I just can not do anymore, He just smiles and says "PEDAL." (Author Unknown)