Friday, July 4, 2008
Comments enabled (sort of)
Based on a plethorum of requests, I've found a workaround for comments. I've duplicated this blog at centralramblings.blogspot.com. Comments will work there, but will not be shown here. If you'd like to make comments, do so from there. The two blogs sync, so all my postings will appear both places. We'll see how this works out...don't be surprised to see more changes.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Why No Comments?
I’ve been asked by a plethora of people (if you consider one to be a plethora...a plethorum, perhaps?) why I don’t open this blog up to comments. The simple answer is that, as part of the Central Web site, it’s impractical to have comments. Here’s why...
As anyone who has blogged knows, comments can be used in all sorts of ways. While the views on this blog are strictly my own, and not in any manner “official” views of the Central family, it still represents Central. Hence, in order to have comments here, I would need to go to full moderation to make sure neither inappropriate comments nor flame wars wound up here. Frankly, I don’t have the time to moderate this thing. So, for now, it will remain commentless.
However, if you’d like to make comments (or if you’re out there at all), drop me a line via the contact form, or the contact button at the bottom of the page and let me know. If I get enough requests (more than one), I’ll investigate a possible compromise solution. Before doing that work, I want to be sure it will be useful.
As anyone who has blogged knows, comments can be used in all sorts of ways. While the views on this blog are strictly my own, and not in any manner “official” views of the Central family, it still represents Central. Hence, in order to have comments here, I would need to go to full moderation to make sure neither inappropriate comments nor flame wars wound up here. Frankly, I don’t have the time to moderate this thing. So, for now, it will remain commentless.
However, if you’d like to make comments (or if you’re out there at all), drop me a line via the contact form, or the contact button at the bottom of the page and let me know. If I get enough requests (more than one), I’ll investigate a possible compromise solution. Before doing that work, I want to be sure it will be useful.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Prison Ministry Workshop: Friday PM
I hope my blogging is coherent for this session: at lunch, we had some pretty tasty tiramisu. I’m not a tiramisu eater, so we’ll see how I handle it...
1:35 PM David Green is edifying us while we’re waiting for the teacher of the Anger Management class (who didn’t arrive). He was on death row in Angola at age 15. Proverbs 15:1 kept him through Angola. However, after being freed eight years later, went back into the world. This from a man who was baptized at 10 and preached his first sermon at 12. None of that mattered: when he was released, the church turned its back on him. He made his way to Kansas City, where he was arrested again. Even though he knew Jesus, he didn’t know him as Lord. It took another stint in the penitentiary to make Jesus his Lord.
A life of sin in the drug trade promises one of things: a quick trip to the graveyard or a quick trip to prison. In prison, they have an opportunity to learn a different way: they have nothing but time. However, Satan is waiting at the prison door. No matter how much one changes in prison, he’s waiting on the outside to lead the ex-offender back to the world.
The government talks about recidivism, the revolving door. However, is there an opportunity for the ex-offender to get an honest job when he’s released?
Until an inmate make up his mind that he wants God into his life, change won’t happen. The start of change is accountability: acknowledging that his situation, his family’s situation, is his responsibility, not the responsibility of society. “God put me/my son/whomever.” Not at all.
We have to be careful how we encourage folks; sometimes we discourage people without knowing it. The other mistake we make is thinking we know Satan. Satan is clever and will take us somewhere we don’t need to go.
“He sure was lucky.” Do you see “lucky” anywhere in the Bible. God doesn’t rely on luck, but on His grace. It’s not a coincidence the way we’re gathered today. God has a plan for us and it’s about Him, not us. God wants us to consult with Him on what we’re going through.
Takeaway Thought: Remember Job: just because we have storms in our lives doesn’t mean God isn’t with us. If we can fix it, fix it; if we can’t, leave it with God in prayer...and believe that God will do it for you. God has the power to turn our lives around...and He will. God works from the inside out, not the outside in.
2:31 PM Phillip Gibbons and Tom Dugan presented on Bible Correspondence. Phillip began with a history of the Bible Correspondence course program at Wyoming Avenue. The initial response to offering correspondence courses to inmates was underwhelming. Tom provided insight that helped them improve the response.
Tom spent 14 years in the Air Force, taking care of the regulations, creating forms, etc. When he started working in prison ministry, he used his background skills first to grade courses, then to ease the process of providing the correct answers, then to creating forms to enroll other inmates.
How many people walk up to the door to ask for a correspondence course? No one; they don’t have the time. Who does have the time? Inmates. The panhandle of Florida has a state facility in every county. Each facility has 800-2000 inmates.
Along with other area congregations, they’re currently grading over 1000 courses per year. Last year, they mailed out over 16,000 lessons to over 1000 inmates, resulting in 29 baptisms. So far this year, there have been 32 baptisms.
We’re not talking about inmates or people with problems, but souls who need salvation. What have we done to help these men and women? The answer for them is the Word of God. We have it, but have we given it to them, or are we keeping it for ourselves?
The courses come from several sources and are in the following order:
When an inmate completes a course, he’s sent a Certificate of Achievement. For someone who’s never achieved anything in his life, this is a tremendous encouragement. Inmates love certificates.
Takeaway Thought: How important are correspondence courses? For the inmate, very important: he’s looking for the truth. He’s gotten some jailhouse religion, but needs more. We have the truth and need to get it to him.
1:35 PM David Green is edifying us while we’re waiting for the teacher of the Anger Management class (who didn’t arrive). He was on death row in Angola at age 15. Proverbs 15:1 kept him through Angola. However, after being freed eight years later, went back into the world. This from a man who was baptized at 10 and preached his first sermon at 12. None of that mattered: when he was released, the church turned its back on him. He made his way to Kansas City, where he was arrested again. Even though he knew Jesus, he didn’t know him as Lord. It took another stint in the penitentiary to make Jesus his Lord.
A life of sin in the drug trade promises one of things: a quick trip to the graveyard or a quick trip to prison. In prison, they have an opportunity to learn a different way: they have nothing but time. However, Satan is waiting at the prison door. No matter how much one changes in prison, he’s waiting on the outside to lead the ex-offender back to the world.
The government talks about recidivism, the revolving door. However, is there an opportunity for the ex-offender to get an honest job when he’s released?
Until an inmate make up his mind that he wants God into his life, change won’t happen. The start of change is accountability: acknowledging that his situation, his family’s situation, is his responsibility, not the responsibility of society. “God put me/my son/whomever.” Not at all.
We have to be careful how we encourage folks; sometimes we discourage people without knowing it. The other mistake we make is thinking we know Satan. Satan is clever and will take us somewhere we don’t need to go.
“He sure was lucky.” Do you see “lucky” anywhere in the Bible. God doesn’t rely on luck, but on His grace. It’s not a coincidence the way we’re gathered today. God has a plan for us and it’s about Him, not us. God wants us to consult with Him on what we’re going through.
Takeaway Thought: Remember Job: just because we have storms in our lives doesn’t mean God isn’t with us. If we can fix it, fix it; if we can’t, leave it with God in prayer...and believe that God will do it for you. God has the power to turn our lives around...and He will. God works from the inside out, not the outside in.
2:31 PM Phillip Gibbons and Tom Dugan presented on Bible Correspondence. Phillip began with a history of the Bible Correspondence course program at Wyoming Avenue. The initial response to offering correspondence courses to inmates was underwhelming. Tom provided insight that helped them improve the response.
Tom spent 14 years in the Air Force, taking care of the regulations, creating forms, etc. When he started working in prison ministry, he used his background skills first to grade courses, then to ease the process of providing the correct answers, then to creating forms to enroll other inmates.
How many people walk up to the door to ask for a correspondence course? No one; they don’t have the time. Who does have the time? Inmates. The panhandle of Florida has a state facility in every county. Each facility has 800-2000 inmates.
Along with other area congregations, they’re currently grading over 1000 courses per year. Last year, they mailed out over 16,000 lessons to over 1000 inmates, resulting in 29 baptisms. So far this year, there have been 32 baptisms.
We’re not talking about inmates or people with problems, but souls who need salvation. What have we done to help these men and women? The answer for them is the Word of God. We have it, but have we given it to them, or are we keeping it for ourselves?
The courses come from several sources and are in the following order:
- There IS a Better Way (Unbound Word)
- Prisoners of Hope (Unbound Word)
- Understanding the Bible (Haun)
- Jesus by John
- Into all the world - Study of Acts
When an inmate completes a course, he’s sent a Certificate of Achievement. For someone who’s never achieved anything in his life, this is a tremendous encouragement. Inmates love certificates.
Takeaway Thought: How important are correspondence courses? For the inmate, very important: he’s looking for the truth. He’s gotten some jailhouse religion, but needs more. We have the truth and need to get it to him.
Prison Ministry Workshop: Friday AM
Did You Know...that dear, sweet, wonderful Mama Cox was, in an earlier life, a professional wrestler? As Helen Blazes, she roamed the squared circle during the 1950s. Who said prison workers were boring? On to the workshop...
8:34 AM We’re getting better at starting on time (not bad for us CofC old timers). Unfortunately, many people appear to be sleeping in; or, perhaps they’re watching the storms rolling into the area. Many or few, the singing goes on. “Oh How I Love Jesus,” “Amazing Grace”: who needs songbooks to sing these favorites of prison workers and inmates alike.
Next year’s workshop will be June 10-12 in Corpus Christi, TX. 2010 may be hosted in Tampa/St. Petersburg.
8:48 AM Curtis Skinner, a detective and an elder in St. Petersburg, gave the morning keynote, focusing on the mind and using as a text Romans 12:1-2. There’s a constant war going on, between the spirit and the flesh. All faithful Christians are ex-POWs. The battleground is the heart.
Just as the physical heart has four chambers, the spiritual heart has four parts: the intellect, emotions/desires, the will and the conscience. In the war, our hearts can sometimes be overwhelmed, just as David’s was in Psalm 142. Our desires may be to do good, but external circumstances can overwhelm that.
What you believe dictates how you’ll live. The renewing of the mind is a continuous process that allows us to overcome the external. Sin, on the other hand, restrains us mentally and spiritually. What are the spiritual prisons that restrain us?
How can we unlock our minds? We can take as our model the butterfly: it starts as a caterpillar, but only after going through a process of metamorphosis. A key part of that is the struggle to break out of the cocoon. The process cannot be hurried or made easier...it must take place as God intended.
We need to teach the facts of the Gospel and the commands of the Gospel. Without obedience, there is no transformation.
Takeaway Thought: The process of transforming our mind has been designed by God. Change the mind and the actions will change. Change is at the heart of the Gospel: from Christless-ness to Christlike-ness. Let the mind of the Master be the Master of your mind.
After the lesson, a special moment as Curtis, and several others, express their need to repent and refocus on serving God with the whole mind. We all stand, join hands and pray together, not just for those who stood initially, but for all of us: we all need to renew our focus and our goal of transformation.
9:43 AM : We’re actually starting early! Jerry Stephenson, from Louisville, is teaching a class called Reaching Out to a Culture in Pain. No matter where you are, people are hurting. People are in pain and need someone to heal them. God has sent the church to provide healing: we need to get out of our buildings and go tell people about the Jesus who can save them. We need to reach out to a culture in pain. In prison ministry, we need to remember the families who are left behind as well as the prisoners.
In Kentucky, most people in prison or jail have low levels of educational achievement (69% did not complete high school). According to Kentucky’s state auditor, the lack of educational achievement is the single biggest barrier to a stronger economic future for Kentucky. Educational deficiencies are endemic. Administrators blame it on poverty. Hogwash: many people grew up poor and rural and were able to learn. It’s time for the church to get involved in education.
Five congregations are involved in an effort to reach out to the entire city of Louisville to help better the children. This will be a project that involves other faith groups beside churches of Christ. This is not about teaching the Gospel: it’s about reaching out to those in need. Besides working with children at risk, they’ll be reaching out to families with New Life Behavior. The city of Louisville is providing financial support for the program. The program will include a day camp for inner city kids, family assessments and mentoring.
At the day camp, campers and staff start promptly at 8:30 with worship. The children need to know that praising God and serving Him is important. The camp is held in their Family Life Center. The city offered to help fund the construction of the FLC, but the church refused: they didn’t want the city to tell them what values they teach the people they serve there. Other activities include a free summer lunch program (with help from the USDA and the local Community Action Agency) and a Family Visitation Center.
A church that doesn’t reach out and touch its community is a church that will die.
Takeaway Thought: The church of our generation is the foundation that supplies the links and ties that restore and hold our families and community togetehr. The church serves as the pillar and ground of the truth, for the good and order of this generation and the generations to come.
10:45 AM : Gail Hewitt’s topic is Be Aware of Domestic Violence Impact. Domestic violence is learned behavior; it’s not genetic, nor is it an illness. Several people told their stories, including a 12 year old girl who is trying to help her mother. She led us through a quiz that debunked several myths/stereotypes about domestic violence. Among them:
8:34 AM We’re getting better at starting on time (not bad for us CofC old timers). Unfortunately, many people appear to be sleeping in; or, perhaps they’re watching the storms rolling into the area. Many or few, the singing goes on. “Oh How I Love Jesus,” “Amazing Grace”: who needs songbooks to sing these favorites of prison workers and inmates alike.
Next year’s workshop will be June 10-12 in Corpus Christi, TX. 2010 may be hosted in Tampa/St. Petersburg.
8:48 AM Curtis Skinner, a detective and an elder in St. Petersburg, gave the morning keynote, focusing on the mind and using as a text Romans 12:1-2. There’s a constant war going on, between the spirit and the flesh. All faithful Christians are ex-POWs. The battleground is the heart.
Just as the physical heart has four chambers, the spiritual heart has four parts: the intellect, emotions/desires, the will and the conscience. In the war, our hearts can sometimes be overwhelmed, just as David’s was in Psalm 142. Our desires may be to do good, but external circumstances can overwhelm that.
What you believe dictates how you’ll live. The renewing of the mind is a continuous process that allows us to overcome the external. Sin, on the other hand, restrains us mentally and spiritually. What are the spiritual prisons that restrain us?
- Finances: America is facing a storm of financial bondage. The Bible teaches us to avoid financial bondage, which threatens our families and our very souls. The lack of Bible teaching in our homes has contributed to the loss of generations of people.
- Guilt: Guilt can be driven by our ambition to succeed above all else, especially above our families. We’re raising a generation that’s involved in everything but the church.
How can we unlock our minds? We can take as our model the butterfly: it starts as a caterpillar, but only after going through a process of metamorphosis. A key part of that is the struggle to break out of the cocoon. The process cannot be hurried or made easier...it must take place as God intended.
We need to teach the facts of the Gospel and the commands of the Gospel. Without obedience, there is no transformation.
Takeaway Thought: The process of transforming our mind has been designed by God. Change the mind and the actions will change. Change is at the heart of the Gospel: from Christless-ness to Christlike-ness. Let the mind of the Master be the Master of your mind.
After the lesson, a special moment as Curtis, and several others, express their need to repent and refocus on serving God with the whole mind. We all stand, join hands and pray together, not just for those who stood initially, but for all of us: we all need to renew our focus and our goal of transformation.
9:43 AM : We’re actually starting early! Jerry Stephenson, from Louisville, is teaching a class called Reaching Out to a Culture in Pain. No matter where you are, people are hurting. People are in pain and need someone to heal them. God has sent the church to provide healing: we need to get out of our buildings and go tell people about the Jesus who can save them. We need to reach out to a culture in pain. In prison ministry, we need to remember the families who are left behind as well as the prisoners.
In Kentucky, most people in prison or jail have low levels of educational achievement (69% did not complete high school). According to Kentucky’s state auditor, the lack of educational achievement is the single biggest barrier to a stronger economic future for Kentucky. Educational deficiencies are endemic. Administrators blame it on poverty. Hogwash: many people grew up poor and rural and were able to learn. It’s time for the church to get involved in education.
Five congregations are involved in an effort to reach out to the entire city of Louisville to help better the children. This will be a project that involves other faith groups beside churches of Christ. This is not about teaching the Gospel: it’s about reaching out to those in need. Besides working with children at risk, they’ll be reaching out to families with New Life Behavior. The city of Louisville is providing financial support for the program. The program will include a day camp for inner city kids, family assessments and mentoring.
At the day camp, campers and staff start promptly at 8:30 with worship. The children need to know that praising God and serving Him is important. The camp is held in their Family Life Center. The city offered to help fund the construction of the FLC, but the church refused: they didn’t want the city to tell them what values they teach the people they serve there. Other activities include a free summer lunch program (with help from the USDA and the local Community Action Agency) and a Family Visitation Center.
A church that doesn’t reach out and touch its community is a church that will die.
Takeaway Thought: The church of our generation is the foundation that supplies the links and ties that restore and hold our families and community togetehr. The church serves as the pillar and ground of the truth, for the good and order of this generation and the generations to come.
10:45 AM : Gail Hewitt’s topic is Be Aware of Domestic Violence Impact. Domestic violence is learned behavior; it’s not genetic, nor is it an illness. Several people told their stories, including a 12 year old girl who is trying to help her mother. She led us through a quiz that debunked several myths/stereotypes about domestic violence. Among them:
- domestic violence isn’t limited to lower economic classes
- battering is not always caused by alcohol and drug abuse
- it’s not easy to leave an abusive relationship; often, it’s a matter of poor self-worth
- the cycle of violence doesn’t stop when the relationship ends; in fact, the end of a relationship is the most dangerous time for the person leaving an abusive relationship The class led to a great deal of discussion, verging at times on heated, about the problems of domestic violence, problems of justice and [in]equity and how we should respond as individuals.
Parents have an obligation to teach their children, especially daughters, how to exercise good judgment. They need to teach their children not to engage in abusive behavior. This is not always easy, nor is it a guarantee of future behavior. Nevertheless, we have a responsibility to teach, model and insist on proper behavior.
Leaving an abusive relationship requires a plan. A PPO (Personal Protective Order) will not keep an abuser away. The only way to break the cycle is to seek help.
Interestingly, only one person in the class indicated their congregation had a domestic violence program.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Prison Ministry Workshop: Thursday Supplemental
Here’s a report from two other classes Thursday, provided by my wife, Linda.
Andrew Sims’ class was titled Take Up Your Position and Stand Firm. He focused on the importance of parents having control in the home and teaching their children respect. Morals in the home should be firm. Parents are not their children’s friends: they’re guides and leaders. Disciplining your children (including spanking) is not abuse. How does this translate to prison work? We need to teach those in prison about Christ, hoping they won’t return to prison. The foundation of discipleship is respect, which must be taught inmates, as they won’t get it in prison otherwise.
Helen Cox is a very special lady in the annals of prison ministry. Mama Cox, as she’s known to everyone, has been involved with prison work for 45 years (since 1963). At age 82, she continues to work full time serving those in prison, along with her husband, Harold. While she primarily works with women, she is deeply involved in “specialty populations” (death row inmates and those with severe mental problems). Many men on death row request her presence when they’re executed. She spoke on ministering to these populations.
Her objectives in setting up programs for these groups are threefold: to change lives, to establish lasting relationships and to show unconditional love. She understands that all people, whatever their situation, have the same needs, especially the need to be the right relationship with God.
One point Linda noted struck me: Helen strongly believes in using prayer cards. She uses them for reference: to keep track of inmates’ family concerns, illnesses in the family and other concerns. It means a lot to them that she remembers their prayer needs.
It reminded me of how Sandra Clark, our church secretary, handles prayer requests. Each Sunday, we collect them during services. On Tuesdays, she sends out an email to the congregation with the prayer requests. In addition, if a request comes in during the week, she’ll send out a special email. Whether we’re incarcerated or not, it’s important for us to know someone care about our needs. How blessed we are to have women like Sandra and Helen to remind us, by their example, of this basic truth.
Andrew Sims’ class was titled Take Up Your Position and Stand Firm. He focused on the importance of parents having control in the home and teaching their children respect. Morals in the home should be firm. Parents are not their children’s friends: they’re guides and leaders. Disciplining your children (including spanking) is not abuse. How does this translate to prison work? We need to teach those in prison about Christ, hoping they won’t return to prison. The foundation of discipleship is respect, which must be taught inmates, as they won’t get it in prison otherwise.
Helen Cox is a very special lady in the annals of prison ministry. Mama Cox, as she’s known to everyone, has been involved with prison work for 45 years (since 1963). At age 82, she continues to work full time serving those in prison, along with her husband, Harold. While she primarily works with women, she is deeply involved in “specialty populations” (death row inmates and those with severe mental problems). Many men on death row request her presence when they’re executed. She spoke on ministering to these populations.
Her objectives in setting up programs for these groups are threefold: to change lives, to establish lasting relationships and to show unconditional love. She understands that all people, whatever their situation, have the same needs, especially the need to be the right relationship with God.
One point Linda noted struck me: Helen strongly believes in using prayer cards. She uses them for reference: to keep track of inmates’ family concerns, illnesses in the family and other concerns. It means a lot to them that she remembers their prayer needs.
It reminded me of how Sandra Clark, our church secretary, handles prayer requests. Each Sunday, we collect them during services. On Tuesdays, she sends out an email to the congregation with the prayer requests. In addition, if a request comes in during the week, she’ll send out a special email. Whether we’re incarcerated or not, it’s important for us to know someone care about our needs. How blessed we are to have women like Sandra and Helen to remind us, by their example, of this basic truth.
Prison Ministry Workshop: Thursday PM
Starting pretty much on time after lunch: not bad (and lunch at Max & Erma’s was pretty good, too...but that’s for another post). We had a great conversation with Buck Griffith and John Henry Pruitt on some our challenges at Butner. One of the pleasures of the workshops is the chance to talk with others in the trenches and get encouragement and insights. And now, on with the Workshop...
1:33 PM First up: Buck Griffith talking about New Life Behavior. NLB is a curriculum based program with the aim of helping people change their lives. It’s not an evangelistic tool. NLB tries to change the way people live, not their relationship to Christ. A lot of people want to show up at prisons on Sunday and baptize all the inmates, but not many want to show up on Monday, Tuesday, etc. to help them become better people.
An interesting insight: NLB no longer has a national workshop. Instead, people from NLB attend state level NLB workshops. The reason is, for a given state, the number of people attending the state workshop matches the total number of people attending the national workshop.
Even more interesting: NLB is staffed entirely by volunteers. They don’t spend money on staff or facilities (hosted by a congregation in Corpus Christi), but focus monetary resources on developing training materials, distributing them and training people to teach them. The materials are offered with a perpetual license for a very low fee. Missionaries pay nothing for the materials.
Takeaway Thought (my own, not Buck’s): Christian outreach is about more than evangelism. We serve people in many ways and in many areas. Jesus helped people because they needed help, not so they would become disciples. What is our motive for helping people?
2:36 PM Next up: James Burrus on Be Transformed. The focus is the story of the prodigal son. Without a transformation of heart, inmates will tend to return to crime after their incarceration. That is true for all of us: without transformation, we’ll continue to follow the same bad ways. Transformation must involve the entire church. Men and women (and their families) whose lives have been transformed by the power of God will need the support of the church during and after their incarcerations. Just as the father welcomed the prodigal with open arms, we have to welcome our returning brothers and sisters.
The presentation included many people offering their insights on integrating ex-offenders within the church, including a small debate on whether ex-offenders should let the congregation know their status. While Burrus urges ex-offenders to stand up and tell people the story of their transformation, others feel it better not to publicize it for fear of people in the congregation shunning them. How should we, as the elder brother in the story, respond to the returning prodigal?
Interesting insight: We believe “the prayer of a righteous man avails much.” If so, why aren’t we doing much more praying, especially in the assembly, for those who need our help?
One of the things I like about prison ministry workshops is that it consists of folks in the trenches who care deeply about offenders and ex-offenders and don’t mind talking about that concern. The lively discussion taking place in this class is a prime example of this: people aren’t arguing, but are sharing their viewpoints, listening to each other and learning from each other. We’re not talking theology here: we’re talking people’s souls. It’s serious stuff, and people take it seriously. It’s also pragmatic stuff: how do we deal right here, right now, with people who are trying to transform their lives?
Accountability is key in helping ex-offenders integrate into society and the church. That is a key element of transformation: a Christian who wants to live a transformed life needs limits and boundaries. We need to make clear that, for certain behaviors, there is no choice.
Takeaway Thought: Prisoners want the transformed lives we have. We’re called to make sure they see that transformation in our lives.
3:34 PM The final event of the day is a panel discussion on dealing with sex offenders. Panelists are: Paula Ramsey (attorney), Curtis Skinner (law enforcement), Willie Washington (elder) and Ken Johnson (clinical psychologist). Some of the items discussed:
What are sex offenses? Touching another’s private parts without their consent (including rape), touching the private parts of someone significantly younger, two minors engaging in such activity where one is not consenting or is unable to give consent, exposing oneself to another without consent, exposing oneself to a minor, voyeurism, creating or owning child pornography.
Sex offenders have a much higher recidivism rate than other offenders. Hence, it’s important for the community to know when a sex offender is in the neighborhood. Sex offenders need treatment, both in prison and when they’re released. Follow through is important.
A sex offender has to take a hard look at himself/herself. But, then, each one of us needs to do that daily: who am I today? what’s motivating me? why do I do things I don’t want to do? Treatment should have as an end result knowing why offenders do what they do and how to change that behavior. If we can change how a person thinks, we can change that person’s behavior. What’s important, then, is changing how we think, not focusing on changing behavior.
How to help the families? Counseling and other programs are available for psychological help, but it’s up to the church to help with the spiritual healing. In addition, the church should make families aware of programs and help them take advantage of them.
How prepared are churches to deal with ex-offenders? In general, not at all. Leaders in the church don’t understand the seriousness of the challenges. It’s hard to share with a congregation that a sex offender is a member because that person can become a pariah. The leadership needs to know if a registered offender is part of the congregation and needs to talk to him/her to let them know the congregation’s expectations. The key thing to know is if the offender has been clinically diagnosed and if the offender is in therapy. Most important: how can the congregation help the offender?
The questions and comments show that dealing with sex offfenders is a growing challenge in the church as the number of offenders and ex-offenders grow. What’s especially disturbing to me is the growing number of female sex offenders and the extra challenges that presents. What’s heartening is that people are concerned about helping ex-offenders and making sure they’re not rejected by their congregations, while still keeping everyone in the congregation safe. “Sin is sin.”
Takeaway Thought: We’re talking about people, not “offenders.” More importantly, we’re talking about souls.
1:33 PM First up: Buck Griffith talking about New Life Behavior. NLB is a curriculum based program with the aim of helping people change their lives. It’s not an evangelistic tool. NLB tries to change the way people live, not their relationship to Christ. A lot of people want to show up at prisons on Sunday and baptize all the inmates, but not many want to show up on Monday, Tuesday, etc. to help them become better people.
An interesting insight: NLB no longer has a national workshop. Instead, people from NLB attend state level NLB workshops. The reason is, for a given state, the number of people attending the state workshop matches the total number of people attending the national workshop.
Even more interesting: NLB is staffed entirely by volunteers. They don’t spend money on staff or facilities (hosted by a congregation in Corpus Christi), but focus monetary resources on developing training materials, distributing them and training people to teach them. The materials are offered with a perpetual license for a very low fee. Missionaries pay nothing for the materials.
Takeaway Thought (my own, not Buck’s): Christian outreach is about more than evangelism. We serve people in many ways and in many areas. Jesus helped people because they needed help, not so they would become disciples. What is our motive for helping people?
2:36 PM Next up: James Burrus on Be Transformed. The focus is the story of the prodigal son. Without a transformation of heart, inmates will tend to return to crime after their incarceration. That is true for all of us: without transformation, we’ll continue to follow the same bad ways. Transformation must involve the entire church. Men and women (and their families) whose lives have been transformed by the power of God will need the support of the church during and after their incarcerations. Just as the father welcomed the prodigal with open arms, we have to welcome our returning brothers and sisters.
The presentation included many people offering their insights on integrating ex-offenders within the church, including a small debate on whether ex-offenders should let the congregation know their status. While Burrus urges ex-offenders to stand up and tell people the story of their transformation, others feel it better not to publicize it for fear of people in the congregation shunning them. How should we, as the elder brother in the story, respond to the returning prodigal?
Interesting insight: We believe “the prayer of a righteous man avails much.” If so, why aren’t we doing much more praying, especially in the assembly, for those who need our help?
One of the things I like about prison ministry workshops is that it consists of folks in the trenches who care deeply about offenders and ex-offenders and don’t mind talking about that concern. The lively discussion taking place in this class is a prime example of this: people aren’t arguing, but are sharing their viewpoints, listening to each other and learning from each other. We’re not talking theology here: we’re talking people’s souls. It’s serious stuff, and people take it seriously. It’s also pragmatic stuff: how do we deal right here, right now, with people who are trying to transform their lives?
Accountability is key in helping ex-offenders integrate into society and the church. That is a key element of transformation: a Christian who wants to live a transformed life needs limits and boundaries. We need to make clear that, for certain behaviors, there is no choice.
Takeaway Thought: Prisoners want the transformed lives we have. We’re called to make sure they see that transformation in our lives.
3:34 PM The final event of the day is a panel discussion on dealing with sex offenders. Panelists are: Paula Ramsey (attorney), Curtis Skinner (law enforcement), Willie Washington (elder) and Ken Johnson (clinical psychologist). Some of the items discussed:
What are sex offenses? Touching another’s private parts without their consent (including rape), touching the private parts of someone significantly younger, two minors engaging in such activity where one is not consenting or is unable to give consent, exposing oneself to another without consent, exposing oneself to a minor, voyeurism, creating or owning child pornography.
Sex offenders have a much higher recidivism rate than other offenders. Hence, it’s important for the community to know when a sex offender is in the neighborhood. Sex offenders need treatment, both in prison and when they’re released. Follow through is important.
A sex offender has to take a hard look at himself/herself. But, then, each one of us needs to do that daily: who am I today? what’s motivating me? why do I do things I don’t want to do? Treatment should have as an end result knowing why offenders do what they do and how to change that behavior. If we can change how a person thinks, we can change that person’s behavior. What’s important, then, is changing how we think, not focusing on changing behavior.
How to help the families? Counseling and other programs are available for psychological help, but it’s up to the church to help with the spiritual healing. In addition, the church should make families aware of programs and help them take advantage of them.
How prepared are churches to deal with ex-offenders? In general, not at all. Leaders in the church don’t understand the seriousness of the challenges. It’s hard to share with a congregation that a sex offender is a member because that person can become a pariah. The leadership needs to know if a registered offender is part of the congregation and needs to talk to him/her to let them know the congregation’s expectations. The key thing to know is if the offender has been clinically diagnosed and if the offender is in therapy. Most important: how can the congregation help the offender?
The questions and comments show that dealing with sex offfenders is a growing challenge in the church as the number of offenders and ex-offenders grow. What’s especially disturbing to me is the growing number of female sex offenders and the extra challenges that presents. What’s heartening is that people are concerned about helping ex-offenders and making sure they’re not rejected by their congregations, while still keeping everyone in the congregation safe. “Sin is sin.”
Takeaway Thought: We’re talking about people, not “offenders.” More importantly, we’re talking about souls.
Live from Livonia...
...it’s the 35th Annual Jail & Prison Ministry Workshop. I’ll be semi-liveblogging from here today and tomorrow. Keep watching this post for updates throughout the day.
8:20 AM Looking around, it seems the prison ministry population is greying along with the prison population. Most workers seem to be in their late 40s and up. While this is a sign of the longevity of prison ministry workers (most have been involved for many years), it also raises questions about the next generation of prison workers. As the prison population grows, the need for workers grows as well. More than ever, we need to ask the Lord of harvest to send forth reapers.
8:36 AM Still waiting for the opening assembly to start...it appears it doesn’t matter what the activity: if it’s Church of Christ, it’s going to start late (and involve food, but that’s for another posting).
8:43 AM Finally starting...now comes my favorite part of any assembly: the singing. It’s worth coming to a workshop just to hear the singing. People who come to the workshops are workers in the trenches. We share the joys and sorrows of prison ministry, and it shows in the fervor of our singing, even without songbooks.
9:03 AM The first speaker: Patrick Mead, who just woke us up by the loudest feedback squawk in recent memory. He believes Christians should not use Macs because “Heaven isn’t here yet and Christians should suffer along with the rest of the world.” He reminded us of Victor Frankl and the importance of choosing what we’re going to see and how we’ll respond to it.
“Why are you eating that Krispy Kreme doughnut? It will kill you.” “What’s the downside? If I eat a Krispy Kreme doughnut, I’ll see Jesus sooner. So if you’re drinking a V-8, are you trying to avoid Jesus?”
Prison ministry is about helping people make better decisions. People in prison, for the most part, are people who have made bad decisions and have been caught (unlike the rest of us, who make bad decisions and don’t get caught). They need help to break the cycle: that’s what we do. The only thing we truly have is the power to choose. Give them a reason to choose Jesus Christ.
As prison workers, we help inmates understand the God we’ve got, not the God we’d like to have. We help them understand that God will be with us, no matter where we are. The gift of God is initimacy: His abiding presence. God may not give us what we want, but He’ll be there for us. It doesn’t matter where we are: God has not forgotten us.
As prison workers, we help inmates understand they have a job to do, even in prison. God has put us where we are for a reason; He has work for us to do. Marshall Keeble: “God wouldn’t have given us an eternity of rest unless He figured we’re going to need it.” We do good regardless of the reaction of others. I do good because I’ve chosen to do good, because that’s what God wants me to do, not just the easy stuff, but the hard work.
Takeaway Thought: In Hebrews 11, every time there’s a “by faith,” there a verb. Faith leads to action. By faith, what am I supposed to do here? What’s my verb? The world’s verbs: lust, kill, steal... The Lord’s verbs: love, bless, serve...
9:53 AM Decisions, decisions: so many good classes, all at the same time. I’m in When You Mess Up, Fess Up, taught by Duvon Jones. It’s based on II Samuel 11-12 (David and Bathsheba). Duvon calls this a workshop and he’s not kidding. First, he’s rearranged the room so we all have to look at each other. Second, he’s got us standing and holding a Bible at arm’s length. Lesson: holding a lightweight Bible at arm’s length gets tiring very fast. So does guilt: it weighs us down. Messing up (sin) is cancerous and cantankerous. It stays with us, sticks to us and festers. We may try to ignore it or recategorize it (switch hands, pull the arm in), but it’s still there attacking us.
Confession is admitting our guilt, taking ownership of our own mess ups. It takes away the constraints of humiliation, embarrassment and fear. Confession is scary, but it’s liberating, releasing, relieving and relaxing. All sin is against God, so confession begins with Him. Confession doesn’t free us from the consequences of our mess ups, but it liberates us from the guilt and that allows us to relax: to do what we need to be doing.
To minimize (not eliminate) mess ups, our hearts need to be reprogrammed. What happens when you add a spoon of water to half a glass of Coke? Nothing. What happens when you add a spoon of Coke to half a glass of water? It changes color slightly: it’s tarnished. A little bit of sin tarnishes our lives. It takes a lot of water to change the color of a glass of Coke. It takes a lot of God’s word to reprogram a heart full of passions and desires. How long does it take? The rest of our lives, perhaps...as long as it takes.
Takeaway Thought: Psalm 1: What we delight in, we bite in. What keeps us rooted in God? A constant meditation (tuning in) on the word of God.
10:50 AM Good lessons, good fellowship, renewing old acquaintances: what more can one ask? Next class: The Spirit and Energy of Self-Improvement, taught by Clyde Mayberry. He’s stuck sitting, due to the exigencies of the recording process. “I feel like I’m at a press conference.” He’s a bereavement counselor, with a book (Final Countdown) due out later this year.
It takes more than wanting to do better to do better. It takes a change of mind. Job’s friends were focused on the doctrine of retaliation: if you’re good, God will bless you. If you do bad, God will punish you. Their reasoning was flawed. Change starts from within, but knowledge is not enough. There’s an energy, a will, that leads us to change, like the fuse lit at the beginning of every Mission: Impossible episode (the first time I’ve heard Mission: Impossible used as a church-related illustration).
Why don’t people change when we help them? Because, like the prodigal son, people are only willing to change when they’re tired of their current situation. If the desire is not there, there will be no change. To improve, we must be willing to change. There are three groups of people:
From Albert Ellis to Job: an event takes place and we respond. However, there’s a step in between: our belief about what the event means. Our belief determines our response to an event, not the event itself. Our environment creates the events in our lives. Our beliefs determine our response to them. The event (“I live in a bad neighborhood.”) can be an excuse, but we have a choice. Excuses hinder us and cause us to be stuck in the past. Our challenge: help people work from the future (what we can be through Christ) to erase the past (what we’ve been) and establish the present (what we need to do to be where we want to be).
Takeaway Thought:If I understand I’m created in the image of God and that I can have access to Him and His power, that changes the game. Coming to Christ is a reconciliation. We started out in relationship with God. Sin broke that relationship. Christ reestablishes it. If my beliefs have changed, my responses will follow.
Lunch break I’ll post the afternoon sessions in another entry (I don’t want you to get carpal tunnel syndrome from clicking the scroll bar too much).
8:20 AM Looking around, it seems the prison ministry population is greying along with the prison population. Most workers seem to be in their late 40s and up. While this is a sign of the longevity of prison ministry workers (most have been involved for many years), it also raises questions about the next generation of prison workers. As the prison population grows, the need for workers grows as well. More than ever, we need to ask the Lord of harvest to send forth reapers.
8:36 AM Still waiting for the opening assembly to start...it appears it doesn’t matter what the activity: if it’s Church of Christ, it’s going to start late (and involve food, but that’s for another posting).
8:43 AM Finally starting...now comes my favorite part of any assembly: the singing. It’s worth coming to a workshop just to hear the singing. People who come to the workshops are workers in the trenches. We share the joys and sorrows of prison ministry, and it shows in the fervor of our singing, even without songbooks.
- When Morning Comes: “We will understand it better by and by.” Prison ministry is not for those looking for short term results. We are sowers and waterers. God brings the harvest in His time, in His way.
- Victory in Jesus: In prison, as well as everywhere else, victory comes through Jesus and Jesus alone. Every person who comes to Him is another victory, not for us, but for God.
9:03 AM The first speaker: Patrick Mead, who just woke us up by the loudest feedback squawk in recent memory. He believes Christians should not use Macs because “Heaven isn’t here yet and Christians should suffer along with the rest of the world.” He reminded us of Victor Frankl and the importance of choosing what we’re going to see and how we’ll respond to it.
“Why are you eating that Krispy Kreme doughnut? It will kill you.” “What’s the downside? If I eat a Krispy Kreme doughnut, I’ll see Jesus sooner. So if you’re drinking a V-8, are you trying to avoid Jesus?”
Prison ministry is about helping people make better decisions. People in prison, for the most part, are people who have made bad decisions and have been caught (unlike the rest of us, who make bad decisions and don’t get caught). They need help to break the cycle: that’s what we do. The only thing we truly have is the power to choose. Give them a reason to choose Jesus Christ.
As prison workers, we help inmates understand the God we’ve got, not the God we’d like to have. We help them understand that God will be with us, no matter where we are. The gift of God is initimacy: His abiding presence. God may not give us what we want, but He’ll be there for us. It doesn’t matter where we are: God has not forgotten us.
As prison workers, we help inmates understand they have a job to do, even in prison. God has put us where we are for a reason; He has work for us to do. Marshall Keeble: “God wouldn’t have given us an eternity of rest unless He figured we’re going to need it.” We do good regardless of the reaction of others. I do good because I’ve chosen to do good, because that’s what God wants me to do, not just the easy stuff, but the hard work.
Takeaway Thought: In Hebrews 11, every time there’s a “by faith,” there a verb. Faith leads to action. By faith, what am I supposed to do here? What’s my verb? The world’s verbs: lust, kill, steal... The Lord’s verbs: love, bless, serve...
9:53 AM Decisions, decisions: so many good classes, all at the same time. I’m in When You Mess Up, Fess Up, taught by Duvon Jones. It’s based on II Samuel 11-12 (David and Bathsheba). Duvon calls this a workshop and he’s not kidding. First, he’s rearranged the room so we all have to look at each other. Second, he’s got us standing and holding a Bible at arm’s length. Lesson: holding a lightweight Bible at arm’s length gets tiring very fast. So does guilt: it weighs us down. Messing up (sin) is cancerous and cantankerous. It stays with us, sticks to us and festers. We may try to ignore it or recategorize it (switch hands, pull the arm in), but it’s still there attacking us.
Confession is admitting our guilt, taking ownership of our own mess ups. It takes away the constraints of humiliation, embarrassment and fear. Confession is scary, but it’s liberating, releasing, relieving and relaxing. All sin is against God, so confession begins with Him. Confession doesn’t free us from the consequences of our mess ups, but it liberates us from the guilt and that allows us to relax: to do what we need to be doing.
To minimize (not eliminate) mess ups, our hearts need to be reprogrammed. What happens when you add a spoon of water to half a glass of Coke? Nothing. What happens when you add a spoon of Coke to half a glass of water? It changes color slightly: it’s tarnished. A little bit of sin tarnishes our lives. It takes a lot of water to change the color of a glass of Coke. It takes a lot of God’s word to reprogram a heart full of passions and desires. How long does it take? The rest of our lives, perhaps...as long as it takes.
Takeaway Thought: Psalm 1: What we delight in, we bite in. What keeps us rooted in God? A constant meditation (tuning in) on the word of God.
10:50 AM Good lessons, good fellowship, renewing old acquaintances: what more can one ask? Next class: The Spirit and Energy of Self-Improvement, taught by Clyde Mayberry. He’s stuck sitting, due to the exigencies of the recording process. “I feel like I’m at a press conference.” He’s a bereavement counselor, with a book (Final Countdown) due out later this year.
It takes more than wanting to do better to do better. It takes a change of mind. Job’s friends were focused on the doctrine of retaliation: if you’re good, God will bless you. If you do bad, God will punish you. Their reasoning was flawed. Change starts from within, but knowledge is not enough. There’s an energy, a will, that leads us to change, like the fuse lit at the beginning of every Mission: Impossible episode (the first time I’ve heard Mission: Impossible used as a church-related illustration).
Why don’t people change when we help them? Because, like the prodigal son, people are only willing to change when they’re tired of their current situation. If the desire is not there, there will be no change. To improve, we must be willing to change. There are three groups of people:
- those who make things happen (made mistakes and learned from them)
- those who watch things happen (afraid to engage, in a comfort zone, mediocre)
- those who ask, “What happened?” (not interested in changing, only in blaming)
From Albert Ellis to Job: an event takes place and we respond. However, there’s a step in between: our belief about what the event means. Our belief determines our response to an event, not the event itself. Our environment creates the events in our lives. Our beliefs determine our response to them. The event (“I live in a bad neighborhood.”) can be an excuse, but we have a choice. Excuses hinder us and cause us to be stuck in the past. Our challenge: help people work from the future (what we can be through Christ) to erase the past (what we’ve been) and establish the present (what we need to do to be where we want to be).
Takeaway Thought:If I understand I’m created in the image of God and that I can have access to Him and His power, that changes the game. Coming to Christ is a reconciliation. We started out in relationship with God. Sin broke that relationship. Christ reestablishes it. If my beliefs have changed, my responses will follow.
Lunch break I’ll post the afternoon sessions in another entry (I don’t want you to get carpal tunnel syndrome from clicking the scroll bar too much).
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Why Prison Ministry?
This is going to be a rare autobiographical posting. People often ask how I got involved in prison ministry. Normally, I don’t like telling stories about myself, but, in this case, it’s not really about me, as you’ll see.
Some 20+ years ago, shortly after we moved to Durham, I was approached by Steve Tuten, who was in charge of prison ministry at the congregation I then attended. He asked me if I’d be interested in getting involved in the work at Butner. At the time, I knew what my gifts and talents were: prison ministry was definitely not one of them. Steve, though, was a modern day persistent widow and finally wore me down to the point that I agreed to go with him for one Sunday...just one Sunday...
When we arrived for the service, I noticed a couple of men seated toward the rear and gesticulating to each other. I had learned sign language in Greensboro and could tell they were, in fact, signing. I approached them and learned they were deaf, but interested in the service. Naturally, I interpreted the service for them, as I had done many times in Greensboro. Afterwards, one of them asked if I was going to be back next week, as they wanted to talk about the Bible. What could I say?
On the way home, I asked Steve if they had been to services before. He told me no, that this was their first time. The following week, after another round of interpreting the service, they asked if I would be willing to have a Bible study with them. From that moment, my fate was sealed. Even someone as rationalistic as I could tell when God was opening a door and kicking me through.
So, you see, this story really wasn’t about me at all. But, then, for Christians, what story is?
Some 20+ years ago, shortly after we moved to Durham, I was approached by Steve Tuten, who was in charge of prison ministry at the congregation I then attended. He asked me if I’d be interested in getting involved in the work at Butner. At the time, I knew what my gifts and talents were: prison ministry was definitely not one of them. Steve, though, was a modern day persistent widow and finally wore me down to the point that I agreed to go with him for one Sunday...just one Sunday...
When we arrived for the service, I noticed a couple of men seated toward the rear and gesticulating to each other. I had learned sign language in Greensboro and could tell they were, in fact, signing. I approached them and learned they were deaf, but interested in the service. Naturally, I interpreted the service for them, as I had done many times in Greensboro. Afterwards, one of them asked if I was going to be back next week, as they wanted to talk about the Bible. What could I say?
On the way home, I asked Steve if they had been to services before. He told me no, that this was their first time. The following week, after another round of interpreting the service, they asked if I would be willing to have a Bible study with them. From that moment, my fate was sealed. Even someone as rationalistic as I could tell when God was opening a door and kicking me through.
So, you see, this story really wasn’t about me at all. But, then, for Christians, what story is?
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
30 Seconds to Bible Study
I’ve been involved in prison ministry at FCC Butner for the past 20 years. During that time, I’ve developed a set of guidelines for our Bible studies there. Every new man has had to endure the recitation of my ground rules for our study. Over the years, I’ve reduced them to a 30 second spiel. If the guys at Butner have to go through the ritual, why shouldn’t you?
- I accept the Bible as the word of God. It’s inspired by Him, accurate as originally written and able to be understood by all of us.
- We’re all students of God’s word, especially me. If you ever catch me teaching (or writing) something that’s wrong, let me know and I’ll fess up. I’ve done it before and I’ve no doubt I’ll be doing it many times in the future.
- In studying Scripture, everyone should participate. However, we should focus on what’s written in the Bible rather than our own opinions. I checked today and I’m still batting 1.000: so far, my opinions haven’t saved anyone.
- The only dumb question is the one you don’t ask.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)