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.
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