ABOUT TIM I gave a talk last night at Metro Hope Ministries, a Christian transition house in South Minneapolis. Tim approached me after the conclusion, eager to tell me something that was on his mind. “The cost of recidivism [committing the same crimes and returning to jail] is more than $30,000 per prisoner per year. […]
AMAZING GRACE If you’ll remember, this past February 10 I gave a presentation on Staying Out of Jail at the Wright County Jail, using the book Arm in Arm with the Holy Spirit as a reference. I gave free copies of the book to all 31 inmates who showed up that night. On March 5, […]
REDEDICATED Michael is the inmate I’m mentoring who is serving an eight-year sentence in a state prison. I previously referred to him as Rafael. He called me last Sunday to inform me he’d been baptized for the third time – at birth, before his marriage, and now. I thought I knew why but asked anyway […]
ABOUT JAKE 2 A month ago, I posted this entry on my blog. I had prison ministry last Sunday, with three inmates attending – Tim, Jake, and Jake. I had a sense from the Holy Spirit that something special was going to happen, and it did. There were two true believers who came in the […]
TYLER GOES TO COURT This will be the longest post I’ve ever made on this blog. In June of last year, when Tyler was staying in his car in a dense woods, he committed two crimes to get money for drugs and alcohol. That was the Tyler B.C. (Before Christ). In July, he became the […]
TYLER QUITS HIS JOB Tyler, the young man I’m mentoring, has a history of quitting jobs, getting back into drugs and alcohol, and eventually standing on a railroad track waiting for a train to come by and wipe him out. So when he called yesterday to tell me he had quit his bike delivery job […]
OBEDIENCE At last Wednesday’s Bible study, Pastor Bill cited Philippians 1:16 where the Apostle Paul said, “I am put here for the defense of the gospel.” The pastor then looked up and said, “We are called to be obedient, not to accomplish results. That is the business of God.” My mind went back to a […]
ABOUT JAKE I had prison ministry last Sunday, with three inmates attending – Tim, Jake, and Jake. I had a sense from the Holy Spirit that something special was going to happen, and it did. There were two true believers who came in the door and three who left. The middle Jake came to the […]
AN APPOINTMENT WITH GOD I attend a noon prayer gathering at our church on Mondays when I’m in town. At this last Monday’s session, a woman named Ellen casually used the term “an appointment with God” when mentioning what I thought was her morning prayer time. At the conclusion of a robust time of prayer, […]
A SETTLED CHRISTIAN I was discussing my book (Arm in Arm with the Holy Spirit) with a pastor’s group in Buffalo last week. Pastor Keith used the term “a settled Christian” to describe complacent Christians who are content with things as they are and not willing to step out of their comfort zones. Pastor Steve […]