ABOUT AUSTIN I was passing out Bibles at the Wright County Fair last Sunday and was led by the Holy Spirit to talk to a young man whom a County Commissioner candidate told me was from Israel. It turns out that Austin was not from Israel, but his parents had emigrated from there to Florida […]
TYLER MET JESUS This is wonderful news for those of you who have been following the tragic story – up to this time – of the young man I’ve been mentoring. On Sunday evening, July 24, 2016, Tyler met Jesus. It wasn’t a vision or audible words coming down from heaven, but Tyler could feel […]
TYLER IN TREATMENT AGAIN Now I know why the young man I’ve been mentoring has not been in contact with me. He started using again and asked his sister to drive him to a treatment facility in Minneapolis to deal with his renewed drug use and his depression. He’ll be there for the foreseeable future […]
THE GOD OF A THOUSAND CHANCES Tyler, the prisoner I’m mentoring, did not show up last night for a scheduled meeting, nor did he show up the week before when he said he would be there. Also, of late, he has not been returning my phone calls or answering my texts. How many more chances […]
GOD’S INVOLVEMENT I had lunch with my friend Jack yesterday, and the conversation turned to God, as it always does. “What do you think of when you see that tree outside?” he asked me. “I think it’s in danger of being wiped out by the construction taking place 15 feet from it.” Jack laughed. “That […]
DEPRESSION! Tyler, the ex-prisoner I have been mentoring, has not responded to my requests to get together. If you’ll remember, he’s the guy who planned to end his life the day he got out of prison. Here’s a text exchange with him. “What’s happening with you, Tyler? Are you all right? Remember, I will never […]
AN ODD CONVERSION I’ve written of Raphael before, who was dramatically saved at a Gideon jail presentation. He has now served one year of an eight-year sentence. His cellmate, Carl, did not like all the Bible reading and praying Raphael did and harassed him cruelly about it. One evening in a common room watching TV, […]
GOD IS LOVE The apostle John tells us in 1 John 4:16 that God is love. Let’s see how that works out in real life. God so loves Tyler (the subject of my last two posts) that He assigned me to be his mentor. Tyler told me again yesterday that without that intervention, he would […]
A LONG-TERM COMMITMENT Two weeks ago, I didn’t know Tyler existed. Now I do, and the responsibility to mentor him weighs heavily on me. If you’ll remember from last Tuesday’s blog, he was planning to commit suicide when he got out of prison before the Holy Spirit assigned me to him during a Sunday Gideon […]
THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT A week ago Sunday, it was my turn for prison ministry at the county jail. There were six men present, one of whom was Tyler. Just twenty-one years old, he wore a look of abject hopelessness, as if he had lost his whole family. The Holy Spirit moved me […]