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 […]
HOLLOW FACES I love the Irish people who populate the land of my ancestors. They were a friendly lot and always willing to take the time to help a stranger (me) find his way. I pulled into a gas station in County Clare and asked a young man at a pump how to get to a […]
BACK HOME FROM IRELAND Ireland is a marvelous country with wonderful people. I thoroughly enjoyed walking in the land of my ancestors. However, and it’s a big however, God does not play a major part in the lives of most Irish people; oftentimes, He does not even play a minor part. But there are exceptions. […]
ABOUT PRAYER “God always answers prayer,” said a fellow Gideon to me last week. I don’t doubt He does, but I wanted to test my friend. “How about the guy I visit in a nursing home who is in constant agony from muscular dystrophy? Many people are praying for him, but he only gets worse.” […]
GOD IS LOVE My five-year-old granddaughter and her parents left yesterday after a long weekend visit. Little Alice is a delight and proves to me that God is love. When they arrived, she bounded out of the car and threw our front door open. First she ran to Nana and gave her a big hug. […]
RELATIONSHIPS God is all about relationships. Though I can’t get my mind around the relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, yet it is there. We are made in the image and likeness of God, so we too are all about relationships – first a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then with family, friends, […]
THE LORD’S PRAYER You can tell a Christian not by what he/she says but by what he/she does. I can pray the Lord’s Prayer ten times a day, but if I’m not praising God, advancing His kingdom, doing His will, providing bread for those who don’t have any, forgiving others, and avoiding temptation – I […]