December 2010

I'm preparing my mind for the day my chaplain retires, which is scheduled to happen later this month. However I continue to believe that God still has great things ahead for our congregation, and I've been reminding the men of this.

Meanwhile, another important concern, especially as the holidays approach, is with suicide and depression. Depression and increased levels of sadness afflicts many prisoners. Because I work as an aid at the facility's Intermediate Care Program (ICP Unit) where I help those who have histories of mental and emotional disturbances, I am probably more alert at spotting those who are showing signs of depression.

But on a better note, today is the first day of the Jewish holiday known as Hanukkah. Even though I believe that Jesus is the Messiah, I still consider myself to be Jewish. In fact I feel a closer bond with the traditional Jewish holidays than I do the Christian ones. I suppose this is mostly the result of having many fond memories of growing up in a close-knit Jewish home.

Hanukkah serves to remind me of a God who is faithful to provide for His people, and as One who works miracles with ease.

D.B.

Joining a Christian fellowship behind the walls is risky. Men and women who are members of a gang, or who belong to a religious group, often do not take kindly to one's renouncing membership to that gang or religion in order to follow Jesus Christ.

In the prison setting, a man or woman who chooses to become a Christian and begins attending Bible study classes and chapel services, faces possible ridicule and rejection. They are slandered and "badmouthed." They face constant peer pressure to leave the church. Sometimes they'll be threatened with physical harm. They may even get cut with a razor or stabbed or beaten.

This is true. To choose to be a Christian while one is incarcerated is actually an act of courage. It is choosing to do the right thing and follow the Lord even if it means having one's reputation ruined, or being harassed, or getting assaulted.

Unfortunately, however, many Christians who do not live inside a correctional setting, and the general public as well, will frequently express disdain for these so called "jailhouse" conversions. Shame on them! Many inmates risk their very lives to follow Christ.

Instead of being scorned by the church, these brave souls who have chosen to live out their faith while behind bars need to be embraced and encouraged. They need to be prayed for, not scorned and ignored. Amen!

D.B.

I cannot even begin to recount the many ways the Lord has been good to me. However one of these ways happened today. Earlier I gave an on camera interview with the director of the American Bible Society's GOD SETS YOU FREE Program. I was able to share my story of hope with him, as well as answer the many questions he posed about what it is like to serve God while in prison, and what if any positive affects prison ministries have on those who are locked up.

In addition, with God's guidance, I presented a written message that the American Bible Society plans to include in their upcoming reprinted edition of the GOD SETS YOU FREE Bible that is due to be released this summer. The Bible will be distributed for free to prisons, jails and juvenile detention facilities throughout the United States.

The title of my message is, "Living with Hope." And my hope is that every man or woman who gets a copy of this Bible will read my words and then give careful consideration to the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope, too, that the Holy Spirit will draw those to Christ who need salvation.

And for information about obtaining copies of the GOD SETS YOU FREE Bible, contact:

Drew Segawa, Director
God Sets You Free Program
American Bible Society
DSegawa@AmericanBible.org

D.B.

To start a work for the Lord or to bring it to an end? This thought came upon me today although I am certain I have written about the subject before in a previous journal entry, but as it says in Ecclesiastes chapter three, there are times and seasons for everything. And it is just as important, I think, to know when it is time to stop a certain work for the Lord as it is to start it.

The Scripture states that a Christian's steps are ordered by the Lord. In other words, He directs our paths. Our lives are in His hands. Yet if this is true, and I believe it is, then most assuredly our stops are ordered by Him, as well. Obviously, too, God has reasons for both, while my responsibility is to know His will and to act in accordance with it.

Clearly, therefore, our stops are just as important as our starts. In fact, it may even require a more mature level of faith to bring a certain work for the Lord to an end as opposed to beginning a work or ministry. And I think this is because we all too often think of ourselves as somehow being indispensable to the body of Christ, which we're not. Take my word for it, the God of the universe who rules over all flesh can get along without me just fine, although it has taken me awhile to realize this.

Yes, it is true. The Lord has never found it necessary to ask for my advice about anything, or to ask for my help. Never once has He asked me to sit on His throne and watch over the universe while He takes a snack break or a short nap. So, realizing that, while the Lord desires to use my life for His good pleasure, He could just as well use someone else, too.

These days I am hoping to better discern God's will for my life when it comes to starting or stopping a particular church activity or ministry of some kind. And I still don't have it right one hundred percent of the time. I often make mistakes and I take some wrong turns. But the Lord is a patient teacher.

D.B.

The above Scripture was read earlier today by my chaplain as we celebrated our Christmas party, and as we devoted the event in my chaplain's honor. It was his last meal with us because he's scheduled to retire the day before Christmas Eve. More than likely we will see his face no more as he heads off in several more days to join up with his loved ones in another state.

My chaplain has devoted fourteen years of his life ministering to the prison congregation here at Sullivan. And for his farewell message his theme was building a monument for God. This being that we are God's monument. After all, the spiritual truth is that the church is not a building. It's a body of living souls who've been born again and redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

In this message my chaplain made some good points. As the Israelites in Old Testament times built their monument to the Lord, often as a result of huge military victories, nowadays, in the church age, each Christian is himself a monument of the spiritual victory Christ Himself attained in our behalf. We are trophies of His grace. We are living stones and living memorials of God's goodness. As it says in one of the apostle Peter's letters, "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ (I Peter 2:5)."

Also, in his approximately thirty minute message, my chaplain recounted some of the miracles we experienced within our own congregation. He reminded us of all those who, over the years, repented of their sins and received salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. He asked us to think about all the times we gathered for prayer, and the many times, God, in His own way, answered each of those prayers. And, lastly, he reminded us of those men who, after having come to Christ while confined, are now out of prison and are doing well. They've not violated their conditions for parole, and they are presently involved in churches in their neighborhoods.

Afterwards, each man who wanted to was allowed to approach the pulpit to give a short testimony of how God has touched his life. I too stood up to say a few words about how I have seen so many men change for the better after having placed their faith in Christ and then joined our Bible studies.

Altogether there were about seventy people present for the party and farewell banquet. This included about a dozen men and women who are some of our volunteer ministers. Furthermore, all the food was paid for by the inmates themselves.

So it was for me a long and busy day. We had our regular church service in the morning. Then, at 12:45 in the afternoon the men from my church went back to the chapel for our banquet which lasted until nine o'clock because I was part of the clean-up crew. Later I showered and now I am writing these words in my journal.

D.B.

Today was my chaplain's last day with us. He's retiring after fourteen years here at Sullivan, and after 25 years as a New York State employee. His departure will leave a gaping hole in our leadership, which I am confident the Lord will somehow fill, either by allowing a new chaplain to be assigned here, or by making a way for our services and Bible studies to continue without one.

Today was also our Christmas Eve service. However this is not Christmas Eve. Scheduling concerns caused prison officials to move it forward by a day. In addition, our service was from 10:30 to 11:30 in the morning, and not in the evening at all.

As for the service itself, it was nice but uneventful. Had my chaplain not taken about ten to fifteen minutes in his message to tell us why he opted to retire now, one would not know this was to be his last day here.

Then, after the service was done, as expected, the pulpit was mobbed by well-wishers who wanted to shake the chaplain's hand and say their goodbyes. So I purposely stayed at the rear of the crowd in order to, hopefully, get to spend an extra minute or two with him. I was not disappointed.

Sure enough, as each man filtered out the chapel's door into the hallway, as the last man he allowed me to follow him into his office as he gathered his coat and a bag full of items he was taking with him.

I got to personally thank my chaplain and pastor for the many years of service he rendered to the congregation, and for the times he provided me with wise counsel. While I didn't see eye-to-eye with him about every decision he made concerning the church, I hope he realized that I still submitted myself to his leadership, even if I sometimes had to grit my teeth and keep my mouth shut. Hey, I'm not angel! But I did submit nonetheless because this is what the Bible says to do.

I'm sure he noticed, as well, how choked up I was getting as we spoke. I'm a very emotional person, and it's easy for me to get teary-eyed. Having to say goodbye to a friend and fellow minister is a difficult thing to do.

We gave each other a firm handshake as I promised to remember both he and his family in my prayers. And with this said, I turned and walked out the door of his office. I won't see him again until we get to heaven.

D.B.

Being that it's Christmas day and I don't have to go to work, I was able to spend much of the morning reading my Bible and pondering God's Word. And as the above Scripture from the gospel of John declares, if anyone is not in Christ, he is in darkness. There's no middle ground here. Either a person is saved and he belongs to Christ, or he is lost and he does not belong to Christ. And, unfortunately, much of the world's population is outside of Christ. They are in spiritual darkness and in ignorance because they have yet to believe that Jesus is the Savior for all who have placed their faith in Him.

Therefore, what a glorious privilege it is, then, to know Jesus as Savior and Lord, and to have Him living in one's heart. As He said to His disciples, "Ye are the light of the world ( Matthew 5:14)."

But, aside from all this, during the noon hour a few of my friends and I were able to gather for a simple holiday meal. We all chipped in and purchased various items from the prison's commissary. We do this every Christmas, and on New Year's Day, too. For us it's a time to express brotherly kindness as well as thank the Lord for all His provisions. We also prayed together for our friends and families whom we miss dearly.

D.B.

As it now appears to be the case, my congregation may be without a chaplain for the foreseeable future. With the current budget situation here in New York State, plus many unplanned layoffs already scheduled to begin in early January 2011, I've been told there are no plans to hire a new chaplain. At best we may eventually get a regional chaplain. By this I mean a clergyman who will have to help meet the spiritual needs of the inmates at several different prisons as opposed to having to oversee only one facility.

Having a regional chaplain, which may be one way the state government is trying to save money, will mean that the chaplain will only come here two or three days per week instead of being at the prison full-time. Obviously this means he'll be spread thin. I could liken it to one pastor having to minister to several different congregations, and juggling himself between them. My flock has always had our own chaplain. But these days may be over. Prison administrations are being forced to make do with less.

Nevertheless God is in control. I know that Christ has His church here. And I have the faith to know and believe that the 'gates of hell' shall not prevail against us. With the Lord Jesus as our Leader, Satan doesn't stand a chance.

D.B.

I often find it easy to get knocked off course and become sidetracked in my walk with the Lord whenever I am not as discerning as I should be. Sadly, when it comes to having hopes and dreams of being used by God, there have been those who almost succeeded in taking my hopes and dreams from me and destroying them. And whenever this happens I will find myself feeling downcast, depressed, and in deep despair until the Lord intervenes and lifts me out of such negative thinking.

And it hasn't been only my enemies who've tried to take my dreams from me. Many times it has been well-meaning Christians who have tried to impose their own wills and plans upon me. But I will not go into details here.

Nevertheless, as I was pondering the things of God earlier, I came to the realization that there will always be dream busters, both within the church, and outside it. This is just the way it is. Yet today the Lord asked me to continue to dream, anyway.

If the Lord has placed various dreams and hopes inside my heart, then I am to believe that in due time He will bring these things to pass. I'm never to stop dreaming and hoping. No Christian is.

D.B.

As another year gets ready to end, I want to confess and declare that God has been faithful to me. He has kept me from harm, but not from problems. Likewise He has kept Satan from destroying me, but not from his attacks. Because it is by enduring our difficult situations and circumstances that the Christian will develop patience and a strong faith. And it is during times of intense spiritual warfare that the believer learns how to properly wear the full armor of God, and to correctly use his God given weapons of prayer and the Scriptures.

So, while my heart is filled with hope and anticipation at the coming of the Lord, which day no man could ever know, I also have a deep sense of foreboding about the things that may be coming upon the earth.

The year ahead, I believe, will consist of many storms, persecutions and temptations, along with an array of challenging situations. It will be a year for the Christian's faith to be tested through much hardship. Yet there will be seasons for rest and rejuvenation. In addition, it will also be a time for the church to be purged from sin, but to grow in holiness, as well.

Therefore, with these things in mind, I pray for safe passage for my family and friends, and for the church, and for my nation. I pray as well for many Jews and Gentiles to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ in the days to come, especially as so many things seem to be falling apart all around us.

D.B.