February 2011

No matter what others may think, the prison experience often produces many strong Christians. These are the men and women who became "born again" while in prison, but have not merely become believers in Jesus Christ, they've become committed disciples who are now having a powerful impact in both the world and in the churches.

I said many years ago during a lengthy interview with FOCUS ON THE FAMILY radio that I have men in my congregation who would be an asset to any church on the outside. In fact I have often repeated these very same words because it's true. Ex-cons who have truly made Jesus the Lord of their lives make some of the best Christians. They're survivors. They have kept the faith even while living in a type of hell. They have endured persecution and mockings from fellow inmates and prison guards, yet have stayed faithful.

To confirm this, I have gotten two recent reports of men who were here at Sullivan Correctional Facility. They were dedicated to Christ in here, and have stayed on course on the outside. One relocated to Florida where he's helping to lead worship services in a local church. While another man who did at least twenty years is busy in his church in upstate New York. The work of the Lord is never in vain (I Corinthians 15:58).

D.B.

Yesterday I felt like a proud father. Anthony, one of the members of my church, gave the sermon. It was his first time preaching and sharing his testimony at length before a crowd of about fifty of his fellow inmates. And he did a fine job because God was with him.

I have watched Anthony grow into a mature Christian after having first surrendered to Jesus Christ about eight years ago while in prison. He's in his late thirties. According to Anthony, although he came from a loving family and has several children himself, he ended up getting addicted to crack cocaine and other drugs. He eventually became homeless and lived in city shelters when it was cold outside, and in the streets when it was warm.

Anthony burst into tears several times as he spoke from the pulpit. During his approximately thirty minute message he told us about how his father had been suffering from heart trouble. When, one day, he went to check up on his dad and found him in the house dead, apparently from a massive heart attack. Anthony said his life went downhill after this. His mother, he added, later became a homebound diabetic after her son was arrested for murder. It was now her turn to give up on life once her son went off to prison, as Anthony explained it, just like he'd given up on life when his dad died suddenly.

Satan no doubt is exceptionally clever at causing people to think there is no hope, and no reason to go on living anymore. But today Anthony proved Satan to be a liar. Instead Anthony showed the congregation that Jesus Christ is the Savior. That Christ is able to deliver those who are bound by sin, and are weighed down with feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness.

Seeing Anthony blossom into a mature Christian whom I believe has been called to preach the gospel as well as have a ministry of encouragement, has brought joy to my heart. I've said many times that the prison environment is such a place where men and women who are serious about serving the Lord can grow in their faith and in the knowledge of the Scriptures.

Yes, the rigors of prison life can be used by God to train and mold men and women into capable ministers. And this is what is happening to Anthony.

D.B.

I cannot begin to describe how wonderful it is whenever I see God working miracles among these men. And He truly is. Some of them are getting born again. They're experiencing God's forgiveness while the weight of guilt that has kept them in bondage for so long a time is slowly being lifted. Others are being reunited with their families as broken relationships are being healed and restored.

These things are of course hidden from society. Yet they are happening nonetheless because God is full of compassion. He is always at work, too, whether people notice it or not. The Lord is restoring the years, and what a joy it is to watch Him as He renews hope in the hearts of the outcasts.

D.B.

This weekend I plan to limit my activities and stay in my cell as much as possible so as to remain still and silent before the presence of the Lord. I want to seek God's face and His counsel concerning several personal matters. I need His guidance, too. Without it I'd be lost.

In the New Testament book of Revelation, chapters two and three, the Lord sent personal messages to seven different churches. But there are also times, I believe, when the Christian needs to hear from God for himself. For me this is such a time. I need the Lord to speak to my spirit. I want to hear what God has to say to David.

D.B.

Thus far we still do not have a Protestant Chaplain. Our previous chaplain and pastor retired right before Christmas of last year. But I believe the Lord revealed to me that He himself is really the Chaplain of the church here at Sullivan Correctional Facility. In fact Jesus has always been our Chaplain. However up until recently He has simply chosen to work through a man.

In addition, if a new chaplain were to come here, if he is not a born again, Spirit-filled person, we would actually be better off without him (in my opinion). We'd be better off the way things are now. Although, frankly, we do need a chaplain.

While God has me and several of the elder brothers in our congregation overseeing our Bible studies and worship services, as much as mere prison inmates are allowed to, the big disadvantage of not having an official chaplain is that certain areas of the facility cannot be evangelized. These areas are now out of reach from the counsel of a Bible-believing minister.

For instance, only a chaplain is allowed access to the prison's hospital, the protective custody unit, or the special Behavioral Control Unit (BHU) that keeps about sixty men under special supervision, or the Special Housing Unit (SHU), more commonly known as "The Box." SHU houses those inmates who are under a 23-hour per day lockdown for committing serious rule infractions. These areas are now devoid of any form of a Christian witness.

When my former chaplain was here he would visit these restricted areas on a weekly basis often taking literature such as Billy Graham's Decision magazine or copies of the Daily Bread from the Radio Bible Class with him. He could bring an inmate a Bible if one is requested. And he could pray with a prisoner or counsel him if asked. This is all gone now. So it is something to be concerned about as perhaps twenty percent of the population lives in these parts of the facility. I've taken this matter to the Lord in prayer.

D.B.

With the chaplain having retired some of the members of my congregation as well as several close friends on the outside, have been trying to vigorously persuade me to take on more of a pulpit/pastoral role. Frankly, being behind the pulpit has little interest for me. I know everyone means well. But in my opinion there are other men in our fellowship whom I know to be fully qualified to teach, preach and expound on the Word of God. These are the Spirit-filled men who love God, and they are called.

My role, or at least a big part of it, has always been to encourage my fellow Christians to recognize their gifts, and to put such gifts and talents to regular use.

I know the chapel's pulpit doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the Lord. While, sadly, my well-meaning friends who insist on pushing me into taking on even more tasks and responsibilities than I already have, could easily turn my service to the Lord into some kind of performance trap. This would ultimately cause me more harm than good, I believe. And I have seen this same thing happen to other ministers, much to their detriment.

God forbid that I should be on a pedestal, thought by others to be some kind of "Super-Christian." Rather my heart's desire is for the body of Christ here at the prison to mature in their faith and increase in the grace and knowledge of God so that genuine godly leaders can come forth.

I suppose I could say that if I'm to be in any kind of leadership position, I would rather do it from the rear. It indeed suits me well to be behind the scenes as much as is possible. I only wish, however, that the ones who've been trying to push me into the pulpit, or who keep trying to find more things for me to do in the church, would ease up in their endeavors and simply allow the Lord to have me to what He wants with me. I guess today I'm venting...

D.B.

The forgiveness of sin and how to cope with all the guilt, shame and regret which so often occurs because of one's sinful past is a recurring theme in many letters that I get from fellow Christians. "How does one deal with these things," I am asked. Earlier today I had to write to someone to answer this common question.

So I reminded this person that Christ has already taken our sins and has washed them away with His own blood which He willingly shed on Calvary's cross. Correspondingly, in the Old Testament God is seen as taking all our sins and iniquities and throwing them into the depths of the sea, never to be remembered any more. See Micah 7:18-20 for the full text of this.

However, because we are mere mortals, we have a natural tendency to remember many of our sins and to wallow in the regret of them, usually because of the terrible consequences they have brought upon us. But, if we have placed our faith in Christ and are trusting in Him for our salvation, we must now see our lives from God's viewpoint. And His view is that when it comes to those who are in Christ, all our sins have been forgiven and our sinful past has been forgotten.

Such great grace obviously overcomes the mind. But it is actually a biblical reality which goes beyond human comprehension because we are no longer dealing on the level of human vengeance with its desire to punish and retaliate for wrongdoing. Instead, when God enters the picture, everything is moved to His playing field, so to speak. The game is now played by His rules. Here, in God's ball park, the mercy and compassion of the Lord are without limit.

I reminded my friend that I too struggled for many years with guilt and regret. And these feelings many never fully go away. Yet in spite of this we're to do our best to give the guilt and regret to the Lord, while we learn to rest in His love and accept His forgiveness.

Jesus' work was finished at the cross, I told her. When, in His final hours of human life He shouted, "It is finished," our salvation was now fully secured. Christ paid the price for our sins that by His power we may now live a brand new life. That we may have peace in our hearts having first made our peace with God through faith in Christ Jesus (Romans 5:1).

I hope my words will help ease the pain and anguish that has caused her spirit to be crushed and broken for a long time now. Forgiveness is a wonderful gift. It is meant to be enjoyed, and it is mean to be lived.

D.B.

I am quite certain that the multitudes of people throughout the world know within the deepest part of their being that something is very wrong in the world. Yet they're perhaps too afraid to face the truth that this could be so. They're in denial even though their hearts and minds are telling them otherwise. Their instincts are letting them know that we're headed for some kind of catastrophe.

I've no doubt there are many cataclysmic events ahead for our planet. In fact we're witnessing some of them now, especially in the realms of politics and social unrest, in business and finance, and the weather.

As the holy Bible makes clear in many of its sacred passages, a day of divine judgment is coming. For now, however, much of humanity has chosen to either deny this, or run from God altogether.

But my prayer is that many people will run to Him. They will seek the Lord and will choose to leap into His loving arms. God will most assuredly embrace each one in return. For the Lord will never reject anyone who comes to Him.

D.B.

In spite of the bone-chilling cold outside, God was busy warming the hearts this morning inside the prison's chapel. At the close of the preacher's message, when the invitation was given for all those who wanted to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior to come down to the altar, two men decided to get up from their seats and go.

It was obvious to me, however, by the looks on the faces of these two fellows, and by the particular way each walked, that they had lived through rough lives before coming here. They had the appearance of men who drank too much alcohol, and had been addicted to drugs, probably for a long time. Their faces looked worn and prematurely wrinkled. They both appeared to be much older than their actual ages. In addition, each man's shoulders had a noticeable sag that one would see on someone who has spent much of their life battling depression. They walked with a posture of a person who has the weight of the world on his shoulders, and cannot even remember what it is to walk with a head held erect and sure.

And I noticed something else. Their prison uniforms were badly soiled and wrinkled. From my experience with other inmates, this usually indicates that before each one came to prison, he was homeless. And this is not at all uncommon.

Such individuals, when they were homeless, would often be found sleeping with their clothes on, even in their shoes. Doing this kept their clothes from getting stolen. And it did not matter if one was sleeping on a park bench or in a shelter. Whatever item was off your body, even if it was right by your side, would be considered fair game to a desperate thief

For the chronically homeless, sleeping fully dressed is a learned habit that often gets carried over when a man is in prison. To remove your clothing is to make yourself vulnerable.

Furthermore, and this has been told to me by several formerly homeless inmates over the years, that when you sleep outdoors, sometimes you'd find yourself being startled by the sharp poking of a police officer's nightstick and an angry bark to "Get up, and get moving!" Thus sleeping with your clothes on helped you to make a quick getaway with only seconds to either grab your sleeping bag, if you had one, or your cardboard mat.

But aside from this, the best thing for these two broken men was that they each heard the gospel and made a decision to receive Christ. Watching them as they stood with their backs to the congregation and facing the preacher with heads bowed like two little kids, was a humbling sight. I listened with joy as they both said the "Sinner's Prayer" together. No doubt there was jubilation in heaven as two more souls were added to God's family.

D.B.