"Let brotherly love continue."
Hebrews 13:1
Serving the Lord from prison has been both a challenge and a joy...
Hebrews 13:1
Serving the Lord from prison has been both a challenge and a joy...
Having been a follower of Messiah Jesus for well over thirty years has allowed me to become something of an elder brother, and even a father figure, to these men. While having now been incarcerated for forty-seven years has only added to my role. Even more so because, by the grace of God, I have maintained both my faith and my sanity.
It's true. The men in our church fellowship respect the fact that, as with men serving life sentences and with little to no chance for release, they are not seeing in me the bitterness, anger, indifference, and hopeless which characterizes many "long termers." Instead, they see me as a relatively happy, easygoing, sociable person. And from this they apparently draw a degree of inner strength for themselves, for which I am thankful for.
Of course, I have my own challenges and issues to face. I too on occasion experience seasons of depression, or I will be burdened by various stressful situations or events. This is all part of life. Yet these men see me quickly overcome these negative things and continue onwards in my faith.
Thus, we are all growing together in brotherly love, new Christians and those who like myself have been "saved" for many years. We are learning how to encourage each other, and to build up one another with the Word of God and through prayer.
All told, we as soldiers and servants of the Lord Jesus Christ desire that we genuinely demonstrate brotherly love as a body of believers, and that we please and honor the Lord in every way we can.
Love is here in our fellowship, and Jesus is here too.
D.B.
It's true. The men in our church fellowship respect the fact that, as with men serving life sentences and with little to no chance for release, they are not seeing in me the bitterness, anger, indifference, and hopeless which characterizes many "long termers." Instead, they see me as a relatively happy, easygoing, sociable person. And from this they apparently draw a degree of inner strength for themselves, for which I am thankful for.
Of course, I have my own challenges and issues to face. I too on occasion experience seasons of depression, or I will be burdened by various stressful situations or events. This is all part of life. Yet these men see me quickly overcome these negative things and continue onwards in my faith.
Thus, we are all growing together in brotherly love, new Christians and those who like myself have been "saved" for many years. We are learning how to encourage each other, and to build up one another with the Word of God and through prayer.
All told, we as soldiers and servants of the Lord Jesus Christ desire that we genuinely demonstrate brotherly love as a body of believers, and that we please and honor the Lord in every way we can.
Love is here in our fellowship, and Jesus is here too.
D.B.
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