Conducting Business from a Prison Cell

I Paul a prisoner of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3.1)
A sad facts here in Brazil is that the prison system doesn’t work. There are too many scoundrels for too few slammers. This scenario proffers two options, either overcrowding or early release. I have never visited a male prison but I’ve seen pictures. It is never a good situation.
Not all of the bad boys get out early, however. In fact there are a few hardened criminals who do remain behind the rusty bars and in their dank and dark dens of iniquity. These men and women are locked away from society yet many of them conduct gang business as normal from their cages. With cellphone technology they are able to communicate with their various evil contacts and command their diabolic domains from within.
Authorities, try as they might, find it almost impossible to stop the cryptic communications. Hits are made, drugs are run and people’s lives destroyed by incarcerated thugs. It is incredible. How can someone be so wickedly efficient from a prison cell.
The same question might have also been asked around two-thousand years ago. There were no Smart Phones, Androids or Internet back then but there was one person in particular who communicated very efficiently from within the thick damp walls of a Roman prison. His name was Paul of Tarsus. Reading Paul’s words in Ephesians 3 always remind me that he was in chains. “I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles….”
In fact Paul wrote: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon in chains. Can you imagine the world without these letters? I think that God had Paul chained so that he would have time to write them before his early death.
Paul was amazing and I never cease to wonder what it must have been like working with him. You’ve seen the Energizer Bunny commercials? Paul would have exhausted that hare.
In the above mentioned letters from his cell Paul tells us how to live the freedom that we have in Christ. He tells us how to be truly liberated even if confined in a prison cell, by a bad relationship or with sickness. His Holy Spirit inspired letters give us hope where there seems to be none. He never complains about his lot but always encourages, uplifts and edifies. Encourage, uplift and edify mean basically the same thing. My repetition was meant to intensify what Paul has so beautify communicated though himself chained.
If you find yourself unwillingly confined just now don’t give up hope. You may not have control over your situation. You may never escape. However, turn your attention to Paul’s God. He is attentive to your need. He can help any plight. He can help you to make a difference in your world. Study Paul’s manual on “How to Be in Control (Even though chained)”.* It is a Best Seller!
*Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon

Daughter and dog...

About six months ago we discovered that Ann was pregnant and were very excited for she and Jackson. We will have babies on this side and that of the Atlantic. We weren't prepared for that news and we we were even less prepared for the news that our little dog is pregnant. To date we have spent more on the dog than on Annie (don't tell her... Ann that is). Ann has yet to discover whether her baby is a boy or girl. Both ultrasound images were inconclusive. Though I did some further investigation of my own and was startled with what I found. to me it looks as if the baby is definitely a boy and has some resemblance from both sides of the family. Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think.

Urgent Prayer (part 2)

Does God ever give you a gut punch? He did that just a few days ago when I watched a missionary story from the other side of the world. It was short but poignant, and it punched me in the belly button and brought a few tears too. One thing that shook me was the final statement that the missionary made. He was questioning himself and said, I wonder if what I have done will make a difference. This question comes to a missionary's mind now and again as they ponder how vast God's world is and how tiny one’s work is. As I thought, and identified, with his sentiment, the Lord brought a verse to mind that I had used recently in a youth talk. It was this one in John 12:24, “ Very truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ” When, in Matthew, the sower sowed his seed, it was the Word of God. Here in John, Jesus indicates that the seed is the life of the servant. Jesus talked of his comi...

Church Isn't a Place

Many times we say, I'm going to church on Sunday. What some fail to understand is that "church" isn't a building. I remember our pastor saying, "the church is an organism, not an organization." He was teaching us the Bible truth about the church. Jesus Christ is the head of the body, and the church is his body on earth. Another pastor once said, "God's hands have human fingers." This is a difficult concept for some to grasp, pun intended. However, it is important to understand that God accomplishes his work through human beings. He uses us, the church, to do his will and work. It's not that if we don't do his will that he is stymied. But he does use willing servants. To be in the church, one must be a part of the family. You cannot be in the church if you don't have the Savior. The church is not for the lost; it is for the edification of the saved. The lost can come and hear the message of salvation. But the church is made up of t...

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