A few months ago, I joined a jail ministry team. I really didn’t know for sure what to expect. I guess I’ve always thought you would go in and try to convince a group of guys to believe or accept something they had no interest in.
It has really been quite the opposite. For the most part, the guys that come on Tuesday nights realize God has put them there to get their attention. With few acceptions, they all believe, but realize their believing has not been sufficient enough to change the way they live.
God knows how to get our attention doesn’t He. Just this last Tuesday night, I told them that I may not have bottomed out in a way that landed me in jail, but I bottomed out in my Christianity and He stopped me to get my attention. Not to punish me, but because He had something good for me that He wanted me to find.
I tell them that I am not a preacher, which I guess I really don’t have to mention. (Some things go without saying) We talk. I tell them what has changed my life and the part writing has played in it. Occasionally I leave a story or a poem with them.
We have some good discussions. They are honest and real. A few weeks ago, one guy, who had a good way with words, expressed both belief and unbelief. He believed but he was hesitant to just jump on the wagon. Like all of us, he wanted it to be real.
Last week he came up to me afterwards and said he had written a couple of poems and wanted to know if I would read them and let him know what I thought. I have decided to post one here today.
My Cage
My addiction is a cage;
it wants my life.
It’s filled with confusion,
pain, guilt and strife.
It’s cold and it’s lonely,
regret my only friend.
Is this a life’s sentence?
When exactly will it end?
I weep for my family.
On this journey I’m lost.
I long for freedom;
can you tell me the cost?
I search for answers;
they must be the key.
My will is my bond;
my faith sets me free.
Yet I remain a prisoner
and console myself each night.
I’m still locked in this cage
but at least now it’s filled with light.
Hunger and Thirst 
Thank you so much for going to see the guys. God only knows all that has been wrought from this. So much about it blesses me, touches me. And the gentleman’s poem? You’re right, he is good with words and conveying his faith through them, in an honest way. God bless you and the ministry you do with Him!
…Did you visit me when I was in prison?
Yes. Mike did, actually.
Mike, I applaud your ministry here. To simply be a guy who visits prisoners is amazing, and obviously you don’t need a degree or certificate to be able to do it effectively. You have desire and availability, and with those two things, our Father can work wonders.
You said:
“With few exceptions, they all believe, but realize their believing has not been sufficient enough to change the way they live.”
I read that and thought to myself that you could just as easily said that about those of us on the outside who are sons of God, as well.
Nicely said, Mike. I look forward to your posts. This one, like so many before, did not disappoint. Good food for the spirit.
I don’t have a “cage”, so to speak. Instead, I find that I regularly receive “hate letters in self-addressed stamped envelopes”, and the writing on the front of them looks exactly like mine. Funny, that.
From the beginning I have sensed the Lord orchestrated my getting hooked up with this jail ministry. It has been a long time coming as I have tried many other things that just was not a good fit.
And by the way Donald, in regard to the hate mail you send yourself, if I thought it would do any good I would tell you to lighten up on yourself; but I know from personal experience it wouldn’t do any good. We have an enemy who’s writing looks an awful lot like our own.
>>We have an enemy who’s writing looks an awful lot like our own.
You ain’t kidding, Mike. It is scary how easy it is for him to counterfeit us, isn’t it?
Yes. It is frighteningly hard to tell sometimes. All I can say about it is the more aquainted I get with God (truth), the more readily I recognize my enemy (lies). One of my favorite quotes, which happens to be my own ( 🙂 ) is, ‘If the greatest truth in the Bible is that God loves us, doesn’t it stand to reason that the greatest lie is that He doesn’t’?