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“What Makes the Bible Better the
Quran?”--Prison Ministry Update
By Chris Anderson As it stands, we are not able to get any form of
submersible tank approved by the prison authorities and the inmates are
forbidden from leaving the prison to get baptized at a local church,
thus we cannot baptize anybody. Hopefully we can find some way to get
these gentlemen baptized. It is in God's hands. Our next goal is to make them see how baptism of the
Holy Ghost is wholly different and essential to their belief in Christ. We ended our visit to Block A with a discussion of
Ecclesiastes 7:1-4, “It is better to go to the house of mourning,
than to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the
living will lay it to his heart.” The Holy Spirit moved in, as this
verse comforted men who were stuck in their current “houses of
mourning.” Endtime Interruption!--Our visit
to Block B was not nearly as successful as Block A. One inmate from a
Pentecostal church in St. Louis hijacked the conversation, ranting about
Bush selling guns to Saudi Arabia and how the end of the world was at
hand. I did not feel peace in this conversation and tried to curtail it
without making him feel unimportant. As soon as he started ranting, most
of the block walked away. We were not able to regain the attention of
the block and will attempt a different approach next week. Next week, we
will bring him an Endtime magazine. He said that when he feels down he reads the Bible to
feel better, but it wasn't working. I told him that there is nothing
that I can tell him that will make him miss his family less, but there
is a God who can help him. He had never heard of the baptism of the Holy
Ghost, so I taught how the presence of God could come and comfort him
when there are no other answers. He is looking forward to studying the
Book of Acts in relation to Matthew 5. Challenge with Mormonism--Block C
was filled with three new inmates with whom Leonard had visited briefly
last week. One man, a professed meth-addict, was “raised Mormon, but I
stopped going and now I don't really believe in anything.” At first, he
was unreceptive because he had written off religion, but, as we started
to talk about the supernatural manifestation available through Jesus, he
gained interest. For 40 minutes, I went line-by-line over Acts 2 with
two inmates. Meanwhile, Leonard spoke with the third inmate,
Anthony, from a tract entitled Fatal Attaction that Leonard had
left last week. He asked, "Is this true?" and said he read it
several times and had started to pray every day. When Leonard gave him
his new Bible, he went to his bunk and started reading. Then he came
back only to ask, “Where's the part about forgiveness?” Three men who had never heard the Gospel before eagerly accepted their new Bibles, ready to read about these new things presented by Leonard and myself. Our final visit was to Block E, which holds three
inmates, and also gives us access to a 3 " x 10" hole through which we
can talk to inmates in Block F. As we talked, it became clear that he had indeed
studied the Bible vigorously, but he did not have any comprehension of
the Holy Spirit. He had been looking for the legal things that would get
him to heaven. As we introduced Acts 2:38 and its implications, it
became clear that he hadn't ever heard our message about Christ before. By the end of the discussion he proclaimed, “That's
what I want! I want the Holy Ghost! That's what I'm looking for! How do
I get it?” Leonard and I explained that it is God's to give, and
then discussed what it feels like to surrender. With each passing
minute, you could feel years of anger and depression leave his body.
Through the bars, Leonard and I laid our hands on his shoulders and
began to pray. Slowly, we could feel the Holy Ghost well up within him
and he gradually began to praise and thank Jesus, who just 20 minutes
earlier he was ready to curse. Although he did not yet speak in tongues, at the end of the prayer we asked how he felt. After a deep breath he replied, “Better . . . I feel like better than I've felt in long time.” We assured him that he is on his way to receiving the Holy Ghost just like it is promised in Acts 2, and told him to just meditate on God with these newfound revelations in mind, and it could happen at any moment. © 2008, Chris Anderson ---------- Chris Anderson is the Editorial Designer for Word Aflame Publications. He also serves as Children's Minister under Pastor Thomas Suey at South Central Regional Apostolic/Christ Tabernacle in Herrick, IL. Anderson did not know what to expect when asked to participate in Free Indeed. Thus far, in a short two-week stint, he has felt intimacy with Christ like no other ministerial opportunity. |
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