“We’re in spiritual combat – cosmic combat for the heart and soul of humankind.”
Chuck Colson
Most of us try not to think about warfare and battles being fought in far off lands; when we do, we picture people shooting at one another or bombs being dropped from the sky. Few of us envision the gruesome aspects of hand-to-hand combat. Is there anything more horrifying to contemplate than being engaged, one on one, with the enemy in a close quarter struggle for one’s own survival…kill or be killed? Many of us, when we think of evangelizing, snatching souls from the clutches of the enemy, also envision a battle being fought in far off lands. Yet, I would submit to you that prison ministry and the ministry of Changed Lives is much more like hand-to-hand combat. The enemy is among us and they are engaging us up close and personal. Some people can’t help but think about the war in Iraq or Afghanistan because they have members of their family fighting there. Most of us would rather not think about it. Still, I would suggest that the battle against evil is a global battle and it is being fought, not just overseas, but in the neighborshoods, in the streets, in the courts, in the Congress, and, yes, in the churches of America. It’s being fought city block to city block, building to building, family to family, child to child, hand to hand. Most of us can’t help but think about this war, this “spiritual combat”, this “cosmic combat”, because we have family affected by it, or we’re embroiled in it ourselves. I have yet to visit a church where someone has not come up to me in tears telling me about a loved one in prison or about a loved one who has been a victim of a crime. The battle is real, the battle is now, and, like it or not, it is ours to fight. Many times I have spoken or written to you that the ministry of Changed Lives has not sought to avoid, but to actively engage the enemy, not in some distant land, but here and now, hand to hand. When I am in prison sharing my testimony and praching the Gospel, I am engaging the enemy. When I am in the churches presenting my ministry, sharing my testimony, preaching the Gospel, I am engaging the enemy! People are hearing the Gospel and calling on the name of the Lord in both places. Whether in prisons or in churches, in juvenile homes or in Christian academies, I am engaging the enemy! I am in the field!
Note: I don’t choose the battlefields. I let the Lord do that. I call the prisons and the churches and let Him decide where and when the enemy will be met. For those of you who would limit my ministry, I would suggest that you take that up with my Boss, you know, the One “who sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat.” That Boss. Until He changes my orders, I will do what He has commanded me to do, and that is to hold forth the Word of Life to a lost and dying generation wherever they may be found, even within the walls of Nineva. Only the Gospel has the power to change lives. Only the Gospel can storm and gain the ground that hell would have.
Good News – We’re in week seven of the Walk of Repentance/Sexual Idolatry Class at NCCI, and we’re seeing signs of true repentance hammering away at the walls of pride and making straight the way of the Lord. The mentoring program is taking shape, as well, with men taking a survey of their personal/spiritual needs, putting a “vision plan” together to address those needs, both inside and outside of prison walls. The Juvenile Ministry is growing, and we will be contacting Source of Light Ministries to put into place a followup Bible study that these kids can continue to work on after their release. This program offers awards for successful completion of a course and allows us to stay in touch. Many young people professed faith in the Lord my last visit to Stark County Attention Center in May. Good is good, all the time! I had a good visit at Noble Correctional, eight men making the altar call that day. One young man in a jail in Decatur Mississippi called on Him the night I visited there, and the list goes on. Lives are being changed, and somewhere a would-be victim won’t be a victim because God changed the heart of a man or woman through the ministry by His Word.
I talked recently with a pastor from Georgia who told me the jail ministry, which began the day I held a Matthew 25 Day at their church, continues to thrive with men and women in the local jail calling on His name and being saved. One such man has completely turned his life over to God and is very active in that very same church, bringing in his family, witnessing, and leading others to the Lord. Lives are being changed. Families are being restored. The ministry is in the field, the ministry is effective, the ministry is growing. Won’t you help? You, too, can engage the enemy through your giving.
Larry Skrant
Letter to a Prison Ministry
Dear Larry:
Bernard Ruffin in his book Fanny Crosby, Great Hymn Writer, wrote of a request an Ohio businessman named Howard made of the blind poetress in 1868. He asked that she write lyrics with the phrase, “Pass me not, O gentle Savior.” Fanny was uninspired…then one day she was involved in a service at a New York prison chapel near Manhattan. During the course of the service, the blind woman heard an inmate cry out: “Good Lord, do not pass me by!” When she went to bed that night, she composed these words: “Pass me not, oh gentle Savior; hear my humble cry. While on others thou art smiling, do not pass me by. Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry. While on others thou art calling, do not pass me by.” She sent the words to Doane, who wrote the music. The hymn was sung a few days later in the same prison service where Fanny was ministering. The hymn made a profound impression on the inmates, many of whom were converted on the spot! Fanny was so moved by the prisoners’ reactions that she “fell in a swoon and had to be carried out.” Jesus passing by Matthew, an accountant and a tax collector for the Roman occupation, said to him, “Follow me,” and Matthew arose and followed Him. Larry, I am glad you…with your three numbers…arose to follow Jesus. Each time I play this song, I will think of Fanny Crosby, you, and your love for those in chains. I hope to play this song for you when I come up for your banquet in October.
Pastor Jack Jackson
ZOE Student Ministries
Millbrook, Alabama
PS~Fanny was a guitar player too!
God is good, all the time!
For six years, six nights a week in prison, I had my own private little Bible study. I would put on my radio headset and listen to Chuck Swindoll and “Insight for Living”. When I went to my parole hearing, one of the reasons given me for my release was I had gained “insight” into my crimes! During my recent ministry trip to Dallas, I got to meet Chuck Swindoll and to thank him for all the years he had ministered to me. Only God could arrange something like that!
Changed Lives Ministries
Banquet – October 14th!
Ministry needs: People have told me, if the ministry is in need of anything, to make that need known, so here goes. We are in need of donations to purchase Bibles for inmates we are mentoring with and will be baptizing within a year. We are in need of $2000 to put into place a comprehensive Bible study (using Source of Light Ministry resources) for juveniles, which will allow us to disciple those teens that have professed faith in Christ during one of our services. We are in need of donations for the CD ministry sharing the Gospel through music. If you can help with any of these, Thank You!!