Would You Contribute One Dollar?

To help a criminal leave prison as a Christian, not a better trained  Criminal?

Contribution

Tulsa County Jail.

On Pace to deliver 5,000 Classroom lessons this year into David L. Moss or Tulsa Co. Jail.

Jim Pinkston & Francisco Davila teach the men.

Ron Babbet teaches with us men when his schedule allows.

Four ladies go to the women’s pods every Friday for the last two and one half years, to teach.  Elaine Russell, Carol Siling, Teresa Hawkins and Alison Valentine. Two more ladies, Lori Varnell & Jan Upton, have taken the training and are waiting to get their badges.

Jody Gilkey has moved back to Tulsa and has started back at the jail with the ladies. We have just received permission to teach in the third POD #18 on Thursday afternoons. This will have us teaching in all the lady pods.

Carl Moore and Zeth Parkhurst have finished the training and have received their badges. They will be able to teach the hearing impaired.

On October 10, 2015 over 200 inmates were baptized at DLM. 105 were the students of the Park Plaza Prison Ministry.

Bill Hamrick, Ron Hass and Ralph Hunter Church of Christ preachers also go into DLM between us all the men’s pods are visited each week. In

December Park teachers baptized 64, and March 2016;  85 more.

Creek Co. Jail

is a new work started by Terry. He takes Celebrate Recovery into the jail every Monday and on Friday afternoon New Life Behavior.  Due to this ministry going into Creek County, The inmates there studied salvation and 107 were baptized into Christ. Over 20 of these are Terry’s students.  The last time Creek held baptisms was 5 years prior to these. David Stikes now has his badge and is teaching there.

John H. Lilly Correctional Center.

Terry teaches New Life Behavior, Thinking for a change, and sponsors Celebrate Recovery. He is also the Assistant Chaplin. Roger Bentley has received his training and got his badge and has started helping Terry at John Lilly. John Ulrich is helping on Saturdays with CR. On Wednesday April 13, 2016 Terry baptized two men into Christ.

Dick Connors Correctional Center.

Jim has worked there since 1990. Elaine started a couple of years later.

Jim teaches NLB Lessons and CASA.  He also teaches in the faith based unit and preaches there four evenings each month. Tuesday night Oct.20, 2015 one inmate was baptized during the service the Park Plaza Prison Ministry did.

On November 4 another young man was baptized into Christ.

Jim and Jody Carmichael, Elaine Russell help and Booker leads singing when he can.

Jim’s (Pinkston) wife Jean now has her badge and is going with the group to the services there. So far this year we have had four baptisms there.

Correspondence.

35 packages of 6 to 7 lessons mailed to many prisons in Oklahoma.  Every two weeks = 228 lessons x 2 = 456 per month or 5,472 per year.  We have several helpers that show up every other Tuesday night to grade all of these and get them ready to mail. Many of these are people we studied with at Tulsa and Creek County Jail and have gone on to prison. This is one way we keep up with them.

Re-entry program.

(Hope City) It houses four men at this time.  Randy Milam is the onsite manager.  We have the space for five.  Two units are being remodeled to where it can handle seven.  We also have a RV that is being plumed at this time to where it can house one making the total eight.

One of these men (Bryan Campbell) is being trained to go into the prisons and be a full time minister like Jim Pinkston and Terry Finch.  He has a degree in bible and masters in drug & alcohol counseling.

Through the ministry he was funded for these while incarcerated.  He will receive his badge in January. In the last year and one half over twenty men have been helped and are closer to Jesus because of this great ministry. Two of these men have their own business today and employ several ex-offenders.

Advisory Board. 

The board is made up of eight men.  James Ivy, Ken Williams, Steve Stade, Scott Blackwell, Gary Medley, Mark Clayton, Randy Milam and Kevin Neiman.  Jim & Terry are the recruiters for the applicants.  The board decides who is approved to enter the reentry program.  They go by a set of guidelines approved by the Elders. The board also oversees the operation of the program.

Future Plans.

To continue with the programs that are now being successful and just see where God leads us in 2016.

Baptisms from this work

2010                            94

2011                            109

2012                            139

2013                            259

2014                            406

2015                            382

2016 Jan Tulsa County 56 March Tulsa County 85 As of April 1 2016 Dick Connors 6 John Lilley At Boley 7. = 154 So Far in 2016

Total                          1543 Since 2010 That we know of.

To put this in perspective, 1543 would more than fill first & second service at Park Central. 

Impossible without your support.

“Jesus did it!!!”

THOSE WHO GO FOR SERVICES

 AT THE DIFFERENT PLACES

Jim Pinkston

Terry Finch  

Elaine Russell

Booker Murphy

Jerona Robey

Jim & Jody Carmichael

Francisco Davila

Carol Siling

Teresa Hawkins

Alison Valentine

Jody Gilkey

NEW WORKS FOR 2016

Tulsa County Jail

Carl Moore & Zeth Parkhurst  have finished their training and will soon receive their badges. They will be teaching the hearing impaired at Tulsa County Jail.

Lori Varnell & Jan Upton have finished their training and will soon receive their badges. They will be teaching the ladies with the other Park Plaza ladies at Tulsa County Jail.

Creek County Jail

David Stikes & Jody Gilkey will soon receive their training and receive their badges and start teaching at the Jail.

JOHN H. LILLY CORRECTIONAL CENTER

Roger Bentley, Brian Campbell and John Ulrich will receive their badges and start teaching at this prison with Terry.

Dick Connors Correctional Center

Jim Pinkston has started teaching in the Faith Based Unit. This is a program where every inmate in the unit is a believer in God. The men stay in this unit for eighteen months and spend there time studying Gods word.

Jim’s wife Jean is getting her badge and will start going to Dick Connors with the group soon.

Jim Carmichael will start teaching Apologetics the first Monday of April. That is how to defend the Christian Faith.

I would like to share with you a post from Eric Obeng Asante

Preacher at Church of Christ / Gospel Preacher Planning Churches Of Christ In Africa

Studied at Southern Africa Bible College
Lives in Johannesburg, South Africa
From Accra, Ghana

Here’s what I noticed, much like the civil rights movement in America, the most successful activist who became known as one of our greatest leaders was Dr. Martin Luther King, who sought reform through peaceful, yet forceful & determination.

Those who seek reform through violence, are always forgotten, and have much less success.

Christianity has evangelized the world through mostly peaceful means, sharing the word of God, and the message of salvation through peaceful loving methods, and when the truth is heard, people are converted, worlds are won for Christ.

Yet while the Muslim world evangelizes by the sword, and they have temporary victories, and always , ultimately loses.  They do not worship the loving God of heaven but the Hating God of this world.

The founder of Islam was Mohammed, born at Mecca, in Arabia, A.D. 570. He began his career as prophet and reformer in 610, when forty years old. At first disciples were won slowly, but his cause grew sufficiently to meet with persecution.

He fled from Mecca in A.D. 622, and his flight, called the Hegira, supplies the date from which the Mohammedan calendar is reckoned. He succeeded in bringing under his religion and authority the scattered Arabian tribes, and returned as a conqueror to Mecca. When he died, in A.D. 632, he was the accepted prophet and ruler throughout Arabia.

His religion is named Islam, “submission,” that is, obedience to the will of God; and his followers are called Moslem — the name “Mohammedan” being never used by them. The articles of their faith, as stated by themselves are:

that there is one God, whom they name Allah, the word being of common origin with the similar Hebrew word “Elohim”;

that all events whether good or evil have been foreordained by God, consequently in every act they are carrying out God’s will;

that there are multitudes of angels, good and bad, invisible yet constantly dealing with men;

that God has given his revelation in the Koran, a series of messages communicated to Mohammed through the Angel Gabriel, though they were not collected until after the prophet’s death;

that God has sent inspired prophets to men, of whom the four greatest have been Adam, Moses, Jesus, and, above all others, Mohammed;

all the biblical prophets, the Christian apostles, and the saints who lived before Mohammed having been recognized and adopted as their own;

that in the hereafter there will be a final resurrection, judgment, and heaven or hell for every man.

At first Mohammed relied on moral influences in preaching his message; but soon changed his methods and became a warrior, leading his united and fierce Arabs to the conquest of unbelievers. To each land or tribe they gave the alternatives of Islam, tribute, or death to those who resisted their arms. Mohammed was succeeded by a series of caliphs who built up a vast empire by the sword.

Palestine and Syria were soon conquered; and the holy places of Christianity fell under the power of Islam. Province after province of the Greco-Roman Empire was seized, and soon all that was left was the city of Constantinople, so that all the lands of early Christianity became subject. Where the Christians submitted, their worship was permitted under restrictions. Eastward the empire of the caliphs extended beyond Persia into India. Their capital was at Bagdad on the Tigris.

Westward, their conquests included Egypt, all northern Africa, and the greater part of Spain. Nearly all of this vast empire was gained within a hundred years after “the prophet’s” death. But its progress in western Europe was stopped in southern France by Charles Martel, who rallied the discordant tribes under the leadership of the Franks, and won a decisive victory at Tours in A.D. 732. But for the battle of Tours, it is possible that all Europe might have been a Mohammedan continent, and the crescent have taken the place of the cross.

It is an interesting question — why did the Mohammedan religion and arms triumph over the oriental world? We may name some of the causes. The earliest believers in Mohammed were the fierce, warlike Arabs, never conquered by a foreign foe, who followed their prophet with a sincere, intense, all-conquering faith. They believed that they were accomplishing the will of God, and were destined to succeed. Everyone who fell in battle with the unbelievers was destined to enter an immediate heaven of sensual delight.

Against this virile, unconquered, and conquering spirit was the weakened, submissive nature of the Asiatic Greeks. From remote ages those lands had submitted meekly to conquerors. Their people had lost their vigor, would rather surrender than draw the sword, and pay tribute in preference to defending their liberty. Vast numbers of those in the Greek Empire were churchmen and monks, ready to pray but not to fight.

The Islam religion was far superior to the paganism which it displaced in Arabia and the lands east of that peninsula; and, it must be admitted, stronger than the type of “Christianity” which it met and overcame. The Eastern Church, unlike the Western, had long ceased missionary effort, had lost its energy, and was inclined to speculation, rather than to moral or spiritual effort.

In the religion of Mohammed at its best there were, and still are to be found, some favorable aspects, elements of value to the world. One was its simplicity of doctrine. It believed in One God, whom it was every man’s duty to obey implicitly. It had no mysterious intricate system of theology, giving rise to interminable, useless controversies. There was no need of scholarship to understand the articles of the Mohammedan faith.

Another trait of the Islam religion was its opposition to image worship. Throughout the Christian world the statues of the old gods and goddesses of Greece had simply given place to images and pictures of the Virgin Mary and the saints, which were worshiped in all the churches. The Moslems cast them out, destroyed them, and denounced all adoration of images, whether carved or painted, as idolatry.

The Mohammedans rejected also all priestly and saintly mediation. The church of that world made salvation depend, not on simple faith in Christ and obedience to him as Lord, but on priestly rites and the intercession of departed saints. The Mohammedans swept all these away, and in their doctrine, brought every soul face to face with God.

Throughout the Moslem world is the rule of abstinence from strong drink. The first “temperance society” in the world’s history was the Nazirites in Israel; and its successor on a larger scale was the Mohammedan religion, which forbade the faithful to drink wine or strong liquor. This is still held as a principle, but is not universally followed where Mohammedans live in contact with Europeans.

In the early period, under the caliphs, literature and science were promoted. The Arabians gave us the numerals, 1, 2, 3, etc., which were a great advance on the Roman system of notation through letters. In astronomy, they made one of the earliest catalogues of the stars. The court of the caliphs at Bagdad was a literary center. Mohammedan Spain was higher in culture and civilization than the “Christian” kingdoms of the period in that peninsula. But all intellectual progress ceased when the barbaric Turks succeeded the enlightened Saracens as leaders of the Mohammedan world.

Not to make our picture of Islam more favorable than the truth would warrant, we must notice on the other side some areas wherein Mohammedanism has failed, i.e., its errors and its evils. A major wrong to humanity was in its method of missionary enterprise through the sword, promoting hate among men instead of love. Wherever a city resisted their conquest, its men were put to death, the women were placed in the harems of the victors, and the children were brought up in the Moslem faith. For many centuries the Turks made a regular practice of seizing untold thousands of “Christian” children, tearing them away from their parents, and bringing them up in distant provinces as bigoted devotees of Islam.

In the old Islamic conception, the state and the church were absolutely one, and the government was expected to use its power to the utmost for the promotion of the true religion and the suppression of false faith. Prior to World War I, the Sultan of Turkey was also recognized as Caliph (“successor of Mohammed”). When Turkey became a republic, the Sultan was dethroned and the Caliphate abolished. Other changes have taken place with the modernization of Turkey: One significant fact was the translation of the Koran into the vernacular. At Istanbul, in 1932, the Koran was read in the mosque of Sancta Sophia for the first time in Turkish.

The Mohammedan conception of God is based on the Old Testament [a misunderstanding, at that], rather than the New Testament. God is portrayed as a fierce, relentless Oriental despot, with no love for humanity outside the followers of the Prophet [Mohammed]. [Such, of course, ignores the many passages which assert the universal love of Jehovah.]

Islam practically leaves Christ out of its doctrinal scheme. In the Mohammedan view he is not the Lord of the heavenly kingdom, the Son of God, the Savior of men; but is reduced to the rank of a Jewish prophet, inferior in every respect to Mohammed.

Its conception of heaven, the abode of the blessed in the life to come, is totally devoid of spirituality and is altogether sensual.

One of the most debasing traits of the Mohammedan religion was its degradation of womanhood. Women were looked upon merely as the slaves or playthings of men. Modern Turkey has remedied this condition, and in 1930 gave women the right to be electors and to be elected at municipal elections. But outside Turkey, women are held in small respect in the Mohammedan world.

In the field of history and politics, perhaps the most striking failure of the Mohammedan state has been in the realm of national administration. The Mohammedan leaders were amazing in their conquests, sweeping in a resistless torrent across continents from China to Spain. But they showed no power for wise, just government of the empires which they founded. Islam lands were the worst governed on earth. Contrast the history of the Turks in this respect with that of the ancient Romans, who showed that they could not only win a great empire, but could rule it wisely, bringing prosperity to every land which they had conquered.

NOTE: Max Muller (1823-1900) of Oxford University was one of the most learned and popular scholars of his day. In an article published in Nineteenth Century magazine (February, 1894), Professor Muller argued that Mohammed was quite familiar with both the Old and New Testaments, referring to them as the Word of God, and that he had a regard for Jesus, speaking of the Lord in higher terms than Abraham. Mohammed’s favorite wife was well acquainted with Christianity. Muller says, however, that the form of “Christianity” to which Mohammed was exposed was exceedingly corrupt. Consequently, he turned away from it.

I know we have all heard a few really great sermons, and maybe a few that weren’t so great concerning Easter.

However, it seems my focus on Christ is what He did for us, the depths of the sacrifice, thinking the better we understand His love for us, His sacrifice for us, the more we will love Him, the greater the passion we will have for knowing Him, and the more resolution we will have for obeying His commands.

It is on this day the Christian world celebrates as the anniversary of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the first to be resurrected among many, along with many here this evening.

Just think about it, we will know each other for all eternity, for all time, never an ending.

We all owe our eternal life to this one man. We owe the forgiveness of our sins to this one man. We owe the elimination of the void in our lives here on earth to this One Man.

He is the Greatest man in history, had no servants, yet they called him Master. Had no degree, yet they called him Teacher. Had no medicines, yet they called him Healer. He had no army, yet kings feared Him. He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world. He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him. He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.

We often think of the three or four days preceding this Sunday we all celebrate, and hold in awe, yet it was 33 years in the making, it wasn’t 6 hours of suffering on a cross, it was 33 years of suffering, it was 33 years of being tempted as all men, yet He didn’t sin.

He was born in a place of no repute, no respect, to a family of no high esteem, born as a mamzer in the Jewish culture of that time, which means he was born too soon, and it was declared that any child born too soon, was at fault, not the parents, but the child, and that child was not supposed to live past childhood, and if he did he was not to receive respect from any man, and we see in Psalm 69 which is a dual prophecy for both King David and King Jesus Christ that He didn’t even receive respect from His own family.

We see in Isaiah 53 He was of no appearance, in fact men would only look at him sideways,

Isaiah 53:3

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

 We see in Luke 9:58 And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

 Again in

 Isaiah 53:

4  Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.

 5   But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

 6  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

 Listen to the cries of our Lord, and I would suspect it may have been in that garden of prayer the night before the greatest evil, and the greatest glory have ever been on earth.

 Psalm 69:

1  Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.

2  I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me.

3  I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.

4 Those who hate me without reason Out number the hairs of my head;many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal.

5 You, God, know my folly; my guilt is not hidden from you.

6  Lord, the Lord Almighty, may those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me; God of Israel, may those who seek you not be put to shame because of me.

7  For I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face.

8  I am a foreigner to my own family, a stranger to my own mother’s children;

9 for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

10   When I weep and fast, I must endure scorn;

11 when I put on sackcloth, people make sport of me.

12 Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of the drunkards.

13 But I pray to you, Lord, in the time of your favor; in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure salvation.

14 Rescue me from the mire, do not let me sink; deliver me from those who hate me, from the deep waters.

15  Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up or the pit close its mouth over me.

16  Answer me, Lord, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me.

17  Do not hide your face from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.

18  Come near and rescue me; deliver me because of my foes.

19 You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed; all my enemies are before you.

20 Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none.

21  They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.

So who was/ or is this man, this Jesus Christ that came, suffered as a child, as a young person, and as a man, among the lowest of humanity, without appearance, without wealth, family status, who not only took our sins, but our pain, our suffering, our grief all upon himself.

John 1:1

 1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2  He was with God in the beginning.

3  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

4  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

5  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

 This is the most beautiful person, the most beautiful life ever lived. A life lived in suffering for our sins. A life given to its own creation. A father who took the responsibility of His own children’s , His creation’s fall.

It was He who created all, it was He who suffered in the Garden when Mankind fell from grace.

It was Him, who came in the form of a man to offer to heal the broken relationship between the creator and the created, if we only will accept it… a free gift.. life without end.

Yet we live in a world that once again crucifies Him, and we stand by and watch. A country founded as a place of worship for Him, a country that was formed as a living temple for our savior, and we stand by and watch evil men attempt to destroy it. What fools they are, and their only hope is salvation through Christ if only someone will show them the way.

 He was on that Cross for six hours, preceding that they whipped Him with a cat o nine tales. A whip made of strips of leather that had pieces of glass and metal in them, designed to literally tear the skin off the recipient of this hideous punishment, and most didn’t survive.

They had beat Him so badly he was not recognizable as a human being, In Psalm 22 we find He could look down and see His bones, they had stripped the flesh and muscle from them.  They had pulled his beard out, beat him with their fists, and spit upon the creator of the world. 

Psalm 22

1  My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?

 2  O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent.

 3  But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.

 4  Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them.

 5 They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.

 6  But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people.

 7  All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

 8 “He trusted[b] in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”

9  But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.

 10  I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother’s womb You have been My God.

 11  Be not far from Me, For trouble is near; For there is none to help.

 12 Many bulls have surrounded Me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.

 13 They gape at Me with their mouths, Like a raging and roaring lion.

 14 I am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me.

 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death.

 16 For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced[c] My hands and My feet;

 17 I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me.

 18 They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.

 19  But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help Me!

 20  Deliver Me from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog.

 21  Save Me from the lion’s mouth And from the horns of the wild oxen! And they murdered Him, hung Him on a cross.

And He did it all for me, and for You.

1 Corinthians 11:

24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.…

And so now let’s take this bread and this juice, and Lets remember our Christ, our Savior, our Messiah,

Let’s remember how He came from a place of unimaginable glory, to a life filled with pain, dishonor, poverty, and death so that we might have life and have it abundantly.

Sermon delivered to Dick Conner’s Correctional Center MSU Easter Sunday March 27 2016 by  Jim Carmichael

HOMINY PRISON MISSION

NEWLIFE BEHAVIOR MINISTRIES

PO BOX 326  HOMINY, OK 74035

 MARCH 22, 2016

The Unity of the SPIRIT

“…be filled with the knowledge of HIS will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding… “—Colossians 1:9

Saturdays have become spiritually special, a time of true Christian blessings. A dozen or so of us meet for about 90 minutes and discuss “The True Gospel of CHRIST versus the False Gospel of Carnal Christianity,” a book by J.R. Shelton. The text and its accompanying Study Guide are published by Mount Zion Bible Institute.

While we’re pleased that Chaplain Johnson provided such a pertinent study about this timely topic, what has been gained by the participants far exceeds topical knowledge. We have been drawn together by the HOLY SPIRIT in “one body, and one SPIRIT” to study and carry with unity the proclamation of “One LORD, one faith, one baptism, one GOD and FATHER of all…” (Ephesians 4:4, 5-6). As Paul put it, we are “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the SPIRIT in the bond of peace” (v.3).

As CHRISTIANS, followers of our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST, we are commanded to adhere to the teachings of Scripture. They hold the power to lead us from sin to obedience as the authority of GOD’S WORD cleanses us from ALL sin and iniquity.

JESUS spoke these words in John 15:3: “Now ye are clean through the WORD which I have spoken unto you.”

Purification, the process of the “perfection of the saints for the work of the ministry” (Ephesians 4:12), includes more than CHRISTIAN living. Purification demands that CHRISTIANS “come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the SON of GOD” (v.13) as the HOLY SPIRIT’s power grows in us.

This “unity” is what Shelton calls “the true Gospel of JESUS CHRIST, ” the truth that lies in the revealed verac­ity of CHRISTIAN teaching. Harmony among believers is the product of the HOLY SPIRIT’s leading into sound BIBLICAL doctrine. As Paul directed the elders of the CHRISTIAN church at Ephesus (Acts 20:32):

“I commend you to GOD, and to the WORD of HIS grace,
which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.”

Why these directives are imperative to “the unity of the faith” lies in the fact that GOD’s HOLY WORD directs us securely to the “Knowledge of the SON of GOD,” a profound understanding of CHRIST through continual, “fervent” prayer, committed study of HIS WORD, and living in obedience to HIS commands.

Paul wrote (II Corinthians 3:18) that we “are changed into the same image,” which is manifest in CHRISTLIKENESS. Through the leading of the HOLY SPIRIT, CHRISTIANS are progressively transformed, being perfected through CHRIST, as we grow in knowl­edge of HIM and in commitment to HIM.

GOD is pleased when HE observes in us the attributes of JESUS, “the fullness of CHRIST” (Ephesians 4:13). We are called to “Let this mind be in you that was also in CHRIST JESUS” (Philippians 2:5). The bench work for us is the spiritual integrity of JESUS which CHRIS­TIANS strive to obtain as we “study to shew (ourselves) approved unto GOD” (II Timothy 2:15). The Unity of the SPIRIT

As we study to be used in “the work of the ministry” (Ephesians 4:12), we become, through the working of the HOLY SPIRIT in us, “one body, and one SPIRIT “

Paul prays (Ephesians 3:16) that we will be “strengthened with might by HIS SPIRIT in the inner man; that CHRIST may dwell in your hearts by faith” (Ephesians 3:16).

CHRIST is present with us at each study. HE blesses us with a nearness, a fellowship, and a joy beyond com­prehension.

HE is our great LORD, our loving SAVIOR, and HE spends time with us every Saturday morning as we are

“renewed in the SPIRIT of our minds,” and we “put on the new man, which after GOD is created in righteousness and true holi­ness” (Ephesians 4:23, 24).

We have added to the prison apologetics website the newsletter created by the inmates who are members of the Genesis One program, a program dedicated to breaking  the cycle of the repeat offenders

Prayer Request For:

Terrie & Davy D, for healing; Linda for healing (cancer); Charlene M (healing); Thomas W & Terry K (healing); offenders in the medical ward; Cleotis  R and his family; offenders seeking relief through the courts; the lost and broken-hearted. Pray for the peace and prosperity of this yard, for our families, children, and for each other. Pray that we all walk in wisdom to them who are without CHRIST, to be peacemakers, men of character, and that our joy will be full and JESUS CHRIST glorified in each and every one of us. AMEN!!!

You cannot read that prayer by the inmates and turn your back on these men who are desperately trying to turn their lives to Christ, and to help others do the same. Their goal is to leave this prison, and be good, God fearing, Evangelistic Christian citizens of our communities.

It is our goal to help them reach their goal, through teaching the scripture, teaching how to live by the scripture, and teaching them how to defend the scripture through Christian Apologetics.

Join us, and let’s take God’s word to these men and women, but let’s go beyond that, let’s find a way to start teaching school children the truth of our faith again, as we did in years past so they don’t have learn it in a penitentiary.

Join a prison ministry or start one in your congregation.

We share so many things on facebook, wouldn’t this be a great post to go “viral” ?  It’s up to you, such a simple thing, and who knows, you just might reach that one person who will become who will join in this ministry, and what a blessing that will be to you.

Thank You Jim Carmichael

Please visit our site at http://prisonapologetics.org

To break the cycle of the repeat offender.

With the G-I Program, G-1 members are encouraged to begin positive growth by organized involvement within the existing programs and opportunities offered from the DOC, the faith based community, and other support groups.

The very nature of the G-1 Chapter compels the G-1 members to take full advantage of the resources available while they are incarcerated and prepare themselves to become productive members of society when released.

Completion of the LITE PLAN as a G-1 member entitles them to the G-1 network of aftercare providers and all related resources available upon release.

Genesis One is a Christian, faith-based organization

whose Chapter membership is open to anyone regardless of race, age, gender, or religious preference. However, one must accept GOD into their life before they may continue with the Genesis One Program. We believe that without GOD, this program will be of no value to G-1 members.
Dick Conner Correctional Center

GENESIS-ONE Newsletter

Gary J. Doby, Editor-in-Chief
Fred Durbin, Graphics & Design / Editor
NOTE: All Scripture cited in these newsletters are from the King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Leadership

John Wood, Sponsor
Thomas Ward, Chapter Coordinator Bruce Walker, Asst. Chapter Coordinator Juan Caballero, Chapter Prayer Warrior Fred Durbin, Interim Chapter Secretary

“G-1 Newsletter”

is published monthly at ! the Dick Conner Correctional Center. The i
i newsletter is intended to be a forum for : : Christian fellowship by providing a medium to share testimonies, artwork, poetry, and/or Bible exegesis submitted by
offenders, volunteers, and staff
Members of the Faith-based community on the yard are invited to submit their work. We prefer written work to be between 100-500 words. Artwork should be created in black pen or pencil. Please share your gifts: “Every good gift is from above, and cometh down from the FATHER…” —James I :17

The Day I Was Filled

On January 15, 2016, I laid on my bunk reading a copy of “The Baptist Mes­senger”  which I acquired from chapel the previous night. Three-quarters of the way through, I noticed a trend: acts of goodwill and people helping others. I continued to read.

A few minutes later, I noticed I was silently weeping. I then noticed a slight tugging feeling in my chest, a “pulling at my heart strings,” if you will. I put the “Messenger” on my chest. I spoke out loud, “Ok! I’m listening, GOD!” The next instant it was as if a dam broke and the flood gates were opened to full! I began to weep uncontrollably! This was the point at which I said, “Alright LORD, I’ll do it your way!”

I got on my knees at the side of my bed. I opened my heart. “GOD,” I said, “I give up! No more me, me, me, or I, I, I. From here on, it’s all YOU, YOU YOU! I give my life to YOU. Make me YOUR tool, please! Use me!” In that moment, I felt like Atlas having the world removed from his shoulders.

I felt all of my life’s “garbage” taken from me! Since that day, I have felt such joy and happiness!

Each time I let myself slip into an old “fleshly” act, the SPIRIT of GOD convicts me into correction. It’s won­derful being born again and filled with the HOLY SPIRIT!

I urge you brothers, give your life to GOD through JESUS CHRIST!

Surrender your all, and HE will show you HIS glory daily. I love you all. GOD bless!

Breaking Bread

(NOTICE: AS REQUESTED BY THE AUTHOR,
THIS ARTICLE WAS NOT EDITED.)Approximately one month ago, I had the privilege of attending the evening service and listen to the instruc­tions of Don Coleman, pastor of Highland Baptist as­sembly, give a sermon over 2 Timothy chapter 1. Re­garding our responsibility as believers to “stir up, speak up, and stand up.” in accordance with our gifts. He taught us the Greek word for gift. Which is trans­lated charisma in the Strong’s concordance #5486. It means a spiritual endowment.
Sha’ul was admonishing Timothy his spiritual son, to exhibit his gift with character as the leader of the Ephesians assembly, during the reign of the roman emperor Nero, approximately 54 to 68 A.D. Consider­ing the inflictions that Sha’ul, and Timothy would have undergone as the fathers of this congregations in this period of time. I pondered as Don Coleman elaborated on the future Oppression, we as believers may have to encounter for the sake of the gospel.

I began to envision, and ponder in my heart, beginning with Yahshua himself being crucified, Stephen being stoned approximately 35 A.D. (Acts7:1-60). Ya’acob (Jacob) the son of Zebedee was beheaded by Herod Agrippa the 2nd. Kepha (Peter) was crucified A.D. 67, Sha’ul beging beheaded in A.D. 68, Ya’acob brother of Yahshua was slain near the temple in Jerusalem, and Yohanan (John) was exiled to the islands of Patmos in A.D. 100, as well as all of the old testament Nebi’im (prophets) that were martyred before them. Then my thoughts began to drift to all the people, around the world today being persecuted, because of their faith, in the messiah. Considering this, I reflected on it, and briefly cringed at the thought of having to endure such pain; but the Holy Spirit within me shouted with every fiber of my being. “I will not deny my Messiah”! I will be steadfast in heart with the character needed to overcome pressure, to represent his kingdom in adver­sity. While walking back from the unit from service, these thoughts consumed my mind. “I will not deny the gospel”! In connection with this I asked someone what he thought about Don Coleman’s exhortation. I stated sincerely to him that I was sold out for the edifi‑

cation of the Good News. To support this, I began paraphrasing John 6:48-69, but I couldn’t remember it word for word, and I didn’t have time to look it up before lock down to share it. When I entered into my cell and turned on my television to channel 26, the Church station; at that exact moment at 9:02 pm Rabbi Schneider was speaking on the exact passage and verses, I couldn’t locate while outside. Was it coincidental? Perhaps?! However, as he conveyed the scriptures, I listened intently. I’m not sure if it was due to the recent incidents in Paris, but I had never heard him preach the word with such ardor. I was attentive to his every remark as he spoke to the desires of my heart. After the program ended, I reread chapter 6 of Yohanan’s gospel.

Neither Yahshua nor any of his twelve Talmudim (disciples) was Levites or descendants of the Aaronic priesthood, but they all were familiar with that liturgy. hi the Holy Place towards the left stood a golden menorah weighing 107 Ibs, with seven branches on it. On the right across from it was a 3 ft long, 2Y2 ft high, and 1Y2 wide table of showbread with twelve loaves upon it; accompanied with a vessel of wine. The twelve loaves represented the twelve tribes of Israel, and the wine, the blood, and life of the persons being offered to Yahweh, which in this case was the twelve tribes of Israel (Leviticus 17:11). When the Cohen (Priest) would perform this ceremony, by eating the loaves every Sabbath, and pour­ing out the wine (Leviticus 10:9) they were symbolically feeding on and receiving in themselves the life of Yahweh. Cohen were responsible for the holiness of the community, since the peoples offerings were only acceptable to Yahweh through them, but only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies once a year to make atonement first for himself, and then for the nation (Exodus 25-37).

According to the gospel of Mattithyahu 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:17-20. When Yahshua took matstsah (unleavened bread) blessed, and broke it, then gave it to his Talmudim, he said “take eat, this is my body, then he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, drink from it, all of you, For this is my blood of the Brit Hadasha (new covenant) which is shed for the remission of sins”. To improve my interpretation of what he was saying to his taught ones that night, I borrowed a concordance, and per­formed a Greek word study on 7 themes of Yahshua ritual. 1). #740 Bread (Artos) (4), “metaphorically of Christ as the bread of life.” 2). #4165 Feed (Pioman) means “overseer” 3). #4983 Body, (soma) (11a) means “reference to the church.” 4). #2806 Break (klao)

(4) “of the lords act in giving evidence of his resurrection. 5). #4221 Cup (Poterion) (2b1), “of the sufferings of Christ.” 6). #4095 Drink (Pino) “of drinking of the blood of Christ, in the sense of receiving eternal life, through his death.” 7). #2222 Life (Zoe) (1a1), “which he gave to the incarnate son to have in himself.”

After the completion of this research, I compared, and contrasted the rites of Yahshua to that of the sacrificial system ordained by Yahweh in the Old Testament through the priesthood. How they had to offer themselves to make atone­ment on the behalf of the community to appease the wrath of Yahveh. Once I was able to translate it; this is the under­standing I gained concerning this custom. “I am life (Artos) and by this doctrine (Klao), pastor, oversee (Pioman), those who believe in me (Soma). By doing this, you will subject yourself to the sufferings I have now, and will inflict (Poterion) The father has given me life in myself, since the life is in the blood, by accepting it, in you by faith (Pino), you will inherit eternal grace, through me is the promise (Zoe). (Mk 10:38-39); (In 5:26).

This is what Yohanan meant in 6:48-69 of his gospel when Yahshua said they would have to eat of his flesh, and drink of his blood. This is why many of his Talmudim went back, and walked with him no more. When Yahshua explained to them that they would have to apply his apostolic doctrine to their lives, and suffer for his names sake “therefore they said who can understand this”? In other words who could enter into a blood covenant with this? They wanted the re­wards of being associated with his kingdom, but were unwilling to suffer persecution for it. This is the reason Yahshua states in verse 65. No man can come to him unless it is granted to him by his father, because their hearts have to be purified through faith.

After I received this revelation, I had to reexamine my own heart to see if I was ready to partake in the memorial meal, with the messiah, and the conclusion of this matter is; “brothers, I do not count myself to have laid hold of it yet, but only this; forgetting what is behind, and reaching out for what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of Yahveh in Yahshua Messiah. (Philippians 3:14-15) Not only that, I also have come to believe, and know that he is the Messiah, the son of the living Yah! He has the words of eternal life.

(Bible verses in this article are from “The Scriptures Version.”)