Prison Reform is desperatly needed, and far over due

Understanding the relationship of Grace Through Faith and Works Part 2

Understanding the relationship of Grace Through Faith and Works

Grace & Faith

<h1>Be Prepared</h1>
If you have spent any time at all in prison, then you have definitely heard someone say, “ you don’t have to get ready, if you stay ready!”

They were Probably using this statement to impress upon those around them that they stay alert and therefore couldn’t be caught unprepared to meet violence with violence. Or maybe they meant that they were too crafty to get caught with contraband by the correctional officers. But that is our old nature- the nature and thinking that brought us to prison in the first place.

However, if applied correctly, this cliché still contains much truth. We could understand this saying in a deeper way when we see that being “ready” is the state of preparedness that we have accomplished in our lives. It is absolutely true that if we have taken the time to prepare then we will not have to rush around to get prepared for what we see coming at the last moment.

Some things you can’t prepare for in a hurried manner, they take time to prepare. For instance, if you were going to compete in a bodybuilding competition or a marathon you couldn’t begin the day or even the week of the event to condition your body. We also know that you can’t build a house without first digging and pouring a footing and then laying its foundation. Yet, often in our spiritual life we try to throw up the walls and roof of our house before we even lay our foundation. When the storms of life come, we find we didn’t adequately prepare our foundation. Jesus talks about this in Matthew 7; 24 – 27.

Jesus said, “anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on a solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rain and flood come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash”.

See the only difference in these two houses is how the builders prepared the foundation. If we are diligent to open God’s word daily and find out what Jesus taught, we can continually build our foundation in him and be ready for any storm so, if we stay ready, we won’t have to get ready!

<h1>As we head into the Spring season, I am reminded that new life is in bloom.</h1>
Although winter has been dull and dreary, color is returning to the Earth, everywhere you look. The grass is green again and the trees and shrubs are soon to bud. Likewise, we should also remember to be aware of the seasons in our own lives. We may have just come through a dark winter of the soul, but take heart; a new season is at hand.

Frustration sometimes comes because we are impatient for the fruit of Summer in the dead of winter. It is not always harvesting time, but there is always work to be done. Sometimes, it is the Season of preparation.

Sometimes, we must simply be diligent to plant and water. Finally, if we are consistent, we will enjoy a fruitful harvest. The same is true of the Spiritual life as well. If the last season of your life has been hard, know this, that season can’t last forever. If you haven’t given up, you will see the fruits of your labor in the coming season.

Don’t give up my brothers and sisters! God is faithful! “And let us not grow weary wile doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart – Galatians 6:9 ; “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1. “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.

See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the Earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”- James5:7-8

The following is a short (5 minute) Park Prison Ministry activity report video

EMPOWER YOUR FAITH

This site is excellent, I hope you check it out.

Home – EyeWitness (eyewitnessbible.org)

Thank you for coming to the dinner, either in person or in spirit… we appreciate all you have done for the Prison Ministry, and in fact for all the ministries of the Park Church of Christ…

Please Watch the included video… it’s only about 2 minutes long

You can watch the video here

According to a Pew Research Center study 50% of our children raised in the Church come home from college as Atheists.

Most of us realize something seriously has gone wrong in America, and the world. 

Every time I think we have hit bottom, I see us sinking, once again, deeper (as a nation, and world) to a new level of depravity. 

For instance, how many of us would have ever dreamed we could send our children to a university, and they would come home atheist and believing in such nonsense as men can have babies? 

Now that I am among the elderly at age 75, I often find myself asking what happened to the America I knew as a child? 

The strange thing is I also remember the elderly 65 years ago asking the same questions I am asking today. 

I don’t really know how the change began, but I do know two things…. It started with the young, and it started a long time ago.  

The most important question is how we can change this downward trend.  

The children are the foundation of all civilizations… they are our future, and this is where the return to sanity and faith must begin. 

When I consider prison reform, which is actually prisoner reform begins when they are children… by changing their direction early.

But…. How do we do that?

The following 5 things represent a good start.

5 Reasons To Teach Apologetics To Your Children
Posted by
By Tatiana
October 25, 2019

5 Reasons To Teach Apologetics To Your Children
Apologetics has become a very important part of my life. I’m the type of person that needs to fully understand the why, behind every because. For ten years I’ve read countless books on Christian theology, attended conferences, and taken classes at church. I can say whole-heartedly say that I know why I believe what I believe, however, it wasn’t until recently that I felt a calling to share not only what I’ve learned, but to urge my family to always be ready.

Studies show we are losing our kids to the world in elementary, middle school, and high school and not in just in college as previously thought.

I want to challenge you into digging into God’s word deeper. I want to encourage you to teach your children more than Bible stories, and I want to help you promote a true desire for knowing God personally through His word and His creation.

• Teach apologetics to encourage a well-rooted foundation.

If you’re a believer, you’ve either read or narrated the Genesis account of creation to your children. We see it as history, as fact, as truth and we present it as such. When our children are young, they believe every word, until one day they don’t.

When they start to question what we’ve taught them we refer them to scripture and tell them of the love of Jesus. There’s nothing wrong with this of course, but we must teach our kids why we believe what we believe.

If we teach them why they will be less likely to fall prey to false teachings.

• Teach apologetics to assure them of the authority of ALL scripture.
  My Pastor always says that the best commentary on the Bible is the Bible.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17

Every word is inspired, not just the parts we like, the parts we agree with, or the parts that are politically correct. We can trust it completely, and we are to take it literally.

• Teach apologetics to bring them to a deeper relationship with God.
  If what the Bible says about God’s character is true, then our commitment to Him must be absolute.

If His love is as deep as the Bible says it is, our sole purpose of living ought to be to please Him.

Coming to a full understanding of who He is, will bring our children and ourselves to true worship.

•  Teach apologetics to equip them with answers to the hard questions.
  Where did God come from?

Why do you believe the Bible is the word of God?

How can a God of love allow suffering in the world?

What if, you had to narrate the creation account to an atheist?

The argument most well-meaning-Christians use against the unbelief of an atheist is: it’s in the Bible. What those same well-meaning-Christians ought to remember is that the Bible holds no authority in an unbeliever’s life. How then will you make a case for Christ, the cross and the resurrection?

• Teach apologetics because you are commanded to do so.
  Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
  Proverbs 22:6

Teach them diligently.

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7

 Here are a few Resouces for teaching your children.

https://creationtoday.org/apologetics-for-children-be-ready-always/

Foundation world view: Christian apologetics for kids

Apologetics questions every Christian Parent Needs to Learn

Child Size Apologetics