ON THE CUTTING EDGE

August 1997 Volume IV Number 8

Hot 
Times
It was a scorching hot day. I was standing out at the crosswalk in front of my dormitory. I was hotter than the noon day sun. I pointed my finger in Jim Newsom's face and said "If being a Christian is what you are like, I don't want to be one".
 I was in prison doing a 40-year sentence. I had made a serious commitment to the Lord about 18 months earlier. Now things had gotten too tough, and I was giving up. Jim Newsom had been confronting me about two things, smoking Winstons cigarettes and my working 80 hours a week in the print shop and missing all the meetings. I had made a decision to be discipled by Jim and a black brother called "Fish". They were always in my face about the sin in my life. They were not perfect. Fish slept in the cell next to mine, and smoked Kools. Our bunks were hooked together by a screw that went through the wall and into each bunk. Every morning Fish would wake up while it was still dark and shake his bunk to awaken me for early morning prayer. I could handle the prayer time. It was just facing all this sin in my life that was painful.
 For two weeks I tried to stay away from the brothers completely. They kept coming around to encourage me. Finally, I came back and was reconciled. (Jim is still my best friend today.) It was a tough time, but I learned an important lesson. We all need someone who will confront us about the gap between what we know we should be, and who we actually are. We need someone who will see to it that we are changing. If you are not changing, then you are not growing. If you are not growing, then you are dying. All of us need help. Men and women who are incarcerated desperately need confrontational discipleship.
 We have initiated a new direction in the prison churches. We are determined to make disciples. The Churches have been growing, more men are attending than ever. We have experienced numerical growth. Now, it's time for spiritual growth. Initially, we may lose some in attendance, but in the long run I believe the impact the Church has on the whole prison system will be increased. The men will be changed permanently. We have Christians. We need disciples. In the Bible the term Christian is found only three times. The term Disciple is used more than 270 times. There is a difference. We must make disciples, no matter what it cost us. Pray for us. We know that no one likes confrontation, and these men have a history of violence. 
People

 You never really know why people turn out the way they do. Sometimes, when you find out what someone has been through,  you love them even more. Such was the case yesterday. I was in the hall in a maximum security prison. I saw a man called "Soft Shoe", who did time in prison with me. He was a decent person.  He just never made a commitment to Christ. He got out of prison, and was still a criminal. He got caught and now was in this prison in Alabama. He has been there more than 13 years. He was talking to one of the men in my leadership class. When I walked up, I said, "Did you know that Soft Shoe and I did time together in Florida?" Soft Shoe said, "Yea and Brit was for the Lord then just like he is now." The brother who is in my class said, "Soft Shoe knew me before I was with the Lord." My friend from my class began to tell me about his life. He has been in prison since 1969. He has been out four times for a total of 20 months. He said his whole life has been in prison. He said he always had the best whiskey in the prison, the best dope, and was always gambling. He shared with me how he had overdosed on dope three times. He told me that he was a terrible person. The last time he was arrested, he planned an escape while in jail. Another inmate found out about it and told the officers. He got so mad, he hit this man with a weight and tried to kill him. They put him in a cell by himself for over a year. He was an angry violent person. He had been angry since he was molested as a young boy.
 Then he began to tell me how the Lord came to him in that cell one night and gripped him, spoke to his heart, and saved his soul. I know his experience was real, because of the life he now lives. I would have never thought he had been through all of that. When we see people, we never know where they have come from or what they've been through. I am never surprised by God's judgments, but I am constantly stunned by His grace. 

Feedback

I received this letter from a man in prison who prays more than anyone I know.

"Jim, I pray for blessing upon you and everyone included in your ministry, and everyone who supports you by prayers and giving. I thank God for your ministry. I love your fellowship, your friendship and what little we are allowed to share. I thank God for your faithfulness to the prisoners, your honesty and your boldness. Somehow I sense that I've only seen a small side of you..." 

Prayer Request

We need people who will commit to praying for us on a regular basis.
1. Pray for us, as we continue to disciple men in prison. We have a great team of men from the free world who have caught the vision and are serious about "Confrontational Discipleship".
2. Pray for our schedule. I have been asked to take on more responsibility at the local jail. I need wisdom concerning this opportunity. Many need counseling while they are in jail, and then they need help when released back into our neighborhoods.
3. Pray for the finances of Reconciled Ministry.
4. Pray for Pat as she plans school this year for the children.

The Britnells

 The last few weeks have involved, among other things, planning the school curriculum for 2 tenth graders, 1 seventh grader, and, now, Rachel will begin kindergarten! (Probably, the greatest challenge in schooling Rachel will be keeping 3 year old Jimmy busy while she does her work.)
 I decided to discuss the Foreign Language options with the older boys one day. I was looking over some curriculums in a Home School magazine. "Here are some complete programs with cassette tapes and books that are pretty reasonable in Spanish and French. Which one do you want to take?" Matt replies, "Well, if I'm going to learn another language, I'd like to learn one that I'll use." Thinking some more I asked, "What about Latin? There are lots of medical terminology derived from Latin. I could find a course for you." He just looked at me with an incredulous expression, and said, "I can't even stand it when you TALK about stuff at the hospital. I don't think I'll be going into anything in the medical field!" We BOTH laughed as we thought of some memories that I'm not free to share. I looked in some other books, and then thought  I had come up with the perfect language. If he studied Greek, he could really be quite the Bible scholar at such a young age.  I went back to his room. "Hey, Matt what about Greek..?"  Before I could say more, his immediate reply was, "Mom, everybody is dead that ever spoke Greek!"
 

Thanks

 The older I get, the more I appreciate people who help me. I am grateful to all of you who encourage us with your notes and words. We are grateful for those who give, so we can go with the gospel. We are thankful when you pray.