by Brett Harris | Dec 16, 2021 | Opinion
I was really looking forward to this Christmas season. Our church was going to be returning to worship in our sanctuary and gathering for Sunday school in-person for the first time in nearly two years. The excitement around our congregation was palpable. Then, the...
by David Balkum | Jun 25, 2019 | Opinion
I wrote briefly about two things in my initial “Behind the Bars” column: the call from our faith “to remember those in prison as if you yourselves were suffering” and an aspirational reason for punishment, restoration For a little more background, I also said we...
by Zach Dawes Jr | Mar 23, 2018 | Opinion
The first public speech of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel, an adaptation of Isaiah 61:1-2, declares his calling to “proclaim freedom for the prisoners.” In one of his final public speeches in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus identifies himself with, among other...
by Chris Smith | Mar 22, 2018 | Opinion
My sister shared a moving testimony last week concerning what she witnessed at a recent funeral service. The deceased was an elderly woman who had committed her adult life to prison ministry. Sister Eva’s pastor shared, “I noticed that Sister Eva was only...
by Travis Collins | Mar 21, 2018 | Opinion
“I know you wonder if all the conversions are real,” Joe said to our church council. He was right. The number of conversions reported by our prison minister (he was a part-time, contract minister) was amazing. “Even if one-tenth of them are real,...
