2020
Let me start this report in the same way as last quarter…
"Off the Chain" / 0 Comments /4th Quarter 2020
Let me start this report in the same way as last quarter. Thank you for the continued support despite these uncertain times. In fact, our donations this past year were the most since I started in 2005. Because of these generous gifts, we have paid off the $25,000 we borrowed for the transition house that was purchased in February 2020! Thank you seems so inadequate for the kindness of so many.
I am sad to report that a dear brother, Tom Dugan, who has been our fortress in West Florida for many years has left this life. Tom was in his late 70’s. He was a faithful servant to many men in prison. He was well organized and caring. I will miss this good friend, brother in Christ and fellow worker. Who will fill this need to preach the gospel in the prisons of West Florida? We pray God will provide another worker.
I am currently in my 4th week of recovery from right shoulder surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff and labrum. The shoulder has been bothering me for over a year, so I finally decided to have it repaired. Typical for me, I underestimated the recovery. I have two more weeks to wear a brace that immobilizes my shoulder. Fortunately, my hand is free so that I can still write and type.Using a mouse with my left hand has proven to be a challenge though! I began driving again after a week, but without the brace. Several chauffeured me to prison on the longer drives so I could continue to teach my classes. I have many more weeks of rehab before I can be back doing CrossFit again.
Unfortunately, Lawtey CI has been on medical lockdown since early December. There are six other brothers and a couple of sisters that volunteer there with me several days a week. The prison being closed has been discouraging for all of us. What is interesting is that the prison had not had a single positive case before this. We have been told that things should be opening back up in mid-February. Please pray for that to happen. Some of the other prisons that had been locked down have opened back up which has let me be more involved at those facilities.
I have had more time to think about things lately because of my surgery. Free will has occupied much of that thinking. Freedom to choose is a fundamental teaching of scripture. Imagine that a God, capable of forcing His will on the universe he created, instead desires us to love and serve him of our own free will. Inherent to that is He allows us to choose not to love and serve Him also. Though He will not force us, He does apply “pressure” to us to do what He wants us to and asks us to apply similar pressure to each other. Jesus said in John 10:17-18 that it was His choice to take up His life or to lay it down. Yet in Gethsemane, He prays saying He does not want to give His life up, but he feels the “pressure” of His Father’s will. So, he voluntarily yields to what His Father wants. Jesus wasn’t forced to die at Calvary, but it is also clear that the Father wanted Him to do His will. Another illustration of this is Paul’s admonition in his first letter to the church at Corinth about the collection he had instructed them to take up. In his second letter in chapters 8 and 9, Paul illustrates this balance between “pressure” to follow a command and doing things voluntarily.
I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine.
Well, it was Paul’s command in 1 Corinthians 16:1-2. However, he is seeking voluntary compliance to a command – I’ll call it godly pressure. He goes on to say in chapter 9 that God loves a cheerful giver and He doesn’t want us to follow His commands reluctantly or under compulsion. So, God commands us to do things, but doing them only has value to Him when we do them voluntarily. Paul exerts godly pressure by ways of admonition, showing them the example of others gladly doing this work of God, reminding them of what they know about God’s provision, etc. That is the kind of pressure that God applies to us and that we should limit ourselves to applying to others.
At times, it is challenging for me to apply that same treatment to others. Sometimes I want to overstep the authority of God by coercing or forcing someone to do His will instead of limiting myself to godly pressure. It is tempting because I know that God desires for all of us to do His will. Therefore, it must be a good thing to apply whatever pressure is necessary to get them to do what God wants. I have come to see more and more that I am not giving others the freedom that God has extended to me.
Where is this going? Recently I was approached by a brother who often employs many of the men in our transition program, Eron Wahlstrom, about this very thing. Eron pointed out that maybe the program is too dependent on forcing men to do spiritual activities. Maybe we should use more godly pressure and less forced ultimatums to achieve what we want and what we believe God would want. This way we may see the true spiritual desires of the men sooner without building so much resentment in them when men choose not to serve God. I think Eron is correct. We need to somehow provide men with structure and guidance but allow them to serve God because that is the desire of their hearts. Trying to achieve the balance of rules and safety, freedom and choice is elusive. I know that I have often failed to achieve that balance while working with men in our transition program, but I am committed to pressing forward and improving. Prayerfully, we will continue to strive do better and hopefully be more pleasing to our King.
Those are my thoughts. Thank you again for your interest in this work.
