Kairos Prison Ministry

[Littlejoe]

Well, it's time for another foray into Coffield Prison in Tennesse Colony, TX. Kairos #46 will begin Thur. 4/25/19 and go through Sunday, 4/28/19. I'm doing the talk "Friendship With God" Friday morning, so, please keep me in your prayers! I wanted to post the talk here to get your input. Now, most of the talk is "scripted" so pretty much the only place to change it much is in the "testimony" part. Although if you see any issues with the rest, please let me know. Anyway, please let me know what you think!


Friendship With God


1. Kairos Community Prayer- pg 11
My name is Lee and I am Clergy. My talk is "Friendship with God."

Intro:do BUT! really knew me? Would they still pray for me, and write those notes and all of that? Would they really want to be my friend if they really knew me?

You know, sending good wishes and prayers are nice ....but what we really need is a true friend. But what does that mean? A true friend?

I. Let's explore together....What is a friend?

A. Is it somebody who agrees with me all the time or always takes my side in an issue? No...Not necessarily...In FACT they may disagree if they see me doing or saying something which might hurt me.

Write this down!
B. A friend is:

1. Someone who wants the very best for your life.
2. Someone who is willing to give some of themselves to help you move toward your best.
3. Someone who knows when to back off, and can let you make your own decisions - even your own mistakes.
4. A friend is especially one who will stick by you, even when you make a mess of everything and still accepts you as a friend.

II. Where do you find a friend like that?

A. There is GOOD NEWS!

1. God created us for companionship and to live in community with other people.
2. God is Love. He created us to love and to be loved. The Bible tells us this in 1 John Chapter 4.

Write this down!
III. God is not an enemy.

A. God is not trying to catch us in sinful disobedience.




B. God does not manipulate us into separation from Himself so that He can punish us.

Write this down!

IV. GOD WANTS TO BE OUR FRIEND!!

V. Even God cannot have a friendship alone. It takes two, with both of them giving and receiving affection and esteem. It is up to us to OPEN THE DOOR to God's friendship.IFandeverything VI. You know, I have found that the most rewarding choice I have ever made is choosing to live in Friendship with God.

1. all of us are loved by him and created by Him.
2. We are brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, loved and redeemed by Him.
3. Finally, we are temples of the Holy Spirit, who l lives in us, loves and sustains us.

[Cow Poke]

Excellent stuff, LJ - I'll put this on our Church prayer list and we'll be praying for those to whom you will minister - that God will prepare their hearts before you even open your mouth.

[Littlejoe]

Kairos #46 at the Coffield unit came to a close yesterday afternoon. Many tears were shed as God moved men's hearts ever closer to himself. We had one Muslim man who came to our weekend. He came in on Thursday wearing his Kufi, (known as a Taqiyah outside the US) and was from the start, un-apologetically proud of his faith. Saturday afternoon, he took it off and professed he was now Christian!!! Sunday at the cross ceremony (we give them a cross to celebrate the finishing of the weekend) As the leader of the weekend hangs the cross around each of the Brothers in White (inmates) necks, he says to them, "Christ is counting on you" to which they respond, "And I'm counting on Christ". Our former Muslim brother, took the cross and said he was counting on Christ!!!

Many hearts were filled to overflowing with God's love and mercy...many lives were definitely changed. My family Table of St. John, was mostly already serving Christ...but, there are always things that make our walk more difficult, and for someone locked up, it's often more difficult still...they often come face to face with their guilt, and unforgiveness of those that put them their, or their parents or...well, there's a lot of baggage as you might imagine. One man who was at my family table, was less talkative than the rest...but I could see the Holy Spirit working on him throughout the weekend. Saturday night, during our forgiveness ceremony, as we offered up our "forgiveness lists" to the Lord and then dropped them into the bucket to be burned, I watched as this man broke down and began to weep (as did many others). He had a hand towel with him and it was covering most of his face as he wept. The next morning, his countenance was different, and he shared with us why it hit him so hard. He claims he was "set up" by a woman he was living with to take a child abuse rap that he had nothing to do with. He claims she blamed him and testified at his trial that he was responsible, but that she was the actual culprit. He said, "I knew there might be a little harshness going on, but it wasn't my child, and I honestly had no IDEA it was as bad as it was." He went on to confess that he had hated her with a blinding, paralyzing, consuming hatred at falsely accusing and getting him convicted of a crime he did not commit. He had even thought of finding her and "making her pay for it" after he was released. But, that he had been able, with God's help, to finally forgive her that night...and you could actually SEE it in his eyes...he was free from the consuming hatred and anger that had him in bondage and was now a "free man".

I talked with one man who said, "I've turned down the opportunity to come to Kairos a couple of times. I'm already serving God, and I didn't want to take the opportunity away from someone who REALLY needed it." He continued with, "But, one of my friends who had been through the program convinced me to come...and MAN am I glad he did. I didn't realize just how empty I was...how much I needed a renewing and refreshing of my spirit. You give and give in here, and pour out so much for God, but it's hard sometimes...you burn out...you know? I've received so much love and everything...it's been so wonderful to just soak up God's love and feel the Spirit of the Living God come back ALIVE in me!" One great thing about the Kairos program is no matter where you are on your spiritual journey toward God, whether total unbeliever, or been serving him for many years, you will come away from the Kairos Weekend, renewed and refreshed with God's Holy Spirit...

There weren't a lot of conversions on this weekend, we had a lot of people already in the Kingdom on this weekend...but, we equipped a bunch of Saints to continue to reach souls in Coffield that we might never be able to see...and that's what it's ultimately about isn't it? To equip the saints for the work of the ministry. I expect Coffield Prison to explode in faith following this weekend.