June/July 2024

Hello my Beloved,

This summer has been really busy.  The indefinite suspension of Prison Fellowship has been painful and frustrating.  So many of us were really looking forward to moving to the Prison Fellowship dorm where life is much more stable and quiet.  To have that yanked out from underneath us is painful enough.  But it seems that each week more and more back actors are moved into the better dorms.  Several inmates have reported that there were told that the current administration here believes that by putting a bunch of bad inmates in with a bunch of good inmates, the good inmates will help make those bad inmates good.

I guess they don’t believe the Apostle Paul when he said in 1 Corinthians 15:33 that ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’  Over the past 2 years I have watched over and over again as the ‘irrational animals’ that Peter describes in 2 Peter 2:10-22, turns a ‘good’ inmate into yet another ‘irrational animal.’  The worst part is the bad inmates tend to be smarter than the guards and the administration.  Couple that with the prison staff’s own immoral character and it doesn’t bode well for those of us hoping for St. Brides to group its inmates according to their history and desire to stay charge free.

Regardless, my purpose here remains unchanged.  Even though it has gotten more difficult, I cannot seem to find a clause in Ephesians 4:11-16 which says, ‘And he gave the Apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the Faith and of the Knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no

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Longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.  Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

There have been many times that I wished I could sit down with the Church ‘leaders’ here and have a good discussion on what that passage means and what is the best way to implement it.  Paul says that God gave the Apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers to equip Christians for the work of ministry.  This means that all Christians are called to some form of ministry.  As Ephesians 2:1- says, ‘we ae His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.’  These ‘good works’ are our ministry.  Furthermore, He has given us various gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-11; Romans 12:6-8) to enhance our ability to engage in those good works in our own unique way.

It is the church leader’s responsibility to not just encourage those in their charge to do ministry, they must provide the tools necessary for each unique person to do the ministry that God has called them to do and help develop the skills needed to determine what that is and how to do it.

It’s through this process that the body of Christ is built up.  Paul says that this building up revolves around ‘the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.’ Remember that

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Knowledge is justified true belief.  Thus, it is the responsibility of those in leadership to make sure that those in their charge not only have true beliefs about God and His creation, but they continually grow in wisdom (critical thinking) so that they properly know how to use their knowledge and how to acquire more (Proverbs 8:6,12) as well as defend it.

Christian giants of the past understood this.  In 1756, John Wesley addressed a group of clergies on their roles as leaders in the Church.  He said, “Ought not a Minister to have, first, a good understanding, a clear apprehension, a sound judgment, and a capacity of reasoning with some closeness?”  He went on to admonish them to study logic, metaphysics, natural theology, geometry, and important figures in the history of thought.  It was his passionate vision that the leaders of the church be thoroughly equipped to see those in their charge fully competent in the knowledge and wisdom that they need for a deep understanding of who God is and what that means for His creation.  During that same time, William Wilberforce argued for the same thing, including a profound warning.  In his book, ‘Real Christianity,’ he laments how weak the attachment is between Christianity and those that profess to be Christians.  He writes, “His attachment to it – where any attachment to it exists at all – is too often not the preference of sober reason and conviction.  Instead, his attachment to Christianity is merely the result of early and groundless possession.  He was born in a Christian country, so of course he is a Christian.  His father was a member of the Church of England, so that is why he is, too.  When religion is handed down among us by hereditary succession, it is not surprising to find a youth sense of spirit beginning to question the truth of the system in which they were brought up.

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And it is not surprising to see them abandon a position which they are unable to defend.  Knowing Christianity chiefly by its difficulties and the impossibilities falsely imputed to it, they fall perhaps into the company of unbelievers.”

Since faith is an active trust in what we have good reason to believe is true, the use of wisdom to test those beliefs to see if they are true is of utmost importance.  Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that if our faith is in a belief that does not correspond to reality, then our faith is futile and in vain.  Therefore, the leaders of a church must equip their congregation to think for themselves by offering them knowledge and training them in wisdom.  This produces the unity that Paul speaks of in Ephesians 4:12-13.  It also produces the maturity he speaks of based on the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.  Colossians 2:9 tells us that the fullness is God.  Thus, the focus should be on both an ‘attribute’ study of God and a Biblical study of God.

A Biblical study of God obviously has its focus in the Bible.  But a study of God’s attributes (omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, love and goodness, holiness, justice, aseity, immutability, non-temporal ity, and simplicity to name just a few) and what they mean to a proper understanding of God, us, the rest of His creation, and the relationships that govern all of their interactions requires a deep foray into Theology AND Philosophy, including a good understanding of logic and reason.

Leaders that engage and equip their congregations in this manner will indeed inoculate them from being “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”

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Paul concludes the section by saying that all the people of God, equipped with different backgrounds, gifts, and strengths, are it speak the truth in love and build itself up in love.  If the Church leaders in America today would not only educate themselves to fulfill their mandate in Ephesians 4:11-16 to equip their congregations to the degree that they need and deserve, and teach them to do the same to others, the large exodus Christianity has seen in its pews would begin to stop.  Furthermore, many more Christians would know what it means to truly love: to love God (Mark12:28-31), to love their neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40), to love their enemies (Matthew 5:44), and love themselves (Ephesians 5:25-29).  They would know what is ‘good’ physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually.  They could all speak the truth in love.  Paul concludes the Ephesians 4:1-16 passage by saying that upon these things being done properly by church leaders, the people of God will grow up in every way into Christ, and through the unity this produces we will all be built up in love.

I continue to see my responsibilities here at St. Brides (and anywhere else I have students) from this perspective.  I have given both MJ and Michael lessons on how to prepare and teach a Bible study.  Both of them have now taught several of our Wednesday classes.  I enjoy watching their confidence grow.  A little encouragement goes a long way with both men.

Thank you for getting Geisler’s ‘Introduction to Philosophy: A Christian Perspective’ for MJ.  He is absorbing things so fast.  I think he is ready to go to the next level.  Geisler’s text will complement Koukl’s ‘Tactics’ and Moreland’s ‘Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Live of the Soul.’

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I have taken my ‘Prolegomena’ outline and made copies for both Richard and Brian.  My goal is to continue to train them in it and get them to begin to train others.  I have long since found that if I can get a Christian to properly understand the meaning of truth, knowledge, wisdom, and love, their Christian Walk and worldview takes a huge leap forward.  Please continue to pray for my two young proteges as they take this teaching to others.

I start a new class on Friday evenings.  The guys in the dorm have asked me to teach a class on apologetics and critical thinking.  I plan to start with ‘Tactics’ so that everyone will be equipped to study other topics in apologetics.  Please keep me in your prayers as I start this new endeavor.

I love you so very much my Beloved.  Thank you so much for all that you do to equip and strengthen me to serve God in this Hellish place.  Thank you also for doing the same to so many others.  Please give my thanks to all that help us as well.  I know that many people help us by either directly mentoring inmates with us, praying for us, or contributing financially.  I am thankful that they take Hebrews 13:3 and Matthew 25:31-46 seriously.  Love you!!!

Love,

Me

SCRAP!

GELPOY!

ILYSOOOOM!

LAAF!