Scriptures for Inmates

Today I was reading some posts and some emails and I was reminded of one of my projects that I was writing. I was starting a short series called, “Scriptures for Inmates” where I would discuss a passage or two of scriptures as it might relate to inmates.

“What’s the difference? Isn’t it the same for everyone”?

Well, in theory is should be, but let’s not be so naïve. If the scriptures related exactly the same to every person in the world, we’d all believe exactly the same thing, wouldn’t we?

We already know that we as human being interpret things the way we WANT to see it, which is why there are soooooo many churches in our country. That is not a bad thing, unless a lot of those churches have “other” motives.

For example. My town has about 40,000 in the city, and about 60,000 in the county. Yet when I open the phonebook I can count at least 300 churches. Now we all know that not everyone goes to church, so it isn’t like all 60,000 people in the county goes to church. Heck, maybe half at best. But when you consider so many churches, it clearly means that we as a people have our unique ways of looking at the Bible.

Is it wrong? I don’t think so.

I think it becomes a problem when the main goal of a church is not to “share God’s word”, but rather to run a charity and reap the benefits of a charity. I also believe that a lot of churches are run by pastors who want to own a business, not do God’s work. Now, don’t get me wrong, pastors need to have a business mind because let’s face it, the Good Lord doesn’t drop money straight from Heaven to pay the light bill. But there is a delicate balance that has to be used when ministers run a church.

I say all that because my point is that we as a people will see things differently, even in Christianity. And if so, then why can’t inmates interpret things as well? The scriptures can be applied to an inmate in a way that you can’t understand, because you are not in their situation. Even if you have a loved one in prison, the scripture he reads might apply differently to him than it would to you.

In a way, it is God’s word to each individual; what He says to your heart may not be what He says to mine. But it is up to that individual to receive it or reject it. So maybe I can help a little (if allowed to) in sharing some insight on what inmates might think on some scriptures.

The idea I have been working on again is called, “Scriptures for Inmates”. What I want to do is discuss some of the scriptures in a positive and Christian format. Now let me make this clear, I am no man of the cloth and certainly not worthy of it (by society’s standards). I am not saying that I came off the holy mountain with the new commandments, so don’t start getting any ideas.

But what I do believe is that if there is a way to encourage inmates by discussing scriptures, and how it might apply to an INMATE, rather than a regular person, maybe it might help. You see, even if a pastor or ministry comes to a prison on a Sunday to give inmates a service, he would be sharing scriptures from what he experienced in his life. But if he has never been incarcerated, he really doesn’t know what inmates are living through.

Now let me pause here a second (some of you know my “pauses” from Grades of Honor)….

In no way am I saying that ministries are off base with inmates. Some of the best support I got while I was in prison was from a number of ministries, from which my faith has been greatly helped. I owe a lot of thanks to those ministries who took the time to send me reading material, and I am VERY grateful for that.

But I am also saying that in a small way, inmates need to understand what God’s plan is for them, and the Bible is supposed to be His word, right? A scripture read by a person who is wealthy might get a different overall interpretation from one who is on the streets and hungry.

Different races may see the same scripture in different ways. Heck, a 70 year old person might read a scripture and see it differently from a 17 year old. In a way, we are going to see the Bible in a way that is relative to the life we live.

If this is true in any fashion….why can’t inmates do the same? Their lives have been changed dramatically, so their view on life is going to be much different from how you would see it if you have never been in prison…or if you don’t know anyone in prison.

So having said all that, I wanted to see if I was worthy enough to share some passages and discuss how they relate to an inmate; a condemned person. Surely God has not ignored those who are in the prisons…there are many scriptures that mention those who are in prison.

I want to hear from some of you on this subject. Remember, you’re not talking to a leader of a big church, you’re not talking somebody who is highly respected in the community…it’s just me. A guy that went to prison, a guy that got kicked out of several prisons, a guy that has been banned from several prison support groups, a guy that by no means is near perfect. But I am also a guy that didn’t write all the blogs and posts for nothing. I write because there are people out there trying to understand what to do in these difficult times.

I have actually already started on a couple of these, but I have so many writing projects going on that it is really a task…not a bad task, just a challenging one. I am working on my blog books, more cards, more certificates, Grades of Honor 4, and other writings. I am really trying to make this a business project where I can put out as much as I can for those who want to support me.

At any rate, that is another idea to work on. Today is Saturday and I don’t know why I am up so early…but here I am so I might as well stay up. I guess the Coca Cola I am drinking isn’t going to help me get back to be anyway…so I’ll play video games!

Oh well, I better go, I ask that you continue to support my writings by sharing my blogs with other, or getting some of my packages. If you have any questions, please email me at derf4000 at embarqmail.com (I wrote it that way so spam crawlers can’t get it).