(Reflections on prison days long ago.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is an issue which besets any Christian in jail and all those who guard prisons. There is the necessity for Christians to gather and the provision by the prison for them to do so. And there is the call, by Christian principles, for holiness along with salvation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The subject comes to mind when I think back on my experience, 46 months and ten days (1985-1989), in federal custody dwelling in various jails and prisons.\u00a0 Most of that time was spent in Ray Brook, way up in New York near the Canadian border.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We had a zealous chaplain who seemed quite happy for his opportunity to preach the Gospel to prisoners.\u00a0 And he did preach the Truth.\u00a0 The Lord Jesus was the Savior and the One to whom prisoners and all people must bow down and worship.\u00a0 We got on well for some time as I listened to his sermons and the encouragement he gave the inmates, pointing them to the Christ.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chapel in prison is a difficult operation to manage.\u00a0 The assembly provides an opportunity for evangelism, the preaching the Gospel and the conversion of inmates.\u00a0 But it also may double as a meeting ground for folks who just want a change from the routine as well as an opportunity to socialize with inmates who cannot access one another otherwise in the prison environment. One unfortunate feature of chapel is its exploitation by sex-offenders and others who use it as an opportunity to meet with others that otherwise inaccessible.\u00a0 (In the same jail the opportunity to associate with others – who are located in other cells –\u00a0 is very limited!\u00a0 So chapel provides an opportunity to meet and “hang out” for a moment.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it was at Ray Brook. My roommate was a sex offender and for such offense was imprisoned. But he had come to Jesus. We met at chapel and eventually were able to share a cell. I was glad to have fellowship with this believer who would have to navigate the Gospel walk between those who despised perverts and those who understood the repentance and holiness of the convert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All was going well at chapel as we inmates who were in attendance were developing some friendships and a decent reputation in the prison.\u00a0 We were those Gospel people,” “followers of Christ,” “bearers of the Light.” But then, as is often the case, something good was spoiled by corruption.\u00a0 One of our regular chapel-goers decided to engage with another inmate (not a chapel-goer) \u00a0in homosexual activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What to do?\u00a0 Well, the chaplain would not allow us to exclude the offender from attending the chapel services.\u00a0 So, as is often the case, believers leave chapel services and the reputation among the regular inmate population is that chapel services are a bastion for sodomites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, we stayed away.\u00a0 There was no provision elsewhere for a Christian gathering, so we, the very few, gathered (while scattered in small numbers in various cells, many exiled chapel-goers without the same for a cellmate) as we were able and encouraged one another in the Faith.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so it was, and is, I suspect, in prisons around the land. And, to some degree, the same problem attends churches outside the prisons as they neglect to address their unrepentant church members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reflections on 26 January, 2022<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(Reflections on prison days long ago.) It is an issue which besets any Christian in jail and all those who guard prisons. There is the necessity for Christians to gather and the provision by the prison for them to do so. And there is the call, by Christian principles, for holiness along with salvation. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[48,12,54,30,23,53],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/michaelbray.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5545"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/michaelbray.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/michaelbray.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michaelbray.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michaelbray.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5545"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/michaelbray.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5550,"href":"http:\/\/michaelbray.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5545\/revisions\/5550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/michaelbray.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michaelbray.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michaelbray.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}