Joint meeting AJC and WTL – 4/7/18

Repentance. Regardless of our ministry context, if heart change is not a goal of our ministry, then what are we doing? What we think and believe ought to impact how we live our lives. The same can be said of how we do ministry and our ministry objectives. What we teach ought to lead others to changing how they live.

We must first believe. It may seem obvious, but we must first believe that which we teach. Take care of your soul in the process. You are of little help if you are not healthy. We encounter destructive people leading destructive lives and their destructiveness will destroy us if we are not taking care of ourselves.

We must first believe. How are you taking care of your soul? Have you encountered times of spiritual drought? How did you use Scripture and dependence on God’s goodness to get through those times?

When we believe. When we believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we have no choice but share it. Inmates have physical needs, social needs, educational needs, but our most important task is to care for their spiritual needs. To be disciples of Christ in turn means to make disciples.

When we believe. Do you sometimes struggle to have boldness to share your faith with others, including inmates? Please share a time when you were timid in speaking truth in love and how God got you through that moment. Do you have any advice for other chaplains and worship team leaders, especially those who may be new to jail ministry?

When others come to Christ. If you have been with Transforming Jail Ministries for very long, you likely heard Jack Marsh talk about “jailhouse religion” at some point. It’s the idea that people turn to God out of desperation, but not in sincerity. When we come to Christ, we all do so out of desperation because without him, our lives are indeed desperate. When others come to Christ, we take it serious, and we rejoice.

Will you share? Share your story with others. Share the stories of others with others. Share, share, share. Rejoice. How has God changed you and how has God used you? Will you share your story and the stories of changes you’ve witnessed in inmates with me by sending them to stuart@tjmi.org

New Board Members. Brad Weber – Imago Dei Christian Fellowship – has been involved with jail ministry through the Council on Christian Communities and Transforming Jail Ministries since 1990. Dr. Andrew R. Lewis – Christ the King Church – Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Cincinnati.

New Adult Jail Chaplains. Tom Vinegar – South and North 2nd Floors at the Justice Center Barry Bien – Is delivering reading glasses at the Justice Center.

Worship Team Training. Check your email because this year’s PowerPoint training has been sent out. If you didn’t get the email, you can find the PowerPoint and sign-in sheet on our website. Training is due by 2:30 p.m. on May 31, 2018. If we have not received your sign-off sheet by then, we will have to remove your team from the schedule until it is received.

Can you support TJM? Just as your churches and other ministries depend on financial contributions to do ministry, so does TJM. Many of you already give and we are very appreciative of your support. As a challenge, not a requirement, I want to challenge each chaplain and worship team to raise or donate an average of $1,000 (per chaplain/per team) this year. Can you help?

Questions?