SOCPM Newsletter | Janauary 30, 2021

Greetings

Come Monday, it will be good-bye January, hello February, and it took me that long to notice I didn't edit the year in the date code, even though it is visible. 😱 I'm so gifted in administration type stuff. 🤣

 I'm thankful the Chaplain Thomas of Dixon as he caught a typo in my Weekly Note greeting for this week, that if not corrected, would of stating the complete opposite of what I meant to say. I left out the word 'not' in the following sentence, 'Pray for our nation,' as we have transitioned our leadership to President Joe Biden. We must pray for him, but we must not put our hope in him. He is but the creation; our hope is the sovereign One who created Him and whose will, will prevail. It seems no matter how many times I proof-read, I still miss something. I also use Grammarly Premium; there are always a lot of errors. Some are typos, but a good number are an incorrect use of grammar. The positive is it has helped me in improving my grammar.

Okay, on to the main purpose of the SOCPM Newsletter. This week's weekly note was 'A Study of Psalm 1:4-6.' One of my favorite comments was by Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 1:5, 'All earthly congregations are mixed; every church has a devil. Tares grow in the same furrow as the wheat (Matthew 13:25).' [1] It made me ask myself, 'Is there a devil in my church, and if so, who might it be?'

Another of the several comments was James Montgomery Boice, quoting Arno. C. Gaebelein, an excellent devotional writer on the psalms, has said that "the perfect man portrayed in the opening verses … is … the Lord Jesus." He is the only one who was really like this. [2] It made me pause and reflect as in all things good, the only one who is perfect is Jesus Christ.

Finally, Willem A. VanGemeren wrote, "The "way of the righteous" is characterized by a love for God and a readiness to live a godly life." [3] It reminds me of several verses in 2 Timothy; 2:3-5, 10, 21; 3:12-13; and 4:8.

Pen Pal Susan shared in a prayer request that her pen pal Jesse is up for parole in August of this year. I don't know the number of years Jesse has already been in incarceration. Still, Sue mentioned in her prayer requests, Jesse is asking, "God Almighty through Jesus Christ, to soften the hearts of the parole board members and grant me a favorable answer."

Thank you for the prayers for my son Cameron. His court hearing on Thursday the 28th was a prayer of praise and thanks. The judge did rule with CDC extending the moratorium on evictions until March 31st; the property management cannot evict Cameron. Working with Cameron on Wednesday if he receives the funds, he says he is due; he can be all caught up with his rent on March 1st.

We've worked out some of the obstacles he's been encountering in his starting to receive unemployment. There now is the wait for him to get the bank card. He still has a lot of other tasks he needs to get accomplished in the coming week. Please pray he indeed will receive the expected funds, manage them well, find adequate employment, stay sober, and as always, his salvation. 

I close by wishing you all a Happy Ground Hog Day; for some reason, it was one of my favorite days as a kid

To Him be the glory in ALL things and to Him alone!

Scott Kalas
Soldiers of Christ Prison Ministries

Week 46 of the lockdown 😞.  

COVID-19 cases as of 01/29/21, Dixon: staff confirmed 249, staff recovered staff 245, staff current 4, staff tests 4,394; offender confirmed 576, offenders recovered 574, offender current 2, offenders test 16,013 | Sheridan: staff confirmed 118, staff recovered 116; staff current 2, staff tests 3.363; offenders confirmed 366, offenders recovered 341, offenders current 25, offender tests 9,863 | IDOC: staff confirmed 3,925, staff recovered 3,762, staff current 163, staff tests 64,101; offenders confirmed 10,249, offenders recovered 9,721, offenders current 528, offender tests 197,546. 

Once again the COVID-19 numbers appear to continue improving. Please pray that the improvement continues.

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