SOCPM Newsletter | March 6, 2021

Greetings,

Happy March, Spring is near!

It is still quite possible for a winter storm to hit us into April. I remember the snowstorms, but I forget the dates, so I checked it out, and on April 14, 2019, in DeKalb, IL, where I lived, it snowed 7.4". April 28, 2019, St. Charles where SOCPM calls home, received 6" of snow. It has snowed into May and snowflakes as late as May 22, 1917. A little bit of weather trivia. I'm praying there is no snow on or near March 23, when I will have my HeLOP prostate surgery.

I didn't do weather past week but also completed SOCPM's 9th study of Psalms. This week's Weekly Note study was on Psalm 2:10-12.

Charles Spurgeon's comments on Psalm 2:11Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling, stuck with me. He writes Serve the Lord with fear. Let reverence and humility mingle with service. He is a great God, and we are puny creatures. Bow in lowly worship. Let a child-like fear mingle with your obedience to the great Father of the ages. Rejoice with trembling. Holy fear must always be mixed with Christian joy. This sacred compound produces a sweet aroma, but no other on the altar. Fear without joy is torment. Joy without holy fear is presumption. Notice the solemn argument for reconciliation and obedience. [1]

What is Holy fear? John Owen writes, "this fear is an awareness of God's greatness, holiness, and severity against sin. Also, he says that it involves use of the means of grace to ensure entry into God's eternal Promised Land. Like the Israelites, we must remember God's holiness and severity lest we fall away into sin. And like the Israelites, we must make use of the means of grace such as Bible study, prayer, preaching, and the sacraments, so that we persevere in faith and enter God's promised rest. [2]

What is Christian joy? R. C. Sproul has an interesting essay, 'The Key to the Christian's Joy.' He writes, "However, the Greek word used in the Beatitudes is best translated as blessed, as it communicates not only the idea of happiness but also profound peace, comfort, stability, and great joy. So, we have to be careful when we come to the text of the New Testament that we do not read it through the lens of the popular understanding of happiness and thus lose the biblical concept of joy." [3]

I know I at times forget the severity of my sin. When I pray before going to bed at night, I quite often find myself recalling a sin I committed during the day and confess it more as a Christian's duty without thought to how God looks upon all sin with severity. God is not pleased with my heartless confession of sin Isaiah 11:13a. Another area of confessing sin is for God to show me my sins that I didn't see as sin. I've gotten in the habit recall Psalm 139:23-24

On the personal side of life, my son Cameron is doing well. But he had an incident this past week. Out of respect for my son Cameron, I won't go into detail where someone roughed him up a bit. He is okay; he said just some scratches and scrapes. A praise prayer he wasn't severely hurt. But do pray for his protection. Pray he makes wise decisions before he acts on temptation.

As I mentioned in my opening, I will be having HeLOP surgery on March 23. Even though it is a few weeks away, I believe it is never too early to pray for something. Please, pray first, praise that I have access to a gifted surgeon and other medical aspects available to me. Do pray for the surgery to go well, pray that God will guide the surgeon's hands, that the bleeding I fear is in the hands of loving God. Pray for the initial recovery to be only 2-3 days and that I obey the surgeon's orders to rest for a couple of weeks.

I like to close the SOCPM Newsletter with something upbeat. I like to search for some facts about any particular day. One site to find this 'who cares information?' My search found this day of history for March 6th. 

1899 – Bayer registers "Aspirin" as a trademark

1912 – The Oreo cookie is introduced by Nabisco

1950 - Silly Putty invented

1981 – Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time on the CBS Evening News after 19 year

Proverbs 10:28 The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.

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

Scott Kalas
Soldiers of Christ Prison Ministries

Week 51 of the lockdown 😞.  

COVID-19 cases as of 03/05/21, Dixon: staff confirmed 257, staff recovered staff 252, staff current 5, staff tests 6,075; offender confirmed 579, offenders recovered 579, offender current 0, offenders test 23,617 | Sheridan: staff confirmed 132, staff recovered 125; staff current 7, staff tests 5.427; offenders confirmed 455, offenders recovered 401, offenders current 54, offender tests 16,205 | IDOC: staff confirmed 4,150, staff recovered 4,061 staff current 89, staff tests 115,589; offenders confirmed 10,730, offenders recovered 10,535, offenders current 195, offender tests 349,499. [3]

Please continue in prayer for the lifting of the lockdown. If only for the resumption of visitations, and the return of volunteers shortly after that.

[1] Clarke, Roy H, editor. The Treasury of David: Spurgeon's Great Commentary on Psalms, by
C. H. Spurgeon, 3rd ed., vol. 1, T. Nelson Publishers, 1997, 11.

[2] Sproul, R. C. “Holy Fear.” Ligonier Ministries, www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/holy-fear/.

[3] Sproul, R. C. “The Key to the Christian's Joy.” Ligonier Ministries, 7 May 2018, www.ligonier.org/blog/key-christians-joy/.

[4] “COVID-19 Response.” Illinois.gov, 5 Mar. 2021, www2.illinois.gov/idoc/facilities/Pages/Covid19Response.aspx.

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