Greetings,
I open this week with joy in my heart. Michael, a SOCPM Alumni from Sheridan, has been discharged. Many SOCPM Alumni get discharged, and all to various degrees bring joy to my heart, but Michael was a student I remember most by his weekly prayer requests. He quite often would submit multiple prayer requests. He always would begin them with the words 'Hello, how are you doing? First, I want to thank you for praying for me. My name is Michael...' For some reason, those words softened my heart, and another commonality in his prayer requests was how much he missed his family and just wanted to go home. I don't remember Michael just for his prayer requests, but he would also come up to me at the start of each class and ask me how I was doing. As much as he missed his family, he always had a joyful disposition that uplifted my spirits. I'm not 100% certain; only God knows a person's heart, but I believe Michael was a believer. I miss Michael, his prayer requests, and his warm greeting each week. I pray you are doing well, Michael.
This week's Weekly Note was on Psalm 3:1-2. "O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, "There is no salvation for him in God." [1]
I liked James Montgomery Boice's comments, 'You may not be facing an imminent military battle when you wake up most mornings, but you are facing a battle. The climate in the department of the company for which you work may be one of open warfare: Everyone is trying to defeat everyone else. The conditions are cutthroat. The weapons are rumors, lying, gossip, misrepresentation, even violence, bribes, or stealing.' His comments brought to mind how we all encounter various trials, and at times, I catch myself comparing my current trials against the trials of others. With a silent thought, 'I only wish my trials were so small.'[2]
But the comments of Charles Spurgeon, 'Yet remember our blessed Savior endured this to the deepest degree when he cried, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46) Jesus knew what it was to walk in the darkness and not see light. This was the curse of the curse, wormwood mixed with gall deserted by His Father was worse than being despised by men. Shirley, we should love him who suffered this most bitter trial for us. It is delightful and instructed to mark the Lord in his agonies.' [3]
Spurgeon's comments reminded me of the greatest trials anyone encountered in life, the trials of Jesus Christ. Throughout his ministry up until he said the words, 'It is finished.' John 19:30. When I compare all my life's trials to the trials of Jesus Christ, my trials are inconsequential.
I was humbled this week when I received a reply from Sheridan's Chaplain McClimans. He shared a word of thanks for my consistency in past weekly teachings and the sending of Weekly Notes. But he also shared he enjoys reading them and how this week led him to do his research on Psalm 3. Sharing he enjoyed reading them was an encouragement to me. When I write and send the Weekly Note each week, my deepest desire is to bear fruit for God's glory. The words of Chaplain McClimans gave root to those desires.
On the personal side, Cameron is struggling. He, as he calls it, slipped and was drinking. But he appears not to have gone on a total bender. Though he is now working, he still has not received unemployment for the weeks of his unemployment. The delays in receiving his tax return and stimulus check (until the IRS processes his return, they do not have Cameron's current banking info to deposit it into his account), his facing eviction on April 2nd, and other hurdles have him stressed. Please pray for him.
I ask for your prayers for my surgery on Mach 23rd. Prayers of praise that I have a gifted surgeon who is a specialist in the type of surgery I'll be having, the rest of the gifted medical staff, and necessary medical equipment. Please pray all goes as expected, minimal bleeding, no need for a catheter, and a full and quick recovery.
1 Peter 5:10 ESV - And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. [4]
With all the dire news we seem to be encountering almost daily, we need to remember God still reigns. But I can always use a dose of light-hearted fun in my day and week, which led me to insert a dose of light-hearted fun in the newsletter the past couple of weeks. But maybe not everyone appreciates my intent. So, to avoid cluttering the greeting with something not all may want to read, I've added a new text box, 'Who Cares?
To Him be the glory in ALL things and to Him alone!
Scott Kalas
Soldiers of Christ Prison Ministries๏ปฟ
Week 53 of the lockdown ๐.
COVID-19 cases as of 03/19/21, Dixon: staff confirmed 271, staff recovered staff 257, staff current 14, staff tests 8,139; offender confirmed 581, offenders recovered 579, offender current 2, offenders test 32,366 | Sheridan: staff confirmed 145, staff recovered 142; staff current 4, staff tests 7,303; offenders confirmed 461, offenders recovered 459, offenders current 2, offender tests 19,925 | IDOC: staff confirmed 4,244, staff recovered 4,155, staff current 89, staff tests 144,765; offenders confirmed 10,806, offenders recovered 10,744, offenders current 62, offender tests 422,688. [5]
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] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 3:1โ2.
[2] James Montgomery Boice, Psalms 1โ41: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 32
[3] C. H. Spurgeon,. The Treasury of David: Spurgeon's Great Commentary on Psalms, Clarke, Roy H, editor, 3rd ed., vol. 1, T. Nelson Publishers, 1997,13.
[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Pe. 5:10.
[5] โCOVID-19 Response.โ Illinois.gov, 19 Mar. 2021, www2.illinois.gov/idoc/facilities/Pages/Covid19Response.aspx.
Who Cares?
A weekly sharing of information that most people could care less about but for those who do!
March 20th Holidays
Extraterrestrial Abductions Day
Keep an eye above you ๐
Bibliomania Day
Read any good books lately?๐
This Coming Week
National Fix a Leak Week
Are you wasting water? ๐ฑ
Clutter Awareness Week
What's buried in your closet? ๐ณ
On This Day in History
1760 โ The "Great Fire" of Boston, Massachusetts, destroys 349 buildings
1852 โ Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe is published
1954 - 1st newspaper vending machine used in Columbia Pennsylvania
Soldiers of Christ Prison Ministries
A ministry of Redeemer Fellowship Church St. Charles, IL
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