SOCPM Newsletter | April 10, 2021

Greetings,

News flash from the copy desk! I received an e-mail from the Chaplain at Dixon on my inquiry of any updates on lifting the lockdown. He replied, informing me, visitation for family and friends of offenders will be reopening soon. His hope is the return of volunteers will not be far behind. It's a blessing to read that at least the lockdown on visitations with family and friends will be lifted soon. Please pray that once IDOC lifts teh lockdown on visitations, the COVID numbers do not increase and reinstate the lockdown. I can only imagine the joy of the inmates, looking forward to seeing family and friends again. As for the return of volunteers, I'm trusting God it will come soon too! Please pray it is God's will! If I get more updates, I'll keep you informed.

With that news comes the bittersweet news of four students enrolled in a SOCPM class when the lockdown began were paroled this week. These four paroles bring the number of current students paroled since the lockdown to 98 or 46% of all the enrollments (some students were in two classes). The positive take on this is if IDOC reduces the max size of a class from the previous max of 40. It will be easier not to be in the position of having to choose one student over another if there are more returnees than seats, or it opens seats for a new SOCPM student.

Other than the above, the copy desk phone has remained silent, not many happenings other than working on the Weekly Note and improving the SOCPM dB. So, on to this week's Weekly Note.

This week's Weekly Note was on Psalm 3:7-8;

7 Arise, O Lord!

    Save me, O my God!

For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;

    you break the teeth of the wicked.

8 Salvation belongs to the Lord;

    your blessing be on your people! Selah [1]

As I was studying and preparing this week's Weekly Note and the foes challenging David. As William S. Plumer put it, 'In many respects David's foes were like wild beast, thirsting for his blood, fierce and merciless; [2], I thought of our current culture's with the numerous factions with opposing worldviews. If you have an opposing worldview in our current cultural climate, it can seem like your foes are coming at you like wild beasts, thirsting for your blood, fierce and merciless.  [3]

Based on God's Word, most of my worldviews are worldviews the wild beasts seek to devour. There are more times than I like to admit where I'm asking myself, 'How dark and evil will it get?' But Plumer goes on to say, '...God had already put it out of their power to do real harm.[4] I need to work on building my confidence to have confidence like David. James Montgomery Boice describes it in these words, 'The last section of the psalm is a confident cry for God's deliverance—confident because the psalmist knows that God has heard him and that he will provide the needed deliverance.' [5]

Boice goes on to compare David's cries to the cries of Moses, but my takeaway from this week's Weekly Note is God has heard my cries and the many cries of all His children enduring the dark and evil culture we live in. I can trust and find comfort in the truth, as He did in delivering David; He has already delivered us from the dark and evil through His Son Jesus Christ. My call is the call Jesus gives to the Church of Smyrna (Rev. 2:8-11) to persevere to the end.

The mention of Jesus's letter to the church of Smyrna brings to my mind my church Redeemer Fellowship is currently doing a teaching series on Revelation. Yes, I'm biased, but it personally has been an insightful series. I especially saw how the seven letters to seven churches encountered many of the same trials the Church is facing today. All that to say, I invite you to listen to the series Revelation.

For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.
Proverbs 3:26 (ESV)[7]

On personal notes, not much new news there either. I talked to Cameron on Thursday evening. He seemed in good spirits. He is still undecided about where he may move and is taking a break in resolving the issue with unemployment and his tax return status. It has only been frustrating. I ask for continued prayers for his salvation, sobriety, and wisdom in decision making, even if that means listening to someone's advice, even if it isn't what he wants to hear.

Finally, it appears no one does care about my 'Who Cares' block, since there have been no clicks on the links, thus I've decided 'Who Cares' is not worthy of my time researching and I've deleted it.

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

Scott Kalas
Soldiers of Christ Prison Ministries

Week 56 of the lockdown 😞.  

COVID-19 cases as of day, 04/09/21; Dixon: staff confirmed 290, staff recovered staff 279, staff current 11, staff tests 10,251; offender confirmed 586, offenders recovered 584, offender current 2, offenders test 38,547 | Sheridan: staff confirmed 147, staff recovered 145; staff current 2, staff tests 8.989; offenders confirmed 464, offenders recovered 463, offenders current 1, offender tests 23,100 | IDOC: staff confirmed 4,362 , staff recovered 4,272, staff current 90, staff tests 178,255; offenders confirmed 10,857, offenders recovered 10,822, offenders current 35, offender tests 493,607. [8]

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.

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