SOCPM Newsletter | May 21, 2022

Greetings,

SOCPM Inside the Prison Gate: A couple of weeks of good teaching at Dixon

SOCPM Outside the Prison Gate: At long last, taking the steps of trusting God in fundraising.

On the Home Front: The smell of grilling burgers has returned

On the Prayer Front - All things family and SOCPM

These are the topics for this week's SOCPM Newsletter. I hope you enjoy it, despite my lack of an editor. Michelle would like to edit my newsletters (I think she has a deep-seated desire to be an English teacher with a red pencil in hand), but her work voids the time.

To Him be the glory in ALL things and Him alone,

Scott Kalas
Soldiers of Christ Prison Ministries

SOCPM Inside the Prison Gate

Perseverance, sanctification, doctrine, and truth were the key topics over the past two weeks in Discipleship. On May 11th, our teaching was the letter to Smyrna, Revelation 2:8-11 Persevering to the End, and on May 18th, the letter to Pergamum, Revelation 2:12-17 Guard the Truth,

In the letter to Smyrna, we heard about the tribulations the church of Smyrna faced and how they are not different from some of the hardships the Church faces today and the other trials we encounter in our daily lives. More specifically, the tribulation of incarceration and dealing with anti-Christians amongst inmates and staff. How does one persevere through antagonism and the other challenges of incarceration without becoming a compiling spirit but instead preserve through it all while still glorifying God? By God's grace and the Holy Spirit, but how, is not simply saying 'let go, let God.' But through sanctification, which comes through both the work of the Holy Spirit and ourselves. At a minimum, we need to equip ourselves by being in God's Word daily (2 Timothy 3:10-17). The article for the week was 'What does the Bibel say About Perserverance.'

In the letter to Pergamum, we discussed the need to be equipped in God's Word for persevering, sanctification, and recognizing the many wolves in sheep's clothing in our churches today as the devil has fooled many into following teachers to satisfy their itchy ears (2 Timoty 4:3). We need to obey God's commands on learning and teaching sound doctrine (2 Timothy 2:15, Titus 2:1). The classroom teaching was supplemented by two articles related to the topic doctrine 'Why is Doctrine so Important' and 'Why is Doctrine so Devisive.'

In Malachi Dads on May 11th, we walked through chapter 5 of 'The Heart of a Father - Christian Living part 2. Which also discussed sanctification. One of the open Scripture was Philippians 2:12-13. An important truth of Christian living is NOT telling God what we want from Him but asking God what He wants from us. Christian living is a living sacrifice, living not to the world's ways but being transformed from the old to the new with renewed minds (Romans 12:1-2). The weekly articles were 'Why is Prayer Important' and 'What is the Power of the Holy Spirit.'

Our reading in the May 18th class was chapter 6 of 'The Heart of a Father - Marriage Part. I opened the class by asking the students how many of them were currently married; a few hands went up. When asked how many of them desire to be someday married? Almost every hand went up. We began by discussing why God created male and female for unique roles and responsibilities Ephesians 5:25-33. I emphasized v. 33. For a wife to respect her husband, he needs to be a husband deserving of respect. The weekly articles were 'The Purpose of Marriage and 'Love and Respect Basics for Marriage.

SOCPM Outside the Prison Gate

Outside of the administrative task before and after my classes at Dixon, I had two primary functions this week. The most time-consuming was organizing the many articles I have for the classroom weekly articles and questions asked by students in the SOCPM Library database. The first step is assigning a primary keyword to an article, organizing the keywords into folders, then entering into the database the article's information; title, author, publisher, pages, the URL link to the article, and assigning additional keywords. It is cumbersome, but it pays off when a student asks a question, and I can find several articles related to his question. For example, this past week, Steven, a student in Discipleship, asked for ways to respond to his cellie (cellmate), who claims to be a Christian but does not believe Jesus was God. Searching the library database on the keyword 'incarnation, I was able to find and print six articles for Steven.

The library of articles is a labor of love. I know I struggle with responding to someone's questions, so it is a joy to provide my guys with resources by equipping them with articles that include Scripture. It also is informative to me as I read the articles. The retention is a challenge, but if I'm involved in a discussion, and the brain cells are not going snap, crackle, or pop effectively, I have the means to find and share the article with whom I was discussing the topic.

The other task is not a labor of love, but more a labor of, ugh, fund raising, It is by far the task I most loathe in stewarding SOCPM, but it is a necessity I've been putting in off way too long. There are several reasons why I'm not too fond of fundraising. The overriding excuse is I hate asking for money. Not many people do, but some are gifted in asking, and then there are those like me. What to say? I can say a lot, but then the presentation is too long. I will quickly lose focus and go down more bunny trails than there are bunnies. All this adds up to my lack of confidence, stress, and worse, offending someone by my asking. 

But God, and with the help of a church Elder, I'm at the point I'll be doing my first presentation to my community group tonight (Friday, May 20th). A praise God has got me to this point, but I ask for prayers that I do not rely on myself but trust in the Holy Spirit to share my passion for Soldiers of Christ.

I'm debating, do I use this part of the newsletter to invite you to be a Soldier of Christ Prison Ministries partner? The meek side of me says no, but in reading other ministry newsletters that do ask, I will e bold and ask. So, if you want to be a partner of SOCPM, click here. It is somewhat easy to navigate; the key is to remember to select Soldiers of Christ Prison Ministries as the fund to designate your gift.

And just in case some are smiling because I'm being bold, but at the same time, say be bolder, don't say, 'click here' in small print that blends in with the rest of the newsletter, have it stand out and be clear where to click

TO SUPPORT SOCPM, CLICK HERE

On the Home Front

I made burgers on the grill. It was the first time grilling any type of food in about ten years. Michelle and I only have a Smokey Joe, but it was big enough for two burgers; Michelle didn't have a taste for grilled burgers, so they both were for me. I bought some fresh rolls at Jewel, put on a little butter, and some garlic powder, yum 😋. I got so into the grilling on the patio that I had a couple of glasses of wine and enjoyed God's creation and blessings, one of which was sitting with my wife, Michelle, on our patio. Love you, Bride!

On the Prayer Front

Cameron - I did not talk to Cameron this week. I'm trusting God that my not hearing from him means he is doing better than in the past weeks. Pray for his salvation and permanent sobriety. He says he has a new therapist; praise God; please pray he will like his therapist and be honest.

Michelle (aka my lovely bride) - Praise God her medical insurance will cover the bulk of the gel injection into her knees. An additional praise God has proved a means to cover the amount the insurance company is not covering. However, until she gets the gel injection, no appointment yet, her rheumatoid arthritis in her knees has been flaring up. Please pray she can manage the pain well and suffer well.

Self -  Praise for God's many blessings; continued discipline, three 30-minute walks on the treadmill; I think five weeks if I finish out this week. I'm still struggling with forgoing snacks and sweets. And of course, would you please pray God blesses SOCPM with the need for monthly support.

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