Greetings,

I think it is week 10 of the lockdown 🤔. I pray it finds all of you still enduring and through His grace rejoicing in the hope that it produces Romans 5:3-4.

As most of these weeks have been there was nothing of great note concerning prison ministry. I did send e-mails to the chaplains asking six questions regarding the if and when the gates should open to resuming prison ministry pithing the prisons.

1) Will I be able to bring into the prison hand sanitizer and or disinfecting wipes?

2) If the answer to the above is no, will I have ample access to them through the prison supplying them?

3) Will the students be wearing masks?

4) What are the numbers for the number of cases thus far and the current number of cases, both staff, and prisoners?

5) Will classes be limited in size?

Dixon’s chaplain replied he has heard anything even in the way of rumors. I’ve not heard from Sheridan’s chaplain, which has me somewhat concerned as he is very good at replying to my e-mails. I pray he is in good health and still on staff

Of the above six questions the first five are pretty much out of my control. Number six however ‘Will classes be limited in size?’ May result in my having some ‘control.’ If classes are to be limited, just how I will go about determining/choosing which students out of the 183 students that were enrolled when the lockdown began. Dixon will be not too challenging since the largest class has only 15 students, but still saving them out 6’ apart will present a challenge. There is one classroom that is almost twice the size of our normal classroom. So that may be an option

As for Sheridan there is no easy options that I’m aware of. We meet in a conference room which holds 40 students rather comfortably, but not 6’ apart. With 36 being the smallest (several have paroled since the lockdown began) for the four classes, I dread having to choose who can remain and who can’t.

But I’m a worrier and though I know I should trust (Psalm 37:5, Proverbs 3:5-6) I still worry. Heck, until the first five questions are answered number six doesn’t matter at this point. I’m trying my best to trust God will bring it all to some resolve for His glory, but I need prayer

No current students paroled this week, but nine did get discharged. So, that is a praise.

My mind is drawing a blank as to whether there is more worthy of sharing but I guess the positive of that is this greeting is short.

In all seriousness though I do appreciate you. I am humbled when I get some replies but I am also humbled when I see 39 opens in last week’s e-mail. Some may be duplicates but that means you truly are remaining in steadfast prayers.

I do pray you all are doing well and are finding comfort (Psalm 119:50) and peace (Colossians 3:15) in our sovereign God (Proverbs 16:9).

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

Scott Kalas
Soldiers of Christ Prison Ministries

Weekly Message

My heart continues to remember you daily and you are in my prayers. I trust God has your hearts turn towards him and you are turning to him daily. Here is this week’s Wednesday night message. You are not forgotten and I miss you greatly. There are many SOCPM subscribers who remain in prayer for you too.

Tackling Satan’s Temptations by Joe Thorn - OVERCOMING TEMPTATION REQUIRES GRACE AND GRIT.

We all know what temptations are and we all know we fail when it comes to temptations we face. Sometimes we feel bad, sometimes we don’t. Temptation happens to us and serves as a means either for us to draw near to God or serves as a means for us to pull away from God.

The focus tonight is not the trials aspect but the opportunity, the event, or the idea that functions as bait to lure us into sin. The cookie jar analogy is a lure, a bait as appealing to one’s hunger or sweet tooth or selfishness to disobey mom’s command to not eat a cookie before dinner. The temptation is an external bait that appeals to an internal power that appeals to our hearts. James 1:12–15 Temptation in itself is not sin. You can be tempted to lie, steal but it is not yet sinning. It becomes a sin when you give in to that desire to lie or other sins.

Temptation is common. When we are in the midst of our failures, we tend to think they are unknowable by anyone else. We may see someone who seems they got it all together. It is easy to conclude that you are weak, they are strong, but they too are in the midst of temptation.

1 Corinthians 10:13 This verse is important but it has a couple of myths associated with it. One myth is that God will never give you more than you can bear, handle. That is a lie God will often give us more than we can handle and does it so we will rely on Him for His grace, strength, support and when we persevere through it all praise and glory goes to Him. He will not let you be tempted by your ability. With the temptation He will provide a way of escape that you may endure.

When tempted by the devil or tested by God, God will be sure to supply you with the grace needed to escape. Escape is not the idea of an escape hatch to get you of the problem. You escape it by enduring it by following Jesus throughout it, by not giving up and giving in. It is not throwing up your hands say ‘it is too much, I give up.’

How do we deal with and overcome the temptations in our lives? 1) We must prepare and pray in advance. Matthew 26:41. 2) We fight with submitting and resistance. James 4:7 Most of us when we face temptations, we just give in. We are tired, bored, lazy, cold. It is spiritual warfare but isn’t about angels and flaming swords. Spiritual warfare is about a fight over faith and unbelief, over righteousness, and sin all in the heart of people of God. 1 Peter 5:8–9 How do we resist the devil and submit ourselves to God? 3) Preaching to ourselves. You need to read Scripture, so the Spirit of God can transform you. Romans 12:2. 4) Call for help. Not just the Lord but your brothers and sisters in Christ. They will encourage and rebuke. The Christian life was not meant to live alone and be in isolation.

We want the temptation to be over quickly and we want painful, uncomfortable, stressful things to end quickly. We need remedies. A good book is ‘Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Device’s’ by Thomas Brooks. He lists six remedies. 1) Though Jesus Christ has not freed believers from sin's presence, He has freed them from its damnatory power. 2) Though Jesus Christ has not freed believers from the vexing and molesting power of sin, He has freed them from the reign and dominion of sin. 3) It is needful to keep one eye on the promise of remission of sin, and the other eye on the inward operations of sin. 4) Believers' sins have been charged to the account of Christ as debts which He has fully satisfied. 5) The Lord has good reasons for allowing His people to be troubled with sinful corruption. 6) believers must repent of their being discouraged by their sins. There is much more in this book and a lot of more remedies. I strongly urge you to get it. $6 on Amazon.

The devil wants to move you to commit an act you know is wrong. One of the things he does is he will whisper in your ear. ‘Hey I know you know it is wrong but you can repent later. Repentance is easy, come on people do it all the time. It comes down to this, do not listen to the devil but listen to God. Jesus overcame temptation for you and Jesus will help you overcome temptation. Hebrews 2:18. Hebrews 4:15–16.

We need One who does not fail but who succeeds for us, who when faced with temptation and representing all of us is faithful all the way to the end and does endure all the way to end, so He can then lead us in that escape. Jesus not only stands in our place and takes our punishment and shame but He does all the right things in our place as well.

How do we deal with temptation when not convicted over it? First we should recognize we should be grieved over our sin. Recognize it is something that destroys His creation, it destroys us. If you know you should repent but are not moved to, I’m not feeling a godly sorrow. One thing to consider is do I truly believe this Gospel? Is my hope before God that Jesus has died for my sins, do I trust Him? If you can say yes, I do not perfectly, but you still are not grieved than pray God will soften your heart. There has been a hardening of the heart, something we all experience. Ask God to help you, then begin diving deeper into His Word because that is what He uses to sanctify us to change the heart and the mind.