Greetings,

Week 16 of the lockdown 😞.

Despite the resurge of COVID-19, there are still no cases pf COVID-19 in both Dixon and Sheridan, including staff for at least 4 weeks. Praise God!

With the missing of my guys, the resurge of COVID-19, and I don’t know what to call it, chaos, anarchy, lawlessness, it was a week where having trust, faith, and knowing the sovereignty of God and prayer. I love ALL peoples, my country, and our first responders, including the police and it, my heart grieves reading news stories, seeing YouTube videos and posts on Facebook.

I'm not sure just why but it seems that the number of parolees has been down since the start of COVID-19. Especially with the expected planning of early release. Oh well, at least the number of admissions has been down too. This week say the parole of Javonshay He was with SOCPM for only one class The New Birth where he did receive a certificate. Angel a student from January 2019 up until the COVID-19 lockdown. Angel had excellent attendance but was one of the quiet ones. I pray God uses SOCPM in these men's lives and will take what God put in their hearts with them as they return to their families and communities.

I had a nice chat with one of my fellow servants, Jennifer, in prison ministry. She shared some encouraging words and we discussed the shared challenges of prison ministry and the new challenges that lie ahead. In addition to my students, chaplains, etc. I ask you to just lift all prison Ministries in prayer to our great God.

Speaking of our Great God here is a prayer from Valley of Vision ‘The Great God’

This week’s Midweek Message was ‘Four Steps to Becoming a Better Theologian.’ This message I hope will be well received by the students In many ways SOCPM is all about doctrine and theology. SOCPM ministry partners Ligonier Ministries and White Horse Inn both often use the phrase or one similar to it ‘Know what you know and why you believe it?’ As God was giving me the vision of SOCPM he brought me to 2 Timothy. And though all of 2 Timothy speaks to me two that I often share to the students are the well known 2 Timothy 3:16-17, and 2 Timothy 4:1-5. God further showed me for this Scripture to be fulfilled they will need to know doctrine and theology. I’m excited in the coming weeks the midweek message will expand on this week's message. I’m thinking of using this teaching series as a curriculum.

My passion is getting revved up so I’ll stop now before I get long and wordy and not make much sense 🤪.

But one more item. In a recent newsletter, I mentioned the podcast White Horse Inn. They recently had a podcast from their classics library, titled How Important is Doctrine. I invite you to listen to it

So with that be blessed, keep our country in prayer as we celebrate its 244th birthday.

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

Scott Kalas
Soldiers of Christ Prison Ministries

Weekly Message

Wednesday Night Message July 2, 2020, Four Steps to Becoming a Better Theologian – Joe Thorn

When people hear about theology or the responsibility of becoming a better theologian it can be a bit overwhelming
We think of it as going deeper into Scripture, explore, learn meditate, which is true but it can sound overwhelming. How do I do it? Where do I begin? You see the ocean, you know it is deep, lots of life, colorful reefs, but you can’t see it unless you actually go into the water and go deep, but to go into the water, you need to be properly equipped or experienced. We can begin by putting on a face mask and snorkel to begin exploring.

How do we begin to explore Scripture and theology in simple and tangible ways? Read Romans 3:10-18. Let’s say the fear of God grabs you. You hear it a lot but what does it mean? Let’s begin there to explore theologically in 4 steps

1) Lookup: Look up all scripture that deals with the subject. You’ll need Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible online or Amazon. Lookup ‘fear’ and you’ll get a list of all the Scripture with the word fear. Let’s do this part in 4 sub-steps. A) Go to a good Bible site like ESV.org or Biblegateway.com. ESV search ‘Fear of God.’ Another source is OpenBible.info. Once you have the references of Scripture, organize by determining which of these references hit on the nature of fearing God. What it means to fear God or reasons why. Proverbs 8:13. It involves affections, a hatred of all that opposes God. B) Determine which verses emphasize the act of how to fear the Lord.
Like Psalm 112:1, It is not only hating what opposes God but also delighting, rejoicing, obeying the commands of God. C) What verse point to the baring of Fruit in fearing God. 2 Corinthians 7:1, the consequences of fearing God is godliness. D) Verses that hit on the subject but not the same phraseology. The scripture that speaks of fear without using the word fear. Use a topical Bible or OpenBible.info. E) Note any verses that upon first glance may appear to be contradictory or confusing. 1 John 4:16–19, how can we fear God if we don’t fear Him and His punishment of evil. That is a question that may come up as you organize all these references. To do all this referencing, means you have to write things down organized in a fashion you can go back to.

2) Read-up: It may sound redundant, but it’s reading secondary sources. Helpful, good but simple resources. Resources are written by men or women who have done a lot of the work for you. One resource is commentaries. There are good ones online like John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible. Gill has a lot to say on just Romans 3:18. You can see how helpful it is to read a theologian who has done a lot of the work of meditation and summarizing effectively. We all need preachers and teachers. That is why God gave us them. Also, have a good systematic theology. There are many but one I use is Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof. Another resource is monergism.com a web site that collects and organizes theological and Biblical content from all over the internet. One of Pastor Joe Thorn’s book, outside of Scripture is Vital Godliness: A Treatise on Experimental and Practical Piety by William Plummer.
It can be a challenge to discern what to read on Monergism so ask your pastor.

3) Write up: You’re going to have to keep track of your observations. The things that you learn, insights, helpful quotes, personal application. Writing them down forces you to articulate. Articulating reinforces what you read, takes concepts that may be mushy, and hardens them. If you can express them, it shows you are learning and able to share with others.

4) Pray up: Pray, this is not a hobby, an academic experience, an intellectual exercise. It can be fun, academic, and intellectual but it is much more. It’s seeking, knowing, and experiencing the truth, meaning we are seeking, knowing, and experiencing the Lord. Pray for understanding, faith, godliness. Godliness because why it is possible someone can be technically accurate in the articulation of doctrine it is doing no good if it is not bearing the Fruit of godliness. 1 Timothy 6:3, there is a teaching a doctrine that accords with godliness. This is why we want to know theology. So, that we can know our God and in knowing Him we can be transformed.

Don’t just look at the water from the beach. God has created all that for you. So, go into the water. Slap on the mask and grab a snorkel and take a look around spend some time learning and enjoy it.

You can grow and accomplish in one week M - F. Day 1 Read Romans 3:10-18, 18 catches your eye. What questions does it raise? Days 2 & 3, Spend those days in your quiet time looking up; reading and organizing. Day 4 - Read an article, treatise, listen to a podcast or sermon on the subject. Day 5 Begin to summarize and articulate what you have observed, what you have learned, articulate in writing, try to boil it down to essentials.

Prayer should be happening throughout this whole process. Do this you will become a better theologian. It will be fun and helpful.

I think this week will be a foundation for learning about God. SOCPM is all about doctrine and theology. Over the next 4 weeks we are going to start these steps on ‘fear of God.’ Below is some scripture on doctrine and theology. I love you guys and by God’s grace will see you soon.

Job 11:4; Romans 16:17; Ephesians 4:14; 2 Timothy 2:15, 3:16-17, 4:2-4; Titus 1:2; 2 Peter 2:1-3; 1 John 4:1