September 2024

Ever precious greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! It is my great honor and privilege to share my heart with you once again. As I reflect this morning, I am reminded that this past July 18th was my three-year anniversary of being physically free outside of prison walls! I am delighted, grateful, amazed, and always humbled at the work the Lord does through our ministry! With my head ever bowed, my heart bursts with appreciation and desire for the glory of God! Since the day He saved me, my heart has been aflame to share His Word! By the grace of God, Debbie and I together have had the high honor and privilege of sharing our testimony and the Word of God from Jerusalem to El Salvador to Costa Rica and in too many other states to even count – not to mention all over locally!

It is written, “I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt [prison]: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.” (Psalm 81:10)

I keep a huge spoon on the outside of my briefcase. It is a lure. People constantly ask me why I have that spoon. I use the above verse in response and quickly springboard, launching out with the gospel! The Lord, Who is the Way, always makes a way for Debbie and me. He opens doors we knew not of. Everywhere we go, we joyfully promote the encouraging fruitfulness of prison ministry. I love to tout that I myself am its very fruit! We all are, really (John 8:34).

Two Sundays ago, we were invited to speak at a church in Toms River. When we arrived, as is our habit, we began to mingle with people to get a feel for the heart of the congregation. In the process, I spoke with the worship leader and soon discovered that he too, like myself, had been saved in a prison cell! What? Later, when I stood before the congregation ready to break the Word of Life, the Lord reminded me of how He does things. Truly, God has chosen the despised things of this world to bring to naught the things that are…(1 Cor. 1:27-28). So I said to the congregation, “I want to share this nugget with you that the Lord just gave me! It is written, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord.“ (Isaiah 55:8-9) This morning this congregation was led in worship by a man the Lord saw ft to save in a prison cell. Furthermore, the Lord is about to preach this morning’s sermon through me – another man saved in a prison cell!”

In the jail, I teach the men what I call the “Cowboy Doctrine.” I share with them how cowboys, on horses themselves, chase down wild horses. They chase them in the wild until they are exhausted and can run no more. Then, they lasso them and bring them back to a corral. In the confines of the corral, the wild horse goes through the process of breaking. In the corral, the horse is taught to depend upon the cowboy for its food, its water, and purpose. In the corral, a bond is developed between cowboy and horse; an ever increasing trust as it were. The end game is to get the saddle on the submissive horse to serve the cowboy’s good purpose. Ultimately, horses are taught that they do not live on grass alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the cowboy.

It is in this exact fashion that the Lord Himself works, through prisons, in the hearts of the men and women. He calls them to Himself through the gospel, even while they are running wildly on the streets in the fullness of sin. He allows their very sin to then bring them into the corral of prison. As the very Hound of Heaven, the Holy Spirit seeks them until they are exhausted by their own sin.

Then, He lovingly lassos them using the law of the State. He uses the authorities (God’s ministers for their good), to bring them into His corral – the county jail (Romans 13:4). In the confines of the jail, even a cell, the wild ones are led by many trials and struggles through the process of breaking. They are taught, the hard way, to depend upon the Lord for their food, their water, and purpose. Next, they meet Debbie and Philip! God’s ministers for their good! A bond soon develops, an ever increasing trust as it were, as the heavenly Cowboy does His work. The goal of the Lord is to get the saddle on the new-hearted wild ones. Trust me, Debbie and I have both been bucked off many times – but we faint not! Finally, having broken the wild ones, they become willingly submissive and joyfully serve the Lord’s good purpose. Therein is our joy! Of course, the final lesson learned: man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord (Deuteronomy 8:3).

The Lord has sent Debbie and me into the prisons to bring this principle to bear upon the hearts of those whom He has so lassoed. We apply Truth and perspective to their situations. Truth takes time to settle. We learn to let patience have her perfect work. In the long run, the Word of God will dwell in them richly. Truth transforms. It is objective, standing on its own legs. It cannot be added to, nor can it be taken from. We simply dispense it. Truth is good for everybody, everywhere, for all of time and eternity, in every situation. Truth is timeless; it changes not. Jesus is the Living Truth made flesh. The Word of God is the Truth of God; it alone is reality. God has coined Himself the God of Truth (Isaiah 65). The Bible is the written Truth of God. Jesus said, “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is Truth.” (John 17:17) Debbie and I (even as our Lord) find no greater joy than to hear that the children He has given us in the prisons are walking in the Truth!

Debbie comes back from the prison some days with her face aglow with the joy of the Lord. Like Moses coming of the mount, she has seen the majesty of His Word changing hearts. She has seen the majesty of His Spirit transforming women. Yes, she has seen the majesty of her Father’s gentle, tender, loving heart as He draws the broken unto Himself through her. The triunity of God is always at work in the Corral of the Lord.

About two weeks ago, I went into a jail where I go three or four times a week. The powers that be pulled me over to the side. At first, I was nervous. Then, I realized that the Lord was giving me more grace. I was told that they “liked what I was doing” there. I was told that out of all the volunteers that go into the jail, and there are many, that I alone was going to be given a special badge to be able to buzz myself in and out of the front door of the jail any time I wanted! I was given the very keys to the jail! Hallelujah! By the grace of God alone, I now have a “juice card” (as they say in the joint) that none thought possible! With my rap sheet, nobody thought I’d even get into a prison let alone be given the key to the front door!!! But God. . .

You too have the front door key in Jesus Christ – He’s the ultimate juice card! It is written, “…for without Me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5) He holds the keys of death and hell (Rev. 1:18) Beloved, the very doors of Heaven itself (and everywhere else for that matter) swing wide open at the sound of His name (John 10:9)! With the Lord all things are possible! I can now buzz myself into the front door as I see ft! I can go from tier to tier, by the Spirit, without an escort! I can go right onto the wing where the men eat, live, and sleep! By the grace of God, I have been given full access to His Corral, and – I got. . .

“A HEAVENLY JUICE CARD TO BOOT!”

JOYFULLY IN JESUS,
LOVE, PHILIP