We encounter many Muslim Brothers in the jails and prisons. Some use their faith as a protective group, or even a gang, but others are devout in their pursuit of Islam.
Inside the jail system we cross paths with many Muslim Brothers. For some, it is a social engagement or a method to seek protection in something akin to a gang. However, there are faithful Muslims incarcerated, just as there are faithful followers of Jesus who have made terrible mistakes and ended up incarcerated as a consequence of their sin.
This Saturday, we had a Bible Study in the Baltimore County Detention Center. With 15 minutes remaining, an officer brought a young man and asked if ‘church services’ were over. I told him No, but that this young man was not on my list. Inside the jails, the class lists are very important because the staff checks ‘keep-separates’ in advance to ensure guys with past beefs are not in the same room. The young man was meant to attend the Islamic Studies meeting in another section of the jail, but the officer left him with us anyway and the young man was just thankful to be off his miserable tier and to interact with us and other inmates.
This presented a unique opportunity to minister to a non-believer. I could have started out with our great differences and that Jesus was not just a prophet, but God incarnate. Instead, I set out to earn the right to share the Truth of Jesus Christ. I asked him many questions about his faith and found that he studied and prayed fervently. We shared the common bond of Abraham but after 20 minutes of discussion we discussed Jesus as, in our faith, the ONE and ONLY way to eternity.
These relationships develop slowly. He signed up to return next week. I provided a Life Recovery Bible (he struggles with addiction) and a great Billy Graham book, “Messenger of Hope.” I’m unsure how this will proceed but I believe we planted a seed that God can nurture. His name is Kevin M. Please keep him in your prayers; that God will touch his heart.
Ezekiel 3:18, “When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.”
Ezekiel 33:11, “The Lord God says, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways!”
Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
We encounter many Muslim Brothers in the jails and prisons. Some use their faith as a protective group, or even a gang, but others are devout in their pursuit of Islam.
Inside the jail system we cross paths with many Muslim Brothers. For some, it is a social engagement or a method to seek protection in something akin to a gang. However, there are faithful Muslims incarcerated, just as there are faithful followers of Jesus who have made terrible mistakes and ended up incarcerated as a consequence of their sin.
This Saturday, we had a Bible Study in the Baltimore County Detention Center. With 15 minutes remaining, an officer brought a young man and asked if ‘church services’ were over. I told him No, but that this young man was not on my list. Inside the jails, the class lists are very important because the staff checks ‘keep-separates’ in advance to ensure guys with past beefs are not in the same room. The young man was meant to attend the Islamic Studies meeting in another section of the jail, but the officer left him with us anyway and the young man was just thankful to be off his miserable tier and to interact with us and other inmates.
This presented a unique opportunity to minister to a non-believer. I could have started out with our great differences and that Jesus was not just a prophet, but God incarnate. Instead, I set out to earn the right to share the Truth of Jesus Christ. I asked him many questions about his faith and found that he studied and prayed fervently. We shared the common bond of Abraham but after 20 minutes of discussion we discussed Jesus as, in our faith, the ONE and ONLY way to eternity.
These relationships develop slowly. He signed up to return next week. I provided a Life Recovery Bible (he struggles with addiction) and a great Billy Graham book, “Messenger of Hope.” I’m unsure how this will proceed but I believe we planted a seed that God can nurture. His name is Kevin M. Please keep him in your prayers; that God will touch his heart.
Ezekiel 3:18, “When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.”
Ezekiel 33:11, “The Lord God says, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways!”
Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Inside the jail system we cross paths with many Muslim Brothers. For some, it is a social engagement or a method to seek protection in something akin to a gang. However, there are faithful Muslims incarcerated, just as there are faithful followers of Jesus who have made terrible mistakes and ended up incarcerated as a consequence of their sin.
This Saturday, we had a Bible Study in the Baltimore County Detention Center. With 15 minutes remaining, an officer brought a young man and asked if ‘church services’ were over. I told him No, but that this young man was not on my list. Inside the jails, the class lists are very important because the staff checks ‘keep-separates’ in advance to ensure guys with past beefs are not in the same room. The young man was meant to attend the Islamic Studies meeting in another section of the jail, but the officer left him with us anyway and the young man was just thankful to be off his miserable tier and to interact with us and other inmates.
This presented a unique opportunity to minister to a non-believer. I could have started out with our great differences and that Jesus was not just a prophet, but God incarnate. Instead, I set out to earn the right to share the Truth of Jesus Christ. I asked him many questions about his faith and found that he studied and prayed fervently. We shared the common bond of Abraham but after 20 minutes of discussion we discussed Jesus as, in our faith, the ONE and ONLY way to eternity.
These relationships develop slowly. He signed up to return next week. I provided a Life Recovery Bible (he struggles with addiction) and a great Billy Graham book, “Messenger of Hope.” I’m unsure how this will proceed but I believe we planted a seed that God can nurture. His name is Kevin M. Please keep him in your prayers; that God will touch his heart.
Ezekiel 3:18, “When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.”
Ezekiel 33:11, “The Lord God says, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways!”
Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”