My Prayer For The Inmate

I am one of the Chaplains in the San Diego County Jail system. Sometimes I will visit an inmate in an area of the jail called the sallyport. When I pray for him the prayer usually goes like this: "Almighty God, we come before you today recognizing that we owe our lives to You. We thank You for your love and for your kindness toward us. We know that we can do nothing without You. You are omnipotent, omniscient, eternal and omnipresent. With You; absolutely nothing is impossible. Your name is Jesus. It is the name above every name. This young man has a need. You know what he has done, You know what he has not done. You know all about him. You know all about me. You know all about everybody. Nothing is hidden from You. Bless him, Lord. Help him in all areas of his life. Bless his loved ones. Bless his mind, heart, soul, spirit and body. Protect him from harm. Deliver him from accidents, injuries, violence and temptation. Deliver him from bad habits and vices. Deliver him from drug and/or alcohol addiction. Deliver him from habits that are injurious to himself and/or others. Anoint any decision that will be made in a court of law; or by any authority, that will affect his destiny. Bless his life. Bless his future. The future is bright.......on one condition. That You are included in it. Give him that joy, peace and satisfaction that only You can give. Give him a hunger for the things of God. Help him to memorize scripture, such as Philippians 4:13. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Let him surrender his life to You and serve You all the days of his life. Nothing is more important than that. Nothing. We thank You. We give You all the honor and praise forever. In Jesus' name, Amen."

The Discreditor

Maybe he can't help himself. I don't really know. Every discussion, every conversation is a battleground. He must win. He must discredit your point of view. He is the discreditor. He may not even be aware of it. He just does it. Conversation is hard core competition and it appears his life depends on winning the competition. He must out do you because he worries that you are gaining on him. He digs deep into his arsenal of sophistic weaponry. He raises his voice. You are not
entitled to an opinion. Your opinion is his call to battle. He is the discreditor.

Ideas

It all starts with an idea. Ideas can be very dangerous......until they succeed when put into action. Don't be afraid to throw that idea out there. Don't sit around and stare in silence because you are afraid your idea may not be well received. Take the chance. Every new idea is obscure at first. It is or it wouldn't be a new idea. I do not recall the person who first said: "Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come." The beauty of ideas is that ideas tend to reproduce new and better ideas. There are good ideas and there are bad ideas. It may be that an idea is not responsible for the people who believe in it, nevertheless, people are responsible for the ideas that they may embrace. I have two questions regarding the aforementioned: What inspired the idea? Who stands to gain from the idea?

I Am A Summertime Guy

I love the Summer. I always have. I don't care if it is hot. Summer time is harvest time, and I'm not just talking about crops. I mean it is time to harvest good times. Meeting people. Going to the beach, the park, the mall. I know I am not a kid anymore. But something inside me tells me that I will always be young. I am forever young. I am a summertime guy because I am a people person. I plan to talk to people this summer. I plan to talk to many. I plan to talk to people who use drugs. I plan to talk to drunks. I plan to talk to people who do not have joy. I plan to talk to people who do not have peace. I plan to talk to people who are sad, angry and hopeless. I can introduce hope. I have a plan. I will execute my plan. Nothing will stop me. I am a summertime guy.

" Man; Don't Go Back To Jail! "

Recently, I was talking to him. He was locked up. He told me he hated jail. "I know the devil made me do it." He said. "Maybe he did, I don't even doubt it, however, the devil didn't get locked up; you did. Don't you have some choices? Don't you have some options? Are you not free to think and act in a way that will not get you arrested? Is it that difficult to stay out of this place? Can you stay out of this place? You are a young man. You are not in a hospital with a broken back. You are not blind. You are not handicapped. You do not need assistance to go to the bathroom. you can walk, talk and think. Be thankful. You are leaving soon. Don't ever come back. Cages are for birds. You are not a bird. Stay out of this place. Never come back. Let me ask you one more thing young man. Are you stupid?" "No Sir, I am not." "Good. That is really good news. As the saying goes: 'stupid is as stupid does.' That sounds pretty accurate to me. Don't come back here again."

Can Someone like JA Gardner Be Rehabilitated?

Can someone like John Albert Gardner III be rehabilitated? He admitted that he could not control himself. Some child molesters and rapists have committed their repeat crimes HOURS after being released from prison. Yes, the drive, fixation, fantasy, lust, pursuasion of ownership, opportunism and a sexual arousal akin to that of an amoral animal will not allow a man like Gardner to prevent himself from doing what he did. A man with Gardner's problem cannot be rehabilitated. At least not in a conventional sense. Nevertheless, I believe in miracles. But I am positive that miracles will not be accomplished through secular means; secular therapists using secular treatments. Counselors and assorted behavioral diagnosticians who depend solely on pschological treatments and procedures will not succeed with what is necessary to keep a person like Gardner from doing what he did. The counselors, psychologists and therapists have their functions, but miracles are not something that they perform. Gardner served five years in prison for molesting a 13 year old girl. He attempted to attack a woman. She fought him off. He stalked a girl. He was stopped by the Police and released. He raped and murdered two girls; ages 14 and 17. It is thought, although not proven, that he was involved in other crimes of a similar nature, in San Diego County and at least one other county. Yes, Mr. Gardner needs a miracle. Miracles are performed by God. Only by God. Only a miracle can change Gardner.

Would You Stop For That Pedestrian?

I hope none of us ever find ourselves in this situation. Apparently there are some people who think they can cross the street anywhere they want to. Apparently there are some people who think crossing the street at an intersection where they are supposed to cross the street is too inconvenient for them. I might remind them that there are motorists who will not stop for them. What if you are driving on a highway or a busy street, and the flow of traffic is rapid? What if the car behind you is speeding at about 60 miles per hour and several pedestrians decide they want to cross the street in front of you? You can't stop or slow down because you will be rear-ended. You can't change lanes because there is too much traffic. Would you risk your safety and possibly your life to avoid injuring or possibly killing persons who are breaking the law? Would you stop for that pedestrian?