Pray for us as we prepare for the Lions and Pontiac

 Yesterday we had a team practice and started the on-the-field preparation for the 2017 Season Opener at Pontiac Correctional Center.  We spent time working on infield practice, hitting cut-off men, and hitting some batting practice home runs.  The physical preparation is always good, but the real preparation for the season will have to be spent on our knees in prayer as we prepare to share the Gospel in a very unique mission field this summer.

We will spend the first part of the day in battle on the field at Pontiac.  As the coach of our team, I love to win.  Whether it is Monopoly, Mario Kart, or Fantasy Football, I REALLY want to win!   Before you label me as an over-competitive jerk, I’ll share that all of my teammates and all of the inmate teams that I have run across are wired the same way!  This has led to some of the most competitive games on a baseball diamond that I have ever been part of in my life.  Our guys will dive for balls and slide into bases thinking about the play at hand before thinking about what their insurance deductible will be on a twisted knee or broken rib!  The inmates always leave it all on the field during each pitch wanting to prove that they can beat this outside team of “church boys.”  Ultimately winning these games does not matter as neither our record nor boxscores show up on the crawl of the bottom of the screen on ESPN.  It does matter that we are competitive because this engages the inmates and helps bridge the softball game to our ministry time.  If we stink (and we have on occasion), the inmates become disinterested in our visit and won’t engage as well during our ministry time.  The second part of the day is spent sharing the Gospel with the men there.  We will have one Saint sharing the Gospel with our sound system in the middle of the softball diamond while the rest of the team is handing out Gospels of John and engaging in one on one conversations.  This is the softball and ministry gameplan we are hoping to follow when we travel to Pontiac in three weeks.  Before we face Pontiac, however, we have to be ready to face the Lions.

In 1 Peter 5, Peter tells his audience to watch out for the devil who is like a roaring lion, just waiting to devour someone.  Satan hates that we share the Gospel in prison and will look for any opportunity to tempt our team and the inmates with what the world has to offer.  For us, this may look like choosing to spend time playing video games or hunting when we should be praying or sharing God’s Word with our family.  It may look like making unwise decisions with our internet and television viewing before thinking about what pleases God instead.  For the men at the prison it will be tempting to not follow Jesus to avoid losing friends and facing persecution from other religious groups in the prison.  It might look like an inmate claiming to be a Christian but ultimately trusting in the prison “religion” of being hard and maintaining respect instead of dying to themselves and surrendering to Jesus.  Satan is willing to use temptation and complacency to prevent us and the inmates from following Jesus.  In Matthew 13:44, Jesus compares His Kingdom to a great treasure that a man found in a field.  The man went and happily sold everything to obtain that field.  Please pray that we have the same attitude when following Him and pray that the inmates will see Him as that valuable and will follow Him, too!

Other Updates:

• We are three weeks away from our Pontiac visit.  Robert Cook and I will be sharing the Gospel.

• Thank you to all who have supported me this year!  My personal season and Crusade financial goal is almost at 100%.                                                                            Our team is currently at 67% of our support goal of $14,000.  This money covers items such as: literature we hand out to the inmates, softball equipment, and
  maintenance on our bus.   Please email me or click here if you are interested in giving online towards our team goal.

• Softball season is not only getting ready to start here but in other regions of the country as well.  Please visit www.saintsprisonminstry.org or www.facebook.com/saintsprison to stay up-to-date with where the ministry will be traveling this summer!

Inside the Mind of Gibby- Remove the Sharp Objects from the Room!

One of my least favorite things in life is when a good idea does not turn out as planned. As I sat looking at my notes for the Saints team Bible study that I was attempting to lead that evening, I realized that the discussion amongst my Saints teammates had nothing to do with what I originally planned to talk about! 

One of the best aspects of going on a Saints Crusade is the daily team devotions. After we visit a prison we will usually eat dinner and return to the hotel. We will typically meet in the breakfast area of the hotel and have a Bible study before we get some rest. These are great times to learn and study God’s Word as a team. 

The topic for this particular evening was the beatitudes in Matthew 5. I had heard an excellent sermon from one of my favorite authors, Kyle Idleman, and decided that I would use some of his material for the devotions on this particular Saints Crusade. I did my research and prepared not only the devotions but handouts so that each of my teammates could follow along and perhaps appreciate my hard work even more! 

The thought process and terminology that flowed so well from Kyle Idleman’s sermon fell flat as I presented it. I would bring up what I thought was a life changing discussion question only to hear the sound of crickets amongst the awkward silence. As we moved along in the devotion, I had a clear definition of Matthew 5:3 on my nice professional looking handout, but it seemed like most in the room had a different way of interpreting “Blessed are the poor in spirit”. The rest of the room was fighting sleep after a long day of softball and prison ministry and had trouble staying engaged. We soldiered through the devotions during that week but each topic I had brought up had taken a turn into another topic, which turned into another topic, none of which I knew how to tie back together into a beatitudes devotion! 

By the fourth night I was planning to lop off a few points so we could get done in around twenty minutes and enjoy the Sunday Night Football game together. An hour later, the room was still hung up on Matthew 5:10 and what being “persecuted for righteousness’ sake” really meant. At this point my devotion was now officially hijacked and I began trying to figure out if I could slip out of the room and make it to and from the Taco Bell down the street without anyone noticing! 

This particular time that I led devotions was a humbling experience but I am thankful for all of the Godly wisdom that was in that room those four nights. Depending on the text and the topic, crusade devotion conversations will on occasion spill over into parenting and marriage application. Many topics lead to discussions on how we can serve in our local churches better. At other times the conversation will turn into some lively discussions on politics or some minor denominational differences. While these conversations are hard to get back on track and may take us more into the evening than we plan, each devotion time on a Crusade is edifying. I really enjoy spending time with guys from around the country and hearing their insight on God’s Word. I am especially thankful when I get to lead a Crusade devotion, even if they don’t turn out the way I plan! 

“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17