| "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners...." - Luke 4:18 |
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Why Prison Ministry? He was a self-confessed murderer. Daily he would stalk his victims until the time was just right and when they least expected it, he would strike. Some were snatched off the street, others were taken from their warm beds. Age and gender didn’t matter to him, women and children were not protected. The fortunate ones were only beaten, others weren’t so lucky. Why couldn’t the government do something? After all, he confessed to all his crimes. Each time they arrested him, he managed to get off on technicalities, a couple of times he walked right out of the courtroom. Finally, they removed this lunatic from society. Eventually, they convicted him and he received the death penalty, but it took years. Who was this thug that terrorized the innocent? Jack the Ripper, the Secret Police of Hitler or Stalin, no his name was Paul and he lived about 2000 years ago. To read about the Apostle Paul’s early days of victimizing Christians, look in the Holy Bible in the Book of Acts (Acts 22:4). Today we have an attitude of “Put them in jail and throw away the key!” or “What about the victims?” or "Give them the death penalty!" Nothing can justify a crime, but even people who are incarcerated deserve to know God’s love. The next time you feel this way, please remember the “Prison Ministry” of the Apostle Paul. How many “Paul’s” are locked up today, just needing to be introduced to Jesus? By the way, if you want to read about another murderer in the Bible, look up Moses. Acts 16:16-40 and Acts 21:17 - 28:31
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