Bright,cheery and warm!

Yesterday I got a call from Angola Prison and it seems that the Mississippi River is nearing a dangerous flood stage and at any moment they might have to evacuate the prisoners. Necessarily my trip to speak to the inmates at Angola next week has been postponed until a date as yet undetermined.

Whew! Once again Jesus has spared me a trip to Angola Prison. God is good all the time…

I’m kidding of course; actually I was very disappointed to hear the news. Even though I fear Angola Prison, I had completely prepared myself mentally to go there and try my utmost to offer hope to the inmates by spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. I was praying that many inmates might accept Christ as a result of my visit there, but alas it has now been postponed.

I received a call from a pastor friend who had invited me to speak at a correctional facility for juveniles the other day. I did so and many youngsters gave their lives to Jesus Christ that day. He wanted me to come to the baptism of the boys who had accepted Christ on Thursday of this week. Since they do not have a baptistery at the correctional facility, the boys will be baptized in a cattle trough. Unfortunately I will be in Tampa doing a television interview and cannot attend, but I could not help but think of them being baptized in a cattle trough and the correlation to something I just read.

One of my heroes, David Wilkerson, the minister who preached on the mean streets of New York City to the vicious gangs and drug addicts who lived there and wrote the book, “The Cross and the Switchblade” and later went on to establish Teen Challenge, perhaps the finest drug treatment organization to be found anywhere in the world, tragically died in a car crash this weekend.

I was reading about his life on the Internet and watched an incredible sermon he gave where he said that, “All true passion is born out of anguish” and “that all true passion for Christ comes out of a BAPTISM of anguish”.

Hmmm… Most of these boys have already experienced a “BAPTISIM of anguish” in their young lives and publically demonstrating their love for Christ by following Him in Baptism (in a cattle trough setup in a prison yard) is the first example of their new found “passion” for their Savior.

I’m excited for them and am hopeful that they will adopt Phil. 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” and follow Him forever with a burning passion unequalled in fervor and many others will come to know the love of Christ through their testimony in the years to come.

Many of you are not incarcerated in a dangerous correctional facility living in deplorable conditions, but nonetheless are currently experiencing anguish in your lives. Consider David Wilkerson’s words, “All true passion is born out of anguish and that all true passion for Christ comes out of a baptism of anguish”.

Mother Teresa was criticized by some groups for withholding pain medication from dying patients in her hospices and clinics. She was resolute in her belief that there was no greater honor in this world than to have the opportunity to suffer as Christ suffered. She believed that suffering draws us closer to God and Him to us. I’m not advocating withholding pain medication from anyone, but I do share in the belief that suffering and anguish draw us closer to God and when we draw close to Him, He in turn draws closer to us.

The tragedy and anguish that I endured in my life certainly had a profound effect on the development of both my compassion for others and my passion for Christ.

In other words, this really works!

If you are currently enduring trials and tribulation in your life realize that the Lord ordains both good times and bad times in our lives. This tells me that their purpose is good and noble. In fact if David Wilkerson is right, and all true passion for Christ is born out of a “baptism of anguish”, then it is an ideal opportunity for you to realize that good and noble purpose in your lives.

We know that when it rains and things are dark, dismal, and cold, sooner or later the sun always reappears and things become bright, cheery, and warm again. You are not doomed to endure hard times forever and one day like me you will look back on those days and be glad that you endured them. Keep your chins up and know that God is with you every moment of every day and has promised never to abandon you.

Matt. 28:20
…And surely I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.”