Tag: Kairos

Categories
Uncategorized

The Tug

“I was in prison and you came to me.” ~ Matthew 25:36 ESV

“An inner tug,” is the best way I could describe my inclination toward the incarcerated. By worldly standards, I was always a “stay out of trouble” kind of guy, and my friends were of similar ilk. Still, there was this ongoing tug toward those behind bars—the marginalized, scorned, or forgotten—a call I resisted until one day in 2009 a friend invited me to serve on a Kairos Prison Ministry weekend. I said “yes” then and have been saying “yes” ever since. Over the years, I’ve heard many Kairos volunteers describe their calling the exact same way, an inner tug. Maybe you’ve felt it, too, but like me, been reluctant to heed the call. So, today let’s look beyond the tug toward the imprisoned and glimpse the other side of “yes.”

Kairos is a sacrificial ministry. For a Weekend, each volunteer is responsible for: 1) raising financial contributions; 2) securing 100+ dozen home baked cookies for prisoners and staff; 3) writing a letter to each of the 42 Weekend prisoner participants; 4) preparing for the Weekend through 30+ hours of formation meetings; and 5) gathering for a 3½ day Weekend inside the prison. It’s a lot. Yet the volunteers keep coming back, reupping for another Kairos Weekend. What could possibly be worth such effort?

The answer: hope for the hopeless behind bars—forgiveness of sins, eternal life in Christ, inner freedom, restored relationships, and pure joy. Kingdom fruit sprouting in the unlikeliest of soils. Don’t take my word for it; listen to these inmates from a recent Kairos Weekend.

“For twelve years I didn’t speak to my son. I wouldn’t allow him on my property. When I came to prison, he was texting me from day one but I wouldn’t call him back. Last night, I called my son and asked him to forgive me, and now we’re talking.”

“A father is supposed to teach his child. I had to come to prison to ‘get’ this, but my life is no longer just me—it’s my kids, my family and others. I now have peace and peace of mind and I can give peace to them.”

“I have been angry all my life. I was bullied throughout school and tried to kill myself multiple times. I don’t like people, but I learned this weekend it is possible to have a family and trust other people.”

“It was tough growing up. My dad made me feel I didn’t have any value. . . I grew up not trusting anyone. But the [Kairos team] saturated us in love—like you saturate chicken in spices. They made us feel good. Now I want to saturate others. It makes you want to make others feel that love.”

If you have felt the Spirit’s tug toward prison ministry, but not known how to pursue it, please visit Kairos Prison Ministries International at: https://kairosprisonministry.org/volunteer-opportunities/

“Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them . . .” ~ Hebrews: 13:3 ESV

Father, please grace me to hear your call and obey your tug to wherever and however you would have me serve you and others in your name today. In Christ I pray. Amen.

Categories
Uncategorized

Hark! The Fourth Verse Now We Sing!

From time to time, I mention Kairos Prison Ministry in this space, for it is hard not to speak of the awesome wonders God works in the lives of incarcerated people. If you’ve heard of Kairos, you are most likely familiar with the semi-annual, four-day Kairos Weekends in which we volunteers share with inmates the love and forgiveness that are found solely in Christ Jesus. Yet we also return to the prison through monthly reunions and weekly Prayer & Share. And for this month’s reunion, I and some others were asked to share an especially meaningful Christmas carol and why we find it so meaningful. So, do you mind if I practice on you this week?

I chose “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”1 It is the gospel put to poetry; the good news wrapped in rhyme. Were you to open your hymnal to this enduring favorite, you would probably find three verses. Then would it surprise you to learn Charles Wesley’s composition had ten? The first verse, the familiar one, proclaims a promise kept: a heavenly King who brings us the peace, the reconciliation of God the Creator and us, His created. The second stanza points us to Jesus’ human incarnation: “Offspring of a virgin’s womb” — the Godhead veiled in flesh, “pleased as man with man to dwell.” Flowing on through its third verse, this Christmas classic heralds the Messiah’s heavenly origin: the “Sun of Righteousness,”2 bringing His light and life to us, defeating death and raising us through new birth.

So let’s pick up where our hymnals leave off, for verse four — so powerfully sourced in Scripture — is the cry of the redeemed soul, a prayerful response to God’s faithfulness,. Sing it softly; let it melt into your soul.

Come, Desire of nations, come!3
Fix in us Thy humble home:4
Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring seed,5
Bruise in us the serpent’s head;6
Adam’s likeness now efface,7
Stamp Thine image in its place:8
Final Adam from above,9
Reinstate us in Thy love.10
Hark! The herald angels sing,11
“Glory to the new-born King.”12

Satan is defeated, and in Christ we are new creations13 being transformed into His image.14 Isn’t this what we want? When we behold God’s great promises fulfilled in the most unexpected of ways, don’t our hearts respond in joy, thanksgiving and trust? And in this trust, don’t our spirits cry, “More!”?

Yes, Lord, deliver us from evil, and transform us into unimaginable glory. Grace us with fruitful lives throughout our days here. We see what you’ve done for mankind; do also what you will in each of us. Guide us daily away from our old nature, and transform us into yours. Grow your church on Earth. In Christ we live; in Him we pray. Amen.

1 Charles Wesley, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” Hymnal.net, accessed: December 15, 2025.
2 Malachi 4:2
3 Haggai 2:7
4 John 14:23
5, 6 Genesis 3:15
7, 8 1 Corinthians 15:49
9, 10 Romans 5:19
11, 12 Luke 2:13-14
13 2 Corinthians 5:17
14 2 Corinthians 3:18

Categories
Uncategorized

Pardon the Interruption

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” — Yogi Berra

Nearly 125 inmates and outside volunteers recently gathered for a Kairos Prison Ministry monthly reunion. The purpose of this evening’s theme — “interruptions to the natural order of things” — was to wake us to the realization that disruptions to normalcy may be God’s invitation to encounter Him and discover His plans for us. The emcee for the evening pointed out some Biblical examples, Saul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, for instance — the Pharisee would become an apostle. There was Moses at the burning bush — the one raised in Pharaoh’s household would lead the Exodus from his land. We could point to Abraham, Joseph, Job, and many more whose life changed at various points of interruption. Most likely, we could look in the mirror and find one more.

Some discontinuity comes as welcome relief, such as when hopelessness encounters hope and heartache finds healing. For instance, one prison resident recalled, “I had always set walls around me, but I took them down on my Kairos Weekend in 2003, and I have had no walls since then.” Kairos was, for him, a positive disruption, a welcome life-changer. Some interruptions, however, are traumatic, such as difficult diagnoses, relationships in wreckage, or monetary meltdown.

So what do we do when normalcy is disrupted, whether seemingly for the good, or seemingly for the bad? Trust; we must choose to trust. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”1 Notice God’s command to trust, and His promise to act. For God’s faithfulness is not dictated by circumstance, rather in sovereignty He “works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.”2 So whether God causes an interruption or merely allows it, of this we can be sure: God will subject all things to Himself, for in all things, “God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”3 God is sovereign over all things and He will act. In God we trust.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never fail; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” — Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV

Father, You are sovereign over all things, and all things must be subjugated to Your will. Help us to remember this amid life’s unexpected interruptions and to place our trust in You. You are good. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 Proverbs 3: 5-6 ESV
2 Ephesians 1:11 NIV
3 Romans 8:28 NIV