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CONNIE: If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? It’s a question worth considering. Join us today as we continue our journey with the Apostle Paul—to prison!

Giving God’s trumpet a Certain Sound for 75 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy.

CONNIE: Hello, I’m Connie Jeffery,

LONNIE: and I’m Lonnie Melashenko. Connie, that question about whether there would be enough evidence to convict me of being a Christian is a good one to consider every once in a while.

CONNIE: It is—because in the world we live in today, it seems like most of what we do on a day-to-day basis is pretty secular—not a lot of religion involved.

LONNIE: But I think the intent of the question is—how do you go about conducting your daily affairs. Do you shop for groceries in a way worthy of the name Christian? Do you drive in traffic in a way that honors your God? Do you conduct your business on the higher ethical levels represented by Jesus?

CONNIE: And that’s a question worthy of some thought. I guess I’d have to admit it’s pretty easy to live in a Christian way when things are going OK in the world. But when life becomes truly difficult—well, maybe I have a tendency to be a bit more “difficult” myself.

LONNIE: Oh, I don’t know about that, Connie—you always seem pretty upbeat to me. But I guess all of us would have admitted to missing the mark from time to time when life throws us a curve.

CONNIE: And that’s the amazing thing about the part of Paul’s life we’re looking at today—the times when he was in prison. It’s amazing isn’t it, what an upbeat, positive, positively Christ-centered focus he kept under some very difficult circumstances.

LONNIE: It certainly is. And as many of our listeners know, we work quite closely with an organization that minister to men and women who are in prison. The Someone Cares prison ministry is operated by Don and Yvonne McClure, and provides a marvelous service by helping individuals “on the outside” minister to prisoners “on the inside.” I spoke with Don recently about what a difference Jesus makes in prisoners’ lives.
CONNIE: And it just so happens we recorded that conversation! Let’s listen in.

LONNIE: Hello Don! Welcome to the Voice of Prophecy.

DON: Thanks Lonnie for having me. It’s a joy because our connection with the Voice of Prophecy makes us an international prison ministry.

LONNIE: And you are one of our favorite guests and our listeners really enjoy the stories that they hear about you and Yvonne as you are out there behind closed prison walls. Now, we are talking about Paul, a prisoner for the Lord. You know, Don, when you talk about names like Charles Manson or even more modern, Scott Peterson, it evokes all sorts of different reactions from people. But when you speak about Isaiah and Jeremiah, Joseph, Paul and even the Lord Himself, suddenly there’s a different spin. And as you get behind closed doors there you find individuals whose lives have been transformed by the gospel. What happens to these prisoners? How do they express themselves in their new found faith, as prisoners of the Lord now, not just of the state?

DON: There’s so many stories that I could tell, so I’ll tell as many as I can in a short period of time. Starting with a man I met about 22 years ago, who has since been executed, Don had been a biker, an ex-gang member, a terrible person in prison. He ran prison gangs, he ran extortion, he ran everything, and then he ran into God. For a reason nobody even knows, Don doesn’t even remember; I was with him when he was executed, he wrote me a letter and I said, this guy, I just can’t match him with anyone from our letter writing ministry. So, I said, I’m going to write this guy myself. He was tough and the first couple of letters were terrible, but slowly but surely Jesus moved in. On death row in Oklahoma, he accepted Christ, over the phone like you and I are talking. He got down on his knees the best that he could and I did too, and he accepted Christ. Then he started studying God’s word, and he became a mentor like Paul. Paul actually got himself thrown into prison to evangelize to the prisoners. Don spent 14 years on death row leading men to Christ. Almost 50 death row inmates wrote letters to the governor trying to stop Don’s execution, to no avail. But I have never met a man so full of God and so dedicated, and his last words to me were, “God’s got a job for me somewhere else, and I’ll see you in heaven. That’s neat, Lonnie!

LONNIE: He touched the hearts of so many.

DON: That’s the important thing. Don died for a crime that he did commit. But the thing that he left behind in the hearts of men and women is his witness, and that is what being a Christian is all about.

LONNIE: The Bible says, “His works do follow him”.

DON: Amen!

LONNIE: Well now, let’s talk about another person here in California
A few years ago at least, the Tate, La Bianca murders were just absolutely horrific, and Charles Manson is a name that lives in infamy, but there’s another gentleman that has turned totally around, and that is Tex Watson.

DON: Tex Watson got religion and it wasn’t jailhouse religion. It was real bona fide religion. He got his doctorate in Theology; he is just about the Chaplin of the California men’s colony, unless they’ve moved him. California is kind of shuffling around inmates. But here is a man who after his conversion; California had the death penalty and he was sentenced to death, then that got overturned when the state got rid of the death penalty. Then they have since brought it back, and through Tex’s conversion experience he confessed to one of the murders, which if the family of the victim had wanted to, could have landed him back on death row, but it didn’t and the Lord took control. Here is a man that 7 days a week 3 times a day leads men to Christ.

LONNIE: Wow! Talk about one more illustration of someone who is making a difference.

DON: This time it’s a woman and her name is Jan and she’s in prison in Michigan. Janice is serving a double-life sentence for killing her pimp and somebody else, and she was destitute. She attempted suicide upon her arrival in prison, but a person dedicated to the Lord began to write her and she caught fire, and here’s a gal who will spend the rest of her life in prison. In prison we say, “To be free in Jesus, is to be free indeed”.

LONNIE: Amen! Don McClure, who himself behind prison bars has now come out just to go back in and minister to the prisoners who so badly need God.

CONNIE: It’s always great to talk with Don, isn’t it?

LONNIE: That man has a story-a-minute, and he can tell them all day long, because he’s right there on his front lines, dealing with people who are in great need. And I want to share with listeners: If you’d like to get involved in ministering to those who are behind bars, the Someone Cares ministry can help e can set you up to be an anonymous pen pal with a prisoner. CONNIE If you’d like to make this a part of your personal outreach, call Don and Yvonne McClure at Someone Cares. Their number is (260) 492-7774. They’ll be delighted to help you get started ministering to someone behind bars.

CONNIE: Or you can visit their web page at someoncares.org. I’d really encourage you to contact them today, if you feel called to minister to those who are in prison.

“If Any Little Word of Mine”, Connie Vandeman Jeffery, from It’s Beginning to Rain.

LONNIE: Amen! A good motto—in a song sung by none other than Connie Vandeman Jeffery.

CONNIE: It’s so true, isn’t it—that when you take time to do something or say something to encourage another person, it has a positive impact on your life, on their life, and on everyone else around.

LONNIE: That’s what ministries like “Someone Cares” are all about, and we deeply appreciate their work, and we encourage our listeners to get involved too.

CONNIE: As we continue our journey with the apostle Paul, we’re looking at one of the harder times in his life, when he had to cling to his faith in Jesus against all odds, and that’s why we’d like to offer you a copy of the book Faith Against the Odds as a little bonus for being with us today.

LONNIE: That’s right, this book by my friend Pastor Mark Finley shares the experiences of people like Paul who stood up for their faith in difficult circumstances, and we’d like to send you a copy.

CONNIE: Just give us a call at 1-800-872-0055, and ask for Faith Against the Odds. I know you’ll enjoy the great stories in this little book. And we’ll give our mailing address later in the program in case you prefer to write. But right now, let’s listen to Lonnie’s message for today, “How to Be a Prisoner for God.”

How to Be a Prisoner for God

The door slams behind you with a resounding clank! You are in. You have no key to let yourself out. And your mind is racing—wondering, what’s next?

For many of us, it’s a worst nightmare—the thought of being thrown into prison, justly or unjustly, but certainly against our will. It’s a disturbing thought, to say the least.

But what about for the apostle Paul? Was he terrified of prison? Or did he see it as an opportunity for fulfilling the mission God had given him on this earth?

It’s fascinating to review the book of Acts, looking particularly at the times when Paul ended up in jail for Jesus.

Compare and contrast, for instance, his experience in Philippi, with what happened to him a few years later in Jerusalem.

In Acts 16, we read about his experience in Philippi. When the riot occurred after Paul cast a demon out of a girl, Paul and Silas were dragged before the magistrates and beaten with rods (incidentally, the Roman officials who were responsible for beating them with rods were called lictors, which may be why your parents used to threaten you with a good “licking” when you were behaving.)

After their painful “licking,” the two Christian missionaries were unceremoniously dumped in a prison cell, and for good measure, fastened in the stocks. We’ll talk in a moment about what they did next, but first a question:

Why did all this happen? Why did Paul allow it to happen? On later occasions when he was threatened with beating, he called a quick halt to the proceedings by announcing his Roman citizenship.

But it’s almost as though he saw a higher purpose in this particular incarceration, and he didn’t do anything to prevent it. No explanation is given in Acts. But what happened next gives us a hint.

While in prison, Paul and Silas occupied themselves with singing hymns of praise to God!

That’s got to be one of the most amazing stories in the entire Bible! We spoke earlier about how difficult it is to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of Christ when we meet h even minor irritations in life.

I’m not sure I’d feel like singing God’s praises if I’d just had my back ripped to shreds by professional punishers. But Paul and Silas did, and when an earthquake occurred later and the jailer was about to himself because he feared his captives had fled, Paul was ready to give his testimony about salvation through Jesus, and the jailer and his whole family became some of the first converts on the European splendor.

Talk about “How to Be a Prisoner for God,” this story has got to be Exhibit A. Paul was more interested in saving souls than in getting himself out of prison.

In fact, later the same morning, when the magistrates ordered him released, Paul didn’t jump up and run away as far and as fast as he could. In fact, he refused to leave until the magistrates themselves came and sent him off. I don’t know about you, but I have a feeling Paul had a reason for that, too. Can’t you just picture him speaking to the highest Roman authorities in the city about their own personal salvation and inviting them to get to know Jesus? I can.

After that experience, Paul was never afraid of prison. You couldn’t get him to deviate from his heaven-ordained mission by threatening him with jail time.

In last week’s program we talked about Paul’s journey to Jerusalem. Remember what happened when Agabus the prophet predicted that Paul would be bound and thrown in prison? Did it stop Paul? No. All he had to say about that was, “‘I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus’ ” (Acts 21:13, NKJV).

As expected, the prophet’s prediction proved true. Some of Paul’s enemies stirred up a riot in Jerusalem, and the apostle had to be rescued from the mob by Roman soldiers, who proceeded to bind him in preparation for taking him to jail.

What did Paul do in this instance? Start pleading for mercy? Claim his citizenship as a way to be set free?

No.

What he had in mind was an opportunity to continue trying to persuade his Jewish brothers and sisters to accept Jesus as their Savior. So he asked permission of the commander of the soldiers to speak to the crowd that just a moment earlier had been trying to kill him. Then, using the protection of the Roman soldiers, he began to give his personal testimony of how Jesus had transformed his life!

The crowd grew still and quiet as he spoke to them in their native Hebrew—Paul was a well-educated man, and his listeners naturally granted him respect when they heard his language. He told them some of his background and how he had been zealous for the same things they were concerned about in regard to the Jewish laws. But when he testified to his personal encounter with Jesus—that was something quite different. For Paul had seen a vision of the risen Christ, and Jesus had instructed him, “‘“Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me. . . . Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles” ’ ” (Acts 22:18, 21, NIV).

When he got that far in his testimony, the crowd erupted in anger again—they would hear none of it. They believed that salvation belonged only to the Jews.

But Paul had gone beyond that point in his spiritual journey with God. He had been born into a home that held the Jewish privilege of salvation close, thinking that no one but Jews was worthy of God’s love. Teaching that if a person wanted into God’s family he or she must first become a Jew.

But Paul’s understanding of salvation had been opened up and expanded—first on the Damascus road through his encounter with Jesus, then through years of preaching the gospel among Gentiles and Jews.

Now all that mattered to him was getting the message of salvation out there—to every kindred tongue and people—so that Jesus’ love might be proclaimed everywhere and the way prepared for the Savior’s soon return. And so he took advantage of his imprisonment by the Romans to proclaim the gospel with even more force in Jerusalem.

But the crowd would hear none of it, and the vehemence with which they protested made the Roman commander curious as to why they were so upset with Paul. The way to find out something from a prisoner in those days was to beat it out of him, so the commander had Paul bound with cords in preparation for another “good licking.”

But this time Paul put a stop to it by proclaiming his Roman citizenship before the blows started to fall. Acts doesn’t explain why he chose a different tack here than in Philippi. Perhaps the Lord just led him to take the beating there, because He knew the jailer would be positively influenced by Paul’s courage and convictions. Now, in Jerusalem, God had a different plan, and Paul stood up for his rights as a citizen, invoking all the authority of the Roman Empire in his own defense.

Sometimes we tend to think that because God operated a certain way in our lives at one time; we should expect the exact same thing the next time. Not so.

A walk with God is a journey. It needs to go somewhere. It needs to progress. And it needs to stay in close contact with God. We can’t fly on autopilot, because God may have a different plan for us.

How is it with you, today, friend? How is your journey with God going? Is it “just more of the same-old-same-old”? Or are you having new adventures, learning new things every day?

As we continue our journey with Paul, we’ll notice again and again that life never got boring for God’s apostle! If your Christian walk has grown stagnant, maybe it’s time for some new adventures with God.

Paul was always willing to suffer for his faith. To the Corinthians he even wrote, “I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:10 NKJ).

But at this time in his life, he wasn’t out looking for more trouble. He was no masochist, looking for pain to somehow assuage his guilt for having inflicted suffering on others. Far from it.

A fascinating exchange occurred the next day, when the Roman commander had Paul questioned by the Jewish leaders. The high priest ordered his servants to slap Paul, and Paul responded standing up for his rights rather vehemently to say the least: “‘God will strike you, you whitewashed wall!’ ” he said. “‘Are you sitting there to judge me according to the law, and yet in violation of the law you order me to be struck?’ ” (Acts 23:3, NRSV).

Now, history informs us that this particular high priest, Ananias by name, was one of the wickedest high priests ever to assume the title, using his office to defraud the other priests of their rightful perquisites. Yet when Paul was informed that it was the high priest he had spoken so forcefully to, Paul quickly backed off and quoted the scripture: “ ‘for it is written, “You shall not speak evil of a leader of your people” ’ ” (Acts 23:5, NRSV).

We can learn so much from Paul, by watching him in action. He spent the next several years as a prisoner of Rome, but through it all he kept up his witness to Jesus—even appealing to rulers and royalty to accept Jesus as their Savior.

In an interview with Felix, the Roman procurator, Paul led the conversation around to topics of “justice, self-control, and the coming judgment”(Acts 24:25, NRSV)—topics that led the Roman politician to some rather serious reflection.

During his time in prison, Paul attracted enough attention that even King Agrippa II wanted to hear him and made a special trip to Caesarea for that purpose. Faced with this opportunity for witness, Paul gave his personal testimony, and then closed by appealing to the king to commit himself to Jesus.

Wow! What a way to conduct yourself as a prisoner. What courage. What boldness for the Lord. But Paul was not finished yet. God had called him to witness in Rome as well as Jerusalem. And he soon turned his imprisonment into an opportunity to fulfill that mission.

Journeying for the Lord. Walking with the Lord. Growing in the Lord. That’s what Paul did, and it’s what the Lord invites us to do as well!

“I’ll Walk With God”, Manuel Escorcio, from I’ll Walk With God.