July 2004 chaplain's corner
The Chaplain's Corner is a monthly message for chaplains.
Chaplain's Corner - July 21, 2004
Rev. Rich Hines
Christian Chaplains and Correctional Ministers Must Speak To and Reach Inmate's
Hearts
This message is prepared especially for those in the United States that call
upon the name of Jesus Christ as their own Lord and Savior from sin, and serve
as a chaplain in a jail, prison or a follow-up ministry such as a rescue
mission.
All Scripture quotes are taken from the New King James Version (NKJV),
copyright 1979,1980,1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by
permission. All rights reserved. When quoting a text, any
deviation from the NKJV text is within parenthesis signs ( ). These
usually occur as direct translations from the original languages,
or as notes from the original setting, to help apply the text to today's
culture. ALL CAPITAL LETTERS are sometimes used to emphasize a text.
This month I want to remind you chaplains that Christian gospel ministry MUST
reach the hearts of those you minister to. The final "bottom line,"
on every issue residents and inmates and staff face is this: it's a matter of
what's in their heart. Whatever rules the heart determines what a person will
do. Where is their heart? Where is your heart? Where is my heart? This is the
question you must put forward to inmates, to your volunteer staff and even to
yourself.
This matter of the "heart" is central to the biblical issues of sin
and salvation and righteousness. When the word of God speaks about THE HEART,
it's speaking about THE CONTROL CENTER OF THE THINKING AND THE WILL AND THE
DESIRES OF A MAN OR A WOMAN.
21st Century Americans get this biblical usage of the word HEART confused with
emotions. The Bible does not use the figure of the heart to speak of emotions
like modern Americans do. Rather, when it speaks about emotions it refers to
the intestines, (reins, bowels, in the KJV) the guts.
In the word of God, when "heart" is used, it's deeper than the
emotions. In fact, the emotions are controlled by the thought life and the
pre-disposition of the mind, which in the Bible is the heart.
Speaking of a rich miser, the word says: "as he thinks in his heart, so is
he" (Proverbs 23:7).
Further, young men are warned: "Keep you heart with all diligence, for out
of it spring the issues of life." (Proverbs 4:23)
The judicial and correctional system at best only treats and somewhat modifies
OUTWARD BEHAVIOR. It does not reach the hearts of men and women for good. Only
the True God can do that.
Dear chaplain, your calling and ministry is to go farther than the correctional
system goes - you are to speak to and by God's amazing grace, reach inmate's
hearts. This starts with your evangelism, your giving the good news of freedom
from sin in Christ. SIN and the separation from God it brings IS A MATTER OF
THE HEART.
Biblical salvation from sin is deliverance from rebellion to God's law and all
the consequences that disobedience to Him brings. Therefore SALVATION MUST
REACH THE HEART, because in the un-regenerated person, that's the place where
the rebelliousness and disobedience to God reigns.
Jesus spoke to a religious crowd in Matthew 15: 7-9,17-20.
There He said:
7 "Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
8 'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and
honor Me with their lips, but their HEART IS FAR FROM ME.
9 And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines, the
commandments of men.' "
17 "Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the
stomach and is eliminated?
18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth COME FROM THE HEART, and they defile a man.
19 For OUT OF THE HEART PROCEED evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
20 These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with (ceremonially)
unwashed hands does not defile a man."
As Jesus dealt with sin, He said it was a matter of the heart. He taught sin's
source is in the fallen human heart .
True saving faith in Christ, which is biblically required for salvation, is
also a matter of the heart.
Note it in Romans 10:9,10
8 ...the word of faith which we (Christian messengers of the gospel) preach:
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART
that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For WITH THE HEART ONE BELIEVES unto righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made unto (about) salvation.
Saving faith in Christ must be a COMMITMENT OF THE WHOLE HEART, rather than
simply "trying Jesus" for a while.
In Romans 6:17 - writing to those that had been saved, the Apostle said:
17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you OBEYED
(obeyed is often synonymous with believed in the New Testament) FROM THE HEART
THAT FORM OF DOCTRINE (the Gospel teaching) to which you were delivered.
In Romans 6, the believers past salvation was the basis for their present
practical sanctification of life. On that subject, the Holy Spirit through Paul
said in 2 Timothy 2:22 -
22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue (run hard after) righteousness, faith,
love, peace (together) with those who CALL on the Lord OUT OF A PURE HEART.
Remember, Romans 10:13 says: "Whoever CALLS on the name of the Lord shall
be saved." That saving "call" must be from a sincere and true
heart, a "pure heart."
Also our Lord said, ..."where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21).
Even though He was talking about material things and money in that passage in
Matthew 6, the greater principle is: on what a person's heart continually
ponders, THAT is their priority, their "treasure." That treasure of
the heart becomes each person's true god (or God). A person's heart treasure
controls them.
One of my favorite Christian writers suggested whatever thing gives us the
greatest inward joy is our true lord and master. He said as the needle of a
compass seeks magnetic north, the THING to which our mind returns to time and
time again when we are free to think of whatever we want to, that thing is our
heart's treasure. For the true followers of the Lord, that "THING"
ought to be Christ Himself and the glory of God that He alone reveals to unworthy
men.
On this subject of the heart, here are some other Scriptures to consider:
1 Chronicles 28:9,10 - when king David charged his son Solomon with building
the temple of the LORD at Jerusalem, he said:
9 As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a
LOYAL HEART (NASB "a whole heart") AND WITH A WILLING MIND; for the
LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you
SEEK HIM, He will be found by you (NASB - "He will let you find Him");
but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.
10 Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the
sanctuary; BE STRONG, and DO IT. (NASB - " be
courageous and act.")
The key to a fulfilling of God's will for Solomon was for him to have a LOYAL
or WHOLE HEART directed to the "magnetic north" of the LORD. In Psalm
86:11 this same David prayed to the LORD his God, "Unite my heart to fear Your name." David was praying for a WHOLE HEART to
replace a DIVIDED ONE.
Sadly, after the temple was built and Solomon was established, he followed the
ways of the unbelieving rulers around him. That led him to taking pagan wives
who turned his heart away from the LORD (see 1 Kings 11:1-4). In this world,
keeping your heart centered on the Lord is a challenge. There are many people
and things that would steal our hearts away from Him.
2 Chronicles 31:20,21 - reviews the life of David and
Solomon's descendant, godly king Hezekiah. He did better than Solomon because
unlike his ancestor, HIS HEART STAYED TRUE to the LORD all of his days. We read:
20 Thus Hezekiah did throughout all
21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the
law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it WITH ALL HIS HEART. So
he prospered.
Hezekiah did good, because his HEART WAS WHOLLY GIVEN
to the LORD.
In closing, I want you to briefly consider four passages from the Book of
Hebrews.
This Holy Spirit inspired letter was originally a message given to Jewish
people that had professed faith in Christ. Some of them were sincere and truly
saved, but others were only professors and not true possessors of Christ. In
reality this second group was still unsaved and in need of true conversion.
Because of this, the book of Hebrews contains many warning sections directed to
the false professors.
Note one warning section in Hebrews 3:7-13 -
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you will hear His voice,
8 DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the
wilderness,
9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years.
10 Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, 'They always go astray
IN THEIR HEART, And they have not known My ways.'
11 So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.' "
12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you AN EVIL HEART OF UNBELIEF in
departing from the living God;
13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any
of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Here in verse 11, entering the LORD'S rest, is a picture of being in His
eternal heaven. The key to entering that eternal rest is stated in terms of a
full commitment to trust Christ. For that to happen
their HARDENED and EVIL, UNBELIEVING HEARTS would have to be changed.
In stressing the superiority of the new covenant confirmed by the blood
sacrifice of Christ, over the old covenant of law (which included dietary
restrictions) to save from sin, two passages in Hebrews are important.
Hebrews 8:10-12
10 "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of
11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying,
"Know the Lord," for all shall know Me, from
the least of them to the greatest of them.
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their
lawless deeds I will remember no more."
This refers to the "new covenant" mentioned in Jeremiah 31:31-34. It
includes the promise of God to take away the sin of His believing people. This
would be accomplished through the Savior's work of substitutionary
sacrifice (see Hebrews 10:19 below).
Hebrews 10:16-22
16 "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says
the Lord: I will put My laws into THEIR HEARTS, and in
their minds I will write them,"
17 then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no
more."
18 Now where there is remission (forgiveness, the sending away) of these
(sins), there is no longer an offering for sin.
19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest (which represented
the presence of God) BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS,
20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that
is, His flesh,
21 and having a High Priest (who is Jesus Christ) over the house of God,
22 let us draw near (in worship and relationship to God as His children) with a
TRUE HEART in full assurance of faith, having OUR HEARTS sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
In verse 22, the point is that a real relationship with an all-holy God is
commanded, once a true cleansing of the HEART has taken place.
In Hebrews 13:9 the warning is against legalistic dietary restrictions - and by
extension other wrong doctrines (teachings) on how to live the Christian life
says:
9 Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good
that THE HEART BE ESTABLISHED (meaning strengthened and built up) BY GRACE, not
with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.
So chaplains, speak to the hearts and the motives and the imaginations of the
inmates. Their hearts have to be reached and changed for true salvation and
subsequent sanctification to take place. How do you do that?
FIRST, explain it to them. Tell them about the control center of their inner
being. They will understand what you're talking about. Explain that the Lord
wants to speak to and touch their most inner secret place, their heart.
SECONDLY, be transparent to the inmates. You teach the authority of the
Scriptures as much or more by the way you act in front of them as by what you say.
Everything in the lives of Christian chaplains and volunteers as it is on
display to them, MUST have sound Scriptural backing.
As inmates SEE in you the evidence of every thought being brought into
captivity to obeying Christ's word, they have a living example of the authority
and importance of God's word in a human life.
Also you need to be telling them how you have been challenged RECENTLY to
change your thoughts rather than to support them, by the witness of the
Scriptures. This can show them how God is doing spiritual heart surgery on you.
You should also regularly show them how the Bible has answers to everyday
problems in your life.
LASTLY, continually pray that God would give them a new heart. Tell them that's
what you and your team of volunteers are praying for. Tell them you want to see
God change their hearts, so you constantly pray that He will do it through the
ministry of His Spirit by the word of God.
Build your ministry to the incarcerated and the vagrants on their need for a
true inner-change. Outward actions are important, but consistently correct
outward actions cannot come from hearts untouched by the powerful, inner-life
changing grace of God. That grace is only received through Jesus Christ, the
ultimate Lord of All.
"Nor is there salvation in any other (than Jesus Christ) for there is no
other name under heaven given among men (mankind) by which we must be
saved." (Acts 4:12).
For the glory of God and the true and lasting good of men,
Rich Hines
Minister To Chaplains,