Oklahoma Jail & Prison Ministry

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Draw near to God

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“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded” (King James Version, James 4:8).

2020 for me was a time to draw near to God.  With the prisons and jails closed to all unnecessary personnel, it gave me so much more time.  Time to spend with my family to show them exactly why I trust in God.

Zephaniah is the ninth book of prophets in the Bible.  Some may say it is my go-to book of the Bible.  I do know for sure that it is a book I reference often to remind me of a time when God spoke loudly to my heart.

I say loudly because it was a time in my life when I was so broken that I knew that I had nowhere else to turn.  No one in the world could help me better than the God that had been working so hard over the years to get my attention and I finally opened my ears to hear Him.

Verse one of the third chapter says, “Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!”  Beginning with a warning and then stating the wrongs of the city; as you keep reading the chapter it moves to a description of what can happen if you decide to make things different.

In late 2013, I decided that I was ready for this change.  A time when I knew that I could no longer keep doing things the way I saw fit.  That my way no longer worked and I needed a change.

As you keep reading the chapter you will find that God is prepared to go beyond the mountains and the ocean to find the ones that are willing to come back to Him.  Those that are willing to give it all up to serve the one that is never going to leave or forsake.

This for me is confirmation that when I was in the muck and mud of my life, God was always there holding my hand and enduring with me.  So, when I am asked, “When you went through that bad situation, where was God?”  I can say with confidence, “He was with me holding my hand.”

Moving on down to verse 14, “Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O  Israel; be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.”  This reminds me of the chance I was given in 2019 to make a short video of my testimony to the Lord.

My daughter goes back at various times and watches the video and then shares with her friends.  Recently she did that and one of them told me how cool it was to see it.  This gave me a chance to proclaim God to her friend.

So, as we look into the face of 2021 and wonder what is next, keep in mind that God has always been with us and will always be ready to help us.  His words will never fail and He will keep all His promises.

Is God really in control?

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“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.  What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us” (New International Version 1984, Romans 8:38-31)?

Is God sovereign? 

It is a temptation to find our identity in the ministry that we do.  The challenge is to minister with God and not for God.

Much of my lifetime of ministry revolved around preaching every Sunday.  That declined during the last ten years of my ministry until it stopped completely in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic.  Talking to pastors over the years I know that is a struggle for pastors when they retire.  Some seem to handle it gracefully; others seem to struggle.

The loss of preaching regularly has been a challenge to me.  Now, the loss of visiting our chaplains and their jail sites has been added to the challenge.  I find myself wrestling with this question of God’s sovereignty.  It is usually not wrapped in that package, but in the package of my self worth and identity.  Yet these lead back to the foundational truth of God’s sovereignty.

Who are we as Christians if we cannot do what we feel that God has called us to do?  Are we still considered obedient to the Lord?  Are we still loved by God?  I know the answers that you and I give.  Yes!  Of course, we are still obedient and loved!  But is that what we live out each day as we wrestle with what life throws at us.

As I hear from our OJPM family of chaplains, volunteers, supporters and friends each is wrestling with this to some degree each week.  Your pastor and church are wrestling with this each week.  How do we not do what we feel the Lord has called us to do?

During a bubonic Great Plague of 1665-66, Sir Isaac Newton had to leave his schooling at Cambridge and shelter in place at home.  We do not know all of his thoughts and struggles but he used the time wisely.  During this time of “social distancing” he developed many of his early theories and his work on motion and gravity.

If God wanted and expected you to be obedient to Him when you could go into the jail, He also wants you to be obedient to Him now.  Yet, we are severely limited in going into the jails now.  So, what is it that God wants you to do right now? 

Three thoughts.  One, trust Him.  Two, be still and wait on Him.  Three, look for a new way to minister/share the gospel.  That is what I am doing because God is still in control!

Unleashing the captives,

Tim Gentry

Executive Chaplain

In their own words, Adam and Christopher, Oklahoma County Juvenile Detention Center residents

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I’m in jail for lewd acts.  I was accused of rape.  I am nervous having to face these charges alone with no one here with me to make an important decision about my life.  A wrong decision could put me away for life.  My first two months I had no one to call.  I didn’t have my mom or dad.  Then I saw the chaplain.  The first time I came to the chaplain I learned about the gospel.  The chaplain helped me draw closer to God.  I could feel it in my bones with the warmth and then my tears started.  I tried not to cry but before I felt alone and scared. I knew I was not going home.  Now I am grateful that the chaplain helped me to see God’s love because I needed help seeing His love.  I was alone so I thank God for sending the chaplain.

– Adam

I wound up in this facility because I gave in to anger and I stabbed someone and hit them with a sledgehammer.  I ran for a month but then I turned myself in.  When I went to the chaplain for the first time I started to cry and I told the chaplain everything I did and what was going on.  I was in a bad state of depression. 

I was so sad and angry at myself that I wanted to kill myself.  I went to the chaplain and found help.  I got saved and I started to pray.  They wanted to charge me as an adult.  The Lord must have heard me and gave me a second chance to start new and change my ways.  The Lord did bring me here for a reason and I started praying and change.  I have been reading in the Bible and one verse really stands out to me, Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and of good courage; Do not be afraid; nor be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  That is the verse I read when I am feeling bad.  The Lord heard me and He gave me a second chance to be better and change my ways.  He is also helping me change and become the man I am supposed to be.  I couldn’t have done it without the chaplain.  The chaplain pointed me in the right direction.

– Christopher

This Christmas, walk in the Light

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“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (New International Version 1984, 1 John 1:7).

Christmas is all about light.  The glory of the Lord.  The revelatory light.  His star in the east.  Christmas lights (trees, house and drive-thru displays).  Christmas candles.  The star on top of the Christmas tree.

And yet as we enter this Christmas season there is darkness all around.  I will not go into too much detail because I do not want to focus on the negative.  You are well aware of the darkness you, our country and our world has been through in 2020.

The challenge is to walk in the Light.  Christmas is the perfect reminder that light overcomes darkness.  It was a dark world that our Savior was born into.  It was for our dark sin that He became Immanuel, God with us.

This Christmas season I want to remind you to walk in the Light.  Embrace the Light through putting fresh effort into your daily devotions.  Share the Light by including the story of the incarnation in your Christmas cards, gifts and family gatherings.

In dark times the Light shines even brighter to give sight, warmth, comfort, revelation and direction.

2020 has been a year where our chaplains and volunteers have been limited in their access to those incarcerated across our state.  In spite of this God has worked through our faithful donors to provide enough support for our ministry to continue paying the salaries and stipends of our staff and site chaplains.  In another way of saying that the light has overcome the darkness, our income has topped our expenses!

Thank you for being a part of the OJPM family during this past year.  Some of you were recipients of our ministry.  Some of you were physical participants of our ministry.  Some of you were spiritual participants of our ministry.  Some of you were financial participants of our ministry.  Some of you were all of the above.  To each of you, thank you!

Your participation in our OJPM family is another way of walking in the Light.

Unleashing the Light,

Tim Gentry

Executive Chaplain

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