YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED
     TO PRAY AT THE PRISON GATE

I was in prison, and you came to Me. ... When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You? ... The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ —Matthew 25

Some of you have been helping me to get more focus in this ministry and then I go off in a whole new path. I know. Sorry.

But God has opened a door here and I just have to check out what's inside.

We have two exciting opportunities this Christmas Season (the Light Up the Darkness campaign to share the Gospel Story in over 1,300 prisons throughout America and the Prayer at the Atlanta Prison Gate event on Friday, December 19 at 11:30am at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary). Click those links for more details; we're very excited to have you join us in one or both.

But in preparing for these two opportunities, I found some incredible statistics. Did you know that . . . 

     Crowdfunding Resources for CLI Prison Ministries

For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink ... I was in prison, and you came to Me.
Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ... When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?
Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me. —Matthew 25

Only two things can change a man's heart: the friends he keeps and the books he reads —proverb

Thanks to everyone who helped to share A Rooster Once Crowed with thousands of prisoners across the United States. These resources are vital to helping our incarcerated brothers and sisters along in their walk.

In 40 days we raised enough to press over 2,000 copies of this Gospel Story into the darkest corners of America. These books will be run by our printer and distributed all over America throughout 2015 by our partners at CLI Prison Ministries.

While the campaign is over, if you'd still like to contribute, we'll make sure that 100% of your donation goes toward printing books that will be read by prisoners. To donate now, mail your check to:

Light Up the Darkness
1266 W Paces Ferry Road
Suite 140
Atlanta, GA 30327-2306

Or you can paypal funds to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Thank you for your help with this incredible ministry.

     YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED
     TO PRAY AT THE PRISON GATE

I was in prison, and you came to Me. ... When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You? ... The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ —Matthew 25

On Friday, December 19, 2014 at 11:30am, members of our Atlanta community will gather at the gates of the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary (601 McDonough Blvd, SE, Atlanta, GA 30315) to pray for:
the prisoners,
the warden,

the employees and
the victims.

FREE PARKING is available at Earthshaking Music (664 McDonough Blvd, SE, Atlanta, GA 30315). We'll sing a few carols, pray and then relocate to Community Grounds (1297 Jonesboro Rd SE, Atlanta, GA 30315) for lunch and fellowship provided by Full Porch Press. You'll be done and back on the road by 1:15.

There is no cost for this event (lunch will be free) and all are welcome to attend, so please spread the word. If you cannot attend this event, we would covet a personal prayer or one in the space below for the above list and this event. To estimate the crowd, please let us know that you are attending by...

     From Ron Charles, State of Christianity in Egypt
Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.  —Hebrews 13

Lord Jesus,

We come to you with open arms. Not holding anything tightly, but seeking your love and care. As I look around this room, I see things that I've purchased, gifts, books, monitors, Bibles, posters, crumpled up notes, keepsakes, kid's art, posters, plastic, wood, paper, metal, rock . . . Every single item here will return to You, Lord. Men gave their lives for these things. Some literally gave blood (for Scripture, the copy of the Declaration of Independence, the governments won) but others sacrificed more slowly-one missed dinner or soccer game at a time-to bring together this motley collection of junk.

Someday, whether through death or disaster or carelessness or time, each of these Bibles and things will pass from my grasp.

But where do they go, Lord? You know. You've always known. Not a turned leaf escapes your gaze. You account for each and every piece of your creation. You know our way before we know it. You know where I'll fall and where I'll rise. You know, Lord.

I come to you with nothing to trade. In fact . . .

     From Is Scripture True? Audio
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.  —Judges 21

How do Christians handle parts of the Bible that seem inconsistent with God? The winds are abuzz reviving an old solution. "Dismiss it." Even preachers are encouraging us saying, "Those parts couldn't possibly be from God," or "You don't understand what that meant. It's actually the opposite of what it appears to say."

#whatLINE is about making sure that you, your small group, and those you love recognize the line between belief in Scripture and unbelief. The arguments that attempt to shred just a bit of Scripture are slick and alluring, but what happens if we just throw it all away? What happens if we disregard Scripture altogether?

     From Nothing but the Blood Audio
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.  —Isaiah 53

And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.  —Luke 22

If you’re following along, we’ve covered a lot of ground, but we still haven’t answered the questions we sought to answer:

Why did God choose blood as the currency to redeem us?
How can I trust One who would give up His only Son like that?

To get there . . .

     From Is Scripture True? Audio
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness  —2 Timothy 3

If you make my word your home, you will indeed be My disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. —John 8

If you're in the flow of American politics, the discourse right now is on mid-term elections. If you're in the flow of College Football, the talk is student NCAA violations and the BCS playoff system. But if you're listening to discussions on Christianity, they're asking, "Is Scripture true?" Click the player, below, (or here) to stream the lesson wherever you are:

That seems like a strange thing for Christians to debate, but this nuclear option is an age old answer to a persistent problem. When you don't like something, blow it up just enough to be able to rebuild something on it later.

You'll hear that it comes up almost immediately in this lesson, but you'll have to listen to understand what this decade's unpopular issue is. It'll be . . . 

     From Nothing but the Blood Audio
For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in [Jesus], and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made PEACE through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.  —Colossians 1

These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have PEACE. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world. —John 16

We’ve been looking at, specifically, what the blood of Jesus accomplished for us. We saw that it redeemed our treasure from the hock we’d put it into and that it provided a forgiveness for our mistakes. It justified our accounts with God as if there had never been a debt and the blood of Jesus was a sacrifice so great that it reconciled the animosity built up between God and me/you/us and, finally, the blood of Jesus made us clean.

All five of those cover the past, but what about the future? How does the blood protect against . . .

     From Nothing but the Blood Audio
Who can say, I have CLEANSED my heart,
I am pure from my sin?  —Proverbs 20

For if the blood of goats and bulls  . . .  sanctify for the CLEANSING of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, CLEANSE your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? —Hebrews 9

If you’re over the age of 13, you’ve been there.

Someone you want to love—that you want to be in relationship with—was unloveable. Your non-negotiable, that thing that without it you just aren’t you, crashed into theirs. And because you’re young, and even though you know that you want to be in relationship with this person, you take out your flamethrower.

Destruction. Hurt. Maybe they took out theirs, too, and as the world around you smolders . . .

     From Nothing but the Blood Audio
Now all these things are from God, who RECONCILED us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of RECONCILIATION, namely, that God was in Christ RECONCILING the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of RECONCILIATION. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be RECONCILED to God.  —2 Chronicles 5

For if while we were enemies we were RECONCILED to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been RECONCILED, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the RECONCILIATION. —Romans 5

So we've now got an experience with what it means to be redeemed by the blood, for the remission of sins and how we’re justified, but what about being reconciled to God?

We don’t use that word much, except maybe to reconcile a checkbook. You can think of it as settling accounts or making everything even. I’m thinking of action movies, like the recent Equalizer movie, where settling accounts meant justice, killing and destruction.

But when the goal isn’t justice, but to win me/you/us back into a right standing relationship, that’s harder. Think of your favorite action movie. Got it? We like those movies because the protagonist (the good guy) makes and executes a plan flawlessly to bring justice to the antagonist (bad guy). But what Hollywood creative could ever develop a storyline to win the antagonist back into right relationship? None. We couldn’t even imagine it.

But God, had a plan to reconcile me/you/us to Him. Consider this story that Billy Graham told: