Ephesians 1:16-23 [I] Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
and
Ephesians 3:14-21 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Be blessed
JDP
On time messages from the Word of God for everyday life!
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Saturday, April 8, 2017
Beto I Wrap Up
Good evening! We have completed another great trip into the Prison House and we thank God for the lost that have been found! Many men who were downtrodden and discouraged have a new understanding that hope is more than just wishful thinking! Glory to God! That's the cover, here's the story:
Today was the second day for us going in to the Beto I Unit with Mike Barber Ministries (FB, like 'em, share 'em) and we have good reports to give. The staff, Major, Lieutenants, Sergeants, and CO's did a brilliant job at coordinating our efforts to maximize our impact inside the unit. We moved seamlessly between the various rows and wings of the Unit and with plenty of time to share the Love of Jesus with the men housed there. We saw reactions from all those we spoke with and were well received by all of the men, even an Orthodox Jew turned DEVOUT Muslim, all praise and honor be to God Almighty! When you realize that your time with these men is limited and that your words need to impact that life in a very short span of this lifetime you begin to truly prayerfully consider, not only your words but also, your discernment of a willing heart versus an unwilling one. The Word of God records that the work of the evangelists in Acts was to bring the message and "some received and some don't". Hear me when I say I walked one row back and forth 3 times singing "Be not dismayed for the Lord will take care of you through the storm and through the rain, He will take care of you" BEFORE the Lord said, "here, stop here." The Word was for a young man, I mean YOUNG, mid 20s maybe. He confessed immediately that he was on his way home in 50 days. The Word of the Lord came and spoke with such fervency and such strength that the young man at the bars was in tears, I was tearing up and even his cell mate who was curled up under a sheet pretending to be asleep was potentially added to the Kingdom just for being THAT close to the presence of the Lord. What a mighty God we serve. Just a side note: If you're reading this there is a GREAT potential that you too can experience loving others inside the prison house, it's free to get in! Think on it huh! They will even "feed" you. But I digress.
A second short testimony is on this: the Mike Barber Ministries volunteers are assigned in teams and they send each group together to different areas, each with a lead (point of authority and covering) and the process works well. On our short break (men's room/refreshments) I was selected, among others from other teams, to go on a special assignment to the infirmary. This was an honor and promotion from the Lord indeed for it was in that place that we began to move in the deeper things of God. We saw "terminally ill" labeled men, met them, spoke to them, prayed with them, declaring liberation to the captives from the spirits of infirmity and despair and even rebuking the spirit of death from a man who had lost all hope and nearly given up completely as his diagnosis was liver failure from chronic hepatitis c, which is NOW CURABLE! We prayed with a man who had just had surgery to remove parts of his intestines due to a cancer diagnosis, he was near or above 70 and in a wheelchair and when I asked "do you know Jesus" he said "no". He had never met our Savior guys! He's an American man, African American at that, and had NEVER been led to Christ?? How lacking in this are we? What in the WORLD? I asked him if he'd heard the gospel and he had but had never been counseled nor had he sought out Jesus by asking for salvation - 0 experience with Jesus! I asked if he wanted that and he said yes. He said "Jesus Save me!" With hot tears in his old and tired eyes, but now there was a fire there that wasn't there before, a hope, an expectation that Salvation also includes Deliverance and Healing as provided through the cross! We prayed the prayer of James 5, he confessed his faults and I mean really talked about some things with repentance in his mannerisms, and we prayed according to the Word of God that he be healed and I FULLY expect to hear that report later after it's confirmed by the Medical Staff. Amen? Amen!!
On our way out of the infirmary I met with the PA in her office. She is a Spirit filled child of the Most High God who years prior, at 20 years old and attending Rhema Bible College, requested that God send her to the people that were closest to hell: today she manages and oversees this infirmary AND a hospice on Michael's Unit, the ONLY hospice in TDCJ that resides inside of a Maximum security prison! She rejoiced to have been blessed with such a fortune and what a blessing that is to know that there are genuine thankful loving people touching the darkest areas of the Penitentiary! Glory!
Well, that is encouraging and I hope you have found encouragement here. Comment or write us and let us know what you think. We're waiting to hear from you.
Here is Mike at one of the services here, we will get more pictures, we'll share them. We love you and we're praying for you.
Be blessed!
JD Pierce
President
Christ Carries Me Ministries
Today was the second day for us going in to the Beto I Unit with Mike Barber Ministries (FB, like 'em, share 'em) and we have good reports to give. The staff, Major, Lieutenants, Sergeants, and CO's did a brilliant job at coordinating our efforts to maximize our impact inside the unit. We moved seamlessly between the various rows and wings of the Unit and with plenty of time to share the Love of Jesus with the men housed there. We saw reactions from all those we spoke with and were well received by all of the men, even an Orthodox Jew turned DEVOUT Muslim, all praise and honor be to God Almighty! When you realize that your time with these men is limited and that your words need to impact that life in a very short span of this lifetime you begin to truly prayerfully consider, not only your words but also, your discernment of a willing heart versus an unwilling one. The Word of God records that the work of the evangelists in Acts was to bring the message and "some received and some don't". Hear me when I say I walked one row back and forth 3 times singing "Be not dismayed for the Lord will take care of you through the storm and through the rain, He will take care of you" BEFORE the Lord said, "here, stop here." The Word was for a young man, I mean YOUNG, mid 20s maybe. He confessed immediately that he was on his way home in 50 days. The Word of the Lord came and spoke with such fervency and such strength that the young man at the bars was in tears, I was tearing up and even his cell mate who was curled up under a sheet pretending to be asleep was potentially added to the Kingdom just for being THAT close to the presence of the Lord. What a mighty God we serve. Just a side note: If you're reading this there is a GREAT potential that you too can experience loving others inside the prison house, it's free to get in! Think on it huh! They will even "feed" you. But I digress.
A second short testimony is on this: the Mike Barber Ministries volunteers are assigned in teams and they send each group together to different areas, each with a lead (point of authority and covering) and the process works well. On our short break (men's room/refreshments) I was selected, among others from other teams, to go on a special assignment to the infirmary. This was an honor and promotion from the Lord indeed for it was in that place that we began to move in the deeper things of God. We saw "terminally ill" labeled men, met them, spoke to them, prayed with them, declaring liberation to the captives from the spirits of infirmity and despair and even rebuking the spirit of death from a man who had lost all hope and nearly given up completely as his diagnosis was liver failure from chronic hepatitis c, which is NOW CURABLE! We prayed with a man who had just had surgery to remove parts of his intestines due to a cancer diagnosis, he was near or above 70 and in a wheelchair and when I asked "do you know Jesus" he said "no". He had never met our Savior guys! He's an American man, African American at that, and had NEVER been led to Christ?? How lacking in this are we? What in the WORLD? I asked him if he'd heard the gospel and he had but had never been counseled nor had he sought out Jesus by asking for salvation - 0 experience with Jesus! I asked if he wanted that and he said yes. He said "Jesus Save me!" With hot tears in his old and tired eyes, but now there was a fire there that wasn't there before, a hope, an expectation that Salvation also includes Deliverance and Healing as provided through the cross! We prayed the prayer of James 5, he confessed his faults and I mean really talked about some things with repentance in his mannerisms, and we prayed according to the Word of God that he be healed and I FULLY expect to hear that report later after it's confirmed by the Medical Staff. Amen? Amen!!
On our way out of the infirmary I met with the PA in her office. She is a Spirit filled child of the Most High God who years prior, at 20 years old and attending Rhema Bible College, requested that God send her to the people that were closest to hell: today she manages and oversees this infirmary AND a hospice on Michael's Unit, the ONLY hospice in TDCJ that resides inside of a Maximum security prison! She rejoiced to have been blessed with such a fortune and what a blessing that is to know that there are genuine thankful loving people touching the darkest areas of the Penitentiary! Glory!
Well, that is encouraging and I hope you have found encouragement here. Comment or write us and let us know what you think. We're waiting to hear from you.
Here is Mike at one of the services here, we will get more pictures, we'll share them. We love you and we're praying for you.
Be blessed!
JD Pierce
President
Christ Carries Me Ministries
"If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them..."
This morning, a reading that blessed my heart:
7 “You do not realise now what I am doing,” replied Jesus, “but later on you will understand.”
8 Then Peter said to him, “You must never wash my feet!” “Unless you let me wash you, Peter,” replied Jesus, “you cannot share my lot.”
9 “Then,” returned Simon Peter, “please—not just my feet but my hands and my face as well!”
10 “The man who has bathed,” returned Jesus, “only needs to wash his feet to be clean all over. And you are clean—though not all of you.”
11 (For Jesus knew his betrayer and that is why he said, “though not all of you”.)
12-17 When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his clothes, he sat down and spoke to them, “Do you realise what I have just done to you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘Lord’ and you are quite right, for I am your teacher and your Lord. But if I, your teacher and Lord, have washed your feet, you must be ready to wash one another’s feet. I have given you this as an example so that you may do as I have done. Believe me, the servant is not greater than his master and the messenger is not greater than the man who sent him. Once you have realised these things, you will find your happiness in doing them.
John 13:1-17 J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
Jesus teaches his disciples humility
13 1-5 Before
the festival of the Passover began, Jesus realised that the time had
come for him to leave this world and return to the Father. He had loved
those who were his own in this world and he loved them to the end. By
supper-time, the devil had already put the thought of betraying Jesus in
the mind of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son. Jesus, with the full knowledge
that the Father had put everything into his hands and that he had come
from God and was going to God, rose from the supper-table, took off his
outer clothes, picked up a towel and fastened it round his waist. Then
he poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and
to dry them with the towel around his waist.
6 So he came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”7 “You do not realise now what I am doing,” replied Jesus, “but later on you will understand.”
8 Then Peter said to him, “You must never wash my feet!” “Unless you let me wash you, Peter,” replied Jesus, “you cannot share my lot.”
9 “Then,” returned Simon Peter, “please—not just my feet but my hands and my face as well!”
10 “The man who has bathed,” returned Jesus, “only needs to wash his feet to be clean all over. And you are clean—though not all of you.”
11 (For Jesus knew his betrayer and that is why he said, “though not all of you”.)
12-17 When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his clothes, he sat down and spoke to them, “Do you realise what I have just done to you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘Lord’ and you are quite right, for I am your teacher and your Lord. But if I, your teacher and Lord, have washed your feet, you must be ready to wash one another’s feet. I have given you this as an example so that you may do as I have done. Believe me, the servant is not greater than his master and the messenger is not greater than the man who sent him. Once you have realised these things, you will find your happiness in doing them.
Knowing He had everything, he chose to cleanse the ways and means this walk requires. SELAH, ya'll. SELAH.
Beto I "Weekend of Excitement" Day 2
Good morning
Today is day two of a weekend of excitement at Beto unit here in Palastine Texaswith Mike Barber Ministries. Yesterday's experience of entering the prison unit and walking the wings to speak with men who are hurting and hungry serves as a reminder of how many families and loved ones are also on the outside hurting and hungry. It was emotionally challenging, yet the light of Christ shining there gives me great encouragement and a left there a sense of hope. Not the kind of hope that is wishful thinking, but the kind of hope that carries with it the expectation of something better something good. These men are serving time for choices that they made, yes, but that does not cause Jesus to care for them and their souls any less than you or I. Any man or woman that would say different is deceived and does not know the depths of the love of God.
Today we expect many more counselors to show as it is a Saturday. Yesterday we went in with 13 and covered two wings. There are 3500 men on the Beto unit, today we have our work cut out for us. The Lord is good and has prepared for us table in the midst of our enemies. If you have ever fought war between good and evil you will appreciate this next statement: in shining the light there is the circumference of darkness. Hear the light shining bright and the circumference is great. Keep us all in prayer but especially keep that place in prayer. When we, as freeman, leave there, we would ask that God had increase to the seats we have scattered and raise up leaders within the ranks of the men that are in white so that the light does not decrease but increases in that place. It only took 12 man to change the world , Yesterday we had 13…
Thank you all for taking time to read my ramblings and we love you. We hope to have more pictures to show you more updates to give soon.
Today is day two of a weekend of excitement at Beto unit here in Palastine Texaswith Mike Barber Ministries. Yesterday's experience of entering the prison unit and walking the wings to speak with men who are hurting and hungry serves as a reminder of how many families and loved ones are also on the outside hurting and hungry. It was emotionally challenging, yet the light of Christ shining there gives me great encouragement and a left there a sense of hope. Not the kind of hope that is wishful thinking, but the kind of hope that carries with it the expectation of something better something good. These men are serving time for choices that they made, yes, but that does not cause Jesus to care for them and their souls any less than you or I. Any man or woman that would say different is deceived and does not know the depths of the love of God.
Today we expect many more counselors to show as it is a Saturday. Yesterday we went in with 13 and covered two wings. There are 3500 men on the Beto unit, today we have our work cut out for us. The Lord is good and has prepared for us table in the midst of our enemies. If you have ever fought war between good and evil you will appreciate this next statement: in shining the light there is the circumference of darkness. Hear the light shining bright and the circumference is great. Keep us all in prayer but especially keep that place in prayer. When we, as freeman, leave there, we would ask that God had increase to the seats we have scattered and raise up leaders within the ranks of the men that are in white so that the light does not decrease but increases in that place. It only took 12 man to change the world , Yesterday we had 13…
Thank you all for taking time to read my ramblings and we love you. We hope to have more pictures to show you more updates to give soon.
Friday, April 7, 2017
Good Morning from Palestine, Texas
We are on location in Palestine Texas getting ready to go into the George Beto Unit with Mike Barber Ministries. Mike has been in Prison ministry for years and it is an honor to go in with his group. They call this a "weekend of excitement" and so it is!
.
The Beto Unit is a Maximum Security Unit located in Tennessee Colony, Texas. In this area also resides the Largest Texas Men's Penitentiary, H. H. Coffield. It is God who is after the hearts of these men and it is laborers like you and I who must do the work. The Texas Penitentiary system was created as a punitive, not rehabilitative, system. In other words, it's geared to punish, not help. If there is to be any help for them it has to be Jesus. There is no other way.
We are excited to be here and we hope to have more pictures to share with you as we progress throughout the weekend. Please keep us and the team at Mike Barber Ministries in prayer. We want nothing less than to see with our eyes the Lord glorified and men set free!
Be blessed:
Genuinely,
JD Pierce
President
Christ Carries Me Ministries
.The Beto Unit is a Maximum Security Unit located in Tennessee Colony, Texas. In this area also resides the Largest Texas Men's Penitentiary, H. H. Coffield. It is God who is after the hearts of these men and it is laborers like you and I who must do the work. The Texas Penitentiary system was created as a punitive, not rehabilitative, system. In other words, it's geared to punish, not help. If there is to be any help for them it has to be Jesus. There is no other way.
We are excited to be here and we hope to have more pictures to share with you as we progress throughout the weekend. Please keep us and the team at Mike Barber Ministries in prayer. We want nothing less than to see with our eyes the Lord glorified and men set free!
Be blessed:
Genuinely,
JD Pierce
President
Christ Carries Me Ministries
Saturday, March 25, 2017
Loving Barabbas. VERY good.
If you have a little time watch this. It has changed many a person's day for the better and many a people's lives for good. you'll not be dissapointed.
Loving Barabbas: https://youtu.be/RwX_EpNR4CA
Thursday, March 9, 2017
Panola County Daily Devotional Broadcast KGAS
This is the Panoal County Daily Devotional for March 9, 2017. Today we challenge you to take an introspective view of salvation.
Fast Forward to 3:55, it begins there:
If you can't see the embedded video you can watch it here:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/100809477
Fast Forward to 3:55, it begins there:
If you can't see the embedded video you can watch it here:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/100809477
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