Reach Super Sunday
Join us for Reach Super Sunday 8 am & 10:45 am
Wear your jeans and jerseys and bring your commitment card for Reach
Communicating Through Prayer
Prayer identifies the form of communication utilized by man to speak to God. The people of God pray or talk to Him, to make solemn requests for help, expressions of thanksgiving, or even declarations of their hope and earnest expectations for His performance in their lives. Many times, as a believer, we are faced with opposition and trials; however, the Word of God lets us know that God will never leave us or forsake us. Jesus reminds us in Luke 18:1 that we must always pray and never grow weary in prayer. In this parable, Jesus revealed how an unjust judge, who feared neither God nor man, was easily troubled by a powerless widow woman because she continually petitioned him to fulfill her request. Our God is just; therefore, how much more is He ready, waiting and willing to fulfill the requests of his children if we would only make a commitment to talk to Him.
Jesus continually demonstrated the will and heart of God throughout the gospels. God’s desire is that all His people will come to Him and speak to Him about their concerns. Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Many concerning situations that we face are beyond our control; however, as believers, we have the promises of God; not only provision, defense, justification or even vengeance, but His peace. In Philippians 4:6-7, the Bible reminds us that we should never become anxious regarding any situation that we face, and if we are honest, many times we are initially overwhelmed. However, the Lord has made a way of escape for us through prayer, by giving us the opportunity to let our requests be made known unto Him and He promises to faithfully keep our hearts and minds in return.
Prayer to the true and living Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the only reason why we are empowered to resist the continual attacks of the enemy, for which he continually comes to steal our joy, kill our hope and ultimately destroy our lives. Many times, the very same afflictions that we face are easily accomplished in the lives of those who do not know how to fervently hope in God through prayer. In Hebrews 11:6, the Bible reminds us that without faith it is impossible to please him, and he that comes to God must believe that he is and he will reward those that diligently seek him. So, be encouraged and remember, God, is on your side. Take a moment; 30 seconds, 15 minutes, or an hour, to pray and talk to your heavenly Father. There is no religious form or an exceptional amount of faith required to be qualified to pray to God. Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Calvary, God has given you free access to boldly come before the throne of Grace, just as you are. All you need is enough faith to simply open your mouth, speak to him and know that He is ready to hear and answer your requests right now. Don’t forget; prayer will work if you work it!
Minister Dana Cox
The Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act or FIRST STEP Act reforms the federal prison system and seeks to reduce recidivism. The act was signed by President Donald Trump on December 21, 2018. The Act shall, among many provisions: allow for employees to store their firearms securely at federal prisons; restrict the use of restraints on pregnant women; expand compassionate release for terminally ill patients; place prisoners closer to family in some cases; authorize new markets for Federal Prison Industries; mandate de-escalation training for correctional officers and employees; and improve feminine hygiene in prison.
The major provisions of the First Step Act, as it stands now:
- The Act makes retroactive the reforms enacted by the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which reduced the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences at the federal level.
- The Act takes several steps to ease mandatory minimum sentences under federal law. It gives more discretion to judges in handing down mandatory minimum sentences. It eases a “three strikes” rule so people with three or more convictions, including for drug offenses, do not automatically get 25 years instead of life. It restricts the current practice of stacking gun charges against drug offenders to add possibly decades to prison sentences. All of these changes would lead to shorter prison sentences in the future.
- The Act increases “good time credits” that inmates can earn. It allows credits for participating in more vocational and rehabilitative programs. These credits will allow inmates to be released early to halfway houses or home confinement. Not only could this mitigate prison overcrowding, but the hope is that the education programs will reduce the likelihood that an inmate will commit another crime once released and, as a result, reduce both crime and incarceration in the long term.
Not every inmate will benefit from the changes. The system will use an algorithm to initially determine who can cash in earned time credits, with inmates deemed higher risk excluded from cashing in, although not from earning the credits. The Act also excludes certain inmates from earning credits, such as undocumented immigrants and people who are convicted of high-level offenses.
Nothing in the Act is groundbreaking. That is one reason the Act is dubbed a “first step.” Still, the Act starts to chip away at criminal justice reform at the federal level, which is a small part of the criminal justice system. It is important to understand that almost all police work is done at the local and state level. There are about 18,000 law enforcement agencies in America, only around 50 or so are federal agencies.
By and large, criminal justice reform will fall to the local and state governments. Many have already passed the kinds of sentencing reforms that the federal system has struggled to enact.
This is not to downplay the Act but it’s important to put its full impact on mass incarceration in a broader context
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