I announced some weeks back that ministering to men and women in prison has been placed upon my heart by the Father. I have been seeking the Father to know His will in this matter, and I have been led to produce materials that can be sent to men and women who are in jail.
A limitation of many jails and prisons, is that books and magazines cannot be mailed to inmates. Many facilities have a chaplain’s office, or a lending library where inmates can request material to read, but getting material into these centralized facilities can be problematic.
For example, the local county jail in which I spent some time, has new books available for inmates to receive free to keep as their own possessions. But the list of material is limited, and because the chaplain’s office is small, they are resistant to receiving new resources. They also require that any books stocked in the chaplain’s office must be received in batches no smaller than fifty books. It is currently outside my ability to provide printed books in such volumes, and this is only one jail, of which there are thousands across the nation.
Most detention facilities do permit inmates to receive religious material, but not in the form of magazines or books. Newsletters are permitted, and I observed a number of men in jail receiving various newsletters put out by an assortment of ministries. The quality of spiritual teaching contained in these ministry mailings vary greatly, and largely reflect the state of Christianity in this nation, which is very weak, and filled with much error and false teaching. There are notable exceptions, however, which I was blessed to see.
The Father specifically ordered my experience to observe that there are men behind bars who are in need of spiritual meat to feed upon, that they might be led to maturity in Christ. He directed me to daily lead Bible studies with the men. I based these studies upon many of the teachings found in various books and shorter writings I have authored, and I found that a few men were very eager and able to receive such instruction. Yahweh has a remnant in prison, and these men and women have much time available to spend in study of things pertaining to the kingdom of Yahweh.
With this in mind, I have been led to create a series of mailings in newsletter format that will contain the books and teachings found on the Heart4God and Parables Blog websites. These teachings are being divided into packet sizes, and when I am through I anticipate upwards of a hundred individual issues to have been produced. Following is a picture of the first edition of PARABLES BOOKSHELF.
(Click on picture for larger image.)
Each issue of PARABLES BOOKSHELF will contain a front article focusing on the subject of the book contained inside. There will also be a scripture memory verse and introduction to the PARABLES PRECEPT which is located on the back page of each issue.
These newsletters will be printed on both sides of an 8-1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper, stapled in the top left corner, and folded in two for mailing. I have found that a 1-1/2 by 2-3/4 inch adhesive label is perfect for holding the edges of the newsletter closed for mailing. This morning I sent out the first copies to some men in prison, and I found that the cost of mailing was approximately half of what it had been costing me to print pages and stuff them in a 6 by 9 inch envelope.
The PARABLES PRECEPT located on the back of each issue is a new writing which I have created for these mailings. Each one contains some short teaching on a topic related to better understanding the Bible, with the aim of equipping the saints to be skillful in their study of the Scriptures. The first 20 or more issues, will have a PARABLES PRECEPT that looks at the Hebrew Alphabet, specifically the Paleo-Hebrew, which is the earliest known form of written Hebrew. I have been blessed to study this subject recently through several books authored by Jeff Benner who has a website called the Ancient Hebrew Research Center.
http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/
The interior of each newsletter will contain chapters from the 14 books I have written, plus a select number of other teachings.
The Father sent me the resources necessary to purchase a new printer that does duplexing (printing on both sides of the page), and also to purchase Microsoft Publisher to create the newsletter. However, I do not anticipate doing all the mailing myself.
I believe the Spirit is leading me to create this series, and to post every issue in PDF format on the Heart4God website. This will make the material freely available for all the saints who are so led, to print them out, address them, and mail them to inmates, or individuals outside of prisons, whom they believe would profit by receiving them. I am creating them in an ordered series, starting with Issue 1.1.1, which is designed to lay a foundation in elementary teachings of Christ’s kingdom before moving on to more advanced subjects.
Having created the format for the newsletter, I spent some time praying and inquiring of the Father whether this was truly a work in which He wanted me to spend my time. I knew it would require several weeks of work at the minimum to convert the many books and teachings I have authored into this format. I wanted to be assured that it was the Father’s will that I spend my time employed in this labor. I asked Him to confirm His will for me.
I prayed this Sunday night, and each of the next three days I received a letter in the mail from a man in a different prison, asking me to please send them some teachings that they could study while locked behind bars. The Spirit used these three witnesses to confirm to me that this is a labor He has appointed to me. I have considered confirmation to be very much like the sign Paul received when he saw the vision of the man from Macedonia entreating him to come and proclaim the gospel to them. By two or three witnesses, let all things be confirmed.
I have received some requests from people asking that I make the teachings on the Internet available in a form more conducive for printing that they might read them offline, and share them with others. The PARABLES BOOKSHELF will also serve to answer this desire.
If you are unfamiliar with PDF format, PDF stands for Portable Document Format, and anyone, anywhere who has a PDF reader can open the documents, read them, or print them out. The PDF reader comes included with most operating systems and Internet browsers today. It can also be freely downloaded from the internet.
http://get.adobe.com/reader/
I encourage you to seek the Father to know if He might have you to use this new resource to reach out to others. Ask the Father to lead you to those whose hearts are open to receive instruction in the things of the Kingdom. Perhaps He would lead you to begin sending the PARABLES BOOKSHELF to people in prison. There are many ways to make connections with people who are hungry for the word of God. Let the Spirit of Christ lead you.
I intend to spend the next few weeks focused primarily working on the PARABLES BOOKSHELF, and I hope to begin having them posted soon on the Heart4God website. I will let you know when they are available.
Please join me in praying for this work, and for those whom God has appointed to receive these things. I have been praying that Yahweh might fill me with not only His thoughts toward those in detention, but also to have His heart, and to experience His emotion for them. He has truly been answering this prayer, and I have been writing as if to one of my own family members who is dear to me.
If you would like to receive the first issue in PDF form via e-mail to see if you are able to print it out, send me an e-mail response simply asking for the PARABLES BOOKSHELF. I will send you an e-mail with the document attached.
May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.
Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com
Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063
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