Paul Carlin knows prison ministries. For 25 years, Carlin, a retired prison chaplain, shared with prison inmates in Texas the difference Christ can make in their lives.
And during the second Alabama Prison Ministry Conference Sept. 28-29 at the Cathedral of the Cross church in Birmingham, Carlin shared his insights on prison ministries.
Carlin said when he first began his ministry with prisoners many of his friends called it a waste of time. Similarly, he said many churches believe putting money into prison ministries is a waste.
But, in an often tearful testimony, Carlin shared success stories and encouraged those involved in prison ministry.
“For 25 years, my wife and I have been going to citadels of sin,” he said, noting the facilities they visited looked and smelled like prisons. But when praise broke out, “the whole place is filled with the gratitude of love.”
One inmate Carlin worked with for seven years is now married and has a home and a thriving business. “He’s on his way to becoming a rich man,” Carlin said.
Another inmate, who is now out of prison, and his wife make Christ a priority in their lives, Carlin noted. “They even have a prayer room in their home.”
It is those testimonies Carlin said individuals involved with prison ministry should remember when confronted by skeptics.
Not a waste of time
“How could anyone tell me, ‘You wasted your time?’ “ Carlin asked. “Don’t ever think it doesn’t count,” he said. “It’s not a waste as long as it’s done through Jesus.
“The Bible teaches that there is something that precedes thought and precedes feeling and precedes behavior,” Carlin said. “And that something is what a person actually believes.”
“In order for people to change, you do not work on their behavior, you do not work on what they think. According to the Word of God, you work on what they believe,” he said.
They veteran of prison ministry argued against other methods that attempt to rehabilitate prisoners.
Carlin said secular humanists espouse the belief that for prisoners to change, they have to alter their behavior. “There is a method for doing that, it’s called behavior modification,” he said.
The problem with that theory, Carlin said, is that the studies were done using animals. He added another problem with behavior modification is that it is often not permanent.
“Folks, let me tell you something, what’s wrong with that is anybody can change for a little while- anybody,” he said.
Another theory that he said falls short is working on inmates’ feelings. Carlin said psychologists believe that by expressing negative and suppressed feelings, people can deal with what is hurting them.
“And those feelings need to be changed, need to be transformed and you are the only who can change on those feelings,” Carlin said. “That may be a legitimate scientific approach, but it is not biblical.”
But what an individual believes, with prison ministries striving to implement a biblical view, is what Carlin said sets them free.
“In building and developing prisoners of hope, we don’t concentrate on how they feel or how they’re doing, but what they believe.”
Share with others: