The following letter to cancer was written by an inmate and submitted to Fortress of Hope. As families of prisoners, we pray for healing and good health for our incarcerated loved ones and ourselves. If you or a loved one is fighting cancer, I pray the following letter encourages you to keep fighting the good fight of faith (see 1 Tim 6:12). This inmate held onto his faith in Christ, followed the doctor’s treatment plan, and is now in remission.…
For every month with 31 days, let us unite together and worship the Lord by lifting up praise—in our private times, in our work places, with our families and friends, and on social media. I use the book by Ruth Myers called 31 Days of Praise: Enjoying God Anew. I encourage you to order one from your favorite online book retailer or visit your local Christian book store. This book contains 31 daily prayers of praise based on Scripture. Of…
In a previous blog post, Freedom from Despair, I shared how we can fall into despair if we expect to have a fair life. Sadly, life is not fair. For families of inmates, we expect our loved ones to receive a fair trial, and when that does not happen, it has the potential to lead us into despair. In Acts 16, when Paul and Silas were wrongfully convicted and thrown into prison, how did they respond? Paul and Silas did…
What is the best weapon in your arsenal when the enemy comes against you? Daily we face battles from the enemy. We may be force to deal with health issues, financial issues, family issues, friend issues, job issues, and so on. But we must remember that any of the people involved in the conflict is NOT our enemy. The real battle is in the spiritual realm, not in this physical realm. Ephesians 6: 12 (NKJV) explains to us, “For we do…
Life has its ups and downs. We go through good times and bad times. Some times are really bad times. Those mind-bending, I can’t believe this nightmare is happening to me, this is the kind of stuff movies are made of type of bad times. Other times seem bad in the moment, but in retrospect we can say it wasn’t so bad. If most of you are like me, my initial response when bad times hit is to begin to…
God gave us the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. He was born of a virgin and lived a life without sin. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we can become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21). After growing up, Jesus suffered and paid the debt for sin that we cannot pay. He became our substitute, which gives us eternal life with God the Father. That, my friend, is…
With the holiday season quickly approaching, many families with incarcerated loved ones begin to experience the tug of negative emotions. The empty place at the table and in family pictures is a reminder of not only who is missing but why. When we turn to the word of God, we find many comforting passages that remind us that we have hope in Him. “The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusts in Him and I am helped:…
When life crashes around us, the last thing we feel like doing is singing a “hallelujah” chorus. The problems drain our energy—physically, emotionally, and mentally. That is when we must refill ourselves with the presence of God. No matter where you are on your walk with the Lord, whether a new believer or if you are a seasoned veteran, if we’re not continually refilling ourselves with the Lord presence, we become weakened vessels. One of the most powerful forms of…