What people experience during those three days
When Nancy and I go into a prison we are supported by our many faithful prayer partners and we see and feel the impact of their prayers. Our supporters allow us to supply each prison (at no profit) with at least 20 books for their dorm libraries and a workbook for each person who takes the course. Those who finish the course receive a certificate of completion that is respected by court judges and the probation system.
The premise of this course is that God’s love is the answer to human anger. In the Bible, God compares His anger with His love. He is slow to anger and abounds in love. Experiencing the love of God is the key. During those three days. Nancy and I pray and commit ourselves to demonstrate and model God’s love and forgiveness the best we can. We treat each person with dignity and respect. We care for them and look at each one in the eye. We relax and have fun and take long breaks to mingle and get to know them. We hear their story and pray for many of them and build a positive relationship within the boundaries of TDCJ requirements.
God’s love makes His wisdom exclusive and elite. Understanding the love of God is essential to reasoning with God’s wisdom. All eyes are on Him. His infinite knowledge, strong character, patience, and compassion are the centerpiece of the study. We lead them to personally receive God’s love and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. This provides the foundation for change. Only when they experience the love of God, can they love God in return. For “we love Him because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19.
Early on, we seek to answer some common misconceptions about God’s temperament because so many use those misconceptions to support their anger. For example, many justify their anger because they view God as an angry and wrathful God. If God lashes back, then we can, too. But this is not what the Bible teaches and we clear this and many other false assumptions about God by looking at the intentional small print in the Biblical text. Many are surprised to discover there are clearly defined truths about God’s wrath and judgment. We learn the wisdom of God’s judgments and why God’s wrath is rarely demonstrated throughout history. The Bible is explicit that God withholds His wrath until the great day of wrath and the Great White Throne Judgment. Until then, God is committed to reaching men with His goodness, longsuffering, and unconditional love.
This study seeks to convince men of God’s goodness and that He overcomes evil with good. He intervenes in judgment only when men’s iniquities are full and God declares them to be ripe for judgment, not when we think they are ripe. In most instances, God allows great evils in each generation so men can see the fruit of those beliefs and ideologies that support such iniquities. If He destroyed evil men then who could stand before God. When we understand God’s love and respect for us, then we are willing to trust him and show Him respect. We believe that love and respect for God is the beginning of life-change.
We argue that human anger, when carried out, is never righteous. Only God’s anger can be righteous because only He can perfectly carry it out. This truth is clearly supported throughout scripture. Though God respects our anger and it can begin for righteous reasons, human anger leads to “unrighteous” behavior. God calls us to understand the destructive path of our anger and how the expression of anger allows our human condition to worsen. It is God’s love that inspires men to relent from doing harm to their perpetrators. Yes, the law is God’s avenger of wrath and its punishments are vital to safeguard humanity and fetter the inherent evils of society. Yes, honest self-defense is never condemned in the Bible; and yes, people do reap what they sow; and yes, God does intervene particularly in the agendas of violent and threatening men. But, He is careful to instruct His people to be humble and patient in the face of their perpetrators, to relent of their vengeful attitude, and to overcome evil with good. God does use sarcasm but is never hateful, rude, or disrespectful to the perpetrator. It is for God and our laws, not individuals to punish the guilty. In His own words, God declares: “The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love, forgiving sin and rebellion… Numbers 14:18
‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’ Ezekiel 33:11
This compelling theological approach clarifies God’s goodness and concern for all men. God pleads with men to accept His mercy and TURN, redirecting them onto His wise path with a promise of a better future. This renewed faith produces personal initiative that carries them forward. At this point, the study moves from theory to practice, from doctrine to doing. God’s Word is robust with scripture that dictates trustworthy steps of practical application. God has much to counsel regarding the management of our emotions and we have much to obey. His wise counsel throughout the scriptures is powerfully convincing.
Below is the content of this extensive study:
