Dean sharing the gospel with prisoners in Nicaragua
There’s a story of a man who was in prison for a lengthy sentence. And over the years, the cellmates and guards noticed something peculiar. … that his cell was bare, without the normal posters, pictures and knickknacks that the other prisoners normally kept in their cells. When they asked him why that was, he answered, “This is not my home.”
In a similar way, we are aliens in the world in which we live. This is not our home. We are reminded of this in many places by the examples of those who have gone before us, and the Scriptures that make it clear.
And so it is that the idea of being an alien in today’s world is not always considered a negative but a positive concept. Consider the following Scriptures:
- Abraham left Ur and became an alien when he followed the Lord’s direction eventually reaching the land of Canaan. Hebrews 11:8 makes clear by faith he followed God’s leading even though “he didn’t even know where he was going.”
- Moses left Egypt when he fled to the land of Midian to escape Pharaoh’s wrath. And when he did return to Egypt, “he refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.” (Heb. 11:24)
The concept of being an alien in the N.T. is also confirmed by John. Jesus says in John 17:14-16:
“I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.”
Paul doubles down on the fact that we are aliens when he says in Philippians 3:20
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
And again, Peter reaffirms this when he says, in 1 Peter 2:11,
“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.”
In view of our standing in the world, we are instructed by Paul to
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
In closing, besides thanking you for your participation in our ministry, I thought you might like to see a poem created by the AI app called Copilot.
In the shadows of the cold and lonely cell,
where echoes of despair and whispers dwell,
He keeps his walls bare, no portraits grace,
for this prison’s confines aren’t his place.
No posters of lands he longs to see,
for in his heart, he knows he’s free.
This iron cage, a mere earthly blight,
cannot dim his soul’s eternal light.
His faith, his comfort, a shining guide,
in Christ alone, he does confide.
For this world, its pleasures and its woes,
a fleeting mirage, as eternity grows.
He looks beyond the bars that bind,
with visions of a home divine.
A paradise where joy and peace reside,
where angels sing and saints abide.
So, in the cell, he waits and prays,
for the heavenly dawn, the brightest days.
His spirit strong, his hope aflame,
In Christ’s embrace, he’ll find his name.
No pictures, no posters on the wall,
just the silent echoes of his call.
In grace alone, through faith, he’s found,
Christ’s precious gift, eternally bound.
In His cell, he waits, secure and bright,
salvation’s grace, his guiding light.
Warmly in Christ,
Dean
