At the Federal Transfer Center on Sunday God blessed us as we worshiped. The Federal Transfer Center is a holding prison.  All of the prisoners there are on their way somewhere else.  They are either awaiting sentencing or being moved to a different facility for some reason.  About 14 women showed up for church on Sunday.

Church is held in a tiny room that was actually originally a TV room.  It can be quite clostrophobic, in fact if you had the mildest case you could not stand to be in that room.  But we pack in there for church.  I just go as a substitute when one of the regular leaders has to be gone.

We sang and had Bible study and prayed. After everybody left a young woman came back in to the little room. I was busy putting the Bibles and songbooks back on our cart. “Can I ask you something?” she said.

“Sure.”

“How do I get saved?”

We knelt down in the corner and her tears of repentance splattered on the concrete floor.  I felt like I was driving ChittyChitty Bang Bang all the way home! So the doxology is appropriate, Praise God from whom all blessings flow. What a lovely Lord, is He who loves prisoners and poor people and sinful folks like me.

Merry Christmas! (Notice I did NOT say Happy Holidays.) I am on my own personal, even though not really original, mission to put Christ back in Christmas. There are no words for the fact that the people who benefit most from this holiday, (merchants and Hollywood), are the ones who have decided to make it generic for us! I promise you, if Christians started telling these stores that we were not buying any more gifts from them because of their secularization of Christmas, or going to see their “Christmas movies” they would all turn on a dime. But really. It gets down to the fact that we should be focusing on Jesus so much that what the stores do would be immaterial. I am telling them all “Merry Christmas” after they wish me Happy Holidays.

My favorite verse for Christmas time is Isaiah 9:6. I learned this verse many years ago while teaching sixth grade Sunday School. It was our memory passage for December and I learned it with the kids.

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.