MY PPT TALKING NOTES FOR GN CONFERENCE

Talking Notes

As we minister to the inmate culture and counsel them from the Scriptures, we are well aware that when individuals come into our facilities, they bring criminal thinking patterns, unresolved trauma, destructive habits and very poor coping skills in with them.  These are counseling issues for us as chaplains. Not in a certified way, but in a biblical way. Anytime we open God’ Word to teach and instruct others we are giving biblical counsel to them.

In their book The Pastor and Counseling, Pierre and Deepak have this to say…

“Counseling in its simplest form, is one person seeking to walk alongside another person who has lost his or her way”.

Needless to say, we minister to a people group who have lost their way. And we are seeking to walk along side them, to help them where they need help.

 Now To do this well, it is important that we understand some things about them from the standpoint of their incarceration.    

We use a resource tool in our facility that breaks down an inmate’s incarceration experience into 6 categories, using the letters in the word CRIMES as an acronym. These categories give us a good frame of reference for when we counsel. They bring awareness and help with the assessments that we make  

In fact, my experience is that that the majority of counseling issues that come up in my 1:1’s come from one or more of these categories. Maybe you can resonate with them.

 The first category is called CHARGES. When a person has been arrested and come into custody experience court delays, plea deals, bond issues, sentencing and many unknows. They experience media exposure, the police reports, and profiling that may go on. They bring these concerns with them into our 1”1’s

They have RELATIONSHIPS in and outside of the jail that concern them. They have family and children, that they have disappointed. Jailers that can make their life difficult.   They may have problems with their cellmates, and get upset when their attorney isn’t doing his job from their perspective anyone.

NCARCERATION can bring issues of safety that include bullying and manipulation, difficulty sleeping, loud noise and bring lights. Many have health issues, rotting teeth from meth, bodies that haven’t been taking care. The way of the transgressor is hard and they are finding that to be true. They share these things with us.  

The MENTAL HEALTH category reminds us that many of the men and women have been clinical diagnosed with a disorder of some kind. As chaplains we are not stepping into the mental health role, but there are biblical issues that fall into this category that we can and should be addressing, issues like anger, addiction depression, trauma, shame, grief, anxiety and fear.   

RE- ENTRY Being homeless and going back on the streets is a concern for many. They know that if they go back on the streets and start hanging around their using friends that they will relapse and be back behind bars.  

Last but not least, there is SPIRITUAL category.  Many of the men and women we see have been worshipping false gods that have failed, some are skeptical. Some are angry at God. Many feel hopeless and are ready to give up.

SLIDE 2

These are the types of things that the men and women are dealing with when they meet with us. They are often looking for, something they can hang on to, something that will give them hope.

And we know that something is actually Someone, and His name is Jesus. The all merciful, all-glorious, all sufficient Christ.  Ultimately that’s where we need to go with them because he is the only one who can change them and the trajectory of their life. They need to believe in Him, then they need to grow in him, and dig their roots deeply into Him as the source of their life, their joy and satisfaction.

So where do we start…and the answer is we start where they are at. We start with what they bring to the table.

The list at the top of the screen is a list of 14 biblical themes that are often used to address the issues or concerns that a person has. They have bread and butter texts and biblical stories under each one that can be useful when ministering God’s Word to a person. Not in a surfacy way.

The categories are: Anger, Assurance, Authority (Civil) discipline, Endurance, Faith /Trust, Forgiveness, Gospel, Hope, New Identify, Idolatry, Providence, Repentance, Temptation, Trials/Suffering, Worry/Anxiety.  The Cross, Theology (category.

THIRD SLIDE

This last slide gives a short-term structured approach for counseling inmates.

It is called short term because most of us have more people to see than what we have time to see them. And so we’re being challenged that way, and keeping the following goals in mind could help us to make the best use of our time. I’ll state them briefly, give an example and then be done.

1. ESTABLISH A RELATIONAL CONNECTION

2. EXPLORE THEIR CONCERN-  Their reason for wanting to meet with us. Let them  set the agenda for the meeting, then listen carefully to what they say, asking questions for clarification as you need to.

If you listen carefully enough you might hear more than what a person is trying to tell you, You may heart what his heart is telling you about what important to him, what he values, what the deeper issues of his heart are, and what needs to be addressed there.   

3. DISPLAY HOPE by taking people seriously, and by applying God’s Word to their concern. It is through endurance and the encouragement of Scriptures that we have hope. Romans 15:4

4. SET EXPECTATIONS. Give them homework;  something they can do on their own after the meeting to reinforce what you talked about with them.

I’ll close with this example that will hopefully tie this together.

Jim comes into your one on one. You visit briefly then ask him How you can help him. Jim tells you that they’re having some conflict in his block and he feels the need to do something about it. You probe a little more and discover that Jim is at the center of the conflict with another guy.  Now it might be tempting at this point to give him a few verses on how to resolve conflict and be a peacemaker. But you decide to dig a little deeper, because Jim brings more to the table than the issue you’re discussing, he has a heart that he brings to the table, and as you listen more closely, you actually hear more than what Jim has been trying to tell you. You discover that Jim has a desire to control others which is being fueled by his pride and a lack of trust in God which has been a problem throughout his adult life. In a way he’s been trying to play God in his life. And so you give him a few pointers on resolving Christ, but your also want to address his heart issues. And so you show him from God’s Word verses about God’s sovereignty and how he rules and reigns over everything including the problem he is having in his block.    You assign him scripture that he can read over and meditate on. You might even assign a couple of chapters from Jerry Bridges Book Can You Really Trust God and to come prepared to discuss those chapters next time you meet. You ask him to answer the question “What makes it so hard for you to trust God in your life”.  And what you’ve done is you’ve moved beyond the presenting problem to the issues of his heart where real change takes place.