Perspectives on Prisons

Last week (Mon 15 Nov to Sat 21 Nov) was Prisons Week in the UK. I took the opportunity to head down to London for the HTB Prison Ministry Conference on Fri, which I attended at my own expense. As a Christian who will be returning to Singapore to work for the Singapore Prison Service after I graduate, it was a timely reminder of the importance of prison work, both professionally and personally.

Incidentally, OCF London were having their annual retreat over the weekend. Since I was already in London and knew some friends who were going for the retreat, I decided to join them. It was great to have fellowship with some of the overseas Christians in London, many of whom are Singaporean. This is not coincidence, but providence!

The theme of the retreat was Faith Expressing Itself Through Love, taken from Galatians 5:6. There were 3 messages on Galatians 4, 5 and 6 - all of which, of course, follow from Galatians 3:21-25:

"Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law." - Galatians 3:21-25 (NIV)

On another note, John Piper recently blogged about his visit to Angola Prison in Angola, Louisiana (the largest state maximum security prison in the US) last Thu.

Links: More Perspectives on Prisons (27 Nov 09), Even More Perspectives on Prisons (30 Nov 09)