Bøger af Kirk Blackard

Eighteen-year-old Keith Blackburn put his .25 caliber pistol to the side of Misty Wright's head and pulled the trigger. The bullet went through her gum, through her esophagus, and severed her carotid artery. He left her for dead. Keith was apprehended and charged with attempted murder. He denied everything, but was tried, convicted, and sentenced to twenty-one years in prison, largely on the basis of Misty's testimony. Misty was consumed by fear, hate, and vengeance; and suffered most of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Keith turned his life around and was released after nine years behind bars. He subsequently earned a Master of Divinity degree and became a prison chaplain in the Indiana prison system. Eighteen years after the shooting, Misty contacted him and forgave him. They have become friends and travel together around the country to jointly tell their story of crime, repentance, and forgiveness at churches, restorative justice conferences, in the media, and in other venues. They also work in programs to help victims of crime and prison inmates restore their broken lives. Face to Face: Our Story of Crime, Repentance, and Forgiveness tells their story, and in the process explores the intersection of repentance and forgiveness. It will appeal to all readers who enjoy an interesting read about hurt, struggle, and redemption. Its true story with all the conflict, emotion, and action of a good novel will appeal to readers of non-fiction and fiction alike.

An old proverb holds that "It takes a village to raise a child." This is a powerful reminder that human beings are not islands. We all need a community of loved ones to help us weather the storms of life. This is particularly true of those who have violated the law and are incarcerated for their actions. They face a storm of problems, often with little hope of rescue. They need a village-parents, spouses, siblings, extended family, friends, and others-to help them deal with their problems, straighten out their lives, and stay out of prison in the future. Nurturing Peace helps you be that village. It builds on the power of faith and stories to help you help your incarcerated loved one change his or her life by dealing effectively with issues such responsibility, accountability, confession, repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation, and restitution.

Victims of brutal crimes, murder, rape, assault, severe spousal abuse, go each week into Texas prisons to meet with inmates who perpetrated such crimes against others. These unlikely communicants share their stories with one another and work through a biblical healing process. After twelve weeks, the victims have gained a measure of healing, and the inmates change, some to a modestly different view of life but many into new and different human beings who are much less likely to return to prison than other inmates. Amazingly, people in both groups go beyond their mistrust and fear to establish a bond of peace and love.These victims and inmates are brought together by the Bridges to Life restorative justice program, founded in 1998 to connect communities to prisons in an effort to reduce recidivism and effect a consequent reduction in crime. This program generates lessons that will bring peace to people who have hurt one another and need to make amends as well as inmates who are not able to participate in the actual experience. Restoring Peace: Using Lessons from Prison to Mend Broken Relationships shares this healing message. This unique book uses stories from the Bible, victims, and inmates to present a faith based journey of peace involving responsibility accountability, confession, repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation, and restitution. It speaks in simple, clear language, and each chapter ends with a "Personal Application" section comprised of a series of probing questions that will help readers apply the lessons from prison to their own lives.