Mike Cooper: reflecting on 20 years in prison ministry

Whit's End: Real People, Hard Questions

Mike Cooper recently retired from working as a chaplain in the federal prison system for 20 years. He is a husband to Denese, a father to 5 grown children, and grandpa to two grandkids.

Mike is a gifted storyteller and has a legacy of ministry that challenges us to consider how we spend our time and where we invest our heart. This interview pushes us to think differently about how we view men and women in the prison system and provides insight into just how powerfully God works in lives and places we may think of as beyond hope.

Are we looking at everyone we encounter with a gospel lens? Join me and Tim in an episode I believe will profoundly mark you.

We pick up the conversation where I admit I first reached out to Mike because I knew next to nothing about what goes on in correctional facilities and the prison ministry I’d heard about for ages.

Memorable Quotes:

• “My plans are most of the time thwarted by God’s plans, thankfully. He saw something different.”

• “It was that moment when I realized that my knowledge of the Word and my memorization of God’s Word said was lacking. And he challenged me.”

• “There are two groups of people that are very similar, and that is teenagers and folks that know how to con people. They know when someone is true, they know when someone is legitimate, they see that they’re sincere.”

• “I don’t call him Juan the embezzler, John the whatever…listen, you are a man made in the image of God, you are a woman made in the image of God, and I’m focused on what God is going to do in your life right now to get you to where God wants you to be.”

• “I never had a chance to do what was right because I didn’t know that was wrong" (quoting an inmate)

• “I do know in my own life that there are times when His love and His mercy for me isn’t the encouraging word but it’s actually the hard word and discipline. There is something to the truth that God disciplines the son He loves.”

• “I can’t tell you how many times are heard from the men and women that were incarcerated - ‘prison was the very best thing that ever happened to me, and the reason is I would probably be dead if I continued on the path I was on, so God’s grace removed me from that terrible situation I was in and allowed me to be able to hear as crystal clear as I’ve ever heard in my life, the gospel.’”

Show Notes/References:

• 1 Thessalonians 2:8, “so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.”

• Hebrews 12:6, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives.”

• Hebrews 12:11, “For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”