Coffee Devo with Go & Tell Ministries by Pastor Jim
I recently taught a Go & Tell Ministries weekend in South Bend, Indiana. I had a free afternoon and toured the Notre Dame University campus. I filmed a short Coffee Devo on 1 Samuel 23:16 (NIV) “And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God.
Go & Tell Evangelism Workshop testimonial
Hillside Missionary Church (MCUSA) from South Bend, Indiana, recently hosted a Go & Tell Ministries. Here is one of the participant’s testimonials about the Go & Tell Evangelism Workshop.
Go & Tell Ministries April Newsletter
Thanks for your partnership with Go & Tell! Go & Tell February April newsletter. We are so grateful for your financial support and prayers for the ministry as we seek to equip the church to “Share the gospel and make disciples!” https://mailchi.mp/goandtellministries/go-tell-ministries-april-2023-newsletter-15346079
Who discipled you?
In the forward on the Great Commission Study participant and facilitator book, I wrote a thank you note to Pastor Dave….”The pastor who discipled me.” I spent the night with Dave at his home in South Carolina, and we visited over pizza on National Pizza Day! That seemed appropriate since I developed a great love for pizza while I was a student at Indiana University and attended his church (Evangelical Community Church, Bloomington, Indiana). My Great Commission Study video series has seven videos (each 20-25 minutes) and a Facilitator and Participant book. This video series has Pastor Dave’s fingerprint throughout the materials. I am so grateful to have sat under his leadership and to count him as one of my best friends. I asked Dave to share some wisdom for those seeking to follow Jesus. Please watch his comments at:
Go & Tell Ministries March Newsletter
Thanks for your partnership with Go & Tell! Go & Tell February March newsletter. We are so grateful for your financial support and prayers for the ministry as we seek to equip the church to “Share the gospel and make disciples!” https://mailchi.mp/goandtellministries/go-tell-ministries-march-2023-newsletter-15117883
On Mary Poppins and Finding our Song
As a child, one of my favorite movies was Mary Poppins. Mary Poppins is the most award-winning movie of all time and a timeless classic. The movie Saving Mr. Banks is about the making of Mary Poppins. Saving Mr. Banks focuses on P.L. Travers, author of the Mary Poppins children’s novel. It is the story of the author’s battles with Walt Disney, who wants the rights to a feature-length movie. Walt Disney said he decided many years ago to make Mary Poppins into a feature-length film. He promised his girls he would make a movie from P. L. Traver’s book! Walt Disney was desperate to bring the story to film, but the author was against giving Disney the rights to make a movie out of it. Why? Because a lot of the book comes from her life experiences growing up. She had a father she loved who was an alcoholic, as well as an aunt who came to help him. This helping aunt became Mary Poppins. The author had a complex family background. For over 20 years, Walt Disney pursued the rights to make the book into a movie, culminating with flying Travers to Los Angeles to begin working on the project. Saving Mr. Banks shows that many writers use personal stories from their life, stories that are part of them. It was hard for Travers, as she had invested so much in Mary Poppins, so much of herself in the story. The film slowly reveals how Traver’s childhood and her father became part of her writing and the themes of her books. In the same way, our lives become the stories in which we proclaim the daily testimony of how Jesus impacts our life. The power of our lives is found in understanding how Jesus impacts our lives daily for His glory. Our testimonies of Jesus not only greatly influence others for the Kingdom of God for His glory, but they also significantly affect overcoming the enemy. Revelation 12:11 says believers “triumphed over [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” Notice the “word” of their testimony, meaning these triumphant ones spoke verbally, without shame or fear. Some believe Christians should not verbalize their testimony but live it out daily. But it’s not an either-or proposition. Living the gospel message is essential, but it’s no more important than our verbal testimony since God has chosen “hearing” the Word to produce faith (Romans 10:17). A Christian who wants to live his life as a testimony to Jesus will love God above all else and love others above himself. When a believer shares what Jesus has done in his life and serves God and others in tangible ways, he will increasingly reflect the life-giving power of Christ into a dark and evil world. All believers are forgiven and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb (1 Peter 1:18–19). A believer’s testimony also assists in conquering the evil one, and he cannot defeat us if we resolutely confess our faith in Jesus. You are a living witness if you have experienced Jesus’ forgiveness and been born again. Are you enthusiastic about sharing the testimony of Jesus with those around you? As we would tell others about a doctor who cured a physical disease, we should speak about Christ, who forgives our sins and lives within us. And by the Word of their testimony – the faithful testimony they bore to the truth. They declared their belief in Jesus and shared how Jesus has changed—and is changing—their lives. It was by this that they overcame the great enemy. We are called to be like the man in the gospel of Mark who continually told others what the Lord has done and is doing in his life. In Mark 5:19-20 it says: “Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you. So, the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.” We overcome the enemy when we hold to the testimony of Jesus in our lives and share it with others. I was having lunch with some close friends after a Go & Tell Ministries weekend at a church in Indianapolis. We began to share the stories of Jesus in our lives when Jayna shared a word of her testimony with me. It was powerful and such an encouragement to me. Jayna shared this testimony with me: I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home and gave my life to Jesus when I was about 6 or 7. I am thankful that God gave me that opportunity so early in life, but through the years, I’ve felt like I didn’t have a powerful enough testimony to share how I came to faith in Jesus. Over the years, I have heard several people giving their testimonies of how God miraculously saved them from abuse, addictions, suicide, miraculous healings, etc. I thought their testimonies were so powerful because there was a sudden change in their lives that they and others could easily see. And as I listened, I secretly wished I had a testimony worth sharing, something powerful that would impact others and draw them to Christ so I could feel like my life meant something, like I had a purpose. Then almost as soon as I had that thought, I heard a gentle voice saying, “You know, you have to have a test to have a testimony.” Wow! I knew that wasn’t my thought and began to think maybe not having much of testimony was ok; as long as I was saved, perhaps it didn’t matter. I felt like I’d had enough hard things in life to at least be able to empathize with others, so maybe I could be used that way? Well, God had other plans! A few months or so later, Covid
February Go & Tell Newsletter
Thanks for your partnership with Go & Tell! Go & Tell February February newsletter. We are so grateful for you financial support and prayers for the ministry as we seek to equip the church to: Share the gospel and make disciples!!!https://mailchi.mp/goandtellministries/go-tell-ministries-february-2023-newsletter-15110915
Go & Tell Evangelism Workshop Testimonial
I had a wonderful Go & Tell Ministries weekend at Hope C&MA in Indianapolis this weekend. Preaching at their Sunday morning worship service is always a blessing and honor. Pastor Kyle was excited to not only host the Go & Tell Ministries weekend, but they will also start the Great Commission Study video series in their church in a few weeks. Click on the link to hear Pastor Brian’s testimonial.
Go & Tell Evangelism Workshop Testimonial
It was a privilege to have you at Bentheim. I thought you did an outstanding job teaching and connecting with the class. Your personal stories really bring it to life! Blessings on your ministry!Pastor Paul from Bentheim Reformed Church (ARC)
January 2023 Newsletter for Go & Tell Ministries
We are so grateful for your support for Go & Tell Ministries. Please click on this link to read our January 2023 Newsletter. 2 Corinthians 1:11“as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.” https://mailchi.mp/goandtellministries/go-tell-ministries-january-2023-newsletter-14412779
The Saving Name of Jesus in a Jail Cell
I came home after a long day and was ready for a nice dinner with my wife (Kristi). She greeted me warmly and said dinner would be ready soon. I sat in my favorite recliner and turned on the local news broadcast. I suddenly sat up and sighed out loud, “Oh my!” Kristi heard my sigh from the kitchen and came in and asked what had happened. I just pointed to the television screen and said, “That was my former student, *Jeremy” (*name changed for confidentiality; I have his permission to share his story). The news broadcast showed his picture and told the sad story. A young man had been arrested for fatally striking a pedestrian with his car while she walked on a portion of the city-wide trail. After the news story ended, we joined hands and prayed for the victim’s family and for Jeremy. When I finished praying, Kristi looked up at me and said, “You are already planning to go to the jail to visit and share the gospel with him, aren’t you?” I nodded in affirmation and thought back to the last time I saw Jeremy. I have taught special education off and for 10 years (before, during, and in between pastoring several churches). I was Jeremy’s elementary special education teacher while he was in 2nd through 5th grade. I spent a lot of time with him, teaching him social skills, de-escalation strategies, and sharing this saying: “The choices I make are the choices that make me.” The last time I saw Jeremy was at the end of his 5th grade school year. His mother called me when he graduated high school to thank me for my impact on his life and to have Jeremy thank me. I remembered that I had prayed for him daily when I was his special education teacher. All those prayers and the compassion I had for this little boy, who was now a man, welled up in my heart. I thought of a passage of Scripture that talked of Jesus’ compassion for the multitude in Matthew 9:35-38, “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” When Jesus saw these multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them. Jesus saw the harassed and helpless people as sheep having no shepherd. The word “harassed” can also mean troubled, bewildered, or despondent. The word for “helpless” is also “prostrate” or “thrown to the ground.” The two words are near-synonyms that stress man’s helplessness without God. Jesus looked at the crowds following him and referred to them as a field ripe for harvest, but the laborers to bring in the harvest are few. Jesus commanded His disciples to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers. These laborers must warn people of coming judgment, call them to repentance, and place their faith in Jesus Christ. Many people are ready to give their lives to Christ if someone shows them how. We are to pray that people will respond to this need for workers. When we pray for something, God often answers our prayers by using us. I knew the Lord had prepared me to go and tell Jeremy the gospel of Jesus Christ. Since Covid, many local jails have canceled in-person visits and now only allow kiosk or Zoom visits. Our local jail had just begun to let clergy make in-person visits. I called and set up an appointment to meet Jeremy on a Friday afternoon. I walked into the jail and gave them my ID and personal belongings. The corrections staff led me back to the visitation wing. I sat and patiently waited in my glass portion cubicle to visit my former student (age 24), who I had not seen in over a decade. I sat down and wondered if he would even remember me. The guard escorted him into the room, and Jeremy stared at me for a few seconds. (He later told me he was expecting to see his Public Defender). He then had a big smile and said, “Mr. H, is that you?” I replied, “Hi Jeremy, yes, it is Mr. H. I have a few more gray hairs than the last time you saw me in elementary school.” We sat down and started to get reacquainted. I shared about my family, my ministry, and how I had retired from teaching a year ago. I heard his story of hardship and helplessness over the past several years since he graduated from high school. He had been working different temp jobs and struggling to make life work. He had several misdemeanors and other charges and was trying to get his life together when this tragedy happened. He was living in his car with his girlfriend at the time of the accident. Soon after, he found out his girlfriend was pregnant, and now he is a dad. I asked him about his church background, and he said he seldom attended. I asked him some spiritual questions, and we started talking about his situation and the gospel of Jesus. I asked him if he remembered the saying I had in my classroom when he was in elementary school. I started it by saying, “The choices I make…” and he finished it by saying, “…are the choices that make me.” I told him he could not change the past but could choose to change his future. I shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with him. I quoted Joshua 24:15, which says: “…then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” I asked him if he wanted to repent of his sins and choose
Pray until the Lord is done.
Coffee Devo with Go & Tell Ministries. I read Genesis 18:33 about how the Lord appeared to Abraham and shared how He would judge the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham pleaded for mercy on that group of people. At the close of that chapter, Genesis 18:33 says this: “When the Lord has finished speaking with Abraham, He left, and Abraham returned home.” What struck me in that passage was that conversation didn’t end when Abraham was done but ended when the Lord was done. I realized that often in my prayer walk with the Lord, I had finished way too early. I finished the conversation when I was done with my request, but I didn’t wait until the Lord dismissed me. May we pray to the Lord and not quit too early but wait until the Lord has finished a conversation with us, and then we go home. May we go and tell!