FREE SEMINAR
FREE SEMINAR

Category: Uncategorized

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!

Canaan Community Church (C&MA) hosted a Go & Tell Ministries weekend.

I was blessed to return to Canaan Community Church in Coatesville, IN, to teach the Go & Tell Evangelism Workshop and to preach at their Sunday morning worship service recently. I was encouraged by their response, and I wanted to post two testimonials from the weekend. Please click these links to hear their thoughts about the Go & Tell Evangelism Workshop. Steve’s testimonial: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qw9t4gyJkqI Pastor Kevin’s testimonial: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8OtoJrjujx0

Go & Tell poem

I thought you would like this. I just received this poem from John Jackson…he attends my home church, Alliance Community Church. He wrote this poem for GO & TELL Ministries. It’s called Go & Tell. The world needs the FATHER, SON, and HOLY SPIRIT.How will they know unless they hear it?The Great Commission is for the Chosen.We were never called to be the Frozen!Millions everywhere need to be reached.The Gospel message must be preached.Only JESUS CHRIST can save the lost.Only HIS blood can cover the cost.It was never GOD’S will that any perish in Hell.We must stand up, step up…and Go & Tell!!!

Coffee Devo with Pastor Jim @ Northwestern University

Coffee Devo with Go & Tell Ministries by Pastor Jim Halstead from Daniel Chapter 6. Daniel 6:10, “Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” Daniel 6:16, “So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” Daniel 6:19-20, “At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den.20  When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZZP2WB7BLnY

Bott Radio Interview

Pastor Jim Halstead was interviewed by Bott Radio (Friday, September 16, 2022) to share about Go & Tell Ministries and its upcoming events in the Allen County area. The interview was on the air on Thursday and Friday afternoons (September 22 & 23) at 3:45. Then it was on the air as the second part of the full program Saturday morning (September 24) at 10:30. All broadcasts were on 1090 AM and 93.7 FM.

Youth Worker on Fire YouTube Podcast

Doug Edwards wrote this introduction for the Youth Worker on Fire YouTube Podcast for Go & Tell: Jim Halstead started Go and Tell Ministries after working with students and discipling them for many years. Jim is a man who began life without a clue about who God is. A young man who did not grow up going to church. When I first met Jim, I had been five years into a student ministry that would end up being my most extended-term student ministry position. We would meet with youth pastors and volunteers as a district in the ministry department for the southeast and helped create one of three locations for Challenge 90 Evangelical Free Church of America. I recently learned that Jim would pray specifically for our student ministry and family for many years while he was located in Jacksonville, Florida, and I was in Central Florida. Jim has discipled so many students that are now adults, supporting him to help other workers do the same thing. Go and Tell Ministries: Jim’s story will inspire you to see beyond the next few weeks and months into your student ministry. Maybe even a glimpse far into your future and what staying around and investing more will look like on the other end of your life. Learn to Delight in God, declare the gospel, and disciple others to fulfill the great commission.

Delight in God by giving your best.

Mark 1:35 says, “very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus go tup, left his house and went off the solitary place, where He prayed.” Early in my faith in Jesus, I was encouraged to have a daily quiet time. To spend time daily with the Lord in prayer and Bible reading. My college pastor, Dave Faris, told me this great truth. Pastor Dave said: “Jim, it is just not enough to spend time with the Lord, but you want to give your best to Him.” Do you want to give your best to the Lord? To give your best in your Quiet Time, you need to ask yourself when you are at your best. Are you at your best in the morning, afternoon, or night? I’m a morning person, so every morning for years, I open my Bible to meet with Jesus. I read the Scriptures and pray like Jesus taught and modeled us. I want to ask you when you are at your best. Are you meeting with the Lord daily? To glorify God, we must delight in Him. If we delight in Him, we will go and tell. Watch the Coffee Devo by Go & Tell youtube link below:

 Hope EFCA Church in Onawa, Iowa hosted a Go & Tell Ministries Weekend.

It was so encouraging to reconnect with Pastor Stan from Hope EFCA. Here is a testimonial from Harold, who attended the Go & Tell Ministries events at Hope EFCA: “Pastor Jim Halsted spent two days with our church, presenting an evangelism workshop. It was an inspiring, convicting, and God-glorifying two days. He provided tools that I believe will better equip us to do the Lord’s work of presenting the gospel to others. Thanks, Jim!” If you would like to host a Go & Tell Ministries weekend at your church-please contact us. Click below to view Pastor Stan Johnson’s Youtube endorsement of the Go & Tell Ministries weekend at Hope EFCA. https://studio.youtube.com/video/wgU4RHUV1O8/edit