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Category: Youtube

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:

Ancient Path Disciple Making

I was blessed to develop a friendship with Joel Zabrorowski when we went to Israel with Sonlife in 2017. Since then, our friendship has grown, and I have been blessed to teach the Go & Tell Evangelism Workshop and preach at Freedom Bible Church. Joel also founded the Ancient Path Disciple Making ministry. We are partnering together to make disciples who make disciples. Joel Zaborowski is an ordained pastor with the Evangelical Free Churches of America. He has served Christ for 32 years as a youth pastor, associate pastor, church planter (twice), senior pastor, and on the Board of Directors for the EFCA Northern Mountain District.  Joel currently pastors Freedom Bible Church (EFCA) in north central Ohio and serves on the Board of Directors for Montana Bible College in Bozeman, MT. He regularly partners with the Center for Indian Ministries and Chief ministries to equip Native American pastors and leaders and partners with JLife Africa to equip Tanzanian pastors and leaders.  We believe Jesus blazed a trail… an Ancient Path for his disciples to follow.  It is a pathway to making disciples, which He instructed His church to do. Joel and I are planning to partner to equip the church to share the gospel and make disciples. Ancient Path Disciple Making website at: https://www.ancientpathdm.org/

Thank Your Instructor

How does God go about calling and saving lost sinners? By using His disciples as they proclaim the power of the Gospel through His Word. Isaiah 55:10-11 says: “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” God’s Word is the seed that the disciple of Jesus sows into others. Just as the rain and snow are not wasted but somehow accomplish His purposes, God’s Word never fails. Rain and snow come from above and do not return to the heavens without accomplishing their intended purpose. God compares His Word to the rain and snow because God’s Word always fulfills His purposes. We never know how God will use even a simple word of witness to plant and water the seed in somebody’s heart. I recently received an email from Richard. I shared the Gospel with him around 1995, and I never heard his testimony until he sent this to me recently. His email reminded me of Galatians 6:6, which states: “Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.” I was blessed to hear his testimonial and encouraging words. He sent this to me: Hello Jim, this is Richard from Jacksonville. I wanted to send you a message to say thank you. In a recent church small group, we were encouraged to send a note to someone that shared the Gospel with us.  And I’m not sure if I have ever shared with you that you were the first to share the Gospel with me. It was at an FCA event at Fletcher High School. My sophomore year. At the time, I was going to play basketball and eat pizza. And remember thinking it was cool that a pastor would play basketball with us. You shared the Gospel with me when we sat down to eat pizza. It was the first time I had heard that God wanted to have a relationship with me. That night I did not raise my hand because I believed I was already going to heaven. But I remember talking to God and telling him that if I could have a relationship with Him, I wanted to have that. Only a few years later, I realized that was the first moment I accepted the Gospel and could see how God changed my heart and desires towards Him. And from that time, I sought more Christian fellowship and read my Bible to learn more about Jesus. I have shared this as my testimony and in my sermons for many years. I don’t know that you have ever heard that. So, I just wanted to thank you for being so faithful to share the gospel action and its words!” I wonder how many Christians share the power of the Gospel through the Word with others. According to a recent Christian Post article; not too many:  A recent poll finds that two-thirds of American Christians don’t know any methods for telling others about Jesus. Most American Christians want to share their faith. Still, only a minority have encouraged others to embrace Jesus Christ in the last six months. According to new data released by Lifeway Research, more than 6 in 10 believers don’t know any methods for telling others about their faith in Christ. However, 52% of Americans who identify as Christian believe that encouraging someone to change their religious beliefs is “offensive and disrespectful,” and 66% of Christians are not familiar with any “methods for telling others about Jesus.” The survey also revealed that 70% of Christians have not shared with others how to become a Christian in the past six months. Go & Tell Ministries exist to equip the church to share the Gospel and make disciples who make disciples. I always share at our Go & Tell Evangelism Workshop that believers take this class for two reasons: First, to learn how to tell others the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The second reason usually surprises people. They take the course because someone has told them the Gospel and they had repented and professed faith in Jesus. I then have everyone in the seminar share the first name of the person most responsible for sharing the Gospel with them.  I was truly blessed to receive Richard’s note of thanks for sharing the Gospel many years ago. God’s Word is true, and His Word will not return empty but achieve the purpose He has for it. Richard’s word of affirmation gave me a renewed passion for continuing to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others, trusting it will achieve His intended purpose and that He will use it for His glory.  Romans 10:17 says: “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”

Coffee Devo: ‘The Day of Salvation”

45 years ago today, I repented of my sins and professed faith in Jesus and became a child of God (John 1:12). Thank you, Jesus, for drawing me to You and being born again! John 3:3 “Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 2 Corinthians 6:2 “ 2 Corinthians 6:2 (NIV)“For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”

Roundtable Interview

The Roundtable is part of Life Church’s (Huntington, IN) ministry. At the Roundtable, “we continue the conversations from Sunday morning and how you can learn practical ways to help every person take their next steps towards Jesus…together.” I was blessed to be invited to join Mike and Jenny to discuss Evangelism and to share about Go & Tell Ministries.

Each One Reach One Broadcast

I really enjoyed talking with Christopher and Derimia on their Each One Reach One show this week. May the Lord is it to raise up workers for the harvest field (Matthew 9:35-38)

Jesus’ family thought He was crazy too!

I grew up in a loving, supportive, non-Christian family. I was told about the gospel of Jesus Christ through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes ministry while I was in high school. When I first the gospel of Jesus, I told my coach that they needed to write a book about this. He looked at me and said: “Jim, they did, and it is called the Bible.” I did not know.  I studied the Bible they gave me and attended church for a year to examine if what they told me was true. Afterward, I repented of my sins and professed in Jesus the summer before my senior year in high school. I was in love with Jesus and started attending church, bible studies, and growing in the disciplines of faith. I will never forget when my mom came into my room soon after my conversion. I was playing the only Christian album I could find-Tom Netherton singing the Gospel Hymns. Tom was a regular singer on the Lawrence Welk show. My mom entered my room and saw me on my knees singing a hymn with tears in my eyes. She left my room and told my father: “I understand him listening to rock and roll, but I don’t know what to do with him listening to Lawrence Welk.”  My parents thought I had joined some crazy cult that included the Lawrence Welk singers. I was not alone. It says in Mark 3:20-21: “Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind.’” Jesus’ family decided he had indeed gone out of his mind with this “Messiah stuff” and that they needed to take charge of him. Jesus’ family was concerned for him,  The family may be the most challenging place to witness Jesus. To be the first or only believing Christian may go against the family tradition. Our faith may come across as a criticism of how others have lived their lives. Our passion may be misunderstood and be overwhelming for others. Family members require the most patience, love, and grace. Remember that Christ’s family rejected and ridiculed him. Jesus knows what you face by trying to be a witness for him in your own family.  You see God’s heart for the family when you read the Bible. Jesus’s ministry was announced by Mary’s relative Elizabeth’s child: John the Baptist. We see that Andrew’s first thing was to find his brother Simon and bring him to Jesus. We read the Old Testament stories of families: Moses and Aaron, Jacob and Esau, Rachel and Leah, Joseph and his brothers. The Scriptures are full of references to families and their relationship with God.  In Acts, we read about Paul and his nephew. “But when the son of Paul’s sister heard of this plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul.” (Acts 23:16) This is the only biblical reference to Paul’s family. Some theologians believe that Paul’s family disowned him when he became a Christian. Paul wrote of having suffered the loss of everything for Christ (Philippians 3:8). Paul’s nephew, who is never named, visited Paul in prison and helped his uncle. We do not know if any of Paul’s relatives were converted later, but I believe he prayed for their salvation. I have seen my parents who thought I was crazy with this Jesus thing, both come to faith in Jesus. I have also seen many other family members still think I am a little extreme with Jesus. I have faithfully prayed every week for my immediate family’s salvation, life, and health. I remember rejoicing when my sister’s son Jimmy was born. I began to pray for his salvation every Thursday of his life. I remember when I first shared the gospel with him, he thought I was crazy. I continued to share the gospel when I performed his wedding, but I could see that the gospel did not penetrate his heart. But I kept praying and hoping that the Lord would lead someone else to share the gospel with him. After thirty-five years of praying, my prayers were answered. I took him out for dinner one night and asked him this question again “If you were to stand before God and He asked you why I should let you into my Heaven-what would you say?” But his answer was different-here is his story: “I was raised Catholic and went to Lutheran schools, but I just took it as information and never put His word in my heart. I lived a life that was very self-centered and self-pleasing. After high school, I only prayed if I wanted something, basically treating God as a genie to grant my will. Eventually, I walked through life existing but never truly enjoyed it to its fullest. I would go to work and come home to my wife and dogs. At 26, I received a traumatic brain injury, and I was in a medically induced coma for two weeks. I was in pain most days, depressed, and anxious. I drank daily to numb the pain and anxiety. I was completely lost and didn’t care about anything or anyone. I just existed, and eventually, my wife filed for divorce. I had no income and had to move in with my mom at 32. I was at my lowest point in life and felt utterly worthless.  A friend of mine invited me to his church at this time. The church was so welcoming, and I needed to see some kind faces. I kept going every Sunday and listening to the sermons. I could feel God slowly opening my heart to care again. He was patient and kind with my stubborn and questioning mind, but a conversation started between us.  I could take all my pain, anxiety, worries, faults and lay them down before him, and He

Go Tell It on the Mountain, Over the Hills, and to Your Neighbor!

“Go, tell it on the mountains,over the hills and everywhere,go, tell it on the mountain,that Jesus Christ is born.” Go Tell it on the Mountain is an African American spiritual song dating back to 1865. It is now known as a Christmas hymn announcing that Jesus Christ is born. When I sing this wondrous song, I think of Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” As the hymn begins, it announces that we need to proclaim Jesus from the mountains, over the hills to everywhere. But I often think that the church that so joyously sings this classic during the Advent season fails to see the disconnect. They seldom realize that they neglect to share the good news with the people that the Lord has brought into their life. Instead of climbing a mountain, or going overseas, maybe we need to begin by crossing our street and telling our neighbor the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to sing Go & Tell it to your neighbor that Jesus Christ is born. In John chapter four, we see a perfect example of this with the Samaritan woman telling her neighbors of finding Jesus Christ. In John 4:25-26, we read: The woman said, “I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am He.” Immediately she wanted to share her faith with others, so she went into the village and told the men she had met the Messiah. John 4:28-30 goes on to say: Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” They came out of the town and made their way toward Him.” As disciples of Jesus begin to realize that the Lord wants them to bloom where He has planted them, they will open their eyes to see that the harvest field is all around them. As the Samaritan woman told her neighbors about Jesus, we see the Lord opening their hearts to come to faith in Him. We read in John 4:39-42, Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and He stayed two days. And because of His words, many more became believers. They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this Man really is the Savior of the world.” These Samaritans began their spiritual walk by trusting in what their neighbor said. “Now we know!” was their happy testimony and the joy of a faithful neighbor who told them about Jesus. I wrote the Go & Tell Evangelism Workshop to help disciples of Jesus not only begin to pray for their neighbor’s salvation but also learn how to tell them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I received this testimonial from Lance, who took the Go & Tell Evangelism Workshop and began to pray for his neighbor Ray. Lance did not tell it on the mountain, but he told Ray across the street. Here is Lance’s story: Several years ago, a new family moved in next door, right at the same time we were preparing to sell our house. Ray was friendly from the start, and he seemed genuinely disappointed when he learned we were actively trying to sell. It was easy to see that Ray needed Jesus from the first interaction. So, I began to pray for his salvation. A month later, we found our next house and were mere hours from putting our house on the market and locking in an offer on the new house. Then something strange happened. Our realtor called and said the seller had backed out, sold to another buyer, and had no recourse. It didn’t seem fair or logical, and we were very disappointed, so we decided to end the search and unpack our boxes. Over the next two years, Ray and I swapped stories about home improvement projects. He would text me to ask how I remodeled this or that or where an electrical or plumbing line ran. Beyond our house similarities, Ray’s preschool son was the same age as my preschool daughter, which resulted in several outdoor conversations as the kids played together. Many days a week, I would stop to pray, asking God to draw Ray to Himself, that Ray would seek to know Him, that Ray would believe the Scriptures, that Ray would believe in Christ and become saved. There was zero evidence of spiritual interest in all my interactions with Ray. His God was making money, evident by the long hours he worked to serve that master. Recently, Ray and I went to breakfast. After an hour of good food and conversation, I told Ray about a man in our church who went into cardiac arrest right at the start of the sermon. Thankfully a nurse and a defibrillator were close by, thus saving him from certain physical death. Ray then shared that he had been in a severe car accident five years earlier and had almost died. So, I asked the question, “Ray, what if you had died that day? Where would you be now?” Ray asked, “What do you mean, like heaven or hell? I don’t know.” “Ray,” I said, “would you like to know where you would’ve gone?” “Yes,” he said. So, I asked him if he was a good person, to which he answered the way most lost people do, with a confident “yes.” I went through several of the 10 Commandments, which are God’s mirror, to show us how far from perfection