July Newsletter 2019
CHILL!
The 2019 Minnesota Twins have been a huge surprise to everyone in baseball. Nearing mid-season, they were the first team to win fifty games in all of baseball. They have already broken the home run record for the first half of the season and are on pace to break the all-time season record.
What is the key to their success? Well, they acquired a number of new players that worked out extremely well, but quite possibly the largest factor is the new manager. According to the players, they have not before played under a manager with Rocco Baldelli’s ideals for playing baseball. His philosophy is that players play the best when they are themselves, and most of all, relaxed. You can see it in Rocco himself. When the camera catches him on the bench during a game, he is often smiling, or sometimes laughing. He looks like he is really enjoying himself, and that attitude spreads to the players.
Every player is encouraged to get themselves ready for the game in the way that works best for them. Batting practice before the game is not mandatory. “Take it only if you feel you need it,” is Rocco’s policy.
Let’s take Rocco’s methods and apply them to personal evangelism. Personal evangelism is almost dead in the American church. Sharing one’s faith or attempting to lead someone to Christ is very rare among American Christians today. It needs desperately to be revived. The great commission, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15),” was Jesus’ last command to his followers before He ascended into heaven.
I am going to assume that you, the reader, would like to share your faith. You are just scared, or you feel you don’t know how.
Well, being scared, goes with the territory. During my first summer out of Bible College I felt that God was asking me to go door to door and attempt to lead people to Christ. I was scared out of my skin. I would go to a neighborhood and walk by a house several times before I summoned up the courage to knock on the door.
On one occasion after work, after knocking on several doors, I was so exhausted that I crawled into a hedge to rest awhile and fell asleep. I was awakened by a ruckus across the street. A man had come barging out of his house with a shotgun. He pumped it ominously, advancing a shell into the chamber, while yelling, “All right! Where is he?” Another man came out of the next house waving his arms at the first man. “It’s okay! It’s okay! He’s just sharing the gospel.”
A chill ran down my spine! I realized the guy with shotgun was looking for me. The second man calmed him down, however, and he went back into his house.
I did more witnessing on that block with some success. A young boy seemed mesmerized by what I was saying about Jesus and just wanted to listen, and listen. Afterward, he took me into the house to meet his parents and they too listened intently. I didn’t really know how to lead them to a decision for Christ though, because I was really new at this. Later on in the summer, I honed my skills a bit and did lead two individuals to Christ.
So, if you want to share your faith, how do you do it? One approach is just go out and do it. Don’t worry about stumbling around at first. I did! The important thing is that you will learn as you go. Nothing wrong with that!
When I first began witnessing, there was a method created by Bill Bright of Campus Crusade that everyone seemed to think was the way to do it. It was a little booklet called The Four Spiritual Laws. Many used it very successfully. However, I could never get comfortable with it. I just felt using a booklet was somehow phony, and not me…so I never used it.
Today there is a method of sharing your faith that is quite ingenious, I think. Seven verses from Romans cover all of the steps to leading someone to Christ. It’s called the Romans Road, and has been around for a long time. Time To Revive has put these scripture references on a colored bracelet you can wear on your wrist. Once you lead someone to Christ, you can give the bracelet to that person, and he or she can wear it, to remind them of the verses. It’s a good tool.
However you do it, you have to find the way that you’re comfortable with. Some people use a method with specific steps. Some people just wing it.
Once you lead that first person to Christ, you might become a witnessing dynamo, because it is hard to find anything in life that is more fulfilling for a Christian. Think of it. You have just changed someone’s destiny from hell to heaven!
Most importantly…chill! Relax, and be yourself. You are much more believable in your witnessing if you are relaxed. If you are relaxed, the person you are sharing your faith with will also be relaxed and much more apt to receive the information you are sharing.
Things Are Happening In Faith
Recently, I connected with my old friend, Pastor Terry, in Faith, South Dakota. Terry and his wife, Diana established a church a few years ago in Faith, which is a small community. There was one problem. People just weren’t coming to church.
So, the Lord led them to open a store in the town. Terry does oil painting and it is that kind of store, with plenty of artsy items. So people wouldn’t come to their church…but they come to their store in large numbers. They sense the presence of God, and remark about that. Then many of them, say, “You have to pray for us.”
Terry says they do ten times the amount of ministry in the store as they do in the church.
So why will they come to the store and not to the church? Exactly what I have been saying for years…the church building is a scary place to an unchurched person. Also, Terry says, if an individual needs help or prayer, and if he or she came to the church, it would be all over town in about fifteen minutes. So there is a stigma attached. They will readily come to the store for help or prayer because there is no stigma attached.
How I wish we would get it through our thick, traditional minds, that if we want to reach those who need to be reached, we must get out of the church building to a non-threatening environment…and then, they will come!
Why do we insist on continuing to use methods of evangelism that don’t work?
Places We Will Be
Kelliher Days/Big Bog Festival
Saturday, July 13th, 2019
9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Kelliher, Minnesota
We will have a table at the Old School Center.
We will be selling music CDs of George’s gospel music that
he wrote and recorded when he was 23 years old.
Stop by our table to see all that we have for sale.
The money raised will go towards the purchase
of ink for the printing of our newsletters.
Sunday, July 14th, 2019
9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Homestead Park
Waskish, Minnesota
We will be providing special
music at the Ecumenical Church Service
Church of Yahweh
Sunday, August 18th, 2019
10:00 a.m.
Jordan Middle School
500 Sunset Dr.
Jordan, Minnesota
We will be bringing the Word
and special music. If you live in the Minneapolis
area we hope you stop by to see us.
In His Service,
George and Lorraine Halama
All contributions are tax deductible
Photos for the Chill article where designed and taken by Lorraine