Just Like Abraham

We are probabaly all familiar with the story of Abraham. God promised Abraham and Sarah a son when it was past the time that Sarah could have a child. Abraham, in his journey, was very human, just like us. He got tired of waiting and thought he would help God out by having a child with his servant, Hagar. The descendants of Ishmael, Hagar’s son, are a thorn in the side of the Israelites to this day.

When I was much younger, I decided to figure out how long it was from the time God promised the son to the time that he, Isaac, arrived. It was 25 years.

So, I have my own “Abraham” story. A true one, no less.

When I was about 19 years old, I was going to college in St. Paul, Minnesota and attending a small Charismatic church in Minneapolis. There, it was prophesied to me that I would write a book. Being just about three years old in the Lord, this was monumental news. In those days, writing a book was much more special than it is today. There were not many people who wrote books. According to the prophesy, this “writing a book” was a big deal.

When I was about 45, God told me to start writing. I wrote an instruction manual to a video I produced for Bible clubs in the schools, but I knew this was not “the book.” It was a little over 20 pages long. Then after the ministry God gave me, Rise Up America, reached well over 40,000 people through school assemblies and large evangelical events . . . and nearly a billion through television, God told me to write a book about the events. So, I did . . . but still this was not “the book” God had spoken about through prophesy.

The book had several chapters. At one point we printed the first chapter, The Eye Of The Storm, and sent it out to our mailing list. It was about 30 pages long. A few years later, we printed another chapter, Firestorm, and distributed this 30-page book . . . over 400 copies to date. Still, this was not “the book.”

I continued to write. The next book was entitled Mowing In The Desert, a story of how I lived completely by faith for two years, after a complete financial meltdown in which I lost my house, my farmland, my marriage and ended up homeless for about seven and a half months. The book is still here in my office, not yet published.

The next book was entitled Unpredictable. Its message is that you can never figure out what God is going to do next. He is “unpredictable.” By this time I was asking God,

“Ah . . . could we get one of these books published, already?”

Then after Joe Biden gained the white house and everything began to slide into a mud hole, He spoke to me to write a book about the condition of the country, tied definitely to the sleeping church, and what we must do to save ourselves from going over the cliff of utter destruction in our nation, because the Left, if not stopped will turn us into a Communist nation.

I spent well over a year writing the book and when it was done, He spoke to me one morning, “This is not what I was after. Write it over again.”

So, I spent another year writing it over again. This time we went to print. We had received money toward its printing, and I assumed that by the time the book was ready, we would have enough to pay for the entire order. I was wrong.

By this time we were approaching summer, a time when our contributions take a dive. The last two summers we have done tree removal jobs to make up the deficit and assure that we can pay our rent and stay in our apartment.

But then we encountered a violent attack from the enemy. Eric Metaxas said that he went through hell getting his book out, Letter To The American Church. Now, it seemed that we were going through the same thing.

We started our first tree job in Minneapolis and the second day I had an accident. While I was sawing through the 12-inch-thick section of the tree trunk, it snapped off and hit me in the head, which required 12 staples and ultimately a long recovery process. For two months, I have battled extreme stiffness and soreness in my entire body. There were days I couldn’t get my shirt or shoes on without help. I am still recovering.

Money has been so very tight. We had a disconnect notice on our electricity, we have been without internet for over two months, and honestly, some of our meals have been very meager.

Before we knew it, the book had been sitting at the printer for five months, and they were saying, “We can’t hold this book much longer.” It looked like we might never be able to pick up our 1000 copies. What was I to do? Was this baby going to be a stillborn?

Then the unexpected happened. I stopped at the printer and they were so very gracious. “I’m so embarrassed,” I said.

“Oh no, don’t be,” the clerk said.

I told them how much money I had toward the book, and . . . they gave me part of the order, something that went agaist company policy. “If you get some books out there,” the manager said, “It will be easier to get the rest of the money.” This was a total “God thing!”

The manager is herself, a bookworm, like me. She seems to be very excited about the book.

So, we have books! If you count the experience in years, I have Abraham beat in terms of the length of the wait. From the time of the promise to the fulfillment, a finished book, it has been a lot longer than 25 years. But the books have arrived. It has happened. God has come through on His promise!

On Wednesday, a friend stopped by and bought a book. On Thursday afternoon he called to say that he had read through the book and that he was going to start at the beginning and read it again. What a great start!

Now, it’s your turn. You can buy the book that has been well over 25 years in the making. I encourage you to get your copy right away and buy a copy for a friend.

You can order in two ways: 1) You can order on our web site georgeandlorraine.com. Just go to the store and use your credit card, or 2) You can send a check for $20 ($15 for the book and $5 for the shipping) and request your book.

Make your check to Rise Up America and mail it to Rise Up America, Box 41291, Plymouth, MN 55441.

DEVELOPMENTS

We will be doing the service at the Waskish Baptist Church every third Sunday of the month. I will bring the message and Lorraine and I will be performing two or three musical numbers.

We have a new web builder, and are making exciting changes to our web site. We have added a store that has all of our books and the music CD I recorded in 1973. It is a pleasant surprise that people really like this CD, A Brand New Song, that was made so long ago. We gave a friend a copy and he has now brought two more for his mother and cousin. We are nearly out of copies and will have to have another 100 copies made soon.

I am typically impatient. I want things to go fast, but the Lord seems to take His time. In prayer, He told me, “Don’t go too fast. You’ll make mistakes.” So we try to put a lot of thought, prayer and planning into everything we do.

It is a great victory to have books in our hands, but I have found one can never relax or coast after a victory. Over half of the book order is still at the printer so we will need money for the rest of the order.

Please consider a financial gift this month.

In His Service,

George and Lorraine Halama

All contributions are tax deductible