Tom Shanklin Ministries July 2009

Hope & Healing

Northwoods Harvest Barn Cowboy Church

“I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” 1 Corinthians 9:22, KJV.

One of my great joys in this ministry is shar-ing the Good News of the Savior with people of all kinds of denominational, cultural, economic and racial back-grounds. I do not consider myself a minister to a particu-lar segment of society or a certain denomination, but, as John Wesley said, “I look upon all the world as my par-ish.”

When I preach the Word of God. I don’t compro-mise my convictions. When it comes to the basics of the faith, I won’t give an inch. But at the same time, if I’m talking to a group that doesn’t necessarily share my convictions, it’s not my purpose to cram it down their throats. I feel I’m there to share the truth of the Scriptures with love, not to slice and dice. We can do more damage than good, if we are speaking the truth, but not speaking it in love. So be bold, but at the same time, be loving and gentle when you minister to people. We are fighting principalities and powers, not people, and a little Christian charity will go a lot further than a harsh dogmatism to touch lives for the Lord.

I figure good food is worth eating, so I just try and set the table and put out a good spiritual meal and invite people to come and dine. Oftentimes they do, with wonderful results. When you see a mainstream denominational congregation stand to their feet and pray a prayer of repentance and confess Jesus Christ, or hundreds of Hindus coming forward to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, or a room full of people in a nursing home making a bold confes-sion of faith, it all seems worth it.

When I’m with a group of people, I try and begin with what we agree on and go from the there. My goal is not to bring them up to my level, but rather to the level of the Word of God. If we can agree that the Word of God is the standard, then we have something to build upon. But if we emphasize our personal beliefs, then we are working on the basis of opinion, and it will produce little fruit. The Lord has shown me that my purpose as a minister is not to get people to think like me and agree with my doctrine. My purpose is to bring them to Christ, where they can find restoration, forgiveness and healing. Then, the Lord Himself can work on them and do what no man can do.

I found out that all of us have something in common. When I speak to dark-skinned Hindus in India, I tell them that I am their long-lost relative. We have the same first parents, Adam and Eve. If you go back far enough, we are all related. In the beginning, God made us all in His image, but be-cause of sin, we have all gone away from God and we all need a Savior. So even though we may be different in many ways, down deep inside, we are all the same.

If there is one thing I would say to Christians everywhere, it is “Get your priorities right!” God so loved the world, He gave His only Son. That should tell us what is important to Him, and that is souls. People are God’s priority, and reaching them is our number one job. Programs, buildings, pet doctrines, denominational agendas, all these things are secondary to the real purpose of the church, to reach the world for Jesus Christ. May our lives and our speech reflect that purpose daily.

EventsSunday, July 5, 10 a.m., For His Glory Church, Log Cabin, City Park, Spring Grove, MN. 507-725-2984.

Sunday, Aug. 2, 10 a.m., For His Glory Church, Log Cabin, City Park, Spring Grove, MN. 507-725-2984.

Friday, Aug.22, 6:30 p.m., Hope and Healing Service, Businessmen’s Fellowship, Northeast Bank, 77 NE Broadway, Minneapolis. 612-331-4961.

Aug. 28-30, Grace Community Church, Turtle Lake, Wisconsin.

Wednesday, Sept. 2, 7 p.m., Living Word Church, Redwood Falls, Min-nesota.

Sunday, Sept. 6, 10 a.m., For His Glory Church, Log Cabin, City Park, Spring Grove, MN. 507-725-2984.

Sept. 12-20, Manitoba, Canada.

September 24-26, Lindford Christian Fellowship International Missions Conference, Lindford, Minnesota.

If you would like to schedule Tom or Susan Shanklin in your church or community, you can reach them at tom@gopreach or by mail.

Mission The mission of Tom Shanklin Min-istries is to unite with the Body of Christ to reach the world with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Ministry PartnersHope and Healing Newsletter and all the outreaches of Tom Shanklin Ministries are made possible by the prayers and financial support of our ministry partners.

For more information, messages, vid-eos, preaching. and Gospel materi-als, check us out on the internet at www.gopreach.net.

Tom Shanklin MinistriesWorld Evangelism Fellowship

Tom and Susan ShanklinPO Box 4144

Mankato, MN 56002E-mail: tom@gopreach.netWeb: www.gopreach.net

The world is my parish

I highly recommend Tom Shanklin. Tom is sensitive to the Holy Spirit. The congre-gation at Northwood Church has been blessed every time Tom has ministered here. As a Pastor, I appreciate Tom’s integrity with the scriptures and his willingness to minister in a variety of settings. It is obvious that Tom loves the Lord, loves people, and has a desire to see God glorified in all that he does. It is a pleasure to know Tom and minister with him in the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus the Christ.John M. Malone, Pastor, Northwood Community Church. Solon Springs. WI

otherwise might not be touched by the Gospel. Their min-istry is entertaining and fun, but at the same time strikes some real heart cords in people. It shows that sometimes we need to get out of the box in our thinking and let God work in some fresh new ways in order to touch lives for Jesus Christ. I preached a Gospel message there called “God’s Branding Iron,” comparing the “seal” of the Holy Spirit to a brand identifying a person as a true believer in Christ. When roundup time comes and Jesus returns, we will then be identified as true followers of Christ. Four people responded to the invitation to make Jesus the Lord of their lives.

At Calvary Lu-theran Church in Minong, north-western Wiscon-sin, I preached on “Ye Must Be Born Again.” Many responded to the clear and simple presen-tation and the joy on their faces was obvi-ous. Nearby, I also enjoyed a precious time of fellowship and ministry at Northwood Community Church in Solon Springs. I spoke on “Enjoying God” and “The Mighty Name of Jesus.”

THANK GOD FOR OUR PARTNERS I want to say thank God for our partners in ministry, which make it possible for us to keep “going” with the Gospel, whether it be in the US or overseas, in churches or other settings, through literature, CDs, video, or the internet. I’m very thankful for the fruit that we are seeing and I sense that the Lord has much more for us as we proceed forward with His plans for this ministry. The individuals and churches who give and who pray regularly for our mission have an equal share in the fruit and the rewards as we bring “hope and healing to the nations” through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We look forward to hearing from you this month! Susan and I are continually praying for you to receive and move forward with every-thing that God has for you in Christ Jesus.

In the love of Jesus,

MINISTRY UPDATE In June, we had some wonderful times of min-istry. I spoke, as I often do, at For His Glory Church in Spring Grove, Minnesota, which is a small church we helped start about five years ago. Recently, the Lord has been adding to the numbers there. Spring Grove is in the area where we began our walk with God back in 1977, so we have some good friends in that area.

I spoke to a Saturday morning men’s group and the Sunday worship service at the Victory Church in Wau-paca, Wisconsin. Before the men’s meeting started, I no-ticed a great interest in Walleye fishing among the men,

so that worked well with my message, “Be-coming Fishers of Men.” On Sunday morning, I spoke on “Walking in Your Season,” emphasizing the need for all of us to recognize the season of life we are in and to

work with it. We can easily get ahead (or behind) of ourselves and miss the blessing of the present time. There are seasons of preparation and seasons of fulfillment. Seasons of sowing and reaping. Understanding the seasons of your nation or your church or of society will make you a leader, so be sensitive to know that there is a time for every purpose.

At the Elbow Lake Lutheran Church in the north woods near Waubon, Minnesota, I spoke on John 3:16 and gave an altar call for salvation or restoration. Four people responded. The church has a new minister coming this month after being without a pastor for quite a while. I got to stay in the parsonage, which the congregation is preparing for the pastor and his family. I prayed for the new minister that is coming to that community.

Just east of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, on Hwy. 34, you’ll find a unique expression of the Christian faith called the Northwood Harvest Barn Cowboy Church. Pastor Brian and Sandy Erickson are reaching out to people who

Congratulations! Congratulations to Dominic and Heidi Hanzely who were married in June. Heidi is Tom and Susan’s first daughter. May God bless your lives together with His love and favor!

At a church picnic in Waupaca.

Pastor Erickson (right) joins in a Country Gospel song.

Calvary Lutheran Church in Minong.

Finally, the patch was “red onto the harvest” and I dressed prepared to reap, with ankle socks, long pants, and one of Tom’s old long sleeve shirts.

Mosquitoes tried to keep me out of my patch, but no there was much fruit to harvest, and I’m get-ting every last red, juicy berry. I don’t like mosquito spray but I use it when necessary and just keep picking.

One day, early in the picking season, it was rain-ing. I was soaked, but I was in no way done picking. Oh, it started to pour.

Out from the back of the house Tom is yelling at me. He says, “Come out of the rain!” But I had to finish what I started.

As you are picking berries you can’t be tempted to pick immature unripe berries. You have wait for the right time. “Patience,” some people call it. What’s the use of a berry that’s not ripe yet. It just doesn’t taste good and isn’t good to make anything with. So just wait until it’s ready.

I pick and pick and pick and pick and pick and pick and pick some more.

BUT after all that, I’m still not done. I have to take the berries into the house and wash all the dirt off, pick the leaves and weeds out, drain them and spread them out of dish towels to dry. Next, I cut the caps off and put them in a freezer bags marked with a date and lovingly cart them off to the freezer. Some berries are a little different, so I make them in to jam. All are good and fit for the master’s use.

Lastly I would like to say, “It’s been a berry good year!” Later,

Home fires. . .

Jesus was able to tell parables to communicate many of the things of God to people on the shorelines and mountainsides. He was a great communicator and an artist of words to paint a picture for big and small to un-derstand the great mysteries of God. I was pondering this thought while picking strawberries in the lower garden this Spring. I was thinking how raising strawberries is like winning souls. Both require wisdom, sensitivity, sacrifice, patience, persistence and hard work.

My strawberry patch is four years old and we started out with 25 Jewel strawberry plants. Now the patch is 25 X 12 feet. Every plant sends out shoots to make more plants. The more plants the more strawber-ries.

Very early in April, Tom put old rotten ma-nure on top of my sleeping straw-berries. Manure is good fertilizer, but too much on a plant suffocates it and nothing is going to grow. Sometimes people just want to dump God-stuff on people and they just can’t take it.

Seeing my patch weighted down with dung, I kindly asked Tom if he could take some off, so the new plants could breathe. He took a pitch fork and broke up the chunks of dung and “Ahhhhhh” the plants said.

Slowly, very slowly the plants grew and overcame areas Tom had tilled last Fall in the patch. First came the little blooms and then the flowers. Spring was a little dry so I watered, and up shot the leaves and flowers thirsting for more.

I “let them be” a bit, but weeds crept in and started to choke the plants. Not just one kind of weed, but several different kinds. One of the worst is called Creeping Charlie. Oh, it’s pretty, with little purple flowers, but it creeps and crawls through the plants and chokes them out! I pulled and pulled each day. Thistles grew too and I had to wear gloves to get them. Fox tail and grass tried, too, but “No–not here in my patch.”

It’s been a berry good year!