Dear Friends,
As we once again begin a new year, my heart is filled with expectancy. The Lord spoke to me at the beginning of 2006, ". . .ye have not passed this way heretofore. . .Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you." (Joshua 3:4-5, KJV). Truly, 2006 proved to be a year of new territories and conquest. It was my first year of full-time ministry on the evangelistic field. God gave me more favor and opened more new doors in new places than in all my previous 22 years of ministry. I can look back and truly say, "Look what the Lord has done."
As this new year begins, I'm boiling with excitement for the opportunities that are ahead, beginning with TSM's mission to India this month. This year, the Lord is speaking to my heart "expansion and breakthrough." I am looking forward to seeing the Lord reveal Himself in fresh ways in 2007.
As I write to you this month, my heart goes out to you with a fervent desire to stir you and provoke you to good works. Within you lies great potential for expansion, for the miraculous, for a release of Christ in the earth. You may or may not be called to travel to India and evangelize the heathen, but you most certainly have an awesome purpose and a destiny. You can be used of God right where you are. And your life can be so exciting as you turn it completely over to God, for His purpose and His kingdom.
I am thinking of a story I once read about the great inventor, RG LaTourneau. He was working with the pressure of a deadline for an engineering project for one of his great earth-moving machines. Nothing was coming together and he was becoming increasingly frustrated. As the deadline was approaching, he realized that he had made a commitment to help at a local Christian mission. In spite of the deadline, he decided to be faithful to his commitment to the Lord's work and went to the mission that night. When he came home suddenly the inspiration for the project came to his mind and he met the deadline with a revolutionary design. It's amazing what happens when you put God first!
Many people are spending their whole lives working for green pieces of paper with pictures of dead presidents on them. In the end, what will it all mean? I understand that we all need finances, but money should not be our priority in life. We are called to live for the Lord, and seek first His kingdom.
From time to time my wife, Susan, will give me a bit of news about a star athlete's incredible salary. One headline was about an NBA player who was disappointed that his contract was only for $81 million. I thought, what could we do for missions with that much money? A lot of money and effort is spent on trivial pursuits and unimportant things. . . even by Christians. I believe God will bless people (and churches) who use their wealth for the expansion of the Kingdom of God, and for spreading the Gospel around the world.
We in America have such an opportunity to bless the world, but a great deal of that opportunity is squandered. We have the potential, not only with our wealth, but also with the Gospel that we carry, to evangelize the world in our generation. If you are someone who has been blessed materially, or if you have been given gifts, talents or knowledge of the Word of God, I want to challenge you to use whatever God has given you to bless the world.
Jesus said that He was anointed to "preach the Gospel to the poor." He made a point of the fact that His ministry touched the poor. "The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them." (Mt 11:5, KJV ).
However, today, much of the church's efforts are not directed to the poor, but to those who are "able to pay the bills." Children's ministry is inadequately funded because young people don't give big offerings. Inner city ministry is being abandoned in favor of the more lucrative suburban crowd. Thousands of ministers are congested in the U.S., while the poor of the world are starving for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And even in our own nation, there are many segments of society that are sorely neglected.
I can understand this "go where the money is" mentality in the business world. After all, the bottom line there is financial profit. But for the church, the bottom line is supposed to be winning souls and making disciples. It's time for the church to get the heart of God. . . to be like Jesus and to preach the Gospel to the poor. Humanitarian efforts are good, but to bring real change, the Gospel of our Savior must also be proclaimed.
Today, as we begin a new year, we have all an opportunity to do something for the Lord, not only with our finances, but with our lives. Paul spoke of the giving of the churches of Macedonia, saying , "And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God." (2 Corinthians 8:5, KJV). This year, give yourself completely to God. Sell out to His cause. Give Him your heart. Give Him your life, your talents, your time. Begin this exciting life of serving the Lord and putting Him first. Wherever you are, be full of light, be salty for Jesus. Let people know that there is a Father in heaven who loves them and who calls them to become children of God, that He will forgive them and heal them and restore their lives. Yes, that's what it's all about. "Freely you have received, freely give." (Mt. 10.8)
PRAY FOR TSM'S MISSION TO INDIA JAN. 17-31
One thing that is striking in India is the beggars. Women begging
near the restaurants. Lepers begging in the middle of busy streets.
In one of our open air services a man with long, matted hair walked
up to me as I was ministering. As he drew closer, the smell was
almost unbearable, worse than an animal. I thought at first he
had come to receive Christ, but I then realized he was begging,
in the middle of our meeting. Later, I gave one of our co-workers
some money to pass on to the man, but I knew that he had a need
that only the Lord could meet.
In India, 600 million people live in deep poverty. Many do not even have the basic necessities of life. The conditions are even difficult for us to comprehend. Even many of the pastors we will be working with also live in tremendous poverty. We plan to buy a bed for one of them. He and his wife and child now sleep on the floor in a small room in the back of the church.
But the greatest need of all is for the Gospel. With less than 3 percent Christian, India has more unreached people groups than any other nation in the world. Pray that we will be able, by God's grace, to proclaim the love of the Father through Jesus and that many will become born again and receive eternal life. The pastors we are working with in southern India are eagerly awaiting our return. We will be evangelizing in the villages, praying for the sick and oppressed and holding a pastors conference. Pray too that the pastors will be refreshed, encouraged and strengthened by our visit.
Thank you for your part in this vital ministry of taking the Gospel to the world. As we sanctify ourselves, unite, and step out by faith, we will see God move in miraculous ways, right where we live and all around the world. God bless you!
Going forward,
Tom Shanklin