Tom's Blog Thoughts, news and views from the heart. . . September 2008 Dear Friend, In 1950, the same year I was born, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association was incorporated in the state of Minnesota. In 1957, Billy began national telecasts of his crusades. I can remember watching Billy Graham on television at my grandmother's home in East St. Louis, Illinois. She was a great fan and when she died, my uncle, who lived with and cared for Grandma, said that Billy should come and do the funeral. Like many people during that time, my family was touched and influenced by the Gospel according to Billy Graham. Even my dad, who was not a regular church going man, enjoyed watching "Billy" on TV. Last week, I had the great privilege of attending the Billy Graham School of Evangelism at the ministry's training center in Asheville, North Carolina, located in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains. Billy Graham, who is now almost 90 and in poor health, did not appear in person, but by video. But his mark, and more importantly, the mark of the One he serves was all over the event.  During the school, I learned more wonderful truths about reaching the lost with the Good News of the Savior of the world. I made connections with people and learned principles that will, no doubt, have an effect on this ministry for years to come. The school increased my vision and burden for souls, and faith for what God can do through a ministry that is sold out for Him. I would like to share with you three strong impressions that I received after spending a few days at the Billy Graham Training Center. These impressions pertain to the man and the ministry, and the example that has been given to us about how to live a life. Don't get me wrong, I'm not idolizing Billy Graham. He's just a man, with all the faults and failures and weaknesses of a man . But at the same time, we must say that he is someone who has made a mark on this world, a man whose life has made a difference. I think all of us would like that-to know at the end of our days on earth that we brought real meaningful change, and especially to know that people will be in heaven because of our words and deeds. There are three thoughts that stood out to me like a message written in neon lights. These are foundational principles upon which each of us can build our lives, our churches, and our ministries.  First of all, I saw integrity. It seems every few months another ministry is disgraced by a scandal of some kind. Usually it involves money, pride or sex. Billy and Ruth Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association have stood the test of time. They have, as the scripture says, avoided "all appearance of evil." It's not only keeping your heart right and doing that which is legal, ethical, and moral, but it's also providing for things honest in the sight of God "and man." People are watching to see if we will live what we preach. Moral integrity, honesty, and a good reputation must be guarded with diligence if we expect to run the race successfully and go the distance. Secondly, I saw excellence. It was obvious to me (and I heard many others say it as well at the school), there is a spirit of excellence upon the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. God spoke to my heart while I was there and said, "I do all things well!" And from what I saw, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association endeavors to follow God's example. From the quality and order of the services, to the beauty and care of the facilities, to the hospitality and warmth that was shown to the participants in the school, all things were done well. One man told me that he had one of the greatest spiritual conversations he ever had in his life with a shuttle bus driver. From the cook, to the kitchen staff, to those who cleaned the rooms, to those conducting the training sessions, there was a very obvious effort to give glory to God and to walk in His love in everything they did. The facilities are not gaudy and extravagant, but beautifully built and well-maintained.  There is nothing cheap or trivial. Everything is intended to give glory to God and to lift those who visit that place. Printed materials are top notch. Videos are of the highest caliber. All of these things challenged all of us to a higher standard of excellence in life and ministry. Thirdly, I saw focus. The focus of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is fulfilling the great commission to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. They have stayed true to that call and have not deviated. Billy Graham is no longer able to preach and hold crusades, but the work continues through his son, Franklin, and through many other arms of the ministry of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. It is also being multiplied by the thousands of believers and ministries that have been touched by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association over these many years. This is an example for all of us. Keep your focus! The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. The main thing is souls. "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief," Paul said, and this is our one true mission as the church, "to seek and save the lost." We must reach the lost. Don't turn away into side issues. Whatever you do, make your end goal to reach the world. Don't  get sidetracked with controversies, strange doctrines, or the latest fads in Christian ministry. Go! Go! Go! Take the gospel to the world! Early in his life, Billy Graham  surrendered his life to Jesus. He told the Lord, "I will go where you want me to go. I will do what you want me to do. I am yours." I believe that this is the commitment that made a difference in his life, and it is that same surrender that will cause the power of the Lord to be magnified in our lives. It's not our power, talent and ability that matters, but it's God's power and ability working through a yielded vessel that will change the world we live in today. Today in our nation, we are hearing a mantra of "Change! Change! Change!" But the greatest change that we need is a change in the heart of man. We need to turn from sin and back to God through His Son, Jesus Christ. I want to thank you for your financial support and prayers. It is your giving that enables us to continue the legacy of all those that have gone before us, who have sacrificed to reach a lost and dying world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have great opportunities before us, in the United States, in Canada, and around the world. Specifically in 2009, we have invitations to India and Thailand, as well as many other places. Many of these places are Gospel-starved and in desperate need of the Gospel. Thailand is less than 2 percent Christian. India, as I have shared before, is less than 3 percent. Many people in these nations have never even heard the Gospel message. We need your financial support if we are going to walk through the doors that God is opening. Today, I am asking you to make a regular contribution to help us in our mission of reaching souls. Perhaps you can make a monthly, or a generous annual, semiannual, or quarterly contribution to help people to come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. A generous one-time gift at this time will also help us greatly to touch lives for Jesus Christ. Through your giving you can leave a legacy to touch the generations to come. May God bless you! Tom Shanklin To every creature. . . This ministry is called to reach out to all people, rather than a particular age group, race or denomination. August 1, 2008 Dear Friends, This month I would like to share a report on some of our recent meetings. It is exciting to see what God will do if we are just faithful to go. This ministry is called to reach out to all people, rather than a particular age group, race or denomination. I thank God that He has opened doors for us to minister to people from all walks of life as well as different religious backgrounds. We have been able to minister to Baptists and Pentecostals, Lutherans and Methodists, old and young, Asians, Africans, Native Americans, and Europeans. I thank God He loves us all. He sent Jesus to die for the sins of all the world. Thanks to those of your who have been praying for our meetings. You really are helping with your prayers. You are keeping us going with the greatest message the world has ever known. This month we have some more Hope and Healing Rallies in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Please agree with me that many lives will be changed. Also, please pray for my time at the Billy Graham School of Evangelism August 26-29, that the Lord would use it to open my eyes to how to reach many more people for Him. In September, I will be traveling to northern Quebec among the Cree Nation there. Many of the people I will be ministering to will be preparing then to travel out into the "bush" (wilderness) to hunt, which is their livelihood. Our meetings will be a spiritual boaster shot to prepare them for several months without the benefits of local church ministry. Our next trip to India is tentatively scheduled for January, 2009. Please pray with me. I'm desiring to take a team of ministers this time. Pray that the Lord would handpick the team and orchestrate our itinerary. Also, please pray for the resources for travel, follow up materials to be translated, Bibles, and conference and crusade expenses. Susan and I thank God for you and pray continually for you! Pastor Jack Moore Christian Life Fellowship, Mission, SD I had a great time with Pastor Jack Moore of Christian Life Fellowship at Mission, South Dakota, on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in late June. I also was able to meet his brother Robert, who is associate pastor, and his mother and father, Pastor and Mrs. Marrles Moore, who are founders of the church. About a half a dozen people came forward to make decisions for the Lord. Several of those were first time decisions. We prayed for many others for healing and other problems. It was wonderful to see the people open up to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. I believe lives were touched, hearts were changed and the church was encouraged. Thank you for being a part of this through your prayers! The reservation has faced tremendous problems concerning suicide, especially among the young people. Literally, hundreds of young people have attempted to take their own lives in recent years. It is said that the reservation has the highest suicide rate in the world. Poverty, hopelessness, gang violence, drugs, alcohol and incest are all cited as reasons for the epidemic, but at its root, all of this is spiritual. And spiritual problems require spiritual solutions. It's only as people learn who they are in Christ, and their authority in Jesus name, that they can remain free. I am impressed that we need to continue sow the Gospel Seed at Rosebud, and elsewhere, if we are going to see lasting results. Through prayer we can prepare the ground for the sowing of the Word. Then, we need to follow through with the preaching of the Gospel. Pray that the Lord would send laborers into His harvest field at Rosebud and around the world. Pastor Craig and Barb Nelson Calvary Lutheran Church, Minong, Wisconsin I was with Pastor Craig and Barb Nelson at Calvary Lutheran Church in Minong, Wisconsin in July. Pastor Craig and the congregation had worked hard to promote the meetings. Members of the congregation are praying and inviting friends. Pastor Craig went around the town, putting up posters and inviting people, including three local bars. He shared that in each of the three bars he had special encounters with people who need Jesus in their lives. He shared God's love with them and invited them to the meetings. Statistics show that over 90 percent of the people who come to the Lord, come as the result of the personal witness of a friend or relative. That is why when we go into a church or community, we do our best to try and mobilize the Christians as a soul-winning army to reach out to their circle of friends and relatives. In this way our meetings are more productive in reaching un-churched people. There was a wonderful sense of the presence of God as members of the Calvary Lutheran Church, along with people from other churches in the area, gathered in the name of Jesus. Mark and Majel Utyro of Northwoods Community Church in Solon Springs led us into the presence of God in worship. I was impressed to share briefly on Friday night from Psalm 133 on "how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." I then spoke on "Knowing God" on Friday night. On Saturday, I spoke on "The Presence of God." There was great freedom to minister God's Word and we all received a great refreshing. I led the people in prayer for a closer walk with the Lord or for restoration of fellowship with Him. We had prayer for the sick and for other needs. It was great to see that! On Sunday morning I had planned to share a different message, but when I arrived at the church, I had a sense that I was to preach on "The Prodigal Son." It was confirmed when I heard Barb Nelson playing the song "Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling" on the piano. At the end of the message several people expressed the need for restoration with their heavenly Father and prayed a prayer of salvation. Letter from Pastor Craig Nelson Baptism at Beaver Creek, Houston County in June, 2008 A FRESH WIND IS BLOWING! July 1, 2008 Back in the 70s, the Holy Spirit began to move like a wind among young people in our nation. Many of us were searching for reality. Frustrated with the hypocrisy we saw in society, we were looking for love, joy, and peace. The trouble is, we were looking in all the wrong places, until the Spirit of God began to move upon many long-haired hippy types and others through the "Jesus movement." We didn't know it was the Jesus movement. Someone had to tell us that later. But it was a genuine move of God, and many people came into the Kingdom of God during that time. For Susan and me, it took place in Houston County in Southeast Minnesota, where many of us left behind a life of drugs, alcohol and rebellion and found a true refreshing in the presence of God. Susan and I were both baptized at separate times during 1977 in Beaver Creek, a stream that flows through the bluffs of Houston County. We moved from that place in 1981, but our hearts have never been too far from there. We have returned many times to minister, pray, and to visit with friends. The work of the Gospel has faced opposition in that area for many years. There have been many attacks of the enemy upon the people, much strife and difficulty, and yet the Lord has never lost His vision for that part of the world. In 2005, we established a fellowship of believers (For His Glory Church) which has been meeting in a log cabin in the city park in Spring Grove. I've been traveling there once or twice a month, encouraging the believers and reaching out to Houston County and surrounding area. In June, we invited some ministers from Elk River, Minnesota to come to our church for a weekend of meetings and to minister the Word of God. Pastor Dave and Sue Weigel, along with Alice Sharping, brought some fresh fire, a fresh word, and the love of God. Interestingly, Dave was one of those who was touched by the revival which occurred in Houston County in the '70s. In April of 1978, Dave had traveled from the Twin Cities to Houston County to attend the wedding of his friends, Robert and Mary Kay Schroeder. The wedding reception was held at an old meat locker in Spring Grove. Robert's father, Don Schroeder, shared Jesus with Dave at the reception. Later that night, at about 2 a.m., with the help of leaders of the church, Dave was baptized in water in Beaver Creek. This began his spiritual journey. Our recent weekend with Dave, Sue, and Alice brought a re-stirring of the move of the past. We remembered with joy what God had done some 30 years ago. But it also brought a sense and a stirring of a new move of God, a fresh move, a move that will touch the generation of today. God surprised us with a water baptism, which occurred once again in Beaver Creek (see cover photo), and two visitors were also baptized in the Holy Spirit. God's people were greatly blessed and encouraged by a wonderful prophetic gift exercised by Alice Sharping, and words of encouragement and prayer from Dave and Sue Weigel. But most of all, God showed up, which is what we most need today! With our nation languishing in a cesspool of mediocrity and an abyss of spiritual confusion, we need fresh fire to bring much-needed change. So let's pray for the fire and move with God in this hour. What we receive may not look like we expect. It may be different, just like the moves of the past were different. But let us recognize the hand of God and move with Him as He touches lives in a fresh new way in our nation, in the mighty name of Jesus! Thank you for sharing with us in this ministry! Pray with me for fresh fire to touch our nation and the world!