ISEMA Newsletters
Baptism of Fire
by Geraldine Baum, from the Los Angeles Times, 1/2/91 (abridged)
After five months of waiting for war, more and more soldiers are turning to military chaplains, sharing their innermost worries about life, death, and the families they left behind.
“In 25 years in the Army I have never seen as much spirituality,” Col. Dave Peterson, chief of the nearly 1,000 chaplains for the U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf, said in a telephone interview from Riyadh.
“When their day is done, unlike in Vietnam, there’s no alcohol, no pornography, no movies for distraction….” Among the troops, the most widely circulated publication is the Bible, officials say. Thousands upon thousands…have been distributed. And there is plenty of evidence that they are read.
Since August, when Desert Shield began, battalion chaplains have reported back to Washington nearly 1,000 “conversions” to Christianity–or, as one Pentagon official described them, “bona fide religious experiences, where a person stands up right there in the desert and says, `I believe in the Lord.’
Jeff Houston, a 37 year old Baptist minister, wrote, “We have four worship services each and every day, and we are averaging over 160 at these services. Last Sunday we had 12 professions of faith; the Sunday before that we had 18. One thing I can say for sure, the Christians have begun to stand out like beacons and have become a rallying point for soldiers. I’ve heard countless testimonies about how God is working in the lives of his people.
“Sometimes at night, one of the guys will begin talking to his friend in the next cot about dying and how he hopes for the afterlife if Saddam Hussein gets him. And in all the other cots men are listening. And thinking–about what could happen to them if there is war. Invariably, the next day I get five or six guys who probably haven’t talked to a priest in 10 years asking me questions about life and death and God.”
Reynolds recalled early one morning this fall when he was visiting Ft. Bragg, where several hundred troops were waiting to board planes bound for Saudi Arabia. As he walked up to a group of sergeants, one grabbed him and pleaded, “Chaplain, would you please have a prayer with us? Right now.” Reynolds said, “I must have conducted a dozen services that morning.”
“This is more like a revival than a war,” he concluded. “So strange.”
What’s the Score for 91?
by Emil Vinberg
Benjamin Franklin was one of America’s founding fathers and the first self-made millionaire. He attributed much of his success to the way he used his time. He said, “If you live life, then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.”
Your happiness and success in life will be determined largely by what you choose to do with your time and especially by how you go about setting priorities, day by day and hour by hour. The fact is that you will never have enough time to do everything you think you have to do, so you will always be forced to choose among competing alternatives. The wisdom of your choices will determine much of what happens to you in life.
In 1970, sociologist Dr. Edward Banfield of Harvard University wrote a book entitled The Heavenly City. In this book, Banfield discusses a study he did to find out how and why some people became financially independent. He started off convinced that the answer would be found in factors such as family background, education, intelligence, influential contacts, or some other concrete factor. What he finally discovered was that the major reason for success in life was a particular mental attitude.
Banfield called this attitude “long time perspective.” He said that people who were the most successful and prosperous were those who took the future into consideration with every decision they made in the present. The longer the period of time a person took into consideration while planning and acting, the more likely it was that he would be successful in his career.
Do you as a Christian know what the Lord would have you do or where He wants you to be? Check your priorities with God. For example, if you come home from work and choose to spend time with your family, rather than watch TV or read the paper, you have a long time perspective. You know that investing time in the health and happiness of your family is a very valuable use of your time.
If you take courses of Bible studies to increase your skill and knowledge, you’re responding with a long time perspective. Learning something practical and useful can have a long term effect on your career and Christian walk.
But if you always prefer to do what is fun and enjoyable in the short term, with little or no concern for the long-term consequences of your actions, then you’re operating with a short time perspective. Take for example, the person who reads the sports page from several newspapers every single day for 20 years. Will this knowledge help this person’s life and career? Of course not.
The key word then, to keep in mind when you’re praying for priorities is sacrifice. Setting priorities usually requires giving up a short term pleasure in the present in order to enjoy a far greater and more substantial pleasure in the future.
The Bible talks about reaping and sowing. Everything we say, do or don’t do has a cause and effect no matter how great or small. In this day it’s important to be walking in the Spirit of God. So we can be effective, productive, and fruitful now and in the future. So ask yourself what the real score is and what it willbe in 12 months, 2 years, 20 years. It’s up to you! So let’s begin now to make plans for a life which is centered around the service of our Lord.
Coming Events
Saturday March 3 San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade Outreach 3-11 PM. Meet at Powell St. BART station. Up to 400,000 people at this parade, the largest annual event in San Francisco. Contact SOS Ministries Box 27358, Oakland, CA 94602, (415) 531-5325.
March 9-10, 16-17, 23-24 Spring Break Outreach, Corpus Christi, TX. “America’s Third Coast.” Over 200,000 on beaches. For more information, contact Street Ministry for Jesus, Box 8222, Corpus Christi, TX 78468, (512) 991-1111.
March 15-17 St. Patrick’s Day Outreach, Savannah, GA. Contact Rescue Atlanta, Box 965039, Atlanta, GA 30066, (404) 924-0201.
March 23 Street Evangelism Seminar, San Antonio. Contact Rev. David O’Dell, Operation Christlift Ministries, 3400 W. Park Blvd #2117, Plano, TX 75075, (214) 519-0195.
May 3-4 Kentucky Derby Outreach, Louisville. Contact No Greater Love, Box 263, DuQuoin, IL 62832, (618) 542-4503.
May 24-26 Indianapolis 500 Outreach. Contact No Greater Love (address above) or Christ in Action, Box 100, Chatsworth, GA 30705, (404) 695-1868.
May 25 San Antonio Evangelism outreach. Contact Operation Christlift (address above).
Some Final Thoughts
By the time you receive this newsletter, our nation could be at war. It is sad to see the world once again involved in war, but we know that the only lasting peace will come when our Lord returns. Also, this conflict, bringing the armies of the world into the Middle East in a war that would certainly involve Israel, is in line with Bible prophesy. The United States needs to be shaken from its complacency. Perhaps this war and our economic problems will lead to a much-needed revival in our nation. Perhaps God will even use it to open the Muslim nations to the gospel. Also, it is really exciting to see the new freedom in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe to preach the gospel. God has answered our prayers for these nations, and we must take full advantage of this freedom, which may not last long. Once again I want to thank you for your prayers and financial support for ISEMA. Please keep sending us news about what is happening in your community, teachings on evangelism, information about upcoming outreaches, etc. so we can share these with our readers. One brother wrote us with a good idea: send us your favorite gospel tract. We’ll pick out a few of the best and send them to ISEMA readers.
Also, if you are involved in an evangelism ministry or know of ministries that should be included in our next Street and Evangelism Directory, please send us information so we can update our next Directory. Include the name, address, phone number, director’s name and brief (50 words or less) description of what the ministry does.
Our Tape of the Month is “Bringing ‘Em Back Alive” by Danny Lehmann. Danny is Director of the Honolulu base of Youth With a Mission. He is the author of a book by the same name. In this tape, Danny shares about what is happening in evangelism around the world and also what we can do to reach our nation for Jesus. Danny is one of the best equipping evangelists around and this tape is an excellent demonstration of how we can encourage the church to evangelize without condemning people. By the way, if you have received any defective tapes from us, let me know and we will replace them or refund your money.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
