Dear Friends and Partners,

And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. (Luke 15:20 KJV).

The story of the Prodigal Son gives us a great picture of the Father’s love for his children.

The son had recognized his foolishness and returned to his father. While he was still far away, his father ran out to meet him, hugged him, and kissed him. The son must have smelled like the pig pen, but his father didn’t care. His son had come home!

That is exactly how your heavenly Father feels about you. He’s not looking at your report card! He just wants you to be happy in His house. He will provide what is needed to clean you up, suit you up, and get you walking the right way. You just need to bask in the warmth of his love and be healed and restored.

I believe the greatest medicine we can receive is the Father’s love. He will heal us of our brokenness and insecurity. His hugs are medicinal. His kisses are life-altering. His acceptance is all you need!

The Prodigal was just hoping to find a place in the corner of the bunkhouse to live out his days as a hired servant. But his father would have nothing to do with that idea. Instead of holding his sins against him, because of his great love, the father forgave everything and restored his son to every family privilege.

Are you experiencing the Father’s love today? I believe Satan is doing everything he can to keep you from knowing the Father’s overwhelming love and forgiveness. Satan’s deception is deeply rooted in the human race. But the truth is: God is good, and He has your best interest at heart.

Sometimes, as Christians, we are like the other character in the story, the older brother. We are working for the Father, trying to do what’s right, but not really enjoying the privilege of being God’s child. Our relationship with the Father has become like a job, and we have not realized the great love that He has for us.

The older brother was sour on life. He did not realize that everything that the Father owned belonged to him. When he saw his younger brother getting blessed, he was filled with jealousy and rage. His emotions were entirely improper because of his own insecurity.

It’s good to work for the Lord, but our service should be birthed out of love. We love God because He first loved us. We love others because God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Because we experience His love, we want to share that love with others, even though they may not deserve it. After all, we don’t deserve it either. But because of the cross, we have it all!

Jesus told us to continue in His love. When we love others, God’s supernatural love flows through us and we have joy. God’s love is available for us every day! Don’t let the Grinch steal the joy of life that comes from knowing the love of the Father. I encourage you to start singing about your Father’s love.

Sharing the Love of the Father

One of the great joys of my life is sharing Jesus with people who don’t know Him. I can’t think of anything that I could do that would be more of an act of kindness than sharing the good news with someone who needs Jesus in their life. For many years, I have done that in churches, open air meetings, and other public settings, but I was not always comfortable sharing one-on-one. Just give me an audience, and I was fine, but I found it uncomfortable to talk to one person about their soul.

When I left pastoral work in 2005 and began to travel as an evangelist, I became convicted that I needed to start sharing Jesus when I encountered people in my daily life. I figured if I was going to be an evangelist, maybe I should evangelize … and not just from the pulpit.

I began to step out in small ways, like handing out tracts. And then, with some trepidation, I began sharing my testimony and the Gospel message with others. I attended a seminar at the Billy Graham School of Evangelism, which was held at The Cove in Asheville. North Carolina. Receiving that training was a great help. They encouraged us to pray a prayer like this: “Lord, open the door, open their hearts, and open my mouth.” Sharing your faith is really like anything … the hardest part is getting started.

Nowadays, I’m much more bold and confident in sharing Christ with others. It is something that did not come easily or naturally for me, but I found that when I stepped out, the Lord met me and helped me to grow. For this reason, I believe that anyone can share their faith. It just takes willingness … and practice.

Susan and I had a great time in the last few weeks sharing a Bible Study in our home with three men from our church on the subject of personal evangelism. It was called “Everyday Faith Sharing,” focusing on sharing the Good News with people one-on-one. We also had our friends, Mark and Cyndee LaBathe, come as guest speakers for one of the sessions and share their experiences in street evangelism.

One of the things that we emphasized in our Bible Study was showing love, compassion, and kindness to others. It is the love of God that motivates us to share Jesus with others. And it’s also that love that opens hearts to receive what we have to say. When we demonstrate God’s love by acts of kindness and showing concern for people’s needs, it makes the way for the Gospel to be received.

This is why I believe Christians are missing it when they fall into the trap of ridiculing people because of their politics, religion, or lifestyle. Our job is to love people into the Kingdom so that God can change them, not to try to change the world by belittling people with a war of words.

If you would like to hold a seminar on Personal Evangelism in your local church, please let me know. We would love to come and help equip the saints for the work of the ministry. (Ephesians 4:11-12)

God Moves in England by Zoom

I had a great time sharing with the All Nations for Christ Church–Slovak Roma Fellowship in Derby, England, via live video on Zoom. I preached by way of an interpreter into the Slovak language on the subject of “The Mighty Name of Jesus” based on the account of the lame man at the gate Beautiful from Acts 3. We ministered to several people with physical pain and emotional brokenness. We received testimonies that two people were healed of back pain when we ministered to them in the name of Jesus. This is a church where Susan and I have ministered in person previously. I am thankful we can use technology to minister the Gospel around the world.

Benin Classroom Addition Update

The classroom addition in Benin is progressing well. A total of $525 came in last month. Only $4,350 is needed to complete the project, which will provide classroom space for the Mt. Moriah Bible School and Vocational High School. Click here to contribute towards the classroom addition.

Your Partnership is Invaluable!

Your partnership with us in this ministry is invaluable! I looked it up. It means extremely useful and indispensable. Your prayers, encouragement, and giving keep us moving forward. Whether it’s something you did years ago or more recently, we recognize that we wouldn’t be where we are without you. We are a team for the glory of God!

Tom

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