El McMeen continues the story

El McMeen

In my January 2008 article, I described how blessings from God arose out of my simple task of dropping off some Bibles and tracts at a truck stop off a major interstate highway here in the US. The Lord was exceedingly generous in connection with one small act on my part.

As is usually the case with the Lord, however, there is much more to the story!

One of the blessings I received was learning of the tape/CD ministry of Pastor Duane Sheriff. This happened when I came across a CD of a message of his on the very tract rack where I was putting out my materials.

I found out later that his church sends out hundreds of thousands of FREE CD's and tapes of his teachings to benefit truckers and others throughout the US. (Due to changes in US postal regulations that have made the mailings more expensive, Pastor Duane now asks for contributions to defray part of the cost, but such a contribution is strictly voluntary.)

After I got excited over that one CD, interesting things began to happen. I got on his website and was blessed by the extensive offering of teachings he had. I downloaded and listened to over 100 messages. (I burned a lot of CD-R's in the process!)

One powerful series was in the area of spiritual warfare. It is titled "Overcoming."

That series really educated me on the subject of "strongholds" in our minds: fortresses against God that we build up, stone by stone, and are playgrounds for the enemy to steal blessings from us, keep us in torment, and impede the answering of our prayers. These strongholds include addictions and depression.

I became convinced that a major - perhaps THE major - stronghold in most people is unforgiveness. Jesus teaches us that it leaves us in torment (Matthew 18:23-35) and that it impedes our prayer life (Mark 11:22-26)

I was moved by the Holy Spirit to teach this at the weekly, Bible-based fellowship group that I lead. The teaching resonated with people. The Spirit then encouraged me to write up my presentation in a tract. I did, and it is called: "Unforgiveness: A Christian Guide to Tearing Down That Wall." (Readers of a certain age will pick up the allusion to the famous statement by US President Reagan in 1987, when he issued the challenge regarding the then Berlin Wall to the USSR General Secretary: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!")

You can get a description of the booklet online.

This is a windy introduction, but there is a punch line!

The great part for me about all this is that now I have the joy of leaving copies of this booklet off at the very truck stop where I first ran across the teachings of Pastor Duane! The Lord planted the seed by presenting a new ministry to me, and that seed led to fruit at the very place where the seed was planted. Moreover, I have sent quantities of the booklet to Pastor Duane's church in Oklahoma, where they are undoubtedly occupying some rack space out there!

God is great!