An Awesome Time of Ministry on the Rosebud Indian Reservation
By Tom Shanklin
I had an awesome time of ministry at The Carpenter Shop in Antelope, South Dakota on May 11-13 with Pastor Bob Stead. The Carpenter Shop is a local church on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in south central South Dakota. I have visited the reservation a number of times.
Although the attendance was very small for the Friday night service, there was no lack of power. I had planned to preach an evangelistic/healing message, but the Lord changed directions on me once I got into the service. “Don’t be locked into your agenda,” He said. “Be prepared to move with me.”
I felt impressed of the Holy Spirit to preach on the Great Commission, with an emphasis on discipleship. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus told us to “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations…” or as other translations say “make disciples.” Disciples are learners and followers of Jesus. I also shared from Mark chapter one, “And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.” Mark 1:17, KJV.
The prerequisite for being an effective soul winner is not attending theology school. It’s being a totally sold out follower of Jesus. Only then can we be effective in leading others to Christ. “It takes disciples to make disciples,” I said. I encourage those in attendance to be disciplined in their Christian walk and to lead others into a consecrated dedicated life as well.
On Saturday night, I was led to preach on the subject of “Forgiveness.” We took time to dig beneath the surface on this subject and to explore what God’s forgiveness really means in our lives. He forgives us of our sins, and delivers us from all guilt, condemnation, and shame. He buries our sins in the depths of the sea.
I’m convinced many Christians are still carrying baggage from the past and have not really fully accepted God’s pardon for their sins. This produces a roadblock in their relationship with their heavenly Father and hinders them from receiving all that He has for them. The guilt and shame of past sins continue to cling to them, in spite of the fact that Jesus has totally annihilated them through His work on the cross. Jesus bore our sins and our shame on Calvary so we could go free.
I also shared from Matthew 18 about the story Jesus told about the man who was forgiven a great debt and then went out and demanded payment for a much smaller debt. The Scriptures are clear that we need to forgive others if we are to find forgiveness ourselves. I told the people, “As long as you are holding unforgiveness toward someone who has hurt you, you are bound to that hurt and bound to the past. But when you forgive, you can be healed and move forward with your life.”
Finally, I talked about the link between forgiveness and healing in the Scripture and how forgiveness opens the door to emotional, relational, and physical healing.
One woman at the service was greatly moved by this message. Her grandmother had told her while on her deathbed that she needed to forgive someone who had hurt her and that until she did, she would not be able to move forward with her life. Her grandmother’s message had a tremendous impact, but she said that she was not able to get free until she heard the Word of God preached that Saturday night. She said Jesus had set her free.
On Sunday, I preached on “Financial Blessings Through the New Testament.” Some have gone to extremes on the prosperity message even to the point of proclaiming that “gain is godliness” and have gotten into an area of covetousness and the “love of money.” Nonetheless, there is a true biblical message of financial prosperity through the Gospel. Jesus has redeemed us from the curse, including poverty. I shared that God brings financial blessings into our lives through three areas: wisdom, work, and giving.
Although the message emphasized financial blessings, people were touched spiritually. Three people came forward to rededicate their lives to Jesus Christ. One of them was a young man who told me later that Jesus had appeared to him when he was a child and called him to preach, but that he had strayed from the path. Today he was coming back, he said.
Several people shared that they had received a healing touch from the Lord. One man, who did not receive prayer, testified that the Holy Spirit had touched his ankle during one of the services. His ankle had been injured and was swollen, but he went home and the swelling was gone.
We had wonderful altar calls in all three services as well as great times of worship and testimonies by the people. The people were blessed, the preacher was blessed, and I believe that the Lord was happy, seeing people drawing close to Him in order to do His will. Thanks to those of you who help us to go to places like Rosebud with your prayers, encouragement and finances.