Evangelism

Preaching the Gospel in a myriad of ways and settings was always central to Richard’s ministry. Over the years, I have likewise learned how to minister the love of Christ to the lost wherever I may find them.

Shortly after I received Christ, Richard opened a new computer business called Dog River Business Solutions (DRBS).  (Other members of the fellowship now run its two branches.  To learn more visit their websites { www.drbs.com and www.dogriverdesign.com }.)  I helped him to get it started and served as one of his stable of consultants.

Over the course of the next two years, I had the opportunity to participate in meetings with many many people.  Some were clients, others competitors and others still were suppliers.  What was always striking, however, was that Jesus was always at the center.  Not in the annoying way, you hear many minister.  I call them the “sleeve pullers”.  You know, they are the one who are always saying “Praise the Lord” and tugging on people’s sleeves asking them whether they know Jesus.  Rather, in Richard’s actions, he always sought to show people the love of God.  God’s love, which is different from any other love most people have experienced, would open the door to people’s hearts.  Once opened, the Gospel of Jesus Christ could be shared, with an authority and credibility that most Christians lack when they seek to share the Gospel.  The result was that those who received Christ, tended to give themselves more whole heartedly to Him, than the rather tepid commitment that is commonplace today.

At the same time that I was working with Richard at DRBS, I was also going out on my own as an attorney.  I sought to do the same thing that he did in ministering to people and I found the Lord opened many opportunities for me to share His Gospel.  Being young and inexperienced, many of my efforts were misguided, but the experience I gained proved invaluable later.  Thankfully, the Lord gave me plenty of people to practice on.

In 1994/95, Richard returned to Vermont, from a season traveling the country with our revival tent, to start the Eagle Radio Network, a satellite radio station whose programming was re-broadcast on many stations across the country and on shortwave radio, and the Liberty News, a bi-weekly newspaper that covered current events in both the local and national political scenes. These two endeavors, as you might imagine, put us in touch with a wide diversity of people all over the country.  Two new fellowships grew out of those activities and many more were strengthened in the faith.  It also, solidified to all of us that were involved that the Gospel of Jesus Christ IS THE ANSWER to all that ails our nation, not some political party, candidate or movement.

In 1996, we closed both the Eagle Radio Network and the Liberty News.  (The Eagle Radio Network has since been reborn as an online radio broadcast { www.eagle-radio.com } that we continue to expand.)  Throughout those formative years I had been practicing law as well, but now I also took over the reigns of DRBS.  Over the next several years, the good service to our clients that we became known for opened many  opportunities to share the Gospel.  In fact, my good friend Charles Hocker’s wife Karen was a fruit of those years.  You can read her testimony here { Karen Hocker's testimony }.  Others who came to know the Lord during this time included Jeanne Lamica { Jeanne Lamica's testimony }, a former client of mine.

It wasn’t until the year 2000, however, that I finally came to see that the Great Commission did not require me to travel afar to preach the Gospel.  It was at that time, that the Lord showed me that He set His people as “lights” in this dark “world” much like He sets the “stars” in the dark nightime sky.  If His people will simply share His love where He has set us, then there will not be a place under the Heaven where His Gospel will not be preached.  To learn more about how the Lord showed me this read my article entitled “Who Is a Minister?”.

I cannot overstate how profound the effect of this revelation was to me.  All condemnation for not being able to fulfill the Great Commission was wiped away and a new found hope that I could fulfill it rushed in to fill the void.  While I have struggled to learn how to rightly stand as a minister of His Gospel, while faithfully carrying out my duties as an attorney, the grace of the Lord has been with me.  As a result, my law office has proven to be the most fruitful mission field that the Lord has given to me.

My law office, however, has not been the only mission field the Lord has given to me.  Over the years, He anointed me to carry a cross in His name.  That has taken me to places as diverse as the streets of New Orleans during Mardi Gras, the four corners of Vermont, public squares in many towns and paved the way for our revival tent to be set up in Tupper Lake, New York.

I have also worked with Richard through the years, ministering to the homeless in West Palm Beach, Florida; in various coffee house missions to rather rough and tumble folks from the streets; at Grace Ranch { www.grace-ranch.com } in West Texas; as well as many other environments.  Always, his focus has been on the Lord.  At times, I have seen him restrain himself for the sake of another, patiently waiting for the Lord to open a door of utterance for him, while at other times I have observed him going full throttle.  Those experiences have increased my sensitivity to the different ways that the Spirit of the Lord may move.  The result is that I am far more flexible in the Lord then I might otherwise have been and am able to minister more confidently under the anointing.

Over time, my inclination to share the Love of the Lord as I go through this world has grown.  From campgrounds, playgrounds, historic places, marketplaces to dinner tables, truck stops, and parking lots, I have found that opportunities abound to share the love of the Lord.  Marriage and fatherhood has further expanded my opportunities to share the Gospel.  It began with my sharing the love of Christ with my wife and children and, as they have grown in the Lord, the Lord has used them to open up many opportunities for me to reach people who might otherwise have been put off by my apparently, rather serious life as an attorney and minister of the Lord.

If there is some way, I may be able to help you to evangelize in the Lord, know that it would be my pleasure.  Just give me a call.

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