Halfway There

Dan Rudman is an evangelist who works on campuses, prisons, and around the world to spread the Gospel. He shares how God called him to this life through circumstances that looked like failure.

Dan grew up in a traditional, moralist family but didn’t really go to church and so knew nothing about the Gospel. Heading into college he was “stiff-arming religion,” and floundered his freshman year. One day, a student was sharing a film by Josh McDowell talking about relationships and his own story of coming to faith. Dan wanted nothing to do with that so he left. But then he thought, “I wonder what he’s going to say. I wonder if it’s something I need to hear.”

He went back to the movie and heard McDowell encourage viewers to get a Bible and read the first three chapters of John. He found 1 John and by chapter 4 he was struck by a sense that evil was real. He realized that he was on the side of evil and needed the Son in his life but still didn’t know how to receive that life so he kept searching. Several weeks later he prayed to God: “If you have to take my life to give this to me, my life is yours.”

Shortly after giving his life to Christ, he was back at the bar he frequented and the song Highway to Hell came on. While everyone else rushed out to the dance floor Dan was overwhelmed with the reality that, absent Jesus, it’s true that we’re on a highway to hell. “Somebody has got to tell them,” he thought, running out of the bar.

The seeds of concern for people who don’t know God blossomed in time to a ministry that has taken Dan around the world preaching the Gospel. Dan wonders if the guy who showed that Josh McDowell film to his college dorm even knows what he did.

Great quotes from Dan:

I’m going to go find a Bible and read the contract. I want to see what this has to say before I commit to anything.

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“What about all these people outside of here? Are we going to go talk to them?”

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We have to love people enough to ask them questions.

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“If you have to take my life to give this to me, my life is yours.”

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The Gospel, this message is a powerful thing that God uses to call people to himself and you just never know.

Books and resources Dan mentioned:

• The Francis A. Schaeffer Trilogy: Three Essential Books in One Volume

If you want to learn more about Dan or want to learn more about his ministry, go to AFCI.us.

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The post Dan Rudman and Ripples of the Gospel appeared first on Eric Nevins.

Tim Voss taught physical education for 22 years at Trinity International University. Today he shares the story of how God called him to teaching, led him to Trinity after developing a program at Moody Bible Institute, and saw him through the most difficult moments of his life.

Those difficult moments revealed just how present God. His daughter went in for a procedure and died a week before her wedding. The grief, Tim says, was heavy. Even in the middle of that experience God placed the right people to share his grief and give the right grace to him. And while the grief never goes away, time does “insulate you” from the rawness of the emotion. Tim tells us how God brought him to some physical, outdoor experiences that helped him heal.

Today, Tim is working around the globe to bring the Gospel meeting tangible needs with International Needs. You’ll hear the passion in his voice as he talks about traveling in Africa and India to serve people “all the while bringing the love of Christ.”

Tim Voss is one of those teachers whose work influenced the direction of my life and I can’t wait to share his story with you.

Books & Links Tim mentioned:

• Ender’s Game Boxed Set I: Ender’s Game, Ender’s Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon (The Ender Quintet)

Great quotes from Tim:

Nowadays we rob a child in many respects from the breadth and depth of movement and freedom to become skilled in multiple activities.

Sportsmanship is dying to gamesmanship.

Don’t you want to come and join in this fantastic adventure with life this so precious? Every day is a gift and on your journey it becomes more and more sacred. Every day is richer and more beautiful.

He opened his arms and I fell into his chest and his arms wrapped around me. This guy with this heritage of suffering entered into my soul, and these arms of Christ, and his tears, just wept. And we really didn’t say anything. That was the beginning of my journey back.

The journey of the Christian is he becomes ever more aware of his sin and the incredible gift that God gave him.

If you haven't gone into iTunes to leave a rating & review for Halfway There, please do that right now! It helps more people find us. Thanks!

The post Tim Voss is on a Playful and Fantastic Adventure appeared first on Eric Nevins.

Jill May shares how she went from struggling mom and pastor’s wife to Season 1 winner of NBC’s Strong, a reality show that paired ordinary women with trainers and set them in competition with one another. Winning a reality show is very cool. But the story of God’s leading her there? Now that’s awesome.

Jill grew up in rural Minnesota to a church going family. Sometime in her late high school years during a period of asking the big questions about life she began reading the Bible which changed her life. Her new hunger for the Bible led her to Bible school where she met her husband.

After starting their family, they moved to Colorado to attend Denver Seminary. Several years later, after her husband Dan was called to serve as a pastor back in rural Minnesota, Jill began dealing with anxiety and began building walls. She explains how those walls began to come down with the revival of a bucket list item: going on a reality show.

Jill explains the process of how she applied for, was selected, and appeared on NBC’s Strong and the breakthroughs she experienced both physical and emotional on her way to winning it all.

Great quotes from Jill:

I like to describe my journey with God as a wrestle.

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When I look back, it can only bring me to that place of worship because He has been so sovereign over the process.

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When I was in my deepest darkest, rock bottom moments, I literally had times when I thought I was going to die because I was experiencing panic. I remember laying in my bed and thinking I can’t deliver myself from this. I cannot rescue myself.

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God was not far from me. At this point I was suffering but God was in one of the closest places I’ve ever had him. At that point I knew he was it. He was my only hope.

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It’s okay to be who you are. Why would you want to be someone else?

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The most honoring to God is to live into who He’s designed you to be.

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You can’t show me someone that’s doing poorly physically and tell me they’re in a good place mentally and spiritually.

If Jill’s story stirred something in you to begin a fitness journey, she would love to connect with you and the best way to do that is through social media. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

If you haven't gone into iTunes to leave a rating & review for Halfway There, please do that right now! It helps more people find us. Thanks!

The post Jill May and Wrestling Truth and Reality appeared first on Eric Nevins.

Mark Casson of Metanoia Prison Ministries shares how he found the Lord in prison while being tried for his crime. He shares the story of how how he pleaded guilty and the ways that God honored that brave choice, how he learned to fellowship with believers of all stripes, and how God used his experience to almost immediately after he left prison to serve prisoners all over the country.

Mark believes that prisoners are a neglected ministry in most churches (see Matthew 25:31-46) and is working to help churches do it better, sometimes to start for the first time. If you’re interested in prison ministry, please contact Metanoia Prison Ministries.

Great quotes from Mark:

Prison is one of the most spiritual environments a Christian can be in.

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In prison, there’s one body. It’s not segregated by denomination, belief, race, socioeconomic, education. It’s one body of Christ worshiping together because there’s only one chapel.

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The times we feel farther away are the times we get on our knees longer and we pray more and we draw closer to God.

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You are not defined by what you’ve done. You’re defined by Christ.

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I was freer in prison as a Christian than I’ve ever been free on the outside.

Mark offered his email address, too, in case you’re interested in participating with Metanoia Prison Ministries which is: [email protected].

If you haven’t gone into iTunes to leave a rating & review for Halfway There, please do that right now! It helps more people find us. Thanks!

The post Mark Casson and The Clay’s Perspective appeared first on Eric Nevins.