The Romans Approach to Reaching the Lost

THE ROMANS APPROACH TO SALVATION

Sitting in the living room of our home one evening, my wife handed me a storage box and said, “If you want experience some nostalgia look through this.”  Out of curiosity I began to search through the items in the box and found Father’s Day cards from my children, notes from my wife and various other things that went back over 30 years.  I also found a small envelope with a 37 cent stamp post marked in 2002.  The return address showed Hallsville, TX 75650.  I removed a  letter and it read as follows:

                Dear Jim,

                                I take great pleasure in writing to tell you of the success my wife & I have had       reaching

                the lost using the Romans Approach to salvation. 

A friend gave me a R.A. Tape in 1982.  Since then the Lord, my wife & I have converted more than 50 souls using it.

I am so thankful for the tape you recently gave me.  I promise it will be used.  I’m so greatful for brothers like you who have the knowledge of God’s salvation plan & the ability to organize it in a way that faith, the love of God, the origin of sin, God’s grace, His salvation plan & Church membership can all be taught by nearly anyone.

My prayer is, may God bless & keep you in all that you do.

In Brotherly love,

Gene Tolar

I have shared the letter just as it was written.  You can listen to the tape that Gene is referring to here: http://campusministryunited.com/Audio/RomansApproachLive.mp3

I am delighted that God has used this study to bring hundreds to Christ.  It is the gospel that is the power of God for salvation.  The study from Romans simply presents the truth in a way that people who are away from God can understand it.  God describes us as clay jars that hold the great treasure of the gospel:  “We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7)

I pray that God will bless you richly as you explore this study!

Revival

I am writing this to sort out my thoughts and feelings about my role in the Kingdom of God. First, I want to be clear with myself: Living for Christ is not about me, it IS about doing God’s will (Matt. 7:21-23). Paul’s assessment of himself and his role before God was apparent to him (Gal. 2:20; Acts 26:16-18). He knew he was an apostle to the gentiles (Gal. 1:1).

My calling is clear to me: I am an evangelist. I was called of God to preach to the lost and bring them to salvation. Whether I am used to share the message or God uses someone else, it thrills me, like nothing else, to see a lost person baptized into Christ. On the other hand, it disheartens me to see many opportunities to share the gospel pass Christians by. This is not a recent “urge,” or a passing emotion – this is in my DNA as a child of God. Everywhere I have ministered God has blessed with many baptisms. In Cabot, AR in 1972 there were sixteen baptisms in a six week period as I caught the vision and burden Paul wrote about in Romans 9:1-4a and Romans 10:1. In Davenport, IA over 200 were baptized in two and one-half years; in Tavares, FL 28 were baptized in four months; in Little Rock there was an average of 40 per year baptized, and now at River City Ministry this year 30 have been baptized; last year over 70. In almost ALL of the many conversions I note here, someone besides me studied with and baptized the folks. Again, this is not about me!

For several years (1982-2003), my evangelistic spirit was numb (dead). I attribute this to several things: the difficulty of working with a divided church, the pressure placed on our family as my youngest son began to use drugs and a daughter chose to worship at a congregation other than the one we were with, and finally my resignation from preaching. All of these things were major distractions. Of course the real source of discouragement was Satan (Eph. 6:12).

Then, my youngest son’s conversion at age 22 was a tremendous source of revival to my spirit. If I died today I would do so praising God for what he has done in my family, with my children and their walk with Him. I say, “Amen,” to John’s statement in 3 John 4, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”

When Wes decided to come to Harding and attend the HSBS Program I was encouraged even more. To find out that he was going to join a team of students and go to California (taking him far away from his mom and dad) I could only praise God! I know there will be other obstacles along lifes way, but right now I am excited about trying to live up to my calling by equipping others to share Jesus while I do the same.