When God Redeemed A Keith Shealy Band Promoter's Mistake (TTM188)

Toward The Mark podcast video, "When God redeemed a Keith Shealy Band promoter’s mistake (TTM188)!" Encouragement we all need in being courageous as we walk by faith in Christ Jesus...

(WATCH LINK on our Rumble channel)

... personal testimonies showing God in all of His goodness coming to redeem our disappointments into divine appointment in response to our courageously walking by faith in our Life of reaching people with The Gospel of Jesus Christ and The Gospel Jesus preached...
Showing GOD BIG in the eyes of those that see Him small.
7 min., 45 sec.

Key Bible verses in order of the Holy KJV Bible reference:

John 15:1-8, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. (2) Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. (3) Now ye are clean through The Word which I have spoken unto you. (4) Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. (5) I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing. (6) If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. (7) If ye abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. (8) Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples.”

John 16:22-24, “And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. (23) And in that day ye shall ask Me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you. (24) Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”

John 17:21-23, “That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. (22) And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: (23) I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me.”

Romans 2:10-13, “But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: (11) For there is no respect of persons with God. (12) For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law (13) (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.”

Philippians 3:13-14, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, (14) I press TOWARD THE MARK for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

As a ministry team and family here at Toward The Mark, our mission and vision is to invite and lead everyone we come in contact with into the saving knowledge of our wonder-full King Jesus Christ! 

As that great day of our Lord's return draws closer with each passing day, who do you know that could use this message of encouragement as you forward it on to them this week?

For full original story, LISTEN NOW @KeithShealysBetweenTheLinesShow... podcast post TTM193... "KEITH SHEALY BAND REUNION CONCERT-Video Collage" LISTEN NOW:

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Your friends, servants, and TTM Family in Christ Jesus fulfilling God's Dream,

    

To Show GOD BIG in a World that Sees Him small… 
sums up the reason Keith stepped out in faith to focus on reaching the lost and strengthening believers everywhere, through Toward The Mark, Inc.  Keith and Brenda's prayer is that you will be encouraged and edified by the Secrets from God's Word that Keith recounts in our written and recorded products.

 

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This blog channel, along with the complete collection of original podcasts, music, blogs, books, CDs, and other Bible-based resources of Toward The Mark, Inc. is made possible by the faithful prayer and financial support of the TTM Sponsorship Family. We'd like to invite you to come on-board, to become a part of the TTM Family as well, by becoming a monthly financial partner. Your support will go toward fulfilling our God-given calling to help provide effective, contemporary outreach tools that are available to everyone, the churched and un-churched alike, who desire to know more of the love, truth, and salvation of Jesus Christ. We invite you to partner with us, as we, "...press Toward The Mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)

 

Keep PRESSIN' IN!

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We INVITE YOU TO...
 see and hear, follow and share, more from Toward The Mark:

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...ADVANCING GOD'S WORD ... At Home, In Our Schools, And On The Job!

 

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~ Special "CELEBRATING FREEDOM" Video on our Rumble Channel

 

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~ "Sharing with you the Secrets God Whispers to us" revelations on Keith Shealy's Between The Lines Podcast 

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Special Featured Podcast... I was overwhelmed by the enormity of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us!

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"LETTERS FROM THE FRONT"
available now... Send e-mail request.

We pray God uses this message, and all of our resources, to fan the flame in your heart for Christ Jesus, His wonder-full Ways, and His Plan and Purpose for you in this life. We are eternally grateful for our loving Toward The Mark Family of sponsors who make this blog, and all of our resources, possible by their faithful prayer and monthly financial support! If you have any questions about our work, or if you would like to make a special tax-deductible donation, place a special order for any of our books, magazines, or CDs, or to share a testimony or prayer request with us, please e-mail us. Also feel free to write a letter and mail it to TOWARD THE MARK, P.O. Box 1152, Yorktown, VA 23692-1152.

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Winning The Lost ... Throw off religious frames of thought!

Remember...
           "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that wins souls is wise  (Proverb 11:30)."

     In these last days before Christ Jesus returns, we must do everything necessary to make sure that our partnership with God is strong. Only then will we be able to be truly effective at winning the lost, with God, God's Way.

            In 1987, I had a contemporary band that I put together for ministering the Gospel of Jesus Christ through original music and lyrics. The band members and I were invited to a church in Roanoke, Virginia to do a concert for the purpose of reaching out to the lost young people in their city. As the event date drew near, I specifically remember asking God to pack the auditorium with lost teenagers, hundreds of young guys and girls whose hearts and lives we could win for Christ during this upcoming evening. After all, the more people we draw in to a concert event, the more effectively successful the outreach ministry will prove to be. Everybody knows that, right??!!

            We believed that our motives were pure, but our goal to draw the biggest crowd had become a bit too high in our outreach priorities. That popular, misguided, religious frame of thought, "the bigger our crowds, the better our ministry" led us to become too focused on mainly drawing the crowds to our concert rather than preparing to meet the needs of individuals who came. I was unknowingly well-on-my-way to becoming desensitized to the increasing need of the folks coming to the outreach concert ministry. Was I doing a good thing? I surely was, without a doubt! Was I doing the "right" thing? Not nearly as much as I should have been!

            A few days before the concert, after I had been praying for only about 10 minutes, The Lord said something that would forever change my life, especially in the way I would conduct my band outreach ministry from then on. The Lord said to me, "Keith, do you know why I was so successful at reaching the masses during My earthly ministry?" I replied, "Why Lord?" He said, "Because My passion has always been for loving people on a personal one-on-one basis, first! If a crowd assembles to hear you share what I have placed on your heart for them, then that gathering should be held for no other reason than for those in attendance to receive My Word of direction, correction, encouragement, or affirmation. And we make sure to address their individual lives first, then address the group. Always remember, I never call an assembly for entertaining individuals. I will only call individuals to gather together for solemn assemblies."

            In this age when a church's success is largely based on the number of people that are in attendance, or the amount of money that is in its coffers, it is no wonder that much of the body of Christ in America is in the impotent state that it is, especially where winning the lost God's way is concerned. Jesus said, "But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer (permit) ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence  (a false show)  make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte  (be converted)  , and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves  (Matthew 23:13-15)."

            I know that this may be a bit hard to swallow, but Christ Jesus could just as well be addressing the vast majority of church organizations in this country today, with that same message. God loves loving people. He hates when His people put anything ahead of loving Him and loving others. Before we can truly become effective at reaching people for the reasons God wants to reach them, we must understand that, contrary to popular belief, God is not at all impressed with our buildings, bank accounts, programs, or any other outward thing that secular society deems is an outward indication of inward spiritual maturity. In fact, secular society operates contrary to the ways of spiritual maturity. Therefore, with a lack of spiritual maturity in the lives of church leaders, the church's function will, in great part, sadly be operating in this all-too-popular religious frame of thought.

            Why have those religious mindsets and secular things become sought-after in churches, even more-so than the will of God for people? In short, it is because the church has allowed popular culture to affect the church more that the church has intentionally affected pop-culture. No matter what growth experts may tell you about buying facilities or adding programs, God's passion is for having an intimate relationship with each one of His individual people, individually. Not that I'm saying money and what it can buy is bad; I am saying that, when the pursuit of these things is hindering our ability to demonstrate God's Love for people, we have, as I like to say, "put the cart before the horse." We have to play a more effective role in winning the lost, as well as encouraging currently-active believers in the church. Millions of dollars are being squandered away on things, like the construction of facilities, the purchase of buses and other equipment, and developing exorbitant programs, that, for the most part, are never fully utilized for the purpose that they were acquired. It's just bad stewardship.

            In Matthew 6:33, Jesus gives us the starting place where it all must begin, "But seek ye first the Kingdom of God  (the Kingdom that IS God), and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

            As you hold on to that thought, Part II "Winning the Lost...We Can Only Give From What We've Got" is coming soon, then Part III, "Winning the Lost...Counting the Cost" after that too. We encourage you to ask the Person of The Holy Spirit to meet with you in the pages of God's written Word where He helps us develop our increasing WANT for oneness with others along with our become One IN God, IN Jesus Christ, and IN Him (The Person of The Holy Spirit). You see, for us to become truly effective at winning the lost in these last days, we must do everything necessary to make sure that our partnership with God is strong first. I once heard a very wise man say, "The best thing we can do to help the poor in this country is to not be one of them." The same thing applies where leading the lost in spiritual things is concerned. Make it your goal to befriend people who are outside of your own circle of friends, and share with them all that The wonderful Holy Spirit brings to light in all those times God has answered your prayers and walked and talked with you in your life. The results will bless both you and them, as your hearts become filled with gratitude that compels you to offer up thanksgiving to Him, for Him, and for everything He IS and does.

            We must always remember Revelation 12:11, "And they overcame him  (the devil)  by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." And, no matter what,  KEEP PRESSIN' IN!.

            Our sincerest hope is that you are encouraged as you take in this blog. We'd like to invite you to take advantage of even more messages of encouragement, for you and your friends and family members, specially available now in one of our most-requested Toward The Mark books entitled, "Letters From The Front." We want to personally invite you to get your copies today.

            Our book  LETTERS FROM THE FRONT is a special collection of 12 of our most-requested teaching titles:

Sin Makes Ya Stewpit	The Cart's Before The Horse;
The Crisis of Eroding Integrity	The Fruit's at the End of the Limb
Too Quick to Compromise	The Rarest of All Breeds
Please...Stop Stinkin'	3 Keys to God-Pleasing Faith
Let It Go!	Understanding the Fear of The Lord
Into The Secret Place	Give to Give!

This collection of twelve teachings, when taken to heart, will help you emerge triumphant over seemingly impossible situations... "LETTERS From The FRONT" available at TowardTheMark online. If you would like to request a special order of this resource or any product from Keith Shealy and Toward The Mark, or if you have questions about our work, resources, or giving tax-deductible donations, please click here to e-mail us.

Would you write and let us know how this message has fanned the flame in your heart for Christ Jesus, His Ways, and God's Plan for your life?  We welcome you to mail us a letter addressed to TOWARD THE MARK, P.O. Box 1152, Yorktown, VA 23692-1152.  If you would like to e-mail your letter to us, please click here to e-mail us.

May you be greatly blessed as God writes this message in your heart. We praise Him, with eternal gratitude, for our loving Toward The Mark Family without whose help and support this work would not be possible!

Your friends and servants in Christ,
         

    

To Show GOD BIG in a world that Sees Him small… 
sums up the reason Keith stepped out in faith to focus on reaching the lost and strengthening believers everywhere, through Toward The Mark, Inc. We are praying that our Father in Heaven is able to encourage and edify your heart and life by the written and recorded products of Toward The Mark, Inc.

We couldn't do this without the help of our friends!
What you have just read is the 1st blog of a 3-part blog message. This blogspot, along with each of our original podcasts, music and video recordings, books, magazines, and other resources in our ministry collection, is made possible by the faithful prayer and financial support of the TTM Family of Sponsorship Partners. If you would like to become a part of the TTM Family, your monthly financial support of any amount will help toward fulfilling God's call on our lives to make Holy-Bible-based messages available to the churched and un-churched individuals alike. You are invited to partner with us in working with God to fulfill His desire for everybody to know Christ Jesus as He IS... The Way, The Truth, and The Life... personally. We will remain steadfast to "... press Toward The Mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13-14)." Would you consider helping us expand our outreach capabilities by becoming a monthly financial partner? Your support will help toward providing effective, practical outreach tools for ministering the love, truth, and salvation of Jesus Christ.

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Mail tax-deductible contributions by check or money order made out to:
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Thank you in advance for sowing your financial seed into the vision and mission God has given to this ministry! We pray God bless you with a 100-fold return for your generosity!

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Take me to Part II "WINNING THE LOST...We Can Only Give From What We've Got" post.

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Abortion...THERE IS HOPE!

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The Sweet Fruit of Overcoming Fear

THIS I'VE LEARNED... The spirits of fear and intimidation actually have a weakness. 

If you walk straight IN to them, THEY RUN AWAY!   

  

With all of the challenges people face in the world today, this is the perfect time to share how Keith "pressed through" fear and intimidation, to enjoy a sweet reward of blessings lasting a lifetime!
We pray Keith's story encourages you to overcome intimidation and fear in every area of your life, so you can walk victoriously in...

*  your family.

*  your calling.

*  your career.

*  your greatest heart's desires.

“To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me in My Throne, even as I also overcame, and Am set down with My Father in His Throne.” (Revelation 3:21)

       This personal testimony is about the first time I was asked to perform my songs as a solo artist in a good-sized concert. In January of 1981, I was at a Bible study at a new friend’s home in Winston-Salem, NC. One of the guys there, having heard that I had been in full-time music ministry, asked if I would share a couple of my songs. I replied, with a bit of relief I might add, that I had not brought my guitar with me. At that, the young lady who was hosting the meeting said “wait a minute,” jumped up, ran down the hall, came back with her guitar, and handed it to me! So, I took it and tuned it up as best I could (not having played the guitar very long at that point!) and played two songs that I had just scribbled down a week or two before. A few days later, unbeknownst to me, the same young lady who hosted the Bible study called her brother, the President of the Christian Student Organization at the University of North Carolina (UNC) campus. She told him about me and my songs. A few days later, he telephoned me and asked if I would agree to be the featured musician at a concert on the UNC campus in Greensboro the following month. Immediately intimidation attacked me. I knew that I was standing at a fork in the road regarding my ministry’s future, and, by the intensity of the attack, I knew that something big was looming. What was I to do? On one hand, I could believe the intimidation that was telling me that I was not good enough, and perhaps miss out on something that God wanted to do with me. On the other hand, I could trust God, and crawl out onto the end of the limb.

       It was quite a limb! Though I had toured professionally as a drummer for a number of years, I had very little understanding of how to play the guitar, much less sing and play at the same time. To say the least, I wasn’t prepared to do a public performance of any kind! So you see, when the fellow from UNC asked me to do the concert, only God and I really knew that, by all natural reasoning, I was incapable of it. Not only that, but all I had at the time were six unfinished original songs, and they needed me to do at least fifteen. To add to the intimidation, he then told me that one of the area’s most well-known Christian rock bands would open for me that evening.

       So, there I was, standing at the threshold of a major decision. Was I going to walk into the roar of this extremely intimidating situation, or turn and run away? All of a sudden, in the midst of the storm that was raging in my mind, I realized that I was being presented with a priceless opportunity to glorify God, not only for that evening, but also for many years to come. With all of the strength that I could muster, I threw my shoulders back, gulped real big, and said to the guy from UNC, “I would be honored to serve you in this way!” I thanked him for his trust, and we prayed and hung up the phone. Within seconds, it felt as if the intimidating spirits that were pounding on my head during the conversation had called in all of their big-mouthed brothers, sisters, aunts, and uncles to convince me that I had just made the biggest mistake of my entire life. There I sat facing the greatest step of faith that I had ever taken, with only six unfinished original songs to my name and an old cheap guitar I had paid forty-five dollars for at a local pawn shop.

       Accepting the offer to do the event had been a huge battle, but not as brutal as the next struggle would be: preparing for and doing the concert itself. The five weeks leading up to the event were some of the loneliest and most trying times that I had ever experienced. My pastor, his wife, and myself had recently moved to that area and were heavily engaged in the first few months of a new Church plant. Six weeks earlier, I had taken a job selling boats, in the dead of winter, working no fewer than fifty mandatory hours a week. Further adding to the difficulty, I had not made any friends in the area as yet, and was having to do this with very little to no support from anyone. As you might imagine, I asked God regularly to anoint me with the wisdom to finish up the songs that I had and to write the other nine songs that I would need. Now these could not be just nine more songs; they had to be nine songs that ministered life to people, drawing anyone who heard them into oneness with their Heavenly Father. Writing those songs took many hours of prayer and hard work to complete, but God was faithful. When the night of the event finally arrived, I placed my guitar into its handle-less cardboard case, climbed into my trusty Ford van, and headed for Greensboro. With every turn of the wheels on my truck, the war that was raging in my mind grew. Pulling up to the concert hall that evening is a memory that I will never forget. After finding a parking place, I decided to sit in my van for a short while and pray. With what felt like the proverbial stomach full of “really big” butterflies, I lifted my hands toward the heavens, let out a big sigh, and said, “Lord, let’s do this!”

       I then climbed out of the van and headed for the building. As I was almost to the door, I looked around and noticed that there were already many cars in the parking lot. There would be a big crowd in the concert hall that night! With my Bible in one hand and my guitar in the other, I took a deep breath and proceeded through the door.

       Inside the hall, people were frantically running around getting things ready, and the opening band was on stage doing their sound check. It was all rather overwhelming. When the promoter saw me, he immediately walked over, took me by the arm, and began introducing me to people and showing me around the place. Shortly thereafter, one of the audio guys shouted from the stage, “Keith, sound check in five!” Do you remember my telling you earlier about the intimidating spirits that had dropped in on me with all of their relatives? Well, they were back and doing a bang-up job of portraying the stage and growing audience as being Goliath himself. Five minutes later, shaking like a leaf, I made my way onto the stage, struggled through my sound check, and went backstage to pray while awaiting my time slot.

       Once the opening band had begun playing, I decided to make my way through the crowd toward the back of the hall and hang out where the sound guys were. As the band announced that they would be playing their last song, I started making my way backstage to get ready to go on. Man, were those guys good! And frankly, that did not make things any easier for me. I was staring into the eyes of a “Goliath-sized” situation, knowing that only one of us was going to step off that stage, one hour from now, the victor. As impossible as the whole thing seemed, I decided then that I was going to win the fight or die trying. As I was waiting for the announcer to introduce me, the intimidation reached a fevered pitch. All of a sudden, with only seconds to go, one of the sound crew guys walked up to me, leaned over, and whispered, “Keith, I loved what you did at sound check. And by the way, the guys said that they can’t wait to hear the rest of your stuff.” Praise God, there they were, the five smooth stones that I needed to win the fight: the testimony that God was with me!

       The announcer introduced me, and I walked out on stage to roaring applause. With a tremble in my voice and my hands shaking, I started to play my first song. As I was about half way through it, I can remember thinking to myself that it sure was a good thing that I was wearing long pants because my knees were quivering pretty much uncontrollably. As I finished my first song, I could not believe my own eyes and ears. The entire crowd rose to their feet and broke into thunderous applause. The mountain that had stood in front of me for five long and grueling weeks was removed in seconds, and I knew then that I had pressed my way through to victory. Not only had the intimidating voices been defeated, but I began playing, singing, and speaking with an authority that I had never experienced before.

       The testimony gets even better! After the concert was over and I was mingling among the crowd, something happened that further exceeded my greatest expectations. People started asking when I could come and minister for them. For example, in the crowd that evening was a lady who managed a local Christian night club. They had just purchased an old Assembly of God church building in the very same community where my pastors and I were in the process of starting our new Church. She walked up to me and asked if I would come and minister for them the following week. I accepted her offer and, as they say, the rest is history.

       A few weeks later, I was asked to play there one night a week, and shortly thereafter, the club’s board of directors invited our fledgling congregation to meet in their building as often as we would like. Not only was that in and of itself a huge miracle, but they allowed us to rent the entire facility for the “whopping” sum of only one dollar a year. God opened a flood gate of blessings in all of our lives, blessings that continue to this day!

       A few weeks later, I was playing at that same Christian club when I was approached by two local musicians asking me if I would be interested in their accompanying me whenever I was invited to do concerts. To make a very long and miraculous story short, that would be the beginning of The Keith Shealy Band and other fruitful outreach groups. Since then, thousands of lives have been changed for God’s glory, and so many wonderful miracles have taken place that we could not even begin to count them, all as a result of my accepting that one challenging invitation on that cold winter night in 1981!

       The good news for all of us is this: if you will only work as God’s partner to press through the intimidation that has held you back from receiving God’s best for your life, the same kind of results await you. Selah!

IN Christ Jesus,
                                 

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