Saints! the Time Has Come! Let's Tell It!: Focus on Jesus! Focus on the Gospel! Focus on the Lost!

By Pastor Leonard Roy Harris

This is a testimony of encouragement and challenge. I believe that Jesus wants to preach the gospel and make disciples through you if you let him. He wants to set a spark and blow it into a flame that will burn within you as his servant.

This testimony is written for the busy saint who is on the go and may not have time to read many books. Hopefully you will catch the vision of this book quickly and move out with a new challenge, zeal and passion for the Lord, the saints and the lost.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514426654

Pastor Leonard Roy Harris

The author has been a local church pastor for 39 years serving at the Grove Heights Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois. He has also been a part-time correctional chaplain for 25 years serving at the nation’s largest community correctional center for federal prisoners operated by the Salvation Army in Chicago .He also served on a village gospel ministry team in Benin West Africa for 11 years. By God's grace he is still serving in these three ministries. Prior to this the author was a Juvenile Court probation officer for 5 years where the Lord led in the development of a gospel-discipleship and mentoring ministry to juvenile delinquents. He also served as director of a mission in the Cabrini Green Housing Projects for 5 years. As a youth he served with a youth ministry as a chaplain for 7 years and later as their adult camp speaker for 34 years. During those years many young people believed in and received Jesus as Lord and Savior.

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Copyright © 2015 by Pastor Leonard Roy Harris.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-5144-2666-1

              eBook         978-1-5144-2665-4

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Rev. date: 11/24/2015

All Quotations are from the New International Version (NIV)

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Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Gospel Focus One

Gospel Focus Two

Gospel Focus Three

Gospel Focus Four

Gospel Focus Five

Gospel Focus Six

Gospel Focus Seven

Gospel Focus Eight

FOREWORD

I have known Len Harris for over 40 years. My wife, Joanne, and I were at Len and Darlene’s wedding. He and I have gone witnessing door-to-door together in Chicago. He has pastored the same church on the South side of Chicago for 39 years. He has also been a part-time correctional chaplain for 25 years at the nation’s largest community correctional center for federal prisoners operated by the Salvation Army in Chicago. He has also served as a village Gospel ministry team leader in Benin and Nigeria, West Africa.His book, Pastors! – the Time Has Come – Let’s Take It is a very challenging message to spiritual leaders to be all that GOD would have us to be in these Last Days. And now this second book –

SAINTS! – THE TIME HAS COME! – Let’s Tell It!

Focus on Jesus! Focus on the Gospel! Focus on the Lost! It is a very important and challenging book! He is challenging all of GOD’s people to be fishers of men (Matthew 4:19) – winning the lost to Christ and discipling them in Kingdom ways. And why not! – this is the command we have been given – Mark 16:15. We have been given the ministry of reconciling people to GOD – 2 Corinthians 5:17-20. Bearing fruit is the proof of our discipleship – John 15:8.As J.E. Conant stated in his book Every-Member Evangelism – The Great Commission, therefore, when we sum it up, is a personal command to every Christian to go into every nook and corner of his personal world, and seek, by witnessing in the power of the Holy Spirit to the Good News of God’s saving grace through the shed blood of Christ, to win every lost soul in his personal world to salvation. … There is no command in the New Testament for a sinner to go to church after the Gospel, but there are multiplied commands for the Church to take the Gospel to the sinner. The responsibility of every Christian is not to bring the lost to church but to take the Gospel to the lost. The challenge and practices of this book are not just theory – not only have they been taught to Len by GOD over these many years of varied ministry experiences, but he has lived them throughout his life. Most of all, this book tells you how to get your heart and life ready for this great work of soul winning.May GOD use this book around the world to raise up a great army of soul winners in these Last Days (Ezekiel 37:10).Nate Krupp

Salem, Oregon

Author of You Can be a Soul Winner – Here’s How!

and Bible Studies for Soul Winners.

For those Saints Who Want to Let Jesus Use Them to Preach the Gospel to the Lost in Their Families and the World Making Disciples of Them

This is a testimony of encouragement and challenge. I believe that Jesus wants to preach the gospel and make disciples through you if you let him. He wants to set a spark and blow it into a flame that will burn within you as his servant. He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants Psalms 104:4

This testimony is written for the busy saint who is on the go and may not have time to read many books. Hopefully you will catch the vision of this book quickly and move out with a new challenge, zeal and passion for the Lord, the saints and the lost.

I am one of Jesus’ local church pastors and this is a testimony borne out of many years of learning and helping him train his servants to go and make disciples. I hope that he will use this testimony to speak to your heart encouraging you to yield to him allowing him to disciple you and through you to go and make disciples of the lost in your family, school, workplace, community, neighborhood, nation and world.

Jesus has been personally giving me on-the –job training in gospel outreach and discipleship for many years and believe me I am still learning and growing. He has been teaching me through mistakes, blunders, correction and insights.

I have been a local church pastor for 39 years serving at the Grove Heights Baptist Church in Chicago IL and 25 years as chaplain at the nations largest community correctional center for federal prisoners operated by the Salvation Army in Chicago. I have also served as a village gospel ministry team leader in Benin West Africa for 11 years. By God’s grace I am still serving him in these three ministries.

Prior to this I was a Juvenile Court probation officer for 5 years where the Lord led in the development of a gospel-discipleship and mentoring ministry to juvenile delinquents. I also served as a director of a mission in the Cabrini Green Housing Projects for 5 years.

As a youth I served with a youth ministry as a chaplain for 7 years and later as their adult camp speaker for 34 years. During those years many young people believed in and received Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Beginning as a teenager I was a door to door gospel evangelist for 12 years and was used by Jesus to develop and lead teams in gospel ministry in the housing projects and other neighborhoods of Chicago. I still do door to door gospel-discipleship ministry as a pastor.

I am a biblical counselor and writer of short bible companion, life navigation booklets that can be quickly read. All of this has been by the grace of God under his direction and empowerment. All glory to him.

I mention all of this as a testimony of my journey with Jesus as he has been training me and using me in his gospel outreach-discipleship-mentoring ministry over the years. My desire is to share with you what I have been learning in the hope that it will encourage and challenge you to develop an even closer intimacy with Jesus allowing him to use you to help him reach the lost and make disciples of them.

I have been married for 46 years and my wife and I have 4 daughters, 5 granddaughters, 3 grandsons and 3 Son-in-Laws.

THE LOCAL CHURCH, THE GOSPEL AND YOUR FAMILY

I believe that Jesus wants to empower and call his local church saints alongside its families helping them in the fulfillment of their roles as husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters.

I believe that the local church should not become a substitute for its families but a support and encourager of its families. Its ministries should always be geared toward its families and the families of the lost.

The local church can do this through fellowships that strengthen the family and through encouraging husbands and wives to fellowship with one another as well as encouraging family fellowship.

I also believe that the local church should mobilize its families to reach out to other families with the gospel of Jesus Christ. That the husbands and wives intentionally build relationships with unsaved husbands and wives and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them.

That the husbands and wives disciple the newly saved husband and wife and help them to establish daily devotional time with Jesus and daily devotional time together with him as well. This includes worship, bible reading, discussion and prayer for themselves, their children, others and whatever they are led to pray for.

To also gather with the newly saved husband and wife along with each couples children to help them to establish family fellowship.

Finally, to equip them to build relationships sharing the gospel with the families of their relatives beginning with the husbands and wives and in many cases the single mother. In this way the gospel of Jesus Christ will multiply family by family fulfilling the promise given by God to Abraham:

I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Genesis 12:3

I expand on this more in Gospel Focus Three Focus on the Family. I mention it here that you might know the overall focus of this book.

Pastor Leonard Roy Harris

Acknowledgments

I thank Jesus our Chief Shepherd who has chosen to work this testimony in my life and share it with you.

I thank God for my precious wife Darlene who has been a valuable gift from God as a helper, counselor and life companion. Her love, patience and support have made it possible for me to continue through the many rigors of marriage, family, pastoral life and gospel-discipleship ministry.

I thank God for our wonderful children and grandchildren as we watch him guide and shape their lives into his image. As their parents and grandparents Darlene and I knew that part of parenting was to lead our children to the Lord and encourage our daughters and Son-In-Laws to do the same with their children and they have.

My parents Leo and Lucille Harris remain as an example to me of godly love, leadership and lifestyle. Their love, faith, support and success continues to encourage me in my faith walk. My father’s example and my mother’s prayers were used by God to bring me where I am today.

My father Dr. Leo Charles Harris went to be with the Lord on February 4th 2015 and his example still lingers in my heart and his legacy continues in the lives of his wife, children, grandchildren, relatives and the many he has mentored and helped. A memorial fund in his name has been established to provide scholarships for disadvantaged children and youth who want to learn to play an instrument. You see, my father managed the South Side Family Chamber Orchestra and even played the cello in it and I played in the 2nd violin section. He always said Music will change the world!

My sister Cheryl Jane Woods who is also a Christian writer and servant of Christ is a source of encouragement and inspiration as she seeks to impact the world for Christ in all that she does. My brother Roger Lee Harris and I have sharpened each other over the years to become the men God wants us to be. I also want to thank my late brother Charles who was a good big brother to me.

I want to thank the Grove Heights Baptist church family where I have served for 39 years. I thank them for their love, support and care. They have made it possible for me to pastor with joy. They have also been used over the years to build my faith as Jesus has led us through hard times, struggles and challenges. They have been receiving the training in gospel outreach and discipleship over the years and many have allowed Jesus to use them to win the lost and disciple them.

I want to thank the late pastor Hezekiah Brady Jr. who is my spiritual father and was also a Christian writer. Not only did he lead me to the Lord Jesus Christ but he set an example of faith in Jesus that has carried me through many storms. The Lord Jesus used him to stir up a burning desire within me to yield to him allowing him to preach the gospel and make disciples through me.

I thank the Lord for the Older Boys and Girls Conference where I served as a chaplain as a teenager for 7 years and later as an adult speaker at the summer camp session for 34 years. In serving as chaplain and as the summer camp speaker the Lord Jesus was able to win many young people to the father as he chose to work through me. If he can work through me believe me, he can work through you!

I thank the Lord for my Christian brothers and sisters in Nigeria and Benin West Africa. What a joy it has been to fellowship and serve the Lord together in village gospel-discipleship outreach.

Finally, I want to thank the Lord Jesus for the staff of the Salvation Army Correctional Center in Chicago. We have been like a family to one another. I want to thank all of the dear ex-offenders who have come to Jesus, continued in him and gone on to serve him. I thank them for the rich fellowship we have shared with Jesus every Tuesday and Thursday evening. I thank the volunteers who have served the Lord Jesus with me in the gospel-discipleship ministry at the Center as well including Laird Vernon and Jacqueline Schleuter who continues to serve with me.

Gospel Focus One

Orientation

GOD’S WILL AND YOU

God created his will for your life and designed you to fit into that will as he formed you in your mother’s womb. Your greatest decision in life is to choose to live in that will. In it you will find love, joy, peace, purpose, contentment and every fulfillment. You will come to the end of your life having fulfilled God’s purpose for bringing you into existence. That is your destiny for the praise and glory of God.

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalms 139:16

God our Creator saw your body as it was being formed to fit into his will. He decided what family he would place you in and at what point in time he would place you. He determined whether you would be male or female and who your parents and siblings would be. He decided your height, weight, body type, eye color and physical appearance. He decided your racial nationality and determined what country you would live in and what language you would speak.

He decided the intelligence level he would give you as well as the skills, abilities, motivations, passions and desires he would build into you. He placed his hopes and dreams deep within you with a desire to fulfill them for his glory. In a sense he prepared the drama of your life and placed you in it with a role to play to glorify him.

He formed you in your mother’s womb and breathed the breath of life into you through your father. Your heart started to beat, your brain became active, your body came alive and your senses started developing. He decided how long you would live and you became a living soul to reflect his image, fulfill his purpose and in so doing to bring him praise, glory and honor throughout eternity.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

You were created and designed to be in Christ Jesus by God before you were born. He did this to fulfill his pre-planned good works through you for his glory.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Ephesians 1:3

You have already been blessed by God with every spiritual blessing. That blessing however can only be found in your relationship with Christ in the will of God. As you grow in that relationship and become more intimate with Jesus and learn to live within God’s will you will experience the spiritual blessings more and more.

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. Ephesians 1:4a,b

God’s purpose was to choose you once you decided to choose Jesus. Many are invited by God to come to him through Jesus but few choose to be chosen by him. For many are called but few are chosen Matthew 22:14. In fact the gate to life is small and the road to it is narrow and only a few find it Matthew 7:14 God chose you long ago to become holy and blameless in Christ and he is looking at your life right now! For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, 1 Peter 3:12

In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. Ephesians 1:4c-6

God loves you more deeply than you can ever imagine. "See what great