Blessing in Boston
At the beginning of April, my good friend Arnoldo and I had the opportunity to travel to Boston to minister at a wonderful Spanish church. It was unusual to get a request from a Spanish church (since I don’t speak Spanish), but I was glad to go. Arnoldo (a friend from my home church) came to translate for me. He was more of a blessing then I could have realized.
Vida Real (the name of the church there, translated Real Life) kept us very busy! We spent three days there and ministered a total of five times! Friday, we ministered to the youth with several responding to the call for salvation. On Saturday, we conducted an evangelism workshop. There, we taught the people effective one-on-one evangelism, teaching them to use the law to soften the heart and then to administer the gospel. That afternoon we went to the streets to put in practice what we learned. The people reported many good conversations. They also reported that they felt empowered by the new information they had learned. After one-on-one, Arnoldo and I preached on the streets for a short spell. We had a good crowd and I had a great conversation with a young Muslim lady afterwards.
Saturday evening, however, was the main event. Over 600 people crammed into the building for the ‘Fiesta de Amigo’ (Friends Party). That night, we preached our hearts out, and it was reported that 35 souls came to receive Christ. Praise the Lord! The next day, we ministered at the Sunday morning service. Several souls came down then, as well—some to receive Christ, some to answer the call of God.
One particular instance that was special to me was on Sunday morning as I was praying for a gentlemen who had come down to the altar. I was going from person to person, praying for them. As I came to this gentleman, I paused. I’m not much for prophesying or anything like that, but I try to be faithful to relay what I feel the Lord lays on my heart. As I began to pray, I said, “Lord, I sense the call of God on this man’s life.” I don’t know if the Holy Spirit hit him or if I just confirmed something he had known. I’m not sure what happened except that he buckled underneath that prayer. It was clearly evident to me that the Lord used me to confirm something that was in his heart. It was special for me to be a part of that moment. I pray that gentleman fulfills all the good things that the Lord has for his life.
Many souls were touched and changed through this short trip to Boston. Thank you to all who support us.
The Atonement in Christ
As of late, the Bible has really come alive to me! I’ve always loved studying the Word of God. It is a true treasure! The more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know. This especially became apparent to me regarding the Atonement. As an evangelist, I have always struggled with understanding the Atonement. How does it work? Why is it necessary? I’d often attempt to think up examples to explain it to others, but ultimately these examples would fall short. Sometimes I would end up with egg on my face talking to people on the streets. Their questions about the Atonement would confound my ability to answer. Recently, however, I made an amazing discovery. The Lord had challenged me to read through “Lectures on Systematic Theology” by Charles Finney. Although Charles Finney is one of my heroes, this book is astoundingly difficult to read. I trudged through it for over a year. When I came to the chapter on the Atonement I was dumbfounded. What is this that I have never heard? It was the doctrine of the Atonement that was preached during the Second Great Awakening. Not only by him, but by the great Methodist ministers who blazed the fire of the gospel all across this country.
After much study, I’ve come to the persuasion that this understanding of the Atonement is right and needs to be taught. As a result, I’ve written several articles about it on my blog. I’ve also made a few videos (more soon). You can find them on my website (This is a good one to start with). I hope they will bless and enlighten you.
By the way, if you are not a partner with us and you’d like to be, we would be grateful to have you come along side of us. You can give automatically by visiting our giving page on our website: halchaffee.com/partnergive, or you are always welcome to give by check. Please make your check out to the address listed.
Hal Chaffee Ministries
P.O. Box 1546
Elkton, MD 21922
Hal Chaffee 