If I could only write one more Love Letter to Pam...

I remember the day I saw Pam for the first time as if it were yesterday. She had the most beautiful black hair I had ever seen, coupled with a smile that took my breath. We were facing each other in the serving line at White Oak Conference Center at Suppertime. Her first words to me were "Would you like Peas or Carrots". My first to her were "I want you". Now Pam doesn't remember it that way, but in my mind it plays exactly like that every time. So on this Valentines day I wanted to do or say something special. Something that would hopefully be remembered long after $40 Roses are wilted and gone. Now when Pam and I dated it was long before Cell phones, email, and Face Time, and back in the day I wrote quite a few love letters. So as I thought about today and doing something out of the ordinary I began to wonder what I would say if I only had one letter left to write. If I could only correspond once more before I entered eternity what would I say? As I pondered this I began to do some study on great love letters that have been written, and that's when I discovered The last letter of Sullivan Ballou. Sullivan served in the United States Army during the Civil war. One week before the battle of Bull Run, he penned the words that perfectly capture my sentiments if I were writing Pam for the last time.

 July the 14th, 1861
 Washington D.C.

 My very dear Sarah:(Pam)

 The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days—perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write you again, I feel impelled to write lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more.
Our movement may be one of a few days duration and full of pleasure—and it may be one of severe conflict and death to me. Not my will, but thine O God, be done. If it is necessary that I should fall on the battlefield for my country, I am ready. I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in, the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American Civilization now leans upon the triumph of the Government, and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing—perfectly willing—to lay down all my joys in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that debt.

 But, my dear wife, when I know that with my own joys I lay down nearly all of yours, and replace them in this life with cares and sorrows—when, after having eaten for long years the bitter fruit of orphanage myself, I must offer it as their only sustenance to my dear little children—is it weak or dishonorable, while the banner of my purpose floats calmly and proudly in the breeze, that my unbounded love for you, my darling wife and children, should struggle in fierce, though useless, contest with my love of country.

 (Pam)Sarah, my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me to you with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield.

 The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them so long. And hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when God willing, we might still have lived and loved together and seen our sons grow up to honorable manhood around us. I have, I know, but few and small claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me—perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar—that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do not, my dear(Pam) Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name.

Forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and foolish I have often been! How gladly would I wash out with my tears every little spot upon your happiness, and struggle with all the misfortune of this world, to shield you and my children from harm. But I cannot. I must watch you from the spirit land and hover near you, while you buffet the storms with your precious little freight, and wait with sad patience till we meet to part no more.

 But, O(Pam) Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the brightest day and in the darkest night—amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours—always, always; and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.

(Pam) Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for me, for we shall meet again. As for my little boys, they will grow as I have done, and never know a father's love and care. Little Willie is too young to remember me long, and my blue-eyed Edgar will keep my frolics with him among the dimmest memories of his childhood. (Pam)Sarah, I have unlimited confidence in your maternal care and your development of their characters. Tell my two mothers his and hers I call God's blessing upon them. O (Pam)Sarah, I wait for you there! Come to me, and lead thither my children.

 Sullivan

(Sullivan Ballou Died a week later at the First Battle of Bull Run)

I love you Pam, and will forever!

Chris

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I'll have the Baby Jesus Combo, Hold the Cross, Repentance, and No Resurrection Please.

As far as speaking goes the month of December is not the "Most wonderful time of the year" for Wellspoken Ministries. Churches sit the speakers on the bench in favor of Cantatas, Parties, and Living Christmas trees. It does however afford me some much needed time of promotion, writing, and devout self introspection. I have for instance had some time read, reflect, and on occasion even turn on the old television. Of course the Christmas theme is in full swing, and in between shows I am inundated with a barrage of commercials selling every thing from dog food to donuts and everything else under the sun. This Past weekend my youngest son went to spend the night with a friend, and with the teenager entrenched in his room with headphones a blazing, Pam and I sat down together to watch tv. As I flipped from channel to channel and show to show, I began to have the awareness of an interesting dichotomy. Have you ever noticed that during Christmas our country and our world has very little problem with the baby Jesus? I will even go a step further. If I didn't know better(and I do) I could get the impression that everyone is on board with Christianity, and Jesus is in the lives of the vast majority of tv personalities and actors. I saw sitcoms, movies, cartoons, talks shows, news casts, annoucments, and even Matt Lauer mention the baby Jesus! And as far as music goes, oh my, I heard Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesnee, Tim McGraw, and Brad Paisley all sing christian carols with gusto! Shoot you can even go on I-tunes and find Silent Night sung by Rick Springfield, Sting, Justin Beiber, Blake Shelton, Wilson Phillips, Rod Stewart,Stevie Nicks and Boys to Men! I would dare say that outside King Herod, the Baby Jesus is a rock star! So why in the world is the Jesus who is so celebrated and sung about by so many, get to be so hated by the time Easter rolls around? Why is the baby embraced, while the man who dies on the cross scorned? I think my favorite secular author and Native South Carolinian captured it best in his book the Great Santini. In this book Pat Conroy's lead character is a teenager named Ben Meechum. He describes his feelings on the baby Jesus vs the Jesus of the cross.

"Ben believed in God on Christmas Eve above all other times, and on this night, he turned always away from the stern man on the cross, and ceased to believe in the hellmaker, the fire lover, the predatory creator, the godly carnivore who flung men and angels into a place of darkness and devastation, pain and endless fire. On this night he gave himself to the child, not the gnarled carpenter who himself was nailed to the wood he once worked with until he was called to walk among the Jews. The child would not send anyone to the flames. Ben knew this; felt it; hoped it."

Our world has a fundamental blindness concerning why this Jesus was born at all. We seem to want a fast food Jesus that is gentle, soft, and requires nothing. We want Jesus like Ricky Bobby does...... "Baby Jesus". However the birth of Jesus means nothing without the Cross, and the cross means absolutely nothing without the Resurrection! The world rushes to sing about the Babys birth, and then cowers at the Saviors death. And utterly refuses the saviors Resurrection. God sent His son into the world to get the entire job done. He didn't just start, he was born, lived a perfect life for me, died on a cross a death that I deserved, and then becomes an all sufficient savior by coming back to life in bodily form! My favorite place to eat a Burger has always been Burger King. I get to have it my way at Burger King. That is not the case with Jesus. The Bible speaks plainly that the sins of man, my sins demand a sacrifice. A sacrifice that I am unable by my very nature to make. And even as the world clamors for Jesus to remain the baby. He did not. Thank God He did not. "Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me. This Christmas don't settle for having it your way. Embrace fully "The Way".

The commandments of the "Chaplain"

Some of the Commandments of being a "Sports" Chaplain as outlined by South Carolina Football Chaplain Adrian Despres reads like this:
1)Never Coach.
2)Never Get in the Way.
3)Never be a fan.
4)Never deal with the media.

Most of these are pretty simple for me. Even though I am a Bass Fisherman I have never had the temptation to try and teach Dean Rojas how to fish a frog or instruct KVD on my spinnerbait ideas.
I was asked by Bernie Schultz once to move my motorcycle helmet while he was fighting 5 pounder at Lake wheeler. (He caught the fish BTW). As far as the media goes, I am pretty much invisible on the BASS Scene. No reporters are beating down the door to get the opinion of the Bass Chaplain. I would say that out of the 4 "Chaplain commandments" only one gives me a little trouble.

"Never be a fan" is difficult for a guy who's heroes were all BASS Pros growing up. I mean I still get the shakes when I speak to Paul Elias, Shaw Grigsby, and Rick Clunn. This past season proved to be a real struggle for the "Never be a fan" command. Out of the top 5 finishers for the Angler of the year title,(AOY) 4 of them were FOCAS members, and attend our Bible Study on a regular Basis.

This year on the Tour we tried something a little different with our worship times. In the past we have traditionally had the FOCAS meeting before the Pre Tournament meeting. We elected to try it afterwards this year. We improved the number of Pros that attend our meetings, but lost most of the Marshalls.(Marshalls are amateurs that ride along with the Pros during the event).

On the Final tournament we decided to do both. We had a meeting before which was mostly Marshalls, and a meeting after for the Pros. We ended up seeing 9 Marshalls Pray to receive Christ. The plan for next year is to do 2 (FOCAS) meetings per BASS Elite Series Event.

When you think of Mission work often times visions of far away and exotic lands come to mind. That is certainly a part of our Mission as followers of Christ. We don't often envision a guy that rides in a $60,000 Bass boat as a "Mission" Field. However a person's financial status does not determine where he or she spends eternity. The fact is that everyone not matter where they are or what their social status is needs Jesus. I've got the 4 Chaplain Commandments down. It's the great commandment in Matthew 28:16-20 that I'm working on now.

A Face for Video or Radio?

Now I have to tell you that of all the people that I know who should not be doing anything on Video, my name should top the list. Now there was a time when my abs had a six pack,but as of late I have a 3 liter......ok a mini keg!  However, with that being said the old BASS Chaplain is heading into the Video age with a full head of Steam! I am partnering with Mike Lord Outdoors to create an exciting and hopefully amazing series of Videos for Men! Our goal is to create a 30 day devotional series aimed at guys who may have a little trouble spending time with God. Most men have heard they need to spend time with God, shoot they even know and believe they should spend time with God. The problem is that they just don't do it! I want to give guys like that a helpful resource that will help enable them to stop wanting to spend time with God, but rather start doing it!

The Series will have a 3-5 minute devotional that can be downloaded to any computer or smart phone. Each day will include  relevant Bible teaching (usually from the outdoors) designed to meet men right where they are. For 30 days men will be able to have the Bass Chaplain lead them into life changing habits that God honors!! No one who gets in the presence of God can remain the same!

The Series will also have 4 Longer teaching sessions so a Church or Men's Ministry can use this a small group Study or in their Sunday School. We are very excited about this new step that we have taken to bring Men to the forefront of Church and family leadership. Please pray for us this month as filming has already started.

This week ill be headed to Toledo Bend for the BASS Elite Series Event. I will be documenting my journey each day on Social cam. Make sure  you tune it to check it out!!

"Why Churches should program to reach Men"

Follow @BASSChaplain "Chris Wells is a national Christian speaker, and Chaplain for the BASS Elite Series. He has spoken at over 400 Wildgame Banquets, and preaches across the country."

Sharing the title "Why Churches should program to reach Men" is dangerous! There is always the chance of a lady reading this and immediately coming to the conclusion that this guy is discriminating against women. When in actuality, that is not the case at all. As a matter of fact, I believe that in the last 40 years, women have been the home run hitters in our Churches, and its way past time for men to step to the plate. So if women have been leading the way, why am I advocating that Churches target men. It's simple. Statistics show that when men are reached for Christ, women and children follow.


A study done by the SBC a number of years ago revealed that when a child is reached for Christ, there is a 2% chance that the child's entire family would come to Church. When a woman was reached for Christ, there was a 17% chance that that woman's family would come to Church. However the study showed that when a man was reached for Christ, there was a 94% chance that the man's entire family would come to Church!  In light of those statistics one would surmise that Churches should go after men at all cost, but that is not the case.

This summer I had some minor surgery which gave me a good chunk of time to sit still and surf the web. I chose to visit church Websites just to see how Churches are doing in the realm of reaching men. I viewed over 1000 websites across the country, and I found only a small percentage had any kind of targeted Men's ministry, and virtually none had a Minister to men. Last May we did an event in Columbia South Carolina Called "Meet the Elites" where we brought in the top named BASS Pros to give testimonies and share their faith. While promoting the event I called the local Christian radio station to see if they would be interested in doing a segment about the event. Their response was shocking yet illuminating to me. They said that they would not be interested in doing a segment because 95% of their audience is women. Now of course my response was "yes and they are married to guys who hunt and fish that they wish were in Church", but that is beside the point. The Church today does not recognize the value and necessity of reaching Men.

Jason Cruise of the Mission Media and Resource Group said it best. "Churches program and decorate for women. Most of our Churches look like a flower shop or a funeral parlor." That's a great observation. I mean how many guys do you know that want to hang out at the Flower shop? Patrick Tyndal of Iron Man Outdoors made an amazing discovery while teaching a Men's Sunday school class at his Church. He noticed that when they sat in the the whitewashed Sunday school room in suits, staring at the 1970's picture of Jesus knocking on the door, that no man ever opened up to share anything. However when they did their shrimping retreat at Edisto  Beach out by the boat, men opened up, shared their struggles, and got saved.
His response was to start a ministry where men meet at the lake, in the woods, on boats, and under tree stands. The result? Men coming to know Christ, and bringing their families to Church!

So am I suggesting that we all build Churches that look like the Bass Pro Shop? While that's not a bad idea, I think a simpler strategy will suffice. Here are some good ways to start:

1) Intentionally target Men. Have a leader or minister on your staff whose job is to seek to get men involved in ministry. This involves evangelism, discipleship, gift identification and implementation. Many men think that getting involved in ministry means they have to teach or preach. That is not the case.

2) Create an atmosphere that allows men to be men. There is no spiritual law that says a men's Sunday school class or bible study has to meet at your Church. I had a friend who started a Men's class that met out in the Church Shed. Two rules were enforced. No ties and no sitting down. They cooked over a deep fryer and talked and learned about God's Word. The result was one on the largest Men's Sunday School classes in that city. There is a reason men like the Bass Pros shop. It looks like Man world instead of a funeral parlor. Let them meet where they want to.

3) Help men discover their spiritual gifts. Most Christian men don't know they have spiritual gifts, much less what they are or how to use them! God uniquely gifts each believer, but because many Christian pastors are scared to death about teaching on the gifts, men never find out what their gifts are. This results are men being put into church positions that they are not gifted to do. They get bored or frustrated, and they quit. If a man finds out what God has gifted him to do, it sets him free to be what God has called him to be.

Our Churches need to intentionally target men. When men are reached, women and children are reached as well. I have given you a few tips in this area, but I would love to speak with your Church or group on how to make your Men's Ministry more effective! Feel free to contact me at: www.chriswells.org

Helpful Hints to make your Wild Game Banquet an effective Evangelistic Event-by Chris Wells

"Chris Wells is a national Christian speaker and Chaplain for the BASS Elite Series. He has spoken at over 400 Wildgame Banquets".

Wildgame Banquets have been a very effective tool over the last several years in reaching people, especially men, who would not otherwise ever attend an ordinary Church service. I have had the privilege of speaking at hundreds of these events, and I would like to offer a few hints to help you as you plan yours. There are some common mistakes Churches make that can make or break your Banquet.

1) Make a decision on whether your Banquet is evangelistic or not. There is nothing wrong with doing a Game Banquet for your Church. However if you are trying to reach people who don't know Christ, then you are going to have to plan differently. Decide up front. Don't try to do both with one event!

2) Choose a Venue that is not at your Church. -Now before you go crazy, I want to say that I have been involved in some great WGB's that were done at Churches. However, there is a reason that guy you are trying to reach doesn't go to your Church. Typically people who don't go to Church are intimidated by stepping in your building. You will get more unchurched people to attend your event at a neutral venue. Some of the best WGB's I've seen have been in High schools, warehouses, civic centers, and even cow sheds! You don't have to be "in Church" to "have Church".

3) Try to avoid Friday and Saturdays- The reason for this is simple. Guys who hunt and fish, hunt and fish on the weekends! Thursday is the best day for your Banquet by far. Guys are thinking about hunting and fishing and a Thursday Wildgame Banquet breaks up their week without interfering with their time!


 4) Secure a Speaker that can relate to your audience, but can bring a Biblical message.- This is one of my main concerns. It seems Churches will sacrifice Biblical content for a Big name. I believe that true faith comes from hearing the Word of God. Find a speaker who is funny, burly, manly or whatever, but make sure that he can handle the Word of God. I once was with a famous Hunter at a Wild game Banquet. He told tons of funny hunting stories, and then said I love Jesus and you should too! The crowd went wild. Repentance from sin and faith in Christ were not mentioned. I have a list of great speakers that I recommend.

 

 5) Never allow people to serve themselves!- This may sound trivial, but it is the single greatest mistake I see. Always, Always, Always hand people their plate. If you don't the first person through the line will be finished eating 20 minutes before the last guy gets his food.

6) Start on time and finish on time!- From beginning to end your program needs to run smoothly and finish promptly. I have literally taken the microphone from a guy doing a turkey seminar. We gave him 15 minutes and at minute 17 we had to pull him. Nothing will kill your Banquets momentum for next year than not ending on time.

7) Use your response cards for your invitation and your door prizes.- Have your men hand them out after the invitation is given. That puts a positive peer pressure on the room. If you want a door prize you have to fill this card out. Assure folks that no one's decision will be announced out loud, but they will receive follow up information in the mail. Don't use those tickets with the numbers! Ever!

8) When it comes to door prizes go for "Quality" not "Quantity"- No one wants to win one of those Mesh trucker hats. You would rather have 3 great prizes than 60 not so greats.

9) Follow up on Commitments is Critical- Have a follow up plan in place! Don't leave guys hanging. Have your Men's Ministry ready to follow up with people who make decisions within the first 48 hours.

These are just a few tips on how to do a Wildgame Banquet well. I have many more that I would love to share with you or your Church.

Chris Wells is booking Wildgame Banquets, Men's Ministry Events, Revivals, and other speaking engagements for this Fall. For booking you can go to www.chriswells.org  or call him at 864-414-9453.