THE ONE MINUTE WINDOW -

"...Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you
to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with
gentleness and respect." I Peter 3:15

May I give you a quick quiz?

1) At the fast food drive-thru in your small town, you reach for your
bag of burgers with your left hand, showing the wedding band you are
wearing while standing. The person handing you the order
exclaims, "A wedding ring! Congratulations!" What do you do?

(A) Eat burgers from the same place for the next meal so you can hand
the person a tape explaining marriage restoration.
(B) Block the window until you have told your story in detail.
(C) Quote scripture, which is not understand, to employee.
(D) Give your testimony of standing in only a few seconds.

2) Your church service has a time for people to greet one another.
On a Sunday morning, the person sitting behind you, whom you do not
know, shakes your hand and inquires, "What’s this I hear about you
waiting for your wayward spouse?" What do you do?

(A) Pass it off with, "We’re going to divorce court in a few weeks
and it will be over."
(B) Gather up your things, move into the pew next to the person, and
use sermon time to pass a series of notes explaing standing.
(C) Promise to bring them a book, which you forget to do.
(D) Give your testimony of standing in only a few seconds.

3) On a beautiful spring day, you are sitting at a traffic light with
your windows down. The passenger in the vehicle next to you noticed
your "God Heals Hurting Marriages" bumper sticker and calls out, "You
really think God heals marriages?" You could:

(A) Motion the car to pull over, which it probably won’t, so you can
explain your stand for half an hour.
(B) Try to stay beside the car for the next ten blocks, shouting out
your story.
(C) Toss a restoration tape toward the other vehicle’s open window.
(D) Give your testimony of standing in only a few seconds.

Option D seems to be the correct answer to each scenarios.

God is going to give every man and woman, who is standing with Him
for marriage restoration the opportunity, more than once, to share
with both friends and strangers what He is doing. Are you prepared?

Done without books or tapes, no written notes, no time to look up a
Bible verse, you need to work on concisely being able to praise God
for healing families. It can happen in line at the bank, between
classes at school, in a Sunday School discussion, or on the job with
a co-worker.

A few years ago, Charlyne and I were attending a marriage
conference. Between two sessions, I found myself alone with another
man on a hotel elevator. He was eyeing my conference name tag.

"Marriage ministry? I keep seeing those name tags around here.
What’s it all about?"

I knew I had only the time between a few hotel floors to share my
testimony. Before the door opened half a minute later, I had shared
the Steinkamp story. I do not know the man and have never seen him
since. I do not know if he was a Christian. What I shared could
have been forgotten before the elevator doors closed, or it could
have made a difference in a family.

Here is basically what I said -

"We had a rough marriage for mny years. I was abusive and
unfaithful. We wore masks on Sundays to our church. Finally, my
wife divorced me. I found someone else, but my wife took a stand
with God, praying for the restoration of our marriage. Two years
later we were remarried. Now God allows us to lead a marriage
ministry, helping other hurting couples discover that God heals
hurting marriages."

The elevator doors opened, the man said, "Thank You" and disappeared.
I asked God if I had done my best for Him in that unexpected
situation. I pray that man took away from our meeting in an elevator
a few highlights, such as; married long time with problems; going to
church; divorced, and most important, that God heals hurting
marriages. There was no time, nor was there need to share the web
address of a ministry, nor any details of our problems.

If you read the above testimony aloud, it will take about 45
seconds. Do you realize how many one minute windows you have every
day when the subject of marriage has come up?

The advantages of using a one minute testimony are many. Foremost,
no one can minimize or criticize your personal experience. You do
not need to have the person call you, nor meet with you. Since
everything you share is in your heart, you are always prepared.

Standers often have trouble condensing their testimonies. The Rejoice
web page from which testimonies for Saturday are submitted, limits
submissions to about one page. We can only use brief excerpts, and
when we receive lengthy stories we may miss the most important
points. Nevertheless, we hear from people who say they cannot tell
their testimony in 1,500 words. We have had visitors at Rejoice
Pompano who are invited to share a ten minute testimony, and they say
they need more time.

Do you realize any testimony has only three main features? You need
to share:

1. What I was before.
2. Where I am now.
3. What God has done in my life.

A stander’s one minute testimony is an opportunity to exalt God, not
to criticize your spouse. I am hesitant to use an example, for fear
someone will take it as a form to use, but here is one example of how
a stander might share a one minute testimony:

"After a few years of marriage, our first child died. My husband
couldn’t cope with his grief and turned to the vices of the world.
We divorced. I was hurting so badly. A friend took me to church
for the first time in years and I met Jesus. Now He is my best
friend. God has shown me that He will restore my marriage. Right
now I am standing with God and praying for my husband to discover
how much Jesus loves him, just as I did."

Standers tend to make two common mistakes in their short testimony.
First, they want to put too much travel into their story, ("In 1984
we moved to Buffalo, or maybe it was 1985"). You want to finish
within a minute, and have people remember only what a difference
Jesus has made in your life, not that you once lived in Buffalo. The
second error that standers tend to make in their one minute testimony
is using pious-sounding words that a lost world does not understand.
In fact, they can be turned off by them. The focus needs to be
testifying about what Jesus is doing in your marriage in one minute.
If you share Christian terminology , such as "being spirit filled,"
the average person in the world has no idea what you mean.

This message will reach thousands of people in almost 100 countries.
Can you imagine if every stander who reads this would polish their
one minute testimony and share it with three other people today. How
about two people every day? Do you realize how fast the entire world
could hear about marriage restoration, instead of caving in to
divorce?

Although we have been discussing one minute testimonies for marriage
restoration, the Christian can have an arsenal of one minute
testimonies, ready to throw at anything Satan brings up, as God
provides those brief windows. You can have a testimony of how you
came to Christ, and another of how God has met your financial needs.
A brief testimony of healing can be shared many times over.
Regardless of the topic, the God given opportunity is not intended to
share what you have done, nor what a ministry has done. God wants to
hear you testify what He has done for you. What a mighty God we
serve. May we always honor Him in our testimony.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or
imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him
be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all
generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20

Have a blessed Sunday,
Bob Steinkamp
Rejoice Marriage Ministries, Inc.®