Ten Shekels and a Shirt

Here is a article by paris reidhead explaining how the powerful Ten Shekels and a Shirt message came to be:* HOW THIS MESSAGE CAME TO BE *In over fifty years of Bible teaching and preaching "Ten Shekels and a Shirt" is the only message that I feel constrained to explain how it came to be preached.During a Bethany Fellowship Summer Conference in the mid sixties I was preparing to speak at the Tuesday morning Bible hour. Upon returning to my room after breakfast to meditate and pray about the message for that morning hour, I felt strangely impressed that I could not deliver the message that had been prepared for the session. Instead, I felt that there was some other message that was needed which I was to bring.After prayer, the message that came to mind was one on which I had begun preparation for the ministry at the church in New York City of which I was pastor at that time. My notes were not with me, but were in a file folder in my study. An empty envelope was on the desk in my room, on the back of which I wrote the scripture texts to be used and one or two ideas that came to mind. With the envelope in my Bible marking Judges, Chapter 17, and my self utterly cast upon the Lord, I went to the auditorium where between four and five hundred people waited to hear from the Lord through me.I remember praying, "This morning I am utterly cast upon You because I am not really prepared." In my heart I seemed to hear His response, "Well is that so bad, already" (being from New York City it was given in an idiom I would understand.)I delivered the message and gave an invitation. Shortly the altar across the front of the auditorium was filled with broken people seeking God.The summer conference was soon over and I returned to New York City and the ministry there.About ten years later, one of the Bethany Fellowship staff was in Washington, D.C., where we had moved and from where we still minister. His word was, "Paris, I want to tell you that God has repeatedly used your message "Ten Shekels and a Shirt" in my life".I didn't really know to what he referred, for I had never preached that message again. The substance of it occurs in other messages, but the exact message itself was preached only that once.A week or two later Harry Conn from Rockford, Illinois was in Washington. He invited me to have dinner with him. In the course of the meal he said, "I buy that message of yours 'Ten Shekels and a Shirt' by the dozen to give to people. God is really using it in lives". My response was that if you have a copy, I would like to have it sent to me so that I can find out what it is I have said. In a few days the cassette arrived.Since I don't have a tape player in my office, I put the tape into the Sony dictating machine on my desk and listened through the little playback on the hand-held microphone. The element of distance in terms of time, and the distorted sound through the miniature speaker, let me listen to the message with no real awareness of who was speaking. From time to time I felt like exclaiming, "That's right! I wish I had said that!" Then it dawned on me that it was I.... no, not really. I realized that on a Tuesday morning during a summer conference, God had been able to get His message across because of my utter and complete helplessness.Be sure of this, I take no credit for anything and everything that is good and a blessing from the message. In the past sixteen years several thousands of taped copies of this message have been sold and many more thousands of copies have been made from the ones purchased.I have never preached this message again, nor will I. This message has not been transcribed and printed, nor will it ever be. Here is the message just as the Lord, Who chose to use Balaam's donkey, was also able to use another who was utterly dependent upon Him.Paris Reidhead

to help promote this message on sermonaudio.com (which has a very large audience) go to http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?currSection=sermonsspeaker&sermonID=10180222445 and click on the add comment to leave your comment about this message! this will help people see the messsage!also if you are intrested click here to download the pdf text of the sermon "Ten Shekels and a Shirt" by Paris Reidhead

I have read the first (formerly called Getting Evangelicals Saved and now called Finding the Reality of God, and it is my opinion that it should be read by virtually every Christian.Jason, thank you so much for sharing this site!! I looked for awhile to find his ministry if he had one and here it is :-D I have heard alot about this book that you mentioned: 'Getting Evangelicals Saved' and I am going to get it right away and read it. all I have to say is wow! praise God!

is it ok to post other book sites here? if not im sorryIts fine thats great brother!yea its funny the way the book changed to: the reality of God (not as powerful and catchy of a title). But the contents still will dramatically influnce your perception of the doctrine of salvation in a good way!!