Monday, August 16, 2010

THE JOY OF A SOUL WINNER


There is a joy that accompanies soul winning. It just happens whenever a soul winner is privileged to lead a soul to Christ. I personally believe that since the hosts of heaven rejoice over the salvation of a soul, God allows the soul winner himself to partake of that great joy! The joy comes from the fact that a soul has been saved and even in the case where the soul winner does not get a positive response from the soul being ministered to, the fact that he is been obedient to the heavenly vision brings joy to his heart because he knows that the Father is pleased! We shall experience the climax of this when we stand before the Lord Jesus Christ on that glorious day!

For me, one of the things that gets me so greatly excited about soul winning is that, when we step out to reach the lost, we are most conscious of our partnership with the Lord. 2 Cor. 6:1 says “We then, as workers together with Him…” (NKJV). You want to get into a deeper experience with the Lord? Then be an active soul winner. There are many things a faithful soul winner never bother praying about, but the Lord ensures them because he is obedient to the heavenly vision – the very heartbeat of the Father God! No wonder Proverbs 11:30 says “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise.” (NKJV). Permit me to say that by implication, he who doesn’t win souls is foolish! Just choose where to belong. I have chosen to be wise!

Monday, August 2, 2010

OUR NO.1 JOB

The Believers’ No.1 job is Soul winning or evangelism as we call it. Why is it the No.1 job? You might be asking. It is the No.1 job simply because it is the very heart of the Father that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. If you look into the heart of the Father, you’d see that the greatest desire He has is to have lost humanity come to conformity to Christ by appropriating the finished work of redemption to themselves. Think of the fact that the Father gave His only begotten Son (Jesus Christ) – the greatest and most painful sacrifice – to save a death-domed world who deserves judgement, but despite that, men ignore, reject or still die without Christ only to spend eternity with the devil in hell in eternal torment and doom known as the second death or eternal death. The price of a thing tells of its true value. If God would give His all for the salvation of the world, then it tells us absolutely that God’s No.1 priority is the Salvation of the lost. I Timothy 2:3,4 say “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (NKJV).

For an instruction to be properly and correctly carried out, it is important that the instruction is well understood. Many people have explained Jesus’ Great Commission to the Church in their own way, but there is a Bible definition of this Divine edict. Let’s look it up for ourselves. Matthew 28:18,19 say “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.” (NKJV). Mark 16:15-18; “And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; "they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." (NKJV). Acts 1:8; “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (NKJV). I believe it is clear enough.

In Summary, we see that the Great Commission is not to be carried out in the four walls of the Church structure but outside where the sinners really are! The word ‘Go’ is a command, not a suggestion and is clear enough for even a layman to comprehend. God doesn’t speak uncertainties or leave people in the dark when He speaks – He speaks in absolutes. It is as a result of people trying to bend the rules that they come up with all manner of non-existing contradictions about an instruction. The word is ‘Go!’ Another thing we must observe is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a Gospel of power and was meant to be preached in the power of the Holy Spirit – not according to man’s wisdom. God never gave the Church a powerless Gospel to preach. Romans 1:16,17 tell us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ itself is – not has – the power of God unto salvation. The great commission entails being a witness – not just a preacher! You become a proof producer of the living Jesus. The Holy Spirit partners with the Saints in winning the lost. Evangelism in the power of the Holy Spirit works anytime, anywhere – even in the most hostile environment. Let’s not accept anything less! Many fail in evangelism because they do it in their own strength! It is entirely a spiritual thing. It takes the power of God to make contact with a person’s spirit when ministering the Word to him. It takes power to heal the sick, cast out devils, preach the Word with boldness and clarity! Acts 10:38 says “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” (NKJV). That is the key. For this to be possible, the Holy Spirit must be involved in every aspect of the preparation and performance.

Thirdly, full circle evangelism is exactly what God wants the Church to do. What is full circle evangelism? Full circle evangelism is the act of both preaching the Gospel to a soul, discipling him to the point where he can win another soul, then sending him out to preach the Gospel until he can do the same for another soul and the salvation chain continues till every soul hears the Gospel and have the fair opportunity to make a choice to determine his eternal destiny (Matthew 24:14). Full-circle evangelism is how it works! Jesus’ disciples made disciples who went about making disciples for Jesus. This is spiritual impact multiplication because whoever you impact and disciple to disciple others will keep adding profit to you and even when you die physically, your salvation tree will still be blossoming like Paul’s! This is great kingdom deal Saint! Many people stop at just winning a soul and never care about the spiritual welfare of the soul after that moment of salvation. Some preach to a soul, disciple that soul and stop there, not equipping them to go out (many Churches are guilty of this, they just want membership) or sending the souls out to win and equip another soul. Soul winning is God’s heart beat and should be ours if we are really mature sons who care about the advancement of the Kingdom of our Father God and who care enough for what the Father is so passionate about.

We must not ignore the urgency of this task. Unsaved souls die in their hundreds of thousands everyday with a huge percentage not having heard of Jesus Christ. This should drive us not only to the place of intercession but also to the place of action where we step out with a godly passion for the lost to preach the Gospel to whoever will listen! We as Believers in Jesus, as possessors of the Holy Ghost are Jesus’ voice of eternal life calling out to the spiritually dead to receive eternal life. We are Jesus’ feet going to the nations. We are Jesus’ hands healing the sick, giving to the needy and reaching out to the oppressed. As soon as anyone gets saved, he becomes responsible for the salvation of others. You don’t have to qualify for soul winning. Soul winning is one job you learn on the trade, as you go the Holy Spirit will teach you how to reach different people differently – He’s the Strategist! This is the right time to act. God is seeking men and women who would go out of their way to reach a soul, people who would lay down their selfish ambitions and pursue His vision for the world, people who would make His passion their passion. Are you the one? Let God find you today. It pays! Blessings!