Evangelism: Events or Every Day?

Outreaches/evangelism events are just so exciting… to have so many people to preach to, the stories, prayers and ministrations that will take place… the souls that will be birthed into the Kingdom at one time. The fruits of your labour (prayers, planning, giving of your substance etc) pay off there and then. These events are awesome, and essential to the Christian individual and church as ways of preaching the Gospel to all nations.

However, I believe that we need to cultivate a culture of evangelism. We need to continue to train ourselves to minister to those we encounter on a daily basis; an every day effort as well as large planned efforts.

* Be an example ~ be the Message! The Word says to let your light SO SHINE (Matt 5:16), and your are a city that is set upon a hill that cannot be hid (Matt 5:14). Use your influence and be a light to your world, showing them the ways of the Master.

* Find a need and fill it! Read Acts chapter 8, how Philip approached the eunuch asking if he could help him understand the scripture he was reading. The same way you can express your abundance in Christ to those around you, which will (as an added bonus) build trust and an opening to tell them the Good News.

* Actively display your Christianity, and be approachable to others. Some people have never heard of Jesus, and others want to know more about Him, but don’t know who to talk to. Inspire others to find out what that ’something special’ is about you.
This is why I have started designing clothes, cups, bags etc, with short comments, which you can purchase at www.cafepress.com/christ_in_you1 These can help inspire questions from unbelievers (opening doors to minister), and spread the word that Jesus is the same ~ yesterday, today and forever!

Make it a priority every day to tell someone what Jesus did for them. Renew your committment to your individual evangelism, because it is not just the Pastor’s responsibility to bring other’s to Christ ~ and approach your church and find out what programs are running to reach out to the unbelievers in your area that you can participate in. You make a difference, and no-one can do things the way you can!

**BTW, I would love to hear about your personal and group evangelism efforts and outreaches! Testify and share what worked for you, inspire your brethren, and help them achieve as intensly as you have! Just leave it in a comment here…**

Soulwinning: By Strategy or Spirit?

We know that as Chrisitians, we have been charged with winning souls for God, as directed by Jesus: “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15)

However, what is the best way to fulfil the calling God placed on our life?  Some believe evangelism should be totally led by the Spirit of God, other’s think that plans and strategies are the only way to go.  First  let’s look at these two different avenues in place…

1. Led by the Spirit:  One sees a man down at the convenience store.  The Holy Spirit guides the person to approach this man, strike up a conversation and lead it to the Gospel.  He is/is not receptive to what the evangelist has to say, either way they part ways.

This evangelist does not target any person, catergory or type of people, but approach only as they feel led to.

2. Plans, plans, plans:  The soulwinner has a strict strategy on who they will approach, what demographic, status or area they will target, and how they will do it.  They have a spiel prepared, and know how they will counter any comments or complaints.

** Please note that these are only brief generalisations, and are not intended to say that the scope is contained within those short paragraphs**

The call to preach to all nations is not just for the leaders and Pastors, but for EVERY believer.  Are both of these methods extremely effective by themselves?  I don’t believe so.  Both groups are evangelizing (to be commended), but on the other hand, both groups are missing out on preaching to ALL nations (peoples). 

So, my thoughts?? I guess that’s why you’re here~!

A combination of both a well thought out plan, and heeding the guidance of the Holy Spirit in both preparing your plan(s) and executing them, is what I feel we are meant to do.

We read in Acts 5:42 that “… daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ”.  They preached the Gospel in EVERY house; not some, or a few (or even ‘many’) but EVERY house.  Daily they taught in the temple.

So we can see they had a plan; go from house to house, reach every one they could possibly reach, regardless of any status, appearance etc.   They knew what they had been guided to do would be effective, and they carried it out.   We can also read in the Word, that their preaching efforts bore fruit in Acts 6:7 “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.”

Does this mean we disregard the leading of the Holy Ghost?  Defintely not.  We need to yield ourselves to the Spirit in every plan we are making, in the carrying out of every plan and task, and the changes we may need to make by His direction.  Prayer should be a pre-requisite for any big decisions, and should always continue ferverently and effectually.

So here is something for every Christian to consider that they can extend themselves in the area of winning souls.  The Word says “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; he that winneth souls is wise.” (Prov 11:30).  Pray (and fast) for your evangelistic efforts, meditate, fellowship with the Spirit.  Ask for clear direction and strategies, and then use that plan to fulfil God’s call of evangelism on your life.  Remeber that He is your Wonderful Cousellor, and can reveal to you anything you need to know.

I would love to hear any strategies you’ve received for preaching, as well as your results and testimonies.  I’d love to hear from you all!

Take care, God bless you MIGHTILY!

Giving of Yourself

Sunday service, our chapter leader Pastor Carol was ministering to us some of the teachings and revelations from Christ Embassy’s International Pastor’s and Partner’s Conference (Lagos, Nigeria).

Our brother Peter shared a testimony from this awesome conference, that he learned “The more of yourself you give, the more of God you get”.  Now, I really thought about that one… the more I give of myself, my time, my finances, my mind, my life… the more of God I get… the more of His blessings, His grace, His life.  What more could I want in life, than to know God more and more each day??  What more could I want, but to become more like Jesus each and every day??  Some think that by letting go of ‘yourself’ to God, you lose your joy, you lose the enjoyment in life… but that is so far from the truth.

When you accept the Word as Truth, when the Holy Spirit is living in you and He is your Counsellor, your Advocate, your Stand-by… when you live your life by the leading of the Greater One, you experience blessings of peace and joy.  Psalms 16:11 says “Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence there is fullness of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures forever more”.  So we know that our joy and ‘pleasures’ are in the presence of the Almighty!

 Have you heard of the Mimshach (Mimshak) anointing?  It is the anointing for increase, growth and expansion, from God that works in your life.  It causes you to increase in everything you do, your school, business, job and every area of your life.  We were admonished to walk in the light of the Mimshach anointing that has been released on our lives… and I am taking that word personally!

Another point to think about, is the authority you have as a believer when preaching the Gospel.  If you read in Matt 4:18, we see Jesus tell Simon Peter and Andrew to come and follow Him.  Notice that neither fellow questioned the master, never asked ‘who do you think you are, and why should we follow you?’… the authority that Jesus had, caused them to just ‘up & go’ without hesitation!  Do you know that you have the same authority in your ministry, because we have Christ in us?

Brethren, the time is over for apologies!  This is not an apologetic Gospel, it is not an apologetic message!  There is such urgency in the realm of the Spirit, we need to be at work for the Kingdom, we need to be preaching the Gospel to ALL nations!  We need to manifest the presence of the Spirit of God, we need to take charge of our families, friends and all others in our ’sphere of contact’ through prayer and ministration.  People all around you will perish through the lack of knowledge of what Christ did for them, and we need to give them that knowledge. 

 Some Christians feel that they lack in their lives ‘and if they just had ______ then they could preach effectively’, or ‘they don’t have enough time’…
Well, the Word says that “… they that seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing” (Psalms 34:10), so don’t see with your physical eyes, see with the eyes of your spirit… see the abundance in your life, and use it to further the preaching of the Gospel.

Some feel as though they have no-one to preach to, or not enough time.  If you talk any person, you have an opportunity to tell them the Good News.  No matter how small a window of time you have, be conscious that you can make an impact in their life.  Why not distribute a few copies of our devotional “Rhapsody of Realities” written by Pastors Chris and Anita Oyakhilome?  Pastor Chris is the president and founder of our ministry, and this devotional is CHANGING LIVES!  Visit www.rhapsodyofrealities.org for more information (you’ll be glad you did!)

If you hear someone complain, why not use that as a window to tell them the Gospel?  Tell them the truth; that God does not glory in anyone’s suffering.  Tell them the reality that Christ died so we would be free of sin and suffering that comes with it.  Tell them that when they accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour, they are born of incorruptible seed, and are made more than a victor in every circumstance in their life.

Just tell someone the Good News today: Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever!