Soul Winning - Power Secrets / Articles / Free Bible Email

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In the early 1970's, I began to show to my Auntie Eunice the difference between religion and salvation, little did I realize that Proverbs 11:30 was meant for me. After much travail in prayer and persistence in ministering the word to my auntie, the message caught her one day and she gave her life to JESUS CHRIST. Praise the Lord!

Our Lord Jesus declared to us that if truly HE is the source of our Life, we have to bear fruit. Bearing fruit includes multiplication of what we have got from Him. HE said, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" (Matt. 28:18). That is including the power to subdue all the powers, principalities, rulers of darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness of all degrees.

"Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen" (Matt. 28:19-20).

Matthew ended that passage with "Amen." That means the final word. It is a decree that cannot be amended or altered. If you lack boldness, and fear often grips you whenever you want to preach, that is the work of the devil; he is the enemy of the truth. You have to pray for courage and boldness. Pray against the spirit of fear. Possibly you recite, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (II Tim. 1:7).

You must make a confessional statement of that verse, personalizing it to yourself, and say, "I reject you, spirit of fear." Whatever be your condition, you must preach the Word. Salvation is of the Lord; HE will win the souls for you. Amen. And whatever be your position, profession, calling or status, you must be a soul winner, with whatever you are doing.

"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine" (II Tim. 4:2).

"But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist [soul-winner], make full proof of thy ministry" (II Tim. 4:5).

And you do not have to know everything in the Bible or about life before you start preaching the Gospel. Jesus said His Holy Spirit will teach you all things (Jn. 14:26; 16:7-14). What you need to do is just to remind Jesus of His promises and ask the Holy Spirit to take charge. I know HE can never fail in His duty.

"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And, these signs shall follow those who believe: in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mk. 16:15-18).

Beloved, I can write many testimonies concerning my obedience and that of others to the Great Commission. I remember an occasion in 1993, during my historic seven-day drive from Santa Barbara, California to New York (all in the United States of America) when the 1974 Ford van had such a stiff wheel that the driving was very difficult and almost impossible. It happened when I got to the state of New Mexico, which was the second day of the journey. And if you look at the United States map you will know that I still had a long way to go.

Interestingly enough, I did not have enough money for fuel, and I was absolutely trusting God for food, and I could not turn back. (How I survived throughout the trip is a separate testimony.) As the driving continued to become more difficult, I entered into a city called Albuquerque. Wonderfully, I slept in a five-star hotel.

When I got up in the morning to continue with my journey, I asked God, "What can be the next step when, after all, You were able to give me a beautiful accommodation and feeding? What else can You not do?" He led me to a lady who showed me a Ford specialist. I got to the mechanic garage, or workshop, and complained to him. He got the van from me and test-drove. I thought he would come back to tell me what it would cost me to repair it. No, he just began to work on the van outright, and before I knew what was happening he was already busy working under the van. Remember, I had no penny to pay him for any spare parts or workmanship. I attempted to stop him twice to let us negotiate first before working on the van (without money), but I was always held back in the spirit. And I heard, "Leave him alone." I knew it was God.

Then I asked what to say or do if the man gave me a bill after finishing with the van. And I heard again, "Now it is time for you to evangelize the people standing around the man's workshop, and leave the man to me." As I began to preach to the people around, at some intervals the devil would remind me of my financial emptiness. But it was a mini-crusade as the Holy Ghost just arrested all the people around, and they listened and accepted Christ. Just as I was about to lead the people into a confessional prayer as it is in Romans 10:9-10, the mechanic came out of the van.

If you had seen the man, you would know without being told that he had really worked on the van. And, immediately, the devil came again saying that all my preaching would end up in shame, as the man would call the police on me if I could not pay him for his job. Meanwhile, I did not know that this mechanic was a Christian, born again and Holy Ghost-filled. And he had worked on the van for almost three hours. He too joined us in the prayer.

When I asked him how much was my bill (even though I did not have a penny to pay him, but to fulfill all righteousness), I was shaking. The man replied by saying, almost at the top of his voice, "Go on preaching, brother!" It was an unexpected statement from somebody whom I had never met before, who could work on an engine for three hours, especially in America, and at the end would say, "Go freely." It sounded strange to me, and all my friends in America agreed with me that it was the Lord's doing. Praise His name!

Soul winning, in all honesty, is not always an easy task, but there is joy in it even though at times the devil may confront you both spiritually and physically. (Please read Matthew 5:10-12.) The Apostles rejoiced even when they were beaten (Read Acts 4, and 5:40-42). Always remember that Jesus has promised to be with you always (Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5-6).

Disapointment For Appointment

I'd be a deceiver to tell you that everybody that you preach to will be converted or accept the Gospel outright. No sir. It is not always like that. When I had just got converted, I had a zeal that everyone in my father's family and church would hear the Gospel and get born again.

One Sunday I took the pastor of my new church to my daddy's church to preach to the congregation. I do not need to tell you again, how much we had prayed to get the permission. You can also trust the Holy Spirit for the kind of message that would come forth through a pastor of a Pentecostal church to a congregation of an African church (an offshoot of Anglican). My pastor ended his message and prayed for the church, and our team left the church premises. Some days later, we found one of the deacons and two choir leaders of my daddy's church in our church on a Bible study day.

First, I asked them about their mission to our church, because we never intended to pull anybody out of my daddy's church, neither did my pastor's message go that line. Then the deacon told us there was uproar after we had left that day. The elders of the church disagreed with the new church minister (who had become the minister after my father passed away), warning him never to permit me to bring any preacher to their church again, because that kind of message would drive people away from the church. "And," I asked, "What was the response of the church members?" They said, "Most of the people opposed the elders."

It may surprise you that the deacon did not return to my daddy's church. He and some of the other members continued with us. Moreover, four months later, that deacon went to be with the Lord. Who knows whether it was because of him alone that God had sent us to that church.

In a similar vein, one day I left my place of work in Lagos for my hometown Abeokuta (also in Nigeria) to preach to my uncle whom I love so much. As I told you, when I had just been converted I had such a burning zeal in me that all my relations should get born again one day. When I got to my uncle, he received me in his office because I had informed him that I wanted a special talk with him, which required some privacy. Honestly, I preached as if I would not preach again.

My uncle allowed me to finish this preaching, and then thanked me. I thought he had accepted the Gospel. When my uncle, who was about fifty years older than me, then began to dress me down, I nearly asked the ground to open and swallow me up because I could not stand the words that my uncle rained on me for daring to tell him that he had to be born again. He told me of the bride price on my mother. I felt I had been washed by someone who had taken the position of my father in the family. And since that day, our friendship has turned sour; we really loved each other before that occasion. In fact, whenever I traveled to my hometown, I had to see him. However, we disagreed for almost a year.

But, one glorious day, I was at one of the government offices in my town, where I was doing my secular work, and I met this young man who greeted me and asked if I could still recognize him. I said, "Forgive me, but no." He introduced himself; he had been the secretary to my uncle but had left him and started working at the government office. As I was about to leave, this young man said he had been looking for me and that he wanted to be attending my church.

Before I could ask him why, he said that on the day I came to preach to my uncle, he had been at his secretarial seat listening, and he narrated how my uncle reacted to my preaching that day. The young man went further to say that he himself had accepted the Word that day and later started looking for me, to continue with the Word, but he could not ask my uncle of my whereabouts, of course. I asked him again and again, "Are you sure of what you are saying?" He answered me affirmatively, "I am ready to follow your Jesus."

This young man was a Muslim. Later, he started attending my new church and got baptized. He changed his name from the Muslim Tajudeen to Timothy. Praise the Lord! By the special grace of God, this brother is now an elder in my mother- church. When my beloved uncle dressed me down that day, the devil told me that God had disappointed me despite all my fasting and prayer for my uncle's salvation. But let me tell you further, the uncle of mine is now born again. Hallelujah! He was converted through his younger wife, and their first son is today in my ministry as a keyboardist. What's more, today my uncle and I are friendlier than ever before. God is good, all the time.

You may ask me about my mom. She is my spiritual daughter, because God used me for her conversion, too. Praise God, she is today my most tireless human intercessor. This woman can be face down on her knees for a whole day praying for me. She can fast as well, and when she is praying the heavens bear records. But it did not happen overnight. She first opposed me because I left my father's religious church and was preaching to her to leave the church as well. Praise God, the difference is clear today. You must be a soul winner! There is a secret there that drives the enemy crazy because he does not know it (Acts 1:8). Beloved, get up and evangelize the souls around you before the enemy comes in to destroy them (Jn. 10:10).

Contact Information:
AMEN Ministries International
(African Mission Evangelism of Nations)

Nigeria
7 Ibrahim Streeet* Also, Old Chicken-Joe Motel
(Off Lagos - Abeokuta Exp Way),
Sango, Ota, Nigeria

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