There are times when we minister that we don’t see the end result of our efforts but sometimes we are blessed to see the fruit of our ministry. A man named Terrance heard about our church through our Friday night street ministry. We invited him to come which he did and loved it. He has since joined the church and just completed the membership class.

One more testimony; we went to parking lot where there is also a bus stop. On two different occasions I prayed with one or two people to receive Christ while waiting for the bus. As soon as they finished the prayer the bus pulled up just as they said amen. I gave them a New Testament and they hopped on the bus.

The harvest is truly ripe and as we listen to the leading the Holy Spirit He will direct us to those who are hungry and ready and needing His touch.

This year I brought 6 Ministry Academy students and one man from the Genesis program to Shiprock. Because of their hard work we literally saw thousands of Navajos ministered to and hundreds if not thousands pray to receive Christ. For about the first four hours that we were at our booth in the fairgrounds they bused in hundreds of Navajo kids and they came in like a flood. We gave them salvation bracelets, Gospel tracts and Jesus stickers but most importantly, because of the hard work of the people in our group, we were able to also witness to and pray the sinner’s prayer with hundreds of kids. God gave us supernatural strength to do this for those first few hours without much of a break. When we work hard for God He will give us the strength we require and times of rest when we need it. Thanks to Charles and Mary Hodge who came all the way from Houston, Texas to help us, we were able to take a break to see the Four Corners Monument and the large Shiprock rock formation up close. They also manned our booth at the fair as I ministered at the staff chapel service at Navajo Ministries and was on the KNMI morning radio program with the others of our group. During our breaks I would rest, pray and then God would supernaturally strengthen and energize me to do more outreach later in the day. So yes, missions trips and outreaches are a lot of work. Driving many hours, late nights, early mornings and giving out in ministry is a sacrifice in a lot of ways but it is also very rewarding and life changing.

The scripture I feel like God has given me for this outreach is Joshua 1:3, “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you…” I believe that we as the body of Christ need to start claiming this scripture for our neighborhoods, schools, cities, workplaces and wherever we go, claiming that people are going to be saved and that revival is going to take place wherever our foot shall tread. Joshua 1:3 was not written just so that we could have a catchy little song but God wants us to win our neighborhoods and the nations to Jesus by believing this scripture. Joshua 1:5 says, “There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” In other words if God is on our side then no man or devil can stop us from winning the Navajos or anybody that we reach out to from being saved and transformed. If we rely on the Holy Spirit we cannot fail! Our job is to believe and to go out and do what it says in Joshua 1:6, “Be strong and of a good courage”. The New Testament says that if God is for us then who can be against us.

I believe the only thing that can really stop us is fear and that is why God repeats not to fear in Joshua 1:9, “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” Don’t let fear of rejection or man or of anything stop you from going out and winning your cities to Jesus. It’s high time for us to go out and see our cities and nations delivered from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light because Jesus is coming back soon.

I can especially notice this warfare when it gets close to an outreach where a lot of people are going to get saved. The demonic attacks against me really intensify. After an outreach it can be the same. One evangelist who ministers at Mardi Gras in New Orleans every year would say to the people who minister with him to keep their guard up against the attacks of the enemy as they go back to their home towns. He compared it to leaving a bar and as you are walking out someone hits you in the back of the head. A Navajo pastor I know says that if you’re not being attacked then you are not doing anything for God. So if you’re a soul winner and you are reading this, then you are probably under attack in some way by the devil. Be of good cheer, this means you must be an effective soul winner!

Here are some simple but important things to do continually to keep strong in this warfare:
1. Pray and praise without ceasing. By praising God we can experience His presence and Psalm 16:11 says that in His presence is fullness of joy. Nehemiah 8:10 says that the joy of the Lord is my strength. So a result of prayer and praise is strength.
2. Read, meditate and speak the Word of God continually. In John 15:11 Jesus said, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” So God’s word will bring us joy and that joy will be your strength to resist the enemy.
3. Believe God that He will turn into good anything the devil throws at you (Romans 8:28).

Soul winning is not for wimps but knowing that someone will be in heaven instead of hell makes it well worth it.

When we go out and evangelize, especially in high risk neighborhoods like the ones where we minister in North St. Louis on Friday nights, you have to realize that for some of the people you come in contact with this could be the last call and the last chance to get saved before going off into eternity. No matter where we live, no one is guaranteed tomorrow. So we need to take Jesus’ last command to go into all the world and preach the Gospel very seriously. I have noticed that God knows when people are going to die and He really works on getting the Gospel message to them before they die. Someday when you get to heaven you may have someone you witnessed to and prayed with to receive the Lord greet you and thank you for not staying home to watch the ballgame and instead went out to evangelize. We need to be instant in season and out of season and sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit to preach the Gospel at all times.

I believe the reason why many Christians don’t witness is because they don’t realize or believe the power there is in the Gospel. The Apostle Paul said, “I’m not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God unto salvation.” When we open up our mouths and preach Jesus and the Word of God, the anointing of God will come down upon people and cause deliverance and salvation. If Christians believed this more they would be out witnessing. The Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:5 that in the last days people would have a form of godliness but deny its power. When we as Christians don’t witness because we don’t believe it will do any good, then we are denying the power of the Gospel.

We need to confess every day Luke 4:18-19 over our lives, that the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. When we are full of God’s anointing and Holy Spirit we can’t fail. Blinders will come off the spiritual eyes of people and they will be saved, delivered and set free from any and every kind of bondage. So, like the Apostle Paul, get out there and quit being ashamed of the Gospel. Witness with confidence that there is great power in the Gospel to see the greatest harvest of souls this world has ever seen.

Our Gospel tracts and salvation bracelets can be used to reach out. Stepping Stones, our discipleship course, can be used in a Bible Study or Sunday School. How to Evangelize the Workshop is the compilation of the things God has taught Jeff Goss during the past 30 years of personal evangelism experience. His insights and stories will inspire you and give you practical training in your evangelism endeavors. The CD set and workbook can be ordered together or separately.

Take a look at what we have to offer at JGM Products Online.

According to the scriptures I just quoted the purpose of the 5 fold ministry gifts is to train, build up and equip the entire body of Christ so that the individual members of His body can then go out and do the work of the ministry and win the lost to Jesus. There are certain people in the world that Billy Graham or Joyce Meyer can’t reach who will only listen to and respond to you. Only you can win them to Jesus. The late Keith Green, who had such convicting messages, said it best, God can’t cash out of state checks in heaven. In other words, God doesn’t want your money; He wants to use your giftings and anointings to minister to the lost and hurting that are in this world.

As an evangelist, I pray with hundreds of people every year to receive Jesus into their lives but that being said, this really isn’t my only purpose as an evangelist. A big part of my ministry is to exhort, stir up and train others to go out and win people to Jesus. This is why we started doing evangelism workshops several years ago. If you would like us to come to your church, youth group or Bible School to have me teach an evangelism workshop, just contact us about it at mail@jeffgossministries.org or 314-610-1835.

Sowing seed into the Kingdom of God is one of the most important things we will ever do and it can take place in different forms. We sow praise and worship unto God. We sow our time, talents and service unto God and unto people. We sow money into His Kingdom. No matter what it is that we have sowed we will reap a harvest from it. For example when we sow praise and worship unto God we will reap His presence because He inhabits the praises of His people. Whatever we want out of life, we have to sow seed in faith expecting a return and a harvest on what we have sowed. If you’re a farmer and you want apples then you better sow or plant apple seeds. If you have a financial need and you need more finances then you better sow money. If you need love and friendship then you better sow love and friendliness into other people’s lives. I’ve noticed that when I have done a lot of ministry into people’s lives, then when I need ministry it seems like every time I turn around I get just the right word that I need at just the right time. Why? Because I am reaping what I have sowed. What we sow today will determine our harvest of tomorrow.

When this says in the morning sow your seed, I believe that the morning refers to doing it first, making it the top priority, making it the most important thing of your day. We have all probably heard the expression, “I will do it first thing in the morning.” When people say this, what they are really saying is, “I am making this the top priority of my day because it is so important.” Ecclesiastes 11:6 instructs us to sow our seed in the morning which is letting us know that the most important thing we do in life is sowing seed. Why? Because what we get in our future depends on what we have sowed in our past.

I believe that sowing could also be referring to soul winning because as we share the Gospel with people we are sowing it into their lives. We should make soul winning our top priority. The number one thing in our day should be rescuing people from the awful place called hell where people burn forever in a real lake of fire, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, and where there is no water to cool your tongue and no rest day or night (not even a little cat nap or power nap). What could be more important than rescuing people from spending eternity in a place like that?

In addition to sowing in the morning Ecclesiastes 11:6 also says, “and in the evening withhold not your hands.” In other words, we should witness all the time and share Jesus with everyone we meet. Then verse 6 goes on to say, “for you know not which shall prosper whether this or that.” As we witness to everyone all the time, some will be ripe and ready to receive Christ right now and you will be able to lead them in a sinner’s prayer. Others may not respond that way but you will be planting good seed in them so that they will get saved sometime in the future when they are ready.

Sow your seed into God’s Kingdom and you will reap a rewarding harvest.