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.

A lot of Christians fall into the category of observing the wind and waiting for conditions to be favorable before they evangelize when it comes to witnessing. Have any of the following excuses kept you from sharing your faith?

• Waiting until you feel like it. If you wait until your flesh feels like witnessing then you might as well be waiting for hell to freeze over or for the Kansas City Chiefs to win a Super Bowl because it aint gonna happen. Our flesh wasn’t made to do spiritual things any more than a car was made to fly. We need to make our flesh pray, read the Bible and tell others about Jesus. Once you get past the flesh and the lies of devil and begin to witness to people you will be glad that you did. Witnessing brings joy and fulfillment to us and salvation to lost and hurting souls.

• Waiting until you feel the anointing. Remember, we walk by faith and not sight or feelings. The Word of God says that if you’re saved and have received Jesus in your life then according to 1 John 2:27 you are already anointed because it says, “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you,…” So in other words you already have an anointing on you to evangelize if you are saved whether you feel the anointing or not. That anointing will come on people as you are witnessing to them and it will cause the blinders to come off of their spiritual eyes and it will break the yoke of sin and bondage from their lives. Claim and confess Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;…” You may be thinking that this verse was for Jesus but remember that the Bible says we are joint heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus so whatever He has we have including this promise. As you confess Luke 4:18 for yourself then your faith will grow and increase that the anointing to win souls is on your life.

• Waiting until you are prayed up. Don’t use this as an excuse as we have just stated the anointing to minister is already on you if you are saved.

• Waiting because you feel too sad and depressed to witness. Witnessing to someone about Jesus will bring you joy. If you will just open up your mouth and preach Jesus to people your sadness will flee away and gladness will come in its place. After the 70 went out the Bible says in Luke 10:17 that they returned with joy. In 1 Kings 19 Elijah the prophet was depressed and even suicidal because Jezebel was out to kill him. So what did God do to get him out of the depression? God gave Elijah a ministry assignment. He told Elijah to go and anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi to be king over Israel. You see, one of the quickest ways to get rid of depression is to step out and minister to other people. If you want to live a happy and fulfilled life, tell people everyday how to get to heaven.

This scripture became too real to me recently in Great Bend, Kansas while I was ministering at the 3-I Farm Show with the Fellowship of Christian Farmers. On the last day of the farm show the wind was incredibly strong. It was so strong that if felt like our tent would blow over. We needed to close the flaps on the tent and put the display table inside of the tent to keep the tent and materials from blowing away.

I have to admit that I did not feel like witnessing and a big part of it was because of the fierce blowing wind which was also cold making it a miserable day weather wise. But thank God I did not observe the wind or wait for all conditions to be favorable or else I wouldn’t have witnessed because the conditions were anything but favorable. In the midst of a strong windstorm I stepped out and started ministering to 3 people and all of them prayed with me to receive Jesus. From that point on throughout the day many more prayed to receive the Lord, including 2 guys from England, one guy from Australia and Future Farmers of America kids from Great Bend and Ellinwood.

As long as we wait for conditions to be perfect we will never see very many souls saved.

In this scripture Jesus talks about having peace and being of good cheer even though being in this world we will have tribulation. That tribulation can come from many places; in the workplace, in our business, with our kids and marriages, relationships with our neighbors and even through bad decisions others have made that affect us. You may be saying, how is it possible to have peace and joy in the midst of tribulation?

Well first of all Jesus starts off this verse saying, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.” In other words reading and meditating on God’s word will bring us peace in the middle of trouble and according to Joshua 1:8 we are to mediate on the Word of God day and night. If you’re a Christian and don’t have peace then check up on how much you’re reading and meditating on God’s word because through Jesus we can have peace 24/7. Isaiah 26:3 says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Whenever we don’t have peace that means our minds are thinking about the problems, the circumstances and the tribulation instead of on Jesus and His Word.

Jesus went on to say in John 16:33 to, “…be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” So the next thing we need to do in tribulation is to rejoice and praise God in the middle of the trials. James 1:2 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;” Philippians 4:4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.” The great apostle of faith, Smith Wigglesworth, even in his old age would get up every morning and dance before the Lord for 10 minutes before he started his day. As we praise God continually in our trials and tests of life, God will inhabit our praises and manifest His presence in our lives and then we will have His joy because according to the Bible there is fullness of joy in His presence.

So to sum it all up:
• Guard your heart and mind from any negative thoughts and thoughts contrary to the Word of God.
• Keep your eyes and mind glued on Jesus and His Word and off of the circumstances.
• Rejoice and praise God for the victory because Jesus said to “be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Remember, 2 Corinthians 2:14 says, “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place.” Praise God for bringing His Word to pass in your life and giving you the victory before you see the victory in the natural. If you do this then you will see His Word come to pass in your life.

At one of our latest outreaches in Salina, Kansas I saw, as I had in times before, the importance of being led by the Holy Spirit. There were a couple of different times while I was ministering at that farm show when I was about to leave the Fellowship of Christian Farmers booth to take a break but I got a check by the Holy Spirit in my spirit to not leave. The Holy Spirit proved faithful in this because great divine appointments would follow. On one of the these occasions six Cloud County Community College students came along and I was able to pour my life into them, ministering for quite a while about how to be saved and how to live the Christian life. All six of those kids prayed with me to receive Jesus. It was a great time of ministry to six future leaders of tomorrow and it all happened because I listened to and obeyed the Holy Spirit. Six kids are now on their way to heaven instead of hell because of the leading of the Holy Spirit. Later on I was going to take a break again but once more the Holy Spirit gave me a check in my spirit and so I stayed at the booth and a little while later I had more divine appointments.

On that outreach I was blessed to have William F. a Native American from Oklahoma come with me to minister alongside me. He has proved to be a hard worker when it comes to ministry. Right now he is a Ministry Academy student in St. Louis but he was on spring break so he was able to make the trip. We were also blessed to be able to go to a couple of Kenneth Hagin Jr. meetings at Light of the World Christian Center in Topeka, Kansas on the way to and from Salina.

William ministering to a man.

Ministering to a couple.

Sharing the Gospel with a young boy.

William using a salvation bracelet attached to a walking stick to share the Gospel.