Then you hear that he’s alive again. You run to meet him. He’s alive! Some, including Thomas, have doubted. But there he is. Bigger than life. Bigger than death.

You just want to celebrate. You want to enjoy his company and the company of his other followers. You want to sing a few songs, tell some stories, hear him teach.

But he seems serious, driven, impatient. You’ve seen him like this before. There’s something on his mind. And he starts to speak.

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. (Matthew 28:16-20 NKJV)

Jesus did all he did to fulfill the mission the Father gave him. But he left a body behind. His Church. And he sent it on a mission.

Read through the book of Acts. These people went. They gathered in Jerusalem as he told them, just long enough to pick up the power of the Holy Spirit. Then they spread out and made disciples. People were healed and delivered. Jesus spread through them exponentially throughout their world. Why? They had seen him. They had been with Jesus. They’d seen a guy who had been dead, but was raised up and at with them. When he told them to proclaim the good news, that was no problem! They were excited to do it!

We’ve become people who meet, and think that’s all we’re supposed to do. Sunday meetings. Conferences. We have books, CD’s, mp3′s. We fill ourselves with knowledge, and we think it’s enough. It’s not. Jesus didn’t just send his early followers on a mission. Jesus sent us on the same mission. It’s to continue HIS mission.

We’ve even met to talk about going. We’ve sung songs about going. We’ve heard from people who went, and have told us wonderful stories about what it’s like to go. But we’re entering an era in which the Church has to shake off fear and complacency and just GO.

We have a mission. It’s to continue the Master’s mission. But we can’t do it just hanging around the place where we meet. We have to go. Out of our comfort zone. Using the power of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, the love of God, and the Name of Jesus. We have the best good news to proclaim. Let’s get it done!

Two members of our Snatch and Rescue team during Halloween outreach.

First, we take seriously Jesus’ directive to GO and make disciples. Most unsaved people will never make it to church to respond to an altar call. Just as I won’t catch many fish putting my line down in my back yard, I won’t catch many unsaved for Jesus just waiting for them to show up in my church. We’re trying to be obedient to the model set by Jesus, who went to sinners’ homes to eat with them, and to the model set by the church in the book of Acts, which assembled to worship and be trained but then went out to share the good news.

Second, our personal/street evangelism training comes from the director of global evangelism from Kenneth Copeland Ministries, Riley Stephenson. He has been to our church each of the last three Halloweens, and has brought a team of seasoned soul winners with him each time. He has trained us and taken us out to minister to the kids on Court Street. Over the last three years, about 1400 decisions for Christ have been made through our “Snatch and Rescue” team (Jude 23 NLT), not just at Halloween, but also with ordinary believers from the pews leading people to Christ. All of this is to the praise and glory of God!

We follow Riley’s model, which was a “Holy Spirit download.” When someone makes a decision for Christ, we ask them to write down their name, address, phone number and e-mail address. Not all will give us that information, and we can’t force it. Those who give us contact information get a letter from us welcoming them into the family of believers, inviting them to church, and enclosing a book from Kenneth Copeland Ministries called “He Did It All For You,” which very simply lays out the next steps for being a follower of Jesus. They also get a letter and package from Kenneth Copeland Ministries.

Everyone – those who give us their contact information and those who don’t – gets a little tract on-the-spot called “What’s Next?” that instructs them to get into a Bible-teaching church, to buy and read their Bible (we also have paperback Bibles we can give them), to pray, and to live the life of love that Jesus commanded.

Third, when we’ve finished for the night, we pray over them, and part of the prayer is that they find a good Bible-teaching church. That could be ours, it could be yours, or it could be another – we frankly don’t care. We do pray, believing we receive, that they will find the right church for them – the one God is calling them to.

If I could, I would hog-tie each new disciple and drag them to church. That’s not going to happen. I trust the Holy Spirit to lead them to a church that will nurture and train them once they’ve been born again. He’s bigger than I am, much more powerful than I am, and has a lot more experience at bringing people to church than I do.

I’m also mindful that people like Jesse Duplantis have made decisions for Christ based just on praying a prayer with Billy Graham on television. Billy Graham didn’t provide any follow up, but the Holy Spirit led Jesse Duplantis to church. Jesse has become an anointed evangelist through whom millions have come to Jesus.

If we didn’t do street evangelism because we were afraid people wouldn’t get “follow-up” then we just wouldn’t do evangelism. That’s just not an option. What if one of those 136 was killed in a car wreck on the way home? What if another was fatally struck with an errant beer bottle? At least we have the consolation that their eternal destiny will be with Jesus. We’ll keep doing it, trusting God for the further discipling of each one.

The Church today should operate more like the Church of the early followers of Jesus. They gathered regularly to worship, to be equipped, and to encourage each other. The gifts (manifestations) of the Holy Spirit were present. But those early disciples didn’t just have meetings. They met to be recharged for ministry outside the meeting place. And when they went outside the meeting place to share the good news of Jesus, signs and wonders followed.

Today I see some churches that are filled with lively worship, encouraging and solid Bible teaching, and manifestations of the Holy Spirit, but all of that good stuff stays bottled up in the building. Other churches are passionate about the Great Commission and engaging the culture around them, but they deny that the miraculous workings of the Lord are for today.

We should be seeing both. We should gather for life-changing worship, fiery and encouraging preaching, and manifestations of the Spirit, but we should be taking what we learn, the power of the Spirit, and the good news of Jesus to people we encounter. We should be focused on engaging the culture and being missional, but as in the “early church,” we should expect healings and miracles to manifest in the name of Jesus as we encounter people.

I’m hungry to see the Body of Christ do the greater works Jesus prophesied in John 14:12 – just as our brothers and sisters did in the earliest years of the Church. We can’t do it if we just meet, and we can’t do it if we just go. We need to meet, we need to go, and we need to expect the power of the Holy Spirit to demonstrate signs and wonders as we minister. That is when we will be mirroring the ministry of Jesus, who constantly engaged ordinary people and made Himself available for miracles to occur through Him.

Let’s be the Body of Jesus. Let’s GO in the power of the Spirit!

While we were there, my daughter wanted to go fishing, so we booked a half-day charter on St. John Island for some inshore fishing.

We hooked some little fish. Reeling them in didn’t take much effort. But after a bit, our guide, Brian, took us to deeper water with bigger bait to fish for bigger fish. My daughter caught a 50 pound shark, and fought for five minutes to bring it in.

Jesus picked his closest ministry team from everyday occupations. One day He found Peter and Andrew returning from their daily job as fishermen. In Matthew 4:19, Jesus told them they were going to start fishing for people.

He’s given us the same task. Some will come in easily. Others will require some effort. The bottom line, though, is that He loves people, and is counting on us to haul them into His boat.

So bait your line with love and scripture, cast it out boldly, and bring in the catch for Jesus. Be a fisher of people!

Peter and John

Think about it for a moment. The leaders of the temple bound and beat them for proclaiming the name of Jesus, and commanded them to stop. They didn’t. Instead, they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer persecution for Jesus. They prayed for even greater boldness to proclaim the name of Jesus. They asked for a healing revival to break out. The Lord must have been happy because His power shook the place! Everyone went out and proclaimed the name of Jesus with boldness!

Miracles and healing were expected. Peter and John walked by the Beautiful Gate of the temple, found a lame beggar. They ordered him to get up in the name of Jesus, expecting him to be healed. He was miraculously healed, got up, and danced.

Throughout the book of Acts, we read that thousands were added to the church. And we’re part of the same Church – just a few centuries later.

We should be doing the same things as our early brethren – and more. But we won’t see any of it if we’re inward looking. We won’t see it if we’re paralyzed by fear of failure or criticism. The Church will be weak if we don’t both BELIEVE and DO what the Bible tells us we can and should do.

Let’s really live by faith and not by our senses and experience. Let’s be really evangelical, boldly proclaiming the lordship of Jesus, and inviting people to join us. Let’s believe what the Lord says in Mark 16:17-18. Let’s have some faith in the authority of the name of Jesus, and in that name let’s cast out demons and lay hands on the sick expecting them to be healed. Let’s operate in the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit.

Let’s stop entertaining ourselves on Sundays, and secluding ourselves in little enclaves. Instead, let’s break out of our safe houses, go into all the world, and let the Lord use us to minister His love and His power to the world around us – just like He did in the Church years recorded in the book of Acts.

I want my church to be a place the early disciples would recognize and feel comfortable in. How about you?

Fill 'er up.

But He also told them to go into the world and preach the good news. (Mark 16:15). He just wanted them to power up before they went. The entire book of Acts records that they did that. The early disciples went all around the region, and miracles happened wherever they went. The number of followers of Jesus grew exponentially.

The Church today is spending too much time in the garage enjoying the engine’s sound, listening to the radio, and telling everyone else in the car how great it is to be in the car.

We’re supposed to meet – at least every Sunday – but we’re not supposed to think that’s all there is to being a disciple of Jesus. No! We’re supposed to GO!

If Jesus is your Lord, you have a ministry. Get powered up in the Word and the Holy Spirit, get prayed up, get praised up, and go do your ministry. Minister healing to the sick. Minister hope to the hopeless. Minister salvation to the lost.

Minister in the work place. Minister at home. Minister at the grocery store. Minister where you are.

Go and share the Good News. Jesus is Lord!

GO!!

This year was different.  Sure, there were plenty of people who were drunk.  As always, we saw silly, offensive, and clever costumes.  Loud rock bands played at both ends of Court Street.  What was different?

402 people received Jesus!  In the midst of the revelry, the Gospel of Jesus Christ was offered in love, and 402 people responded.

How did it happen?  Riley Stephenson, Minister of Evangelism for Kenneth Copeland Ministries, trained and led teams from Abundant Life Church into the fray.  Danielle Dallas and Kelly Cates, two experienced members of Brother Riley’s soul winning team, dove in as well.  The Holy Spirit moved, and lives were changed forever.

This was a snatch and rescue mission.  Jude 23 (NLT) says this:  “Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. There are still others to whom you need to show mercy, but be careful that you aren’t contaminated by their sins.”  That’s what Brother Riley and Sisters Danielle and Kelly helped us to do.  They trained us to overcome fear and live a “lifestyle of evangelism.”  The lives of those who prayed will never be the same.  We will never be the same.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that soul winning is only for the five-fold ministry, or for people who have a special calling.  If you’re a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, then you’re called to be a soul winner.  In Mark 16:15 (NLT), Jesus made it about as plain as He could:  “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere.”  That includes you.  It includes me.

If you want to know more about what to do, check out Brother Riley’s web site:  www.rileystephenson.com.  His site has lots of great materials.  Also, his YouTube channel (rileystephenson) is chock full of great videos, including a few from this last weekend’s Halloween.  Or contact us at Abundant Life Church.  We’ll hook you up with our new evangelism director, Lola Reardon.

Become a soul winner.  Someone’s eternal life is depending on it!