THE NEXT LEVEL

(“He who wins souls is wise.” Proverbs 11:30 NKJV)

Dear Readers:

Last week we laid out the systematic, fairly uncomplicated Roman Road path to talk to unbelievers about the wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ.

This week's title is "THE NEXT LEVEL". I want to discuss the possibility of taking soulwinning to the next level by engaging in proven evangelism training.

There are a number of quality online training resources that are free of charge. I think these training opportunities and books can shed some light on effective ways to win souls for Jesus, and help us to take our soulwinning efforts to the next level.

I’ve discussed it numerous times, but I think it bears repeating, that no one, regardless of age, race, gender, or even disabling mental or physical condition, is disqualified from becoming part of an effective soulwinning team.

Many of us just last week finished watching the Olympics. The athletes in the Olympics have been training, and have taken many steps for many years to get to the next level where they were good enough to compete on a worldwide stage.

Many people, including myself, sometimes think that we don’t have the capacity to take soulwinning to the next level, and train to become a part of a team to make a difference in the lives of others. I, however, beg to differ.

I’ve come to the conclusion, even though it was late in my life, that our main job as Christians, along with our employment jobs, is to win souls for Jesus.

How can we do that?

I think we can do it the same way that the athletes in the Olympics reach their next level. By taking steps in practicing long and hard some of the principles taught by Jesus, his disciples, and many others about evangelism.

I’m going to present a two of these opportunities to learn the principles of evangelism so that soulwinning will become second nature, or for that matter first nature to us.

Here they are :

A. Dallas Theological Seminary has a free basic seven session online course called “Evangelism 102”. The course has a number of objectives, but for the sake of time I won't go over all of them.

1. The student will know at least one method to share the Gospel, and begin to integrate it into his/her lifestyle. (Note: Last week we discussed learning the Roman Road method, so we might have a head-start on that objective.)
2. The student will be interested in developing a plan to reach his/her community for Christ. (Note: This has been my goal for many years. We need to remember that an eternity in heaven or an eternity in hell are in the balance.)
3. The student will plan and become enthusiastic about sharing his/her faith with non-Christians on a regular basis. (Note: Witnessing to others about Jesus should never be boring or tedious, but it should be our most exciting adventure in life.)
4. The student will be interested in helping another person become better equipped to share the Gospel. (Note: Helping to equip myself and others to win souls for Jesus is the entire purpose of the soulwinnersrus website.)

B. The second course is taught by Greg Laurie of Harvest Church in California. He taught a six session online course in 2017 entitled “Tell Someone”. Objectives for this course are the following:

1. Learn the importance of sharing your faith, and to do it with confidence and tact. (Note: This would go along with the "BLAST" acronym principles Greg Laurie recently shared.)
2. Be encouraged in your walk with Christ. (Note: This could be compared to the Dallas Theological Seminary objective of the enthusiasm that can come from sharing the Gospel.)
3. Overcome obstacles you face in sharing the Gospel message. (Note: The main reason I started the Soulwinnersrus website in the first place was to help myself to overcome the obstacles I was feeling in sharing my faith.)
4. Focus on the challenge how you view those who don’t know Christ. (Note: I've recently been trying to think of people as souls, either saved or unsaved. I hope this approach takes all prejudice out of my interactions with them.)
5. Be inspired to live out the Great Commission. (Note: This objective is self-explanatory.)
6. Become equipped to effectively go and tell someone about Jesus.
7. Use your personal testimony.
8. “Close the deal” with someone who wants to give their life to Christ.

The “Evangelism 102” and “Tell Someone” courses are fairly recent offerings in teaching evangelism. But there are also a couple of old evangelism books that I found helpful. They are "The Soul Winner" by Charles Spurgeon, the well-known 1800's London preacher. And I also personally like “Pentecostal Witnessing” written by Aubrey Maye in 1955.

In conclusion, studying topics, like evangelism will take some time, but I think is time well worth taking.

At the age of almost 68 I realize that most likely my college days are behind me. But I think all of us can move forward toward "the next level" in the excitement of being lifelong learners, especially when it’s learning something as important as soulwinning.

See you next time,
Arlen