Winning & Keeping New Converts

Are you a soul winner? 

Do you have a burden to see people baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost?

Can you step out of your comfort zone and be the witness that Jesus requires?

     We are to be witnesses by our walk, allowing people to see the way Jesus has changed us. It this enough? 

    I say no, and I will tell you why. There is no doubt that Jesus was perfect. He was the manifestation of God the omnipresent being, God in the flesh, and God the Holy Spirit, so He was not even able to be imperfect. The Gospel's record many healings, and miracles that He performed. He could have very easily, and by all accounts, did manifest the perfect walk, but He didn't stop there did He? 

     When approached by Nichodemas, He witnessed to him and gave him detailed instructions in how to be saved. Nichodemus had already acknowledged that Jesus was the Son of God so he no doubt admired His ministry. Jesus could have taken the compliment and moved on, but He wanted the soul of the lost. 

    When Jesus spent time with the Apostles and disciples, He told them not only how to be holy, but He instructed them to go make more disciples and go win souls.

    It is by this evidence that I make the statement that soulwinning is a requirement to see Heaven.

    He commanded us!

    What is soul winning and how do we know when we have win a soul for the  Kingdom?

     When you have personally compelled a person to repent, be baptized in Jesus name, and they receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, you have won a soul. 

     Is discipleship soul winning? No. Discipleship is retaining the new convert and instructing them in the walk of the Christian, after they have been won.

     

    Let's say you win someone to Jesus, they have been instructed on the requirement of salvation,  they come in, follow the steps and are saved. Then for some reason they don't stick, and do not

maintain their walk. Are you responsible for their soul? Yes and No. Once they have been instructed and made the choice, they are accountable, not you. You cannot force someone to stay. 

     What is important is what happens between the time they are won and the time they decide to leave. This is where the Yes comes in.

     Birthing a new babe into the Kingdom of Jesus is a glorious and life changing experience. It is as Apostolic as you can get. When we bring them in and fail

to immediately connect with them, and begin the discipleship process, we begin the process of aborting those babes, thereby setting them up to fail, then Yes you are responsible.

     Every church body or Pastor should have plans in place that specifically identify the roles of who will disciple the new converts. The saints who fill these roles need to be aware that discipleship is a full time job that cannot be properly handled only on Wednesdays and Sundays, so they must be willing to sacrifice their time and have a burden for these people.

     In order to properly connect with a new convert, one should be prepared to go to the new convert's home during the week and have that person over at your home to begin the bonding process. Shared meals, phone calls, daily texts, and weekly Bible studies on off-church days is absolutely essential. 

    So this is where I ask you.  Are you really prepared for the task? 

    If we ask Jesus to lead us to the hurting and the lost, yet fail to honor Him when He sends them, what have we accomplished? 

    If we do not handle this job properly, we can ruin them for future Apostolic churchs that Jesus may lead them to.

    As an Evangelist, and through my calling, I am required to win the lost. I am able to disciple new converts, but that is not my ministry because I am subject to go when Jesus says go, leaving a new convert hanging in the balance. My ministry entails winning them, and handing them off to the Pastor who disciples them personally, or assigns a capable saint that will begin the discipeship process. When this saint makes the connection, they then have the opportunity to come in contact with friend's and family members of the new convert and win them.

     Many churches today are just revolving doors because we do not have plans in place to minister to the needs of, or disciple the new converts. 

     We take for granted that our lives revolve around the Kingdom, and should give careful consideration to the fact that new converts still have their old schedules, or old habits, and have to literally be retrained to live for God.

God Bless,

Bro Shad