July 2010
Written by Joe Oden Sunday, 09 May 2010 00:00
As an evangelist, I often think about creative ways to reach people. I will ponder, pray, and meditate on what would be the most effective way to mobilize a church or just share the gospel one-on-one. Through this process, God has given me some great ideas. However, several months ago I was in Los Angeles, CA. for ministry. While I was there, a friend of mine quoted Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel; for it is the power of God unto salvation for those who are being saved." God began speaking to me very clearly that I had been putting too much stock in ideas that were creative, and it changed my life.
I began to realize that I needed to re-focus on just the simple Gospel message. There is only one message under heaven that brings salvation to mankind, and it is the message of Jesus Christ. It is not about how well we communicate, how long we've been saved, how much of the Bible we have memorized, or what church we attend. The fact is that the most important thing in life is that the Bible come out of our mouth to the lost concerning their salvation; that is what's effective. The Gospel is POWER unto salvation - not our charisma, speaking ability, style, or sense of humor. The Gospel message releases power that nothing else can release. It has nothing to do with our ability. If it were in our ability, Christ died for nothing. This truth has set me free and I believe it will set you free, as well. The only thing we are responsible for is to deliver the message and allow God to do the rest.
Jesus will be whatever we proclaim Him to be! If we proclaim a saving Jesus, He will save. If we proclaim a healing Jesus, He will heal. If we proclaim a delivering Jesus, He will deliver! The Holy Spirit will act upon our proclamation! The Gospel is not simply pages in an old book in a historic library, because when we preach it something happens. History is for the dead and Jesus is alive! When we share the Gospel, it releases heaven's power to save the lost like absolutely nothing else or anyone can.
So I say to you: Do not concern yourself with your own ability, but rest in His ability that as you release the Gospel through your mouth, His power will follow. You may say that you have preached it and didn't see anything change. The Bible says, "Do not fix your eyes on what you can see because what you can see is temporary, but fix your eyes on what you cannot see, for it is eternal." You have no idea what is happening in the Spirit because you cannot see it. Nor does it matter if you feel it; only believe the word and act. It will happen. If you are not sure what to say, check out my Acts 29 School of Evangelism Manual in my resource department. It will be of great help to you.
Together in the harvest,
Joe Oden