If I told you right now to take out your cell phone and scroll down the contacts would there be someone there that needed Jesus? If not we should be perusing a friendship with people who do not know Jesus. You might say, “Riley I’m not called to that type of ministry. I don’t have the gift of evangelism. I give to ministries that minister to the lost.” That’s an excuse that most Christians and churches use to cover up the truth of them not wanting to get out of their Christian bubble and minister to the lost in the real world. It’s kinda like that movie the Truman show. We are caught up in our perfect little Christian world. With never a grasp on the real world. Someone once said, “they’re to spiritual for earthly good.”

Jesus gave us a mandate to go into all the world to reach out to everyone. A pastor told me one time, “Riley, I never can find someone who doesn’t know Jesus.” They said they would ask people, (like most do) “Do you know Jesus?” And the response she would always get was “Sure, I know Jesus.” Then they would assume after that response they were a Christian and say, “God Bless You” and then leave the person. That is not evangelism at all. We are called to share the Good News. Do you know Jesus isn’t good news.

Many people know about Jesus but have never had a personal relationship with him. That’s why we must spend a little more time to find out where they’re at and not just assume they are a Christian. 

Jesus was a friend of notorious sinners the bible says they came to hear him speak and he even ate with them. (Luke 15:1-2 NLT) If Jesus was here today he would not be at a believer’s convention, he’d be hanging out with sinners winning the lost. And if you are following him you would be hanging out with sinners winning the lost. I was at a church in Maine and actually had the people in the congregation to pull out their cell phones and to this day do it often. She scrolled down her contacts and saw a lady who wasn’t saved and she thought “she’s a hard one, I’m not calling her we’ve been working on her for years.” Then she kept scrolling. That very second the same lady she commented on called her! She knew this was The Lord so after the service she went to a Sunday school room and called the lady. She told her she loved her and knew she needed to ask her if for some reason she died would she be confident she would be in heaven. The lady answered no she wasn’t sure so she shared the Romans scriptures and then led her in a prayer to receive Jesus! God’s word will not return void! Let’s all spend a little more time with those around us. Let’s stop working on ’em and love on them.

I pray today you’ll make a new friend to add to your contact list so you can reach out to them and love them in to a relationship with your Heavenly Father.

Whether or not to participate in Halloween activities has been a big debate among the members of the Body of Christ. As believers, we have nothing to fear when the Holy Spirit is our guide. What does He have to say about this issue?

The Bible tells us not to “copy the behavior and customs of this world” (Romans 12:2, New Living Translation). But this verse should not be an excuse for us to shut the door on the world. We also need to let our light shine, as my family and I learned a long time ago—especially on the darkest day of the year!

For years my wife, Kim, and I would not turn on our porch light at Halloween. When persistent trick-or-treaters knocked on our door anyway, our family ignored them. We would not let our girls carve pumpkins or color Halloween artwork at school or go trick-or-treating.

Then one year the Lord spoke this scripture to our family: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16, New King James Version). We realized that God wanted us to reach out to our neighbors on Halloween night. So we changed our MO! We bought good candy, not the cheap stuff—you know, the kind that has bubble gum in it that loses its flavor as soon as you put it in your mouth. We got chocolate bars! And we began to minister the love of God to those who were participating in Halloween. We handed out candy to our neighborhood kids, gave them tracts, and asked them if we could pray with them about anything.

Halloween is a great time for us to get to know our neighbors. Streets are packed with parents and children. Paul said it this way: “When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings” (1 Corinthians 9:22–23, NLT).

As Christians, we walk every day in the burden-removing, yoke-destroying power of God (see Isaiah 10:27). If we close our door on our neighbors at Halloween, if we “turn our lights off,” we miss a big opportunity to remove burdens and destroy yokes from other people’s lives.

My family’s outreach began with just us. Later we started taking friends out with us onto the streets in our community to share the love of Christ at Halloween, and over time the ministry grew.

One church in Athens, Ohio, found out about what we were doing and invited me and my ministry team to come minister at the nation’s largest Halloween block party, which takes place in their city every year. This block party draws about 80,000 college-age kids, who come every year to drink and party on Halloween night. In 2009 we started taking teams to the event to share the gospel with young people, and since then thousands have received Jesus as Lord and Savior on the darkest day of the year.

Another church, this one in Roscoe, Illinois, whose pastor is a friend of mine, uses Halloween as their biggest outreach of the year. They bring carnival rides in and provide free popcorn, hot dogs and cotton candy. They clear out their sanctuary and set up games for the kids, and then they present a gospel skit. Every year at least 5,000 people attend this event. A lot of people in the community don’t even offer candy for trick-or-treating—they send people to my friend’s church instead!

I’m not saying that we should dress up as the devil and participate in dark activities. We should dress normally when we minister on Halloween night. When people see us loving, rather than judging the people who go to haunted houses or go trick-or-treating, the Bible says they will begin to glorify the heavenly Father. We should be a light in the darkness.

The Bible says that “God is love” (1 John 4:8). When we begin to look like love, talk like love and act like love, God who is love will manifest Himself through us, spreading His light to a lost and dying world. I pray that this Halloween you will open up your door and turn on your light to harvest souls for God’s kingdom.

Watch the Video. CLICK HERE

Learning to listen to the Spirit of God in the area of leading someone to Jesus comes from meditation on and study of God’s Word. When we choose to obey God in the slightest things, it brings us to maturity in the Lord.

God told Joshua to never stop speaking about the Word of God. He told him to recite it day and night so that he could carefully obey everything written in it. That is what made Joshua accomplish his objectives and made him successful (see Josh. 1:8). Jesus Himself said, “I only do what I see My Father do, and I only say what I hear My Father say” (see John 5:19; 8:28).

If we lack knowledge of what God says to do, it is difficult for us to know when the Spirit of God is leading us to a person. The Spirit of God will never lead us in opposition to God’s written Word. The Bible says that it is God’s will for all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (see 1 Tim. 2:4), so we know that God wants us to share the gospel with others.

When you’re not sure whether the Holy Spirit is leading you to minister to someone, rely on the peace in your heart. The Bible says, “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace” (1 Cor. 14:33, kjv). Before you go out to share your faith, ask the Lord where He wants you to go, and then, when you get there, ask Him who He wants you to talk to. It’s really simple. And it takes the pressure off us! God shows us exactly where to go and what to do.

On one of our evangelistic outreaches, we were in a Walmart. As we were getting ready to leave, one of the ladies said to the Lord, “Lord, if You’re done, I’m done, but if You’re not done here, show me what else You want me to do.” Right then she heard the Lord say, “There will be one more girl your age for you to talk to, and she’ll be wearing a pink shirt.” Almost immediately this woman noticed a lady her age wearing a pink shirt. She spoke with the lady using our pocket reference card—and prayed with her to receive Jesus!

Notice that this woman did three things:

1. She waited for peace in her heart—she let the Word of God in her heart “act as umpire” (Col. 3:15, amp).
2. She talked to the Lord—she asked God, “Show me what to do,” knowing that it was not about her.
3. She obeyed exactly what the Lord showed her to do.

It is so simple to hear God’s voice and then to obey it. We need to realize that we are not the ones who bring about salvation in others. The Holy Spirit leads, guides, and directs us as to where we should go, whom we should talk to, and what we should say.

Jesus said, “I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say” (John 12:49–50, nlt).

I pray that you’ll be open today to the Holy Spirit’s prompting and that you will obey what He tells you, knowing that His words spoken through you will lead someone to eternal life.

What if I told you that if you’d follow one simple rule, you’d be guaranteed to succeed?

In 1998 the Lord gave me a key to success. He told me to look at both Matthew 6:33 and Luke 19:10 in the Amplified Version. Here is what the two verses say:

But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides. (Matt. 6:33)

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10)

Looking at these two scriptures together opened my eyes to something: Seeking God’s kingdom and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33) includes seeking and saving the lost (Luke 19:10). When we win the lost, God will give us the things we need as well.
In other words, if we need money or provision, we should win the lost—and God will meet our needs.

Wow, Riley, is it that simple? Yes, my friend, it is. When we make it our priority to seek and save the lost, God will give us everything we need to get the job done.

How does it work?

First, if we are going to win the lost, we must be followers of Jesus. Jesus told His disciples, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19, NKJV).

Jesus had to show the disciples what following means. One morning a crowd was pressing in on Jesus (see Luke 5:1–11). Jesus noticed Peter’s empty boat, so He stepped into it—without asking Peter if He could—so that He could teach the people without being crushed. Peter went along with this arrangement, and when he did, his boat became a tool for the preaching of the gospel.

Then, after Jesus used Peter’s boat to preach, He told Peter to go fishing. Peter and the others launched his boat, even though they were tired. They had already fished all night and caught nothing.

What was Jesus trying to show these guys? He was teaching them that following Him means going where He goes, doing what He does, saying what He says. If we are going to seek and save the lost, we have to follow Jesus and be willing to do anything He asks us.

Second, if we want to receive God’s provision, we must allow God to use our resources. Proverbs 19:17 says, “If you help the poor, you are lending to the LORD—and He will repay you!”

Peter let Jesus use his boat to preach the gospel, and Jesus repaid Peter far beyond all he could ever ask or think. When the disciples gave their time and strength and headed out for one more round of fishing, they caught a boat-sinking load of fish!

Much later, after Peter had followed Jesus for many months, the same principle was at work. When Peter needed money to pay a tax, Jesus told him, “Go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first; and when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money: take that and give it to them for Me and you” (Matt. 17:27, NKJV).

In John 4:36 Jesus said, “The harvesters are paid good wages” (NLT). What kind of wages was He talking about? Well, the answer is twofold. Jesus went on to say that the fruit they would harvest is people brought to eternal life. Glory to God! But did Peter and the others receive only a spiritual wage from that boat-sinking catch they made? No! They turned that catch into provision for mission. They used it to become fishers of men. Where God guides, He provides.

A pastor friend of mine recently told me, “Riley, your breakthrough might be in the mouth of the next fish you catch.” Wow! I’d say it’s time to fish!

When you follow Jesus and let Him use your resources to win the lost—you are guaranteed to succeed!

On May 22, 2011, Joplin, Mo., experienced one of the worst tornadoes in our nation’s history. The KCM Disaster Relief Team arrived immediately to search for our Partners and provide relief and assistance in any way possible. Today, almost a year later, Kenneth Copeland Ministries is back in Joplin to help in the ongoing process of rebuilding.

“It’s amazing to see all the progress and rebuilding here in Joplin in the past year,” said Steve Poteet, head of the Disaster Relief Team. “But there is still so much work to be done.” With entire blocks of homes still empty, Joplin has a long road ahead. But KCM will be there to help. Partnering with the Joplin Family Worship Center and Feed the Children of Oklahoma City, KCM sponsored The Reach event on March 31. The Reach team, led by KCM’s minister of evangelism, Riley Stephenson, arrived a week before the event and began preparing to distribute boxes of food to 800 local families, host an Easter-egg hunt with 7,000 eggs and lead evangelism teams throughout the city. Lines had already begun forming outside the Joplin Family Worship Center two hours before the event got underway. Stephenson addressed the crowd of about 1,000 people, sharing with them the love of Jesus. Over 200 people received Jesus as their Lord and Savior during the event, and 25 people received healing. At the end of the event each family went home with a box of food, toiletries and Gatorade. Pastor Dan Wermuth of the Joplin Family Worship Center said: “We are here to offer the people of Joplin a hand up, not a hand out. We are spreading the message that life is not about surviving, it’s about thriving. Thank you, Pastors Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, and all the KCM Partners for all the love and hope you have brought to Joplin.” Because of you, Partners, Joplin will never be the same. KCM’s Disaster Relief Fund is our ongoing ministry outlet for our Partners to participate in helping people hit hard by disasters.

This past weekend, I had the honor of training believers in Athens, Ohio, on “How to Share Jesus Effectively.”  We met at Abundant Life Church with Pastor Bob Gall and his team.  After the training, we embarked on the adventure of  winning souls at “The Nation’s Largest Halloween Block Party” in Athens.  Athens is home to Ohio University, the number one party school according to the Princeton Review.  Our team has ministered the love of Jesus at this event for the past few years.

Team members drove in from as far away as Milwaukee, WI, and flew in from Jacksonville Beach, FL, and Fort Worth, TX.

We began at 6 p.m. making our way through all of the costumed Halloweeners.  We asked the Lord to show us specifically whom we were supposed to talk to.  Taking the Gospel in love, and to the glory of the Lord, we were able to pray with 136 people to receive Jesus.  

One of our “Snatch & Rescue” laborers walked up to a man standing against a wall. We asked him If he were to die tonight would he go to heaven. He said, “Man, I already know I’m going straight to Hell. I just want to make sure my 3 yr old makes it to Heaven.” We ministered to him and he prayed to receive Jesus.  We were all excited for him.

A couple of other team members prayed with a young man while his girlfriend, already a Christian, looked on with tears of joy in her eyes.

READ MORE…

If you want to see a video about this outreach, look at the YouTube video below: Thanks for all your prayers and support.