Reason for The Season

As another year closes and a new year begins, it is so important to take a moment and reflect on the many blessings we have been given. Although believers in Jesus Christ may understand the “reason for the season” the holidays, for many, can be a painful reminder of all the obstacles life has thrown against us.

What a wonderful holiday season we’ve had for ministry!

It began with our “Thanksgiving Reach,” Kenneth Copeland Ministries’ holiday outreach in Fort Worth, Texas, at the Joseph Storehouse. On the day of the event, dozens of workers arrived before sunup to set up an outdoor stage, a sound system and 2,000 chairs as well as bounce houses and other fun stations. As morning broke, thousands of locals lined up to receive a frozen turkey and a twenty-dollar voucher for groceries.

Before we distributed the food, we held a worship service. It was wonderful for me to see both of my daughters and many close friends onstage worshiping the Lord. Hundreds of the people who attended the event responded to the message that was shared, many coming forward for a healing prayer or to pray the prayer of salvation.

After the service we handed out the food as the kids played in the bounce houses and enjoyed face painting and clowns.

The testimonies of the day were astounding! One lady told me that her family would not have had a Thanksgiving meal if we hadn’t provided it for her. By the end of the week, we had handed out 1500 turkeys, and 272 people had prayed to receive salvation. Watch video!

But that’s not all! For our “Christmas Reach,” we partnered with the Joplin Family Worship Center in Joplin, Missouri, a city that experienced a huge amount of destruction and loss in the tornado of 2011. Our team set up a toy store for local families to be able to choose brand new toys, free of charge, for their children this Christmas. Over 300 families received a total of 2,500 toys that would be given to 810 children. One lady told us that she was amazed at the quality of the gifts we provided. She also added that the toys were exactly what her children wanted.

As people chose their gifts, we shared with them the love of Jesus. Through the course of the event, 404 people give their lives to Jesus, and over 50 people receiving physical healing.

It was truly awesome to watch people receive our gifts, but it was more amazing to see them receive the greatest gift of all—the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. Watch video!

Friends

Jesus was a friend of sinners. I like how the New Living Translation puts it: “Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!” (Luke 15:1–2, NLT).

Jesus was a friend of “notorious sinners.” If Jesus cared for objectionable people, so should we.

But as Christians, we sometimes get caught up in our own little bubble. We watch Christian TV. We send our kids to private Christian school. We listen to Christian radio. We do business with Christians and have Christian friends—the whole time never associating with the world around us. We can get so caught up in the me-and-my-three syndrome that we fail to reach out to our neighbors, friends and co-workers.

Once, as I taught on this passage at a church, I asked the group, “Who in your city could be labeled a notorious sinner?” I wasn’t looking for a public response, but someone shouted out, “The mayor!” The county in this area had been a dry county and had just turned wet, and the mayor had played a big part in that decision. So I encouraged the church to become friends with the city officials!

There’s a scripture in Jude I like that illustrates how we are to respond to sinners: “Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives” (Jude 1:23, NLT). We are supposed to hate the sin, but not the sinner. We aren’t to condemn or judge sinners—we are to love them. John 3:17 says, “God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world but to save the world through him” (NLT).

I was speaking on this subject in a small town in Texas. After the teaching, teams of students and leaders went to the streets to apply what we had been learning. I had brought with me a few people from our ministry to help with the training, and one of our ladies rode with the associate pastor and his wife.

As they drove, this lady noticed a man digging in a dumpster. “Stop the car! Stop the car!” she called out. The pastor stopped, and the woman jumped out and ran over to this guy. She began to tell the man how much God loved him and that the Lord had a great plan for his life. She shared the Word of God with him—and that man prayed to receive Jesus.

When the teams came back to the church, I asked for testimonies. The associate pastor came forward and shared what he had seen. “Every day,” he concluded, “we see this guy walking down the street, digging in dumpsters.” Tears began to flow from his eyes. “But we’ve never even thought about where he might spend eternity.”

Let’s not be so caught up in our own world that we lose sight of those whom Jesus came to save.

The Gift of Evangelism

“Riley, I would love to do what you do, but I don’t have the gift of evangelism.” The words came from a well-meaning Christian who was referring to my street ministry. At the time I was training people in evangelism at my church every Friday night. We were taking teams into the city and seeing fifty to one hundred people pray to receive Jesus every weekend. I told that man that he could do what I do—because he was a believer.
The Bible says, “And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied [it]” (Mark 16:20, AMP). Amen. Signs and miracles will follow us as believers!
God has given certain gifts of service to us as believers. Take a look at them: “Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ” (see Ephesians 4:11–12, NLT).
The Bible tells us that these five-fold ministry gifts are for the “perfecting of the saints” to do the work of the ministry. Based on what we just read, the job of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers is to teach, train and equip you as a congregation member to do the work of building up the body.
But there is no such gift called “the gift of evangelism” recorded in the Bible. It’s not your pastor’s job to fill the empty seats in your church. It’s not your pastor’s job to reach your city.
It’s yours.
Now, when I’m sent to a church to do evangelism training, I’m sent as an evangelist. But when I’m not standing in a pulpit under the office of an evangelist, and I’m simply going about my day, I’m constantly listening to the Lord as to who He wants me to minister to. The Lord speaks to us constantly; all we need to do is tune in a little closer so we can hear what our assignment is for the day.
My family and I recently went to lunch at a local Italian restaurant. The place had just opened, and we wanted to try it out. The waiter seated us and handed us the menus.
I was in one of those moods in which I didn’t want to even look at the menu; I just wanted to ask the waiter for a recommendation. When the waiter came to our table, my wife and daughters ordered from the menu. Then young man turned to me. “Sir,” he asked, “what would you like?”
I asked him what he would recommend. Happy to oblige me, he pointed to a particular item on the menu and said to me, “Sir, if I was on death row and this was the last meal I would ever eat, this is what I would order.” I was shocked by his comment about being on death row. But I knew at that point what the Lord was about to do. I ordered what the waiter had suggested, and it turned out to be an amazing dish.
When the waiter came back to the table for the check, I had another question for him: “If you were on death row and these were your last few moments to live, where do you think you’d spend eternity?” The young man looked down and told me, “I’m really not sure.” I shared with him the Scriptures from Romans from the script our ministry uses. And then I led him in a prayer to receive Jesus. During the prayer our waiter began to cry, and as he lifted his head, he said, “Thank you so much. I was just thinking about my life. I know I need God.” My family and I got ready to leave, and the waiter stopped by our table one more time. “I believe God sent you here,” he said.
God wants to use you today! Be bold and courageous! You don’t need to have a fivefold ministerial calling with a “gift” in order to see miracles and signs following. All you need do is listen to the little promptings you get every day from the Lord—and then be obedient!

The REACH – Birmingham, AL

Throughout my life the Lord has always put very specific people and places on my heart. Whether a single individual or an entire city, I am unable to rest until that group has been reached. Several years ago the Lord specifically put Birmingham, Alabama on my heart. I began to pray and intercede, not only for the people of Alabama but for the city as well.

On April 27th 2011 the state of Alabama was struck with over 200 tornadoes in a 48hour period. In that 2 day period of time countless people lost everything, including many who lost their lives. Kenneth Copeland Ministries immediately sent our Disaster Relief team to Birmingham and the surrounding affected areas to ensure our partners were safe and provided for. We were overjoyed to find that our partners had stood on the Word of God and had been spared from the destruction.
Upon returning home, our leadership team began planning a Thanksgiving Outreach for the people of Birmingham. Partnering with Word of Life Christian Center, a local Birmingham ministry, we prepared to hand out 1,300 Thanksgiving dinners complete with an entire turkey and all the fixings.
Our team touched down and began ministering in the streets of Birmingham on Tuesday, November 15th. By Friday the team had led 205 people to the Lord! Saturday morning, the day of the outreach, my heart was overwhelmed with joy when we pulled into the church parking lot to find a line of people waiting for their Thanksgiving dinners two hours early!

What the people who stood in line that day didn’t know was that they were about to receive much more than turkey. They were about to be blessed spirit, soul and body!  Before we distributed the meals we held a short service with praise and worship and a message of love from the Father.

 I fought to hold back streams of tears as 539 people responded to the altar call.

The devil tried to destroy the hearts of the people of Alabama, but the Lord had other plans. When the Lord puts a burden on your heart don’t ignore it. Even though we don’t always understand why He asks us to do something, if we are faithful to step out in obedience, lives will be changed every time! Praise the Lord!

 

Halloween Outreach in Athens, Ohio

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.

Team members reported that several people thanked them for what they were doing. I think it’s because we tried to be led by love, and the love of God is irresistible. By contrast, a church from out of town had taken up a position at the main intersection in town. Their approach was what one person called “bullhorn Christianity” – yelling at people about how evil and sinful they were.

Jesus referred to what He preached as “good news.” It’s not good news just to hear that you’re a miserable sinner. People already know that. The Bible says the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The good news is that Jesus came so people could have eternal life. He came to deliver people from the kingdom of darkness and to pick them up and transport them into the kingdom of God. He came to restore THE BLESSING. That is good news! And it’s that good news that 136 people responded to.

If you want to see a video about this outreach, look at the one on my YouTube channel by following this link: http://youtu.be/Sj3cWMEFoxU. Thanks for all your prayers and support.

 

Top Five Reasons People Don’t Witness About Their iPhone

A couple of years ago I was blessed to receive something truly amazing. When I got this it changed my life. So many of my daily tasks were not only made easier, they were so much fun now. I couldn’t wait to show all my friends the wonders of my new iPhone. To this day, years later, I still show off the new tricks and apps this phone possesses. I know it seems like telling your friends about your new phone would be easy, but in my experience there are five main reasons people are afraid to tell others about their iPhone.
1. The number one reason is fear.
With all of the available options in the smart phone world what if people don’t like my iPhone? What if I go tell my friend about my iPhone and they already have and Android phone? I can’t tell them how dangerous the Android application market is and how safe the Apple store is because they will think I am judging their phone. Don’t even get me started on all the other little smart phone niches like Nokia and Pantech. I know my iPhone is the only true option for ultimate connectivity and safety, but everyone has to make their own choices when it comes to smart phones.
2. Excuses!
I just don’t have the time. They wouldn’t like the iPhone anyway. If they knew I used an iPhone they wouldn’t talk to me anymore. Someone will tell them about the iPhone eventually. Surely everyone has already heard about the iPhone.
3. I have to feel compelled to tell people about my iPhone.
I can’t just run up to a stranger and tell them about how I can’t live without my iPhone, I have to know it’s the right time. I have to feel led. I don’t want to over market my phone. The iPhone is so amazing it’s benefits are obvious even without me saying anything.
4. Some people work in Marketing and others work in Sales.
I feel ok telling people about my iPhone, but I can’t ask them to buy one too! My job isn’t to sell them, just share my personal experience with them. I don’t want them to think that I am being pushy. I don’t want them to feel pressured. Someone else will get their iPhone business.
5. “I’m not qualified.”
I’m not MapQuest, I can’t lead people to Apple. I don’t work for the genius bar. I am not personally related to Steve Jobs, people won’t listen to me. If I try to tell them that Android phones will never truly fulfill them I will sound judgmental. I love my iPhone and I know that I can’t live without it, but I simply can’t try and convert anyone else.

As silly and trite as all that sounded how many of us have put more thought into how we will tell people about our new phone instead of how we will tell others about Jesus. There are a million excuses we will encounter on a daily basis for why we can’t witness to someone who may die without the love of Jesus. No matter which excuse presents itself Mark 16:15-18 says: And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be
saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these
signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out
demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up
serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt
them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Jesus commanded ALL Christians to preach the good news of salvation. It may not always seem easy and fear may try to creep in, but Jesus died so that we may ALL have eternal life. None of us are perfect, but we are specifically designed by God to be able to reach those people that we were ordained to come across. Don’t allow an excuse to possibly jeopardize someone’s opportunity to spend eternity with Jesus.

2009 Southwest Evangelism Conference

 

The KCM Soul Winning Team is going into the highways and byways and compelling people to come into the Kingdom of God! People of all ages, races, cultures are being born again on the streets of Fort Worth! The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is being preached and the love of God is being poured out froThe KCM Soul Winning Team is going into the highways and byways and compelling people to come into the Kingdom of God! People of all ages, races, cultures are being born again on the streets of Fort Worth! The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is being preached and the love of God is being poured out

Here are a few testimonies:

On Monday morning we walked into a business with a stack of SWBC flyers in our hand and the manager immediately told us, “You can’t be soliciting in here.” I said, “Ma’am, while we are here, is there anything we can pray with you about?” She said, “Salvation!” We prayed with her right there in the front of the store to receive Jesus! While she was filling out our decision card, we asked her if she needed healing in here body. She said, “Yes, I have diabetes.” We prayed for her and told her to call our prayer line with the testimony!  

Bus Station and met a lady who was sitting on a bench. We sat down with her and invited her to the meeting. Then we asked her “If you died right now, where would you go?”  She said, “Well, I hope Heaven.”  We led her in a prayer to receive Jesus! Then we led her in a prayer to receive the Holy Spirit! Then we asked her if she had any pain in her body.  She said she had some kind of disease that affects the joints in her arms and legs. We prayed and then asked her to move her arms to see if they felt better. She said, “Yes! My hands do! Let me stand to see what my hip says!”  Yes my hip feels better too! She was saved, filled, and healed while waiting for her bus! Glory to God! 

As our team walked the streets of Fort Worth this week, one soul winner talked to a man working on a construction site. He was already saved but prayed a prayer of rededication to live a life on fire for God. Then he said, “You need to talk to those construction workers over on the next street.” Our soul winner said, “Okay.” The next day as our team swept the streets with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, this same man named Kevin shouted, “Hey! Did you talk to those workers about Jesus? You need to talk to them! They have a lunch break at noon.” So at noon our soul winning team went over and prayed with the whole group of 10 construction workers to receive Jesus! Hallelujah!

Our team jumped on a bus and asked the bus driver, “May we pray a quick prayer of blessing over your bus?” She said, “Sure! But wait a few minutes so that the bus is full of people.” Our team stood by and watched as the bus filled up with people. Right before she left, one of our team members stood on the bus and prayed a prayer of blessing over the bus. Then she shared the scriptures in Romans and led the whole bus in a prayer to receive Jesus! Everyone shouted, “Jesus, come into my heart! Be my Lord and my Savior! Amen!”

Jesus said to pray to the Lord of the harvest that He would send forth laborers into the harvest field. This year we have equipped so many new laborers to be skillful and effective in ministering salvation. We will continue to go into the streets and preach the Gospel; we will not stop until everyone has heard that Jesus is Lord!

 As a result, within the last two weeks, 2752 people have made Jesus the Lord of their life!  Jesus said to pray to the Lord of the harvest that He would send forth laborers into the harvest field. This year we have equipped so many new laborers to be skillful and effective in ministering salvation. We will continue to go into the streets and preach the Gospel; we will not stop until everyone has heard that Jesus is Lord!

2009 West Coast Evangelism Conference

The Glory of the Lord shined once again on the streets of Long Beach. Our KCM Evangelism Team partnered with The Sanctuary, our local host church and we hit the streets promoting the WCBC and shared Jesus with everyone in our reach.

 

The Lord also led us to a few local nursing homes to share the love of God. We are praising God over the 2188 people that prayed the prayer of salvation!

 

                                                                                                                                                                                           A  few testimonies:       

A team member was walking down the street of Long Beach when a lady sitting at a restaurant patio said, “Thank you for smiling at me.” She said, “Your smile blessed me!” The team member stopped and began sharing the love of God with this lady. She shared the scriptures from Romans and this lady prayed to ask Jesus into her heart. The light of Jesus was shining bright on our team member’s face!

 One of our team members prayed with a group of 10 young people who said they were all atheists; they all gave their lives to the Lord!

 The team was also asked to pray for several employees at a nursing home. They said, “We watch Kenneth Copeland on TV every week and are so blessed that his team had come to the nursing home.” They said, “Please pray for our people here and for every one of our employees, that they will be blessed.” As our team laid hands on the staff, the power of God ministered peace, healing and hope to every person! Hallelujah! Glory to God!

While on the beach, one of our team members asked a street performer if she could say a prayer after he was done. He said, “Yes.” When he finished his dance routine, he shouted to the crowd surrounding him, “Hey, don’t leave! This young lady wants to say a prayer.” Our team member shared the wonderful Word of God on salvation and then had the entire crowd repeat the prayer to ask Jesus into their hearts! More than 30 people were saved at that one moment of time!

  A team member walked up to a guy and said, “Where are you going when you die some day?” He said, “I will not go to Heaven because I have tattoos and piercings.” The team member said, “The only thing that will keep you out of Heaven is not believing on Jesus; just repeat this prayer after me to receive Jesus in your heart.” The man prayed and gave his life to the Lord.

The team walked around the convention center and prayed with 5 of the employees to receive Jesus. A team member said to an employee, “If you died right now, where you would go?” The employee said, “No one has ever asked me that question. I don’t know where I would go.” Then the team member shared the scriptures from Romans and she began crying and said, “Thank you for sharing this with me.” This employee prayed with the team member and asked Jesus into her heart! Hallelujah!

 

Another team member walked up to the table with Long Beach information and asked the gentleman there, “Sir, we are walking around asking everyone a few questions. Where would you go when you die some day?” He said, “I hope to go to Heaven.” The team member read from the Pocket Reference for Soul Winning Card and said, “Repeat this prayer after me.” He prayed to ask Jesus into his heart! The harvest is ripe; people are ready to receive Jesus!

 

At the bus stop, a team member walked up to an older man with a cane. She asked him where he is going when he dies. He said, “I am going down.” The team member led him in the prayer of salvation and then said, “The Bible says in Mark 16 that he who believes shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. May I pray for you?” The man said, “Yes, every day my health gets worse.” The team member said, “Well, I believe that after we pray every day you will get stronger and stronger because of the life of Jesus that is now inside you!” The man walked away with a smile on his face and a spring in his step! Glory to God!

 

A team member walked up to two men and asked them, “If you died right now, where would you go?” They said, “We are going to Heaven.” Then the team member said, “Well, if God were to say, Why should I let you into Heaven, what would you tell Him?” They said, “Well, we are not sure because we are together.” The team member shared the scriptures from Romans and they both prayed to ask Jesus into their heart. They smiled and said, “Thank you so much!” They believed on the Lord Jesus and were saved!

 

In front of the Jack in the Box, a team member walked up to two young ladies. She began to ask them where they would go when they die some day. One of the ladies said, “Hey, I prayed with you downtown a few days ago!” The team member turned to the other lady and shared what the Word says and said, “Pray this prayer with me.” She hesitated a little. Her friend (who had already prayed to ask Jesus into her heart a few days earlier) grabbed her hand and said, “I will pray this prayer with you.” Both prayed, “Jesus, come into my heart! Be my Lord and my Savior!”

 

On 2^nd street, a team member walked up to a mother and daughter and handed them a flyer, inviting them to the WCBC. As the mother opened the flyer and saw the information about healing school, she said, “That is so funny. I was just talking to my daughter today and wondered where there was a healing meeting.” The team member asked them where they were going when they die some day. They were not sure. They prayed and asked Jesus into their heart, both mother and daughter. Then they said, “We are coming to that healing meeting on Saturday. Thanks so much!”

 

The team prayed with people for healing and saw the life of God enter into the bodies of several people! Ankles healed! Backs healed! Depression gone! Many lives set free by the power of God!

It’s All About The Numbers!

Teaching Christians How To Reach the Lost With Results

by Riley Stephenson

 

 

 

 

 

When you hear the word “evangelism,” what comes to mind? A loud, obnoxious preacher screaming at people on the street corner? Going door to door in a neighborhood with little or no results? Mustering enough nerve to talk to someone about Jesus only to be rejected? In his book, It’s All About the Numbers, evangelist Riley Stephenson addresses these common misconceptions about evangelism and provides a refreshingly new approach to sharing your faith with very fruitful results!

After reading this book, you will:

• Have a passion for the lost!
• Love people in a greater way.
• Share Jesus effectively.
• Overcome any hurdles you have had in the past in witnessing to someone.
• See yourself as God sees you and be able to do what He has called you to do.
• Teach others how to win the lost.
• See countless numbers of people born into the Kingdom of GodIf your heart longs to see your family, co-workers, friends, acquaintances, and even strangers saved, then this book is your tool for effective, result-oriented evangelism! In it, you will see afresh, through Heaven’s eyes, that it really is all about the numbers!

I believe every believer should get this book!  Get yours click here! 

The Glory is Shining in Branson!

The Glory is shining through the people! On Monday March 2nd our evangelism team partnered with a group at Faith Life Church. We hit the streets and invited people to the Campaign.

The Lord led us to the mall where entertainer, Mike Walker was singing,” How great thou art”. When he finished, he gave us the microphone and we gave an altar call and prayed for salvation and healing!

People were saved and healed! One man received Jesus and said his back was hurting. We laid hands on him and prayed. Signs follow the Word and he said, “the pain is gone, the pain is gone.” And then he said, “thank you” One Lady received healing in her back and knees!

140 people prayed the prayer of salvation!

Soul Winning Continues in Branson a team is going out tomorrow night!