THE EFFICACY OF ONE ON ONE WITNESSING

THE EFFICACY OF ONE ON ONE WITNESSING

           Jesus christ left us with a command to go and make disciples of all nations. There are various ways to reach out to souls especially those that are not in the fold, from preaching in the church, outreaches to villages , campus, schools, morning cries, bus evangelism, preaching on radios, television , social media, tracts evangelism and many more . All these methods are effective and no doubts many souls have been won through it. Of all these methods, one on one witnessing is the most effective, though it may be slow but it generates satisfactory results. The Scripture affirms to it. Jesus christ engaged in all forms of evangelism as he preached from one village to another, he preached to crowd in thousands, he preached to one hundred and two, he preached to 12, he preached to three and he preached to individuals too. The documented one on one of Jesus’s witnessing were very effective and yield instant results. Jesus witnessed to Nicodemus who visited him at night, Jesus witnessed to the Samaritan woman beside the well. The disciples of Jesus also maximised one on one witnessing. Philip witness to Ethiopian Eunuch.

          One on one witnessing is efficient because you have direct contact with the person, there is eye contact, you can read the person’s interest and it becomes easier when the Holy Spirit takes over the process, you touch the person soul , you have the person’s attention and have opportunities to take feedback from the person, ask questions , interact and ultimately leading the person to make a decision to accept Jesus christ. The meeting of Jesus with the Samaritan woman encapsulated all these. Jesus initiated the conversation by asking for water from the woman, he was aware of the cultural boundaries between them, the woman refused by reminding him that Jews don’t have anything to do with Samaritans who are considered as mixed breeds as a result of intermarriage between non Jews. Jesus used that opportunity to present himself to her and preached the sound gospel to her, Jesus told her all she knew to know and the result was she believed Jesus as Messiah and went round the town to share the gospel of Christ to them. Jesus witnessed to one person, she was saved and witnessed to more people on that day and the Scripture recorded that many Samaritans came to know Jesus Christ as a result of her testimonies about Jesus christ.

         My experience

          I have engaged in tracts evangelism, bus evangelism, village outreach, witnessing in a lecture hall of 1500 capacity and 3000 capacity. Morning cries, market evangelism . In all these I have discovered that the most effective of all is one on one witnessing because you have the person’s undivided attention and you are getting feedbacks right there. Some years back in Ogbomosho, I was on street for one on one witnessing , I met a young lady with her fellow neighbours or friends. Immediately I got there and told them my mission to witness, she drew closer, others were watching afar and I preached. I discovered that she was so touched by the message that the atmosphere changed. After I ended the message, she told her friends that” this message entered me, as if I have never heard such in my life” . That is a feedback, you can measure the results unlike morning cries that you can’t even know whether they are listening or not. Or in a crowd except you give altar call you may not get response. One on one evangelism gives room to address their soul in a unique way. Have engaged ten people in one on one witnessing in a day and I preached different message according to their spiritual needs . Each soul have a unique spiritual need which the Holy Spirit knows about. One on one witnessing is very effective if you allow the Holy Spirit to take full control and charge. He will lead you to where your souls are. Miracles abound while ministering one on one, the Holy Spirit will give you unction and rhema to minister directly to their spiritual needs. At times you sense the power like a surge flowing through you. There was a time I was evangelizing one on one and the word became bitter in my mouth as I preached. By the time I finished, the person am ministering too could not even look at my eyes again.

     Steps in engaging in an effective one on one evangelism.

1 pray well before going out for one on one evangelism. It is in prayer you will have the boldness to witness and direction on where to go. There was a day I prepared to go for one on one witnessing. I have prayed. On reaching the field, I walk miles, seeing people but just could not preach to them. After a while, I decided to go back home, I was almost reaching home when I heard the Holy Spirit saying you did not pray enough, the reason you are unable to witness. I intensified my prayers in coming days, went back to the same place and I was able to preach to as many souls as possible. Zeal is not enough, you need power in the place of prayer.

2 live a fasted live. The price of their soul was expensive and Jesus paid it all. Fasting will make you sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and subdue the flesh. Witnessing is a work in the spirit. You have to labour in the place of prayer and Fasting, it is in that process that the spirit of this world controlling those souls are subdued.

3 live a consecrated life. Live what you preach. Let others see Jesus in you.

4 Give yourself to reading and meditation of the Scripture. Study the Scripture, let it be part of your

5 Be precise, don’t bore them with stories, preach only Jesus and be as brief as possible . Maintain eye contact and take feedback

6 Dress smart, neat and smell nice.

7 Be kind. You are representing Jesus. Whatever insult you receive, take it with gratitude without responding back

8 be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. There are people you will want to talk to but the Holy Spirit will restrain you and there are people you will want to avoid them but Holy Spirit will tell you to talk to them.

9 Allow the Holy Spirit to take charge of the discuss. Do not allow the flesh to “hi jack” the discussion and do not allow the witnessee to divert the discussion to politics, religion debate and argument.

10 Avoid dabbling into issues that will cause arguments. Preach only Scripture

11 Speak the language the person understand. If the person don’t understand you, the whole exercise will be futile

12 respect cultural boundaries. Do not speak against the culture of the person you are preaching to. Identify with their culture

13 Do not publicise your church or mandate them to come to your church

Generally, one on one witnessing is the work of the Holy Spirit, open your mouth and he will fill it. No one is an expert in it. At every moment you still need to depend and partner with the owner of the business for it to be effective and efficient. In the last days we need to depend more on Holy Spirit so that he can lead us to witness to people on individual basis. Every believer should engage in one on one witnessing as it is the most effective tool of evangelism to harvest souls for Christ in the last days. The effectiveness does not lie on the number of people you are able to reach but the number of people that give their lives to christ completely and served him for the rest of their lives.

©️ Abolanle Oladipupo

30/12/ 2024

Redefining the Cross over service

            RE-DEFINING THE CROSS OVER SERVICE

   The cross over service is predominant in churches in Nigeria and a tradition on every new year eve . Cross over service was dated back to 18th century, John wesley started crossover service as an alternative to secular new year eve where they partied, dined and wined into the new year. The cross over service was majorly to reflect, pray and re-dedicate ones life to Christ. Christianity officially came into Nigeria in 1842, no record of cross over services in Nigerian churches until in the 70s and 80s which was marked with the surge of pentecostal and charismatic churches. The cross over services are usually a time for breakthrough prayers , prophetic prayers, spiritual renewal and fortification for the incoming year combine with prophecies for the year. Gradually, mainline churches also adapted the cross over services in the late 80s and 90s in order to keep some of their members who flock into these churches on 31st of December.

         Today, crossover service has become a church tradition in Nigeria. Many people who do not believe in going to Churches usually attend the cross over service just to pray for breakthrough into the year. There is so much ado about 31st December that you think it must be a special day that heavens are open and whatever prayer you pray on that day shall be answered. There is no day that is special, it is humans that make a day special, no day is special or unique to God. 31st December is Just like any other day in the calendar. Do not religiously believe that the day is special to heavens. Whatever God have put in your mind to do for him, start doing it now. Do not wait till you enter another year, all days are important, if we take all days serious the way we take 31st December, many lives would have changed for the best. People that have vision , goals and destiny to fulfill do not joke with their days. Twenty four hours is long enough to succeed in life. In a day so many things can happen that will turn life around for good. Take every day serious and see it as just the last day you have on earth. Have you ever wondered that we all have twenty four hours, some make judicious use of it and is not enough while to some it is too much for them that they have to waste some away in watching others that are actively using their time. The difference between the two is planning. If you do not plan your day well, it will not be productive, time is the currency on earth, if you do not plan how to use it, you will waste it. So many lies have been told under the guise of religion and one of it is if you pray well on December 31st, your year is settled and it will be different. You are crossing over from failure to success and many more. Prayers are not enough if it is not back up with planning, determination and diligence. The cross over is usually mark with theme of the year like “ 2025 my year of glory” 2025 my year of breakthrough “ 2025 my year of abundant blessings “ . Hardly will you find 2025 my year of walking closer with God” The theme are usually tied to prosperity and breakthrough. The cross over service should primarily focus on the spiritual well being of the people with focus to ascertain if they are still in faith It should be a time for them to sit down, reflect on previous years and come up with plans, goals and decisions geared towards making them a better disciple of Christ. Meditation is a spiritual discipline and should be a spiritual exercise Christians should do daily and more of it in on 31st December. Thinking and reflecting on what you have achieved for God and humanity.

               It is high time we had mind shift regards watch night service. We have had enough of watch night services, we have had enough of new year prophecies, we have had enough of breakthrough prayers, it is time we look inward and meditate on the state of our spirituality and that of the nation. There is need to intentionally teach and disciple church members who are willing to be ambassadors of Christ wherever they find themselves. If there must be a watch night service, it should be redefined by going to the foundation as practiced by John Wesley It should be a service that people will be led to praise God, release them to be alone with God, reflect on the past year and guide them to rededicate their lives to christ . Many crossover services in today’s churches are full of jamboree and fun without a call to live a consecrated life that is pleasing to God. If watch night services are done in the right way it will yield fruit of righteousness.

©️ Abolanle Oladipupo

29/12/2024

Theological review of seven doors by Femi Adebayo

         THEOLOGICAL REVIEW OF SEVEN DOORS BY FEMI ADEBAYO.

         The film script is spiritually rich and theologically deep revealing that truly there are ancestral curses, covenants and consequences for every actions. Curses are real and they do not just happen without reasons. There are school of thoughts that draw their beliefs from the Scripture . The first school of thoughts believe that curses do not have a hold on Christians. Why? Jesus have been made a curse for them. As it is written in Galatians 3:13. Cursed is anyone that dies on tree, by dying on the cross, Jesus put an end to all ancestral curses or inherited curses. Just believe, curse have no way. They also base their belief on what Ezekiel said in ( Ezekiel 18:2) that every one shall bear the consequences of their sins and never shall the proverb be said again in Israel that the fathers have eaten sour grapes and teeth of the children have been set on edge. second school of thought believe curses can affect a Christian and all he needs to do is to pray his way out by standing on the works of Christ on the cross and God in his mercies will take it away.

            Both school of thoughts are theologically correct but to discard that curses or negative covenants do not affect a Christian may be wrong because there are several testimonies from Christians who are living witnesses of how curses and negative covenants limit them till God in his mercies give them victories over them. Knowledge is very important, many people have perished because of knowledge. Seven doors shows that being good is not enough, the king have a good heart with wealth of exposure to change the lot of the town but the evils of his father’s house spoke against him. His real enemies were not the beaded chiefs who were corrupt but the evil of his household. Household demons are always waiting at the peak of a man’s achievement to challenge a man and if the man is not strong enough he may loose his life. There are sacrifices strong man will not ask from you until you reach certain heights. The reason why you have to intensify your spirituality as you climb the ladder of success in life. King Adedunjoye was prepared for the battles that lied ahead of him, he was fortified and initiated . Trouble began when he was asked to knock seven doors but he refused. The king didn’t know that thrones are preserved by mysteries . His ignorance cost him a son before he was told the reason behind the seven doors. He didn’t ask why he need to knock seven doors . He simply felt it was wrong and discarded it. This is similar to a Christian who didn’t believe there are curses or evil covenant. So many young lives have been wasted and cut short at prime because they do not know that they needed to fight over the curse of untimely death. Nothing just happened. A story was told of a warlord in Ibadan that do ripped babies in foetus of pregnant wives with sword as sacrifices to the gods for victory in battles. Do you think those innocent blood will not cry for vengeance over the children that come from the loins of that man. There was a man in city of Lagos in 70s that raped five daughters of his neighbours and the father of the children laid a curse on him that all his daughters shall experience all he did for his daughter. The man got married , he had five female daughters and they were all raped and impregnated by men that did not marry them.

            The king asked the ifa priest a question. “ why did the gods choose to take vengeance during his own time? The king has forgotten that whatever his great grandfather did, he also did it in his loins. His great grandfather had a great share of the evil seed he sowed, to be bed ridden for over fifty years in pain was a great price for the evil he committed. He could not complete the payment of his satanic debt till death eventually came. The repayment was transferred to his unborn children. If you enjoy the good deeds of your fathers, it is not out of place if you have a share of their evil deeds too.Abraham paid a tithe to Mechizedech and the Scripture recorded that while he was paying the tithe, Levi a grand son was in his loin while he was paying the tithe. Abraham paid tithe, by virtue of that all his seed also paid tithe. Abraham made a mistake , he forgot to cut bird for sacrifice into halves and slept off in the process . On waking up, God told him that his generations will spend 400 years as slaves in a foreign land. Before you do evil remember your children will eat out of it and if you do good likewise, every seed that comes out of you will eat out of it. For every action there are consequences. Just like Sunny Ade sang in one of his songs, before you do evil think twice.

             Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown, the crown that the king was tired of is what another Prince wanted. A replica of what happened in the era of his great grandfather, where one engaged the other in a duel and killed the other. That is evil pattern , had the staff carrier successful in his quest the king would have died just like that. The good the king did years back saved his life. It takes death of another man to save a man’s life when his death has been perfected by evil people.Spiritual battles are multi facet just like onion layers. After knocking of seven doors , there was another hurdle to cross, that was Esusu, the man standing on the negative covenants his great father had with him to afflict his family and his kingdom. God is a respecter of covenants. Covenant is blood binding, in as much you carries the blood of the person that makes the Covenant, it is also binding on you. It takes the blood of Jesus and his mercies to take away evil covenants . During the duel between the king and Esusu spirit, he could not prevail until he called his ancestor, it is only a spirit that can defeat a spirit. You cannot defeat a spirit with flesh and blood. When the ancestral spirit of his father appeared, he didn’t engage Esusu in a fight, he only gave him what he needed to kill him and he utilised it well. Victory does not come without a fight. No peace without war. The path to peace in ilara was rough but the end was great.

       A Christian had to wage spiritual warfare to overcome satanic curses and evil covenants. They are real, you cannot do the fighting of alone, invite Jesus to do the fighting for you by standing on what he completed on the cross to possess your freedom from the oppression of the devil. Knowledge is powerful, pray to know the mysteries surrounding your birth, lineage and town . Do a comprehensive spiritual mapping of your lineage and it will give you background information that will help you to wage spiritual warfare effectively. The film is secular but full of lessons for believers and unbelievers. The producer of the film has done greatly and have conveyed deep spiritual truths that are able to transform lives.

©️ Abolanle Oladipupo

17/12/2024