Minutemen Ministers

In the period preceding and during the American Revolution, there were colonials who volunteered to fight the British at a minute’s notice. That’s why they were called Minutemen. During a State of the Union message nine days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks of 2001, President George W. Bush told the U. S. military “Be ready.” As soldiers in the army of the Lord, we should always be prepared for sudden opportunities to fulfill the Great Commission.

A large percentage of the people I’ve led to Christ occurred in the marketplace as opposed to planned outreaches. For example, I was walking home one night and saw five boys playing touch football in a church parking lot. A thought crossed my mind that when their football landed by me, that would be a signal for me to witness to them. Seconds later, the football bounced my way when one of the boys made a bad punt. However, I continued walking wanting time to myself. When I got home, God kept telling me to “go back.” So I put my shoes on and hurried to the parking lot where the boys were still playing. When I arrived there, one of the boys scored a touchdown. That was the right time for me to have them take a timeout. All five boys got born again.

Christians should also be prepared to minister in the house of the Lord whether it’s giving a prophetic word or a prepared sermon. This past Monday, I got to do both those things. That afternoon I arrived at Living Word Christian Center for a prayer meeting. Pastor Folu Gisanri exhorted us to pray in the Spirit and then come forward if we had something to share. The Lord led me to walk up to the front of the chapel and read a particular Scripture.

Later that night, I took part in Living Word’s regular Monday night evangelism outreach. Pastor Nick Kinn normally does a teaching before we hit the streets but decided to take the night off after leading a weekend outing in Kansas City. I was asked to take Pastor Nick’s place and felt led to share an abbreviated version of “Why You Should Be a Soul Winner”, a message I taught at another church two weeks before. My fellow soul winners were blessed and encouraged. As usual, we saw many people come into the kingdom of God that night.

The whole world could be evangelized quickly if all Christians had the dedication like that of Ray Comfort. The New Zealand-born evangelist has offered to pay $1,000 to anyone who ever catches him without a gospel tract, even if he’s by a swimming pool! I always make sure there are plenty of tracts and gospels of John on me before leaving the house. So again, I exhort you to be minutemen (or women) ministers and be ready to share the gospel at a moment’s notice.

“Be ready in season and out of season.” - 2 Timothy 4:2