Street ministry and outreach is something I have done for nearly 20 years. It has been and continues to be an enjoyable experience for me. I get a chance to meet people from all backgrounds of life and to be a yielded vessel for Christ. I’m always asking people “have you received Jesus as your Lord and Personal Savior.  Many of them would say, “Well I go to church and I’ve been baptized”. That’s all good but going to church and being baptized alone does not qualify one for salvation.  The person goes down as a dry sinner and come up as a wet sinner.  If the individual never believed in their heart and confess Christ with their mouth that God raised Jesus from the dead, according to Romans 10: 9 and 10, the person still not saved.  I’m reminded of a situation that happened to me years ago.  I visited this particular church because I knew something was missing in my life and me not knowing I needed a Savior at the time.  However, at the end of the service the pastor asked the congregation to check with the person next to them to see if they were saved or received Jesus as their Lord and Personal Savior? And if not, to extend the invitation for them to receive Him.  Well, the person who was in a leadership position asked me if I was saved?  I said “I don’t know if I’m saved or not” I said “what do you mean saved”? Sad to say, the gentlemen couldn’t tell me what it meant neither could he lead me to Christ. All he did was hold my hands and smiled in my face. I stood there amazed saying to myself “are you going to tell me”. However, he kept on smiling. He was smiling and I was confused! So I left the church lost and confused even the more.  So many people today feel the same way I felt years ago! Lost without a Savior! They go to church on a regular basis; they have been baptized, sing in the church choir, serve on the usher board, and or serve in different areas of the ministry, but yet they really don’t know what it means to be saved or even if they are saved themselves.  Growing up in the church the few things I can remember is that I had to pay church dues, join the church, and or sing in the choir. Nothing wrong with all of that and etc., because the seed was planted, and I thank God for the elderly women of the church that took the time out of their schedule to make sure my sister and I was at church every Sunday. And my precious Granny who made sure we were all well dressed and ready to go on time. I don’t take any of that for granted. However, we can’t leave out the most important part of the message (Salvation). Because there’s no true deliverance apart from Christ!

Salvation is deliverance from the power of darkness (sins). Deliverance from everything that goes against the Word of God. The Greek word for Salvation is “soteria”, which means deliverance, redemption, safety, preservation, or defense. To be totally delivered from the power and effects of sin and translated into the light of God’s divine protection through His Son Jesus Christ. It means to repent! You change your heart, mind, and directions to the things of God and His Kingdom! Salvation is God way of thinking and doing things. Being Kingdom Minded. The individual has to believe it in their heart and confess it with their mouth Romans 10: 9-10, and begin to apply the principles of God’s Holy Word to our everyday lives. 

To continue…I was reading a story once where God showed this person in a dream (true prophetic vision) that many people (people who went to church on a regular basis) believed they were saved and going to heaven.  The Lord showed the person that some of them had never given their life to Christ.  They were deceived into thinking just because they went to church, sang a song, and listen to the Pastor, they would be safe from that place called hell (eternal darkness).  Some thought they were saved because they were good people or had given to the needy. In the dream, she stood in horror watching people slide off a dump truck into a big black hole.  As they fell into the hole, they screamed for help as burning and in agony and terror on each face. She turned the other way and looked up to see Jesus with His hand on the shoulder of a man.  She somehow knew the man was a Pastor.  This Pastor was very happy because Jesus was taking him into heaven.  Just then, Jesus turned him around so that the Pastor could see the people (the lost souls in the black hole). The Pastor’s smile then turn to tears when Jesus said, “these are the ones you didn’t tell the truth about Me when you had the opportunity to lead them to Me.  The Pastor received Jesus as Lord; however, he never extended the invitation to the congregation (the flocks).  He preached a good shouting sermon but many of the flocks were still lost.  They never believe and confess Christ! Jesus came to seek and saved the lost.  In addition, to altar call for prayer and joining the church, it’s very important to extend the invitation for Salvation to the people. Lead them to Christ! Do not assume that everyone in your congregation is saved.  You might have visitors who came for that purpose just like I did years ago to give their life to the Lord but the invitation was not extended, and or the person in leadership position didn’t know how to lead the person to Christ. The mandate was given to every born again believer!  Can you imagine how that person might have felt when they left the church?  They felt good for the moment, but as the hours pass, the darkness is still there.  I encourage you to open the doors of the church for Salvation. I have come across too many people who has never confess Jesus as their Lord and personal savior. Especially those who goes to church on a regular basis. They all have the same story.  Jesus went to the cross that all would be saved and spend eternity with Him.  Let’ not His work be in vain! Lead that lost soul to Christ! Romans 10:8-13.