“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Titus 1:8
If the rest of Arizona represents our Judea, then the other states in the union are our Samarias. Part of our church’s plan for evangelizing the entire world is establishing soul-winning churches across America, which will in turn start more churches like ours.
I’m not talking about a denomination. When we send someone out to start a church, we cut the umbilical cord. We are independent, but if we send someone out, they will most likely be a lot like us.
I have studied maps, demographics, statistics, etc, and identified 53 key cities in addition to Phoenix, Arizona, that need churches that preach hard and have our vision. Obviously, this can be adjusted if someone decides on a nearby city for whatever reason, but these are just the base cities that I am suggesting:
1. New York City, New York
2. Los Angeles, California
3. Chicago, Illinois
4. Baltimore, Maryland
5. SF/San Jose Bay Area, California
6. Boston, Massachusetts
7. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas (Stedfast Baptist Church, Pastor Donnie Romero)
8. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
9. Miami, Florida
10. Houston, Texas
11. Atlanta, Georgia
12. Detroit, Michigan
13. Seattle, Washington
14. Phoenix, Arizona (Our church: Faithful Word Baptist Church)
15. Minneapolis, Minnesota
16. Cleveland, Ohio
17. Denver, Colorado
18. San Diego, California
19. Portland, Oregon (Verity Baptist Church Vancouver, Washington)
20. Orlando, Florida
21. St. Louis, Missouri
22. Morgantown, West Virginia
23. Charlotte, North Carolina
24. Sacramento, California (Verity Baptist Church, Pastor Roger Jimenez)
25. Salt Lake City, Utah
26. Kansas City, Missouri
27. Columbus, Ohio
28. Indianapolis, Indiana
29. San Antonio, Texas (Old Path Baptist Church, Pastor Manly Perry)
30. Cincinnati, Ohio
31. Raleigh/Durum, North Carolina
32. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
33. Nashville, Tennessee
34. Jacksonville, Florida (*COMING AUGUST 6* Valiant Baptist Church, Brother Tyler Baker)
35. Louisville, Kentucky
36. Hartford, Connecticut
37. New Orleans (Faith Baptist Church in Violet, Louisiana, Pastor Joe Major)
38. Grand Rapids, Michigan
39. Columbia, South Carolina
40. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
41. Memphis, Tennessee
42. Albuquerque, New Mexico
43. Birmingham, Alabama
44. Richmond, Virginia
45. Fresno, California
46. El Paso, Texas
47. Honolulu, Hawaii
48. Omaha, Nebraska
49. Little Rock, Arkansas
50. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
51. Des Moines, Iowa
52. Boise, Idaho
53. Buffalo, New York
54. Anchorage, Alaska
As you can see, a few of those places are already covered. If we could start churches in the remaining cities that would do the same thing that we are doing, we could reach the entire country with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Ideally, other churches in our movement will claim their home state or neighboring state as their Judea and send out pastors to nearby cities like we did with Pastor David Berzins, who was sent out to Prescott Valley, Arizona.
Pastor Berzins is doing a great job of knocking doors with his church in tri-city area where Prescott Valley is located. Small town soul-winning marathons are another way that each church can take responsibility for its home state. That said, some pastors will be sent out to Samaria, meaning some guys will want to go to a different state than where their sending church is located.
The goal is to have a like-minded church in these 54 cities within the next 9 years, and that each of these churches will repeat steps 1 and 2 (see previous blog post). If God allows us to accomplish that, then every door in America would be knocked at least one time by a competent soul-winner within the next 24 years.
Not only is our church sending pastors out and also hoping for “grandchild churches” to be started, but some of the preachers from the old dying IFB movement can still get in the battle. I came from that movement, and so did a few of the pastors on the above list. It’s always a blessing when one of my pastor friends or I come across another preacher who wants to be our friend and shares our vision.
We don’t just need soul-winning centers, but we need churches with pastors who preach hard on sin, so that the churches don’t become dens of iniquity. When people start getting the sin out of their lives, they become soul winners, so hard preaching is an integral part of an effective soul-winning program.
We are gaining momentum! Without the Lord we can do nothing, but if we continue doing what we are doing, I believe that by the year 2041, every door in America will be knocked. Other styles of Baptists are doing soul winning, too, but that’s just icing on the cake. I’m talking about just our church and our friends, reaching every person in the United States with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
A lot more guys are already being trained, but it’s not just the pastors who are going to get it done. We can’t do it on our own. Our job as pastors is to lead you by example and motivate you to help us to complete this task. Are you part of a soul-winning church?
Here is the Sermon: A Strategy for Evangelizing the Entire World.
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