This article is an excerpt from Tom Shanklin’s book, You Can Touch the World.

By Tom Shanklin

Some have thought that the evangelist’s ministry, since he is given to the cause of reaching the lost, should not have any connection with local churches, but that he should spend all his time and energy in the highways and byways reaching the lost. However, according to Ephesians 4, the evangelist is one of five gifts given for bringing the Body of Christ to maturity. To be effective, every ministry gift must have a connection to the visible Church of Jesus Christ. The evangelist must work together with local churches to bring in and preserve the harvest and to train and inspire God’s people to do the work of evangelism.

The evangelist has an anointing to impart to the Body of Christ. The passion, the gifting, and the message of the evangelist must be released to the Church, so that the Church can fulfill its mission and accomplish its destiny. The impartation of the evangelist, like the impartation of all the five-fold ministry gifts, is necessary for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry and the building up of the Body of Christ.

When the evangelist comes to town, it’s harvest time. It’s time to pull out all the stops and do all you can to bring in the lost. The evangelist has a message that the friends, neighbors, and relatives of church members need to hear. The body of believers must be activated to reach out to those around them and to invite them. Every effort should be made to promote the meetings and reach out to the community. When an evangelist is coming to town, the believers should be on their faces crying out for lost souls. They should be inviting everyone they can to come and hear the Good News. Unnecessary activities should be canceled and every department and every person in the church should be focused on evangelism. It’s time to team up with the evangelist to reach the community for Christ.

Utilize the evangelist to preach the Gospel message outside of the church walls. While he is in your town, take him to the nursing home, jails, detention centers, anywhere there is a crowd to listen to the message. When possible, organize crusades with the other churches in the community. Make it a united community-wide effort to reach the lost and bring home those that are away from God.

The ministry of the evangelist can help bring revival in the church. The themes most often preached by the evangelist, concerning redemption, faith, repentance, restoration, and healing, are much needed in the church world today. Many discouraged saints could use a good shot in the arm of Gospel medicine. This ministry can augment the work of the local pastor in a precious and powerful way, and can cause an excitement about the Lord to spill over into the world around us. There’s something about bringing in a God-anointed evangelist that will bring life and zeal to the congregation. It is God’s intention that the various ministry gifts complement one another in order to accomplish the will of God in the earth.

This article is an excerpt from Tom Shanklin’s book, You Can Touch the World. Learn more about this exciting tool for world evangelism at Our Store.

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