Soul Winning
Yes · or · No
A Legacy
My grandfather, R. Stanley Tam, was a soul-winner. Even at 107, still living on the independent side of an assisted living facility before he transitioned to heaven in March of 2023, he was still trying to win one soul a day.
I would bring visitors up to see him, and he told me,
"The next time you come, only bring me visitors that need to be saved."
He told me one time, "Stuart, whenever I lead someone to Christ at an older age, I always ask them, Why did you wait so long? You know what they all say? It was the same thing every time:"
"No one ever asked me."
I was shocked. How could that possibly be the case with so many Christians everywhere? Wasn't everyone asking somebody every day? Once a week? Once a month? Surely once a quarter? Once a year? Once a decade? Ever?
Could the media have actually shamed an entire set of generations into keeping their faith in YHVH — the only God of Creation — to themselves? This was news. News that couldn't be. But it was. And it came from the heart of a dollar-cost- averaging Christian businessman, stewarding Kingdom assets for the most souls he could win for the least amount of expenditure per soul. Who does that?
God's Value for Just One Soul
We are bombarded with information about money and savings and investing — at work, on TV, rarely in most churches, but consistently throughout the Bible, mostly in metaphors and parables. The thing we use as a proxy to trade with has become dear to our hearts, if we're honest. But the soul is priceless. It is unpurchasable. You couldn't buy your soul if you wanted to.
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"
In Genesis 1:26, on the sixth day, the Word tells us how priceless you are and how you were created — spirit, soul, and body — in the image and likeness of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Identity
Likeness
Authority
Purpose
Inheritance
Even angels don't have all this privilege. Beyond your inheritance, you have been given access through Jesus, via the Holy Spirit living inside of you — as the fourth temple of God — to GO, and DO, and SAVE, and DISCIPLE.
What Is My Value System?
If God's value for one soul is priceless, shouldn't ours fall in line? Does it? Do we really value one soul that way? If I really did, wouldn't I be more apt to stop for the one?
Crossing the Chicken Line
It doesn't have to be a heavy burden, being a soul winner. Matthew 11:28–30 says,
"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
It's the job of the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth — so it's not a have to, it's a get to. We get to do works that bless the heart of the Son, who is blessing His Father. We get to partner with Jesus, using all the power God gave to Jesus, that Jesus doled out to us, to capture one soul at a time — or in larger numbers.
Sounds a little like fishing to me. So — wanna go fishin'?
Try It Out · Report Back
The Holy Spirit dropped all of this on me. I told a few people, and then it was time to try it out. I was at a Wendy's drive-through, and a young boy — probably his first job, maybe sixteen — was at the window running my credit card. The Holy Spirit nudged me: What about him?
Then the internal conversation started: You're challenging others to do it. What about you? You're a leader — you need to challenge yourself. So I did.
ME: "Hey, did anyone ever tell you that God loves you and has a plan for your life?"
HIM: "No. I've never heard that."
ME: "Well, it's true. God loves you and you have all this inheritance available to you in Jesus. You just have to be in the family. Would you like to ask Jesus into your heart right now? Yes, or no?"
HIM: "Yes! Let's do it."
And so I led him in a short prayer, got him into the Kingdom, and the Holy Spirit will lead him into all truth. It's that simple. There's much to be said about plugging people into a body of believers — but don't get lost in the weeds.
Close some business. Get God His souls back.
God says He will spit them out of His mouth if they're lukewarm — so you have to get them off the middle of lukewarm and into either yes or no. If they say yes — celebration! If they say no, at least you've given them a chance to be sorted like chaff, and to live with the knowing that they just said no to God.
A Second Story
The last person I offered 14 Words to was a nice Muslim girl. We were working a solar booth together, signing up people for in-home appointments after they spun for a prize. In the lulls, our conversations led to me being ordained and her being Muslim. That opening pulled the response from me:
"You can't run into me and not hear 14 Words. I would never do that to ya. I always wanna give everyone a chance to score. Either Jesus is a straight-up liar, or He's stone crazy-town, or He actually is who He says He is when He says, 'I am the Life and the Truth and the Way. No man gets to the Father but through Me.' So — this is where I give ya the chance to score. Would you like to ask Jesus into your heart? Yes, or no?"
She replied, "No; I'm a Muslim." I said, "Well, that's okay. You chose no. But I gave you a chance. You can't say nobody ever asked you."
Later that day, I heard her mutter — in response to someone asking why she was staring off — "I'm contemplating my entire life…" in a shaken voice.
Sometimes you can't even talk to people. Sometimes you get 'em saved. Sometimes the best thing you can do is shake their life beliefs and leave them to stew in their choice to reject the salvation from Jesus.
Grandfather's Rule
My grandfather gave me wisdom that has saved me from endless conversations that go nowhere with bandwidth-suckers who aren't even listening. After a lifetime of soul-winning — 40,000 himself, and 5,000,000 if you combine all the work of the missions he sponsored — I give this weight:
"Ask someone three times. If they don't make a decision by then, move on. They're not ripe fruit. Don't waste your energy. Go find the ripe fruit."
Now Go
Send us your story — the awkward ones, the "yes" ones, the "no" ones. Every testimony encourages the next believer to open their mouth and give one more soul the chance to score.
Fund Soul Winning
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Door 1 · Simple
One-time or monthly. Straight into the general soul-winning budget. No account, no login — just a card and a click.
Door 2 · Stewarded
For Christian businessmen and women who want to steward well. Channel 100% of your giving down the pipeline to soul winners we've vetted globally — with measured KPIs and cost-per-soulreporting — or spread it across other categories of Kingdom work.
Are You One of the Hidden Ones?
If you're doing a work for the Lord that nobody knows about and you just keep plugging — this is your invitation. Climb the Trust Ladder to build rapport with generous donors, then hang a shingle and show the world what the Lord is doing through you. Or stay anonymous if you're in a country where being named is dangerous — we'll still get you funded.
Because the cost of a soul is priceless.