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WisconsinChristianNews.com
Volume 26, Issue 7
Saving Souls In Wisconsin
By Roger Johnson Year-End 2025
Heaven is a real place filled with joy, work, meaning, and creativity. Jesus’ promise is for us to be co-workers in building a new heaven and new earth. Heaven has no cancer, no unemployment, no divorce, no bankruptcy, no sarcasm, no bully- ing. Heaven has an abundance of joy, fulfillment and right relationships. Wisconsin is a pretty good place to live (better than Chicago, Las Vegas and New York City). But it does not compare to life in heaven with Jesus. Heaven wins, hands down. 4) Let’s Move into Action. Biblical truth, en-
ously. Our state’s adults seldom read the Bible. Neither do they see the Scriptures as important for their lives. We believers must start weekday Bible studies geared toward non-believers and non-church attenders. Such neighbors are not our only mission field, but they are the field right in front of us. People are hungry for the facts of Jesus’ life and ministry, and the truths of God’s work in our lives. As we invite people to Bible studies, we will discover several significant truths: • People are eager to hear the Gospel, but bibli- cally illiterate.
I’m hearing church lead- ers ask, “So, how do we really save souls and grow our churches?” Answers range from “find an extro- vert pastor,” to “hire a great worship band,” to “leave it up to the megachurches to make it happen.” Good answers to the
question are not found in any of these common responses. But the truthful answer goes something like this: Wisconsin’s Christians need to rejoice in the great gift of new life in Jesus Christ. Believers then need to admit that effective evan- gelism just is not happening here in Wisconsin. In this secular 21st century, we need to change our habits and priorities. Then, we need to proclaim the saving Gospel to friends, family, neigh- bors and strangers. Rejoice, admit, change and proclaim — let’s remember these four! The current facts are that Wis- consin is among the bottom six U.S. states when it comes to Gospel proclamation and church growth. Only Washington, Ore-
thusiastic love for people, and a steady hold to biblical non-nego- tiables are essentials to witness, evangelism and church growth. But we all know fellowships of right-believing Jesus followers that remain stagnant and de- feated. That is not the abundant life that Jesus desires for His fol- lowers. Rather, He has called us to speaking biblical truth to peo- ple who live far from God, living obedient lives private and public, and calling neighbors, family and friends to confess their sins, ask Jesus for forgiveness, and begin living a new life with Jesus. Consider again Jesus’ great commission of Matthew 28:19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
gon, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Ver- mont are less effective at Christian evangelism than the badger state. Only 45 percent of Wisconsin’s adult popula- tion considers themselves to be “religious” – a telling statistic. It stands in contrast with stats for neighboring Great Lakes states, leaving Wis- consin as the least “religious” state in its area. Forty-nine percent of Minnesota citizens con- sider themselves to be “religious,” Illinois is at 51%, Indiana is at 54%, Michigan is at 53%, and Ohio is at 58%. Even New York adults stand at 48% considering themselves “religious.” In short, recent research tells us that less than half of all Wisconsin adults are willing to state that they believe in God and live their lives ac- cording to His expectations. So, how do we save souls, and build growing churches in Wisconsin? (Remember, God has al- ready done the heavy-duty work of salvation by the blood of Jesus.) And Jesus has now commis- sioned us to grow His Church. 1) Let’s start with the Bible, and take it seri-
• Humans realize that money, career, addic- tions, and unfaithfulness lead to dead ends. Ad- dictions have dulled our abilities to find and follow Jesus. • People know that they are missing something big in life: the Gospel of Jesus. 2) Let’s begin loving people. Yes, we need to go much farther than tolerating, accepting or re- specting people. In my own lifetime, people who live far from God have led the way in terms of accepting and respecting individuals who are not “their kind” of people. Christians, our job is to change that reality! We begin our mission by deeply loving our state’s people — individuals who may be lonely and even unlovable to their own families. That is where God’s mission starts. May we start by putting our love into action for people we do not necessarily like. Certainly, that demands change on our part. But consider the unique nature of our mission! We expect non-believers to make dramatic changes in their own lives. Think with me. Whose task is tougher? The least we must do involves making
Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to ob- serve all that I have commanded you. And be- hold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (ESV) In other words, Jesus asks us to go to Milwau- kee, Green Bay, Madison, Superior and Kenosha with the Gospel message. He commissions us to call people to repent and change in the Milwau- kee Common Council and the faculty commit- tees at UW-Madison, Marquette and Lawrence University. Jesus goes with us as we disciple new believers at the shipyards of Manitowoc, the grain fields past Eau Claire, the dairy farms sur- rounding Sheboygan, and the shopping malls of Brookfield. Rejoice, admit, change and proclaim! Chris- tians, rejoice (big-time) in the great gift of new life in Jesus Christ. Believers, admit honestly that effective evangelism is not currently hap- pening here in Wisconsin, while knowing that God can (and will) enable conversions to hap- pen. In our secular 21st century, we Jesus-fol- lowers need to change our habits to bring on revival. Finally, as Christ’s witnesses, Wisconsin Christians need to proclaim the saving Gospel to friends, family, neighbors and strangers — ex- pecting to see lives redeemed by Jesus. Imagine right now what Wisconsin would look like as one of the top six states for Gospel procla- mation and witness. Our churches would be known as agencies of revival, our believers would be known as agents for spiritual change. Imagine right now what Wisconsin would be like with 50-60 percent of our people born-again and following Jesus! We would pray and praise Jesus with confidence and power. We would wel- come strangers in each Sunday morning wor- ship service. We would send mission teams to reach the remaining 40 percent of our citizens with Jesus’ abundant new life. God’s revival would catch fire in Chicago, New York and be- yond! Start with the Bible. Love people deeply. Claim and proclaim non-negotiables. Move into action. Saving souls begins with your conversion today! Roger Johnson is an evangelist, writer and teacher from Kenosha. He served for nearly 40 years as a urban evan- gelist in Chicago. A graduate of Wheaton College (B.A.) and North Park Theol. Seminary (M.Div.), he completed the M.A. in Evangelism & Leadership at Wheaton Grad School in 2012. Roger and his wife, Ruth, attend Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (LCMS) in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.
equivalent changes in our own lives. And that is what being born again is all about. 3) Let’s claim and pro- claim the non-nego- tiables. God, Jesus, heaven, hell, and human souls are all real and eternal. What we think and believe, how we live with these realties matters. Belief in Jesus provides abundant meaning for life, now and forever. (Re- member philosopher Blaise Pascal’s words, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person, that can only be filled by God, made known through Jesus Christ.”) Every person dies, yet every human soul lives forever, transported to an eternal home in heaven, or an eternal death with Satan in hell.
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