Beginning of Wisdom
Dear Christian friends,
A few days ago, I watched a video of the revival that is taking place in China. In the midst of tremendous persecution, millions of people are coming to Christ in that nation. These people pray for hours with great intensity and faith, and are seeing many miracles, including reports of people being raised from the dead. Thousands have been imprisoned for their faith, under conditions that we can hardly imagine, and some are still being martyred.
But the thing that impressed me most about this video was seeing many of these Christians holding church right out in the street, worshiping the Lord openly and witnessing boldly to others. How strange! In China, Christians witness openly and boldly, even though they may go to jail or die. But in America, Christians are afraid to witness.
Dennis Balcombe, the missionary who made this video, gave the reason for their boldness. The Chinese Christians fear the Lord. Jesus said, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” Matt. 10:28. The Chinese Christians do not fear the police who can imprison or kill them because they fear God. American Christians are uncomfortable with the concept of fearing God. We tend to think of this as an Old Testament concept.
But the concept of fearing God is as much in the New as the Old Testament. The Greek term “phobio/phobos” is as strong as the Hebrew word “yare/yirah.” Three times the word is translated “terror.” “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” 2 Cor. 5:11. What was Paul talking about here? First, he knew that those who do not know Christ are headed for the torments of Hell, so he persuaded them to avoid that horrible fate. Second, he was concerned about his own fate when he would one day appear before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10). In an earlier letter, Paul had written, “Though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel” 1 Cor. 9:16. And surely he remembered the words of Jesus who said, “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father” Mark 8:38.
It is Paul who said “I am not ashamed of the gospel” Rom. 1:16. He warned Timothy that “God has not given us the spirit of fear…be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of the Lord” (2 Tim. 1:7-8) and “preach the word of God urgently at all times, whenever you get the chance, in season and out, when it is convenient and when it is not” (2 Tim. 4:2,5 LB). Timothy, like many of us, was often fearful of witnessing to others, and Paul had to encourage him to witness boldly and consistently, even when it was not convenient.
A person who is truly saved will show an enduring change in his life that will be demonstrated by good works (Eph. 2:10). The scriptures teach that the truly saved person will consistently confess Christ before men, with his words as well as his life style. “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before the Father…but whosoever shall deny me before men, him I also deny before by my Father” Matt. 10:32. The Greek verbs for confess and deny are aorist and constative, indicating an entire life of confessing or denying, not a single one-time event (such as a sinner’s prayer or baptism). “If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus…you shall be saved…with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture says, Whosoever believes on him shall not be ashamed” Rom. 10:9-11.
When we truly fear God, we will walk in holiness and will boldly witness to others. We will not fear persecution, imprisonment, death, loss of reputation, or allow any obstacle to prevent us from reaching as many people as possible with the gospel. “Fear of man is a dangerous trap, but to trust in God means safety” Prov. 29:25. God, forgive us for the many times we have been ashamed of you, and failed to confess you before men. Put your fear in our hearts, that we will obey you and persuade others to turn to you!
National Street Ministries Conference
This past week I returned from the tenth annual National Street Ministries Conference in Dallas. Over 500 Christians from all over the country attend this conference. Most of them are involved in street ministry in some way, either full-time or part- time. It was good seeing people I had not seen in three or more years, as well as meeting many new people. We had a ministry booth there, and about 70 people signed up to receive our news letter. We also showed our SOS-San Francisco video.
Perhaps the best thing about this conference is being around Christians who are excited about witnessing for Jesus. It is easy for street ministers to feel like Elijah, that we are the only ones who are witnessing for Jesus. It is encouraging to be around others who have a zeal to reach the lost.
There were also a few pastors at the conference. Tommy Barnett pastors the First Assembly of God in Phoenix. This church has grown from 200 to 10,000 through various evangelism ministries. They now have 180 different ministries in their church — bikers ministries, outreach to people in wheelchairs, AIDS ministry, etc. Every ministry in the church is centered on the winning of souls — singles ministry, women’s ministry, etc. Every pastor, elder and deacon in that church must be actively involved in soul-winning.
I also spoke with Pastor Jules Boquet of the Christian Community Church in Houma, LA. When the city of Houma was not able to afford fireworks for the Fourth of July, city officials asked this church to help. Now, the church organizes a massive outreach with fireworks, carnival rides, and food. 50,000 people attend this outreach, most of whom are unsaved. All day long they play Christian music and preach the gospel. This church of 200 spends $50,000 on the outreach and everyone in the church gets involved. In the process, they are able to reach the entire community and see many people saved. It certainly is exciting to see what can happen when a church gets a vision for reaching their community for Jesus.
Ministry Needs
Again I want to thank you for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. Because of your support, we were able to put a rebuilt engine into a 1973 Chevy van. Finally, we have a ministry van that we can use to move the PA system we borrow for our outdoor rallies and to take workers to outreaches. Last April, I shared our need for new plumbing to replace the decaying pipes in our house. We now have brand new pipes! One special need we have is for someone to help with our office work, about 10 hours a month. The time I spend on routine office work is keeping me from more important ministry work. Please call me if you can help.
God has been faithful to meet our needs and to bless our labors on the streets. People continue to mail in the coupons on the back of the gospel tracts we give out. One person mailed in a coupon from Tehran, Iran! Several people have written us from prison. Please continue to pray for us, that we would see an abundant harvest of souls in the San Francisco area. Please pray that God will stir up the Christians in this area to witness boldly for Jesus, and will send many more laborers into this harvest field.
We urge you to join us for our Friday night witnessing team. We meet every Friday at 7:30 PM at the Vineyard Christian Fellow ship, 1098 Harrison St., SF, and witness in various neighborhoods of San Francisco. On Saturday November 13, we have scheduled a “church in the street” rally with New Life Christian Church at the Powell St. BART Station, from 3-6 PM. On the weekend of November 19-21, we will be going to Sacramento for the New Hope Worship Conference (call (916) 649-9064 for information). And on Saturday November 27, Christians from Sacramento will be taking the gospel train (actually Amtrak) to San Francisco to witness with us downtown on the busiest shopping day of the year.
Our Tape of the Month is “Revival in China” by Dennis Balcombe. Dennis has been a missionary to Hong Kong since 1969 and has been visiting and ministering to Christians in Communist China since 1979, making over 450 trips to the mainland. During that time, over 4 million Bibles have been given to Chinese Christians through his ministry. In this teaching, Rev. Balcombe talks about the fear of God as it relates to the revival in China.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
