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Coming Events
Friday September 11, 18 25 6 – 9 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods.
Sat. Sept. 12 and 19 11 AM – 1 PM Fisherman’s Wharf (call at 11 AM for exact location) 3-5 PM Union Square (Powell and Geary).
Sat. Sept 26 12:30 – 4:30 PM Berkeley outreach. Shattuck and Center St.
Losing our Moral Compass
Dear Christian friends,
A moral compass is the “ability to judge what is right and wrong and act accordingly.” It is clear to me, as it is to many people, that our nation has lost its moral compass. I could give many examples – the 1973 Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion and their recent decision to order all states to recognize same-sex marriage are two of the most obvious.
I grew up in the 1950’s. As a child, I walked around my neighborhood by myself with no fear. I didn’t know anyone in my public high school who was involved in drugs or any criminal activity, even vandalism. At that time, about 95% of the people in our nation believed that the Bible is the Word of God, that Jesus Christ died to save people from their sins, that there is a Heaven and Hell. As a Jew, I was part of the 5% minority. But even we believed that the Old Testament was God’s Word and the Ten Commandments were the basis of our morality. I don’t know how many people in the 1950’s were truly born-again — perhaps no more than today. But almost everyone agreed that the Bible is true.
So what changed? First of all, several things undermined the foundations of our faith in God and the Bible. One is Darwin’s theory of evolution. For over 100 years, every school in the US (except Christian schools) has taught Darwinian evolution as a fact not to be questioned. Despite this, according to Gallup, the most common view in the US is that God created people in their present form (46%). Another 32% believe that humans evolved, with God guiding the process, and 15% believe in evolution, with no involvement by God. Among college graduates, the percentages are similar. Only 14% of college graduates believe in evolution with no involvement by God. While our education system has not convinced much of our nation about evolution, it has sowed a lot of doubt concerning the truth of the Bible. The serpent tempted Eve, “Has God said?”
Theological liberalism also undermined the faith of many Americans. Many theological seminaries have taught various liberal teachings since the 1800’s, and their graduates have pastored many churches. Large denominations no longer believe that the Bible is without error. They question many fundamentals of the Christian faith. They emphasize social action rather than a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Liberation theology attempted to combine Marxism with Christianity, making Jesus into a social revolutionary.
While our nation’s Christian foundation had been seriously undermined in the 1950’s, almost all Americans still held to the Bible as God’s Word and the foundation of our morality. But something happened in the 1960’s that caused “all Hell to break loose.”
That was the Drug Revolution. During the late 1960’s, tens of millions of Americans started using powerful mind-altering drugs—especially marijuana and LSD. Statistics indicate that 38% of Americans have tried marijuana and over 7% have used it in the past month. However, since marijuana is illegal in most places, it is likely that many people lie to the survey taker and the numbers could be a lot higher. Drug use has affected not merely the social outcasts but the most influential people in our nation. While Pres. Clinton claimed to have smoked marijuana but not inhaled, Pres. Obama freely admitted to extensive use of marijuana and cocaine.
I participated in the Drug Revolution, using marijuana, LSD and other such drugs quite extensively. I know how it changed my thinking, as well as the thinking of tens of millions of other people who used these drugs. These people, in turn, influenced the thinking of many people who never used drugs. Belief in the Bible as our standard for morality was changed to belief in moral relativism. “All religions are equally valid.” “If it feels good, do it.” This led to the Sexual Revolution which resulted in a massive increase in adultery, fornication and homosexuality, the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in 1973 and the recent decision mandating same-sex marriage in all 50 states.
(to be continued)
Paul Coca and Chuck Girard sing at Fisherman’s Wharf during SOS-San Francisco.
SOS-San Francisco Outreach Report
Our 36th annual SOS-San Francisco Outreach began at Fisherman’s Wharf on July 8. We ministered there Wednesday and Thursday. We participate in a street performer program that reserves spaces at Fisherman’s Wharf. I attended a meeting to reserve some spots for our SOS outreach, and we were able to reserve the best location at Powell and Jefferson for both days. There is a lot of room here for people to stop and listen, and there are benches they can sit on. We can only reserve it from 1-4 PM, but when we arrived at 11 AM the spot was available both days so we were able to start early. Dave witnessed to Matt, a young Jehovah’s Witness, for about 45 minutes. He also witnessed to Darian, a break dancer, and Ryan, who lives in Lake Tahoe. Mike witnessed to two break dancers (who performed after we left).
Chuck Girard and Paul Coca played music for the entire outreach. Chuck lives in Nashville, but he flew here to participate in this outreach. Wednesday was cloudy and a bit damp, so I checked the weather Thursday morning. It said “0% chance of rain” but I decided to bring our canopies anyway. Without them we couldn’t have continued our outreach. Fortunately, it didn’t rain hard, and the sun came out later in the afternoon.
On Friday we ministered at First and Market St., in the heart of the Financial District. This area has lots of room and there are benches for people to sit on. Dave witnessed to Yosaro, who is from Nigeria. He was raised in a Christian family, but thought he was a good person and didn’t need a savior. While I was passing out tracts, Morgan (18) rode by on a skateboard and crashed into a pole. He was eating some pretzels, which fell all over the sidewalk. He is from Seattle and his friends had left him alone. He had lost his glasses, and was practically blind without them, and he also had no shoes. John, Paul and I all ministered to him and prayed with him. He was crying. John got him some boots and a sleeping bag and took him to City Impact, which offered to get him a ticket home, but he would need to wait until Monday. He had been warned about Christian cults and was afraid to stay at City Impact, so he walked away.
That evening we witnessed at Haight St. and Masonic. We got some food from City Impact and gave it out on the street. Dave witnessed to Anna, a lesbian who grew up in a foster family. Her arms were covered with cuts. She said she cut herself out of guilt. Dave told her that Jesus was cut so she would not have to punish herself in this way. He witnessed to Chi Quou, a tourist from China. He also witnessed to Jacob and Jose, both Catholic teens from Tracy. They were quite receptive to the gospel. Mike and Dave witnessed to Kale, who lives with his mother on Haight Street and wanted some food. One of his friends had died a few weeks ago from AIDS, which he got from dirty needles. Mike also witnessed to five teens who received some food.
On Saturday, we witnessed at UN Plaza. Several of us ministered to Justin, whom we had witnessed to the previous week at the Wharf. Amos prayed with Constancia, who is a Christian. She had lost hearing in one ear, and asked for prayer. Afterwards, she told us that God had healed her ear! Mary witnessed to Valeria, who is Jewish and was born in Russia and raised in Israel. Mary showed her Isaiah 53 and she read it. She gave us her email so we could continue to minister to her.
After the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage on June 26, many Christians were discouraged. I do not know how long we will have the freedom to preach the gospel in San Francisco, but we still have that freedom. And we are taking advantage of that opportunity to proclaim God’s word throughout the city. Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support for this outreach. Please continue to pray for those who heard the gospel during SOS-San Francisco and that God will save many people in this city.
Ministry Needs
Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry.
Once again, we want to ask you to pray for those we witnessed to during SOS-San Francisco and at other outreaches this past month and those who have written us in response to tracts, including Daryl and his daughter Shannon, Shaletia (Chowchilla prison) and Vincent (Stockton prison). I hope many of you will join us for an outreach this next month.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
