True Joy
Dear Christian friends,
As a new believer, I learned that the secret to happiness in the Christian life is “J” “O” “Y” : Putting “J”esus first, “O”thers second, and “Y”ourself last. Jesus said the First Commandment was to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. The Second Commandment was to love our neighbor as [much as we love] ourself. We don’t need a third commandment to love ourself. That comes naturally to our fallen nature. “No man ever yet hated his own flesh” (Eph. 5:29).
In light of this, why should we witness for Jesus? First of all, it pleases Him. He commanded us to go into all the world to preach the gospel. He died for the sins of mankind and is calling us to bring in the harvest of souls He died for. God’s one and only plan is that lost people would come to Him through the preaching of His obedient servants.
Jesus said, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. If we love Jesus, we will obey His Commandment to tell others about Him. If we really love someone, we will not be ashamed of them. We will naturally tell others how much we love that person. When we have heard good news, we will want others to know about it. The Gospel is the Best News there is! Jesus, give us a passion to tell the whole world about You!
Second, we witness for the sake of others. If we love people, we will be concerned about their eternal destiny. We certainly will not want them to spend eternity in Hell, and will do everything we can to persuade them to be saved. Also, we will want them to be freed from the bondage and horrible consequences of sin and to experience the abundant life found in Christ.
Of course, the eternal state of people is infinitely more important than their happiness in this life. We need to ask God to give us a heightened awareness of eternity. We need a greater burden for the lost — to realize that every person on earth will spend eternity in the joy of Heaven or the torment of Hell. As evangelical Christians, we believe this in our heads, but do our lives reflect our beliefs? How much effort do we make to bring others to Christ?
When I was visiting my family recently, my mother said she had hoped when I grew up that I would discover a cure for cancer. (In high school, I spent one summer doing research at a cancer institute.) I told my mother I had found something more important to do. She didn’t understand. But even if a cure for cancer were discovered, people would still die. I have discovered the secret of everlasting life. How can I keep that a secret?
Nobody who had discovered a cure for cancer would keep silent while thousands die of the disease. We have found the cure for sin! If you were on the beach and saw someone drowning, surely you would try to rescue him. Thousands of people around us are drowning in their sins. We must do all we can to rescue them!
Finally, we witness for our own sakes. We are storing up treasures in Heaven. “They that turn many to righteousness [shall shine] as the stars for ever” (Dan. 12:3). Also, there is great joy in witnessing for Jesus. There are four essential ingredients to the Christian life: prayer, God’s word, fellowship, and witnessing. Most Christians are missing at least one essential ingredient — witnessing. Most of our problems are caused by self-centeredness. Witnessing for Jesus helps us get our eyes off ourselves and onto Jesus. Our problems seem small as we offer others the Hope of the World. As we minister to others, God ministers to us. There is great joy in obeying Jesus and letting others know of His goodness. And we can rejoice with God and the angels when a sinner repents.
Why don’t people witness? The main reason people give is “fear.” Now, do you think a Christian will experience more joy by remaining fearful and disobedient to the Great Commission or by overcoming his or her fears and obeying our Lord Jesus Christ? God, cause us to know You and Your love for us so deeply that our fears will be cast out and we will boldly proclaim Your gospel to a lost and dying world!
Lawsuit Filed
On September 19, our lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court. It totals 56 pages plus 24 exhibits. These exhibits include a videotape of various loud musical groups which were not harassed by police as we have been. Also there are three cassette tapes of police officers denying us permits and refusing to respond to complaints about excess noise at secular events. Finally, there are various documents, such as permit denial letters and criminal citations which were dismissed. (The District Attorney never prosecuted the citations for “disturbing the peace” mentioned in last month’s newsletter.)
Along with the lawsuit, we are seeking a “preliminary injunction” to end the violation of our constitutional rights. The hearing is scheduled for November 1. We may get the injunction within a few months. If so, we will have essentially won the case. We are asking for an end to the denial of permits and unreasonable restrictions being placed on our permits. We are asking that any noise restrictions be measured objectively (by decibel level) and enforced evenly. That means that the Carnival, the Cinco de Mayo Celebration, the Gay Parade, and the various street fairs all have to live by the same noise standards that are applied to us. We are asking for an end to arrests and threats of arrest under the “disturbing the peace” ordinance, and a declaration that the ordinance does not apply to our kind of activity. We are also asking that our permits at Hallidie Plaza (outside the Powell St. BART station) be restored.
Over 60 court cases are cited in support of our arguments. The documents were reviewed by the Rutherford Institute. I believe that the arguments are sound and that we have a good chance of getting most or all of what we are seeking through an injunction. However, granting the injunction is not automatic, but is up to the discretion of the judge. A favorable outcome will greatly help us to continue preaching the gospel freely in San Francisco. It will also help Christians who face similar problems in other cities.
Today, we have great freedom to preach the gospel in this nation, but few Christians take advantage of this freedom. Few care whether we have the right to preach outdoors. One day the government may start shutting down our churches. Christians will care about this. Sadly, it may take religious persecution to awaken the church and bring true revival.
Please pray for us about this matter:
1. For our lawyer, Russell Davis, to have wisdom in preparing for the trial and in presenting our case to the judge
2. For favor with Judge Charles Legge, who will preside over the trial.
3. For Eric Livingston and I who will be witnesses at the trial.
4. That we would obtain the preliminary injunction.
5. That we would all have God’s peace during this stressful time.
6. That we would have wisdom in dealing with the news media.
7. That we would be able to get permits freely at Hallidie Plaza and throughout the city.
8. That we would be able to preach the gospel without the threat of arrest.
Coming Events
EVERY FRIDAY 7 PM. Witnessing in various S.F. neighborhoods. Meet at Vineyard, 7th St. and Harrison, San Francisco. Call (510) 531- 5325 for more information.
EVERY SATURDAY Noon. San Francisco or Berkeley witnessing. Call (510) 531-5325 for more information.
November 7-9 San Francisco Outreach with New Life Drama Company from Tennessee. Call (510) 531-5325.
Sat. November 23 Thanksgiving Outreach, SF. Call (510) 531-5
New Video: Sept. 14 Outreach
After much difficulty, we were able to get a permit on September 14 at the corner of 6th St. and Market. We applied a month in advance and after five trips to the permit department and several phone calls, we finally got the permit three days before the outreach. I hurriedly tried to put together a sound system and coordinate the music groups. Shiloh Full Gospel Church and New Springs Christian Fellowship, both from San Francisco, ministered for almost six hours. Several people preached and gave testimonies. We gave out thousands of tracts to those who passed by. About 50 people stood around most of the afternoon. We have names and addresses of 16 people who came forward for prayer, and are following-up on them. We have a one hour video of the outreach which we are making available to you. We hope to do these outreaches twice a month, as we can get permits.
Ministry Needs
Thank you for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. This is a very stressful time for us, and we really need your prayers. We need an artist to help us make some new signs. We still have an opening for two Christians to live in our house. Also, we need more workers to help us on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons.
We give out thousands of tracts each week. Currently we are printing another 160,000 tracts. Also, we still need to get a sound system for the ministry. We certainly appreciate whatever you can do to help with these special needs.
Please pray for those who have called and written us this past month in response to tracts: Tony (Sonoma), Carolyn (Berkeley), Darel (San Quentin prison) and Steven and Rodney (SF). Please pray for Robert, a homeless teen we prayed with on Haight St. Also for David, a freshman at UC Berkeley. And for those who prayed with us at 6th and Market on September 14: Veronica, Marcos, Jasmine, Judy, Debra, V.W., Maurice, Sean, William, and Barbara (SF), Lisa and Yvette (Vallejo), Jennifer and Frank (Daly City), and Rodney and Barbara (Richmond).
Our Tape of the Month is “Bringing in the Harvest” by John Wimber. Wimber oversees the Association of Vineyard Churches, a worldwide network of 5000 churches. This message was given on September 20 in San Francisco. In it, he says, “one of the things that caused me to want to withdraw support from [the Toronto blessing] was that there was very little evangelism going on….If renewal is to become revival, we have to have people converted.” In this message, Wimber challenges the church to get involved in bringing people to Christ.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum