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SOS Monthly Newsletter - October 2004PersecutionDear Christian friends, “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” 2 Tim. 3:12. This past weekend, a friend mailed me a book called The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun and Paul Hattaway (available for $11 at CBD, 800-247-4784). This book tells the story of Brother Yun, who was saved in a small China village, and the tremendous suffering he has endured for Christ. He spent over six years in prison, being tortured and suffering beyond anything we can imagine. At the same time, God did amazing miracles to heal him, keep him alive, and eventually free him from prison. God also brought him to a level of relationship and commitment to Him that few Western Christians have experienced. Eventually he escaped from a high-security prison, walking through three gates, passing six armed guards who were blinded to him. He miraculously escaped from China. Today, he is helping the Chinese house churches get “Back to Jerusalem”. This movement was featured in a five-page article in Newsweek on 5/10/04. Their vision is to train thousands of missionaries to bring the gospel to the unreached people of Asia and ultimately to Jerusalem. The training of these missionaries is unusual. They learn how to jump from second-story prison windows without injuring themselves and how to free themselves from handcuffs. They realize sometimes it is God’s will for them to stay in prison, and sometimes God wants them to escape. It will certainly take Christians who are unafraid to suffer or die for the Lord to reach many of the unreached people, especially in the Muslim nations. Brother Yun says, “Don’t pray for the persecution to stop! We shouldn’t pray for a lighter load to carry, but a stronger back to endure!” Today, Christian persecution is very real in China, as it is in many countries. On August 6, 2004, over 100 house-church Christians from the Born-Again movement were arrested in Loyang City. The risks and suffering Christians in other nations endure to bring the gospel to the lost make our excuses for not witnessing seem very weak. In the US, we have great freedom to bring the gospel to people, yet few Christians take advantage of that freedom. The Great Omission Seven Excuses for not Preaching the Gospel "And they all with one consent began to make excuse." Two thousand years ago, eleven dedicated followers of the Lord Jesus Christ turned their world upside down with the message of God's salvation. They and their converts faced horrible persecution, were imprisoned, and were thrown to lions, yet their faith spread throughout the world. Today, there are millions of Christians throughout the world. Modern technology has given us the means of reaching multitudes for Jesus. Yet every year the percentage of the world's population that has heard the gospel decreases. Here in the United States, a large percentage of the population claims to be born again. Our Constitution protects the rights of Christians to preach unhindered. Christians in the United States have more wealth and leisure time than ever before in the history of the world. Yet multitudes in this country, including many of the children of these Christians, are turning from Jesus Christ to Eastern religions, the occult, drugs and alcohol, and sexual immorality of all kinds. In the San Francisco Bay Area, tens of thousands of Christians attend various Christian events. At the same time, a mere handful of Christians are witnessing on the streets. Millions of people do not know Jesus. Many of them never hear about Jesus. The voices of the political radicals, Eastern cults, and homosexuals are heard loudly in the streets and in the media. At the same time, Christians are almost invisible. What has happened? For one thing, the early church believed that when Jesus said to go into all the world and preach His Word, He meant what He said. Today, with Satan's help, we have developed many sophisticated excuses not to preach the gospel. In this teaching, I want to examine some of these excuses in the light of God's Word. 1. "I don't know how to witness." The early church didn't have any witnessing classes, yet they turned the world upside down with the gospel. Jesus said, "You shall receive power, after the Holy Spirit has come upon you: and you shall be my witnesses" (Acts 1:8). All a person needs to witness is to know Jesus Christ and be filled with the Holy Spirit. 2. "I don't feel called to do evangelism. That is the work of the evangelist and pastor." The ministry of the evangelist is to prepare God's people to witness for Jesus. Evangelism is the responsibility of the entire church, not just a few people. "And he gave some to be . . . evangelists . . . . To prepare the saints to do the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ." Eph. 4:11-12. 3. "I'm too busy to do evangelism. My job, my family, and my church activities occupy all my time." We find time for what is important to us. Is seeing souls saved from eternal hell important enough to dedicate a few hours to it each month? Witnessing for Jesus can be an excellent family activity. It gives wives a chance to get involved in spiritual ministry. It gives children a chance to see the reality of spiritual warfare and the ugliness of sin, and to acquire boldness in being used by the Holy Spirit in reaching the unsaved. Often, families are divided by petty carnal disputes. Preaching the gospel gets our eyes on eternal things, the things that really matter, and can heal divisions and unify families. All told, it has many advantages over that most popular and time-consuming Christian activity: television. (Continued next month) ON THE STREETSOn August 13, we witnessed on Castro Street. The day before, the California Supreme Court had invalidated 4000 “gay marriages.” Despite this, we experienced little hostility on this street, which is known as the center of militant homosexuality. We gave out hundreds of tracts and had a few conversations. On Friday August 20, we held our last outreach of the year at SBC Park. Six youth from Abundant Life Church in Cupertino joined us in witnessing to about 15,000 people as they left the Giants baseball game. On August 21, we held outreaches at two locations. This was the first time we had held two simultaneous outreaches on a Saturday afternoon. The band Machaira from Sacramento ministered at Washington Square. People were much more receptive than the last time we had been at this location, in June. About 75 people stayed to listen to the entire concert (which involved music, testimonies, and preaching). Right before the outreach ended, I offered each of them a gospel tract, and almost everyone took one. Meanwhile, Paul and Noreen Coca and Mark Whitehead ministered at Fisherman’s Wharf. Millions of tourists come to San Francisco each summer, and most of them go to the Wharf. We had an opportunity to witness to thousands of people from many nations that afternoon. We are excited to have two groups joining us for outreaches in October. Carson Valley Christian Center in Carson City, NV is bringing a group of 10 youth on October 15-16. Oakhurst Evangelical Free Church is bringing a group of 20 youth on October 22-23. They all are scheduled to stay at our ministry house.
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