SOS Monthly Newsletter - June 2005

Moved With Compassion

Dear Christian friends,

"But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then said he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest." Matt. 9:36-38.

It is interesting to study the word compassion as it appears in the Bible. In this passage, Jesus' compassion for the multitudes leads him to instruct his disciples to pray for more laborers.

In Luke 10:33, the good Samaritan had compassion on the man who had been robbed, and helped him. In Luke 15:20, the father had compassion on the prodigal son. Often, it was said that a healing or miracle was motivated by Jesus' compassion for someone.

In Matthew 24, Jesus said, speaking of the last days, "Because iniquity shall abound, the (agape) love (of Christians) shall wax cold." Surrounded by so much wickedness, we Christians can easily harden our hearts to those around us. I get tired of people asking me for spare change, knowing most will use it for drugs and alcohol. I don't want to support these habits, but I do want to have compassion for these people and seek to meet their legitimate needs. When I preach, I often speak of God's holiness and judgment, but I must always preach with a heart broken by God's love. As hard as people's hearts may be, I must remember that God is not willing that any should perish, but wants everyone to come to repentance. God is able to, and often does, save the hardest sinner.

In 1 Corin. 13, Paul says we can even have the faith to move mountains and give all our goods to feed the poor, yet without charity we are nothing. Jesus gave us two commandments. The first is to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. The second is like unto it, to love our neighbor as ourselves. Who is my neighbor? Every one around me. If I truly love the unsaved people around me, I will do everything possible to tell them about Jesus and prevent them from suffering eternal torment in Hell.

"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). Are you following in the footsteps of our Lord? Is your purpose in life to seek and to save those who are lost? God, deliver us from Pharisaical religion! Give us compassion for those around us who are headed for eternal Hell without Christ!

SOS -San Francisco

Every person on this planet will spend eternity either in the eternal bliss of Heaven or in the eternal torment of Hell. We have the Words of Life that can change their eternal destiny. We need to use every hour we have left to reach as many as possible for Jesus. Will we keep silent or will we open our mouths?

SOS -San Francisco is an opportunity to get training and practical experience in evangelism. The hardest part is overcoming apathy and fear. Once you actually come to SOS, God will give you divine appointments to witness to people. He will give you the right words to speak to each person. The experience you get during SOS week will help you become a bolder and more effective witness for Jesus in your everyday life. Satan does not want Christians to witness for Jesus and he will do everything he can to keep you from coming to SOS.

Please don't miss this year's SOS﷓San Francisco outreach. If possible, ask your boss if you can get off work to attend the entire outreach. If not, plan to come on Saturdays and in the evening. The outreach begins Friday July 15 at 6 PM with worship, orientation and evangelism training at 7 PM. On Saturday July 16 we will have a worship rally at Powell and Market St. from noon to 1 PM and at Union Square from 2:30 to 4:30 PM. Meetings are held daily except Sunday at 9 AM at Temple Baptist Church, 3355 19th Ave., in San Francisco. Free housing is available during the outreach. Bring a sleeping bag and foam pad. If you prefer, we can send you names of hotels in the area. We have printed 4000 full-color cards that you can give out at your church, to Christian friends, and at Christian events, schools and bookstores. This outreach is guaranteed to change your life--and the lives of those you will reach for Jesus.

ON THE STREETS

On April 1-2, a team of 17 Bible college students from Regina, Sask. Canada ministered on the streets with us. On Friday night, we witnessed at Powell and Market St. On Saturday, we were at Fisherman’s Wharf. The team sang and performed some dances and mime, drawing a large crowd.

On Sat. April 23, we witnessed at Washington Square. For the first time in many years, we had been given a four-hour permit at this park. Last Days Harvest Church brought a team from Sacramento. Rain had been forecast, and we set up our canopies and tarps. After the band played their first song, heavy rain came down for 10 minutes, soaking the ground and their equipment. Because of safety concerns, they were unable to continue. The rain also cleared most of the people from the park. We set up our maximouse amplifiers and Mark Whitehead sang. The rest of us preached and passed out tracts until 5 PM. It didn’t rain again until we were driving home after the outreach.

Sometimes we wonder why God would allow it to rain on our concert. Whenever we come to Washington Square, a few people complain repeatedly to the police. Even though we were only using two tiny amplifiers, they complained about us. Several police cars were checking out our event. When the officers arrived, they could see that the complaints were bogus and never spoke with us. Perhaps this situation will help the police understand that people are not complaining about noise, but about our message. Perhaps this will help when these people try to get our permit times shortened again.

	Mike and Becky witness to homeless people at Washington Square
	Canada Bible students witness at Powell St
	Canada team performs mime at Wharf
	Canada student prays with man at Fisherman’s Wharf on April 2

Larry Hospitalized

On Sat. April 16 we witnessed at Berkeley. Paul Salerno and Lono Criss played music. It was “Cal Day” and about 15,000 high school students were visiting the Berkeley campus. At about 1 PM, I started experiencing extreme stomach pain. I went to the park to rest, but after 45 minutes, I realized I had a serious problem. I asked Eric Baxter to take me to the emergency room. The doctor told me I had “pancreatitis,” an inflammation of the pancreas. One of the enzymes produced by the pancreas is lipase. A normal lipase level is below 200. Mine was over 5000!

I was put on an IV feeding tube and did not eat or drink anything for two days to rest my pancreas. However, I had an amazing recovery. My doctor told me that it is common for people to spend 6-8 weeks in the hospital with this condition. In one day my lipase level dropped to 667. The second day it dropped to 177. I was released that afternoon. I rested at home for a few days and participated in a six - hour outreach that Saturday. My doctor said it probably was caused by a gallstone obstructing the pancreatic duct. I want to thank Eric Baxter for visiting me several hours each day, and ministering to my needs during this time, as well as everyone who knew of my condition and prayed for me. Especially, I thank God for the amazingly rapid healing.

Coming Events

Note: Outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 531-5325 or 541-9903 (cell phone) to confirm outreaches or for more information.

Friday June 10, 17, 24 7:30-10 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods. (Call for location).

Sat. June 11 12:30-4:30 PM Berkeley Outreach. Telegraph and Haste St.

Sat. June 18 12-5 PM San Francisco Outreach. UN Plaza, 7th St. and Market.

Sat. June 25 12-5 PM San Francisco Outreach. (Call for location).

July 15-23 SOS-San Francisco 26th year. We will again be meeting at Temple Baptist Church, 3355 19th Ave., SF. Please consider taking time off work so you can attend this important outreach.

July 15-23 SOS-San Francisco 26th year.

Ministry News and Needs

Again, we thank you for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. We need to print 150,000 tracts for this summer’s SOS outreach. We also need to purchase 500 New Testaments.

We need someone to lead worship on the streets on Friday nights. On most Fridays, we don’t have anyone who can do this. Also, we still have several rooms in our ministry house for mature Christians who want to be involved in evangelism.

Our Tape of the Month is Evangelical Initiative: The Key to Finding God's Will for Your Life by Ray Comfort. Ray preaches regularly on the streets of Los Angeles and teaches evangelism to Christians around the world. He has written over 30 books, including Hell's Best Kept Secret. He has also ministered several times at SOS-San Francisco.

Yours in His love,

Larry Rosenbaum