|
|
SOS Monthly Newsletter - March 2006Beware of Famous QuotesDear Christian friends, I read an interesting teaching on the Internet yesterday called “Beware of Famous Quotes.” It came from the International House of Prayer (Kansas City) website and was written by Hal Linhardt. The quote he was referring to was one commonly attributed to Francis of Assisi: “Preach the Gospel at all times, and if you must – use words.” While this quote will not be found in his writings, Francis did tell his friars not to preach unless they had received permission to do so and he added “Let all the brothers, however, preach by their deeds.” Linhardt has substituted his own saying, which is indeed Biblical: “Preach the Gospel at all times and – you must use words.” Certainly, it is important that Christians practice what they preach. However, as Linhardt notes, “For centuries [Francis’] words have provided an 'escape route from obedience' to millions of Christians. Many in the church have seized upon his words to mean, ‘I witness with my life. Therefore I do not feel the need to speak about Jesus Christ.’ And with one broad brush, the fearful, the lazy and the carnal sweep away the testimony of the entire Bible...i.e. the use of words to tell about God.” “Our human nature always wants the easy route. It is no exception in evangelism. We want to do evangelism because it is commanded by our Lord, but we do not want to speak directly to unbelievers about Jesus because we fear man more than God, love comfort more than obedience and are distracted by the world rather than fixing our gaze on Jesus and His word. Furthermore, our fallen nature and the devil team up to persuade us that simple words of truth spoken in love come across as ‘crass, religious, traditional and ineffective.’ To assuage any lingering conviction, we produce 'evangelistic strategies' that leave us in our comfort zone and the unsaved person in his darkness. (Let the reader understand.) Such self-deception dishonors God and helps no one.... “Wrong trends left unchallenged become the accepted and even venerated church standards until God rescues us from the error of our ways....This ‘silence trend’ in evangelism has been unchallenged so long I fear it has ensconced itself in our thinking as if it were a legitimate Bible teaching. It is time for a reformation of common sense based upon Biblical example regarding how we reach the lost. It is time to speak up for Jesus Christ.... “There must be words about Jesus Christ for evangelism to take place. Words about Jesus may come in many forms such as the printed page, one on one conversations, film, video, DVD, web pages, TV, radio, etc. But regardless: NO words….NO evangelism.” “The angel said to Cornelius, ‘Call for Peter for he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and your household.’” Acts 11 "We had boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much tribulation....For just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts...speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved." 1 Thes. 2: 2-16. Linhardt attached a page with 22 scriptures that confirm his point that the use of words is essential in evangelism. Those who take the Bible as their authority for faith and practice will certainly agree with him. ON THE STREETSSan Francisco has wonderful weather for street evangelism. While temperatures in most of the nation are dropping well below freezing, San Francisco winter temperatures are usually in the 50’s or 60’s. Much of the nation has frequent rain throughout the year, but San Francisco only has rain in the winter. In the winter, it rains here about one day in three. But when it rains, we have a serious problem. It is essential that we keep our sound system dry. However, the weather forecasts are not very accurate. On the morning of January 7, I checked the weather.com Internet site. It said there was a 20% chance of rain that afternoon. I decided to take our witnessing team to Fisherman’s Wharf. We set up at our usual location. After about an hour, it started raining. First it was a drizzle, but soon it was raining hard. We threw tarps on our sound equipment. The location where we usually minister at the Wharf isn’t big enough for our canopies, so we decided to move our sound system ½ block down the street. We have a lot of equipment, so it isn’t that easy to move everything in the rain. However, we set up our canopies and sound system at the new location, at the corner of Powell and Jefferson. This location is used by several other street musicians, except when it is raining. Although nobody has a permit, these street musicians claim certain locations as their own. Paul and Noreen Coca played music for about 30 minutes. Soon, the rain had stopped and a reggae band set up their sound system right next to ours. They easily overpowered our sound system with their much larger system. We were forced to move everything back to our usual location. Fortunately, it did not rain again that afternoon. On January 21, the weather report said 10% chance of rain. After our experience on January 7, I had decided to go to Fisherman’s Wharf only when the chance of rain was 10% or less, so we went to the Wharf. It had rained the night before and was cloudy when we arrived. However, the clouds disappeared and we had a beautiful sunny day. A Mideastern man, probably Muslim, walked up to May, pointing to our banner that reads: “Only One Way to God: Jesus.” He asked May what the sign meant. She explained it to him. He said he really wanted to know God, so she prayed with him. That afternoon, about 8000 anti-abortion protesters and about 200 pro-abortion protesters marched by our outreach location as part of the March for Life. We were able to encourage those who were Christians to witness for Jesus and to preach the gospel to those who were unsaved. On January 28, the weather report said 60% chance of rain so we went to Berkeley. It rained lightly most of the afternoon but the canopies kept our sound system dry. Paul and Noreen Coca ministered again that afternoon. Despite the rain, there were a lot of people on the streets that afternoon. We had no problems with rain at our Friday night outreaches in January. On Friday January 6 we witnessed at the Sony Metreon entertainment complex at 4th St. and Mission. A lot of people, including many teens, come to this location. Carol prayed with a young woman from Chicago named Kiah to receive Christ. On January 20, we witnessed on Valencia St. I witnessed to three young men in their 20’s who were standing outside a bar. Please pray for Louis, Marion, and Julian. On January 27, we witnessed at Powell and Market. Five Christians from Calvary Chapel, San Francisco, witnessed with us. We had many good conversations and prayed with a few people that evening.
SOS-San Francisco June 23-July 1, 2006We have set the dates for next summer’s SOS-San Francisco outreach-June 23-July 1. Once again we are blessed to be able to meet at Temple Baptist Church. This is our 27th annual outreach to the people of San Francisco. Please plan to join us for this important outreach. Jesus said, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.” Matt. 9:27-28. Coming EventsNote: Outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 531-5325 or 541-9903 (cell phone) to confirm outreaches or for more information. Friday March 3, 10, 17 7:30-10 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods. (Call for location). Sat. March 4, 11, 18 11:30-5 PM San Francisco or Berkeley Outreach. (Location depends on weather. Call Sat. Morning 9-10 AM to confirm location.) June 23-July 1 SOS-San Francisco Ministry News and NeedsThank you so much for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. On January 18, I celebrated my 60th birthday. God has blessed me with good health, and by His grace I hope to continue witnessing on the streets of San Francisco and Berkeley for many more years. Last month, I applied for twelve 2006 San Francisco Park permits. I learned that a new General Manager wants to start charging us $500 for each park reservation, in addition to the loudspeaker permit fee. I was told we could request a waiver, which I did. Please pray that we will be granted this waiver. We certainly cannot afford such a fee. We still need a musician to minister at our Friday night outreaches. Also, we still have openings for two Christians to live in our ministry house. This house is not for new believers but for those who are ready for evangelism ministry. We are looking for soldiers who will endure hardship and persist in God's calling to evangelize the San Francisco Bay Area. Our Tape of the Month is Religion or Revolution by Dave Wells. Dave is Pastor of Harvest City Church in Regina, Sask., Canada. This message was given at a conference at my home church this past month. Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum |
||||||||||||
| <<< Back To Newsletter Page |
|---|