Click Here to View This Month’s Slideshow
Coming Events
Note: Outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 282-5629 to confirm outreaches or for more information.
Friday April 5, 12, 19 6 – 9 PM Witnessing inSan Francisco neighborhoods.
Sat. April 6 12:30-4:30 PM Berkeley outreach. Telegraph and Haste St.
Sat. April 13 12-4 PM 5th St. and Market, SF
Sat. April 20 12-5 PM UN Plaza 7th St. and Market, San Francisco.
Without Excuse
Dear Christian friends,
In order for an unsaved person to come to Christ, he must be absolutely convinced that he is a lost sinner, and that there is no way he can save himself by his own works or by any other means. As long as he thinks he has found a loophole–that somehow God will accept him without the need for faith in Christ, he will invariably take advantage of that loophole. The unbeliever will comfort himself with the thought that most of the people he knows don’t believe in Christ and that all these people couldn’t be wrong. As we know, this is a dangerous deception.
In a similar manner, in order for a Christian to commit himself to evangelism, he or she must come to the realization that God has commanded him to do so. If he can convince himself that God has made an exception for him, that he is excused from obeying the Great Commission, he will invariably take advantage of this loophole. Unfortunately, the vast majority of evangelical Christianity has allowed itself to be deceived into thinking that a Christian who never witnesses for our Lord can be right with God. Such a Christian comforts himself with the thought that most other Christians don’t witness, so it must be OK.
Jesus said, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32). Before He ascended into heaven, He gave us the commandment to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15). “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
The apostle Paul understood the necessity to preach the gospel. “When I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me” (1 Corin. 9:16-17). He told the Ephesian elders, “I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God” (Acts 20:26). In making this statement, he referred to God’s words to Ezekiel and considered them applicable to us in New Testament times: “When I say to a wicked man, `You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself” (Ezekiel 3:18-19).
I’d encourage you to read the whole third chapter of Ezekiel. Some will argue that this passage only applied to Ezekiel, but Acts 20:26 is a clear reference to it, and shows that Paul thought the passage referred to him. The passage in 1 Corin. 9 confirms that Paul considered that some adverse consequence would fall on him if he refused to preach the gospel.
It may come as a surprise to us that the great apostle Paul was motivated to preach the gospel by the fear of having the blood of unsaved people on his hands. Surely he would have been motivated rather by his great love for God, by the great joy he had in his salvation that he couldn’t keep to himself, and by his love for the lost. I’m sure he was motivated by all these things, but sometimes he needed this extra motivation—“Woe unto me if I preach not the gospel.” Witnessing for Jesus isn’t always pleasant or convenient. Even Paul at times would have avoided witnessing if he thought he could have gotten away with it and still be right with God. After all, it wasn’t fun having people throw stones at you and being thrown into jail.
Again, some will argue that these scriptures only applied to the apostles or to those specifically called as evangelists or missionaries. Certainly, there are different callings in people’s lives. But do you think that God has placed this great responsibility on Paul, where the blood of others would be on his hands if he disobeyed, yet He has given you no responsibility whatsoever to the lost?
Why do you think God did not take you to heaven as soon as you were saved? Why must we endure all those trials and tribulations? Yes, God is purifying us so we will be more like Jesus but His purpose in bringing about these changes is for us to become better witnesses for our Lord. When I am in heaven I will be totally like Jesus and will have perfect fellowship with Him, but it will be too late to help anyone else. Again Paul wrote, “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body” (Phil. 1:23). The only reason we stay on this earth is for the sake of others–to help other believers mature in Christ and bring salvation to the lost. If we are not doing these things, we are wasting our lives.
I realize that these are strong words. Some are still looking for loopholes. “My ministry is to the church, not to the lost.” No–God has called you to minister to both. “You’re trying to put me into legalistic bondage in which I’ll feel guilty whenever someone passes me by and I don’t witness to him.” Obviously, we can’t witness to every single person we come into contact with. But we sin both when we fail to witness to someone God tells us to talk to and when we fail to give evangelism the priority in our lives God wants it to have. When we confess our sins of omission in regard to evangelism, God will forgive us — but we need to change our ways. Thinking about the blood of others being on our hands may seem crude but Paul needed it to motivate him and we need it to motivate us as well.
Once we stop looking for loopholes and making excuses for our failure to witness, we will find a way to witness for Christ as a central part of our lives. If we need training, we will get it. If we are fearful, we will overcome the fear. If we are busy, we will find time to witness just like we find time to go to church, read our Bible, and pray. Getting past the excuses is the hard part; the rest is easy.
On the Streets
On Fri. Feb. 15 we witnessed at the Sony Metreon. This is an entertainment complex which now has a large Target store, a movie theater, and many restaurants. Once the Target store opened, a lot more people came into the area. There is also a greater police presence. A police officer shut us down at 8:30 PM, after we had played music and preached for 2 ½ hours.
I spoke with Henry, who just gotten out of jail that day. He was saved in jail, and really excited about knowing Jesus. Dave spoke with Wynn, a scientist who is a Christian but has a lot of doubts about his faith. Allan witnessed to Jerry, who was in a wheelchair. After hearing the gospel, he asked for a Bible for himself and took a Spanish Bible for his caretaker.
Eddie witnessed to Jamal, who was quite receptive to the gospel, and Sam, a young homeless man who was addicted to heroin. Eddie prayed with Sam and gave him some information about Christian programs that could help him. Larry DuBois gave tracts to three medical students. He shared his testimony of how God delivered him from heroin addiction. They listened for about 10 minutes.
The next day, we witnessed at Fisherman’s Wharf. Dave witnessed to Mike, who is 20 and quite receptive to the gospel. He also ministered to Deja, who says she is Christian but lives with her boyfriend. Eddie witnessed to Saleem, a Muslim fromKuwait.
On March 1, Dave witnessed to Casey, who is 16, at Fisherman’s Wharf. He was listening to our preaching and Dave started talking with him. He said he was a good Catholic but readily admitted that he was a sinner and deserved to go to Hell for his sins. Dave explained the gospel to him, and explained how he could trust Jesus to take away his sins.
On Sat. March 2, Chuck Girard joined us at Fisherman’s Wharf, along with Paul and Noreen Coca and Tim Moon. It was great having them all with us. The following Saturday, several Christians joined us for the first time. Frank witnessed to Rachel, who was raised in an evangelical church but had rejected Christ. Dave witnessed to Jeff, a guitar player who knew Tim Moon and was listening to his music. He was quite receptive to the gospel. He also witnessed to Jackie and David, a couple who stopped to listen to the music. He shared the gospel with them, and they were also quite receptive.
Ministry News and Needs
Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for the ministry. We have obtained 15 permits in San Francisco parks this year – four at Union Square, three at Dolores Park, and eight at UN Plaza. These permits cost $840. We are in the process of scheduling church worship groups and bands to minister during these outreaches. If you live inNorthern Californiaand think your church would be interested in working with us, ask your church’s worship leader to call me right away.
Please pray for those people we have witnessed to this past month, especially those I mentioned in this newsletter. I hope many of you will join us for an outreach this next month.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum