Overcoming Fear
Dear Christian friends,
Last month, I shared from a book I have been reading on John and
Charles Wesley and the 18th Century Revival in England. While we sometimes face opposition to our preaching on the streets, it is nothing compared to the persecution they faced. Here are some excerpts from the book concerning one incident:
“Charles preached for three quarters on an hour the next morning. But the mob soon attacked, at first using a hand-operated pump to cover the Methodists with water. Then they resorted to a larger engine which broke the windows, flooded the rooms and spoiled the goods. We were withdrawn to a small upper-room, in the back part of the house, seeing no way to escape their violence…One brother they dragged away. They threw him into the horse-pond and broke his back.”
Continuing from Charles’ journal: “Now we stood in jeopardy every moment. Such threatening, curses and blasphemies I have never heard….They were now close to us, on every side, and over our heads, untiling the roof. I was diverted by a little girl, who called to me, `Mr. Wesley! Mr. Wesley! creep under the bed: they will kill you. They are pulling down the house.’ Our sister Taylor’s faith was just failing, when a ruffian cried out, `Here they are, behind the curtain!’ At this time we fully expected their appearance, and returned to the furthermost corner of the room…In about an hour after the last general assault the answer of faith came, and God made bare his arm. Soon after three, Mr. Clark knocked at the door, and brought with him the constable. He said, `Sir, if you will promise never to preach here again, the gentleman and I will engage to bring you safely out of town.’ My answer was, `I shall promise no such thing.'”
Finally they were able to leave town on horses, with the mob following. They pulled one brother off his horse, and two bulldogs tore his flesh. He got back on his horse and they rode off, singing the hymn “Worship, and thanks, and blessing.”
Fear of Witnessing
A great many in the church have a fear of witnessing. Our word martyr comes from the Greek word martus meaning witness. Because so many in the early church who witnessed died for their faith, the word witness became associated with death. We are fortunate in America today that we have great freedom to preach the gospel and little danger of physical harm or death for doing so. In twelve years of our outreach in San Francisco involving thousands of Christians, none of us have ever been significantly hurt while witnessing. Yet, it seems that fear of witnessing is even more prevalent here than in places where witnessing often results in death.
It seems to me that our main fear today that keeps us from witnessing is fear of ridicule or rejection. I believe that this is one of the main reasons we do not witness as we know we should–whether at work, to our friends and relatives, to people we meet in everyday life, or in special outreaches.
How do we overcome this fear? The first step is to recognize this as a sin, and come to genuine repentance concerning it. Second, understand that the reason we fear rejection, ridicule, injury or death as a result of obeying God as His witness is because we do not reckon ourselves dead to the world. Finally, we overcome fear of man by trusting in God’s love. Here are a few of the many scriptures relating to this:
“Do not be afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do….Fear not therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God; But he that denies me before men shall be denied before the angels of God” (Luke 12:4-11).
“If any man come to me, and hate not…his own life…he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).
“I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung” (Phil. 3:8).
“Fear none of those things which you shall suffer; Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried…be thou faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). “And they over came him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Rev. 12:11).
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4: 18-19). “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for thou art with me” (Psalm 23:4).
As we come to know God’s love, and are assured that He is with us and that nothing can come into our life that He does not allow, then we will be freed from the torment of fear and know His peace. “He has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Heb. 13:5-6).
Outreach Reports
On Friday night, December 22, we joined about 80 Christians from Vineyard Christian Fellowship in San Francisco for a Christmas outreach. We marched down Market Street to Powell singing Christmas carols and worship songs. As we were marching, I spotted a teenage boy and girl who looked out of place. I offered them a tract and they told me they were runaways. I told them to follow us and we would give them a place to stay. The boy was 15 and his father is a Pentecostal pastor. The girl was 17, pregnant, and from a group home. We took them home that night and ministered to them. The next day they left, wanting to go back to the streets. The first night on the streets they were jumped and the girl miscarried. The next day they found a place to stay with drug dealers who only wanted the girl for sex so they left that place and called us. They stayed with us for the next week and both are now back at home. We are thankful for the opportunity to be a witness of Christ’s love to these teenagers.
During the Christmas season, we were able to visit with some people at a nursing home. They were mostly very sick both physically and emotionally but we prayed for them and sang Christmas carols and worship songs. We also visited a juvenile hall and sang, preached, and gave out cookies to about 80 youth, who were very receptive to the gospel. Not one person refused a New Testament and many came forward for prayer. We hope to be able to return on a regular basis.
On New Year’s eve, I joined about 35 youth from New Covenant Fellowship in Livermore. We gave out food and blankets to the homeless at People’s Park in Berkeley. We were also able to witness to several people. The youth group will be joining us in Berkeley the last Saturday of each month. Perhaps your church youth group will want to join us.
We conducted two outreaches on Saturday afternoon in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. We preached, worshipped, gave out tracts and had many good conversations. I spoke with one backslidden Christian whom I had not seen for 4 years. He later called me and visited our house. Please pray for Jamie, that God would bring him to genuine repentance. I also spoke with two teenagers, “Kilo” and “Little Man” who sleep in Golden Gate Park. “Kilo” is 19 and has been on the streets for much of the past 8 years, because his father abused him. He was heavily into drugs and had attempted suicide but listened as I told him of a God who loved him and had a purpose for his life.
One Friday night, we went to Polk Street. Robin Warner, who lives in our house, bought a homeless man dinner and spoke with him for over an hour, finding him very receptive to the Gospel. I spoke with a young man from Amsterdam, who thought he could be both gay and Christian. The next afternoon we went to Castro Street. Bryce Olsen, a University of California student, preached barethroat while the rest of us gave out tracts. He preached a very loving message and said nothing about homosexuality. Nonetheless, some people were very angry that we dared to preach about Jesus in “their” neighborhood. As hard as people try to justify themselves, the preaching of God’s Word brings conviction of sin.
New Friday Night Meeting Place
God has blessed us with a church where we can meet for prayer on Friday nights before going out witnessing. We will be meeting at 7:30 PM at Vineyard Christian Fellowship, 151 10th St. between Mission and Howard in downtown San Francisco every Friday (except the first Friday of each month.) There is plenty of free street parking near the church. We hope you can join us for this outreach. We would like to have at least 15-20 people on our team so we can preach and worship as well as give out tracts and witness one-on-one. We especially need a worship leader who plays guitar.
Help Wanted
Several times we have mentioned in this newsletter about the need for people to live in our evangelism house. We have had a number of responses, many from women but hardly any from men. We could easily fill our house with all women but it wouldn’t work very well on the streets. Our women’s floor is full, but we need men–Christians who are dedicated to the Lord and serious about evangelism–to live in our house. Please contact me right away if you are interested.
Also, we need someone to help us with our office work–making address changes on our computer and sending out receipts and tapes. I am now doing it all myself, and it takes many hours that I could be giving to other ministry work.
SOS-SAN FRANCISCO — AUGUST 17-25
We have set the dates for this year’s SOS-San Francisco outreach. We will be meeting once again at the Russian Gospel Church and have obtained several permits for outdoor rallies. Please set aside these dates and plan to join us for all or part of this time. We are letting you know early so you can apply for vacation time during this week. This is our eleventh year, and every year God does something special during this outreach–both in the people of San Francisco and in our own lives as we give ourselves to obey the Great Commission. The fellowship of the saints who gather for this outreach is tremendous. There is nothing to compare with the friendships that are built of those who participate together in God’s Army.
ST. PATRICK’S DAY WORSHIP RALLY
Come join us on Saturday March 17 from 3-6 PM at the Powell St. BART station, Market and Powell St. in San Francisco. Forever Grateful, the worship group from last summer’s SOS outreach, will be leading in worship. St. Patrick was the evangelist who first brought the Gospel to Ireland. It is sad to see what the devil has done to his day, but it’s not too late to reclaim it by joining together to worship God and proclaim His Word.
Ministry Needs
Once again, I want to thank all of your for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. We are heading into springand have many expenses coming up as we prepare for SOS-San Francisco. We have a poster ready to be printed along with other information. We need to get liability insurance in order to get permits for outdoor rallies. We are still looking for insurance, but were told it will cost about $1200, which we may have to pay in one lump sum.
Also, our good friend Al Marshall has offered to print tracts for this year’s SOS-San Francisco outreach but we need to buy the paper soon. It will cost about $1000. We have several tracts ready to print, and we really would like to be able to give out tracts that are better suited to the people we are witnessing to, and that have our own address and phone number on them for follow-up.
Our Tape of the Month is a teaching I gave called “Fundamentals of Evangelism.” It deals with the issue of overcoming fear of witnessing, as well as other principles of effective evangelism.
God bless you all. Remember to pray for us, especially for the right people to live in our house and that our legal situation in Berkeley will be settled quickly and fairly. I hope to have more information on this in the next newsletter.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
