SOS-SAN FRANCISCO – AUGUST 17-25
S O S – The International Distress Signal
It is said that the Roman emperor Nero played his fiddle while Rome was burning. His behavior was understandable: he had started the fire himself, cared nothing about the people who would die in it, and intended to use the fire as an excuse to murder Christians. What is harder to comprehend is the behavior of today’s Christians, who are so different from those who gave their lives as witnesses for Jesus Christ in Nero’s day. We calmly “play our fiddles” while the people around us are heading rapidly into eternal Hell. Actually, I think most of us really do care about the lost, but it would be hard to tell from the way we spend our time and money. Why is this? I am convinced that Satan has used our material wealth and freedom from persecution to lull us to sleep, giving us an abundance of convenient excuses for not witnessing.
If I lived in an apartment building and awoke one night to find the building on fire, would I merely run out of the building or would I bang on people’s doors, waking them and warning them to get out immediately? Would I be content to save only myself, or would I try to save others? Certainly, people might be upset with me if I banged on their doors in the middle of the night, but those I could persuade to leave the building would thank me later.
How can we, who believe in Heaven and Hell and know that ending up in eternal Hell is a far worse fate than dying in a burning building, fail to warn the wicked? What happened to our sense of urgency that would cause us to say with Paul, “I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel” 1 Corin. 9:16. In Luke 21, after speaking of the end times, Jesus warned us, “Watch out! Don’t let my sudden coming catch you unawares; don’t let me find you living in careless ease, eating and drinking in excess, and occupied with the problems of this life, like all the rest of the world.” Yet this is exactly what has happened to much of the church.
Many of you at one time had a zeal for God and a burden for souls, but you have gotten caught up in worldly activities and have lost that zeal. I believe that God wants to use this summer’s SOS-San Francisco outreach to restore this fervor in many of you. Jesus is coming soon! Let’s get our hearts right with God and get busy doing the work He has commanded us to do: investing our lives winning souls for His Kingdom.
Night is Coming
Last month, the SOS Ministries Steering Committee met for prayer for direction for this year’s SOS-San Francisco outreach. As we prayed, we felt that God was directing us to make the theme for this summer’s outreach, “Evangelism in the End Times.” Throughout the week, we will be speaking on topics related to this theme.
During the 1970’s there was a great emphasis in the church on Bible prophesy. Many were saved through books such as The Late, Great Planet Earth and through Bible studies about the last days. During the 1980’s, however, the church neglected Bible prophesy. I must have heard hundreds of Bible studies on the end times during the 1970’s but scarcely any during the 1980’s. The 1990’s have begun with sudden, dramatic changes in our world that may serve to refocus our attention on Bible prophesy.
While we don’t understand everything about the book of Revelation, we must not ignore that book or other prophetic passages of scripture. God wants to use this study to rekindle in us a sense of urgency about His coming, that it is very near indeed. One thing that is evident from Rev. 6:11, 7:14, 12:11-13, 13:7,17, and other such passages is that a time is coming of great persecution to God’s people (whether the church or tribulation saints). The people of that time who preach the gospel with such difficulty and at such cost will look back in amazement at us, wondering why we missed our opportunity to preach the gospel when we had such freedom to do so.
A friend of mine recently returned from Vietnam. The church there has grown tremendously despite great persecution. Church meetings are illegal. Neighbors are obligated to report all such meetings to the police. A person can go to jail for 5 years for receiving a Bible. Yet a few years ago, before the U.S. left Vietnam, there was total freedom to preach the gospel in South Vietnam but few Christians took advantage of that freedom. Public opinion in the U.S. is rapidly turning against Christians. The Jews in the 1930’s thought that Germans were too civilized to persecute them, despite Hitler’s rhetoric. We Christians think we will not be persecuted in the U.S. despite the alarming changes in our society–the new age movement, satanism, immorality, the anti-Christian bias of the media, increased regulation of churches and ministries, the brutal treatment of Operation Rescue participants, etc. We must work while it is day, for the night comes when no man can work.
We need your help!
We have printed 7000 posters and 30,000 bulletin inserts to let people know about SOS-San Francisco. Please help us get this literature to churches, Christian bookstores, and Bible schools in your area. Also, you can give them out at Christian concerts and other events. A card has been enclosed to order literature. Also, talk with your pastor and Christian friends and encourage them to get involved. Set aside the week of August 17-25 to attend the SOS outreach and bring a friend.
We have enclosed a registration form with this newsletter. If you register by July 1, you will also receive a free SOS T-shirt. Free housing is available at the Russian Gospel Temple. Bring a sleeping bag and foam pad. If you prefer, we can send you hotel information. This year, we are only able to serve breakfast and lunch (starting Monday August 20. No meals the first weekend.) However, there are inexpensive restaurants nearby to get dinner. If you live in the Bay Area and must work, you may join us at night and on weekends. Please call or write us if you have any questions.
Ministry Needs
Last week I received a letter from BART, telling me that they would no longer provide electricity for our outreaches. They now think giving us a dollar’s worth of electricity would be unconstitutional. So we need to buy a generator for our outreaches, which we hold twice a month at the Powell St. BART station. The cost is about $1200.
We have just finished printing 280,000 tracts for the SOS outreach. We would like to purchase 500 New Testaments to give out. We need help with this and other outreach expenses. Our income has decreased substantially the past two months, and certainly would appreciate whatever you can do to help us.
Also, we still have openings in our ministry house for dedicated Christians with a desire to witness for Jesus and receive practical training in evangelism. We also need a volunteer to help us a few hours a month with office work. And we need more workers to join us on the streets on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. We will be having two major worship rallies on June 2 and 16 at the Powell St. BART station. See the schedule below for information on our outreaches.
God has been doing wonderful things on the streets of San Francisco and Berkeley. On the day before Easter, 100 Christians from the San Francisco Vineyard joined us for a march down Market St. and worship rally at the BART station, featuring special music and dance. Afterwards, they gave out hamburgers and bags of groceries to the homeless outside the plaza.
Our Tape of the Month is “Worship, warfare and witnessing” by Chuck Girard, which outlines a strategy for reaching cities through concerted prayer, worship, and evangelism. God bless you all. Remember to pray for us that God will direct us in our preparations for SOS and provide our needs. I hope to see you at one of these outreaches and, especially, at SOS-San Francisco.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
