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Coming Events
Note: Outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 282-5629 to confirm outreaches or for more information.
Friday August 22 and 29 6 – 9 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods.
Sat. August 23 and 30 11 AM – 4 PM Fisherman’s Wharf outreach (Jefferson St. near Powell).
SOS- San Francisco Schedule
35th Year Special Guest: Chuck Girard
Wed. Aug. 6 12-4 PM Berkeley outreach Shattuck & Center St. (outside downtown Berkeley BART station)
Thurs. Aug. 7 11 AM – 4 PM Fisherman’s Wharf (Jefferson St. at Powell) SF
Fri. Aug. 8 11:30 AM – 3:30 PM First & Market St. SF
6-8 PM Haight & Masonic St.
Sat. Aug. 9 12-5 PM UN Plaza (7th St. and Market) SF.
SOS – The International Distress Signal
Dear Christian friends,
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.
On the Streets
On Friday May 16 we witnessed in downtown Berkeley. I spoke with four Berkeley high school students. One of them told me that his father used LSD and he planned to do the same when he got older. Right now, he only uses marijuana, which he doesn’t consider a drug. He said he had been to church a few times and that it wasn’t for him. He knew very little about Jesus or the Bible, so I encouraged him to read the Bible.
The next day, we witnessed on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley. It was graduation day, so a lot of graduates were there with their families. I spoke with some Seventh Day Adventists who were giving out food in People’s Park. I also met a man named Merritt who was passing out booklets about People’s Park. It turns out he was involved in the protests of 1969, but got saved that year. The booklet was a gospel tract. Later that afternoon, while I was preaching, Ted heckled me. Afterwards, I spoke with him. He is Jewish and has lived in the Telegraph Ave. area for over 40 years. After we spoke, he said he respected us for what we are doing.
As Brother “G” was preaching, a heckler named Bob heckled him for 20 minutes, repeatedly shouting “Hail Satan” and trying to stir up opposition to the gospel. Eventually, Dave started talking with him. He told Dave that he got mugged in Oakland. He woke up in a hospital with a cracked skull. Dave said, your friend Satan did that to you. Bob said he thought Satan would give him what he wanted if he worshipped him. “No,” Dave said, “he influences evil people to do evil things.”
Dave asked Bob if he was hungry, and took him to lunch. Bob told him about how he got arrested for terrorism in connection with a protest at the university. While the other protesters got represented by lawyers for free, he had to pay for his own lawyer, and he faced very serious charges. When he didn’t have any money, the others in his group took an offering and raised $25,000 to pay his legal fees. Dave said, “That’s like what Jesus did for you. He paid for your sins, because you couldn’t do it yourself.”
On Sat. May 24, we held our first outreach of the year at Dolores Park. This is probably the most difficult place we go to. Last year, we had problems with angry (mostly drunk) people knocking over our speakers. We were particularly concerned because half the park will be closed the next two years due to construction. Our concern was that people would be unable to avoid listening to the music and could get angry.
Despite our concerns, the outreach was quite peaceful and we really didn’t have any problems. We mostly played music, with Paul Coca and Tim Moon singing, but had some brief gospel messages in between. There were about 1000 people in the park, mostly young people. They are typical San Franciscans, and quite far from God.
Because of the closure, it was easier to pass out tracts in the park. I gave out over 100 tracts that day. I also spoke with Max, a young man who told me he was being thrown out of his house by his father because of his marijuana use. He said he tried to quit, but couldn’t. I told him that Jesus could set him free from his addiction. Dave witnessed to TJ and Daniel, who were both Catholics. He also witnessed to Anthony, who said his life was miserable and came to the park to get high. Dave prayed with him. He also witnessed to Andre, who is an American Indian whose grandmother took him to church every week when he was young.
On June 6, we witnessed at Powell and Market St. Eric Martinez was with us for the first time in 6 months, so he started singing worship songs. When we arrived, there was a strange man (Chris) wearing a ski mask and speaking incomprehensively over a bullhorn. He was telling people to enjoy life and said atheism was good. The police came, in response to a complaint by Jehovah’s Witnesses, who were also in the area, and they shut him down but left us alone. The police returned while we were preaching, but again they told him to leave and left us alone. In the past, the police have shut us down many times in this location, but that has not happened for a long time. Eddie saw Chris the next day and witnessed to him. He was surprisingly receptive to the gospel.
On Tuesday June 24 a group of 40 high school students from Kennewick, Washington joined us for an outreach at UN Plaza. When we arrived, a number of food trucks were in the area and they had brought chairs for people to eat lunch. I gave a short teaching on evangelism and the group sang worship songs for the people who were eating, most of whom work in the area. Afterwards, they gave out bags of food and gospel tracts to the homeless. Eddie shared his testimony with the group.
Ministry Needs
Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. We are happy to have Mike Hodgdon in our house. Mike has witnessed with us for almost 25 years, but this is the first time he has lived in our house. He also works with City Impact Ministry in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district.
There are many good resources on the internet for those who desire more instruction in evangelism. One good website is livingwaters.com. This is Ray Comfort’s website, and has a lot of valuable teachings on how to use God’s law to help people realize the seriousness of their sins and need for a savior.
Please pray for those we have witnessed to recently, especially those mentioned in this newsletter. We need New Testaments. We can get 400 for $300. Also, we need a musician for our Friday night outreaches. I hope that many of you will join us for our 35th annual SOS-San Francisco outreach, August 6-9.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
