Getting a Passion for Souls
“To be a soul winner is the happiest thing in this world, and with every soul you bring to Jesus Christ, you seem to get a new heaven here on earth. I would sooner bring one sinner to Jesus Christ than unpick all the mysteries of the divine word, for salvation is the thing we are to live for.” Charles Spurgeon.
When I think about the legal battles we are facing, I remember the apostle Paul. He too spent a lot of his time dealing with legal matters. They gave him opportunities to witness to many government leaders, but eventually it led to his death. We too must be willing to die for our faith. It is appointed to each of us once to die, and what better way than while preaching the gospel! Hebrews 11 tells of the Old Testament saints who “stopped the mouths of lions…others were tortured…they were stoned, they were sawn asunder…they were slain with the sword.”
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs is filled with stories of Christians who suffered terribly and died for their faith in Christ. At one time, Christians who were burned at the stake would testify to the surrounding crowd about Jesus Christ. The public officials, not wanting the crowd to hear them, would beat drums to drown out the message.
Last Saturday, as we were worshiping God on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley, a man named Chris beat on a metal pan for several hours, trying to drown out our preaching. Our suffering is insignificant compared to what these martyrs endured. Ungodly men are still trying to drown out the gospel, but we aren’t being burned at the stake.
In over 20 years of preaching the gospel in San Francisco and Berkeley, three of us have each spent a few hours in jail. We have been yelled at and mocked. But none of us have been seriously hurt while preaching the gospel.
When I first started witnessing on the streets 28 years ago, I was living in Portland, Oregon in the winter. It rained almost every day for many hours. I stood in the rain all day long giving out tracts. Almost every night, unsaved people came to our Bible study. And several people got saved each week. In 28 years, I have never gotten sick from witnessing in the rain.
The heathen are so much more dedicated to the pursuit of pleasure than we are to the pursuit of God’s will. Seventy thousand football fans will sit in a stadium for hours in the rain or snow watching a football game. Three hundred thousand people will stand for hours in the rain watching the Chinese New Year Parade. But there are very few Christians who are willing to stand outside in the rain in order to witness for Jesus.
The apostle Paul compared the Christian life to an athlete seeking a prize for winning a race. I am amazed at the way athletes will punish their bodies in an effort to win a sporting event. Often, a football player will play, despite having the flu. Sometimes they play with broken bones. Amazing!
Sadly, most Christians no longer need an excuse. They simply refuse to witness for Jesus–on the streets, to their neighbors, at work, or even to their relatives. Sadly, most pastors have given up trying to encourage the people in their churches to witness. Yes, God, revive your church! We need a genuine revival that will cause your people to zealously proclaim the gospel to a dying world! God, give us a burden to reach the lost!
Coming Events
EVERY FRIDAY 7 PM. Witnessing in various S.F. neighborhoods. Meet at Vineyard, 7th St. and Harrison, San Francisco. Call (510) 531- 5325 for more information.
Saturday March 14 San Francisco worship rally and outreach. 11 AM-5 PM. Cable Car Turnaround (near the Powell St. BART station). Call (510) 531-5325 for time and meeting location.
Saturday March 21 Berkeley outreach. 12-5:30 PM. Call (510) 531- 5325 for more information.
Saturday March 28 San Francisco worship rally and outreach. 941 Market St. (near Powell St. BART station). 11 AM – 5 PM. Call (510) 531-5325 for more information.
July 31-August 8 SOS-San Francisco/Summer of Love Outreach. 19th year. Call (510) 531-5325 for more information.
Legal Update
Last February, Eric Livingston was put in jail during our Chinese New Year Parade Outreach. He was charged with “disturbing the peace.” He was not even preaching. The judge threw out the case, but the district attorney appealed the matter. Last week, we filed a motion to dismiss the appeal. Apparently, this kind of appeal is so unusual that the first four clerks I spoke to insisted that their court didn’t handle this kind of matter. Please pray that this criminal matter will be dismissed so we can be finished with it.
Meanwhile, the city finally turned over information we had requested, including information about loudspeaker permit denials. In the past four years, the police department has formally denied permits to us on nine occasions. They have only denied permits to other people on two occasions. One case involved a person wanting to use a loudspeaker in a residential neighborhood after 10 PM. In the other case, two people applied for a loudspeaker at the same time and location, so one had to be denied. It seems clear that the city is discriminating against us.
These legal matters are taking a great deal of my time, not to mention our lawyer’s time. But we have not been arrested or cited since last February, and the city is now granting us the loudspeaker permits we request in excellent locations. Please pray for our lawyer, Russell Davis, and for us as we pursue these matters. Please pray that the courts will uphold our constitutional rights.
On the Streets
In January, we witnessed on Friday nights on Haight St., Castro St., Polk St. and Fisherman’s Wharf. On Saturday, we held two worship rallies in downtown San Francisco, as well as an outreach in Berkeley. Often it would rain most of the week, but would be dry on Friday night and Saturday. We did get some rain on Saturday January 10, but we ministered anyway, protected by a store awning. It turned out to be one of our most fruitful days of outreach. We prayed with Jerry, Fernando, Patrick, Luis, Octavia, Ron, Armando and Wilmer. Please pray for these people, that they will make a true commitment to Christ and grow spiritually.
Also that day, Derek met Roland and prayed with him. Roland has attended church with Derek for several weeks now, and is doing well. On January 25, Derek met Moses in Oakland. Moses rededicat ed his life to Christ and Derek took him to Victory Outreach in Hayward, where he was admitted into their discipleship program.
Paul and Noreen Coca met Lynnette in San Jose. Lynnette first saw Paul and Noreen singing with us in Berkeley two years ago. She was unsaved and had come to Berkeley to buy some drugs. At the time, she thought we were crazy to believe in Jesus. But God convicted her of her sins and a year later she was saved. Lynnette and her husband John now witness with Paul and Noreen in San Jose!
Derek and I have been attending a Tuesday night Bible study at the Prodigal House on Haight St. A lot of unsaved youth attend this study, and we witness to them. One night, I met Bo. I had witnessed to him last March. He has committed his life to Christ, and is doing well spiritually. Erick, whom I mentioned in last month’s newsletter, is living at the house and cooking at a nearby restaurant. I was invited to visit their new discipleship ranch in Mendocino County and teach on evangelism.
Ministry Needs
Thank you for your prayers and your financial support for the ministry. I wish I had time to write each of you a personal letter. We really do appreciate your faithfulness in helping us reach the people of San Francisco with the gospel. If you can’t support us financially, I hope each of you will pray for us. Please pray for more workers to help us on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. We especially need musicians and worship groups to minister on the streets. Also, we need a handyman and a roofer to work on our house. Finally, we need to print several hundred thousand tracts to use this coming year.
Our Tape of the Month is Getting a Passion for Souls by Marc Estes. Marc is an evangelist with Christian Equippers International in South Lake Tahoe, CA. Also, we have obtained some more copies of Going Fishing by Ira Nissen. This book is filled with interesting stories of Ira’s witnessing experiences, mostly at SOS-San Francisco outreaches. I hope many of you will join us for an outreach this next month. “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
