ISEMA Newsletters
When God Departs! Is God Leaving America?
by David Wilkerson (World Challenge, P O Box 260, Lindale, TX 75771, (903) 963-8626)
(Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt of a message given in November, 1991. I am reprinting it because of its extreme timeliness in light of the recent riots in L.A. and around the nation.)
I have often heard people say, “God will never depart from America. There are too many praying Christians in this country. Our victory in the war with Iraq is proof God is still with us. We’re a Christian nation, the apple of God’s eye! World missions depend on us. We’ve always been a great nation, and the Lord will bless us as long as we exist.”
Yet this is just what Israel said at the height of their apostasy. All their false prophets proclaimed, “God will never depart from His chosen land….” Then along came the prophet Hosea, crying out in behalf of the Lord, “Woe also to them when I depart from them! (Hosea 9:12). “For the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more” (v. 15)….
Sign Number One: The People Give Themselves Over to Filth and Shame. (Hosea 9:7).
God’s heart…is grieved over the sudden moral breakdown of those who call themselves Christians! In millions of Christian homes, so-called normal, godly people sit before cable TV or a VCR and drink in filthy, shameful movies!…TV networks and cable companies now compete to bring the vilest, most perverted movies into America’s homes. And untold numbers of “believing Christians” now secretly view this filth!…
Sign Number Two: There will be Tumults and Uprisings among the People.(Hosea 10:14).
`Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity….Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled’ (Hosea 10:13-14). A tumult is an uprising in the land–a noisy, disorderly riot. God did not need our high-tech bombers or military might to bring down the Soviet Union. All He needed was a few tumults within their own borders. And now it is America’s turn! We are going to see tumults rising up all over the land. Can you already see the signs of emerging race and economic riots?
When a nation walks in the fear of God and does right before Him, God brings a quiet within its borders….But when God departs and He lifts His hand, all hell breaks loose. Soon, America’s enemy will not be Russia, China or nuclear weapons–but violence within our gates! The next thing on America’s calendar will be uprisings among the people. It will be Jew against black, black against Korean, American against Japanese, white against black….
You can forget the Watts riots of the sixties. They were nothing compared to what we soon will face. Beloved, God can remove His hand at any moment! The stage is now set in America for riots and tumults beyond anything this nation has ever experienced. We shake our heads in wonder at what is happening to Russia, with all its inner turmoil. But soon Russia and the world will shake their heads in disbelief as racial and economic tumults sweep across America!
Sign Number Three: Your Children Will Be Given Over to the Murderers! (Hosea 9:13)
Ghetto children are being destroyed before our eyes–by drugs, alcohol, demon-possessed pushers and gangs. There are housing developments in every major city now where nearly all teenagers carry guns, knives and other weapons to protect themselves. There is hardly an apartment in these buildings that has not lost a child or relative….
Sign Number Four: In the Midst of Turmoil, God Will Have a People Seeking Him for an Outpouring of Righteousness? (Hosea 10:12).
Here’s the sign: that in the middle of all this chaos, God will have a people who are becoming more holy, more pure and more righteous. They will call on His name, and He will rain down His righteousness upon them….
Holy men and women who walk in righteousness all share the same awesome fear of God. They have more than a vision of His grace and love. They know a dread of His utter holiness–that no evil shall endure His presence!…
If you are guilty of anything that has to do with adultery, fornication or a secret affair, God is saying to you, “My judgment is coming. And I’m going to have a people that are righteous and pure. Seek Me, and I will rain down My righteousness on you. I’ll cleanse you. Just call on Me and seek Me with all your heart, and I’ll pour out My rain on you.” Before His final judgments fall, God wants to bathe you in His precious blood and His word.
Letter from London
by Gary Lukas (address below)
I just spent 12 days in Texas and thus caught up on ISEMA news. Thanks for keeping faithful where God planted you…I am beginning to meet the various street workers and preachers in London now. The cults (Moonies, Hari Krishnas) are busy as well. Preaching at Piccadilly is like preaching on Broadway (in San Francisco) except with the adversary being more intent his first year in stopping the preaching. I have to compete here with amplified groups at times so I have to resort to using a mouse (amplifier). Last night April 20th I witnessed at the Freddie Mercury Concert held at Wembley Stadium in North London. So far I heard that there were 75,000 present to worship him as well as 1 billion who listened or watched the concert in 70 other countries….The crowd was better behaved than the mob in San Francisco we usually dealt with, but the crowd gathering in June or July for Guns and Roses may not be so tame!
The report from the Galveston (TX) Mardi Gras I heard was that over 600 workers came out for the outreach to the largest and wildest Mardi Gras crowd to date. Three Christians were arrested, but after a local pastor got into it, the city apologized.
Coming Events
June 22-27 Rescue Atlanta Outreach. Contact Rescue Atlanta (Mel Rolls, Director), Box 965039, Marietta, GA 30066, (404) 924-0201.
June 19-27 SOS-Hollywood. $150. Contact Holy Ghost Repair Service, Box 1590, Hollywood, CA 90078, (213) 469-3027.
June 26-July 4 SOS-San Francisco. $50. This outreach will be held in conjunction with the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International Convention. Several thousand people from sixty nations are scheduled to participate in a July 3 outreach in the Financial District. Guest speakers include Floyd McClung (Intn’l Director of Youth With a Mission) and Jerry Brandt. Contact SOS Ministries, Box 27358, Oakland, CA 94602, (510) 531-5325. .
July 2-4 Freedom Festival and Parade Outreach, Houma, LA. Jeff Fenholt, Bill Henderson, Roger Helle. Contact Freedom Festival, Christian Community Fellowship, Station 2, Box 5, Houma, LA 70360, (504) 851-3000.
July 11-15 Democratic National Convention Outreach, New York City. $150. Contact No Greater Love, Box 263, DuQuoin, IL 62832, (618) 542-4503.
July 25-August 8 Barcelona, Spain and Israel. Outreach to Olympics and Israel. Contact No Greater Love (address above).
August 10-12 Dunamis Conference, Van Nuys, CA. Mario Murillo, Jack Hayford, Tommy Barnett, Sonny Arguinzoni, Scott Hinkle. $50. At Church on the Way. (800) 777-0188.
August 15-19 Republican National Convention Outreach. Houston, TX. $150. Contact No Greater Love (address above).
August 30-31 Notting Hill Gate Carnival, London, England. Europe’s largest street festival, London’s version of the Mardi Gras. Contact Gary Lukas, 67 Melfort Rd., Thornton Heath, Surrey, CR7 7RT, England. 011-44-81-684-1603.
September 24-26 National Street Ministries Conference, Dallas, TX. Contact NSMC, Box 380306, Duncanville, TX 75138, (214) 283-3900.
Reaching Our Cities
The problems we are facing in this nation, particularly in the inner cities, are the direct result of our nation’s rejection of God and His ways. Our children have been raised in a moral vacuum, and as a result have turned to drugs, violence and promiscuity. In the above article, David Wilkerson talks about the signs that God has departed from a nation. But Wilkerson did not flee the city. Instead, he started a church in one of the most decadent places in the nation: Times Square, New York. His church is centered on prayer, repentance and holiness. But it is also very active in evangelizing the inner city and helping with the physical needs of people–feeding people and providing shelter for the homeless. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world….Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick.” Light shines most brightly in the darkest places. Jesus spent His time with the most blatant sinners, the ones most in need of the Great Physician. God has not called us to hide from the world’s problems, but to bring His love to the most needy people.
God’s purpose in bringing judgment is that people will repent so He can have mercy on them. The prophet Jonah did not want to warn the people of Ninevah. He wanted them to continue in sin and be destroyed. But God wanted Jonah to warn the people so they would repent and be spared. Rather than retreat in the face of great evil, we need to reach out to people with the only answer to their problems: the gospel of Jesus Christ. I’m sure glad a Christian did not consider me a “hopeless sinner” (although I looked like one) but told me about Jesus.
Our Tape of the Month is “Worship, warfare and witnessing” by Chuck Girard. This tape outlines a strategy for reaching our cities through concerted prayer, worship and evangelism. I hope each of you participates in at least one city-wide outreach this summer, and many of you join us for SOS-San Francisco.
Our Tape of the Month is “Witnessing to Homosexuals.” In this tape, I talk about the causes of homosexuality and how to help homosexuals get free from this bondage.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
