ISEMA Newsletters
Motivating the Church
by Larry Rosenbaum
In last month’s newsletter, I asked, “What is the proper motive for evangelism?” The Bible teaches that there are many legitimate reasons for witnessing: our love for God, our desire to let others know of His goodness, and our desire to obey His commandment to preach the gospel. Over the years, I have found a major difference between those Christians who consistently witness and those who don’t. Those who regularly witness — almost without exception — are very conscious of the reality of Heaven and Hell, and have an intense burden to save people from eternal torment in Hell. Those who rarely witness don’t think very much about the fact that the unbelievers they encounter every day are heading for eternal torment.
William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, once wished that all his workers could spend 24 hours in Hell so that they would obtain the burden for souls needed for effective ministry. In Luke 16, the rich man suddenly developed that burden as he was tormented in Hell. He asked Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brothers “lest they also come into this place of torment.” An experience of Hell’s torment is sufficient to give even a wicked sinner a burden to evangelize the lost. While we cannot visit Hell, what we can do to develop a greater burden for souls is to spend time meditating on scriptures concerning God’s judgment and eternal punishment.
Sadly, most churches are preoccupied with their potlucks and other social activities while the world is going to Hell. Modern Christians face lots of pressure and need times of rest and relaxation. And married people need to spend time with their families. But we must find time in our busy lives to reach those who are headed for eternal torment in Hell. If we don’t, we’re out of God’s will. Most of the evangelical and charismatic churches in the U.S. today are carnal, lukewarm, and in flagrant disobedience to the Great Commission of our Lord.
Many pastors have a genuine burden for souls and are grieved at the lack of evangelism in their fellowships. They have tried talking about evangelism and organizing outreaches, but gotten little response. The church is like a sleeping elephant, and it takes more effort to move a sleeping elephant than to move a sleeping cat. However, with perseverance, persistence, and much prayer the church can awaken. Pastors can stir up their congregations by preaching regularly on the need for evangelism and the reality of Hell, praying continually for God to send forth laborers, starting some ongoing outreaches and setting an example by participating in them. Those who want their church to be a cozy social club will find another church. And their church will be left with those who are serious about serving God and obeying the Great Commission.
The Greek word “ekballo,” used in the expression “send forth laborers into his harvest” in Matthew 9:38, is used in the next verse for casting out demons. Apparently, Christians are as stubborn in their refusal to witness as demons are in their refusal to leave a demonized person. If you’ve ever tried casting out demons, you know how stubborn they are! In Acts 8, we are told that after the persecution led by Saul, the church was scattered throughout Judaea and Samaria. “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word” (v.4). It took persecution to force the church to do what Jesus had commanded them to do. We feel secure in our church buildings, but need to be cast out into the harvest field.
Christians often tell me, “You have to have a special calling to witness like you do.” But if you saw a child drowning in a swimming pool, would you think “I’m not called to be a lifeguard” or “I don’t have any special training in lifesaving?” No, you would make every effort to save the child! Once you see the urgency of the task, the question of “calling” becomes irrelevant, even foolish.
What is the difference between this drowning child and the people who are dying in their sins? For one thing, the child’s situation is undeniably urgent. If the child is not rescued in a few minutes, he will die. There is no time to wait around wondering if someone else will rescue him. However, I may think the unsaved person has lots of time. Of course, that is the same excuse unbelievers use to postpone their decision regarding Jesus. Many say they’ll turn to Jesus when they get older, not realizing they may die at any time, or will harden their heart as they continue to reject Christ.
I may think that if I don’t witness to an unbeliever, someone else probably will later. The problem is that I don’t know. This could possibly be his last opportunity to be saved. My witness could make the difference between heaven and hell for him. This is an awesome responsibility. I could take this to an extreme and think I cannot let a single unbeliever walk by without trying to witness to him. If I did, I would become a nervous wreck. I cannot take upon myself the responsibility of saving the world singlehandedly.
However, one rarely if ever sees a Christian go to this extreme. The problem is that almost all Christians have gone to the opposite extreme — they hardly ever speak with anyone about their eternal destiny. If you look for witnessing opportunities and regularly witness to people, I believe that God will use you to change the eternal destinies of at least a few people during your lifetime.
I believe that we should expect nothing less than the involvement of every Christian in evangelism. I pray that God will use this teaching to open your eyes to the ways Satan seeks to keep you from witnessing, and that you will be given a renewed desire to witness for Jesus, both in your everyday life and through special outreaches. Please pray with us that God will cast out laborers into the harvest fields of this world, including the San Francis co area. Satan does not want any of us to witness, and sadly, his efforts to stop us have been highly successful. All he has to do is whisper some excuse in our ear, and we think we have a good reason not to witness.
A London prisoner once told a preacher, “Mister, if I believed this Gospel you say you believe, I’d crawl across England over broken glass to get the message out.” People around us are dying and going to Hell. Over one person each second is entering eternity without Jesus. We need to do everything we can to save them.
New Year’s Eve Outreach
From the Rescue Atlanta Newsletter (Box 965039, Marietta, GA 30066, (404) 924-0201)
Over 250,000 people gathered at Underground Atlanta for the “Dropping of the Peach” at midnight. This is very similar to the “Dropping of the Apple” in New York. After a time of prayer, our outreach team of 21 headed downtown. My good friend Michael Siemer from Chattanooga brought his 12 foot cross with a built-in PA system, several banners, and a mini sound system that would literally “blow your face off!”
I must admit that I thought that the police wouldn’t let us use amplification. But before we left for the streets we asked God for favor with the authorities. The police were all around us, and never even looked our way! We preached non-stop for over 2 1/2 hours. We ended the year preaching, and began the New Year preaching.
Within a few minutes we had several genuine conversions. In fact the [new converts] stayed with us the rest of the night helping us pass out nearly 5000 tracts and share the Good News. One man that we led to the Lord stood all night in front of the cross, and under a huge banner that read “Jesus Christ is Lord.” At the end of the night, he came up to us and said, “Thanks. My life will never be the same.”
Coming Events
March 19-20. South Texas Street Ministers Conference, San Antonio, TX. Workshops in English and Spanish. Contact Rev. David O’Dell, 3400 W. Park Blvd. #2117, Plano, TX 75075, (214) 519- 0195.
Sat. March 27, April 10 Worship Rally and Evangelism Outreach, San Francisco. 3-6 PM. Meet at Powell Street BART Station. Contact SOS Ministries, Box 27358, Oakland, CA 94602, (510) 531- 5325.
April 22-24 Carolina’s Conference on Revival, Greenville, NC. Contact Scott Hinkle, Box 380306, Duncanville, TX 75138, (214) 283-3900.
April 24. Fiesta Celebration Outreach, San Antonio, TX. Housing available. Contact Rev. David O’Dell (address above).
July 2-3 7th Annual Freedom Festival, Houma, LA. Jeff Fenholt, Bill Henderson, Jules Boquet, and others. Contact Sharon Saltee, Christian Community Fellowship, Sta. 2 Box 5, Houma, LA 70360, (504) 851-3000.
July 9-17 14th Annual SOS-San Francisco Outreach. Chuck Girard, Ray Comfort, Jerry Brandt. Contact SOS Ministries (address above).
March for Jesus is scheduling public praise marches in many cities around the world on Sat. June 12. For more information, or to help plan a march in your city, contact March for Jesus, Box 3216, Austin, TX 78764, (512) 416-0066.
Forward Edge is sending outreach teams to Guatemala, Nicaragua, the Crow Indian Reservation, Romania, Kazakhstan, and China this next year. Most outreaches are about two weeks long. For more information write or call them at 15121-A NE 72nd Ave., Vancouver WA 98686, (206) 574-EDGE.
1993 International Street & Evangelism Ministry Directory
Soon after you receive this letter, the 1993 International Street & Evangelism Ministry Directory should be ready. This directory contains the latest revisions in our listing of street and evan gelism ministries around the world plus new listings. I believe you will find this directory helpful in learning about ministries in your area and around the world. It is filled with valuable information not available elsewhere and is easy to use and easy to read.
I want to thank all of you who have been praying for ISEMA and supporting this ministry. Our income went down last year, but has improved this past month. Thank you for helping us, so we can help those who are on the “front lines” of street ministry.
Our Tape of the Month is Follow-up by Ron Radachy. Ron and his wife Judy are Directors of the Oasis, a coffeehouse and street ministry in Hollywood, CA. They also organize the annual SOS- Hollywood outreach. This teaching, from this year’s National Street Ministry Conference, will help you become more effective in follow-up ministry.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum
