Newsletter and Coming Events – March 2015

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Coming Events

Note: Outreaches are subject to change, especially on rainy days. Call (510) 282-5629 to confirm outreaches or for more information.

Friday March 6, 13, 20 6 – 9 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods.

Sat. March 7 and 14 11 AM – 4 PM. Fisherman’s Wharf outreach. Jefferson St. near Powell, SF.

Sat. March 21 12:30-4:30 PM Berkeley outreach. Shattuck and Center St.

Revival or Judgment?

Dear Christian friends,

Two thousand years ago, the apostle Paul wrote, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come” (2 Tim.  3:1). These are certainly perilous times we are living in.  All around us we see the proliferation of drugs, pornography, crime, abortion,   homosexuality,   New Age philosophy, atheism, and Satanism.  In the Christian world we see leaders falling into immorality, false doctrines, commercialism, etc. Many Christians have been left in a state of shock and confusion.  Many have lost a sense of clear, Biblical priorities for their lives. In speaking of the last days, Jesus warned us, “Because iniquity shall abound, the love (agape) of many shall wax cold” (Matt. 24:12), referring here to the agape love of Christians.  “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap” (Luke 21:34).  We can get overwhelmed by the tremendous evil around us in these last days. As a result, our tendency as Christians will be to occupy ourselves with the pleasures and cares of this life. Jesus warned us not to let this happen to us. Instead, we should be reaching out in love to those around us who need Jesus.

Next, Jesus admonishes us to watch–keep our hearts right with God, occupy ourselves with God’s work, and be awaiting His soon return.  Several years ago, I read a biography of Keith Green, No Compromise.  Keith had the ability to speak to Christians, stir them  out  of  their  apathy  and  into  seeking  after  God  and dedicating  themselves to His service.  We need more servants of God with this gift.  I pray by God’s grace that He will use me in this way, and that He will use this newsletter to stir us all up to spiritual renewal in our lives and to renewed commitment to fulfill the Great Commission of our Lord in the short time left before He returns.

Run to the Battle

When we committed our lives to Jesus Christ, we declared war on Satan. He takes that war very seriously, whether we do or not. We all know that God has a plan for our lives but Satan also has a plan for our lives. His plan has two parts: 1) to keep us from coming to Christ and 2) having failed at that, to keep us from bringing others to Christ. He does this mainly in two ways: 1) to keep us living defeated lives as Christians, focusing on our own sins and 2) to give us various excuses for not witnessing for the Lord.

As we can see, Satan has been very successful in his strategy, as few Christians are involved in evangelism. Jesus said, “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” The gates of Hell are holding in the unsaved, who are captive to Satan. The job of the church is to tear down the gates of Hell and rescue those who are lost. Since Jesus assured us victory if we go forth with the gospel, Satan’s only hope is to keep us from the task God has given us.

When we look at the spiritual condition of the U.S. and the world, the situation looks very bad. We see the carnality and sinin the church and the increasing moral decay of the world. But we need to remember that the weapons of our warfare are mighty to the pulling down of strongholds, and everything that exalts itself against God. We must begin with prayer–purifying our own lives, seeking God for revival in ourselves and in the church, and for an army of anointed laborers to go forth into the harvest field with the Everlasting Gospel. The next step is to be obedient — to make the sacrifices necessary to be used by God as a laborer in His harvest field.

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Tim Moon sings at 5th St. and Market.

On the Streets

On Fri. Dec. 19, we witnessed at Powell and Market St. This is always a great place to witness, as we have many good conversations. It is an especially good location at Christmas, as a lot of extra people are in the area doing their Christmas shopping. Mike met Jayden, a young Christian who had fallen into drugs and Satan worship. He stayed with us all night and several of us ministered to him. Since then, Mike and I called his Christian grandmother Sarah, whom he was staying with. He left her home several days ago, and she has not seen him. Mike is trying to arrange for her to go to church with him, as she has been unable to attend church because she is disabled.

Mike also witnessed to Monte, a young man whose Dad reads the Bible regularly but does not attend church. Dave witnessed to Scott, who said he believed in Jesus but clearly was not saved. He explained the gospel to him and prayed with him. He also witnessed to John, who was raised in a Christian home and had met some Christians at The Call, but did not understand the gospel. Finally, he witnessed to Nathan, a Filipino Catholic. I witnessed to Frankie, a young man who asked for a gospel of John. He was heavily into New Age thinking and did not think we could not judge anyone’s actions to be evil, even Hitler’s.

The next day we witnessed in downtown Berkeley. Amos witnessed to Amy, who had a hard time with the concept of Hell. When asked if she thought anyone was in Hell, she said, “I hope the guy who killed my brother is there.” Amos told her that, as she wants justice, God even more demands justice. He asked if there was anything he could pray for, and she said “Could you pray for me – I need to pay my water bill.” Dave witnessed to Adithia, who is from the Brahmin caste in India. He respectfully listened to the gospel. He also witnessed to Will and Carlos, both of whom were receptive to the gospel. I witnessed to a young man named Keegan. He said he believed in a God but didn’t know what God was like. I shared with him about the Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled, and how they prove that the Bible is God’s Word and Jesus is the Messiah. Although it rained a lot in December, we had no rain at our outreaches except for a few minutes on Dec. 4.

Ministry Needs

Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry. We have two new applicants for our ministry house.

On his website, Ray Comfort wrote: “I have heard of teams of Christians going all the way over to India, sitting on a hill above a city and praying for the people in it, but not preaching the gospel to them. Why  not  stay  in  the  U.S.  and  pray for the  city  from  here?  Does  the  location move the hand of God?

“If we care about the lost and their children we need to pray as we go. The Bible asks ‘How shall they hear without a preacher?’ That question is rhetorical. It is a tragedy beyond words that we will do anything but reach out to the unsaved with the message of everlasting life.”  A. W. Tozer said, “Have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on of late and how little revival has resulted? The problem is that we have been trying to substitute praying for obeying, and it simply will not work. To pray for revival while ignoring the plain precept laid down in Scripture is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble. Prayer will become effective when we stop using it as a substitute for obedience.” Spurgeon said, “God save us from living in comfort while sinners are sinking into hell!”

Please pray for those we have witnessed to recently, especially those mentioned in this newsletter. I hope some of you will join us for an outreach this next month.

Yours in His love,

Larry Rosenbaum

 

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