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Coming Events

Friday Sept. 25, October 2 6 – 9 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods.

Sat. Sept. 26 12:30 – 4:30 PM Berkeley Outreach (Shattuck and Center St.—outside downtown Berkeley BART station)

Sat. Oct. 3 11 AM – 4 PM Fisherman’s Wharf (Jefferson St. near Mason)

Losing our Moral Compass

Part II (continued from Sept. 2015 newsletter)

Dear Christian friends,

Today, our nation’s moral compass is gone. Our nation’s leaders, our judges, legislators, teachers, and journalists have for the most part lost their ability to judge what is right and wrong and act accordingly. It appears that many ordinary Americans have also lost their moral compass. According to one poll, 59% of Americans supported the Supreme Court ruling mandating same-sex marriage in all 50 states. In the 1950’s, probably less than 1% of our nation would have supported such a concept. Fifteen years ago, same-sex marriage had never existed anywhere on earth from the beginning of time. According to Pew, 24% of white evangelical Protestants now support same sex marriage. According to another survey, 61% of Christians now think it is OK to have sex before marriage. In 1941, the first study of academic dishonesty counted 23 percent of undergraduates as cheaters. A 1990 survey at Miami University concluded that 91 percent of all college students had cheated.

Our nation’s leaders and journalists still speak of things being evil. But their view of what is evil constantly changes. There is no unchanging, universally agreed upon standard for what is right and wrong. For many, evil is relative to which political party one belongs to. If a person of the other party does something, it is evil. If someone of one’s own party does the same thing, it isn’t a problem. African “Christian” nations are condemned and lose US aid for making homosexuality illegal, but Muslim nations that put homosexuals to death are not criticized and given billions of dollars by the US.

On social media, we now have the “outrage of the day” where (as I write) a dentist is hiding for his life because he was involved (perhaps unknowingly) in the poaching of a lion. The CEO of Mozilla was forced out of his job after it was discovered he had donated $1000 to support a proposition defining marriage as between a man and woman. Both people could never have imagined that their behavior would cause such national outrage. And there are many other examples.

People used to read a famous book called The Scarlet Letter in which a woman caught in adultery was publicly shamed by being forced to wear the letter “A.” Most thought this public shaming was outrageous. Today, we have far worse public shaming going on, but nobody knows in advance what will cause someone to be shamed publicly. One video of bad behavior will go viral and the person will be forced to hide or be fired from his job. Many other videos of equally bad behavior will be ignored.

Adam and Eve were given only one law, which they disobeyed. According to rabbis, Jews are subject to 613 laws given by Moses. Today, we are subject to millions of laws. Congress passes laws that are thousands of pages long, laws they have not read. It takes many years for regulators to write tens of thousands of pages of regulations interpreting these laws, and decades for courts to interpret various rules. It is impossible for anyone, especially someone who operates a business, to know all the laws he is subject to. Rejecting God’s laws has not made us free. Instead, we are in bondage to innumerable, complex laws that are enforced erratically.

Having witnessed to thousands of people on the street for 45 years, it is evident to me that most people are caught up in the moral confusion of our day. What is right? What is wrong? Clearly, almost everyone believes in right and wrong, but people don’t know how they can decide what is right and wrong. Many no longer trust the Bible, so they don’t know what they can trust as a basis for their decisions. They have lost their moral compass.

New Life Christian Church Worship Group ministers at UN Plaza.

On the Streets

Last month’s newsletter contained a report on our 36^th annual SOS-San Francisco outreach, July 8-11. This month, I want to share some testimonies from earlier outreaches.

On Sat. June 13, we witnessed in downtown Berkeley. Mike witnessed to Bryan, a computer programmer. They spoke about intelligent design and he was open to the gospel. He also witnessed to Hoke, a retired Japanese accountant. His wife took a tract but walked away. Hoke was quite receptive to the gospel. Finally, he witnessed to Tom, who came here from the Midwest to visit his brother. Amazingly, he had heard me preach at Union Square on May 23. He said, “I have a Bible and have been reading it, but I need to hear from God.” I gave a Muslim tract to Zerana, whose parents are from Afghanistan. I also prayed with Andre, a homeless Christian who had been injured in a motorcycle accident.

On Friday June 19 we witnessed on Haight St. We were happy to have Larry DuBois with us for the weekend. He was taking a short break from a year-long tour, preaching in cities across the country. Tim Moon played music that night, which was also a treat, since we usually don’t have a musician on Friday nights. Mike brought about 150 catered meatloaf dinners and some other food, which he got from City Impact. The many young (and some older) people who congregate in this area were happy to receive the food. Many stayed to talk with us. I spoke with Philip, who was from Sweden. I also spoke with some young men from Ireland. I mentioned the recent balcony collapse in Berkeley, which had killed 6 people, five of whom were from Ireland. One of the men knew one of the people who had died. Mike spoke with Graham, who was in his late 20’s. He had been involved with the Prodigal Project, a Christian ministry that had a house in the Haight district 13 years ago. He is an alcoholic and was quite backslidden. He also spoke with Ant, who was into New Age thinking, as were many of the people in this area.

The next day, we witnessed at UN Plaza, near City Hall. The worship group from my home church, New Life Christian Church in Hayward, ministered that day. Dave witnessed to Alex, 16, a Catholic from Castro Valley. He was skateboarding with two friends who were saved. He also witnessed to Damian and Naomi, brother and sister, who were Jehovah’s Witnesses. They were surprisingly receptive to the true gospel. Mike witnessed to Angelica, who said he was a Christian but transgender. I witnessed to Sidney, who knew a lot about the Bible but said he was not saved because he desired the pleasures of the world more than Christ. He knows Andrew, who often witnesses with us and was there that afternoon.

On Friday June 26, we witnessed at 16^th and Mission. Dave witnessed to Porek, who is from Ireland and knew the five Irish youth who were killed two weeks earlier when a balcony collapsed. Porek was quite receptive to the gospel and thanked Dave for sharing with him. Loi and Andrew prayed with Michael, who was originally hostile but broke down, confessing his sin. “I’ve done a lot of bad things,” he said. Mike Hodgdon ministered to him and invited him to attend City Impact.

The next day, we witnessed at Fisherman’s Wharf. Paul and Noreen Coca and a band from Stockton called Sapphire played music. Mike and Dave witnessed to Nick, who was raised a 7^th Day Adventist. They explained that the purpose of the law is to show us our sinful condition and need for a savior. Mike, Dave and I all witnessed to Justin, whom Mike had known from City Impact. He had been heavily involved in Eastern religion but had been touched by the love he had seen in Christians and was open to the gospel.

On Fri. July 31, we again witnessed at Fisherman’s Wharf. Ben witnessed to Shane, 17, who was visiting San Francisco with his family. He spent his time playing video games and saw no meaning in life. Ben shared his testimony of finding meaning in Jesus, and they exchanged contact information. Dave witnessed to Cody and Justin. Cody was raised in a Christian home but was living for himself. He ministered to Courtney, who is saved, and her friend Jelly, a Filipino Catholic. Both were about 17. He witnessed to Omar from Saudi Arabia. He had gone to school in Canada and had talked with several Christians about Jesus, but had a lot of objections to the gospel. I spoke with two women who I think were his wives and gave them a tract for Muslims. Dave also witnessed to Linda and Charmayne, homeless lesbians who claimed to be Christian.

Ministry Needs

Thank you again for your prayers and financial support for this ministry.

Please pray for those we have witnessed to recently, including those who are mentioned in this newsletter. Please pray for Allan, that he would get better work hours. He works night shift on Friday and Saturday nights and comes to outreaches very tired. We also still need a musician for Friday night outreaches.

I hope many of you will join us for an outreach this next month.