Coming Events

(Contact me at mail@sosmin.com or (510) 282-5629 for outreach locations and times one or two days before outreach.)

Friday July 9, 16 3-6 PM Witnessing in San Francisco neighborhoods.

Saturday July 10, 17 12-5 PM Fisherman’s Wharf Taylor & Embarcadero St.

SOS-San Francisco

Outreach Schedule

Wed. July 21 825 Market St. (at 4th) 3-7 PM

Thurs. July 22 24th & Mission 3-7 PM

Fri. July 23 16th & Valencia 4-8 PM

Sat. July 24 Taylor & Embarcadero 12-5 PM

CALIFORNIA CHURCHES FREED FROM COVID RULES

Dear Christian friends,

On May 17, a California district court entered a settlement between Liberty Counsel, on behalf of Harvest Rock Church, and the state of California. Under the settlement, the state of California may no longer impose discriminatory restrictions upon any houses of worship. It’s the first statewide permanent injunction in the country against COVID restrictions on churches and places of worship. The governor must also pay Liberty Counsel $1,350,000 in reimbursement of attorney’s fees and costs.

The settlement references several Supreme Court opinions, including Harvest Church v. Newsom, which include a long list of similar nonreligious activity the High Court set for as comparable religious gatherings. These included grocery stores, big box stores, warehouses, transportation, infrastructure, telecommunications and more.

Now, churches and places of worship may never again have discriminatory restrictions placed on them that are not equally applied to this long list of “essential services” or “critical infrastructure” as outlined in the settlement agreement.

Four days earlier, the US Center for Disease Control surprised many people by releasing new recommendations. They said that fully vaccinated people no longer needed to wear masks or socially distance, except when required by local laws.

While many states had already removed their mask orders, after this recommendation, 14 more states relaxed their orders so that vaccinated people would not need to wear masks. And several large companies said they would not require masks in their stores if the government did not require them. California promised to relax their orders on June 15.

When Texas removed its mask mandate and other COVID restrictions on March 2, Joe Biden called the move a “huge mistake” and “Neanderthal thinking.” Dr. Anthony Fauci, who advises Biden, called it “risky” and “potentially dangerous.” Both were proven wrong when weeks later Texas experienced no surge in cases. A dumbfounded Fauci refused to admit he was wrong and claimed that a spike in cases and deaths would show up as a lagging indicator. But no spike came. And on May 22, Texas recorded zero COVID deaths for the first time since the pandemic.

Not all news was so good. On May 12, the CDC approved the use of Pfizer’s vaccine for anyone age 12 and over. There are attempts to lower the age even farther.

The issue of vaccination is a very controversial one. In 1905, the US Supreme Court held that states have a right to compel their residents to be vaccinated against Smallpox. Smallpox had a 30% infection fatality rate and killed up to 300 million people in the 20^th Century until it was eradicated in 1977.

However, COVID 19 is far different from Smallpox. The infection fatality rate for COVID is between 0.2 and 0.7%. The median age of death is about 80 and 50% of the deaths occurred in nursing homes. 95% of those dying of COVID had at least one pre-existing health condition with most having over 2 pre-existing conditions.

Two of the approved COVID vaccines use mRNA technology, which has never before been approved for use after decades of research. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses a different technology, which was previously approved only for an Ebola vaccine in Dec. 2019. That Ebola vaccine requires 2 doses, and as of last July, only 60,000 people had received even the first dose.

We know nothing about the long-term effects of any of these COVID vaccines. They were tested for a few months, and have since been given to several hundred million people over the past six months. What we are seeing is that the short-term effects of these vaccines are far more serious than any vaccine that is still being used.

On May 27, the CDC wrote “Over 285 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered in the United States from December 14, 2020, through May 24, 2021. During this time, VAERS received 4,863 reports of death (0.0017%) among people who received a COVID-19 vaccine. CDC and FDA physicians review each case report of death as soon as notified and CDC requests medical records to further assess reports. A review of available clinical information, including death certificates, autopsy, and medical records has not established a causal link to COVID-19 vaccines.” Note the clever wording: “has not established.” They are not saying there is no link, just that they haven’t established one yet. It is impossible for them to have properly investigated all these deaths in such a short time.

About 300 million vaccinations for many diseases are given each year in the US. From 1990 to 2020, between 29 and 182 deaths occurring shortly after vaccinations have been reported each year through the US government VAERS system. With these new vaccines, the number so far is 4863 deaths. The death rate associated with COVID vaccines is much higher both for older people, and for those under 65. Clearly, these COVID vaccines are far more dangerous than other vaccines. How dangerous, we don’t know.

I believe the decision regarding vaccination should be made by each person. If someone is older and quite sick, he may think the possible risk is worth the benefit. Personally, I think Ivermectin is a better and safer alternative. But for healthy people under 60, the benefit is certainly not worth the risk. And forcing healthy teenagers to get this vaccine, which provides no benefit to them but a significant, unknown risk, is inhuman. On May 11, Fauci said that he thought only about 60% of his staff had been vaccinated. That says a lot about what our health experts actually think about the COVID vaccines.

Despite spending trillions of dollars on COVID, no government was willing to spend $20 million for the kind of large, controlled study of Ivermectin required for FDA approval for COVID-19. And no drug company stood to make a profit off the inexpensive drug. Meanwhile, Pfizer and Moderna are projected to earn $32 billion this year from the vaccines, with much future revenue from booster shots. Pfizer and Moderna have announced that booster shots will likely be needed in 6 months.

Meanwhile, much of Europe is opening up to US tourists for the first time in over a year. In most cases, they require full vaccination or several negative PCR COVID tests. These COVID tests produce many false positives, making travel extremely difficult for the unvaccinated. Almost all cruise lines and many travel companies now require everyone to be vaccinated.

While other nations will clearly require some proof of vaccination for travel, the question has risen as to whether people in the US will need to show proof of vaccination in order to get a job, go to school or enter a store or church. Increasingly, schools are requiring all their students to be vaccinated. And many businesses are requiring new employees to be vaccinated.

According to new rules, when you enter an Oregon church or business, someone at the door must check your vaccination status. The vaccinated can remove their masks, but the unvaccinated must mask and stay 6 feet away from others.

While I do not know what will happen in the immediate future, all this is moving us rapidly towards the “Mark of the Beast” predicted in Revelation. “It causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.” Rev. 13: 16-17.

On the Streets

On Fri. Feb. 26, we witnessed at 4^th St. and Market. Mike witnessed to Maddie, 20, from Las Vegas. He was homeless and addicted to alcohol. Mike invited him to attend a Bible study at City Impact. Ryan prayed with Doris, a homeless woman who said she wanted to repent of her sins and trust in Christ. She had been attending Glide, a non-gospel preaching “church,” and was trying to get free from alcohol. Mary ministered to Ali, a Catholic Filipino. He said he believed in Jesus but was afraid to talk to any of his friends about Him.

The next day, we witnessed at Fisherman’s Wharf. Caleb played music and preached. Six teenage boys with skateboards, all from San Mateo and in the eighth grade, sat down on a bench next to us. They listened to our preaching and music for about 40 minutes. One of them, Felipe, said he attended church when he was 4 and really liked it. He moved to San Diego when he was 10. A friend invited him to church and he became close friends with their family. He exchanged phone numbers with Mike. Mike and Mary witnessed to another of the boys, Carmen, who said he was an atheist. He said his mother forced him to study different religions when he was young and he got confused. Mike shared with him about the evidence for the Christian faith, including Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by Jesus.

When Ryan was preaching at Pier 39, about 20 people gathered to listen. Alex again spoke with Christopher, age 10, who came to Pier 39 with his father specifically because he wanted to see us and hear more about Jesus. When Alex shared the gospel with him, he said “I feel so bad about my sins” and confessed that he had once stolen a candy bar. (Alex had been a heroin addict.)