Signs of the Times
In recent years, we have seen so much violence in the news that we should have become immune to shock. But the pictures we saw in Los Angeles affected the most callous of us. Who can forget the sight of a truck driver being pulled from his truck, beaten almost to death? Or the pictures of families of looters emptying stores, sending their children inside to “go shopping”? Or the black man whose store had been burned and looted shouting out in anguish over national TV: “Don’t you people bring your children to church? Don’t you believe in Jesus?”
It was called the bloodiest unrest in this nation since the Civil War. The L.A. riots overshadowed the 6.9 earthquake near Eureka and the teacher and three students who were murdered in an Olivehurst, CA high school. The violence spread quickly to San Francisco and Berkeley. In both cities there was widespread vandalism and looting. For several days, there was a state of emergency and an overnight curfew. Hundreds of people were arrested but fortunately nobody was killed here.
In November of 1991, David Wilkerson wrote a message called “When God Departs! Is God Leaving America?” In it, he gave four signs of God’s judgment. The second sign was “There will be Tumults and Uprisings among the People.” `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!”
We are truly living in the last days. 2 Peter 2 talks about those who “walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities…And they shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time….Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin.” It is easy for us to throw up our hands in disgust, but we must not do that. Thousands of the rioters of the 1960’s were saved during the Jesus Movement of the 1970’s. I believe that the horror of the L.A. riots will shock many people to their senses, and many people will be saved as a result. Our task is not to judge and condemn, but to reach out to these people with God’s love and mercy.
SOS-San Francisco
June 26-July 4
The only hope for San Francisco and this nation is for Christians to join together in prayer and proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the only answer for ethnic and racial strife. This year’s SOS-San Francisco outreach will be an opportunity to demonstrate the love, healing and forgiveness that Jesus can bring. It will involve Christians from many different nations and ethnic and racial groups. Three or four black gospel groups will be singing at outdoor rallies during the week. As many as 5000 Christians from over fifty nations are expected at the International Convention of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship in San Francisco. All the Convention men are scheduled to join us for a rally at the Embarcadero on Friday July 3. Many are expected to join us for the rally and march on July 4. Many will be wearing their native clothing and carrying their nation’s flags. Their youth group (up to 300 youth) will be joining us most afternoons.
Demos Shakarian was here April 24-25 for a Convention planning meeting. He spoke about the 1972 Convention at the San Francisco Hilton, where Kathryn Kuhlman ministered. He had been witnessing to a prominent scientist that week, who was asking to see a sign that God exists. One afternoon that man looked at the Hilton. Although there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, a noticeable halo could be seen around the hotel. The scientist knew this could not have occurred naturally, and he received Christ that night. A local newspaper carried a picture of the halo.
We are very honored to learn that Floyd McClungwill be speaking at the outreach on Sat. June 29. Floyd is the International Director of Youth With a Mission. He was involved for many years ministering to hippies in Afghanistan and drug addicts and prostitutes in Amsterdam. He is the author of The Father Heart of God and Living on the Devil’s Doorstep. Floyd will also be speaking at the S F Vineyard on Sunday June 30. Also, Tal Brooke from Spiritual Counterfeits Project will be speaking on “Witnessing to New Agers.” Tal has written ten books, including the best-seller When the World Will Be as One, and is one of the most knowledgeable people on this subject.
On the back side of the enclosed bulletin insert is a Schedule of Activities for this year’s SOS-San Francisco. Meetings will be held daily at 9 AM and 6 PM at the S F Vineyard, 1098 Harrison St. (near 7th St.). We will be having daily outdoor rallies in downtown parks at noon. In the afternoon and evening, we will be sending out teams to witness throughout the city. We are planning neighborhood outreaches to work with local churches. We will also have children’s ministry and outreaches to the homeless.
On the Streets
We were quite apprehensive about going to Berkeley on Saturday May 2. The city was still under a state of emergency. Every major event had been canceled in San Francisco and Berkeley. But a small group of us went to preach at Telegraph and Haste Streets. Many people listened as we read what David Wilkerson had written about what happens when God brings judgment to a nation. While many in Berkeley claim not to believe in moral absolutes, I said, they showed their true beliefs in their outrage over the jury verdict. Almost everyone on the street wanted the police officers who beat King to go to jail. What this demonstrates is that they really do believe that certain things are wrong, and that those who do wrong deserve to be punished. If people have the right to judge and punish other people, how much more does God have the right to judge those He has created?
Half a block away, over a hundred Christians from Set Free Christian Fellowship in Anaheim were doing an outreach at People’s Park. At first the city wanted to cancel the outreach, but they allowed it to continue. The entire afternoon was remarkably peaceful. Six people at the park came forward to receive Christ. About fifteen people from the park attended the Set Free Church in Berkeley the next day and five more responded to an altar call.
On Friday night May 8, we witnessed on Polk Street in San Francisco. I spoke with a 15 year old who had been living on the streets for the past year. His parents are junkies and had thrown him out of his house. A short time later I spoke with a 19 year old who had been living on the streets since he was 14. His parents are Christians who attend the Vineyard church in Denver. They divorced when he was 14 and he went to live with his father. He rebelled and his father threw him out of the house. His mother offered to take him in, but he did not want to be a financial burden on her, so is living on the streets. Neither of these boys was receptive to the gospel. Still, I believe many of these teenagers would be saved if there were a live-in ministry to help them on a short-term basis. Please pray that God will raise up such a ministry.
While we can’t reach everyone, there are those who do respond to the gospel. One young man named Jesus received Christ last month at the Powell St. BART station. He lives in a homeless shelter, but takes the BART each Sunday to attend church with us in San Lorenzo. He now has a job as a forklift driver, and is looking a Christian living situation.
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 na tion: 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 shelters 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 Nineveh. 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.
Don’t miss this year’s SOS-San Francisco outreach. It will change your life and God will use you to change the lives ofmany others.
Yours in His love,
Larry Rosenbaum