Newsletter February 1992

ISEMA Newsletters

Obeying The Great Commission

by Larry Rosenbaum

Before our Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven, He left us  with one  Great  Commission, to go into all the world,  preaching  the Gospel,  making  disciples  of all nations.  Two  thousand  years later, this task is largely unfinished. Every year, the  percentage of people worldwide who have heard the gospel is  decreasing. According  to  one  study, 90% of all Christians  in  the  United States never witness to anyone. Every year, we see more and  more people  in our country turn away from God. Yet how can we  expect the  unbelievers to take the Gospel seriously when we don’t  show them that we take it seriously?

The dedication of the cults puts us to shame. Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW’s) have all the responsibilities of job and family that we have. Yet they witness an average of 4 hours a week. (At that rate it takes them 16 years to baptize one convert!) One day, I looked out my window and saw two JW mothers going door to door with their children in baby carriages. Why can’t Christians do that? One of the strongest arguments the JW’s use is that they are the ones who are out witnessing for Jehovah, not the Christians.

Every Mormon takes two years out of his life for full time missionary service around the world before settling down to raise a family. Why can’t we do this? If we did, we’d fulfill the Great Commission in no time. Instead, we come up with excuses for not evangelizing–it’s not my calling, I’m a silent witness, I’m too busy. We find fault with every method of witnessing and every evangelism ministry.

One of the main reasons we have a hard time witnessing is fear– fear of rejection by others. Nobody likes being rejected and when we preach the Gospel some people will be offended and reject us. Rather than admit this, we come up with other excuses for not witnessing. We need to overcome this fear, but we never will unless we are first convinced that we must witness for the Lord in order to be obedient to Him. We all love to claim the promises of God, but how many of us claim 2 Timothy 3:12, “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution”?

We all know that God has a plan for our lives, but many of us don’t realize that Satan also has a plan for our lives. The first part of his plan is to keep us from getting saved. Having failed in this, Satan’s second purpose is to keep us from witnessing to others. He does this through two means: 1. He makes us feel unworthy to witness because of our own sins. 2. He gives us a variety of excuses for not witnessing.

It is time that we stop listening to the enemy’s lies and commit ourselves to  obey the Great Commission of our Lord. I believe each  of  us should  be witnessing for Christ in our everyday lives–at  work, with our friends and family, etc. But I believe each of us should also be involved in some kind of organized evangelistic  activity on  a  regular basis–door-to-door, on the  streets,  at  nursing homes, prisons, juvenile halls, etc. I pray when the Holy  Spirit leads  me,  but I also discipline myself to set  a  regular  time aside  for  prayer. I fellowship with other Christians  when  God brings  me  in contact with them, but I also  set  aside  regular times  for Christian fellowship. I witness whenever I am  led  by the Holy Spirit, but I also set aside regular times for  witnessing.

I would challenge each of you to commit at least a few hours a month to some kind of organized evangelism outreach, in addition to whatever witnessing you do in your everyday life. Instead of looking for reasons for being excused from such outreaches, we should instead be dedicating ourselves anew to reaching this lost world by every possible means. I also encourage you to share this teaching with your pastor. I believe that the responsibility of each  Christian to witness needs to be taught from every pulpit.

Peace and Safety

World  events are certainly moving at an amazing pace.  The  coup that  took place in the Soviet Union threatened a return  to  repression of religious freedom. However, the coup failed, and  the Soviet Union has been dissolved, being replaced by a Commonwealth of  Independent States. We rejoice at the apparent end of  Communism  in that nation and the possibility of democracy  and  religious freedom.

Most people are now looking forward to a period of  unprecedented peace  and  prosperity as the major enemy of the U.S.  is  moving towards  democracy and capitalism. However, the Bible  says  that “When  they shall say peace and safety; then  sudden  destruction will  come upon them…and they shall not escape” 1  Thess.  5:3. The peace we are hoping for will certainly be short-lived.

Even  now, hundreds of people are dying in Yugoslavia in a  civil war between ethnic groups. Will the break-up of the U.S.S.R. into independent  republics  lead to war between  the  various  ethnic groups?  Who  will  have control over the  nuclear  weapons?  The prospect  of numerous republics with nuclear weapons and no  food fighting over ethnic differences is pretty scary.

At  the same time, the end of communism in the U.S.S.R. seems  to remove a major obstacle to a “New World Order,” a secular society in  which all nations unite, perhaps under U.N. rule,  and  ultimately the rule of a single dictator, the Antichrist. The  return of  our Lord is surely near. We must labor while it is  day.  The night is coming when no man can work.

Coming Events

Saturday February 15 Chinese New Year Parade Outreach, San  Francisco.  Up to 400,000 people attend this event. Meet at 3  PM  at Powell  St.  BART  Station. Contact SOS  Ministries,  Box  27358, Oakland, CA 94602, (510) 531-5325.

February  27-March 3. Mardi Gras Outreach. New  Orleans.  Contact Christ in Action Box 100, Chatsworth, GA 30705, (404) 695-1868 or Rescue  Atlanta (Mel Rolls, Director), Box 965039,  Marietta,  GA 30066, (404) 924-0201.

February  29 Mardi Gras Outreach. Galveston, TX.  Contact  Pastor John Elliott, Gulf Coast Christian Center, Box 143, Hitchcock, TX 77563, (409) 986-7889 or (713) 337-4364.

March  14-15  Spring Break Outreach, Port Arkansas,  TX.  Contact Rev.  David  O’Dell, 3400 W. Park Blvd. #2117, Plano,  TX  75075, (214) 519-0195.

April  2-4 Spiritual Impact/Evangelism Conference,  Houston,  TX. 7th  year.  Bob  Phillips, Ray Comfort,  Ken  Henderson,  others. Contact Turning Point Ministries, Box 925308, Houston, TX  77292, (713) 621-1498.

June 11-14 Tampa, FL Outreach. Contact Pat Schatzline (813)  683-5726.

June  22-27  Rescue  Atlanta  Outreach.  Contact  Rescue  Atlanta (address above).

June  26-July 4 SOS-San Francisco. This outreach will be held  in conjunction with the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International Convention. Contact SOS Ministries (address above).

It’s Time To Renew Your ISEMA Membership!

“Two  are  better  than one…  and a threefold cord  is  not easily broken.” We urge you to become a member of ISEMA if you have  not  already  done so,  linking up  with  other  evangelism ministries and Christians who believe in the Great Commission. If you  are already an ISEMA member, now is the time to  renew  your membership  for 1992. As an association of street and  evangelism ministries, ISEMA depends on your active involvement.

Once  again  I want to thank you for your prayers  and  financial support  for ISEMA. Please continue to send us information  about what  is  happening in your community, teachings  on  evangelism, information about upcoming outreaches, etc. so we can share these with our readers.

Also,  if you are involved in an evangelism ministry or  know  of one or more ministries that should be included in our next Street and  Evangelism Directory, please send us information so  we  can update  our  next  Directory. Include the  name,  address,  phone number, director’s name and brief (50 words or less)  description of what the ministry does.

Our  Tape  of  the Month is “Street Ministry  through  the  Local Church”  by  Mel  Rolls. Mel is Director of  Rescue  Atlanta,  an evangelism ministry to inner-city Atlanta. He also sends teams to do outreaches at major events around the country. Mel was formerly the youth pastor for a large Assembly of God church, so he can discuss  this issue as both pastor and evangelist.

Yours in His love,

Larry Rosenbaum