Newsletter September 1999

The Beginning of Wisdom

Dear Christian friends,

A few years ago, I watched a video of the revival that is  taking

place in China. In the midst of tremendous persecution,  millions

of people are coming to Christ in that nation. These people  pray

for  hours  with great intensity and faith, and are  seeing  many

miracles, including reports of people being raised from the dead.

Thousands have been imprisoned for their faith, under  conditions

that we can hardly imagine, and some are still being martyred.

But the thing that impressed me most about this video was seeing many

of these Christians holding church right out in the street, worshiping

the Lord openly and witnessing boldly to others. How strange! In China,

Christians witness openly and boldly, even though they may go to jail

or die. But in America, Christians are afraid to witness.

Dennis Balcombe, the missionary who made this video, gave the reason

for their boldness. The Chinese Christians fear the Lord. Jesus said,

“Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the

soul; but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body

in hell” Matt. 10:28. The Chinese Christians do not fear the police

who can imprison or kill them because they fear God. American Christians

are uncomfortable with the concept of fearing God. We tend to think

of this as an Old Testament concept.

But the concept of fearing God is as much in the New as the Old Testament.

The Greek term “phobio/phobos” is as strong as the Hebrew word

“yare/yirah.” Three times the word is translated “terror.”

“Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men”

2 Cor. 5:11. What was Paul talking about here? First, he knew that

those who do not know Christ are headed for the torments of Hell,

so he persuaded them to avoid that horrible fate. Second, he was concerned

about his own fate when he would one day appear before the judgment

seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10). In an earlier letter, Paul had written,

“Though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity

is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel”

1 Cor. 9:16. And surely he remembered the words of Jesus who said,

“Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and my words in this

adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man

be  ashamed  when he comes in the glory of  his  Father”  Mark

8:38. It is Paul who said “I am not ashamed of the gospel”

Rom.  1:16. He warned Timothy that “God has not given us  the

spirit  of fear…be not thou therefore ashamed of the  testimony

of  the Lord” (2 Tim. 1:7-8) and “preach the word  of  God

urgently at all times, whenever you get the chance, in season and

out, when it is convenient and when it is not” (2  Tim.

4:2,5  LB). Timothy, like many of us, was often fearful  of  wit­

nessing  to  others,  and Paul had to encourage  him  to  witness

boldly and consistently, even when it was not convenient.

A person who is truly saved will show an enduring change in his life

that will be demonstrated by good works (Eph. 2:10). The scriptures

teach that the truly saved person will consistently confess Christ

before men, with his words as well as his life style. “Whosoever

therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before

the Father…but whosoever shall deny me before men, him I also deny

before by my Father” Matt. 10:32. The Greek verbs for confess and

deny are aorist and constative, indicating an entire life of confessing or denying, not a single one-time event (such as a sinner’s prayer

or baptism). “If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus…you

shall be saved…with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

For  the scripture says, Whosoever believes on him shall  not  be

ashamed” Rom. 10:9-11.

When we truly fear God, we will walk in holiness and will boldly witness

to others. We will not fear persecution, imprisonment, death, loss

of reputation, or allow any obstacle to prevent us from reaching as

many people as possible with the gospel. “Fear of man is a dangerous

trap, but to trust in God means safety” Prov. 29:25. God, forgive

us for the many times we have been ashamed of you, and failed to confess

you before men. Put your fear in our hearts, that we will obey you

and persuade others to turn to you!

Ministry News

I am writing this letter before the SOS-San Francisco Outreach. I

hope  to send you an SOS outreach report next month. In July,  we

witnessed  on  Friday nights at Fisherman’s Wharf, Polk  St.  and

Castro  St.  On Saturday we held two outdoor worship  rallies  at

Powell and Market, two rallies at Union Square, and one rally  in

Berkeley.  A  team  of 12 youth from Idaho,  Montana  and  Canada

joined us one weekend. On July 24, the worship group from Calvary

Chapel, San Mateo led worship at Union Square. A team from  Mario

Murillo’s outreach joined us that afternoon.

From  July 28-31 we had a ministry booth at Spirit West Coast,  a

gathering  in  Monterey that draws about  25,000  Christians.  We

spoke  with many people about the SOS outreach, including  a  few

people  who  last  participated in our outreaches  in  the  early

1980’s.  About 80 people signed up to receive our newsletter  and

we gave out about 5000 SOS flyers.

Also  in  July, I began the process of challenging the  one  hour

limit on permits at Powell and Market. The police argued that the

limit  was necessary because people in the area were  exposed  to

decibel  levels it claimed were 97 db. (The police  measured  the

sound level of an unnamed rock band. We believe the level at  our

events  is  below 80 db.) In response, I pointed out  that  other

events  expose  people to decibel levels of over 110 db.  Why  is

there  no effort to limit the permits at these events?  I  expect

this issue to go to the Board of Appeals.

Surprisingly, the police granted us a four hour permit on  Haight

Street. However, they rejected our permit application for Fisher­

man’s  Wharf.  The  permit officer told me we  could  play  there

(illegally)  without a permit like other groups do but  he  would

not give me a permit.

Coming Events

Note: All outreaches are subject to change. Call (510) 531-5325  the

day before to confirm outreaches or for more information.

Friday  September 10 and 24 7:15 PM. Witnessing in  various  S.F.

neighborhoods. (Call us meeting location and directions.)

Sat. September 11 and 25. San Francisco Worship Rallies. 12-1  PM

Powell and Market St. 2:30-4:30 PM Union Square (Powell and Geary

St.)

September  17 – 19 New Hope Christian Fellowship Worship  Confer­

ence. (916) 348-6997.

September  30  – October 2 A Passion for  Souls  Street  Ministry

Conference, Dallas, Texas. Tommy Barnett, Sonny Arguinzoni,  Dave Roever, Scott Hinkle and others. (602) 404-9757.

May 1-October 17 Mario Murillo Ministries San Francisco  Outreach

(925) 820-5470.

Ministry News and Needs

On Tuesday July 13, Cammie Livingston woke me up at 2 AM. “Larry,

come  quick.”  I got dressed and saw Eric lying on  the  bathroom

floor.  At first, I didn’t know if he was unconscious or dead.  A

few  seconds later, he started talking but couldn’t get  off  the

floor. We called the ambulance and they brought him to the hospi­

tal.

Fortunately, it was only a bad back sprain. Eric stayed in bed  a

week, but returned to work on Monday. He works for a meet company

and often has to lift heavy boxes. I thought he should stay  home

longer, but he said his back was better (but still sore) and said

the other workers would do the lifting for the first few days.

At work, one meat buyer returned fifteen 55 pound boxes of  meat.

Eric was left alone to move the boxes. As he did, he believes God

healed  his  back. He now lifts things very carefully,  and  does

back  exercises every day, but says his back is now  better  than

ever.

Please  pray for Eric and Cammie and their family, as they are  a

vital  part of our ministry. The task of reaching  San  Francisco

with the gospel has not ended. We need many more dedicated labor­

ers  to  help us reach the people of this city.  Please  consider

joining us on a regular basis this coming year. Please urge other

Christians to join us. Please pray also for those who prayed with

us  or  responded to tracts this past month, including  Paul  and

Flora (SF), Doug (Austin, TX), and Carmen (Vancouver, BC).

Our  Tape of the Month is “Revival in China” by Dennis  Balcombe.

Dennis has been a missionary to Hong Kong since 1969 and has been

visiting  and ministering to Christians in Communist China  since

1979,  making over 450 trips to the mainland. During  that  time,

over  4  million  Bibles have been given  to  Chinese  Christians

through his ministry. In this teaching, Rev. Balcombe talks about

the fear of God as it relates to the revival in China.

Yours in His love,

Larry Rosenbaum