Battle Log

Saturday, 5 April, 2008

Posted 11 April 2008, 9:41 PM by Josh Williamson. Permalink

Saturday, April 5, 2008

  As I was preparing to leave for the streets, I happened to glance at the news that was on the television, the sports presenter was talking about a big football match that would be occurring that night. Normally I am not interested in the sport, but when the reporter said “Game starts in just under thirty minutes in Brisbane”, I knew that it was going to be an interesting night.

Where we witness in Brisbane is between two major sporting stadiums, and many of the people who attend the sports events walk past us on the way to catching a train. So we are strategically located to witness to many of the fans.

By 9pm we were in position in the Queen Street Mall setting up for the night. It was then that I noticed that two Brisbane City Council officers were present also. In the past the officials have given us a little bit of hassle as we witness but tonight they were friendly, and gave us a wave as they walked by. Praise God for Him opening doors for the Gospel to keep going in our city.

Ryan was the first preacher up for the night, and as we listened to him preach one could tell that he has been spending a bit of time studying apologetics. His arguments for the existence of God were brilliant, and as he spoke he proved how logically one can know that there is a God. He then looked at the atheistic position and how it is a logical false.

It was while Ryan was explaining the flaws of atheistic thought that a British accent was heard to call out from the crowd. Two young British tourists decided that they would have some fun and heckle the preacher. This boyfriend and girlfriend team went into bat on the side of atheism and evolution. While Ryan stood and represented Biblical Christianity.

The debate soon took off with both sides making their cases, and as they debated the crowd began to grow.   Ryan did a splendid job in presenting an apologetic case, and the British couple did a good job presenting their view. From listening into the debate it seemed that they just wanted to believe that God did not exist so that they could continue to live in a lifestyle of sin.

Ryan turned and tagged Hsusy in, who went from the atheism debate into the evolution debate. The crowd seemed to be loving the discussion. People stopped to listen, and as they left many of them took gospel tracts. The British couple tried to make the case that there is no moral absolutes in the world. So Andrew gave them a few scenarios to think about. Then he swung into the conscience and began to see if the British couple had a sense of right and wrong. This of course led to the Gospel being presented, which sadly I didn’t get to listen to.

Just as Andrew started in on the Gospel I was approached by two young men who had been listening behind the preacher. They asked me what was going on, and why were they debating. I explained to the two men that the debate was over the existence of God, and also evolution. They both laughed when they heard this and said “We went to Catholic school, we know God doesn’t exist!” These two men hated the Bible due to what the Roman Catholic School had taught them. So I went through some basic arguments showing the existence of God. As they thought about the arguments they admitted that there probably is a God. So from there I decided to swing into the   Gospel.

The question I posed to them was “Why should God let you into Heaven?” They seemed stunned at this question and thought about it for a few seconds, and then one said “He shouldn’t!” But the other said “Because I am a good person!” So I reached into my pocket and found a pressed penny with the ten commandments on it, gave both of them one, and asked “Are you good by God’s standard?” From there we went into discussing the Ten Commandments, and how they all leave us as guilty and show us the need of the Saviour.

After they saw their sin they listened carefully as the gospel was presented. They both left understanding the full gospel, and also with gospel tracts. Please keep those two men in your prayers.

My attention turned back to the preaching, and I saw that Andrew was stilling dealing with the same hecklers. He went on for about another twenty minutes then wrapped it up.

As soon as he stood down the team swung into action and began to witness one to one to the people who had been listening. This time of one to one went on for at least forty minutes, and then Kevin got up and preached the night home.

I must say it is an honour to serve with the men and women who make up Operation 513 - Brisbane, they do such a wonderful job, and many souls are being touched by their ministry. It is a blessing to serve alongside them!

Soli Deo Gloria!