Battle Log

Wednesday, 31 July, 2019

Posted 31 July 2019, 7:10 PM by Glen Richards. Permalink

Tuesday I normally spend four hours on the streets, and Wednesday seven hours.  But forecast rain for Wednesday led me to switch the outreaches for those two days.  And I’m glad I did, as the forecast was accurate!

Tuesday ended up being a warm day for outreach in the city, including time in Cathedral Square and outside Ara.

But before setting up my flip chart, I felt to do a bit of a wander first.  I was going to go and talk to Sunny - the hat stall vendor on Cashel Mall, but he wasn’t there for some reason.  So I decided to head for the Bridge of Remembrance, and I considered setting up my flip chart there - but decided against it.  So I started heading back to Cathedral Square via Oxford Terrace - attempting to hand out tracts as I went.  But then I noticed a guy sitting alone across the other side of the river (pictured).  I wrestled with the idea of going across to chat with him, eventually deciding to give it a try - and I’m so glad I did.

The young man was from Italy and had a Catholic background.  He was on a working holiday, currently relaxing in holiday mode and so was very happy to chat.  The conversation soon moved to spiritual things, which he was open to, and we ended up having a long discussion, where I had the opportunity to clearly explain the Gospel.  I was able to ask a checking question afterwards to confirm if he had understood, and it’s clear he hadn’t - as he instantly said that his good would outweigh his bad on judgement day.  I guess some things are deeply ingrained and take time to unlearn.  So I explained the Gospel again, and checked again to see if he now understood.  It was dawning on him: we are not saved by our good works, but by our repentant faith in Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the cross.  It’s exhilarating watching people process new information and start to understand it.  But it’s one thing to understand, it’s another to actually follow through.  I had no choice but to leave that in God’s hands.

After lunch, I headed down High Street to Ara.  On the way, there was a group of girls sitting on the seats outside the Vodafone building.  I was able to start a conversation with them and they were very open to the Gospel, and seemed to be impacted.  They all took tracts and thanked me.

Outside Ara, the highlight conversation was a follow up with some students I’d talked to a week or so before.  But this time they had more friends with them who I had not shared the Gospel with before, but were very open to hear it and discuss it.  Again I used checking questions to confirm if they had understood, and again the default response was that good works would save them on judgement day (one of them was a Catholic, so I see a recurring theme here!).  So after going through the Gospel a second time, I could see some light dawning on their minds.  It was so wonderful to see them understanding the good news of Jesus and justification by faith alone!

I was also able to follow up with the guys I’d talked to previously.  One who had seemed very open, and had even accepted a Bible, had quickly become “closed” and given the Bible away to one of his friends.  But as I talked to him again today, he quickly opened back up (a bit), and started asking good questions.  At one point, he revealed his frustration at God for not letting him live his life his own way!  This is at the heart of all men - rebellion against God.  I’m really encouraged by this conversation with this young man.  I hope to see him again.

Wednesday saw the forecast rain come with a vengeance, and it included wind (see picture) and bitter cold.  But in spite of this, I was still able to have Gospel conversations in Riccarton.  Two of them were stellar:

The first was with two young ladies - one of whom was not interested, as she had already done the flip chart at the Canterbury A&P Show.  But the other was a deep thinker, and really wanted to try the good person test.  I used the building analogy to show how we know God exists.  But they politely fought against it.  I stuck to my guns - as it’s logical, and I knew they knew it was too.  I chimed in with some gentle presuppositional apologetics too.  Showing them that without God, we can’t prove anything (He gives us a basis for logic, reason, knowledge and truth - which in turn gives us a basis for science).  The rain and cold didn’t slow the conversation down at all.  Eventually, an important question was asked.  They wanted to know what I thought about homosexuality.  It turns out they are in a relationship.  So I proceeded to lovingly, yet faithfully address the question.  We parted on very good terms.  The deep thinker gladly took a copy of “God and Sexuality” by Ray Comfort.

The other one was with a young man near the end of the outreach.  It seems he had some Bible understanding from his growing up years.  He initially said he was a good person and would go to heaven.  He very quickly reversed that position after seeing himself in the mirror of the law.  The Gospel then seemed to make sense to him.  He lives close to where my local church is, and so he accepted a contact card for my church, as well as a tract.  I hope to see him again, and I told him that.