Battle Log

Page 130

Page 1 . . . 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 . . . 282

On Friday at the Gold Coast the team as usual headed out to declare God's glory and offer of forgiveness to the nations. But not always does this happen. For some on the team the evening was filled with great conversations, many people hearing and responding positively but for others it was a long hard outreach trying to find someone who was willing to hear.

The evening started with a man who declared that he wasn't sinful and very quickly was shown that was a lie through the law of God. He also declared that God would never punish people and that Hell doesn't exist. He made a point of declaring that he knew God intimately and would definitely be in Heaven and had been saved by Jesus but when asked what Jesus had saved him from he said, "Nothing". Which he was then asked, "So why did you need to be saved?"

It turns out he had been influenced by JW's and had believed much of what they taught and sadly had the pride to declare that he knew everything about God. He was unwilling to read the Bible and ultimately did not want to to hear what God had done to save sinners. He ended up marching off declaring, "You can't tell people that they are on their way to Hell, I could have you arrested right now!"

Next was a conversation with an unbelievably proud man. The other team member that spoke with him was exceedingly patient. This man who declare loudly and forcefully things that he was sure of only to inaccurately represent the truth on almost every occasion. He began by declaring that there is no God and had no great reason for it other than the fact that he didn't want there to be a God. He was asked some questions on that before being asked, "Do you think you're a good person?" to which he declared, "Yes, I am". Then he went on to declare that he was not only good by human standards, by this worlds standards but he declared that he knew if God existed he should let him into Heaven and oppositely if God was to judge him and send him to Hell, "F Him".

This man was unapologetically arrogant. This was gently but directly pointed out late in the conversation. He was shown that his problem wasn't really the evidence around God but from the things he was saying, he had a serious problem with God. He wanted to be in charge and because God exists he couldn't be, so he had done everything in his power to try and convince himself that he really was allowed to live however he wanted. He too left, despite best efforts before he could hear the gospel.

Next came Shane and his son, who followed suit. Their guilt was shown by God's law and they were left guilty but they tried everything they could to avoid God's justice by back flipping between declaring that they weren't that bad or that God doesn't exist.

This pattern followed the rest of the evening, for another thirteen people. The night was filled with seventeen people who heard God's law, saw the guilt and when they realised what they deserved was Hell, didn't want to know the solution but as quick as possible seemed to "run" away. It was almost unbelievable that so many were in the same boat.

Thankfully, even on a night this one, God is in control and His word does not return void! May God use the guilt revealed by His law to bring these people to trust in Him alone, finding a full and free pardon from their sin in Christ!

---

The afternoon was at Capalaba was filled with encouragement! Not only did a new team member come along to preach God's glorious gospel but the outreach featured many positive responses to the gospel! As usual some people were closed off whilst others were open to hear but through it all God in his providence enabled His word to go forth and it will not return without accomplishing what He has sent it out to do!

The second conversation of the afternoon took place with Georgia who at first said she didn't really believe in Hell but that she thought everyone went to Heaven. It didn't take long going through God's law and God's goodness for her to see that Hell must exist and even worse, that every human being deserves to be sent there. She came to understand the trouble we are in and then for the first time in her life she came to comprehend what Christ has done to save sinners and how a simple response of faith is all that is required to be made right before God!

Georgia even said, "All of these years in the Church I have heard many things but this is the first time I have understood how simple it is to be forgiven by God!" When asked later about when she would trust in Christ she said, "On my death bed", to which she was challenged with two thoughts, firstly that none of us are guaranteed a moment before death to trust in Christ and secondly she was asked this question, "If you don't want to trust in Christ now, who says you will want to trust in Him then?"

Georgia was challenged by this, was encouraged with what the Christian life will look like and that it will cost her things and at the end of the conversation she said she would consider it and that should would trust Christ today! Praise God for the clarity of the gospel and please bring Georgia before Him that He would graciously draw her to Himself!

There were also two exciting conversations that took place with elderly ladies. For the record, usually older people in general are hardened too the gospel. Either because they've grown up in Church and think they know it already or they've lived in rebellion against God their whole lives and aren't willing to change now. But in these two cases the opposite was true, both women were happy to talk and were challenged by the gospel.

First was a lady who had previously spoken to some other Christian's but didn't know the gospel. She through the conversation saw her sin, the penalty sin deserves and the desperate situation that leaves us in. Then she heard of God's forgiveness, that He pays the debt we owe so that we can be forgiven and she came to understand that this forgiveness is offered as a gift, not on the basis of merit, so that all who trust Christ receive the gift of forgiveness. She seemed to understand how simply it was received and was thankful for the chat. A checking question, to make sure she understood the gospel was asked but she didn't get a chance to answer as her bus arrived. She did take a tract though!

Next was a conversation with Lynn who had spoken briefly to the team a fortnight ago but today heard the gospel fresh. She came to understand the bad news and what Christ has done to save sinners but not the response of faith to receive it, as her bus arrived as well. Thankfully she was open and happy to chat and even said, "I shall see you in two weeks"! Lynn was for the first time in her life piecing together all of the things she had heard in Sunday School all those years earlier.

Please be praying for these three women that today would be the day of salvation where they would come to know God intimately as their Lord and Saviour and that for the first time they would trust in Him and what He has done to save them!

Praise God that the gospel is so simple and so free, so that all who come to Him in faith may be forgiven!

---

Thanks for your partnership in the gospel through your praying for God to be glorified as His gospel in taken outside the 'safe' domain of the church building. His work reflects His perfect unchanging character and what will the Day of Judgment reveal to those that we have been able to communicate the Way of salvation to?

- Ryan was able to speak to a family of 3 from a Russian church background. Mum knew that Jesus had died for her many sins. Daughter had to be escorted through the gospel a few times until the light dawned that she had not been relying on Christ's perfect atoning life, death and resurrection alone to save her. Like many in the churches she had added her imperfect work into her  (wrong) understanding. Now she has grasped the gospel. She has the challenge,along with her mother, to help their father to grasp the truth and 'love it so as to be saved', cf. 2 Thess. 2:10!

- Lee-Anne & Railee met some breakaways from the L.D.S.  Eventually, the gospel was heard by them.They were challenged to trust the Bible alone as God's revelation, i.e. absolute truth.

There were 3 completed flip chart presentations:

     -Indonesian Presbyterians, Joung, the husband not present. His wife Yohannaa and 12 year old son were referred to a church where the pastor is an Indonesian-speaker.

     - a husband who quickly disengaged while his wife was going to consider her need to trust in Christ alone.

     - Gareth and Sasha who happily engaged and now thinking the gospel over.

God led us to converse with these, and more. He has the last word. He is perfectly righteous. We praise Him, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the one  true God and give all glory to Him.

---

At Warwick this week we handed out Anzac tracts and had a few conversations. It was very busy because of the Polo Cross Event running all week so many people received tracts.

Rick spoke with a man who thought he was just going into the ground when he dies and he wants to just enjoy what time he has left in this life. After being challenged about the amazing design in creation and our bodies specifically the eye how complex it is in design and how that could just happen without a designer. Rick took R through the law and brought the Gospel to him. He walked away with saying he was thankful for the discussion and would think about what was said. He took a tract with him.

A couple on scooters stopped and I got to speak with the lady and Rick started a conversation with her husband. S was declaring her faith in Jesus and had the Gospel message and was full of thankfulness for Jesus. She was given contact details to a Church close to her as she has not been attending a Church for some time and said she would like to go. Her husband L didn't know the way to heaven and thought his goodness would probably get him there. Rick made sure he understood sin by taking him through some of the commandments to show our guilt and the great need to have our sins forgiven. The Gospel was shared and we pray for this couple, especially for L that he receive the gift of salvation in Christ Jesus.

I got to share the message with a young teenager who didn't know any commandments but said he puts God first every day. After going through the law with him he did admit he was guilty but said his good out weighed his bad. So then it was explained that any good we do doesn't cancel out the bad things we do and we still have broken God's law. There needs to be payment for sins as justice must be upheld and God is a perfect judge. I used the 'Are you a good person' tract to talk about the courtroom analogy. Hell punishment was explained and that we all deserve Gods punishment. Also I shared how Mr nice guy on the front of the tract has a smile on his face, but by the end of the good person test his face is looking very different as he sees that there is no one good enough to enter heaven.

This is how we need to be to understand our greatest need for what God has done to provide a way of escape. God sent His Son Jesus to live a perfect life in our place. I explained and asked C questions about the Easter message and he did answer a few things correctly. Pray that the Gospel will open C heart to salvation and God's Spirit do the work needed in his life.

Thank you so much for praying.
All Glory to God!

---

London Marathon outreach April 28: I went down to the mile 15 point of the London Marathon at Limehouse Station to hand out tracts and preach (non-amplified). Many young and old alike came to cheer on their friends and relatives. The crowd was young and trendy, but there was a good mix of all groups.  Everyone was following their favorite runner with an App that tracked their progress. One man said that he was scientist and I was wasting my time. I argued back about science not being possible without God.  It went a bit back and forth before he turned away when his friends showed up.

Interestingly, I could hand out many £1,000,000 notes to young people from the other major religion. Rashid kindly posed for me for one photo. I got there early to catch the professional ladies running past, but I didn't wait for Mo Farah and co. My only photo of the marathon comes from the platform at Limehouse. I definitely wish to get an outreach team together next year for the London Marathon. I'm close to a city of 10 million with thousands gathering on the weekends for any number of events. I look forward to Bill Adams in June for the Cricket world championships.

---

Thanks for your prayers. I awoke Saturday morning refreshed and with a clear head. 

I started the days outreach with some letterbox dropping.  It was a hot day, with a strong wind (with autumn leaves that crunch satisfyingly). So for the second time (since starting this job) I had to discreetly change out of my thermals in the car! :o

I was then in Cathedral Square for 3 hours of outreach and God blessed me with 3 very encouraging Gospel conversations - all different.

My first conversation was with a teen, who claimed to be a Christian, and love Jesus and yet believed that self righteousness was the way to heaven.  What started as a conversation where I thought they would leave at any moment, turned into a one hour, engaged, Bible study.  They just couldn't see themselves as a bad person deserving of hell or in need of salvation.

So the focus of the conversation was on the law, and the study took us from Matthew 5:21 (the sermon on the mount - anger & lust), to Mark 10:17 (the rich young man), and then to Luke 18:9 (the pharisee and the tax collector).

I eventually got a response of "I kind of get it". But in spite of deep sincerity, there seemed to be a blindness to what the Bible says.

Yet I didn't give up.  They said they loved to read, and gladly took a Gospel booklet, and all the varieties of tracts I had.  I wrote a list of Bible passages for them to meditate on (the ones I gave above, plus Romans 1-3, and the whole of Mark). And I gave them a contact card for my local church, with my contact details, and encouraged them to discuss with their parents and to get back to a good local church (of which I listed some suggestions).

After an encouraging conversation with a Christian, I then had an elderly person stop and want to talk.

They seemed to know about Christian things, and so I asked why they would go to heaven when they died.  I was encouraged when they responded with 'faith', and with some probing, a clear understanding of grace and faith in Christ alone for salvation.

It turns out I had given a tract to them months ago in Hagley park (the reason why they stopped to talk).  Tears came to their eyes as they shared a moment that had happened years earlier that had put them on a path of searching for truth.  They were now on the 3rd reading of the Bible, and had a desire to be baptised.  Again there seemed to be a sincere desire to follow Christ (they even described themselves as a follower of Jesus), but there was something holding them back.

I gave them a contact card also.  It was a wonderful conversation, I would dearly love to just sit with this person and spend time with them.  There was a warmness about them.  I hope they get in touch.

My final conversation of the day came about by a man sitting down near to where I was handing out tracts.  He became curious, so he held out his hand for one - which I gladly gave.

He sat and read for a while before beckoning me over.  It turns out he needed help with reading some of the words.  It was my absolute pleasure to slowly work through the whole tract with him, helping him with the words he struggled with, and talking through what it was saying (see picture).  It was wonderful seeing him slowly agreeing with the logic.

When we got up to the heaven or hell part, it was clear that he understood that he deserved hell, but that he wanted to go to heaven.  So we read on to where the gift of eternal life was explained.  He seemed to understand it all.

But, at this time, he rejected the message.  He clearly articulated that his desire for a specific sin was greater than the gift of eternal life found only by faith in Jesus paying his fine.  Sadly, he wasn’t willing to change his mind.

Yet there is still hope while he is alive.  The Gospel is the power of God to salvation, and he seems to understand the Gospel now.  I leave him in Gods hands.

Sunday saw a team of six out for two hours in the afternoon.  It was great to have three people joining us for the first time (all from one family).

I had a good conversation with a tourist from Europe who had recently been in Australia (Melbourne), and had spent some time with a Christian who had been explaining Christian concepts to him.  I was able to go over the whole Gospel with him.  He asked about which books of the Bible would be good to start with.  I suggested Mark & Romans.  But I clarified that he already had enough information, today was the day to trust in Christ for the forgiveness of his sins.

At the end of the outreach, we headed to Cathedral Square and I was able to preach in the open air, something that I missed doing on Thursday.

But before getting there, I noticed something on the foot path.  It was a torn contact card for my local church!  I picked it up, and it had my contact details on the back.  It must of been one of the two that I had given out yesterday, they obviously have no desire to get in touch.  :(  Yet, I'm not discouraged.  I can't change people, I can't convince them of anything.  It's my job to share the Gospel.  It's God's job to change hearts.  But I do wonder who's it was.

As always, all glory to God for helping us through this weekend of outreach.
 

---

Thursday was ANZAC day - a public holiday.  We headed into the city for our usual outreach with the plan of moving on to Eastgate.  But because of the holiday, there were a lot more people in town than usual, and so we ended up staying in the city for the whole afternoon.

And it was an odd afternoon.

Speaker’s Corner had a speaker playing loud music making any preaching difficult.

I was attempting to hand out tracts at the entrance to Cathedral Square without much luck, when a lady, seemingly out of pity, decided to come and take one.

I then had one of my hecklers come over for a chat.  We had been getting along well of late, but sadly the conversation “went south”.  But I was rescued by Sophie, who had come to join the outreach, and we decided to head to the corner of Cashel and Colombo.

But for me, I just had difficult conversations with people, who just wanted to mock.  And then a security guard asked me to move slightly, as technically I was on private property.  I gladly moved and the guy even took a tract.

Two guys then engaged the flip chart with Sophie, and a good conversation occurred with one of them, but his friend was not interested at all, and backed away a few meters.  I decided to approach him and try to start a conversation, but as he was talking to me, he just kept backing away, until there was a good meter and a half between us.  He really didn’t want to talk!  I tried one more time, but he just backed off down the street, and stayed there until his friend had finished hearing the Gospel from Sophie (see picture).

So it ended up being a niggly sort of day, from an outreach perspective.  But still, tracts did go out, and Gospel conversations did occur.  God uses our weakness for His glory.

But in contrast, the first outreach of Friday was incredibly encouraging! It was our first abortion + Gospel outreach outside the Hospital.

As I turned up, there were a whole lot of Police, the reason being that Prince William was visiting some of the Mosque shooting victims. We had no idea, but our timing was perfect. The Police wanted us around the corner - which was fine with us.

Then a lady came out of the hospital and I talked to her about what Prince William was doing and how that tied into why we were there. We are against all murder! And we want people to know there is forgiveness by the grace of Christ!

She blew me away when she said she had an abortion! My first conversation and I was able to minister exactly on the subject we were there for!

The signs arrived and we got started and there was an initial burst of opposition.  Security tried to move us across the road, which we politely refused, and then we had some brief opposition from pro choice people.

It calmed down after that, and the 2 hour outreach went amazing.  We had support and opposition.  And Andy & Jason had some wonderful conversations. Yes conversations, we are not there to yell.

Super encouraged that we are doing the right thing - as useless as it seems.

We want to see abortion end, that will only come through the Gospel of Christ changing hearts.

(We are working under the banner of Project 139 for this outreach.)

After this, we moved back to the city where Andy preached in the open air, and then Roger joined us for flip charting in Cashel Mall where some good Gospel conversations were had.
 

---

On Thursday, as it was Anzac Day and a public holiday, instead of heading into Sunnybank during the afternoon, the team attended Brisbane City to speak to people at the march. Over the course of the morning almost five thousands tracts were handed out and many conversations were had!

As people flowed out of the train station and into the square, they each were offered a tract. As people walked along the sidewalks, people were offered a tract. It is wonderful that here in Australia, due to the great sacrifice of men and women we can be free to live in a democracy. This day of celebration and the sacrifice offered, though exceedingly costly and loving, doesn't compare to the work of God, not to save His friends but those who had declared themselves to be His enemies!

Whilst celebrating the great sacrifice of our soldiers, the team were able to declare the immeasurable sacrifice of our God and invite others to be beneficiaries of Christ's sacrifice, through faith!

An early conversation took place with a man who wanted to believe that God saves people, because of their good works. He professed to be a Christian but had a very muddled idea of salvation, declaring that good people in countries who had never heard of Christ will be accepted by God into Heaven. He was shown why that cannot work and was pointed to the gospel but he said he still disagreed. He was encouraged to read Romans to see what Paul has to say about salvation.

This was followed by a short conversation with Marilyn, who declared that we should all believe what we want to believe. She was warned that this was very unwise considering we all want to believe that which is easiest for us, or what we perceive to be most enjoyable, not that which is true. It was pointed out that this could leave her in a lot of trouble, in fact it would. She was briefly shown God's law and left with the guilt of her actions as her husband came back and they left.

Lastly was an exciting conversation with John, a Portuguese speaker who came to comprehend the gospel and said that this very day he would consider what Christ has done and start reading his Bible. He was also encouraged to head along to a local Church so that he may grow in understanding.

Please be praying for the many who received tracts and for those who heard the message of salvation, that God would use this simple message to bring them into His Kingdom!

And maybe even start planning to join the team next public holiday, that you may use the time God has given you to declare His glory among the nations!

---

On Wednesday in Brisbane City there was a smaller team out than usual. Some of the local workers couldn't make it down and a few others got held up from coming so with four members the team set out to have as many gospel conversations as possible, to lead people to understand who God is and what He has done!

An early conversation was with Josh. He stopped to chat and at first didn't seem super engaged but by the end of the conversation after seeing the seriousness of the discussion, came to understand that sinners can be forgiven by trusting in Christ, who paid the debt. He was able to repeat it back and said he would consider what was said.

Similarly Niza was able to understand the gospel and explain how someone can be forgiven. Niza said that she had never really thought about what comes after death before and for the first time in her life considered it. Further than that she came to understand the reality of God's goodness and judgement and that our only hope is found in Christ.

A third conversation very similar to the first two took place with Jasper, unlike the others at the end, whilst being able to articulate the good news of what Christ has done and how one can be forgiven he still wanted to hold onto the idea that it may not be true. He was left with a strong challenge to not just sit around, waiting to die to find out but to consider the claims of the Bible, to read it and come face to face with what it says.

Troy, the fourth conversation declared that he had complete knowledge of the Bible and knew what it was all about but his spoke greater than he could support and was shown to be making bold claims. He did no a little about the Bible and said he had done part of the theological degree but sadly Troy had no idea of the main message of the Bible, nor of how he could be forgiven of his sin. He had rejected God whole-scale for what he said were, "problems with the Bible".

As he was about to leave, in an attempt to get to the gospel, as he was trying to bring up as many arguments as possible, a short monologue was given explaining the story of the Bible, of God's creation, humanities foolish, pride-fueled rebellion and God's justice toward evil, yet God's gracious and kind promises that He would act to save the very ones who had scorned Him and mocked Him. This all finding its fulfillment in Christ, when God became man by adding humanity to his deity and then lived the life we failed to live, dying the death, paying the penalty we deserve and rising victoriously from the grave, so that those who trust in Him and what He has done can be made right on the basis of His perfect life and sacrificial death.

Troy seemed stumped, he was silenced and it seemed that never before had he heard such a straight forward explanation of the gospel, let alone the story of the Bible and he took a tract and headed off.

This was followed by a young French lady who despite evidence declared, "I do not want to believe that there is a God". She was warned strongly that willful ignorance will not go unpunished and that it will not take away guilt from the rest of her actions.

Lastly was a brief conversation with Emma, who was a very good critic of people. She was accurate in noticing faults and flaws in humanity, religions and other world views but the irony was strong. The condemnation she poured out upon others, left her condemned. She criticised others for living however they wanted, despite later declaring that she lived her life trying her best to not hurt anyone else because she thought that was a good way to live. Sadly the conversation didn't last as she had to head off to work but Emma took a tract as well.

Please be praying for those who heard the gospel that they would take it to heart, not just remembering the truth of it all but personally trusting in what Christ has done for their forgiveness!

---

This afternoon the team met for an outreach at Bongaree Jetty.  Two Bibles, a number of Gospels of John, and many Gospel tracts were given out.  People seemed more receptive as the afternoon progressed.  It was a really good afternoon and a great encouragement.

  One gentleman, Blane, went through the Good Person flipchart and said that he had never heard the Gospel before.  He was sincerely thankful for the conversation, and he took a Gospel of John which he promised to read that same night.  He also committed to think seriously about what he had heard.

  A woman stopped at the literature table and asked about the free Bibles.  She wanted to know if she had to donate to get one.  She seemed extremely surprised when she was assured they were completely free. She said she’d been wanting a Bible for a very long time, so she took one, after just checking again that she didn’t actually have to make a donation.

  The children and young people again seemed to be very open and curious.  Two boys heard the Gospel and then came over to the table for more literature.  Three young ladies went through the Good Person flipchart.  They were ‘absolutely good people’, but as they moved through the law, they realized their sinfulness.  They thought that saying sorry was enough to get God’s forgiveness.  As they moved through the Gospel, they heard that since God is a good judge, He cannot overlook or merely forgive sin; He must punish it.  Jesus took that punishment upon His own shoulders, and we must repent and put our faith in Him to be saved.  They were vaguely familiar with that message, since they attended a ‘Christian’ school, but today they received the full Gospel.  Pray that God would move their hearts to see their own need of repentance and faith.

  As we were packing up, a young girl named Ruby came up and looked at our literature table.  One of the helpers engaged with her in a Gospel conversation.  She seemed genuinely interested and listened intently.  She took a Gospel tract and John’s Gospel home with her.  Pray for her conversion.

  Please be in prayer for all those who heard the Gospel this afternoon.  Many were remembering the sacrifice of the ANZAC’s today.  Please pray that their thoughts will be turned to the Ultimate Sacrifice who gave His life for our salvation.  Pray that souls will be saved, and that God’s name will be glorified by the work that was done this afternoon at Bribie Island.

 

---

Page 1 . . . 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 . . . 282

---