Battle Log

On Wednesday, my first decent gospel interaction was at the corner of Cashel and High.

I approached a middle aged guy who was open to talk about deep things.  We talked about how we know God exists, and why there must be hell.  I was just taking him through the law when his wife (I assume) approached.  She had been shopping, he had been waiting.  She looked pretty shocked that he was talking to me.  I tried to include her in the conversation, but she didn’t want to have anything to do with it!  She said she was heading off, and was surprised when they guy didn’t follow - he wanted to talk about the deep things of life!  She walked off.  I didn’t want to come between them, and so I told him there was really good news in the tract I had given him - I summarised it briefly just before he turned to leave.

I turned in the other direction, and there was a young guy sitting just across from me.  So I striked up a conversation.  He was tentatively keen to chat.  He wanted to go to heaven when he died, but it was deeply rooted in him that his goodness would get him there.  I would explain the good news, and it seemed to deflect off - checking questions confirming.  As I was labouring with him, we were suddenly interrupted by two drunks!  I recognised one of them well - the last time I talked to him he seemed to be grasping the gospel well.  I was very sad to see him in such a state now.

The drunks didn’t scare off the young guy I was originally talking to, and I was able to keep labouring with him.  But he just didn’t seem to be grasping the gospel!  Amazingly, the drunk guy would answer correctly for him when I’d ask something like: “So what’s the reason why we can go to heaven?”  The young guy finally moved on, tract in hand.

I was then able to focus back on my drunk friend.  His other friend seemed to have ditched him.  He was making a real fool of himself, lying on the footpath and making people walk around him.  I took some photos of him, and he wanted to see them.  I said I’d show them to him if he came and sit next to me - it worked!  We sat and talked for a while, during the conversation he would show me ripped up bits of Bible pages he had in his pockets.

I really want to help this guy more, I’ll be praying for him, and hope to see him again real soon - hopefully in a sober state and able to reason properly.

Further down High Street I encountered an older gentleman who was keen to chat.  He was friendly and talkative, but deeply, deeply resistant to any kind of reason or logic.  I felt defeated and useless.  In the end I let him talk and listened to him, before gently ending the conversation and parting ways.

On Tuesday I was in Riccarton as usual and Roger joined me.  At the start of the outreach I was pondering on why people bother stopping to talk to me at all - it’s amazing, to me, that they do.  Sure enough, it was an outreach with good opportunities to engage people with the gospel.  With one guy, I was able to get all the way through the flip chart - it was a great chat, he was very open.

But the highlight conversation was a follow up with a guy that it turns out Andy had been talking to on Friday in the city!  Previously involved in gangs and crime, it seems he has turned a new leaf and is now a Christian.  But sadly, and amazingly, he seems to be subtly trusting his righteousness to get to heaven - even quoting Muhammad Ali!  I worked with him on this, him being both open and resistant at the same time.  Time will tell where he’s really at.  I hope to see him again.

I was online both days as well.  The highlight conversation was with a very intelligent young man who was agnostic.  The conversation went for nearly thirty minutes.  I was despairing that he wouldn’t open up (they usually don’t).  But to my surprise he did open up slightly.  I could tell he was challenged and needed to follow up on what I’d been telling him.  And, I was able to touch on the law and the gospel multiple times!

All glory to God.  Lord, keep us going, day by day, by your grace.  Help us to trust in you in the face of opposition and hardness.
 

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Saturday I spent two hours online in the morning, and two hours online in the afternoon.  In between I watched this super encouraging video on YouTube.

My last conversation of the day was with someone using a professional looking microphone - I wondered why, but figured I had nothing to hide and proceeded with my usual attempt to share the gospel.  He was a very thoughtful guy and gave good responses.  Slowly, but surely I was able to work him through the logic of how we know God exists, and why there must be a place of punishment after life: hell.  He heard the law, and then I moved to the gospel.  He had a very encouraging “ah ha” moment as he came to grasp it!  At this point he really opened up.  He mentioned something about being at a crossroads.  So I said it was no accident God had paired us up out of 50,000 people.  He started weeping.  I reflected afresh in my awe of God and his amazing Gospel.  I asked the guy if he had any questions, and he said: “You’ve answered questions I didn’t even know I had”.  Glory to God!  My hope is that those tears were tears of repentance - but that is God’s job, not mine, so I decided to leave him, after pointing him to needGod.net.

I felt overjoyed!  The wonderful opportunities we are having to share the gospel, and see it deeply impact people.  Glory to God, it’s so wonderful.

Andy and I headed into Cashel Mall on Sunday after church for a couple of hours.  Andy is becoming a “walk up” pro.  As soon as he finishes a conversation, he seems to be straight into another! All that’s needed is some gentle boldness.  People want to stop and talk!  Pictured are a few of those conversations.

Andy got into a great conversation with some Christian kids out doing healing evangelism, he pulled me into the conversation and we ended up giving them a demo of the flip chart and how the gospel message is the only power of God to save.  Healing and apologetics are great - but they don’t save people.  Only God does, and he condescends to do so through us sharing the gospel.  It was a great chat, and there were handshakes all round.  I invited them to get in touch and join us out on the streets!

An interesting conversation for me was with three people heading out to busk with a guitar.  They were intrigued by the flip chart, and I was completely upfront with what it was about.  As we worked through the law, they became very resistant - they wanted to insist on their goodness getting them to heaven.  I verbally came alongside them and tried to coach them that there was good news for those that were humbled by the law, rather than fighting it.  Sadly, it didn’t work.  They insisted that they would be going to heaven, simply because they didn’t want to go to hell!  They disengaged, and I knew it was futile to persist.  They all took tracts.

Thank you for your continued prayer and support of the street / online work of Operation 513. :)
 

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Thursday: Online in the morning before joining Andy at the bus stops.  Northlands and then Eastgate.

One of the most interesting conversations I had was with a young high school student from the Philippines.  He wanted to talk, but he was extremely softly spoken.  I took him through the law and the gospel, and he conceded to the logic of what I was saying.  I then moved into checking questions and I wasn’t surprised when he gave “good works” as the reason he would be going to heaven.  So I tracked back and started trying to explain things in different ways.  It wasn’t that he was disagreeing with me, but every time I would ask a checking question, he would rebotically respond with “good works”.  It’s the first time I’ve really encountered someone so entrenched in their thinking.  Early on I learned that this guy was one of Jehova’s Witnesses, and eventually he said, “we don’t believe in hell”.  It was an extremely difficult conversation: I was standing in an awkward spot, I could barely hear what he said, and I was feeling pretty tired.  I ended up giving up :(  But looking back that was wrong.  He wanted to talk - I should have calmly persisted.  Five minutes later, his bus came and he left.  He had a tract.

Friday started with the abortion outreach.  It was sunny, but the wind was strong and cold.  So strong in fact that we could barely hold our signs without the wind trying to whip them out of our hands!  Andy and I had been discussing repentance when a guy came to shake our hands and talk with us.  We have talked to this guy many times before, but I moved the conversation to the gospel again.  I explained how we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus' sacrifice on the cross - he seemed to understand, and so I explained the concept of repentance.  It was interesting seeing his response, he instantly started saying, “yeah, I need to try harder”.  I can’t be sure, but was he thinking he needed to try harder to be saved?  So I re emphasised justification by grace through faith.  The take away for me is that everyone we talk to is different, and finding the right balance in explaining faith, repentance and obedience in relation to salvation can be quite a tightrope.  But we must labour to get people to understand the paradox clearly and correctly!

Due to the strong wind turning our signs into sails, we decided to cancel the outreach early.  Andy and I headed back to his place, where I got him set up for online evangelism on his new computer.  Andy had a long friendly chat with a Muslim who was keen to engage, but ended up being resistant to the gospel.

We headed back into the city for open air preaching in the Square.  There were eleven Christians there, and only one heckler!  The heckler was in a deep one to one conversation with one of the Christians, so the preaching proceeded unopposed.

I decided to hand out tracts and I ended up getting into a wonderful conversation with a lady passing by.  She was Catholic and confident she would be heading to heaven because she is a “good person”.  I just said, “well, if it’s good deeds that gets us to heaven, then I’m not going there”.  She was intrigued, and came back to talk to me.  It was a short conversation, but I was able to explain the gospel, and how we are justified by grace through faith, and not by works.  It started to really click on the second explanation.  She had to go, but she seemed genuinely impacted by the conversation.  Thank you Lord.

After some more one to one gospel conversations, we moved to Cashel Mall.  It was great to have Binu and Graeme with us.

I didn’t bring the flip chart due to the wind.  Andy and Graeme were busy in walk up conversation after walk up conversation.  I had two highlight walk ups.

The first was with a guy sitting near the Bridge of Remembrance.  He had a Catholic background but didn’t seem to be convinced by it all.  So I took him through the logic that there is a God and a hell, and then through the law and the gospel.  He listened and asked great questions.  He then made this statement: “you shouldn’t be sharing it like this, people will think they can live their lives any way they like”!  He was understanding the grace of God!  So I then explained the concept of repentance to him (mainly using the fireman analogy).  He seemed genuinely impacted and thankful, he shook my hand a few times.  I could tell he had some thinking to do.  Lord, change him by your grace!

The second conversation was with a Muslim teen girl.  It was a long, respectful conversation with a focus on how God can be both just and merciful, and how Christianity has an answer, and Islam does not.  She started asking wonderful questions related to the Bible and the Quran.  I ended up pulling Andy into the conversation who is reading the Quran at the moment.  She agreed that she needed to read the Bible and find out what it says.  Suddenly, two girls butted into the conversation.  They focused on the Muslim teen and asked: “are you ok?  You don’t have to listen to these men if you don’t want to, you can walk away”.  I was deeply hurt by the insinuation.  But I just stepped back - I wasn’t holding her against her will, I would let her decide if she wanted to keep talking to us.  Not surprisingly, she did want to keep talking to us, much to the shock and hatred of the two ladies who left but kept watching from a distance.  The conversation was pretty much over anyway.  We gave her four types of tract, including “Which One?” and explained how she could get a Bible in a language that suited her.  It was so wonderful talking to a very bright minded young lady.  Lord, we leave her in your hands.

Andy and I finished the day of outreach online with the Brisbane team.  It was so great having Andy joining us!

Thank you for your prayers and support of the Christchurch (NZ) team!  God bless you.
 

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Tuesday was a wonderful day of outreach for the Christchurch (NZ) team.  Four hours online, and the Riccarton outreach went long due to a great conversation: two & a half hours.

Online I alternated between text and video chats to pace myself.

My first video chat was with an extremely resistant guy who fought me on everything I said.  It was a really draining conversation that I decided to end.

But then I got into a conversation with a professional looking guy who wasn’t resistant at all.  He was going through a life crisis which he wanted to talk about - I listened and shared my empathy.  I could tell he appreciated it.  He was showing all the classic signs of false conversation, but then I wasn’t sure.  I took him through the law, and the gospel.  And I worked on his understanding of what saves us from hell.  There didn’t seem to be much reaction.  I continued to gently probe with questions when suddenly he started talking about how he felt like he had walked into a ditch.  So I came back to the gospel, and explained that Christians can walk into ditches, even get caught up in very serious sin, but if they are Christians, God won’t leave them in a ditch, he disciplines those that he loves.  And Jesus died on the cross to forgive us of all our sins.  It seemed to be a God moment.  Tears welled up in his eyes, overflowed down his cheeks and dropped onto his shirt.  He seemed oblivious to the tears - he just listened.  The moment passed and we continued to chat.  I still didn’t know if he was a false convert, or a Christian battling sin.  I emphasised the wonder of the gift of the gospel, and urged him to take drastic action in relation to sin.  Before we disconnected, I let him know how to get in touch.

Later I was connected to a kid from Bulgaria!  My first time talking to someone from there.  He was very intelligent, and steeped in secular philosophy.  I took him through the logic of the existence of God, the law, and the gospel.  He was resistant, but he didn’t disagree with what I was explaining.  When I shared the gospel, he gave a classic: “ahh, I get it now” response.

The outreach at Riccarton was awesome.  The highlight conversation was the last one.  Two guys walked past, and I tried to get their attention completely expecting them to ignore me.  To my surprise one of them wanted to talk (the other didn’t)!  I was able to pull the second guy into the conversation, and it went deep quick.  Eventually, the first guy asked if we could sit down, which we did, and the three of us had a long conversation.  From what I could gather, the first guy had Christian influence, and has some conviction of sin, but is trying to work out how much sin he can get away with!  The second guy is “atheist”.  We had a long discussion where the gospel was talked about a lot, as well as what repentance means.  It was a long conversation, and I eventually felt like we had made as much progress as we would.  We all shook hands at the end, and the both took tracts.  I was shocked to realise the outreach had gone well over thirty minutes extra - but that is such a good thing, oh that more and more people will want to stop to talk about the most important questions in life!  Lord, save people for your glory!

On Wednesday I was online and in the city.  I wasn’t feeling the best when I was in the city, so I just sat at the southern entrance of Cathedral Square and handed out tracts to those passing by.  By God’s grace, I was able to get into an easy conversation with two guys.  It was a quick conversation, and at the end of it, one of them said, “that is the best explanation I’ve heard from a believer”.  All glory to God for giving us the truth of the gospel, and I’m very grateful for those He has raised up to teach us how to effectively share the gospel: Ray Comfort and Ryan Hemelaar (and others).

From there, I went for a walk through the sitting looking for people to share with.  I ended up having a good chat with a taxi driver (he eventually invited me to sit in his car).  I then was able to challenge a guy at the corner of High & Cashel, before heading towards Ara.  Unfortunately it started raining, so I decided to head home to go back online.  I was walking a route I don’t normally take when God led me to a guy I ended up having a long conversation with.  He was a Christian, but needed encouragement which I tried to give.

I finally made it home and was given the privilege of livestreaming for the first hour.  God was very gracious in giving me a string of wonderful conversations where people came to grasp the gospel.  How wonderful!
 

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Saturday I decided to go online instead of head into the city.  A couple of hours in the morning, and a couple in the afternoon (with the Brissie team).

In the morning I had two highlight conversations.

The first was with a guy who looked suspiciously naked from what I could tell at the edges of my video shield.  Normally people like that take one look at me and disconnect.  But strangely he didn’t.  I expected him to leave at any second, so I just started trying to share as much as I could about God before he left.  To my surprise, he started responding via text.  He said: “I’m practicing my posing for a bodybuilding competition”.  So I asked him if he believed there was a God.  He responded with “yes of course”.  And we were into a discussion!  Safe to say, I kept my video shield up!  I was able to take him through the law and the gospel.  It turns out he had a Muslim background.  He gently resisted initially, but to my surprise he softened.  At the end he said: “Yes I see ur point”.  And then when I asked if he could see how this is good news, he said, “yea def”.  He received a link to needGod.net.

The second was with a man from Dubai.  Initially he was being a bit silly, taking the serious things I was talking about lightly.  I decided to verbally jolt him - expecting him to bail.  But he didn’t, he sobered up.  I was able to share the gospel, and he seemed to really appreciate the conversation.

In the afternoon I had four conversations before getting into a long chat (nearly 50 minutes) with a young guy and his friend.  This guy seemed genuinely impressed that I was online sharing the gospel.  It seems he is a recent convert and so I was able to give him lots of encouragement, and clear up some confusion he had in regards to Catholicism (which his friend was).  I shared a link to needGod.net, and he checked it out on his phone - he was instantly excited because he recognised Ryan!  He had been watching the gospel video clips on Tik Tok!  He was genuinely excited to know that he was talking to someone on the same team as Ryan.  And it was so encouraging to me to hear of the impact the gospel videos on Tik Tok were having.  Thank you Lord, all glory to you!

A couple of conversations later, and I got into a chat with a young guy who melted when I gave him the building / builder - universe / universe maker analogy.  It really clicked for him, and he became very open to the law and the gospel, which he was familiar with, but didn’t really understand.  It was a wonderful chat.  Lord, save him.

Sunday afternoon saw two outreaches for me.  The first was in the city with Andy.  Andy was in fine form getting people to stop and chat - walk up style.  He was in conversation after conversation.  At one point he was in a conversation with a guy who started throwing coins at him!  He was mocking Andy somehow.  The guy left, but the Hara Kirstina’s were out evengelising in the same spot and one of them asked me if he could take the coins!

The Hara Kirsina’s were busy, getting into conversations, and selling books.  But Andy & I kept pace.  I’m starting to get to know one of them, he even shook my hand today.  They don’t want to waste time with us - but I’d love to get to know them, I’d love to be able to share the gospel with them.

I had some great chats.  I’ll mention two.

The first was with a guy who I didn’t expect to stop.  We had quite a long conversation.  Initially I thought he was a Christian, but little warning signs were showing.  He then started talking about baptism being required for salvation.  That was a loud warning!  So I took him to the flip chart to start confirming what he understood.  He ended up saying, “I need to trust that Jesus is the son of God”.  I corrected him by saying, “You need to trust that Jesus died on the cross for your sins”.  Finally I said, yes, Jesus must be God.  And then he said, “oh, you believe in the trinity”!  He denied Jesus is God.  I should have known, but it was the fact that he said he went to a Baptist church that threw me.  I explained why Jesus must be 100% man and 100% God.  He left with a tract.

The other chat was unexpected.  I was rushing home to be ontime for the online outreach with the Aussies when I noticed an elderly man trying to wheel his wheelchair without much success.  I hurried past, but then I caught myself.  I went back and asked if he needed any help.  He said he needed to get to the bus exchange.  It would make me late, but I knew I had to help.  As I was pushing him, I introduced myself, and then I realised I had a gospel opportunity on my hands!  As I wheeled him to the bus exchange, I was able to share with him.  He seemed resistant initially, but he didn’t fight.  He took a tract.

I finished the day online.  I had two outstanding conversations: 30 mins, and 1 hour 30 mins!

The 30 min chat was with two girls from the States.  One of them said that she was going to skip me initially, but that she was glad that she didn’t.  The both seemed to really appreciate the conversation.

The 1 hour 30 min chat was with four guys.  They were up to no good - so God sent me their way.  There was a real mix of beliefs among them.  One of them was genuinely stoked to realise I was online to share the gospel, and he positively influenced two others.  The fourth guy was Atheist - but he was keen to chat.  They all heard the gospel multiple times, and then they started taking turns to ask questions - good questions.  I ended up with the Atheist and we talked for a while.  He eventually opened up about why he was suppressing the truth about God - he is bisexual.  “Am I damned?”, he asked.  Without compromising the serious nature of the sin of homosexuality, I was able to explain (again) the amazing good news of Jesus - even for homosexuals.  What a privilege!

Oh Lord, please save people through our feeble efforts to share your amazing gospel.
 

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On Thursday I was online for a couple of hours before joining Andy at the bus stops.

I had conversations with many, but a highlight ws with a young Buddhist girl living in Switzerland.  I talk to her for over twenty minutes.  She became curious of the logic I was laying out for her.  It turns out her mum is becoming interested in Jesus and has started attending a church.  I suggested that maybe her mum is praying for her - and that our conversation was not a coincidence.

I also had a text based conversation with a person who simply couldn’t grasp the idea that she was a bad person!  I had to be really patient, but the penny finally dropped:

Stranger: everyone's not perfect and everyone lies..
You: Right, so therefore there are none that are good. That is exactly what the Bible says.
Stranger: OMG your right
You: If i compare myself to a murderer - I'll look good. But if I compare myself to God.... I'm a very very bad person.
You: Make sense?
Stranger: yes
You: So, if you died today, and God judged you by perfection, would you be innocent or guilty?
Stranger: guilty
You: Heaven or hell then?
Stranger: hell
You: This is the bad news. But there is good news. Does it concern you that you would deserve hell if you died today?
Stranger: yes

[snip]

You: Who do you know that is perfect, and willing to die for you?
Stranger: hmmm no one
You: There is only 1: God.
Stranger: omgggg
You: God is the only one that is perfect
Stranger: ur rightttt
Stranger: ur smart

They heard the gospel before they had to go, I left them with a link to needGod.net for follow up.

The bus stops were quieter than I expected, and I was also feeling really tired for some reason.  I really had to pace myself through the afternoon.  I know I talked with many about the gospel with many - but I can’t remember any specific highlights except that I saw one of the people I had talked to the previous day.  I keep seeing this person.  I wasn’t able to talk to them again, as they were walking past when I was already in a conversation.  But this person is on my heart - I am praying for them.

Friday we were outside the hospital in the morning for our usual gospel + abortion outreach.  A relatively quiet outreach - which was a relief.  Andy had a long conversation with someone at the start.  I started praying that the man’s heart and mind would be open to the gospel - strangely, right at that moment, he started becoming resistant and he left soon after!

The highlight of the day was the open air preaching in Cathedral Square at lunch time.  There were a lot of people around.  Andy preached after me and attracted a great heckler (pictured).  Without being arrogant, Andy took this guy to task - and the crowd started to gather.  The heckler got angrier and angrier, but Andy calmly stuck to his guns and would cycle back to the gospel appropriately.  Eventually the heckler walked off, and Andy was free to speak to the gathered crowd.  In the meantime Christians were having conversations with people on the periphery.  Glory to God for the wonderful opportunity!

A team of seven in Cashel Mall afterwards.  Lots of great opportunities to be a witness for Christ.  I have three highlights:

One of my regulars came past and stopped for a chat.  I’ve been talking to this guy for well over a year.  The last time I talked to him, I was urgent with him.  But this guy seems completely blind to what I’m saying.  He hadn’t been thinking about what we have talked about in the past, and he couldn’t remember the gospel!  So again, I shared the law and the gospel, and pleaded with him to “wake up”.  He took some new tracts to add to his collection back at work (he says he reads them).  Lord, have mercy.  Regenerate him - wake him up!

Near the end of my time flip charting, I had three people walk past.  I asked if they would like to try the good person test - totally expecting them to ignore me and keep walking.  To my surprise, one of them beelined for me and walked right up to the chart wanting to give it a go!  Of the other 2, one was curious, the other didn’t want a bar of it and eventually walked down a bit to sit and wait out of ear shot.  The two that stayed were open to the gospel message, and appreciated the new information that contradicted their Catholic understanding of things.

As the outreach was wrapping up, I was surprised to have another of my regulars stop and ask to catch up.  This person is not a Christian, and yet they wanted me to pray for them!  What a privilege!  I did so, and we talked for about twenty minutes.  I will continue to pray for this friend.

I finished the day with some online outreach.  I was able to speak to a number of Christians (or false converts, you can’t tell which).  In one conversation I preached at the choir encouraging them to share the gospel.  In the other conversation, the guy was wrestling with sin.  I was able to bring the balm of the gospel as well as be able to urge this guy to take drastic measures to deal with his sin.  I pointed him to his Bible and local church.  I finished the conversation by praying for him.

Lord do your work!  All glory to you.
 

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Tuesday and Wednesday were wonderful days of outreach for the Christchurch (NZ) team.

I was online in the morning and early afternoon before joining Roger and Binu in Riccarton.  Due to the school holidays it was a very busy outreach.  Pretty much no down time - which was great.  And the conversations were quality.  Three times I made it all the way through the flip chart (19 pages) with people!  The flip chart is a wonderful visual tool for making the gospel and associated concepts really clear for people, with lots of checking questions built in.  You can buy the mini version here (NZ) or here (AU)

Of the people that made it all the way through, the first was with two teen girls.  The second was with a guy who said he often sees us on street corners, but hasn’t had the opportunity to stop or talk.  I could tell he understood the gospel well, as the flip chart anticipated his questions perfectly!  And yet, sadly, he was resistant to it.  The third was with a teen guy, who goes to a religious boarding school - even went to church twice a week, but he was looking to his good deeds to get him to heaven.  It was a long conversation where he asked some great questions at the end.  He took tracts and knows how to get in touch.

I was also able to interact with others too.  I had two guys come down keen to give the flip chart a go.  It was a “set up” - they knew what it was about and they wanted to argue.  They were “atheists” - early in the conversation, one of them pulled out their phone and started recording - fine by me!  I never got to share the gospel, as they were not ready for it.  I spent the time on simple apologetics and the law.

I was too busy to notice what Roger was up to, but from what I could tell, he was having plenty of gospel chats too.  Binu handed out tracts.

On Wednesday afternoon I started in the city without a flip chart.  It was a lovely day.  Before I got to Cathedral Square, I encountered two guys I’d briefly talked to on Saturday.  Sadly, they were trying to sell drugs.  I had an opportunity to take them through the law, but they didn’t stick around for the gospel, sadly.

After that outreach went fast, I had three other long chats.  The first was in the Square with three Mormon girls.  I then decided to head down Oxford Terrace before heading towards Ara.  I never made it to Ara.  There were lots of people on the other side of the Avon river, so I went there.  My last two conversations were there.

The first was with a young guy and girl.  Man did they talk!  I had to be really patient as they kept interrupting - but it wasn’t a bad thing, it seemed to really help them slowly process what I was trying to explain.  I’m glad I persisted, as I could see them softening.  They heard the gospel - may God have mercy!

I then saw another couple and decided to approach them.  When they looked up, I realised that one of them was one of my regulars!  The guy she was with I hadn’t talked with before though.  So we fell into a very deep conversation where they both peppered me with difficult, and serious questions.  I did my best to keep coming back to the gospel.  The guy became mildly resistant as he wrestled with the honest answers he was getting.  I didn’t push it, but I did make sure he understood what he had to do to go to heaven before I left.  I also left him with tracts.

I finished the day of outreach online.

I thank God for his patience in giving us these days to share his gospel with many.  Lord, use it to bring change in their lives and in our society for your glory alone.

PS, no time for pictures, enjoy my mock picture of some gospel tracts!
 

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On Saturday I spent a couple of hours in the city in the morning and a couple of hours online in the afternoon.

The highlight conversation from the morning was with a young Catholic mother from India.  I could tell I wouldn’t have much time with her - she wanted to stay and talk, but she had to go.  So after explaining the gospel, and focused on contrasting the works based salvation of the Catholic faith, and the gift of Jesus as described in the Bible.  She looked conflicted, but seemed to appreciate the conversation.  She took a tract as she left.

In the afternoon, I ended up having an interesting chat with a guy who said “this conversation has changed my life”.  And yet, as I was talking about the cost of following Jesus, he suddenly disconnected.  At the very least, he seems to have understood the gospel.  Lord save him!

On Sunday Binu and Daryl joined me in the city for a couple of hours of outreach.  There were two highlight conversations for me.

The first was with a Christian - an evangelist.  He was down from Auckland for some revival meetings.  He said he had just talked to some people in the supermarket, and “led them to the Lord”.  How wonderful!  He then pulled out his phone and started showing me some video of some kids reciting a sinner's prayer.  The look on the kids face was one of bemusement.  I asked the guy if he thought they were really saved.  I mentioned that it can be misleading to lead people in a prayer, because they might think that, now they have said the magic words, they are saved - when they really aren't.  I wasn’t really surprised, but he became very defensive, and even started to rebuke me.  He started saying things like: “baptism is part of it” [baptism is part of being saved].  I said, no, we are only saved because Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and we accept the gift by faith alone - baptism will come, but it’s not part of being saved.  In the end, I thanked him for the rebuke.  I want to be open to correction if need be, but I wanted to continue to share the gospel with people.  He moved on at that point.

The other highlight was an awesome conversation with two teen guys.  One of them walked right up to me and I could tell he wanted to talk about the deep things of life, but he wanted me to initiate!  This often means I’m being set up.  So I challenged him on it.  He insisted he was genuine.  And he really seemed to be.  They ended up joining me on the flip chart.  It was wonderful watching the penny dropping multiple times for that one guy.  It was a wonderful conversation.  When we got to the resurrection, he had really good and genuine questions about how we know it happened.  It was a joy watching this guy processing the apologetics.  They were challenged to respond to the gospel - urgently.  And they received tracts with an invitation to get in touch if they had further questions.

Oh God, we are so weak, we are so fallible, we are so dependent on you.  Please help us to be faithful to your word.  Help us to share your gospel faithfully.  Help us to be alert to deception, and open to correction.  We love you, Lord, for giving us life, and saving us from our sin by paying our hell fine on our behalf.  We love you Jesus!
 

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On Thursday I was online for a couple of hours in the morning before joining Andy at the bus stops in the afternoon (as usual).

Online I had a surprise text based conversation with a person who works in the abortion industry.  You can read about that (and our Friday gospel + abortion outreach) here.

I really enjoyed the afternoon outreach at the bus stops because it was busy with many opportunities to share the gospel with people.  We started at Northlands this week, before moving to Eastgate.  It was great to have Tim join us at Eastgate after he had finished work.  Tim hasn’t been on the streets for a while, so I took the time to take him through the new flip chart.  He then paired with me as we approached person after person to share the gospel.

We shared with a lady who was angry about the new abortion legislation introduced by the government back in March.  She considered herself a good person, and was extremely resistant, if not offended when I tried to show her the law.

Next was two ladies and a young child.  One of the ladies was quite responsive, and listened to the logic of how God exists, and the law which brings the knowledge of sin.  Sadly, the child was quietly disagreeing with what I was saying!  Their bus came, she took a tract as she left.

We were able to talk with a bus driver, a Christian who thought keeping the 2 greatest commandments would get him to heaven.  He also was leaning towards universalism.  I was able to explain the gospel and then answer some good questions he had, before his bus came.  He took a tract.

On Friday, after the gospel + abortion outreach, we had a great time of open air preaching in Cathedral Square.  It was very encouraging having people stop to listen.  There were some great questions and interaction.

For the rest of the afternoon, we were in Cashel Mall.  I had one stand out conversation - a sad one.

It was with a young lady with a little girl with her.  Long story short, she wanted heaven but she wanted her sin too.  After taking her through the law and the gospel, and working through many checking questions - it was clear she was understanding the big picture.  She tried to trap me on the concept of repentance.  She said, “well, I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins - and if that’s the only thing you have to do to go to heaven, then why do I have to do these other things ” She doesn't have to do anything, but she will want to!  Faith is always connected to repentance, an inward change of mind, will and emotions: away from sin and to God - that will lead to outward good works.  When God saves us, by grace, he grants us the gift of faith and changes our heart - giving us a new nature and new desires.  It was clear that the works do not save us, but if we are saved we will want to start doing good works as a result - out of love for the one who saved us.  She has heard and understood the gospel - may God change her!
 

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Tuesday and Wednesday were days of contrast for me.  On Tuesday I ended up having twenty one conversations with people spread over six hours, yet on Wednesday I only had six conversations over four hours - Yet three of those conversations were really long.

All but one of Tuesday's conversations were online.

I had a fascinating conversation with a man who had a trip on drugs a year ago.  In six hours he apparently lived the whole life of a man in Michigan who was married, had three kids, was a plane mechanic and died at eighty two!  So now this guy believes in reincarnation!  We talked about why we shouldn't trust our feelings / experiences (esp. when altering the mind like he did).  We then talked about why we should be terrified of the afterlife.  He bailed at that point.

Later I talked to a kid who also believed in reincarnation.  He responded well to simple apologetics.  I took him through the law, and started explaining the gospel, when a notification came through on his phone.  It broke the flow of the conversation and, sadly, ten seconds later he disconnected.

The last conversation of the morning was with a couple from Argentina.  He didn’t speak any English, so she translated for him.  I was also able to use Google Translate.  Sadly, they were very resistant to what I was saying.

In the afternoon I was intending to try a new outreach spot: Barrington, and then move to Riccarton.  I made it to Barrington.  It was a sunny day, but it was very windy, and bitterly cold!  The wind was icy!

As I suspected, Barrington wasn’t an ideal outreach spot, the bus stops were small and there was no one spot with a good flow of people going past.  And yet I was able to get into one conversation with an elderly gentleman who was Catholic.  It was a good conversation, if not a little unconventional.  I was able to take him through the law and the gospel - but he was outwardly set in his ways.  He wasn’t going to take a tract, but he eventually did.

By the end of that conversation, I decided to get shelter from the wind and cold.  Maybe God wanted me to head out to talk to that one man on the streets?  Because I ended up heading home to continue the day's outreach online.

My first chat back online was with a group of people sitting in their lounge.  To my question: “What do you think happens after life?”, one of them responded instantly with: “Haha, are you trying to prosthelytize on Omegle?”.  I could tell this was going to be a good discussion - and it was.  I was able to share the gospel.  But sadly they were all very resistant.  One of them started talking about the “abuse” of her Christian upbringing.  I just felt grieved.  I shared my upbringing and conversion experience as a contrast.  It seemed to hit home, because they didn’t really have anything to say after that, and the conversation came to an end.

I was able to share the gospel with a kid in the Philippines.  He had pretty much no English, so the gospel was shared thanks to Google Translate.

Some kids from Brazil didn’t stay long enough for me to get Google Translate up.  I then had a lady say to me: “can you give me some money?”.  When I said no, she responded with, “well, you are useless” and disconnected.  :(

I then had a chat with some teens who were using fake voices and no video.  Their mocking didn’t diminish, so I didn’t share the gospel with them, although I did point them to needGod.net, before I disconnected.

I did have two really good gospel chats after this, and before the day's outreach ended.

On Wednesday I headed to Cathedral Square to start my outreach.  I usually go from there towards Ara.  But today I never made it further than that.  I had three outstanding conversations.

The first was a long gospel chat with a guy who had fallen on hard times financially.  When I was using the fireman analogy, he instantly identified, as he had been in a house fire!  Outwardly he didn’t seem too interested in the wonder of the gospel I was sharing - but I marvelled at it, all glory to God for his wonderful mercy.

After this, I walked straight into a conversation with a guy who was waiting to talk to me!  He was a Christian (and gave a really good explanation of the gospel and how we are saved).  Yet he was anxious about what was happening in the world and the end times.  I ended up explaining how we can be ready for what comes: trusting that Jesus died for our sins!  And then I explained why we don’t need to be anxious.  I read him Matthew 6:25-34 with emphasis on verse 33.  I then finished the discussion by inviting him to join me on the streets in outreach!

The final conversation was a follow up with a guy I first talked to in Riccarton a week or so ago.  He was a deep thinker who was resistant to the obvious reality of God.  We had a good long apologetical conversation where I circled back to the law and the gospel often.  He is heading back to Chile soon (on a cargo plane - no passenger planes go there anymore!) - God willing I will see him again.

When I realised how late it was, I rushed back home to join the Aussie team online (I forgot about daylight savings, initially).

I had a fifty four minute conversation with a fifteen year old guy who seemed to be a recent convert (he also had a good understanding of the gospel and salvation by grace alone through faith alone), but he was struggling with sin.  I hope I was balanced in my advice to him: I tried to make it clear to remind him that salvation is a gift, and yet I told him he needed to take drastic measures in dealing with sin in his life.  It was a very encouraging conversation for me - he was handling the advice really well.  I look forward to seeing this young man in heaven one day!
 

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