Battle Log

• Battle Log
• Page 136

Wednesday afternoon in the city came with surprising rain showers that would clear the square in a matter of moments. But this meant that the team could find conversations under cover quite easily. Again there were seven team members out, three of whom came down from their local offices during their lunch breaks because, to quote one of them, "There are things more important than burgers in this world".

An early conversation before the rain came was with Michael. He said he had a Catholic background but through the conversation came to understand why he needs Jesus and what the Gospel is. At the end he didn't seem overly moved but he was challenged to open a Bible and come to understand who Jesus is from the eye-witness testimony recorded in it. It was encouraging as he responded that at his work it is a requirement for there to be one in each desk. Please be praying that God will move in his heart and cause him to open it one day and to come face to face with Christ.

Another conversation was with Jackson, who was only on a short break from work but was shown that buildings need a builder and creations need a Creator. He responded by saying, "Twelve years of Catholic schooling and I'd never heard that but it makes sense". He was then shown the law and the problem it left him in but he had to run. He said he would try to be a better person but was told that wouldn't work and was given a tract and encouraged to read it to find what God has done to save sinners.

A short conversation was with Ella. She saw that God exists, then why it matter. She saw her guilt through the law and that she was headed for Hell. As the cross was being explained her bus arrived and she had to leave. But she took a tract and said she'd read it.

An final conversation that took place was with Connor. He engaged as his girlfriend sat next to him not paying much attention. Same as always at first he thought he was good and that there was no God and came to understand that in both cases the opposite was true. He actually seemed challenged by what was said. He wasn't just responding because he had to but was responding because he wanted to know more. It was exciting to see his engagement and he comprehended the Gospel and said he would have to consider what Jesus had said.

Please be praying for those who heard the Gospel today, that God would use it to bring them to trust in Him! Please be praying that God would raise up more labourers in the local city area that many Christians would come to share the Gospel during the lunch breaks and that God would be glorified through many people hearing His message of salvation!

---

On Tuesday afternoon at Woodridge, the afternoon was mostly under cloud cover, which kept the temperatures down and made for a good atmosphere. It also seemed though that there were fewer people around than usual but God still provided conversations for the seven team members that made it out.

There were a few conversations of note but a main one was a display of God's providence. As you may have read, last week during the outreach there was a major disruption to the outreach, around around 3pm a young man, on the run from the police climbed onto the roof the the train station and stopped all trains North and Southbound for two hours. The reason this was a problem for the team was that conversations were hard to have as every time something unfolded on the roof the crowds of people, waiting for their train and watching would make noises distracting from the conversation.

Worse yet, when he first climbed up there four team members were in conversations which were bought to a halt by the distraction. This is where the story attaches to this week. One team member was speaking to Zelena. But the conversation was looking to be a slow one, at first she wasn't that keen to talk and she had brought the conversation to point where it was going to be a long process to get to the Gospel. But God in His perfect timing knew what was best. He stopped the conversation before it really began and instead said, "wait".

This week around halfway through the outreach, this young lady was walking through with her boyfriend, Rifkey and saw the flip chart and his attention was drawn. Zelena wanted to head off but his interest kept her. Over the next fifteen minutes a simple and clear Gospel presentation was given. Zelena actually enabled the conversation to flow by understanding the pictures straight away. And that caused Rifkey to follow along. During this time two other guys came to listen. As the law was shown, the guilt was revealed and the penalty explained Zelena had to run off quickly. But Rifkey stayed.

In God's timing this was just what was required. Rifkey then heard the Gospel, what God has done to save sinners. But upon the first checking question he'd still misunderstood it. Then Zelena returned with another guy named Harry. Now there were five listening and for the group the Gospel was shown again. "The only way we can pay for our sin is to go to Hell. The only hope we have is if someone else takes the penalty we deserve, which is what Christ has done for those who believe in Him," it was explained.

The parachute example was given, to explain what it means to trust and believe and then the check question was asked, "If today you acknowledged that you're sinful, that you deserve Hell but trusted that Jesus paid for your sin but you sinned once more on your way home and then died a few minutes later, would God send you to Heaven or Hell?"

Zelena instantly said Hell but before giving the right answer Harry and Rifkey were asked and they both said Heaven. When asked to explain why they basically said in unison, "Because we weren't trusting in our goodness were had trusted in Jesus to pay for our sin". Praise God! It was a moment of rejoicing. Suddenly all three understood the Gospel.

This is where it took a direct turn, the question was posed, "So when will you trust in Jesus". They each gave different answers, which were challenged or encouraged and they were left with tracts and with the encouragement, "It would be wonderful to hear next time we see you that you have trusted in Jesus alone for your salvation!"

The whole scenario was a work of God's providence. The cutting off of the previous weeks conversation, so that the Gospel would be clear in a short and simple way. The desire from Rifkey to do the flip chart. The timing during this conversation enabling Rifkey to hear the Gospel twice so that he could understand it. That all three came to grasp the Gospel and understand how someone can be made right before God.

It was a conversation of rejoicing. Please be praying for these three that God would use this conversation to bring them into His Kingdom, that they would come to want more of Christ than anything else! Praise God for the working of His sovereign will!

---

Christchurch (NZ) Team

There was a hint of winter on Tuesday: wet and cold.  I awoke listening to heavy rain and the first thought that came to mind was that I deserved the justice of God in Hell (but am not going there because of the Grace of Jesus).  I lingered on the thought for a while, imagining an eternity under the righteous wrath of God and felt afresh the desperate need to get out and share the wonderful news of forgiveness with any willing to listen.  God is sovereign in salvation, but we are the means He uses (by sharing the Gospel) to bring people to that salvation.

The days outreach was to Riccarton with Letterbox dropping and flip charting on Riccarton Road.

The conversations were good.  People listened to the Gospel presentations politely.  But it struck me that there was no outward evidence of alarm of the seriousness of sin in light of a holy (perfect) God.  Those that I can remember talking to seemed to be intellectually analysing what I was saying, appreciating it, and moving on.  Pondering this at the end of the outreach I felt sad.  But then, outward responses are no guarantee of what is going on in the heart.  I have to leave people in the hands of the Holy Spirit.

Wednesday saw the usual two outreaches in Cathedral Square and the Hospital.

The foot traffic in Cathedral Square was lighter than usual, and just as I was wondering if the day would be lacking in solid conversations, the Lord led a young tourist to me to share with and the outreach ended up being eventful from then on.

This young tourist, didn’t deny a creator but clearly didn’t like the true God; wanting to live his life his own way.  I could tell this because when I talked about anger being murder of the heart and lust being adultery of the heart, he became quite riled!  But he wasn’t unreasonable and stayed to hear the good news of Jesus - the only hope for eternal life - and then a call to surrender all and follow Christ.  After the previous day, this conversation encouraged me.

The foot traffic at the Hospital was the lightest I’d ever seen it.  And I was seriously considering finding a new spot to move to when the Lord brought a Catholic man, who knew his Bible well, to have a conversation with.  This conversation went for a very long time (an hour and a half?) with, as usual, the focus on salvation by works verse by grace.  It was great to be able to pull my Bible out and work through verses with this man.  The conversation went right to the end of the outreach, and then he ended up walking with me back through the city as I was going back to my car.  He wanted to know what church I went to, and how to get there.  I gave him a contact card with all the details.  It would be wonderful to see him again.

I thank the Lord for enabling me to be a fool for Him on the streets of Christchurch.  And I’m thankful to all those who donate their hard earned money to support me.  Thank you so much.  Soli Deo Gloria!

---

Today we were thankful to God for bringing back some people we have previously witnessed to.

One was from two months ago and the other 2 weeks ago. Firstly a man from 2 months ago who spoke with us about becoming a full-time carer for his niece. He told us she is a Christian and she would like a bible. The bibles we had were not suitable because of small print so we offered to get a bible with larger print for her. P told us he would come pick it up next time he was in town. He has since found he can not continue his caring role. We were able to give the bible to him to pass on to his niece. We have shared the gospel with him and are hopeful that God will use this to draw him to salvation as we shared that Jesus is our greatest need. We hope to see him again. Pray for both this man and his niece, for God to provide all her needs as she moves back to Brisbane and their salvation. 

Then from 2 weeks ago a husband searching for help for his wife for fellowship. He approached us with a question to where is a good Church for his wife.  I had referred him to our church as it was the closest for them to travel. Today we got to meet his wife. She told me a few things that are going on in her life. I was able to encourage her in the Lord. She said they had driven past our church and will attend this week. Both attended our church on Sunday.  

Rick had a good conversation with a man who was pretty open to questions about Eternity and has planted seeds of truth for him to consider. 

One conversation I had was with a man who had been Seventh Day Adventist, I was able to share about the lady from the other week who had been excommunicated from that religion and through being treated so badly it lead her to look more deeply into God’s Word. She had found out the truth of salvation and knows that it is not by keeping the law. Rather, we are saved but by grace we are saved through faith in Jesus. which is a gift from God. Then we follow in obedience because of thankfulness to God, empowered by God’s Spirit given to all believers to serve and obey because Jesus first loved us!

S was similar in his experience and could see that the religion of SDA is all about rule keeping.The Gospel was shared and tracts given to him just before his mate pulled him away. So we pray for grace to be poured into his life.

Many tracts were handed out. It is a good spot we have and God always has plenty of opportunities for us to have little words spoken as we hand them out. Such as “This is such an important message” or sometimes just saying “Hi, this is for you” makes them reach out to take a tract. Praise God that even through reading the Gospel on these little tracts, He can do such a big work in hearts. Thank you for praying.

---

My Church here in Hobart is moving buildings (please pray that we will find somewhere soon) and the office has also been moved. This has meant a loss of the Bible table and preaching crate for the mall temporarily as we reorganize things. And so there has had to be a change to the outreach in the Hobart mall.

I have spent the last couple of days preaching and reading through the Bible many times through the afternoon and then afterwards speaking to those who gathered. It has been an invigorating change but challenging too. Please pray that God will allow me to speak without too much wear and tear on my voice.

Today I began by reading from Luke 11: 1-26. At the end of this I reflected on the truth of Jesus’s words when it comes to nations. Truly the evil that Christianity drives out returns manifold when Christianity is removed from a nation.

Many of the good things we currently enjoy in Australia (a desire for equality of races and sexes, the rule of law, fair work laws, the value of life, the rights of the weak and poor etc.) have come from our Christian heritage. (On this issue a book worth reading is “The Book That Made Your World” by Vishal Mangalwadi.)  Secular activists in Australia are determined to dismantle Christianity, or if that is not possible, then to marginalize Christians so far that they are force into a closet. In this they hope to get the fruit of Christianity without the God that gives the fruit or His people who produce it. If the secularists succeed, we are sure to face the return of many dark, destructive and perverse things from the pagan past as we see the loss of Christian influence.

I finished by appealing to people to come in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ. During this there were multiple people who gathered to listen.

After a short break I read from Romans 1-3, at the end of the passage I was interrupted by heckler who claimed that there is no evidence for God. We discussed back and forth for a period and despite being given multiple evidences he scoffed and deigned the existence of God again. He also protested that there is injustice on God’s part because of suffering if God is real. This is a difficult question for the Christian, why is suffering part of our good God’s plans for the world? But even more difficult is the position of the atheist (like the heckler). For if atheism is true then the universe is indifferent and those who suffer will never see justice, and we are left with an intolerable world that our hearts and minds revolt at. In every way I would rather live with the paradox of our good God and the presence of suffering than give in for a second to the sterile injustice of the atheistic understanding of the universe.

After this discussion I was encouraged by a young Christian couple who were enthused by street preaching in Hobart. Also, Ms M. also stopped by for a short chat it was good to see her again after some time away. Her girlfriend was away today but hopefully they both will be back again soon to chat and hear the gospel as they have in the past.

At the end of the day I read from Genesis 1-3 and was planning to preach further from there but again was stopped by a heckler. This man was more agnostic than atheistic but also felt that God and the Bible were not really trustworthy. One of his reasons was that there is no mention in the Bible of Australia and the animals of Australia. There are many things not mentioned in the Bible, as a book mainly focused on God’s dealings with Israel this should not surprise us. As systematic theologians say – whatever the Bible says it speaks with absolute authority, but it does not speak of all things.  I spoke with him for some time but at the end he left saying that God would have to accept him anyway because he was a good man.

This became a springboard to the gospel and I then preached on the need to be made right in Jesus through faith rather than walking the road of self-sufficiency and pride. I shared the great need that we all have to be forgiven and the great weight of our sin and the even greater savior who waits to make us clean if we come to him in faith.

Afterwards there were some Christian young ladies who came to thank me for speaking, one of them said she could not do what I do. I said “me too!”, no-one is able to do the work of outreach alone, this work is God’s work and all credit for it goes to Him.

Praise God for His awesome grace and kindness to us!

---

On Monday at Capalaba there was a team of five! Now that might not sound like a lot but that is 250% the size of a normal team! Imagine if all the outreach teams grew that much this week! At first the team were a little worried that with the five there wouldn't be enough conversations to go around but we were wrong! Praise God that over the three hours the five were consistently in conversations. Meaning around fifty people heard the Gospel!

Here are four brief recounts of conversations that were encouraging and will hopefully encourage you to come out sometime!

The first lady of the afternoon was approached, her name was Kia. She had very little idea about the God who made this world. But she came to see that He exists, that He has standards, that we've failed to keep them and therefore there is only once place to turn for hope, the very same God against whom we have rebelled. She heard of God's love displayed at the cross and the offer of forgiveness that comes with it. She was challenged to consider it and took a tract as her bus arrived.

Next was a man named Noah, who had a Christian background but wasn't a Christian. At first he was asked what was getting him to Heaven and gave some almost passable answers but it didn't seem convincing, he was saying things but it didn't sound like he believed them. He was shown the law, the guilt, the penalty and was shown the problem he was in. He didn't seem overly worried or moved so he was pushed a little further. Finally the Gospel was shared and he was left to consider it. He came to intellectually understand that Christ alone can save but it remains to be seen on judgement if God will be gracious to Noah and draw him to Himself.

Another exciting conversation is one that has taken place over the last twelve months or so. There is a lady named Lynn who is never around for a long period of time before catching her bus. She has lots of stories and lots of update on how her daughter and grandchildren are going and many of them are exceedingly sad. But after the updates (which are basically prayer points) the question is posed to Lynn, "So what will happen to us after we die?" Most weeks Lynn talks about the same things, says the same responses and seems to be in zombie mode. But by the grace of God, this week was different!

Lynn responded and engaged with new answers. She asked questions, she saw how her sin will lead her to Hell and that currently she was in big trouble. And as she began asking for the solution, just as the set up was being giving, explaining why someone else can take our place and what they must be like, her bus arrived. God is wonderful to give such an opportunity today yet in His timing it wasn't yet the time for the Gospel. She did take a tract as usual and was encouraged to read it.

The last conversation was with Aidan, he at first said there was no God but with the building's need a builder analogy acknowledged that there is one, then was shown why it matters and how it impacts our lives. He was shown then how he had failed to obey God and that this left him in the waiting line for judgement. He at first didn't acknowledge worry but as the conversation went on he seemed to show more interest into how this can be solved and to finish he heard the Gospel, how one must respond simply by trusting Christ and that this will result in a changed life. He seemed pensive and was given a tract as his bus arrived.

Please be praying that Kia would heed the Gospel and trust in Christ. Please pray that God would wake Noah out of his slumber about the reality of who he is and what he deserves. Please pray that Lynn would consider what was said this week and that she would be looking for a solution to her sin, even to the point of asking about it next time. Please pray for Aidan that he would come to trust in the God that he now knows about! And please bring yourself before God in prayer asking Him to give you the boldness and the courage to speak of Christ wherever you may go and maybe even try and join the team in the near future!

---

On Saturday night there was another decently sized team out, despite the afternoon rain. Due to the rain the temperatures were cooler and it was a very pleasant night. The night also was filled with conversations. As those on the team come out week after week you can see the growth that is taking place in their ability to get into conversations. It is exciting to see how each member grows in the boldness over the weeks.

One exciting conversation early on was with a man, named Yanic, who hadn't been in Brisbane long. He was travelling from Europe and had his girlfriend with him. He expressed that he had some level of Christian background and said that he was going to Heaven because he is good. He was shown that because God is good, sin must be punished and therefore, seeing his sin via the law, he saw that He deserved Hell and this reality shook him. He went from being mostly apathetic about eternity to being very serious in the conversation.

He said that he wasn't really relying on Christ to pay for his sin rather was just living how he pleased. To this he was shown the foolish position he had placed himself in, he now knew what God had done to save him and that only those who are trusting in Christ will be pardoned but he was still choosing to reject the offer of salvation at this moment. He said he was going to consider what was being said and thanked the team for the opportunity to hear.

A shorter conversation was had with Sueheifa, a Muslim lady who saw many challenges made against what she proposed and heard what God had done to save sinners. She said she had never heard the good news like that before and up until that point wasn't sure what Christians believed. Please be praying that she would heed the call to trust in Christ alone for her salvation, rather than holding onto the false hope of an "unjust mercy".

Another exciting conversation was with a man named Shan, he knew God exists and that there was a day of judgement coming but was unsure about his eternity. Saw God's law, his guilt and God's saviour offered to him and said that he would have to think about what was said.

Lastly a lengthy conversation took place with two very wealthy young men, who flaunted their riches and yet to their surprise had nothing to offer. They are men who epitomise Jesus' saying, "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit His very soul". These men surprisingly stayed, listened and engaged for over an hour. A notable point was that these men were engaged, they weren't directly dismissive but took with weight what was being said. It would be rare for most people they meet to be so serious and truthful with them and also to be so strong on what predicament they were in.

These men left with a clear understanding of the reality of Hell and that it was their current destination and also the only means of hope for lost sinners, the humble saviour who came to save proud sinners. The conversation was finished with one final and strong warning that although they have heard the message of forgiveness today, they may never have another chance to trust in Christ, this could be their only opportunity, as there is no guarantee of tomorrow.

Please be praying for those who heard the message of hope today, that they would respond in trust in Christ and as a result turn from their sin to follow Him! Please be praying that God would be working on hearts for the coming outreaches this week that God may be glorified through the salvation of sinners!

---

On Friday night there was a team of twelve out meaning that the Gospel was shared with many people over the course of the night. There was some time spent preaching with the amplification and many one to one conversations also took place.

Hear Terry, a relatively new Christian sharing about a conversation he had and the joys of coming to the street to share the Gospel. You could even heed his encouragment to come out sometime!

Hear Leandre share about a Gospel conversation she had with a Chilean lady who asked many good questions and shared much about her life and even wanted to take contact details so she could continue to speak later.

Please be praying that God would use these conversations and the others that took place to bring many into His kingdom and to bring glory to His name!

May you prayerfully consider coming on out sometime and joining the team in proclaiming to this world of lost sinners what God has done to save people like us!

---

On Wednesday God provided a steady stream of rain keeping the conversations under the sheltered areas. What has been extremely exciting is that there are now six different Christians who work in nearby offices that are using their lunch break to share the Gospel. At first there was one man faithfully coming out (during his lunch hours) who ran into the team then committed to coming on Wednesday's specifically. Then a second man joined and now there are six.

This week four city-workers made it out. If you work in Brisbane City, may you be encouraged to join the team, or with these men as they head out at other times during the week.

One funny moment during a conversation was with a man named Christian. He said he was quite sure there was nothing after death because there was no God. When asked why he believed that he didn't give much of a reason just that he thought it was true. Then he was shown that creations need a creator. For example, a bus that drove past was pointed to and he was asked, "How do you know someone built that bus?", quickly he responded, "Because I can see it".

Next he was asked, "How do you know someone built that building?", again responding, "Because I can see it". Then he was asked, "How do you know someone built this world?", this time responding, "Because I can. Actually no, I don't believe there is a God". The simplicity of the explanation showed that it wasn't really an intellectual disagreement with the existence of God but a moral one. This moment was taken to point out to Christian that our real reason for the rejection of God is our love for sin and hatred of what is good, we want to be in charge.

He was shown his guilt through the law, the penalty it deserves and all the while David jumped between two arguments, "There is no God" and "I'm not really that bad". He was shown that neither of those two answers will be of any help on judgement day, just as they wouldn't help you get out of a speeding fine. As his bus arrived the predicament he was in was left before him and he headed off.

An interesting conversation was had with Carla who at first was saying things like, "This life is an illusion" all a product of our brains. This was addressed a number of times and she seemed to understand that couldn't be the case. But the most confusing thing she believed was that forgiveness is actually the acknowledgement that the someone hasn't actually done the wrong thing. She gave a number of examples from her own life.

What was so confusing is that she struggled to understand that forgiveness is only needed if someone has wronged you. What she was describing is denial. This was the link taken to show that what God does in regards to forgiveness is far better than pretending we're not guilty, He actually pays the debt we owe, so that the guilty can walk free on the basis of trust in Christ. She seemed to understand and it was actually exciting to see that she purposely missed two buses so that she could continue to talk.

Lastly Ben was engaged and he had many ideas but surprisingly with a simple apologetic about the Bible was so challenged that he went on and listened to the Gospel and responded positively. He didn't say that he would trust in Christ straight away but seemed visibly challenged upon hearing the Gospel.

Please be praying for those who heard the Gospel today, that God would continue to work in the hearts and minds of these people. Please also consider, if you work in Brisbane City, to come and join the team one Wednesday and help us share God's glorious gospel!

---

West Country (UK) Team

On Saturday 30th March, three of our team met up in Plymouth city Centre again which was a gloriously sunny day with masses of people doing their shopping and enjoying the weather.

My Auntie joined us for a while handing out tracts to passers by and encouraging them to read them, while the rest of us handed out tracts and tried to engage people in conversation. I had made a new good person flip chart to use when doing conversations with people and also when preaching, and the new resource seemed to attract peoples attention as they walked past and stopped to see what it was about. A family with a 10 year old boy stopped to do the intelligence test and they were the first people to try out the flip chart with, that seemed to go well. They already said they they went to a Church in Plymouth but that the flip chart made sense of piecing all of the bits of the message together so it could be easier understood.

I had read that morning that a car had been caught driving at 104mph in the city and had failed to stop when Police car was driving behind with lights on. This was a good link about Gods law in Romans 3, and while I preached Ed spoke with a man called Wesley who had several tattoos and some interesting questions such as how we know the Bible is true if just written by man? Ed spoke to him more and said he was a pleasant, open-minded agnostic who had listened to Muslims, JWs etc before and wanted to know why Christianity was the right religion to believe in. Ed gave him some tracts to read pointed him towards some Christianity explored groups that his church as doing in the future,

As I finished preaching, a group of teenagers came to do the intelligence test and see the flip chart.  A couple of them said they were transgender and were called Teg and Elizabeth. After a bit of a conversation about transgender and homosexuality and sin, I said that their sexuality was not the main issue, but that they had sinned in lots of other ways too and so were still guilty before God because of lying/ stealing etc, but that any sin could be forgiven because of who Jesus was and what he had accomplished for us on the cross. After the group left, Teg came back and said thank you for the chat and that 'she' had been doing Philosophy in sixth form and was very interested in the topic and the Christian point of view.

Laurie had a long conversation with a man called Nick who was a young professing atheist, and Ed with an older man called Bill who had been listening.

Again it was a lovely day with many people to talk to, and hopefully next weekend we will be out again with Simon, Della, George and Harry back which will be great.

---

« Prev | 1 | 2 ... 134 | 135 | 136 | 137 | 138 ... 283 | 284 | Next »

---