Battle Log

• Battle Log
• Page 170

Redcliffe (QLD) Team

It was a beautiful winter's day as we gathered in Redcliffe for an outreach. The sun was shining, the skies were blue, everything was perfect for a time of evangelism. As I made my way to our normal witnessing location I noticed that a busker had set up where we normally minister. This meant things were going to be different today; we had to find a new location to set up our Free Bible table and flip-chart. 

We had a number of people on the team, so we were able to space out and cover several locations. As we set up the Free Bible table, a worker form a shop nearby came out to ask if she could have a Bible in order to read to her children. She took tracts and some booklets also. This was an excellent start to the day and it was encouraging to know that a mother wanted to teach her children the Word of God. 

Once the table was set up, I left two team members to witness in that location, while I headed to a different spot about 100 metres up the road. Mike, Daniel and I, all positioned ourselves near the entrance to Redcliffe's biggest tourist attraction, the Bee Gee Way. Due to the number of people walking past this location, it was quite easy to hand out tracts and talk to them about the Lord Jesus. 

While handing out tracts, a man named Wayne, who is my age, took a leaflet. As he looked at what I had given him I asked, "Mate, do you think you'll go to Heaven one day?" He paused, looked at me and said, "That is a very good question. I use to think about that quite a bit, but recently I have been so busy I've stopped thinking about it." I followed up with, "It is a very important question; let me put it another way, if you were to die tonight, and you stood before God, why would God let you into His Heaven?" Wayne replied, "I really don't know." I could see from his face that this question troubled him. As he pondered the question, his grandmother came by and told him to keep walking. Sadly, Wayne apologised and followed his gran. Please pray that he would read the tract I had given him, and he would consider his eternity. 

During this time, Mike had had managed to get a young man named Jayden to stop to chat. They were going through the Good Person Test on the flip-chart. I could tell that the conversation was going really well, and that Jayden seemed quite open. Mike later told me that Jayden had recently lost a loved one who had died in their sins. This created all kinds of questions in the mind of Jayden, but Mike was still able to share the truth about Jesus with him. Jayden took a tract and was encouraged to read the Gospel of John. We have been asked to pray for Jayden, so would you please pray the Father draws Him to the Son. 

Things were getting busier around Bee Gee Way with many tracts going out. As I handed out literature I noticed that numerous people were walking around playing games on their phone. It is normal to see people use their phone in public, but this was different, crowds were gathering and all were playing a game. I stopped one man to chat, he was busy playing, but he took a break to talk briefly. He told me that he believed in reincarnation, but not in God. I asked him, if he knew who would determine what people would come back as after death (which was a question he had never pondered)? I then briefly told him of Jesus, but I could tell that the game was pulling him back. Before he left I asked what everyone was playing, he said, "Pokemon Go! In a few minutes a raid battle is going to take place in this very spot." 

Before too long crowds of people were gathering in our location all getting ready to play Pokemon Go. One bystander said he thought hundreds of people were now in the area, all of which were playing a single game. As a team we looked upon this gathering as God's providence on display. He had brought a crowd to our location in order to hear the gospel, so I did something I have never done in Redcliffe before, I preached in the open-air. 

I started my message by talking about the game they were all playing, and then asked, "What happens when the game ends? Surely, there is more to life that simply playing video games?" From this point I transitioned into how we were all made by God in order to know Him. I then spoke about our sin, and the need of rescue. Finally, I declared the gospel of Jesus, and called on all those playing to turn to the Saviour and trust only in Him. 

A few people mocked and ridiculed, but I rejoice in the truth of John 10:27-28, when the Lord Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand."

Those whom the Father had appointed unto eternal life would believe, so I simply proclaimed the gospel, and called on all to trust in the Saviour. It is liberating in evangelism to know that the results are up to God. 

Please pray for all those we encountered today. May all of them come to know the Saviour. 

SDG!

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Our Lord brings an interesting variety of people under the sound of the word of Christ. The Holy Spirit works wherever He chooses and however He has determined. There seemed to be fewer people than usual but I had a chat with 2 people that I had never seen before and that was within the first hour of our team being there.

     Please pray for Nori who is studying to become a librarian. She was knowledgeable about the Bible (she guessed the correct answer to the "What is the Most Stolen Book?" tract question), partly due to a loving relative and also from Roman Catholic schooling. Nori was accepting of her own sinfulness and unworthiness of being allowed into God's heaven just as Adam forfeited Paradise as a result of his one transgression. God is perfect and heaven would not be suitable for Him if He allowed even one person in with only one sin not atoned for.  We progressed through the difference between justification by faith alone vs. justification by faith plus 'my' works; always imperfect. 

     As a student until the end of this year, she had not been spending time reading His Word. She gladly received a gospel of John after I showed her how to use it.  I asked her what about God impressed her most (she is thinking about this) and shared that I am quite moved when I ponder the pure selflessness of God.

     She also was taken through the builder/building analogy and shown how it tied that in with the "How we know God Exists" tract which I put in every John's gospel. Nori volunteered that she would give that to her parents and younger brother. 

May our great and awesome God be glorified for He alone is altogether glorious.

 

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Hear the team share how some conversations went with a Catholic man and an Irish man who knew a lot of Catholics.

One went to a church and was still worried about his salvation and the other knew a lot of hypocrites in the church.

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This afternoon in Brisbane city the team had seven members out and God provided many conversations for us. It was clear that he had bought people along that he had been working in previously.

One conversation was with a man named Ben, he had grown up in the Church, knew the Gospel but was struggling with obedience to God. It was a wonderful opportunity to encourage him with the Gospel and to use it to equip him to share his faith on the way home. Please be praying that Ben was empowered by the Spirit with boldness to share Jesus' offer of salvation with someone on his bus ride home.

Another conversation was with two German travelers named Jacob and Justus. These young men didn't want to acknowledge that God is who He says He is. They wanted God to be loving to the point that He didn't care about justice.

The Gospel was clearly presented, alongside God's revelation about His Holiness. These young men were left with the serious challenge to stop believing the god they had made in their own image, and instead to surrender to the one who had made them in His.

A third conversation was with a young lady, named Natasha. As we spoke, it became clear that God was doing something in her life already. For the past 12 months she had been learning about Christianity through a campus group and there were very few gaps in her understanding of the faith. She had reached a place where she acknowledged the truth of the gospel, but had not trusted in Jesus for her salvation. As we spoke about what Jesus had done for her, she began to tear up and had to repeatedly wipe away tears from her cheeks with her sleeve. I pleaded with her to trust Jesus and asked her to email me and let me know how she got on.

Please be praying for those who heard the Gospel this afternoon and for the team as they continue on outreaches this week.

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Hear how three team members were able to encourage two different Church-goers with the Gospel.

One man was feeling to guilty for Christ's salvation and another thought that forgiveness in Christ was only given after each individual sin was repented for.

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On a cooler and quieter afternoon at Woodridge on Tuesday, the team had the privilege of sharing the Gospel with a range of people.

One such conversation was with a man named Ezra. He had a lot of ideas about who God is and what he has done, many of which came from different religious groups he'd spoken to in the past.

Ezra acknowledged that God exists but his main problem was that God was all about His own glory. Ezra couldn't comprehend that God could be loving and yet desire us to serve Him. Even when it was was explained that we were designed to find our greatest joy and fulfillment in this.

This conversation went on for a few minutes but sadly Ezra didn't get to hear the fullness of hope that there is for humanity, offered on the basis of Jesus' wrath absorbing sacrifice. He did take a tract though!

Please be praying for those who heard the Good News and took tracts, that they may turn in surrender to Christ as Lord.

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Hear about an encouraging conversation with an older gentleman who was pondering his eternal destination and a lengthy conversation about a young man who was convicted about a specific sin in his life.

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Hear two team members share encouraging conversations they had with a man who seemed apathetic and a man who had some Christian background.

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This afternoon at the Woodridge outreach the team handed out many tracts and were able to engage with a range of different people from regarding God's offer of salvation for sinners.

One scary conversation was with a man named Jason. He readily admitted that sin deserves Hell. That we have all sinned. That no one deserves Heaven and that the only way to be saved is to trust that Jesus paid for our sin.

It isn't often that people know the Gospel but this was a specifically sadinstance as Jason then went on when asked to say that he hadn't trusted in Jesus.

When questioned as to why he simply stated, "I want to live my own way". It was stressed, to him, how utterly foolish it is, to know of ones own sin, it's consequences and what God has done to save sinners and then to reject it simply because, "I wanna do it my way".

Jason headed off to catch his train but please be praying that God uses this conversation and reminder of the Gospel to bring him out of darkness into light.

Another chat was had with Lionel, he had Christian parents but was the complete opposite to Jason. He had very little understanding of the Gospel.

Today he heard of God's Holiness and hatred for sin. He heard how deeply sin stains us all and heard of the depths of God's Love, that God has acted in history, taking the full fury and wrath for sin, so that those who turn in surrender to Him will have life.

Please keep Jason and Lionel in prayer that the Holy Spirit would change their hearts, that they may know God.

Please also be praying for the many other people who heard the Gospel or took tracts this afternoon, that God may use each one as He has planned.

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Last Saturday, 6 of us planned to go preach and hand out tracts in Exeter city centre, which is smaller than Plymouth in number. However, being more compact and very busy makes evangelism very amicable and we have always found people there very eager to stop and talk and listen to the preaching, compared to Plymouth where people seem more apathetic to the message.

George and Harry are brothers with Faith Mission based in Cornwall, and they brought two bible students who are just finishing a 6 week placement with them before finishing their studies, along with my friend Ed and myself met in Exeter around 12.30pm.

Amazed at how busy and upbeat it had been only a couple of weeks before when unbeknown to us a big LGBT parade had just finished and so we are inundated with rainbow flags, face painted teenagers and outburst of foul language, so we hoped today might still be as busy, and sunshine brought many unusual people out that day.

We prayed before we preached, again asking God to open people's blind eyes who were by nature against the things of God but that no one was beyond the reach of the gospel so as not for us to judge on outer appearances of reactions. 

George preached, and this brought along a man in his fifties dressed as a woman to wander around us and sit behind to listen, with people not batting an eyelid to his skirt or baking top that protruded over his hairy arms and chest! 

A university student stopped and spoke to me, and although at first she said she was a Christian, it soon appeared she was not, as she said she was studying Theology at Exeter University.  

She said Jesus never spoke about homosexual , but although I showed her passages like Roman's 1 or 1 Corinthians 6 v 9, she claimed that was Paul who wrote that, not God, and so was not inspired by God. She didn't agree with 2 Peter 1 v 20-21, or about Hell, and said I was assuming her gender as a woman just because she had long hair and breasts, she could be a man!

She was very antagonistic and argued that Adam and Eve were not real people and that a civilization existed before them, and that's where Cain got his wife from, as well as disagreeing about God's judgment in 2 Thessalonians 1 v 6-10. The conversation didn't go anywhere and she had already made her mind up that the Bible has lots of errors and so I didn't proceed in going further as she was very sure her theology professors could set me straight on many things and show what the bible REALLY meant!

The others continued to hand out tracts while I preached on the rich young ruler and Nahum, and how we need to be humble and admit our sin before we can be saved. Then continued to speak on how Christianity stood out from all other religions in that Jesus had fulfilled all righteousness for us and we no longer had to work to earn God's forgiveness, but that other religions, teaching that good works plus faith saved you, would actually bring you under a curse according to Galatians 3. However, having to admit we can not help ourselves and be totally dependent on Jesus for our salvation is why so many people stumble because they want to play a part in them being saved so they can get credit.

One of the bible students, Pres preached for the first time, recalling when he was saved from a skiing accident age 11 and dedicating his life to God when he was saved under difficult circumstances in the French Alps. Meanwhile, Harry witnessed to a Sikh gentleman about why we needn't sins forgiven.

My friend Ed continued to hand out tracts while the other student from Oreland preached on John 3 v 16, and we managed to take many people through the intelligence test who stopped out of curiosity, before going through the good person test with them. Some were Christians, who we encouraged to share the gospel tracts with friends and family they knew who were not saved, along with many bored teenagers who had not really heard this message before.

It was a lovely sunny day, with many tracts handed out and conversations had, and we ended the day with an all you can eat Chinese which made great fellowship and discussions about the day, and plans for future outreaches together before the two students went home.

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