Battle Log

• Battle Log
• Page 179

Another adventurous day at the 'original' Capalaba bus stop.

- A sad ending to one conversation went something like this: 'This is where you and I differ. Jesus may have died for your sins but He never died for my sins'. This was spoken by a mature aged man who said he was going to heaven. He also had decided that his R.C. priest would go to hell as he had absconded with the parish funds when he retired. How sin hardens the heart so that the good news is not even considered. 

- an open door: Tallara, a young lass, was keen to hear God's good news. After hearing the law and gospel, she was challenged to count the cost (which might be for her leaving her friends who were mocking while she was paying close attention). She is armed with John's gospel, the apologetic tract, the Jesus tract and the comic tract.

- encouragement: A lady attending an interdenominational community church and her husband both want to draw closer to God. She needed to hear the gospel explained and after some time she was stating that one had to believe in Jesus to get to heaven. He is spending time in jail but claims he is wrongly convicted. May our Lord draw them to the Saviour.

- a few other chats with Christians helping them to grasp a firmer hold on their faith in Christ.

What a privilege to serve God giving Him all the glory knowing our own weaknesses and inability to regenerate anyone.

---

The summer months are a wonderful time and there are many opportunities that we have here in Hobart over these next couple of months. There is a long string of cruise ships that come to visit bringing with them tourists from all over the world. There are school kids wondering around earlier in the day and looking for something to do or someone to talk to.

There are the crowds that rush daily into the city for shopping before Christmas and the new year. There are festivals on the river, biggest of these being the Taste of Tasmania next week. This and many other factors make this time of year gloriously busy and wonderfully enjoyable.

To add to these opportunities there is the blessing of opposition that waxes and wanes. As you know there is now a constant angry chorus from homosexual activists who want to shut down free expression of Christian faith. Attacks continue, but they backfire as people gather to see what has happened and walk away thinking more about Christ than they ever would have if nothing had happened.

Also, Mr S. will not be in the mall for the next month as God has restrained him through the Council banning him from speaker’s corner. For many years Mr S. has proudly proclaimed that nothing prevents him from doing wrong (ie no God or divine law) but he does good because he chooses to. Last week he foolishly applied this thought. When upset at council requests to stop disrupting speaker's corner he became so aggressive with council officers that the police were called. It will be a blessing to be able to preach without his aggressive interruptions. So, whether there is opposition or restraint of opposition, there are blessings that God brings from these things also!

Some of the wonderful conversations we have had this last couple of weeks include:

Ms G. – A young lady who has come several times and listened to the preaching. In the recent SSM debate she discussed homosexuality and many other issues with us. Lately she has been willing to chat a few times and sits thoughtfully when preaching is happening.

Mr T. – For the last couple of weeks Mr T. has been sitting for the entire time the team is in the mall observing what is happening and clearly listening carefully to what is said. A few times he has approached me after I’ve preached to clarify points I’ve made. Most of the team has spoken to him and he is willing to talk about spiritual things.

Mr F. – A young guy who was listening to me preach about the logical absurdity that is atheism and the need for absolute knowledge to ever be able to confidently assert atheism honestly. We talked about the supports for the bible and the truth that is found there and the profound impact that it has had on my life and the life of Christians through the ages.

Please pray for these and the many other discussion that happen day by day as the Lord draws people near to hear the gospel.

SDG

---

Some substantial chats were had:

     - Aldrin understands the gospel. He said that the Bible speaks of 2 genders only but tells us not to judge. So why are some people told to repent of their lifestyles? God knows what is best. God does not target any one type of sin. One needs to trust Him and trust that He will renew anyone who comes to faith in Christ alone to save him. God has delights none but His children can experience.

     - 2 young girls who didn't think they would get to heaven. Later on, they said they didn't believe in God. Their first statement was a work of their conscience. Further evidences were presented to them which they accepted. By the time that their bus arrived, they had heard the good news,  and one expressed her thanks.

     - a young man who had half an hour  trying to defend his position, "I'm not religious."

     - a young man who had a vague knowledge that Jesus was born to wash away our sins. He proved a keen listener and we trust a seed of faith may have been planted.

The work continues tonight through Thursday night in the city - Christmas lights. Please pray for God's strength and protection and clarity of thought for those involved. To God alone be all glory and praise. 

---

Christmas tracts were generally well received. Here are a few people to pray for:

 - Chase had thought he would die and 'return to the land'. He has now heard God's good news.

 - Ashley, a Maltese lass who believed in many gods. She heard the Bible statement that there are indeed many gods, but none of them could save her. She has now heard of Jesus only and how delightful God is to those speaking with her. She was challenged to prayerfully seek God as she reads through John's gospel (in her Mum's Bible) and asks God to show her who Jesus is and what He has done.

 - Shaun, a J. W. who heard some Scriptures that he was not familiar with, e.g. He posed a philosophic question, "Wouldn't you expect some Scripture to tell of an afterlife if one is conscious after (physical) death?" 2 Cor. 12:2-4 tells us that someone who could have told much was not permitted to. Ecclesiastes is wisdom literature whereas we read a plain narrative when Jesus spoke to the thief who had turned to Him in faith. The Paradise that Jesus spoke of is a present reality cf. the parallelism in 2 Cor. 12:2,3 where the 'third heaven', = 'paradise'.     Challenged on Jn. 5:23, he threw up a few obscure points before we parted amiably.  May he indeed realize he has only heard a part of God's Word and follow this up. Pray the Lord stirs his spirit to seek the Truth.

We thank God for enabling us to serve Him and we ascribe all glory to Him, our great and glorious triune God. 

---

Last night's outreach marked the first night of our Christmas outreaches in King George Square (Brisbane) during the light show that the Council puts on projecting a repeating 7 minute animation onto City Hall. This animation attracts large crowds into the city to watch it, and it also provides a great opportunity for us to share the real message of Christmas through the handing out Christmas gospel tracts and chatting to people.

And even though there were some big storms leading up to the outreach yesterday, there was still quite a lot of people about so we were able to get over 1,250 Christmas gospel tracts into people's hands. The team also got into some fruitful one to one conversations.

We will be there again each night this week and next week (except Fridays and Sundays), so please be praying for these outreaches that many people will come to saving knowledge of Jesus - how he came to this Earth to live a perfect life and die on the cross for our sins.

---

At the Gold Coast on Friday night, God's power was demonstrated through the preaching of his word as many from the team open air preached to the crowds in Surfers Paradise. Multitudes of people stopped to listen as God drew them in and there was an openness towards the Gospel. Through the open air preaching, people heard of how they can be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ (2 Cor 5:19).

"... it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." (1 Cor 1:21).

God has not changed His ways. Through the preaching of God's word many come to hear about Jesus. God calls us to preach from the housetops the good news of Jesus Christ. Let all the world hear "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." (1 Cor 1:18).

The team spoke to a variety of people who showed interest in the gospel during one-to-one conversations. One such person was a backslider who expressed his desire to get right with God and was challenged to repent and rededicate his life to Christ (James 5:19-20). The team also spoke to many muslim people that heard how Jesus is our atonement (Rom. 5:11) and salvation is a free gift that cannot be earned, instead received only by faith and that salvation is only through the sacrifice that God accepts, his Son, Jesus Christ. The truth of the Gospel was also presented to a couple named Israel and Darsia. Darsia showed a genuine interest in the gospel and was even keen to go to church. She then exchanged her contact details to keep in touch and was directed by the team member to one of the local churches.

It was the grace of God that people from all walks of life, all who need Jesus heard the clarion call of the gospel, "...be ye reconciled to God." (2 Cor 5:20).

We are thankful to God for holding off the rain and bringing together 14 labourers to proclaim the gospel. God is in control and he is in the business of drawing the lost to him. To him be all the Glory!

 

---

Redcliffe (QLD) Team

It has been a wet few days in Brisbane so we weren't sure if today's Redcliffe outreach would go ahead. This morning as I prepared I noticed that dark clouds were gathering, would today be a wash out?

We decided to head to Redcliffe just in case the weather proved favourable, and to be honest, I was glad we did. When we arrived it was clear blue skies with the sun shining brightly.

A few other Christians were out along the waterfront witnessing, so it was good to partner with them in the gospel ministry. We set up the "Free Bible" table, and rather quickly we saw people coming up to take material from it.

One lady stopped and asked if she could have some material as tonight she was flying home to London after being on holiday for a few weeks. She wanted something to read on the flight so we were more than happy to give her some great gospel literature.

Another lady stopped by to chat. Her partner was recently converted in jail, but she couldn't figure it all out. We shared with her and then encouraged her to attend a solid church near where she lived.

Throughout the outreach we had a steady stream of people taking material from the table and talking. We also had twenty of Ray Comfort's, "Evolution versus God" DVDs given away to interested people.

Please pray that all the seed that was sown would fall upon good soil.

SDG!

---

A team of 15 to 20 people gathered at the Gold Coast to proclaim the gospel on Friday night. When we arrived, we set up the "Good Person test" flip chart, which is a really simple and easy to use tool to use to go through the law of God and the gospel. As a result, many good gospel conversations took place with groups of people that were really keen to go through the test.

One such conversation was with a guy named Pat and his mate. Pat told us that he thinks he is a good person and just stopped by out of curiosity to take the test. After taking the test, when we got to the courtroom part, Pat saw that he was guilty and not a good person. When we started explaining to him that we all are guilty of sin therefore we deserve to go to hell, Pat quickly said, "I don't believe I am going there. I don't even think there is a hell". At this point of time, his mate was acting bit silly and was trying to distract Pat. But as the team member continued to share the reality of hell, Pat with a serious face said, "So I will be going to hell then and there is no hope for me!"

We told him about the "everlasting hope" that God wants to save sinners and has shown his love for us "in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8). There is hope in Christ if we repent and put our trust in him. Pat looked thoughtful and said, "I understand that". He then began asking a series of questions related to origin of sin, suffering and consequences of sin. After answering his questions, he asked, "So what is Heaven like? Is it like here?" He looked thoughtful after eternity in Heaven was explained to him. Before leaving, he asked for a gospel tract to take home to read. We reminded him to take this seriously and put his trust in Jesus.

Please be praying for the salvation of Pat and all other people who heard the gospel. Pray that God will cause the seeds to grow (1 Cor. 3:7).

May the name of our Lord Jesus Christ be glorified above all!

---

On Wednesday the team out again on the streets of the Gold Coast for Schoolies.

As the beginning of the week had shown, the schoolies are very interested in talk. Many had attended "religious" schools and had ideas about God but the vast majority have no handle on the Gospel.

Please pray for these young men and women:

Maddie had previously professed to be a Christian (four years earlier) but had since rejected it. She heard a simple presentation of the judgement of God and His Gospel and acknowledged her understanding of the truth and yet still wanted to reject God because He didn't give her what she desired.

Tom chatted with the team for a lengthy time as well. He heard many apologetics about different parts of the Bible, most of which pointed back to the Gospel. But ultimately Tom left saying, "I understand a lot more about Christianity but I am happy living life as I want."

Taylor came two nights in a row and engaged in long discussions both times but on both occasions was quite drunk and was being a little silly. He said that he'd taken 22 shots before he had come out! Taylor talked with the team on most aspects of Christianity and had actually attended a local Brisbane school and one of the team members knew his brother. But even after 13 years at the school he had more questions rather than answers about Christianity.

Jamaine was a young man that had many questions and chatted with two different team members. The last thirty minutes of conversation were spent repetitively explaining repentance and faith and him trying to explain it back to us. Ultimately he left seeming to understand and we gave him contact details if he was interested in catching up with us.

The week has been moving along well, the team is pressing on despite the tiredness and God is graciously bringing us people with which we can share His truth.

Please keep us and those we have and will talk to in prayer!

---

So far during Schoolies at the Gold Coast, the "Good Person test" flip charts have been really great. They have been a very valuable asset as the Schoolies run up wanting to do the good person test, with some groups of people even waiting around for their turn to go through it. There have been plenty of new people coming along each day to try out this test. It has been great to see hundreds of Gospel conversations come from such a simple and easy to use prop.

One conversation started by these flips charts was with Angela and Brooke. The pair just happened to be walking by, saw the picture and inquired as to what it was about. Angela and Brooke had attended a catholic private school and had some ideas about salvation. Sadly most of their ideas were misunderstandings.

But the flip chart soon changed that. They learnt that we weren't just good people who made mistakes but rather we were bad people, who chose to do wrong. They then learnt that this sinfulness deserves Hell, which means all of humanity deserve Hell. To finish off they heard of God's incredible love, that He chose to suffer the penalty for our sin, so that all who trust in Him may have eternal life. This all happened in under five minutes, with the aid of the chart.

Sadly, the two girls weren't really phased and even though they intellectually understood the Gospel, they were more interested in living life according to their desires rather than in submission to God.

Please be praying for Angela and Brooke, that God may use this small conversation as the turning point which leads to salvation!

On Tuesday night as the team headed into the Surfers Paradise mall there seemed to be fewer schoolies out than the previous nights. Thankfully, that didn't stop many conversations from taking place.

Two notable conversations took place together. First was a conversation with young man named Sam who joined into a conversation that was already taking place with two guys, Jacob and David.

Sam was quite adamant about things he believed and was quite strong in his opposition of God's truth. This all collapsed quite quickly as Sam began to declare that he only believed things as true on the basis of his own experience.

The brief and quick response, "So you're telling me that World War II never occured?" silenced him and stopped him in his tracks. Sam realised the basis for his belief was flawed. This opened a great opportunity to share that a human being could never reason or work out in their head anything about God, unless God Himself had revealed it. Sam acknowledged this as true and then listened for a few moments before recieving a phone call and leaving. Thankfully the last minute of the conversation consisted of a clear and consise Gospel presentation of God's actions to save humanity.

The other conversation with Jacob and David lasted for almost ninety minutes. This consisted of many interruptions but was primarily based around, "questions we tried to ask our school chaplain but he didn't really want to answer". Jacob and David laid question after question on the team and we were happy to provide God's answer to each question. This back and forth covered everything from human sin, other world religions, to the problem of evil and the justice of Hell.

When the discussion was coming to a close, Jacob asked one final question, "What is the answer to your shirt?" One team member was wearing a shirt which read, "Did you hear about the bad man who went to Heaven?"

This question provided the perfect opportunity to present the Gospel one final time as the pair headed off for the evening.

Please thank God for His absolute authority and providence of these conversations. Thank Him for providing many Gospel opportunities in conversations that to begin with seem fruitless.

Please also lift Sam, David and Jacob before God and plead that God would free them from the bondage of their sin and cause them to turn in surrender to Him!

---

« Prev | 1 | 2 ... 177 | 178 | 179 | 180 | 181 ... 283 | 284 | Next »

---