Battle Log

Wednesday, 5 September, 2018

Posted 6 September 2018, 12:39 AM by Matthew Andersen. Permalink

This afternoon the sky seemed to threaten rain as the team arrived but thankfully none came, except a couple of stray drops. The afternoon did come with a number of exciting conversations though.

An early conversation and a very sad one was with Roger. He declared that God did not exist. Then after the building, builder analogy he declared that God did exist, followed quickly by the statement, "He will let me into Heaven because I am a really good guy".

Roger, was so blinded by his sin and hatred of God that even when taken through the law he was unwilling to admit that God would find him guilty. Sadly at this he was left with a tract and encouraged to honestly read it.

Another conversation had soon after this was with Tristan. His mother was Jew by descent but non-practicing and at some point they had joined the Mormon church. They weren't overly religious but had gone to the Mormon church on and off during his childhood.

This was an interesting conversation as Tristan at first thought he would possibly go to Heaven but after hearing God's law and engaging with God's perfect standard he saw that no one in all of human history is good enough to get there. This then entered into a discussion about the Gospel and what God has done, so that the guilty and underserving can be forgiven.

Tristan later shared about some of his sins and he said he thought that he was too bad to be saved. It was explained that Jesus' sacrifice can save the most vile and wicked of sinners, because sin is primarily against God, and it was God's wrath satisfied at the cross.

He later went on to describe, that he probably wouldn't want a God that wouldn't let him live as he wanted. It was pointed out that this very thinking is the root of all sin. Sadly even though Tristan seemed to understand by the end of the conversation he wasn't (at this point) interested in God's offer of salvation. He rejected God's call to repent and believe.

Two other conversations were had with young men. One named Blake and the other Josh.

Blake said he liked the idea of reincarnation and explained his thoughts about the universe then with the simple building, builder analogy agreed that there must be a God. He heard the law, saw his sin, understood the desperate position humanity are in and heart the Gospel. 

It was a real struggle for him to understand that the Gospel called us not to be good and fix ourselves but to simply trust in God that He can pay for our sin and will fix us. It was explained four times but Blake seemed to understand it by the end! He also expressed and interest to trust in Christ, please be praying that He does and gets right with God, tonight!

Lastly a conversation was had with Josh. He had some Christian background and could declare that Jesus died on the cross for our sins but he didn't really understand what that meant. Through a lengthy discussion including an important one about how he was wrong regarding what God has said about salvation, Josh seemed to understand.

It was tough going through the conversation with many side tracks and misunderstandings but it seemed as if the Gospel was understood by the end. 

Please be praying for these four men that they would heed the call God has given them to turn in repentant faith and trust solely in Him and His accomplishments to save them. May they be humbled by God's Holiness and fall in love with Him!