Battle Log

Thanks for your prayers. I awoke Saturday morning refreshed and with a clear head. 

I started the days outreach with some letterbox dropping.  It was a hot day, with a strong wind (with autumn leaves that crunch satisfyingly). So for the second time (since starting this job) I had to discreetly change out of my thermals in the car! :o

I was then in Cathedral Square for 3 hours of outreach and God blessed me with 3 very encouraging Gospel conversations - all different.

My first conversation was with a teen, who claimed to be a Christian, and love Jesus and yet believed that self righteousness was the way to heaven.  What started as a conversation where I thought they would leave at any moment, turned into a one hour, engaged, Bible study.  They just couldn't see themselves as a bad person deserving of hell or in need of salvation.

So the focus of the conversation was on the law, and the study took us from Matthew 5:21 (the sermon on the mount - anger & lust), to Mark 10:17 (the rich young man), and then to Luke 18:9 (the pharisee and the tax collector).

I eventually got a response of "I kind of get it". But in spite of deep sincerity, there seemed to be a blindness to what the Bible says.

Yet I didn't give up.  They said they loved to read, and gladly took a Gospel booklet, and all the varieties of tracts I had.  I wrote a list of Bible passages for them to meditate on (the ones I gave above, plus Romans 1-3, and the whole of Mark). And I gave them a contact card for my local church, with my contact details, and encouraged them to discuss with their parents and to get back to a good local church (of which I listed some suggestions).

After an encouraging conversation with a Christian, I then had an elderly person stop and want to talk.

They seemed to know about Christian things, and so I asked why they would go to heaven when they died.  I was encouraged when they responded with 'faith', and with some probing, a clear understanding of grace and faith in Christ alone for salvation.

It turns out I had given a tract to them months ago in Hagley park (the reason why they stopped to talk).  Tears came to their eyes as they shared a moment that had happened years earlier that had put them on a path of searching for truth.  They were now on the 3rd reading of the Bible, and had a desire to be baptised.  Again there seemed to be a sincere desire to follow Christ (they even described themselves as a follower of Jesus), but there was something holding them back.

I gave them a contact card also.  It was a wonderful conversation, I would dearly love to just sit with this person and spend time with them.  There was a warmness about them.  I hope they get in touch.

My final conversation of the day came about by a man sitting down near to where I was handing out tracts.  He became curious, so he held out his hand for one - which I gladly gave.

He sat and read for a while before beckoning me over.  It turns out he needed help with reading some of the words.  It was my absolute pleasure to slowly work through the whole tract with him, helping him with the words he struggled with, and talking through what it was saying (see picture).  It was wonderful seeing him slowly agreeing with the logic.

When we got up to the heaven or hell part, it was clear that he understood that he deserved hell, but that he wanted to go to heaven.  So we read on to where the gift of eternal life was explained.  He seemed to understand it all.

But, at this time, he rejected the message.  He clearly articulated that his desire for a specific sin was greater than the gift of eternal life found only by faith in Jesus paying his fine.  Sadly, he wasn’t willing to change his mind.

Yet there is still hope while he is alive.  The Gospel is the power of God to salvation, and he seems to understand the Gospel now.  I leave him in Gods hands.

Sunday saw a team of six out for two hours in the afternoon.  It was great to have three people joining us for the first time (all from one family).

I had a good conversation with a tourist from Europe who had recently been in Australia (Melbourne), and had spent some time with a Christian who had been explaining Christian concepts to him.  I was able to go over the whole Gospel with him.  He asked about which books of the Bible would be good to start with.  I suggested Mark & Romans.  But I clarified that he already had enough information, today was the day to trust in Christ for the forgiveness of his sins.

At the end of the outreach, we headed to Cathedral Square and I was able to preach in the open air, something that I missed doing on Thursday.

But before getting there, I noticed something on the foot path.  It was a torn contact card for my local church!  I picked it up, and it had my contact details on the back.  It must of been one of the two that I had given out yesterday, they obviously have no desire to get in touch.  :(  Yet, I'm not discouraged.  I can't change people, I can't convince them of anything.  It's my job to share the Gospel.  It's God's job to change hearts.  But I do wonder who's it was.

As always, all glory to God for helping us through this weekend of outreach.
 

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