Battle Log

Wednesday, 29 January, 2020

Posted 29 January 2020, 6:00 PM by Glen Richards. Permalink

Wednesday in Christchurch dawned with rain - which was actually good, because the day developed into a very hot and sunny day and the cooler weather was better while I did some more letterbox dropping in the morning.

And for two days in a row, I was able to get into a gospel conversation while letterbox dropping!  Here is a pro tip: smile.  Everytime I pass someone on the street, I give a friendly smile, if they respond with their own smile it can easily allow for a conversation to start, which can lead to a gospel conversation.  Well today, my smile to a gentleman walking the other direction led to him receiving a tract and asking what it was.  When he learned I was a Christian, he quickly declared his Atheism - but was keen to chat.

Like yesterday, I wasn’t able to have a full gospel conversation, but I was able to challenge him on why evolution wasn’t sufficient as a creative mechanism, and why only God explained the existence of the universe and the life found in it.  I was able to give him a basis for morality, and show him how none of us met the standard.  But, sadly, he didn’t want to hear the good news of the hope of eternal life found in Jesus.  I hope he was challenged, and reads the tract that he put in his pocket.

Once I made it to Cathedral Square to start the first outreach of the day, I was able to catch up with one of the stall vendors.  I was encouraged to hear that some Christians had been preaching the gospel (a few days prior) in Speakers Corner using Ray Comforts’ trivia/money technique.  I hope I get to encounter them one day soon.

I ended up settling on the corner of Cashel and Colombo for the outreach and had four great gospel conversations.

An Indian girl heard and understood the gospel, but wasn’t willing to let go of her Hinduism.

I had a long conversation with a man who was a big fan of Jordan Peterson.  I had to be patient as the man processed the reasoning that undergirds the gospel.  He heard the law, but (again) didn’t want to hear the gospel.  But he seemed to really appreciate the chat.  He took a tract, and it would be great if I get to see him again.

At this point, the heat of the day was starting to take its toll, so I had an energy bar.  I went to put the rubbish in the bin, and to my surprise people had started to gather around my flip chart in my brief absence.  This led to a solid gospel conversation with two young ladies.

To finish off the morning outreach, I had a guy and girl show interest in the chart.  It turns out she had already done it about six months ago.  I asked her if she passed the test, and she said she hadn’t.  I asked if she knew the good news, and she didn’t.  So going from there, I took them through the chart.  Sadly, they were understanding, but not understanding.  They really weren’t interested in the good news.  And not surprisingly, they both failed my first checking question.  They had to go.

After lunch, the second outreach of the day started.  I ditched the flip chart and looked for shaded areas to approach people to chat.  I ended up having five gospel opportunities.  The two highlights were: a conversation with a young lady with a Catholic background who seemed very open to the foreign concept of salvation by faith alone: good news!  And a wonderful conversation on my first walk down High Street for the year (I only made it halfway due to this conversation).

The conversation was with an Atheist and was going really well, when a guy I hadn’t noticed came and interrupted.  He had overheard me say: “Jesus said ‘anger is like murder of the heart’”, and so his interruption was to ask if I knew Aramaic.  I was initially confused by this, but soon understood what he was getting at.  Interestingly, I think this guy was expecting me to get into an argument with him - he looked tensed up and ready to fight!  I think he was surprised when I responded gently.  We ended up shaking hands.  Maybe I broke his street evangelist stereotype?  I hope so.  Unfortunately, the conversation with either men wasn’t able to continue - the first guy had to go back to work.  But I hope these guys get more opportunities to hear the gospel - maybe from you?  You're ready to share the gospel - right?

I’m starting to get back into my regular schedule post some holidays and the NZ Summer Mission.  As always, thank you for your prayers and support!