Battle Log

Friday, 23 October, 2020

Posted 24 October 2020, 6:37 AM by Glen Richards. Permalink

Thursday was wall day for me.  I didn’t know how I was going to face yet another conversation.  To get myself rolling, I decided to go online and start with text chats.  Matt & Hope joined me online soon after and I was able to get some encouragement from Matt (thanks brother).  I also listened to Hope sharing the gospel (with Matt training) - so encouraging listening to her!  She got into a conversation with a hard line Catholic and Matt decided to take over the conversation.

It was an absolute joy to watch Matt going to the word of God to reason with this Catholic over the subject of justification.  Ironically the Catholic contradicted his intellectual argument (works are required for justification) with the filthy language he was using!

I soon disengaged and got back to my own gospel conversations, I was rolling now!  I had a long conversation (thirty minutes) with a guy from India who just couldn’t grasp the wonder of the gospel of grace.  I persisted in labouring as long as I could.  It was very discouraging.  May he have more opportunities to engage with the gospel - may the Spirit cut through the hard soil!

I then joined Andy at the Eastgate bus stops.  I was a walking zombie, he was a kid in a candy shop, having gospel conversation after gospel conversation!  So awesome to watch and listen to his encouraging updates between conversations.

I managed to have some good conversations.  The one that really sticks in my mind was a long chat with a guy drinking beer.  He used to be a “Christian”, but had “given up”.  He had never understood the gospel.  A laboured with him.  By the end of the conversation, he was asking me what church I went to - I gladly gave him a contact card, along with a tract and an encouragement to pick up his Bible again.

Andy & I decided not to go to Northlands, instead we would finish the day online - it would give Andy another opportunity to get used to the new tools he has for online evangelism.

The afternoon online was hard work.  Another chat with a guy inoculated by false Christainty - I had to labour to get him to understand the gospel.  Then a young girl who had grown up in “Christanity” who when heard Matthew 5:21-22 her eyes went wide.  She came to grasp the gospel quite quickly, but seemed completely disinterested.  It grieved me.  I then had a twenty minute chat with an intellectual who became very frustrated and was very resistant.  His standard was himself.  He was the judge of the universe.

Friday started with the gospel + abortion outreach outside the hospital.  A lot of the regulars were away, but we had three newbies join us for a team of seven.  In God’s grace we had a quiet outreach.  I had one conversation with a young man who didn’t seem too well mentally.  He was racist.  I was able to touch on the law and the gospel with him before he walked off.

Lots of Christians, and not many hecklers in Cathedral Square.  Marty preached really well.

Later I preached as well and I attracted an Oriental Orthodox Christian heckler - who denies justification by faith alone.  I enjoyed engaging him in the public square.  Later I was able to sit down with him and try to reason - but he just wasn’t open.

To finish the day, I spent three hours online.

I had an encouraging chat with a guy from Florida, he seemed to come under some conviction and seemed to deeply consider the gospel, which I had reminded him of.  After this, I had a string of really good gospel conversations - praise God.

The highlight was with a nine year old boy.  When I first saw him, I felt really sad that he was “online”.  He was text responding only, and I was amazed at how fast a typer he was.  He seemed to be very smart - it turns out he has autism.  He believed in God, and he through his good deeds would get him to heaven.  So I started taking him through the law.  He burst into tears!  Such a sensitive conscience is very rare!  He really felt his sin.  So I quickly shared the balm of the gospel.  It was a wonderful conversation where he slowly came to grasp the gospel (he kept reverting back to “good deeds” initially).  I pointed him to needGod.net and the Bible.  And he agreed he wouldn’t go “online” anymore.  I asked him to talk to his aunty (who looked after him) about the conversation we had had.  Oh Lord, save this young man for your glory.