Battle Log

Wednesday, 2 December, 2020

Posted 2 December 2020, 2:06 PM by Glen Richards. Permalink

On Tuesday I was online before joining Roger in Riccarton in the afternoon.

My first chat was with a lady who was mildly intrigued by my question about what comes after life.  She tracked with me all the way up to the point where I explained that Jesus died on the cross for our sins - and then she suddenly disconnected.  I’m sure she had her reasons - I hope it wasn’t because of rejection, but that’s what it seemed like.

My very next chat was with another lady - similar age to the previous chat.  There seemed to be a resistance about her, but she didn’t bail on me, she stayed with me to the end - she seemed deeply challenged, but thanked me.

Next up was a young man who said I was the first over 40 (yes, he did a good job at guessing my age!) that hadn’t skipped me.  He was glad, because he wants to talk to everyone.  I was glad too, because I wanted to share the gospel with him.  It was a great chat.  He had a Catholic background and came to grasp the gospel of Jesus and justification by faith alone.  Praise God, he said there was nothing stopping him from accepting the gift of Jesus - through faith alone.  I left him in God’s hands, after pointing him to the Bible and a good local church.

A young man, very postmodern (what’s true for you is true for you, what’s true for me is true for me).  He made it through the logic for God and justice, but couldn’t cope and so disconnected.  May he ponder this and have future opportunities to engage with the gospel - maybe from you?

Yet another young man.  Was being a bit silly early on, but he sobered up as the conversation progressed.  He came to grasp the gospel and seemed genuinely appreciative for the chat.

The final online chat was with a young lady - potentially a Catholic background. She answered my initial question by saying that nobody knows what happens after life - but then she mentioned she was a Christian.  I slowly started introducing logic for her to ponder, and she became engaged, although distant.  Her facial expressions confirmed her surprise at the gospel.  She understood, but was her thinking positive or negative?

The outreach at Riccarton was wonderful.  One of the people working for Unicef was at my usual spot, so I went and set up at Rogers usual spot.  Roger and I ended up working together at the same spot - which was a nice change.  And we had a busy outreach.

I had quite a few good conversations early on.  The first I’ll mention was with a young lady studying criminal justice (I think it was).  So the logic of ultimate justice clicked with her - even if she disagreed with it!  She was very pleasant, and stayed to hear the gospel.  She left with a Christmas tract.

Later we had two young men stop to chat.  Both with a Christian background.  One was very resistant to the gospel - arguing with Roger.  While that was happening, I engaged the other guy, who had a reasonable grasp of the gospel.  But it was clear he wasn’t a Christian - even to him.  He wasn’t trusting in Jesus, he was trusting in himself.  Sadly, he seemed quite dead to the conversation - so after a good discussion, I decided to back off.  Yet, with a fresh reminder of the gospel, may he be made alive in Christ.  Such a miracle is possible for God!

Another guy came past who seemed very happy to see me.  I remembered that I’d talked to him a couple of weeks prior.  I remember that he had wanted to talk, but his friends left him and he had to catch up.  The same thing happened today!  But he was really keen to talk.  I told him how he can contact me - and pleaded with him to do so, because my checking question confirmed that he thought good deeds would get him to heaven.  God, may I have a follow up opportunity with him where he will come to understand the gospel!

On Wednesday I was online again.  And my first conversation was gold!  Pure gold.  He really appreciated my opening question.  And he said, “I’ve been thinking about that for years - I really don’t know”.  Based on that, I decided to go right to the start.  He believed in God - but I still gave him the building / builder analogy.  He was very sharp, and understood the whole analogy before I’d even quarter explained it.  He was an open mind from then on, he followed the logic from there flawlessly, and he perfectly understood the gospel - checking questions confirming.  So in the end I simply asked him what was stopping him from accepting the gospel right now.  He seemed to have an epiphany and then disconnected before I could give him any follow up information!  He is totally in God's hands.

A great chat with a Christian kid who was clearly not a Christian.  He came to understand the gospel, and indicated that from now he wanted to be one!  During the conversation I was trying to work out what kind of church he was a part of.  He couldn’t remember, but the church building was two minutes from his house, so he ran down to check - while I was talking to him!  It was Presbyterian.  I encouraged him back to his Bible and to talk to his Nana (who he lived with) and his church leaders.

Next up a fantastic chat with a Muslim from Dubai.  He was also very open to the gospel.  Checking questions confirming.  He had a lot of questions around how we know God exists.

My last chat was with a girl who’s issue was why is Christianity against homosexuality.  I was able to address the question without compromise, and yet get her to open up to a great gospel chat.

I’m very grateful for all the opportunities to share the gospel - I have mentioned all of them from the two days.  God you are so good.  Lord, save your elect, and demonstrate your mercy.  Either way, you will do right by demonstrating your justice.  Your name will forever be praised.  You, alone, are good!