Battle Log

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As Sunday nights have become a regular event more and more team members have been coming out. It has been exciting to see that there has been around ten members each Sunday night so far. What better time to come on out to preach Christ and Him crucified then after you've just had a ninety minute worship service, as a body praising God for who He is and what He's done. This week's outreach was exciting as again some newer team members came out with the intention of telling others what Christ has done!

An early conversation took place with Alva a tourist who was bold in her declaration that she does not want to believe in God. She was shown the law and her guilt but kept trying to defend that the things she had done aren't that bad. She saw the building builder analogy and said that it made sense but she doesn't want to believe in God. It was sad to see that she was so against God and was warned that it is exceedingly unwise.

The following conversation was with a young couple who at first were hesitant to stop because they didn't want to think about it but they ended up pausing and at first the shared that they don't think there is a God or an afterlife. Then they were shown how we know God exists, why this is a serious problem for us as God is good and must punish all evil, leaving us, if being judged based on how we've lived, deserving of and heading toward Hell. But then they heard the good news, that God in His kindness has offered a solution. He has come, paid the penalty sin deserves and all those who trust in Him will be forgiven of their sin because Jesus has paid for it!

What an joy to share. Keva and Claire heard this, were asked some clarifications questions and came to understand the gospel. They were then challenged with the cost of trusting in Christ and were encouraged this very day to consider it because they're not guaranteed tomorrow!

The following conversation was surprisingly even simpler! Dirasch and Miral an Indian couple said they sort of believed in reincarnation. They were shown how we know God exists and they agreed without argument. Then they were shown that God is good and they agreed, which then by implication left them guilty. They took a look at God's law and were humble enough without argument to acknowledge that they are in very serious trouble because they have lived lives of rebellion against God. They understood that the punishment can't be merely limited to this world but that there is a Hell punishment for sin.

This moment was taken to emphasise the problem with reincarnation, each life is filled with wrong actions. More and more sins. Which means, life after life one will just compile more and more sins that need punishment. In an attempt to avoid Hell the reality is they are just making it worse for themselves. They agreed with this and saw that extending the amount of lives one has will never atone for sin.

Then they heard the glorious good news, better than a self-hope that over 80,000 lives one may be able to perfect themselves rather that God in His love has done it all so that those who by faith in Christ accept the gift of forgiveness are made right before God because He has paid the penalty for their sin and provided the perfection required to stand in the presence of God!

Dirasch and Miral got the simple response to the gospel, that all one must do is trust in Christ to receive forgiveness and then they were shown what it will cost them. That although the gift is free trust in Christ may cost them many things. They understood and said that today they are going to trust in Christ! They mentioned they'd been given a Bible in Byron Bay a little while back that they would read and they were encouraged to attend a local Church!

Praise God for His mercy and kindness toward all those tonight heard the gospel! Please be praying that those who heard the truth, read the truth or were even asked simple questions would not be able to rest until they are right with God! May this exposure to the gospel be a pebble in their shoe that they must deal with as soon as possible!

Why not consider coming out one Sunday night, you'll be glad you did!

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On Saturday the rain came as the day went on and by the time for outreach came Brisbane had been thoroughly soaked. This meant there were fewer people around than usual. There were also showers coming on by which meant most people were dashing off somewhere between showers, whilst it was dry. So the evening was a little harder going than usual but this didn't stop the conversations. There were still plenty to go around, it was just more work to start them.

An early conversation took place with Ray. He walked up near the table and was asked what he thought happens after we die. He shared that he though he'd go to Heaven because he is a good guy. He was taken through a simple gospel presentation and came to understand that his goodness is not enough and in fact that his life means he deserves Hell. Ray was quite surprised and yet was not trying to deny this reality he took it seriously.

Then he came to understand how a sinner can be made right before God. He took a couple of different explanations to fully comprehend the simplicity but when he understood it was exciting to see the joy on his face! He asked if there is a local Church he could head along to and was encouraged to read the gospel of John. He took one and said that he would! Please be keeping Ray in your prayer so that he may trust in Christ, turning to live for Him and start attending a local Church!

Due to the rain coming the team were mostly limited to under cover areas which had a decent amount of foot traffic but a young couple stopped and started chatting. Ben and Sophie were their names. Ben wasn't sure what happens after death and came to agree that he likes sin. He was shown the judgement sin deserves and therefore his current eternal destiny if he does not trust in Christ and then was able to understand the comprehend the simple gospel. He sadly was taken away before some serious cost counting and challenges could be raised but Ben was reminded that his eternal destiny is based upon his response to what Christ has done.

Sophie his friend said she had a great hatred for God because of her family who had treated her very poorly when she came out as homosexual. She was shown that we cannot blame God for the actions of other people but should hear what God himself has said. She saw the kindness of the team that we weren't out to get her, to single her out and to proclaim how much worse she is. But she also wasn't just ignored and it wasn't pretended that her sin isn't sin. Like everyone else she saw through the law that she was a sinner deserving of Hell and came to understand that even if she wasn't a homosexual she was still heading to Hell.

It wasn't her specific expression of sin that caused her to deserve Hell but the reality that she is a sinner. She settled down and seemed to be understanding and was being shown the gospel until she got a phone call and had to leave. At the end they both had received some news. Ben heard the good news of forgiveness in light of the bad news of judgement and Sophie saw the actual news of God's judgement but didn't get a chance to understand the good news.

But in their final parting comments she shared that she wasn't really interested in "changing" anything about her life because she wants to keep living her way. Please raise Ben up before God that he would humble himself and come to God on his terms, trusting in Christ for his forgiveness. Please be praying for Sophie that she would stop trying to justify her sin but that she would comprehend the desperate wickedness of rebellion against God and turn to Him alone for forgiveness!

There were a few other scattered conversations over the course of the evening. One exciting one was with Jason who had spoken to the team before and was able to simply explain the way to Heaven! It was exciting to see that he still remembered the simplicity of justification by faith alone and that this will always be evidenced by a changed life. But when asked when he will trust in Jesus to pay for his sin he wasn't sure. He was then encouraged strongly to count the cost and consider it tonight because he may never receive another opportunity to think about it!

Jason said that he would. Please be praying that God would have worked in Jason's heart and brought him to believe, not just know about the gospel!

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Our Lord gave us a glorious winter's afternoon to serve Him. There seemed to be more than the usual number of people not wanting to engage with team members. However, our Lord gave us those He wanted to hear something of their desperate need for His salvation:

     - please pray for 2 young teen-aged girls whom Lee-Anne had a chat with. They parted with the declaration that they would respond today. 2 Tim. 2:19. 

     - pray also for a young 'scientist' type who stated that she did more good than Lee-Anne whom she had never met before. Yes she needs a new heart for even if her assertion was true (and it is impossible to please God without faith, Heb. 11:6) God does not mark on a curve, Mt. 5:48, and furthermore, God judges the Christian's works with respect to 'rewards', not salvation.

     - Ryan had a chat with a young guy and girl who had been educated in a Christian school but did not know the gospel. She was receptive but he was too busy judging God by his own standards to be concerned that God 's wrath is on him right now.

     - at the close of our time, Railee and I were special recipients of encouragement from Lamey and Christine. They arre Coptic Christians from Egypt and knew what God in His rich mercy had done to save them from their sins. They were warmed to see fellow Christians declaring the praiseworthy deeds of God. They related how the normal treatment of Christians in Egypt was to be treated as second grade citizens. Then they encouraged us not to stop doing what we were doing because persecution, in some form,  is normal for Christians.

As usual, we left that corner of the mission field rejoicing and praising God. Will you add your praises to ours for as the Scriptures boldly assert: "Worthy are You, our Lord and God... Worthy is the Lamb who was slain...,Rev. 4:11 + 5:12."

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Operation 513 joined up with Sports Fan Outreach to hand out tracts, have conversations and preach to the crowds going to the International Cricket match between India and Australia this morning at The Oval in London. A young man from Portugal named Ruben was a bit inebriated, but he kept asking us questions for quite a while. I took a picture with Ruben talking with Bill Shank. Bill was with me  for SFOI and he began by singing "The Old Rugged Cross" and preaching to the crowds going to the game. One fellow pointed to the Oval and said, "That is my church". I took over the preaching chores as the crowds peaked leading to game time. I used Mark 10:45 again to summarize the Gospel. I asked "How do you define greatness?" Jesus defines greatness as being the servant of all.  Not only that, he came in to this world to give his life as a ransom for many.  Since Karma means debt, I said that Jesus came to pay the debt, your Karma, so that you don't have to pay it. (That turned a few heads, Bill told me.) I saw very few Australia fans, but many Indian fans. I was handing out a tract by Voddie Baucham about "Life's Ultimate Questions", since so many Indians are practicing atheists.  Kuldeep took such a tract and promised to read it at home.  I handed out two NT's.  I gave one to Ian, but the first fellow's name escapes me.  

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A fascinating weekend.

It was a cold and dreary Saturday morning.  I wasn’t expecting many people to be about - and I was right.  But the team of two set up in Cathedral Square any way.  We cast out our nets and prayed for fish.

We had to be patient, but to my joy, the fish came!  The outreach was even slightly extended in time, as I finished up the final conversation at the end.

The other team member is fairly new to regular outreach (although we have known him for a while).  He has now bought his own tracts and is stepping out to share them with people.  It is so wonderful and encouraging to see him so politely reaching out to people as he can.  Be encouraged reader - you can do this too. :)

The funniest thing happened as I was doing some letterbox dropping afterwards.  It was cold with a nasty wind, so I was rugged up with sneakers, jeans, a jacket, scarf, gloves and a beanie (all dark in colour).  But the sun was out also, so I had sunnies on too.  I walked into a drive to drop tracts into a few boxes, and I noticed a car backing away from me.  I moved on, but I heard the car stop, rev it’s engine, and come down to the end of the drive.  I turned back, and the man in the car was staring at me.  I thought that was odd - I wondered if he wanted a Gospel tract, so I held one up.  He just stared at me.  So I walked over to him.  He wound down his window and asked what it was.  As I was explaining, he took one.  Then he said, “oh, I thought you were a burglar”.  :D  Inwardly I was laughing!  I’ve taken a mental note to be careful how I dress through this winter of outreach! ;)

Sunday morning saw our regular church meeting where we had some special encouragement.  We had two seperate sets of Christian’s turn up who had heard about what we had been up to on the streets.

One man I’ve never seen before came to give us encouragement and advice in how to outreach to a particular cultural/religious group.  He gave us some resources in relation to that.  He couldn’t stay, I assume he had to get to his own local church gathering.  But I was so encouraged that people are noticing what we are doing - as small and insignificant as we are.  I, afresh, feel a responsibility to continue to represent Christ well.

Another couple joined us for our meeting, and it turns out they have been heavily involved with Gospel + abortion outreach in Christchurch for many years.  They had heard about us through a friend.  Word is getting out.  Our efforts are reaching people.  All glory to God.  We pray that God will continue to use us to see souls & lives saved in the fight against abortion in our city.

After church, a team of four headed to Cashel Mall.  And it was a busy time of outreach, with many people about in the crisp, but sunny weather.

I set up my flip chart, looked up, and a guy came up wanting to know what it was about.  It turns out he was a Christian handing out million dollar tracts!  He seemed so encouraged to see other Christians out sharing the Gospel.  We had a good talk, and exchanged contact details.  He stayed with the team for the rest of the outreach.

To end the outreach, we headed to Speaker’s corner in Cathedral Square.  Andy & I decided to open air preach as a tag team.  I covered the bad news, and Andy did the good news.

And the Lord blessed us with a hecker.  A really good heckler.  As we interacted, a few people started to gather to listen.  It was incredibly encouraging for a novice like me.

As Andy preached the good news, a guy mockingly (yet light heartedly) circled him on his scooter (pictured), while his mates videoed it on their phones.  No problem with us, as they are hearing the vital message of the Gospel!

After Andy had finished, Greg was so encouraged, he decided to get up and preach as well, and had some wonderful opportunities to interact with people (pictured).

So, a very very encouraging weekend of outreach.  If we are patient, and faithful - God will use us for His glory.  Do something!
 

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This Friday in Cavill Mall on the Gold Coast the temperature was up ten degrees from last week and there were a lot more people out. It was busier evening at times but the showers of rain emptied the area on and off over the night.

Thankfully there were still many conversations that took place and the eight team members out were able to lead a range of people to a place where they now know how a sinner can be forgiven.

There were two Indian ladies, both named Acsheena who heard the gospel and came to understand how they can be forgiven. They said they'd never heard it before and were grateful for the information but sadly that was all that it seemed to be to them. They didn't seem moved by their sin and they didn't have a hatred for it. They just seemed happy to keep living their own way. They were warned and took tracts but were encouraged to think on this more as eternity could be right around the corner.

In this video you can hear Ben sharing about how the night went generally and Grace sharing about an exciting conversation that took place with a Muslim man named Abs. He was mostly unwilling to hear as he quite consistently wouldn't respond with an answer but would just try and say something else when asked questions.

In the end he too understood the gospel and took a gospel of John to have a read of but whilst firmly believing that Islam is true he showed many times his failure to keep the laws even by his words and actions through the conversation.

Why not take the opportunity this coming week to join the team?

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On Thursday at Sunnybank there was a team of eight members at the outreach and this enabled as usual good converage of the area along both sides of the road. This meant that over the course of the afternoon many people heard of Christ and how they can be forgiven.

An early short conversation was with Mutrich who had a Muslim background and thought he would be fine on the day of judgement, then was shown God's law and realised that he was guilty but said that he'd be able to fix that by living a good life from now on. This was a conversation that lasted less than a minute until his bus arrived but it was a good reminder of the desperate state of the human heart as the day began.

Soon there was a guy named Gary who approached with his friend. His friend instantly said, "I don't want to talk, I'm a Methodist" but Gary happily engaged. He saw that God exists and therefore that we are guilty. He wanted a God who didn't judge and then a God who judged only the really bad people and then a God who would just forgive everyone despite them being bad. But Gary was trying every card he could to avoid his Hell punishment except look to the Saviour. Sadly he remained this way and rejected any offer of hope in the gospel. It wasn't a lengthy conversation either but he ended up leaving with a tract and encouraged to read it and reconsider.

There was an exciting conversation with Rick who had a JW family and had a few struggles to understand because of what his family has said but over the course of a conversation he seemed to understand the simple gospel. He did struggle a bit with its simplicity as he kept trying to add works to it. He too had to leave and was encouraged to read the tract and his Bible.

This was followed by a lengthy conversation with a man named James. To begin at the ending, James said, "I don't want to give up the life I'm living, I don't want to do it God's way". The conversation took almost an hour. James understood the gospel in the first fifteen minutes and it was reminded and reiterated over the course of the chat.

He at some stages was being silly. Willfully trying to misunderstand things that were being said. He was trying to defend his actions with simple arguments about freedom and how he should be able to live his way, instead of God's way. The conversation went on and he was warned seriously many times that to know the offer of forgiveness but to choose to reject Christ out of a desire to continue just to live however you want is the most foolish thing a person can do.

James heard and understood the warnings and at the end of the conversation was still firmly deciding to live in rebellion against the most powerful being in the universe.

Another brief yet valuable conversation was with Jonathan. He at first said, "Whatever you believe will happen to you after death". This was briefly challenged and he saw quickly that cannot be the case. Instead he then professed to be a Christian but thought it was his goodness that would be gaining him access to Heaven.

He was shown God's law and realised the desperate position that he is in and came to grasp the seriousness of getting the main message of Christianity wrong, He could spend eternity in Hell. When he was being asked about what he thought the way is and how he could be forgiven he threw out a few ideas which were addressed and shown as unable to save but there wasn't a chance to talk any further as he too had to leave.

Please be praying for Mutrich that he would read the tract and be humbled, coming to God's saviour. Please pray for Gary that he would stop avoiding reality with foolish ideas but acknowledge that God must punish sinners and therefore seek for God's offer of mercy. Please be praying that Rick would read his Bible and come to see God for who He has shown Himself to be! Please be praying for James that God would do whatever it takes to show him the foolishness of his choice and mercifully lead him to a repentant faith in Christ. Please also pray for Jonathan that he starts to value what God has said and instead of just going with the flow of this postmodern world would instead come to trust in Christ as His Lord and Saviour.

And why not pray for love so that you may seek to preach Christ to those who are perishing?

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On Wednesday afternoon in Brisbane City the team had a wonderful afternoon, it is the time of year when the sun doesn't hit the square in the afternoon but instead is behind a building for most of the afternoon. Which means that many more people are sitting around, although it does make the square a bit cool as well.

There were a scattering of conversations but three stand out ones were with a JW, Josh an intellectual and Michael.

The JW man came up and approached the team seeing one of the messages that was displayed and was shown through the flip chart that like the rest of humanity he is guilty and deserving of God's judgement. He then sought to try and distract the conversation raising other different rabbit holes and getting away from the question posed to him, "How does someone get right before God?"

He finally said that we are made right before God simply by dying. This means Hitler, Satan and your garden variety person all receive the same punishment. But this man was asked if God has anything more to say in His word about the penalty of sin. It is true that death is a consequence of sin but the Bible doesn't say it is the only thing sin deserves.

He was shown some things Jesus said about Hell, some things that John wrote in regards to God's revelation and he sadly wanted nothing to do with it. He said that was all symbolic (meaning, that it didn't mean anything). He was shown that symbols point to something but when the good news of a free gift of forgiveness was being shared he decided that he'd had enough, we need to be worthy and so he left.

Next was a conversation with Josh who was engaged at length. He had spoken to another team member for quite a while and had heard the gospel but it was reiterated and he was able to simply and seemingly understanding it able to answer questions about the gospel, that many professing Christians would struggle to answer.

This was a good sign but knowledge isn't the same as belief and Josh showed this over and over as although he now knew the gospel he still loved sin and desired to live his own way. Over the course of the discussion he had quite a range of questions answered and was challenged greatly, there was a point at which his mouth was completely stopped as he realised what he was doing. He was shown that all his arguments were simply an attempt to justify his decision to live how he saw fit.

He saw that his sin was the same as Adam and Eve's in the garden that they wanted to be like God, they wanted to choose for themselves what they were and weren't allowed to do. This point was referred to over and over as Josh was challenged again and again to forsake his sin and instead trust in Christ alone for salvation.

Lastly a man named Michael came up, he approached the flip chart and said that he wanted to have a go. It was glorious! He had some good questions, he understood the law, his guilt and the good news of justification by faith alone and left knowing the gospel and said that he didn't think it was a mistake that he wanted to check it out and left with a gospel of John, the challenge to count the cost, consider what Christ has said and to trust in Him alone for salvation this day!

The afternoon overall was exciting, as always. It is wonderful to see who God brings along each outreach to hear of His kind and gracious offer of forgiveness. Please be praying for the JW man, Josh and Michael that God would use this small conversations to lead them to a saving knowledge of the truth. May God be gracious to them, save them and cause them to walk in His ways!

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It was a wonderful week away getting some refueling at a conference.  I arrived home on Wednesday morning, and I was back to work on the streets in the afternoon.  It was so good to be back!  But wow, was it cold!  This was my first official winter outreach.  I’d really appreciate your prayer as I face my first winter as a full time street evangelist.  With God’s help, I can make it through.

The highlight from that Wednesday outreach was talking to two Christians and seeing a desire for evangelism in them.  I was able to encourage them to join me and I was very encouraged by them.

Thursday saw another outreach into the city where I had the pleasure of open air preaching, before Andy and I moved to the Eastgate bus stops for many walk up conversations.  There was one point where the outreach slowed down, so I just paused and started praying, and before long, another bus rolled in, releasing a fresh group of people to hand tracts to and start conversations with.

Today (Friday) started with our Gospel + abortion outreach in front of the hospital.  We had some wonderful opportunities for dialogue and to share the Gospel in spite of much opposition.  This outreach is so vital.  We are continuing to pray that God would use this for His glory.

We then moved to Cathedral Square, where Andy and I both open air preached, with no buskers or heckling - nice for a change.

We finished up with an outreach on Cashel Mall.  It was wonderful to, yet again, have a new team member join us for the first time!  Long may this continue.  May labourers be raised up for His glory.
 

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I joined the Sports Fan Outreach on Wednesday at the Oval before the match between Bangladesh and New Zeeland.  Bill Adams and his crew were on the tube side of the street and I stayed on the side where the Oval and the bus stops were.  

I learned that you pick a spot early and stay there, because you have no hope of establishing another spot if you move when the big crowds start filing past.  The crowds were almost all from Bangladesh and I was patient handing out tracts during the three hours leading up to game time.  Many came and asked me what I was doing and took tracts from me.  I handed out twenty "Jesus and the Quran" tracts for those who didn't want an overt Gospel tract.  I preached for about 50 minutes prior to game time as the crowds grew very large, using Mark 10:45, which summarizes the Mark's gospel in one verse.  I asked the crowds "What is greatness?".  Is it skill on the pitch, bowling and batsmanship?  I gave them Jesus' definition, which is found in Mark 10:43-45.  He who would be greatest is the servant of all. I found many approving nods from this mostly Muslim crowd pointing them to Jesus' humility.  And I added that Jesus further humbled himself when he came (incarnation) and gave his life a ransom for many.  I had many brief exchanges, but one young man named "Muman" or Muhammad told me how he has been estranged from his sisters and regretted the lack of reconciliation.  I pointed him to Jesus, who reconciled man with God and reconciles us to others.  

At one point, a comedy team dressed in white coats and Groucho Marx glasses and moustaches animated the people waiting to get into the stadium. 

It was an incredible experience to be in a largely Muslim crowd.  I really sense how important that patience, kindness and respect were important to build a rapport with the people

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