Battle Log

Page 139

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Yesterday, the focus of gospel ministry was in Riccarton.  Riccarton is quite close to the mosque where many tragically died last Friday.  :(  I had the honor of talking to two people who were close enough to hear the gun shots.  For one of them, it was the first time they had ventured out.  I was able to explain about the justice of God, but also of the bad news of why we deserve justice as well.  And then share about the hope of forgiveness only found in trusting Christ who took our justice upon the cross, and defeated death by rising again!

I also had a long conversation with a young man who was Eastern Orthodox.  I don't get to talk to many people who are Eastern Orthodox, and he was very engaged in the conversation, so I asked him to explain why he would be going to heaven.  This led to him explaining the basic tenants of what he believed.  In return, I then shared the law and the gospel with him.  And we then spent a long time discussing the differences.

The discussion ended up focusing on the contrast between faith and works.  I talked about Ephesians 2, the whole beginning of this chapter is wonderful, but I'll quote from verse 8:

For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus alone.  We are not saved by our works; instead it is a gift.  But once we are saved we will do the good works that God prepared us to do.

When the conversation finally ended, this guy gave me a hug.  He obviously enjoyed the conversation.  May he come to understand this amazing grace, and trust alone in Christ for his salvation.

Earlier in the day, I was letterbox dropping in the area, and I walked past two police officers.  I had an opportunity to thank them for their service, esp. considering the tragedy of Friday.  One of them took an Eternity tract from me.

Today I started with some letterbox dropping in a neighborhood close to where I live.  But God gave me an opportunity to share the gospel one to one with a man outside his house.  He said my meeting was timely, as he had just had his car stolen, had to move out of his house at short notice, and on top of that was struggling with processing the shootings on Friday.  He seemed to understand and appreciate the brief gospel presentation I gave him and said he would read the tracts I had given him.  I pleaded with him to think seriously about his sin, and then to repent and trust, alone, in Christ.

I then headed into the city for some flip charting.  I ended up getting into some long gospel conversations there (the outreach went over by an hour).  I spent a long time with one person in particular, who was very intelligent and who had a lot to say.  I'm confident they understood the simple message of the gospel, yet they politely fought against it.

The Lord provided some wonderful opportunities for gospel conversation during a short one hour outreach outside the hospital.  One man, after receiving an Eternity tract, came back to give it back.  And I could see he was ready for a fight.  I made it clear at the beginning that I wasn't there to spread hate, but hope.  I then took the time to listen and resist the temptation to verbalise my disagreement with what he was saying, as I could see he was ready to go at any moment.  To my surprise he stayed and I was able to continue listening to what he had to say.  Slowly he warmed up, and allowed me some space to add my thoughts into the conversation.  To my surprise, I ended up having the opportunity to briefly cover the main points of the gospel with him.  He even ended up accepting back the tract he had returned to me.  We parted ways with a hand shake!  I thank God for allowing that conversation to turn around.

What a privilege and great responsibility my new job is! Please pray that I'll be able to continue being a faithful ambassador of Christ.

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Thanks be our our God our loving heavenly Father for sending us some much needed rain. It sure has been pretty dry out here in Warwick and surrounding areas, to receive some was such a blessing. When we lived back in Brisbane we didn’t think much about rain and drought but out here in the country it is essential to keep the livestock fed and for the crops to grow. It has been a learning curve for us to sympathise with the locals who earn their bread and butter from the land. It was a bit cooler as we started the day handing out some Gospel tracts.

R has been coming to the bible table fairly regularly over the last few months and each time we try to encourage and challenge him to get right with the Lord. We are not exactly sure where he is but the signs are encouraging for he say’s he want’s to get to know Jesus and desires to get a device which has an audible bible on it. We have looked into this and will help to get this for him. Please pray that the Lord will continue to draw R unto salvation. 

An older gentleman stopped when offered a tract and asked what it was about, we said it was the message about Eternity and what happens when we die, he said he didn’t know what happens.  After sharing with him that we either go to heaven or hell, he said he wants to go to heaven. Trying to draw out from him if he had any understanding of Jesus he was asked if he knew what the Christmas and Easter message was all about, but still didn’t know, but after explaining to him he remembered a few things from his childhood. He knew some of the commandments and admitted to breaking them. It was explained to him God’s Holiness and the only way to heaven is through what Jesus has done on the cross to rescue us from breaking God’s law. The Gospel was shared and K has a “What is more important than water” and “Are You a good person” tracts. Please pray our Lord reveals his need for a savior.

A lady came up to the bible table and asked if she could have a bible for her granddaughter and through our conversation she told us that she was excommunicated from the Jehovah Witnesses and was treated very badly and God used this to bring her to the true gospel. She spent quite a time with us and we were able to be a listening ear and encourage her in her faith in Jesus. Please pray for L as she has her granddaughter coming to stay and that she can pass on the good news of the gospel to her. 

We give thanks to our Lord for answering prayers in preparing peoples hearts to receive the good news of the gospel. Please keep all the teams in prayer as our Lord builds His church.

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What God has purposed before the foundation of the world, He continues today and every day until the last of Jesus sheep are safely home - Jn. 10, 17 + Eph. 1

The Lord kept the rain away until we had finished His work there for this day. At home, a few kms. away, it had been precipitating most of the time we were at Wello Pt.  Here are a few reasons why we think God did so.

     Railee had a 'closing' chat with Cynthia, a Buddhist. Cynthia came to see the difference (1 truth tract). Going through God's standard for mankinds' morality, she concluded, "I am lost" with tears in her eyes. Please pray that she does prayerfully read John's gospel and the Good Shepherd speaks to her.

     Lee-Anne had another 'science' guy, Will. He considered Jesus to be merely a good guy - May God be merciful to him and removes the veil from his eyes and enlightens his understanding as he takes up the challenge and searches the Bible. 

     While Lee-Anne was trying to interest 2 ladies, I was able to take a man, sitting on a bench with a young child, through the gospel. He said it made sense. We were able to conclude the chat well. As I left, the 2 ladies came to take him away. We had not realized that they were together. Another interesting providential event courtesy of He who has unlimited knowledge, wisdom and power.

     Among the other chats, Ryan was able to take 4 lads through the whole message, with their Mum standing back listening carefully. They wanted to continue the chat and Mum joined in. She has expressed an interest in worshipping locally. Please pray that she does, and the lads as well as she has some Mormon teachings in her background.

     Finn had the pick of the 'unreasonable ones' today. The man ranted, "You read a book and you think you know all about the universe". He did not stay to hear the good news.

     Meanwhile, Natalie and Grace had another 'good' walk to King Island; low tide again!

 May God be pleased to use our imperfect efforts, as presented to Him through our Mediator to glorify His holy name. 

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"You can't be serious Vicki", said Helen to her elderly friend that after hearing the building's have a builder analogy. It was true, Vicki was defiantly holding out on acknowledging what she knew, despite great evidence. Sadly before the conversation could go further their bus arrived and they headed off with tracts.

The was a team of three at Capalaba on Monday and despite the rain, thanks to the covering over the bus stop conversations were still easy to have.

One conversation that has slowly been taking place over the past few weeks is with Rachel. She is interested in talking but only has 10 minutes between work and when he bus arrives so the conversation is picked up from and continued each week. This week Rachel heard of sin and how desperately guilty we are and was shown the penalty we deserve but just as she was asked, "How can our guilt be dealt with" her bus arrived. Please be praying that Rachel considers this question for next week.

There was also a conversation with a young man named Darcy who saw that he knew God exists, saw God's law and his guilt and was pointed to the Saviour. He comprehended the Gospel and was able to repeat it back but when asked when he would trust in Jesus he was hesitant and said it was because his family were no Christians and they probably wouldn't agree with him. He was challenged to count the cost of following Christ and to make his choice because to not choose, is to choose to reject Him.

A final conversation of that afternoon was with Zoe, a young lady who had a Catholic past and had some misconceptions as a result. The conversation allowed for some engagement to address these issues as well as presenting the Gospel as to why we need salvation and how only Jesus can provide it.

Overall the afternoon was exciting, with many conversations, a range of positive responses and the three team members being able to engage at length with around thirty people over three hours!

Please keep those who heard in prayer and consider joining the team yourself some time. Set aside a day in advance to come on out! Maybe even Easter Monday, which will be at Redlands Family Easter Festival!

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On Saturday night in Brisbane City, the rain began halfway through the outreach. The first part of the night was in the open then it was mostly confined to the covered areas.

You can hear two very good reasons to join the team, the first comes by way of implication. Ryan, Fynn and Harry share about people who responded positively to the Gospel. That is reason number one, God uses the Gospel to save people!

Secondly, you can hear Ryan and Harry share about how the team can help. You may be scared, new or tired and there will be other team members willing to encourage you and assist you in proclaiming the Gospel.

So why not come and join us next week, you will be glad you did!

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On Saturday morning, the day after the tragic shooting in Christchurch (NZ), I headed back into the central city.

There were not many people about, and there was a helicopter circling above.  There was also an armed police presence so the mood was somber.  I set up my flip chart in Cathedral Square, and got my Eternity tracts ready.  Of the few people that walked past, I seemed to be received well - which was a relief.  Tracts were accepted, and I had brief opportunities to talk to people about justice and the hope of forgiveness and eternal life found only in Jesus.

More people were out on Sunday afternoon, in spite of the overcast weather.  A team of 4 were involved in the regular outreach.  All in the team were involved in gospel conversations.  Andy had almost constant conversations for 2 hours - he was very encouraged after the low of the events on Friday.

Sunday was also Saint Patrick's Day - so our yearly pub outreach ran in the evening.  We visit 4 Irish pubs in 2 hours to share the gospel via tracts and conversations.  But due to the tragedy of Friday, not many people were out.  Yet we still had plenty of opportunity to talk to people about the gospel, and give people hope in the light of the tragedy.

Please continue to pray for those that have lost loved ones in Christchurch.  And please pray that people would be open to the gospel!

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The team at first were worried that there wouldn't be enough people to speak with for the outreach but thankfully that was not the case, in fact there were plenty of conversations for the six team members over the course of the evening!

You can hear Matt share about a conversation he had with two young men who intellectually understood the Gospel very quickly and were challenged to count the cost of following Christ that very night.

You can also hear Trevor share about a conversation he had with a young man which ended similarly. He also turns it on you, encouraging you to consider coming out with the team when you have a spare evening.

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How desperately does the world need the gospel.  The message of hope for eternal life found in Jesus Christ.

Today, 49 lives (count at time of writing) were tragically lost to eternity at the hands of a hateful killer in Christchurch (NZ).  For many, this tragedy will bring the stark reality of death to focus.  They need the gospel.  They need true hope!

The day started with heavy rain, but the outreach team headed into the central city anyway.  Even in the rain, the Lord provided opportunities for gospel conversations.

Eventually, the rain eased and we headed to Cathedral Square.  To our surprise, another protest was setting up.  This was going to draw many people and provide wonderful opportunities to share the hope of Jesus.  And so it did.  We stayed clear of the main protest gathering, but set up a flip chart and had many conversations, often with large groups of people.

But soon, word spread about a shooting, and then the protest disbanded.  We didn't think too much about it initially, and so one of the team decided to open air preach with the few that had remained behind.  Some robust discussion was had.  But all of a sudden, it turned nasty.

A young man became very agitated, seemingly about religion in general.  He approached the preacher, and got too close for comfort, before a friend pulled him away.  But a few minutes later, he turned back and grabbed the preacher by the throat and pushed him backwards.

The young man let go, but was still very angry.  We finished the preaching at this point, the preacher leaving the scene, and the rest of the team worked to calm the situation down.  But sadly, the tension seemed to spread, with various people engaging in verbal and physical confrontation.  It was a very sad scene.  Eventually, the tension dissipated.

This brought the outreach to a close, but I then noticed my phone - I had many messages from people asking if we were okay.  Checking media sources, it became apparent how bad the shooting situation really was.

We made it home safely, and the initial reaction is to stay where it's safe.

But the world needs Jesus.  The team intend to head out to the central city again tomorrow to, God willing, talk to people who need hope in this time of suffering: the hope of Jesus.

Please keep Christchurch in your prayers at this time of tragedy!

There were also 2 outreaches on Thursday: City & Eastgate.

The Eastgate outreach was again a wonderful and fruitful time of gospel ministry.

A highlight conversation for me was with an elderly lady.  Most elderly people I attempt to start conversations with are not interested.  But to my surprise, this lady was keen to talk.  It turns out she had grown up a Catholic, and then been a Mormon for 35 years.  In light of her history, the focus of the conversation was to try to get her to understand grace, through faith in Jesus.  But she kept coming back to "but what do I have to do"!  She left accepting a new Bible, and plenty of gospel literature.  My prayer is that she will see the serious nature of her sin, but also the amazing grace of Jesus dying to pay for her sins and raising again to give hope.  I leave her in God's hands.

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At Sunnybank the cloud cover provided some respite from the last few days of scorching heat but as always despite the weather, the Gospel goes forth!

The first conversation was with a gentleman who said he knows God exists and was willing to talk briefly but was trusting in his own goodness to get himself to Heaven. Just as he was being shown the law, his bus arrived and the conversation came to a close. He took a tract and was encouraged to read it.

A young lady named Abby was approached and after a few early questions where she didn't give very clear answers it turns out that she had been speaking with the JW's. She then went on to say that she has lots of questions to ask them but they don't seem to be able to answer them. As she started to raise some of the questions related to the Gospel her bus arrived and she too, took a tract and left.

Soon two similar conversations took place with George then Matt. They were both unsure about what comes after death, where shown how we know God exists, why we often don't want God to exist and the desperate position our sin has placed us in, on the path to Hell. Both were stressed with the seriousness of judgement, the unpredictability of when it will occur and were given a tract sharing the solution as they hopped on their respective buses.

An interesting double conversation took place with a construction worker on his way home, which was then taken over by a man who often engages with the team. This builder was shown how we know God exists and his only argument was, "I don't believe that". When shown again that disbelieving in something so clear was unwise, especially when it wasn't done out of a desire for truth but out of a desire to obscure to truth in order to numb ones conscience and an attempt to avoid judgement, the only person it was hurting was himself.

He was shown God's law which revealed his sin and the conversation here got tough as he just more vehemently tried to avoid his guilt by attempting to suppress the truth of God's existence. It was at this time with a man who often comes past, who had been listening in and trying to join in the conversation with some snarky comments pushed in with his argument, "Well if you say that everything that is created needs a Creator, who created God?" to which the response was given, "God doesn't have a beginning, He wasn't created, therefore He doesn't need a creator".

This began a conversation that showed incredible irony and the willful and continual attempts of this man to suppress the truth at all costs. Every time an attempt to share God's law and the Gospel was made he would try and derail it with an unrelated objection. Sometimes the objection was addressed other times it was ignored. The issue though wasn't that this man had a lot of legitimate questions, rather he had a sin fueled desire to avoid the truth about God.

At one stage when this was pointed out in conversation he said, "Well what is it that I have done so wrong that I deserve Hell?" To which he was asked, "Have you ever told a lie?" with the response, "Yes many times". At first he tried to contain the guilt by responding, "But lying isn't that bad". "It is according to the God vehemently loves truth" was the response. Followed by, "Have you ever stolen anything?" "No."

"You've never taken something that wasn't yours, never pirated movies or tv shows," He was asked. "Well yes, but it wasn't much," He responded. But at this point seeing his guilt, it was conversation over and he almost perfectly did what was pointed out that he was doing. He did everything he could to try and suppress the truth. He declared that the team had simply been batting off the things he said as untrue without any reason. When in reality the polar opposite had taken place.

He then said, "Because all you've been doing is dissmissing me, I am going to dismiss you". He then marched off to the other end of the bus stop and threw a couple of profanities back on his way.

As you have read this, it is our hope and prayer that you do not view this man as the enemy. He is rather a desperately lost soul that is believing any lie that enables him to suppress the knowledge of God's existence and his own guilt. It is our prayer that you too will begin to pray for this man, every Thursday morning, that God would use the teams witness to him to shake him out of his sinful rebellion and that he will come to be a child of the living God, where he once was so opposed to God that he would turn around and become an ambassador for Christ!

The afternoon actually had many more conversations but one worth noting was with a young man named Tony. He at first said he wasn't interested in thinking about God. Was shown how we know God exists and why it matters. And was taken through God's law and shown to be desperately guilty like the rest of us. But he still was unmoved. It turns out that he has his own human court date in a few weeks where he is in quite serious trouble and said that is all he could think about.

With this information, it was pointed out to him that in this human court he may be found guilty and will be in quite serious trouble but the penalty in comparison to God's sentence will be infinitely less. He has a more important court date, when he will stand before the Creator of this world and he will be found guilty and sentenced to eternal Hell unless someone else has paid his Hell punishment. It was even pointed out that he may stand before God before the court date on this earth comes. He seemed to take this seriously and took a tract.

Please be praying for those who heard the law or the Gospel today that God will, by His spirit, change hearts and cause people to trust in Him. Please be praying that others that were spoken to who brushed the matter off as unimportant would come to see how serious eternity is and will be prepared and willing to talk next time they are offered a chance to hear what God has done to save sinners.

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This afternoon in Brisbane city was almost unbelievable. It is usual to have a day with a single or maybe two really encouraging conversations where people respond positively but today it seemed that God was at work in softening hearts.

The first conversation of the afternoon took place with a lady named Dell. She at first said she didn't know if there was a God, maybe just an energy. She was shown how this couldn't be the case because energy cannot create anything, only a being wielding energy can. Then she saw God's law and the universal guilt and understood that there is a day of judgement because a good God cannot ignore evil. She acknowledged that she was mostly just ignoring thinking about it because it was uncomfortable and she didn't have a solution.

She was shown what God had done to save sinners, was given and tract and encouraged to read the Gospel of John. She didn't say she would but she said she was very thankful for the conversation and was glad she had heard and said she would consider what was said.

Next was a short conversation with Juke. Throughout the conversation on a number of occasions he reiterated, "I really needed to hear this today!" He knew God exists, and knew of the afterlife but wasn't sure where he would end up. He was shown God's law and realised his guilt and that he deserved Hell.

Then for the first time in his life he saw the Gospel of grace. He came to understand that it is a gift for the guilty not a reward for the righteous. At first he didn't understand how to receive the Gospel and thought it was by doing good works and being worthy but then came to understand that no one could be worthy and that it was a gift! He was asked a checking question to which at first he said the wrong answer but then corrected himself and got it right. It was exciting to see.

He responded by saying that has goes to church with his grandmother sometimes and said that he wants to have a read of his Bible now! He was encouraged to start in John, then have a read of Romans.

Maybe the most exciting part of this, is that the discussion took place in an area the team normally doesn't visit but "it just so happened" that today, due to the immense heat and some of the seats being off limits that the area where Juke was sitting was approached. God is utterly sovereign even using the heat to bring about individuals to hear the Gospel and respond positively!

A quick sad conversation was with a man named Peter. He was so worried about eternity. He had a Catholic background and knew that he was utterly hopeless at getting himself to Heaven but due to the works based salvation being taught in Catholicism he was left utter hopeless. He heard the Gospel briefly and was offered hope but for some reason he didn't want to hear more. He did take a tract though.

A final conversation was with Josh. He has spoken to the team before and has some sort of Christian background but has damaged his mind with drugs. The majority of the conversation was Josh being dismissive and trying to avoid the reality of God, the authenticity of the Bible, the Creator, judgement, Heaven and Hell simply by saying, "I don't believe that" without really giving a reason as to why. Even when asked why he didn't believe he couldn't give a reason. It was over and over pointed out that it was a sinful bias that leads people to believe anything that can momentarily numb their conscience.

But then in an almost last ditch attempt to get the Gospel out, he heard a relatively short monologue about what God has done so that sinners can be forgiven and at this moment his whole demeanor changed. Instead of being frustrated and dismissive he started asking questions, he admitted that he had been considering heading back to Church because the life he was living was shallow and unsatisfying and he even said when he is on drugs he often hears voices telling him that he is doing the wrong thing.

He was encouraged to have a read of the Gospel of John and was encouraged to head to a local church in his area!

Please be praying for those who heard the Gospel today and were challenged. Praise God that he uses the means of feeble men and women preaching to bring people to salvation! Please pray specifically for Peter that his hopelessness would find a solution in Christ's worthiness and that he would begin to attend a Church that seeks to accurately represent what God has said.

Please also pray for the others who heard the good news today, that God would draw them unto Himself as they began to read a Bible!

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