Battle Log

Friday 14 September 2018

Posted 14 September 2018, 6:18 PM by David Gee. Permalink

As Hobart slowly comes out of its winter hibernation the outreach in the mall has become busier and we are seeing more response to the preaching and more conversations happening around the Bible table. In the last couple of weeks, I have had so many coming to talk some days that it seems I walk from one gospel conversation to another around the city. It is a wonderful experience to see God working in the hearts of so many.

Mr B. and Miss M. have become regular visitors to the work in the mall. Mr B. comes with many hurts from a rough background but gets on very well with Mr T. who has been helping me for some years. He has been coming most days for the last two months and while he is not converted there have been some wonderful signs of God working in his heart. Please pray for him that God will heal his pain but more importantly that God will open his heart to trust and faith in Jesus Christ.

Miss M. and Miss J. are a lesbian couple that initiated a conversation/debate with me some months back and since then they have been semi-regularly coming to see us. Miss J. has moved away but Miss M. still comes to see us. She often hangs around the Bible table with us and just chats, but she also listens carefully and ask pointed questions from time to time. There have been a number of times they have been prayed for by Christians and many sermons they have heard now. Please pray that God will lead them to see the great love He (and we) have for them both and the rightness of living for Jesus.

In the midst of this it seems that Mr S. has found other things to do with his time, as he has not been around for months. Except, that is, for two halfhearted attempts to disrupt the outreach in the mall. Both times the approach is the same. Aggressive leading questions and repeated accusations, all of which have been answered many times previously. While we all pray for him no-one in the team believe that debate with Mr S. is helpful any longer. He merely uses any attempt to discuss God's truth as an encouragement to more sin and slander of God. Please join us in praying for this troubled young man. What he needs only God can give, he needs liberation from his slavery to sin, he needs salvation.

In complete contrast to Mr S. was my conversation with Mr K., a friend of Mr W. a Christian who has come many times and thought we would enjoy interacting on veganism. Mr K. is a vegan and believes that it is immoral to support the slaughter of animals for meat. He equates this to killing and causing suffering for the purpose of pleasure only. Our conversation was great and respectful at all points, he listened as I spoke and I listened as he spoke.

I firstly laid out for him my concern was not in his vegetarian diet, rather I wanted to know why he who did not believe in God thought it was Wrong to eat meat. This seemed to be a new consideration for him as he paused for some time to think. Then he said it was because of the unnecessary death, dismemberment and suffering of the animals. Why is suffering wrong I asked. Well I wouldn’t want that done to me so doing it to them is wrong he replied. I replied, that is just your subjective preferences not a reason that suffering of animals is something that aught not be. As a veterinarian I am committed to preventing suffering in animals if it is humanly possible, but that does not make a basis for morally opposing suffering. Subjective morality is always open to someone else to say what right do you have to tell me what I aught not do? Who are you?

We talked for sometime about the contrast between subjective standards coming from individuals or societies and the absolute standards of God who is over all people. Subjective standards are logically inconsistent and ultimately no-one lives that way. Our conscience will not us get away with living according to our own standards, it comes at all our justifications and accuses us when we do wrong. We can shut it down and suppress it but it still speaks of a standard we aught to keep but do not.

I encouraged Mr K. to consider what God says: that we have done wrong and failed to keep even our own standard; that we have rebelled and sinned against Him our rightful ruler; that we should face justice for this wrong doing; but His love has made a way to give hope to the hopeless and grace and love to the sinner and rebel; that this way is found in Jesus Christ alone and He must be sought in humble faith. I encouraged him to humbly come to Jesus in faith and ask for forgiveness and salvation. We parted with a handshake and Mr K. was smiling as he walked away.

Praise God for good conversations! Praise Jesus our great God and savior!

View previous Hobart (TAS) report (26 July 2018)

Hobart

Hobart Team (TAS)

Elizabeth Street Mall.