Battle Log
Wednesday 3 April 2019
Posted 3 April 2019, 6:59 PM by Glen Richards. Permalink
There was a hint of winter on Tuesday: wet and cold. I awoke listening to heavy rain and the first thought that came to mind was that I deserved the justice of God in Hell (but am not going there because of the Grace of Jesus). I lingered on the thought for a while, imagining an eternity under the righteous wrath of God and felt afresh the desperate need to get out and share the wonderful news of forgiveness with any willing to listen. God is sovereign in salvation, but we are the means He uses (by sharing the Gospel) to bring people to that salvation.
The days outreach was to Riccarton with Letterbox dropping and flip charting on Riccarton Road.
The conversations were good. People listened to the Gospel presentations politely. But it struck me that there was no outward evidence of alarm of the seriousness of sin in light of a holy (perfect) God. Those that I can remember talking to seemed to be intellectually analysing what I was saying, appreciating it, and moving on. Pondering this at the end of the outreach I felt sad. But then, outward responses are no guarantee of what is going on in the heart. I have to leave people in the hands of the Holy Spirit.
Wednesday saw the usual two outreaches in Cathedral Square and the Hospital.
The foot traffic in Cathedral Square was lighter than usual, and just as I was wondering if the day would be lacking in solid conversations, the Lord led a young tourist to me to share with and the outreach ended up being eventful from then on.
This young tourist, didn’t deny a creator but clearly didn’t like the true God; wanting to live his life his own way. I could tell this because when I talked about anger being murder of the heart and lust being adultery of the heart, he became quite riled! But he wasn’t unreasonable and stayed to hear the good news of Jesus - the only hope for eternal life - and then a call to surrender all and follow Christ. After the previous day, this conversation encouraged me.
The foot traffic at the Hospital was the lightest I’d ever seen it. And I was seriously considering finding a new spot to move to when the Lord brought a Catholic man, who knew his Bible well, to have a conversation with. This conversation went for a very long time (an hour and a half?) with, as usual, the focus on salvation by works verse by grace. It was great to be able to pull my Bible out and work through verses with this man. The conversation went right to the end of the outreach, and then he ended up walking with me back through the city as I was going back to my car. He wanted to know what church I went to, and how to get there. I gave him a contact card with all the details. It would be wonderful to see him again.
I thank the Lord for enabling me to be a fool for Him on the streets of Christchurch. And I’m thankful to all those who donate their hard earned money to support me. Thank you so much. Soli Deo Gloria!
View previous Christchurch (NZ) report (31 March 2019)
Christchurch (NZ) Team
Weekly outreaches:
Tue 3:30pm - 5:30pm - Riccarton (corner of Riccarton Rd and Rotherham St)
Fri 1:30pm - 3:30pm - City (Bridge of Remembrance)
Sat 11am - 1pm - Riccarton (corner of Riccarton Rd and Rotherham St)
Sun 1:30pm - 3:30pm - City (corner of Colombo St and Cashel St).
Contact Glen Richards or Andy Barlow for more information.