Battle Log

• Battle Log
• Page 155

Tuesday at Woodridge as always was filled with conversations as well as being an opportunity to hand out hundreds of tracts. The conversations were mixed as always with the ultimate shine through of each being that God alone can save. The same sentence can be shared with two people and polar opposite reactions will occur.

An early conversation was with a man who had traveled from Africa and had only been in Australia four months. There was a language barrier but from the conversation had it seemed as if he was trusting in his goodness to get him to Heaven. The gospel was explained a number of ways, with emphasis on the work of Christ as the only reason we are right before God. Even despite trying to explain it a number of ways he didn't seem to understand.

Please be praying for Ikalo that he would understand the tract as it explains it again and that he would seek God and find the truth of salvation in the Bible.

A conversation soon after this was had with a Muslim lady. The problem was, she was extremely proud. She wanted to declare all the things she thought and she knew and couldn't seem to understand despite speaking with two different team members that the conversation wasn't about 'discussing different ideas', rather it was about comparing what we think and how we live, to who God is and what He has said.

She had many ideas and many beliefs, one of the scariest was her belief that John 14:26 refers to Mohammad. She had no desire to actually read the verse, in English or Greek, all she wanted to do was use it for her own argument, completely stripped of its clearly intended meaning.

Please be praying for this lady, that she would consider the challenge she was given that the primary reason she wanted to reject Jesus was because she thought she was good enough to get to Heaven.

An interesting conversation was also had with a young lady. She was a Muslim and was happy to talk and engage with the team. She took and tract and was asked a range of questions about what she believed and why she believed it. What was interesting was that a man named John who had been asked a question earlier was so angry that he actually came over, interrupted the conversation with the intention to have a go at the team member.

He asked a lot of questions in an accusing fashion but was actually stopped in his tracts quite quickly when he started asking about Benny Hinn, Joel Osteen and the Catholic Church. His questions were met with very clear and simple answers, these people are charlatans, abusing the name of God for their own gain and they will suffer the eternal consequences from God for their wicked deception.

It seemed as if he was expecting them to be defended. This was the moment that was taken to point it back at him. It was stated that they aren't the only rebels against God, they aren't the only selfish people on the planet, in fact all of humanity is desperately wicked and has lived their entire lives in direct rebellion against God.

At this moment John's bus arrived and the Muslim lady was also hopping on the same bus. Please be praying that these two will be able to have future conversations with the team about God's offer of salvation.

A number of other conversations were had with various people who were recommended to head along to local churches or were simply challenged in their current incredulity toward God.

Please be praying for all those who heard the word of truth that they would come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

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We had a team of 2 and another of 4 with 2 large flipcharts. Before we got the charts set up, Lee-Anne & Railee were speaking with a 15 y.o. named Casey. His countenance lit up after he heard of his alienation from God because of personal sin and the gracious redeeming work of Jesus. How selfless is God? The Lord Jesus Christ, the only one in history to have always done the Father's will, and delighted to do so, voluntarily suffered the wrath of God so as to merit a certain salvation for those that He prayed for - Jn. 17. There is no other way to be reconciled to God except what He has ordained - personal repentance and trust in Jesus Christ as one's Saviour and Lord. God knows His own and they are known by fleeing from sin, 2 Tim. 2:19. God Himself keeps each one who receives His gift.

     Have you, reader? Or are you like the Greek Orthodox man we met who does not believe, says the Jews wrote the Old Testament based on Greek mythology, and goes to church because it is something to do!!! Jn. 3:36. 

    What a privilege to serve Him who first loved us! Glory to God in the highest!

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This is a different report to normal but it has been keeping me awake. Please take the time to read of this interaction with Isaiah and raise him up before God in prayer!

Tonight I spoke with a man named Isaiah. He is about my age and was out in the city with some girls.

He professed to have some Christian background but didn't really know the Gospel. Through the conversation I shared the Gospel with him but whilst doing so he mentioned that he used to "trust in Jesus" but had sort of lost faith.

I asked why and he said, "I am not really sure". I explained the Gospel again, stressed that God doesn't make mistakes and that me talking with him wasn't an accident.

Anyway, he went over to hang with the girls again as I spoke to another couple for a few minutes. When I finished talking to them I felt the need to speak to him again and I spoke quietly to him and said, "Am I right in thinking that the reason you lost faith wasn't because you didn't believe in God but rather because you loved sin more?"

He responded, "Yes you're right. How did you know? Did God tell you?" I said, not specifically about you but the Bible says that is why we reject God, exchanging Him for created things.

I read some verses from Isaiah 53 to him (as his name is Isaiah) and explained the cross again.

I challenged him strongly and seriously, yet gently and quietly to consider his choice wisely. "God offers you salvation, purchased by His own blood," I said. "You can be made right with God and be given a new heart, with new desires. God is better than this creation, he is better than money, better than alcohol, better than sex. To reject God is to reject the best thing and it will result in eternal Hell".

I strongly encouraged him to give up living his way this very night, to leave his friends and the girls he was with and to head home, fall on the floor and call out in repentance before God and trust entirely in Christ.

He heeded the seriousness of it. I don't know his decision tonight but can I ask that you pray for Isaiah that God would lead him to salvation.

It isn't often that I can't get a specific person out of my mind but in this case I desperately want Isaiah to know the salvation in Christ.

I finished with a line that I got from discussions at home group on Wednesday night, "God doesn't make mistakes, me talking to you today was not and accident. God is calling you, through my simple preaching, to leave your sin and turn to Christ. He may never call you again, this may be your last chance".

Please raise Isaiah up before God and plead with God to save this man who is chasing sin and missing out on the glory of the Saviour!

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Sometimes an evening of outreach is just a breeze of excitement, glorying in the Gospel and conversations. Today was one of those days. Between 7pm and 10:45 there was hardly a moment's break.

As has been mentioned recently, almost everyone in Australia tries to avoid God's judgement in one of two ways, convincing themselves they're not guilty, by either trying to fool themselves into thinking they're "not that bad" or by trying to assure themselves that there is no Judge. This is regular and usual and the people spoken to tonight displayed this. Often people use a mixture of the two. They will start by declaring that God exists and they think they're good then soon they will say, "I don't think God exists" or "the Bible is made up".

It is evident from conversation after conversation that people have a willful and purposeful bent against God. It isn't that they have believed something that answer all their problems, rather they will believe to or argue for anything that on the surface seems like it could help them convince themselves (and others) that they're not guilty or God doesn't exist.

Two people Wolfgang (German) and Levi declared in their brief interactions that they were going to Heaven because they were good people. Both took tracts and heard that God will hold them not to their ideas of God but rather, His perfect standard and therefore, their only hope was that God would save them.

Caleb, Matthew, Robert, John, George, Jesse and Carl all declared at first that they did not think there was a God. Throughout a range of different explanations given one that was used (yet to be given a name) is based upon pointing out the body at a funeral. (It is made personal by asking if they've even been to a funeral and taken a look in the casket). It is pointed out that the body in there is not the person. Rather, everything that makes up that person is gone, their intelligence, sense of humour, style of laugh, idiosyncrasies. They have gone somewhere else, whilst their body remains to be buried.

They were then asked, "Where did they go?" This was then bought back personal with a few pieces of information, "God, the Creator of this world declares that after death comes a day of judgement, the righteous are resurrected to eternal life and the unrighteous to eternal punishment". A person's soul (ultimately in their resurrection body) will be in one of two eternal locations.

Then it is pointed out that, 153,000 people woke up this morning not knowing that today would be their last day on earth and there are people right at this very moment breathing their last breath. The only breath we know is for sure is the one currently in our lungs, we aren't promised even one more. Specifically in the case of this discussion with Jesse and Carl this was followed up with the question, "If this was the last breath you ever breathed and you died and stood before God, where would He send you, Heaven or Hell?"

This took the foolishness of their past comments and bought the conversation to a crucial point. They both admitted that they would be headed for Hell. By God's kindness they had been bought their to hear God's offer of salvation and they did. They left with this thought, "God doesn't make mistakes, it was not an accident for you to be hear today or for this conversation to happen. You have been offered salvation in Jesus Christ and you should considered it deeply because God may never give you another chance to hear it. So please, whilst there is breath in your lungs and it is on your mind, call out to God and trust in Him that you may be saved".

A Brazilian couple Tassia and Glauco spoke with the team as well and seemed to be arguing that we get to Heaven by trusting Jesus and doing good works. A conversation was had with them and they said they would be interested in attending a local Church. Please be praying that God would use the body of Christ to lead them to the freedom of the Gospel.

Please also pray for Ashley who was very adamant that baptism was essential for salvation. He was given a lot to think about, was encouraged to consider the scriptures and left contact details so that he could talk with the team further.

Please be praying for those spoken to tonight that God would use these simple conversations and tracts to lead His sheep to repentance.

Please also consider, being motivated by the Gospel and empowered by the Spirit, joining the team so that you too may be able to bring God glory through telling people who He is, what He has done and what He has promised!

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In Australia it has been noted that rarely do people outside the Church understand grace. It is rare to hear someone say after hearing the Gospel, "Ah that means I can sin all I want and God will let me into Heaven". Rather, a far more common response when asked to repeat how one is saved, goes like this, "So I have to believe in God and follow the ten commandments". Self-salvation is rampant among Australian's. Everyone thinks they're good and they will get to God by their actions.

This is very much the case amongst the churched people of Australia. Many people went to religious private school or attend church once or twice a year and on the basis of that, and the "really good" life they live, they think God will let them into Heaven.

This Wednesday in King George square was very much filled with conversations of that nature.

An early conversation was had with church-going Tom. He said it was his good works and church going that were going to get him to Heaven. He saw God's law and standard and saw that he was not good rather that he had failed desperately.

Then he was asked for the solution and declared, doing good works and trying harder. It was pointed out that future obedience doesn't pay for past disobedience. The Gospel was shared and Tom was surprised. He had never understood it before. Please be praying for Tom that he would as a result of this conversation seek not just to try harder, but to find salvation in Christ alone.

Soon after this conversation an older gentleman was engaged in conversation. He originally said that he didn't believe in God at all but soon declared that he had a long religious history and had just slowly over time stopped going to church. Through the conversation as he heard of the desperate state of the human heart he tried to argue again that it is all about trying to be good because we're not that bad. But when he heard of God's punishment, that sin deserves Hell, he got up and left very quickly.

This man knew that God was good and must punish sin and so he was attempting to "hide" from God. Please be praying that God leads him not just to hide but to run to God for salvation!

Three others in this, "I'm good" boat were Tatum, Ollie, Shona and Milano and Bryn. It is scary how rampant the works-righteousness belief is across Australians. It would be awesome if Australian Christians, one conversation at a time, could engage with their family, friends, work colleagues and neighbours sharing with them that Jesus' offer of salvation is not one based on our obedience but based on His! Choose one friend this week that you will purposely plan and pray about speaking to this week!

One other conversation was had with a lady that attends a local church and was really struggling with assurance. She wasn't sure that Jesus could love her because of all of her past sin. It was an encouraging conversation as she heard of the depths of God's love for her in Christ and was pointed to a few resources to grow in understanding of the height, breadth, depth and width of God's love for those in Christ Jesus.

Please be praying that she would be strengthened and encouraged by this understanding of God's love for her and would be motivated by it to want to share it with others!

On Wednesday afternoon right as the outreach was coming to a close, the Lord Mayor, who the team had spoken with before was heading by.

One team member briefly asked him a question, "Do you think God will let you into Heaven when you die?" To which he responded, "I certainly hope so!"

After he had finished speaking with someone else, another team member who had spoken to him two years earlier was able to re-engage with him.

When asked what he was trusting in to get him to Heaven, he responded, "being a good citizen and believing". He briefly heard that God requires perfection and therefore was encouraged to read the tract and hear what God did so that sinners could be forgiven.

Please also be praying for our Lord Mayor, that God would bring him to repentance and a saving knowledge of the truth!

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On Tuesday at Woodridge the team was out again and able to engage in conversation with a range of different people regarding their eternity.

As usual there were some specifically angry people who responded such even after a single question but on the other hand there were many people who were keen and interested to talk.

One other funny point was that the first couple who walked through in the afternoon took two "Good Person Test" tract. Where you are to place your thumb on the square for five seconds and if the square turns orange you're a good person. The point is that the square will never turn orange because no one is good. The couple then walked back past right at the end of the outreach and were asked, "Did you read the cards" and they responded, "We tried them and they didn't work!"

They were encouraged to read the back as they headed off. How common it is that almost every Australian thinks they are a good person. It is rare to find a realistic Australian who know they're not.

Please be praying that God has used this simple tract to open this couples mind to the truth, that they aren't good people headed for Heaven but bad people headed for Hell and that God alone can save them!

The team also have the privilege to speak with a Mauri guy. He professed that he went to church occasionally, read his bible sometimes but thought that he was trust in Jesus to pay for his sin and then trusting in himself to earn Heaven. Over the course of a number of Bible passages he came to understand that Jesus provides the sacrifice for sin and the righteousness so that all who trust in Him are justified in the sight of God!

This bought him joy and peace and he said it was the first time he had ever heard that! Please be praying for this man that on Tuesday he did for the first time understand the Good News, that He is made right entirely by what Christ has done! It was also explained that trusting in Christ will always result in a righteous life and good living (not entirely perfectly) but Christ regenerates and sends the Spirit that we can be able to and desire to honour Him.

Praise God for soft hearts and the work he does through the Gospel! Please be praying for this man, that he would swim in the Bible everyday, spending time in God's Word of Truth and grow in his knowledge and understanding of the Saviour.

The team on the other hand spoke with a man in a similar position named Josh, who was holding quite firmly to justification by baptism. A decent amount of time was spent engaging with the scriptures in the area of the role baptism plays in salvation and Josh said he would spend some time reading a few different passages and would come back and discuss it again the next week.

It was good that he was open to engage, willing to be challenged and serious about finding what the scriptures say but it was worrying that the place he is receiving teaching is strongly supporting the idea of baptismal regeneration.

Please be praying for Josh that he too would leave this current position of justification by works and trust in the work of Christ alone.

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In this last week we have been joined by a new preacher, Jackson, a young man full of zeal for the Lord. We have also had a time of peace and increased interest from the public in conversation. Many who have come to talk in the past have come to discuss again and we have seen Bibles going out.

Much of the opposition that we faced earlier in the year has now dissipated and those who have been vocal opponents in the past now content themselves with glares and occasional mutters. This has allowed more time to preach the gospel, praise God for His ongoing protection.

The conversations that happen around the Bible table and after the preaching is an enduring joy for the team and I. A selection of the great conversations that God blessed us with:

Mr G. – a young Roman Catholic gent who has been coming to listen for many months. He was very concerned about the shape of Australia and the very secular and aggressively antichristian attitudes that he had encountered. I was able to discuss some of these issues with him and encourage him to look to Jesus in faith. When the whole world is losing itself in faithlessness and sin and it seems that the foundations of all that is good and Godly are shaking; we can trust in Him to be faithful and save us from all our troubles. Praise God Mr G was keen to catch up again, may God use these discussions to draw him into trust and faith in Jesus alone.

A School Girl – she had visited before in the midst of pain and grief, praise God there was a smile on her face today. She had come to listen with a friend while waiting for someone, they had sat listening and even giving the occasional nod as I’d preached. Afterwards she had a limited time but had a couple of Biblical questions and we talked a little. She was eager to talk again and I hope this coming week.

Mr C. – A regular very fun sort-of-Buddhist heckler who has come to talk a number of times. We talked about hobbies and where able to discuss catching up at another time. Please pray that the meet up would be fruitful and friendly!

Lesbian couple – Two young ladies who have been around the preaching previously during the not-so-silent silent protest by LGBTI people during the same sex marriage debacle. They came asking the same questions that they had many times before: why do I preach against homosexuality, what is wrong with the homosexual lifestyle, what do you think about…., and so on. These questions are not new and the attitude to Christians and Christ was about the same as many in their group. So, the question that has sat in my mind is, why are they coming again to talk to a preacher they disagree with so thoroughly? I hope and pray that the gospel preached at speaker’s corner is beginning to work in their hearts and break away at their hard hearts. I will pray for them until they visit again, as I’m sure they will.

As I’ve said there is a new preacher that has joined us, this is another joy, it warms my heart to see young people passionate to serve God and share the gospel. I had heard about Jackson previous to meeting him, he had been caught reading the Bible in the mall without a permit by the council. It takes guts to get up and speak publicly, but to read the Bible alone and unsupported in Hobart mall where there is animosity to spare is impressive! He joined us in preaching and reaching out to Hobart this last week. He has been reading the Bible aloud and making some comments after reading. He does a good job of it and gives a sound gospel presentation and deals with hecklers with compassion. I’ve heard many times from his mouth the love he holds for those he speaks to. Praise God for another worker in the harvest at Hobart speaker’s corner!

Pray for us here in the South, that God would strengthen our hands and give us boldness. May His name be praised!

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On Monday afternoon the sun was blazing making a number of the bus platforms warmer than normal. The team due to one conversation ended up spending an extra hour in the outreach. A man who had a Catholic background, hopped off the bus, was asked a question about eternity and said that he doesn't really like talking about it. One hour and twenty minutes later the conversation ended and he had been encouraged numerous times to turn from his self-reliance to trusting in Christ.

Due to the extended time, the team had over thirty gospel conversations during the afternoon! Praise God for allowing the freedom and openness for such a fruitful afternoon to occur. There were many conversations that took place and in the moment they can be extremely sad, for example one short conversation with an elderly SDA man. He was adamant that he must work for his salvation. He would say, "It is by grace alone but we have to earn that grace". 

He probably won't survive to live in this world for another decade and if his pride remains in those short years, his eternity will be spent in hell.

It is conversations like this that are gut wrenching. He has every advantage to hear and understand God's offer of salvation. He has the Bible, in his own language. He has the ability to read and time on his hands and yet he prefers the false doctrine that enables him to have pride in his own achievements and abilities.

Despite this man's hard heart, we can know and rejoice that God isn't making mistakes. Whether this man remains proud until death and ends up in Hell, or God humbles him and leads him to Christ, the saviour of sinners, God is in charge and does not make mistakes. In our gospel proclamation, of course we want to see people come to a knowledge of the truth but we are called to be faithful in proclamation and nothing more.

There was a man Keiran who was spoken to, who once was a youth leader but had since rejected Christianity declaring he thinks he is a nephilim and has the ability to pay for his own sin. He says he is a spiritual health and wellness coach. Basically, he has foolishly rejected God as He has revealed Himself and then taken some parts from different sources and fashioned an idol out of his own ideas.

Another man Ray declared that we must simply have faith in faith. It was explained that it is the object of our faith that saves, not the faith itself. There are many faiths that are foolish. Many things people rely on and place their faith in, that cannot help. This was pointed out the Ray with some analogies and he was left to consider the only reliable object of faith, Jesus Christ.

Another lady Shirley declared a lot of different ideas, most important was the idea that God does not judge, He just forgives. This was pointed out as incoherent as to forgive someone requires you to judge what they've done as wrong. It was also pointed out that the one forgiving must take the hit. Shirley was a lady who was sure that she was a very good person and has lived a life very pleasing to God.

Another lady Linduca was adamant that she as a Buddhist was going to be fine. Even though in Buddhism one of the steps to enlightenment is to have no desires. The primary issue being, the desire to have no desires, is a desire. Linduca was shown the law of God, leading to a knowledge of sin and was left knowing the we can never be right before God on our own, only Christ can save a sinner.

Three others that heard the Gospel and responded positively were Brooke, Grant and Zane. They each did the good person test, saw their sin and the deserved punishment and heard God's offer of salvation. They were each encouraged to read their Bible and were left with a tract.

Please be praying for all those who heard the Gospel today. These numbers as well as many more. Please bring these men and women before God in prayer, asking Him to have His way with them, whether it be in changing their heart for His glory or hardening it for His glory. Please also be praying for the Lord of the harvest to send out more labourers, maybe even yourself!

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Even if you don't feel like coming out, due to tiredness, guilt or even fear. God uses the simple step of faithfulness to bring about His good purposes!

Hear Finn share about a conversation he had with two atheists.

Hear Allan share about how he uses the intelligence test flip chart to lead people to the Gospel and about a specific conversation he tonight.

Hear Bek share how althought she wasn't feel great about coming out, God used her to share the Gospel with a number of people!

Would you too consider joining the team sometime?

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On Friday night in Cavill Mall on the Gold Coast the team were able to engage many people in conversations and able to share God's Good News.

One early and exciting conversation was had with Sydney. He had a Catholic background and was a native french speaker. Through the discourse of the conversation Sydney heard what God declares about Himself, that He is holy, righteous and good and therefore cannot let the guilty go unpunished. He acknowledged that this made sense and then was shown the problem with Catholicism. It can never hold God as holy, righteous or good, if God lets people into Heaven based in any part on their actions, because all actions that originate from humans are polluted in some part by sin. Only the righteousness that God gives to humans is pleasing to Himself.

Then the idea of imputation and justification were explained so that Sydney came to understand "The Great Exchange", that Christ takes our sin, suffering the Hell punishment we deserve and gives us His righteousness, that we can be made right before God! This is the heart of the Gospel and the greatest news a sinner can hear, that God has done everything required for us to be with Him eternally.

Sydney said it all made sense and agreed that God probably bought him all the way to Australia just to hear the Gospel. He said he would have a read of his Bible as well.

An extremely sad conversation was had with Ali. At first Ali's friends did not want him to speak to the team but Ali stopped. He shared that he is a Muslim and then over the course of the next ninety minutes Ali proceeded to do what seemed like willful misunderstanding. Ali had been taught things about Christianity by his local Muslim leaders and was not really listening to what was being said.

Eight times, using different analogies and examples, it was explain why God, if He really is God, must do everything for His own glory and why He, if He is good and loving, must create humanity to find their greatest satisfaction in Him. Sadly despite the explanations Ali was adamant that if God created us to worship Him, "He must be needy". This was a conversation, if there ever was one that confirmed that spiritual blindness.

Often conversations are with people that can understand the Gospel and Christianity and yet are just willfully rebellious. In Ali's case it seemed rather that he was just so blind and unwilling to understand what was being said.

In finale, even after hearing the Gospel and God's offer of salvation Ali declared, "The only reason we do anything good and worship God is so that He will give us what we desire". Ali had fundamentally misunderstood God's holiness, authority and purpose. It was ultimately in acknowledgement of God's sovereign plan choosing to save some and not others, that Ali was left with a Gospel tract, encouraged to read the Bible and the team has and will continue to pray that God would bring a hard-hearted, spiritually blind man, Ali, to salvation so that He may be glorified.

Please be praying that God is merciful to this man, despite his desperate idolatry and pride.

Finally though as the team headed over for a quick meal before heading home, a man named Peter was engaged. He had some JW beliefs but for the first time in his life heard the Gospel! He said it made sense and wrote down Romans 3-5 so that he would spend some time reading it in the next few days. Praise God that some are open and willing to hear the truth, whilst others are hard and unwilling.

Please pray that Peter would be lead to salvation through the reading of Romans, that he would understand that we are justified by faith in Christ's work alone!

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