Battle Log

• Battle Log
• Page 175

Last week my pastor Campbell Markham and I received news that the Anti-Discrimination case against us had been dropped. Praise God for His kindness in removing this difficulty from our lives and taking away the threat over our church and families!

This has been a difficult time in many ways and the process has underlined to us the wrongness of these offense based laws. Before the case was dropped, hundreds of man hours had been spent on forming a legal defense against the accusations. In addition, Campbell, one of our legal team and I were required to attend a conciliation meeting at the EOT (Equal Opportunity Tasmania) in Hobart under threat of punishment if we did not attend. This meeting was a tedious affair, scheduled to last for 2 hours but lasted 4.5 hours.

The meeting began with courtesy and at all times the two female staff treated us with courtesy. But the kindness of the staff could not paper over the glaring injustice of the situation. There we were, forced to explain why we were not guilty of unsubstantiated, subjective and often absurd accusations. Then to make the process more arduous still, we had to sit and wait to see if our offer of conciliation would be accepted by Mr S. who was in the next room.

On a more positive note, while we waited we were able to enjoy each other’s company and Campbell even shared his sermon with us. We couldn't help but feel for the EOT staff who had to deal with Mr S. who was I suspect at his cantankerous best by the muffled sound of a loud and often angry sounding male voice from the next room.

When the allotted time for the conciliation had passed we were permitted to leave for a lunch break, but there was no mention of stopping the conciliation. We returned to a list of unreasonable demands from Mr S. and further back and forth as we sat obediently in our allotted room. Ultimately, we were informed that Mr S. was not happy, but as the conciliation had gone on for 4.5 hours the meeting was to be continued by email. This extended the process into the next week as we waited for and responded to emails from the EOT.

On Thursday we received an email stating that the conciliation had failed to resolve the matter and that we would need to appear before the tribunal. This was no surprise, we all thought it very unlikely that the matter would be resolved. What was a blessed and a wonderful surprise, was the email that followed 5 minutes later saying the case had been closed. What a roller coaster of a week!

It is not primarily Mr S. or the EOT that have created this debacle. Rather it is section 17 and 19 of the Anti-Discrimination Act that permits the gagging of others if someone is offended. Section 17 holds every Tasmanian to ransom for their words, under the threat of anyone who sees them as that which “offends, humiliates, intimidates, insults or ridicules”. Section 19 is so ill-defined that it allows even a lovingly and carefully worded presentation of Christian convictions to be labeled as “hatred, severe contempt or ridicule” and punishable by law. The utter subjectiveness of these laws mean that it does not matter what you say but rather what someone feels about what you say.  We are very concerned about the laws that have made this entire fiasco possible. With this in mind we will be continuing our Supreme Court proceedings to challenge these unjust laws.

We hope that God will grant that these unjust laws will be repealed or significantly changed. We will be praying that God will protect the freedom of all the people of Tasmania. Please join us in these prayers.

Thank you to the many people who have faithfully prayed during this time of trial. May God be glorified through your trust in Him and His kind deliverance from times of trouble! God has been good to us in this last 7 months, there has been much rejoicing and even laughter in the midst of the difficulty and stress. We have seen many opportunities come to share the gospel because of this complaint. We have had the blessing of fellow Christians offering their support and encouragement. And over all this there is the wonderful joy of knowing that no-one can do anything to us that is outside our heavenly Father’s good plan to bless us and make us more Christ-like.

Praise His name!

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Four on the team today; one on his first visit. The start seemed slower than usual as far as having conversations but God's timing is always perfect.

A lady, Rachel, who had never heard, had the gospel clearly presented before her bus arrived. She now knows that it is 
Jesus merit that is critical. May the Lord bring fruit to bear in her life to His glory.

There are some teenagers who persist in treating the gospel with contempt. But they are hearing God's truth as the weeks roll by. Only God knows how long each one has before death claims them.

There was a backslidden Christian who appeared to be poorly discipled. He wanted to know about 'drinking'. So I took him through the issue of self-control and how idolatry develops when we abuse any substance. We also discussed moving forward as a child of God. He has his Bible with him and reads and prays regularly. I pointed him to Heb. 10:17, "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." He is moving into an environment more conducive to his growth. Pray he finds a Bible-teaching church nad Gods grants him 'ears to hear'.

The work continues and we keep on giving all the glory to God.  

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Our great Lord of His harvest granted us 9 on His team here today; 3 were first-timers at Wello Pt. There was some incidences that occur occasionally. e.g. In the midst of one gospel presentation, a person purporting to be a Christian broke into the conversation and made enough ridiculous comments to end that opportunity. Moving right along...

Meanwhile a chat with teenagers Reece and Phoenix gave Reece much to think about on submitting to the Lord Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour. Later this couple met another on our team who reinforced the gospel. Then Phoenix appeared 'softer' towards God's good news.

Another team of 2 went into an area we have never covered before due to insufficient workers.

The Hindus, Rudge and Punita, listened and then claimed that their holy book contained truth as well as the Bible. {Even false religions 'holy books'v have some truth in them but only the Bible has nothing but the truth} Concentrating on Jesus as the only Way to be reconciled to God, brought Rudge to state that if he went to hell, that was what he deserved (his karma). Then one team member gave her testimony on how God had revealed Himself to her savingly through prayerful searching the Scriptures to see if the gospel was true. Then Punita said she would start reading her Bible. May God convict her of His truth and cause Rudge to abandon the fatalism of karma and close with Christ alone to save him.

 We thank God for His glorious work of saving His people and enabling us and using us to present the claims of Christ to a very needy people. We give Him all the glory. Amen.  

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The Killarney Show is known to have rain most years and this year it was a wet one again but was much needed after some very dry months, so the show went ahead as usual. Wood chopping, horse jumping, all the fun of a country fair, there was also a reptile show teaching what to do if you encounter a snake in the bush, and a First Aid display which was good for us all to see.

There were two of us that set out for the day to share the wonderful news of Jesus.

Most people took tracts and were thankful.

Our first conversation was with an elderly gentleman who was struggling with his umbrella, after helping we gave him a comic book tract. What a privilege it was to talk with Graham. He shared some of his life story with us and the testimony of his grandparents bringing him up in strong Biblical teaching. He had some pretty rough trials as a teenager that tested his faith in Jesus.

We went through a few things as he was wanting to know about Mormon religion, which we went on to explain that they believe it is by grace you are saved after all you can do in this life to get their place in heaven. In contrast to the truth of "it is by grace we are saved through faith in Jesus and not any of our works so no man will boast." Ephesians 2:8-9. Our Salvation is in Jesus alone. We talked about sin, righteousness and judgement and he agreed and was thankful that Jesus has done all the work that is needed to save sinners through His life death and resurrection.

We chatted to Peter who was selling ice-cream, he was not open to the grace of God. We left a comic tract with him which he said that he would read, but shortly after walking away we offered a tract to a clown holding an ice-cream, who said he had just got one from Peter. So, we left him another tract on the mat of his ice cream van with a personal message written to please read.

We also met a Christian couple who had a stall at the show. They moved out of Warwick to Allora and haven’t been attending Church, we were the third lot of Christians from our Church at Allora to speak with them that week!! Pray they will come and join us in good teaching and fellowship soon.

As we were leaving we were so happy we got opportunities to get some Gospel tracts into the hands of some of these country folk. We pray for each one to be stirred in their heart to want to know more about Jesus and we pray they may be saved and ready for Eternity with our Glorious God.

All Glory be to our Lord Jesus

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In our very seasonal state this is the time when most of us are most active and most people are willing to talk and discuss on a warm and sunny afternoon. Today was a great day all toll with many opportunities to present the gospel and many people from Hobart and abroad hearing it. The cruise ships continue to come into port and many people are keen to explore the city. This continues to be a great opportunity for outreach. Please pray that we will take advantage of the opportunity while it is here.

Also, the Elizabeth Street Mall is currently a somewhat more peaceful place to have evangelistic conversations, as Mr S. our regular heckler is currently not coming to disrupt our work. Whatever the secondary reasons we thank God for His kindness in allowing us freedom to outreach without Mr S.’s slanders and disruptions.

As in all things there is seasons of interest in some things and not others. This last couple of months there have been many wonderful conversations and interest in the preaching but not many taking tracts and bibles. Praise God that the word continues to go out!

Today whilst I preached at the end of the day there was a wonderful interaction during the preaching. A group of young people had gathered, some are Christians and non-Christians I know, and others were new faces. Among the new faces was a trio who were listening quite closely to the preaching as I expounded on God’s overflowing love to all kinds of people. I moved from God’s welcome to all people to the way that we are called to approach God. I spoke of the respect and “good manners” we should have when approaching the King of all kings. One of the young guys called out that "God is awesome" when I paused to find the right word to describe the … awesomeness of God. It was just the right word and began a conversation that lasted about 30 minutes!

We discussed the goodness of God and our sin which creates a real problem for us to come to God when He calls us. We are not good and God’s hatred for sin is powerful and we would perish if we came as we are. The justice of God is a good thing and we all hope that the wrongs of this world will one day be righted but it is still a fearful thing for us as sinners to fall in to the hands of God. We need mercy, not justice, don’t we? I asked the young guy. He nodded, that’s right!

With joy in my heart I shared with him and all the others listening the great news of Jesus’s saving work in life and in death. I spoke of the almighty one coming to bear the awful load of sin, the sin of all who will ever trust in Him. I spoke of the great love that is offered to them and offered for free, God paid the price for all who will come in faith in Jesus.

Afterwards there were many good conversations that followed, encouraging Christians and urging non-Christians to trust in Jesus. Praise God for His kindness in giving days like today!

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It was an unusual day but as always an interesting time witnessing as one trusts our Lord, our ever-present Helper. I met a string of people who were agnostic and not seeking for the reason why we are here. However, we trust our Lord that He perhaps planted a seed of faith from the brief encounters and/or the tracts that were received. The first young lass I met seemed astounded that anyone would think about God. Still she listened politely and she may meet other Christians to challenge her. There was a young man who listened to the builder/building analogy embellished with some data on the finely-tuned universe that scientists have discovered. Another young man was not interested but engaged in a short conversation after I mentioned Carl Sagan who did not want to think about the possibility that God started creation. We did not get far before his bus arrived. He persisted with his assumption that 'one should do his best to improve himself' but thanked me for the chat. The middle-aged man I gave a '150 year' tract to simply chuckled and said he never bothered with thinking about things like that. Then his phone rang.

May the Lord be pleased to awaken complacent deluded people who are content to drift through life. May we keep on thanking God for the privilege of serving Him and trying to tell others of His good news. Praise His holy name.

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On Wednesday during our weekly outreach in Brisbane city, one of the King George Square underground bus station entrances was closed for repair, but it was interesting to see the number of people who were walking towards the entrance (in the quick city manner) and then come to an abrupt stop just centimeters away from the closed door. They remain there for a few seconds in shock that the door is closed for them, before realising they have to go in the other entrance 50 metres away.

So one person on the team used this as an opportunity to say to a number of them, "Heaven's door will be shut one day too, are you ready?" And it got many people thinking about eternal matters.

It reminded me of the Scripture - "When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’" (Luke 13:25)

People think that they have plenty of time; there is no urgency to get right with God yet. But to the contrary, "today is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2). And shouldn't this motivate us to want to get out there and share our faith?

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The outreach at Woodridge today was fruitful with plenty of good conversations with people about eternal matters. We got to speak with some that thought they would go to heaven based on their own goodness, others who thought death was the end of them, but at the end of each conversation, the person was appreciative for the chat and was going to now think about what was said.

One chat the team had was with a young man named Zaleek who listened as the gospel was explained to him. But he said that he is not prepared yet to trust in Christ and make Him his number 1 in life.

I said this, "Imagine if you found out today that you had a very serious disease and only have one month left to live on this earth. You hear that there is a cure of it but it costs a million dollars to buy it and you don't have that kind of money. But then, one of your friends decides to sell everything he has - his car, his house,his clothes, everything - and buys the cure for you and gives it to you as a free gift. That would be amazing right?" Zaleek agreed.

"But let's say you grab the cure in your hand and you tell your friend, ' Well I'm not ready to take it yet. I'm just going to put it on my shelf at home, it might even make a nice decoration.' Well it wouldn't be long before you'd be breathing your last and your friend would realise what he did was a waste because you didn't use it."

"So in the same way, we have a serious disease called sin that we have done and it is sending us to Hell. We can't fix it. But Jesus has not just given up everything he owns, He has given up His own life to die for our sins, and He offers forgiveness to you today, and you're like 'I know Jesus you went through all that to provide forgiveness for me, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to take it yet. Maybe later on in life.' Yet not realising that tonight could be your very last night. You'd basically be spitting in the face of Jesus despite what he has already done for you."

Zaleek began to see the urgency of what we were talking about and the foolishness of rejecting what Jesus has done on the cross for all those who believe. Please pray that he comes to believe it for himself and counts the cost of following Christ.

To God be all the glory!

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"The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few…” (Matt 9:37)

The first country outreach mission for 2018, into the local country town of Warwick, saw God’s deep desire to reach the lost in our sunburnt outback.

God had already gone before us and prepared the way for His glory. As 5 of us began sharing the gospel, it was encouraging to see many hearts were open to hear the Gospel and there was, by God’s grace, much fruit. However, for so long it seems people have been living in darkness. As dry and as hard is the ground, so it is with many of the hearts of the people. There is such a great need for labourers to work in the fields; for prayer, for evangelism, for a fresh flow of the rivers of living waters in the country towns of Australia.

Farmers breakup the fallow ground to sow the seeds for their crops but the church has not broken up the fallow ground of the hearts of the people through prayer (Hosea 10:12). Sowers sow seeds to reap at the end of the season, yet the seeds of God’s word has been withheld and there are few to go and reap the harvest (Matt 13:1-23)

“…behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” (John 4:35)

Prayer requests from the outreach:

- Pray for Wyatt, who is 13, heard the Gospel clearly and understood God’s Justice and was challenged to forsake his sin and trust in Christ. He joyfully took a New Testament Bible after hearing the Gospel.

- Pray for Ian and Bev, who were very open to the Gospel and “Not far from the kingdom of God” (Matt 12:24). They took a New Testament bible gladly and said they will read it. They were open, they understood and were thankful for the Gospel. This was one of the most encouraging testimonies of the Day.

- Please pray for Mr James Lister, LNP Member of Parliament for Southern Downs, who gladly heard the Gospel message and been challenged to trust in Christ for his salvation. This was a God ordained meeting for the local politician to hear the Gospel. (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

- Pray for Banjo and his sister who were visiting from Gold Coast. They were confronted with God's law and and how only through Christ can they have victory over sin and death and enter heaven. They were deeply challenged by God's Word and Banjo was moved to tears. They were encouraged to come to Faith church on the Gold Coast.

- Pray for Lawson, a young guy who believed in God but had not truly repented and trusted in Christ to save him. He was open to the Gospel message and said he will read his Bible. Pray that he is truly born again.

We thank all of those who have been praying and made this trip possible. PLEASE continue to pray for God to work in the hearts of the people who heard the gospel message and are yet to hear as there is still much work to be done in many more of these country towns.

To God be all the Glory!
 

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A day when the teenagers were relatively receptive compared to their parents. e.g. Tom and Presley heard it all and when they met up with their Dad, they said look at te tracts that we got, sounding well-pleased. Dad, in the meantime also had received a tract but he said that he believes in Jesus and ignores the Bible. He said that since man was made in the image of God, he looks within himself to find some aspect of divine nature . Ryan was able to bring some Scriptures into the chat but only God knows if that Dad heard. He said he was willing to risk being wrong. So much for subjective conjecture when the objective Truth is laid out in th Holy Bible.

A young R.C. couple, Dan and Danielle were eager to hear.

God does His saving work through His servants who are so grateful for the privilege of serving the all-glorious One true and living God.
To Him be the glory! 

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