Battle Log

• Battle Log
• Page 218

This last fortnight in Hobart has been a wonderful testimony to the fact there is a large number of people who support the gospel as opposed to a very vocal and sometimes powerful minority that wage war against it. I have many times spent space discussing the latter group and I could mention the  opposition of folks like Mr S., hostile professing Christians, homosexual activists, angry local builders or shop owners. To be frank though I think they get enough airplay as it is. 

In this report I would like to give a grateful thank you to all the many people who have stopped to encourage the team and I over the last weeks and months. Some of you have stopped to speak with us each week. Thank you Graham, Angel, Bobbie, Ewan, John, Michael and the many others.  Others have stopped time to time and helped and encouraged us. Thank you Yodit, Sam, Freddie, Joel, Paige, Michael, Peter and the many others. 

Also to the many of you who's names I've never found out, you pass in and out of our work like regular gusts of fresh air.  Thank you to the lovely lady last week who prayed and spoke so graciously from her mobility scooter. Thank you to the very tall young man who stood up for me when things looked a bit out of hand during the preaching. Thank you to the charity worker who encouraged people to be respectful even if they differ from Christians. Thank you to the Christian school kids who gathered to show their support.

I cannot forget the faithful folk who minister with me as a team. Thank you Karl, Mitch, Gail, Jim, Taylor, Michael, Lauren, Adam. You give so much of your time and energy so selflessly and I praise God for you all. Keep doing what you do so well and trusting in the Lord.

In any given month I see hundreds of these folks who encourage the team and I immensely. The gospel goes out steadily week by week and in the end it doesn't matter what the proud ones say because God sits in the highest place, ruling over all that happens. This last fortnight the gospel has been preached, almost thirty bibles have been taken and hundreds of tracts given out. There have continued to be vocal opponents but God is faithful and brings with them the many voices that speak more quietly but more encouragingly.

Praise God in the Highest

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It was another great outreach in Brisbane city last night. We had a good size team with many gospel conversations had.

After I preached with the sketchboard on the subject of "The way to Heaven", I noticed there were two young men who had been listening for almost the entire time that I preached and they were still hanging around afterwards.

So I went up to one of them, his name was David. He said he was a Mormon. When I asked him how he thinks he will get to Heaven, he said he was hoping that following the Mormon process of repentance would save him - getting baptised, confession to the bishop, asking for forgiveness, trying to do better, etc.

I pointed him to Matthew 5:48 where Jesus said you must be perfect. That means trying to do better will not undo the sins he has done before. Nor will merely asking for forgiveness get rid of his sins because God is just and will by no means clear the guilty.

He was beginning to understand that and asked what he can do then to be saved. So I pointed him to the cross, that the way to Heaven is only by having a perfect person take our Hell punishment for us on our behalf, that is Jesus. He replied, "But I already believe Jesus died on the cross."

I said, "Yes, but you're not trusting only in His death on the cross for your forgiveness. You think it is Jesus plus your good works." David realised that and as I explained it further, he was coming to understand the gospel. But he also realised his family wouldn't let him leave Mormonism to trust only in Jesus.

So I asked him, "What is more important, pleasing God or pleasing your family?" He replied, "Pleasing God." Please pray for David that he will take the bold step of leaving Mormonism to trust only in Jesus for his forgiveness.

To God be the glory!

 

 

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It was a great afternoon in Sunnybank. Throughout the day we were able to hand out many tracts, and also witness to quite a few people.

The highlight for me was running out of Chinese Bibles as people showed their hunger for the Word of God.

Please pray for all those who heard the Good News.

 

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Wow it was busy in Queen Street Mall today for our weekly Wednesday outreach. The team was in conversations with people almost the whole afternoon, sharing the gospel. More than 30 gospels of John also went out.

Good sized crowds gathered to listen as I preached the gospel using the sketchboard, which then lead some people in the crowd to ask me some questions in the open air. People were asking about homosexuality, why there is a Hell, suffering in the world, and questions about certain parts of the Bible.

God used that to draw people in to listen to the preaching, with some people staying the entire hour and a half of preaching, as they heard of the message of the cross.

In fact, one guy named Dan was listening the whole time and asking all sorts of questions. He said he was an atheist, and after showing him why we all know God exists, he kept refusing no matter what evidence I presented.

So I put it to him, "I think that no matter what evidence I present to you, you will reject it because you don't want God to exist. You would rather live in sin, correct?" He responded, "Yes, that's right. I do love my sin." I thanked him for his honesty. My prayer is that Dan would be converted. Today he heard the gospel many times.

It is always a privilege to speak God's word. We are nothing but unworthy servants just doing what God has commanded us to do. So to God alone be the glory!

 

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God raised up a lot of labourers for our outreach in Brisbane city last night, which was a great answer to prayer! There were some really good conversations that the team had, with some people even taking a Bible home to start reading it.

About half way through the night, Andrew, Tom and Jason read out aloud the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). It is a great set of chapters which prepare people to hear the gospel. I then got up to preach, proclaiming Christ and Him crucified. Afterwards, a bunch of the team started singing some hymns together which clearly present the message of the gospel.

Overall, it was a very good night with many people coming to hear of Christ. Some of the gospel conversations the team were having were very long. In fact, one team member continued in a conversation even after the team had left for the night! Glory to God.

Please pray for all those who heard the gospel.

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We would like to thank all those that helped on Saturday for the OP513 Letter Box Drop.

After a good hot breakfast and even better fellowship, 24 willing saints divided over 6 areas around Holland Park, Brisbane, to distribute more than 7,000 Gospel Tracts.

We praise God that all returned safely a few hours later.

The tract we were distributing was the Eternity Postcard.

Please be in prayer for each household that received a Gospel Tract.

Pray that God would have mercy and open the hearts of those lost in darkness so that they would see the glorious light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Thank-you to all those who were praying for our outreach in Surfers Paradise tonight.

Over the past few weeks we have face opposition from the Gold Coast City Council in relation to our ministry. Even though we have permits to preach, some elements within the council has been seeking to silence the Gospel.

Tonight, we weren't sure what would happen so we had many people praying. By God's grace nothing happened. Council didn't come near us, and God blessed us with large crowds which gathered to listen to the preaching.

Throughout the night many Bibles, and tracts were distributed. Also, many one to one conversations were had. Please pray that the Lord would transform the lives of all those who shared with.

SDG!

 

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Thank-you to all those who prayed for us today as we ministered in Sunnybank. We were able to set up the Chinese Bible table, and we were pleased to see that native Chinese speakers availed themselves to the Scripture and literature.

Our hope is that this table will be used to reach those who speak little, or no English.

Throughout the afternoon we were able to have many talks to people, and distribute quite a number of tracts. In particular, I spoke to one man who identified himself as an English gentlemen, however, by his unkept appearance, poor hygiene, and bad manners it was clear that he was no gentleman.

This man declared that he was a man of evidence, and that he carried Heaven around with him. He also maintained that whatever you believe to be true is true.

I challenged his worldview and then asked if he had any evidence to support his claims. He admitted that he had no evidence. The conversation was rather difficult, but I did manage to present Christ to him. Sadly, this English gentleman responded by yelling out "Hail Satan!" as he walked away.

Please pray for all those that we spoke to today. May God's kindness lead them all to repentance.

SDG!

 

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This week in Hobart we have had a incident of Christophobic discrimination by both the police and the local retailers. God be praised this only temporarily limited the preaching of the gospel and distributing tracts and bibles.

I was joined this week by a brother from the north of the state and his lovely wife. Caleb and I decided to start a little early and so made use of Elizabeth arcade. No permits are needed for this area and it provides an excellent area to preach and hand out tracts to people coming through the mall. 

I began the preaching with a message regarding the Lord's supper and the need everyone has to be saved and made right with God through Jesus' death and resurrection. Caleb next preached on the holiness of God and our sinfulness. In all of this only small comments were made and few hecklers spoke but many people were obviously listening as they stood or sat in the mall. 

Shortly following this we were approached by two police officers who informed us that what we were doing was a public nuisance and we had to stop because complaints had been made. It was clear that Jay Jay's manager was one of the sources of the complaint as she was interviewed by the police before they came to speak to us.

Caleb and I declined to stop preaching as we were not breaking any laws. The police constables then warned us that we would be given a move on order and then arrested if we persisted. After they left I began to preach again focusing on a clear proclamation of the gospel and the need we all have of that gospel. The officers again spoke with the council and then the staff in Jay Jay's before coming to speak to me. I was given a move on order because of the content of my preaching. The issue was not the manner of my preaching or any threatening or obscene comments. It was the offensive Christian gospel that was unacceptable and illegal according to these officers. And so under threat of arrest I left the CBD.

Later in the afternoon I walked to the police station to file a complaint regarding this incident. After a short discussion with one of the sergeants the move on order was rescinded and I was free to be in the CBD again. With this done I went with the team to preach again in the mall and proclaim the glories and hope of the gospel.

Please pray that the gospel will be freely proclaimed in Hobart and the police will be lawful in their behaviour from now on. Pray also for the team and I, that we will be wise, gentle, respectful yet bold and not give into fear or anger.

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It was a cold wintery night in Brisbane city last night, but there were still lots of people around who heard the gospel.

At one stage two young men came up to me saying they wanted to help evangelise. They said they attend an Anglican Church in Brisbane. I knew that that kind of church in Brisbane is often quite liberal and so I asked them what they think would get them to Heaven.

One responded, "I don't think I'll go to Heaven because I have done too many sins." The other said that if he "tries his best" he hopes it will get him to Heaven.

So I explained to them the message of grace and how it is by faith in Jesus alone that we can be forgiven. After a few analogies they came to understand the gospel, and they then realised they had never been Christians yet. One said, "They have never explained this in church to us. This has been massive eye opener. Thank you so much."

We had a good size team last night, and many great evangelistic conversations were had.

To God be the glory!

 

 

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