Battle Log

• Battle Log
• Page 221

Lots of gospel tracts went out yesterday at Sunnybank and some good conversations were had.

I spoke to a guy named Steven who goes to an international church in Kelvin Grove. He said that he would be going to Heaven because of some sacrifices he was about to make. 

He explained that money is basically evil and the way to heaven then is to give your money away (he called this sacrifices).

Despite this I witnessed to him normally - going through the law to bring the knowledge of sin, talking of the judgement to come, the cross, and repentance and faith - and he began to see why his idea of giving money away wouldn't save him. It turns out, he was very willing to reconsider his beliefs and seemed to come to understand the gospel. Please pray that he comes to saving faith.

Col was able to witness to an elderly man who a couple months back, fell over. At that time, Col helped him back up. This man returned to Col yesterday and was able to hear the gospel.

He ended up getting a lift home from Col as well, enabling him to hear more of the message. Pray that God would make this elderly gentleman understand grace.

To the God of all be the glory!

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On Friday night at the Gold Coast, we spoke to an Indian lady who over the past year or two has been working at McDonald's nearby where we preach.

Each Friday and Saturday night she would make sure to clean the outside dining tables as often as she could so that she could hear the preaching of the gospel.

She told us that God used that to save her and she is now part of a local church. Glory to God!

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What a night in Brisbane city last night! Our prayer for receptive people that we prayed at the start of night, God answered.

Many people were open to talk about eternal matters and quite a number of came to the Bible table for a Bible. Praise be to God!

Please pray for:

• Vincent - Asian young man, no religion, didn't believe in God. Came to realise God exists after showing him how creation must have had a creator. Went through the message of sin, law, judgment, Heaven and Hell, and the cross with him.

He wanted to know why Christianity is true as opposed to all the other religions. Gave him the argument for the resurrection of Jesus, he said it made sense. Was happy to take a Bible. I got his contact details because he wants to find out more.

Steven & Lisa - both were professing Christians, but thought their works would save them. By the end of the conversation, they appeared to grasp the gospel message and said they going to count the cost.

Tanya & Emma - very open, asked, "how do we know God exists?" Came to acknowledge God's existence. "I am a good person" they thought. Went through whole message with them. They love sin so they said they would have to seriously count the cost. They have a Bible but have never read it yet. 

Photo: Wilter is talking to a man who only speaks French. Thankfully Wilter mentioned to me earlier in the night that he is also able to speak French, and so I was able to call him over to speak with this man who was open to the gospel.

On Saturday night I also spoke to a man named Ally from Iran. He used to be a Muslim. 

When I asked him whether he is going to Heaven, he said he didn't believe in an afterlife and only believed in God. But he said he didn't know who God is.

I asked him whether God is good. He said, "Yes". So I said, "If God is good, that means he can't overlook the atrocities that people do in this world and who never get brought to justice. So if God is good, there must be a place of punishment, which we call Hell, and also a place of no punishment, which we call Heaven".

He said, "That makes sense". I asked him then, "Are you a good person?" He thought so, and so I took him through some of the commandments and he began to realise his sin. I explained how we need a perfect person who can take our Hell punishment for us on our behalf, and that Jesus is the only perfect person who has ever lived.

But then he said, "Every religion says that their main figure is the best and perfect. Like Muslims say Mohammad is perfect." I pointed out that even Muslims would agree that Mohammed was an idolater before Allah spoke to him, and looking at his history, he also murdered people.

However, Jesus is the only one who has lived completely perfectly his whole life, and we have the eyewitness testimony of the Gospel writers who attest this, and who also recorded the fact that Jesus rose from the dead - which verifies Jesus' claim of being God. He said, "How do we know they were speaking the truth?"

I explained, "The disciples were Jews, and the Jews did not believe in a dying, much less rising, Messiah. So you need to ask the question: How did these Jews come to believe in something so unJewish, and then be willing to be put to death for saying that Jesus rose from the dead?

For no one dies for what they know is false. Many people may die for what they believe to be true, but no one dies for what they know to be false. And since these disciples of Jesus were the first ones to say that Jesus rose from the dead, they either: A) made it up and therefore they know they are lying, or B) did really see Jesus alive from the dead.

But the fact that they were willing to be put to death for saying that Jesus rose from the dead, the best explanation for that is that they really did see Jesus alive from the dead and they were simply bearing witness to the truth that they saw."

He said, "That makes sense." Then I asked him, "So when are you going to trust Christ alone for your forgiveness?" He said, "I need something big."

I said, "When you say that, do you simply mean you aren't prepared to turn from your lifestyle of sin?" He said, "That is what it is."

Please pray for Ally. He took a gospel tract and has heard the gospel clearly.

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Praise be to God for a good outreach at Woodridge yesterday. We had a good size team which meant lots of gospel tracts went out.

At one stage I offered a tract to a young couple and the man refused it. But a few minutes later he returned and said he wanted to ask a question. His name was Ben.

He asked about why do bad things happen in this world. I told him about how God created the world and it was good, but then humanity said to God that they didn't want to live His way. So God basically said: "Ok, but there will be consequences. People will die, get sick, be in pain, etc. So in essence, humanity's to blame for the bad things happening in the world. Ben said, "That makes a lot of sense."

He then went on to say how he was released from prison just last week and wants to improve his life from now and was wondering whether going to church would do that for him. I explained how improving his life wouldn't get him to Heaven because God looks at our whole life and if we have sinned even once, we deserve Hell. He asked, "Is it too late then?"

I went on to explain the cross, how Jesus was so gracious to take our Hell punishment for us on the cross, and that the way we receive this is not by going to church, not by praying or improving our life, but by trusting only in what Jesus has done for us on the cross for our forgiveness. I then talked about how once we trust in Jesus, we of course want to turn from our sin because we love Jesus.

I asked a few checking questions to make sure he really did now understand the gospel, and it seemed he did. Please pray for Ben as he counts the cost of trusting in Christ.

We spoke to quite a number of other people during our outreach as well. It's never a waste of time when God's word goes out to people, regardless of their responses. Glory to God!

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It was another great outreach in Brisbane city last night. Since it was ANZAC Day, there were a number of people still in their military uniforms or wearing medals from the marches earlier in the day. We were able to share the gospel with some of them.

Please pray for all who heard the gospel message, including a man named Adam - he is from Papua New Guinea and is in Australia for a rugby tournament, but leaving to go home the very next day.

He was very receptive and came to understand the gospel. Pray that God grants him repentance and faith.

The results are in God's hands. So to Him alone be the glory!

 

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Redlands Easter Family Festival

It was a great day of evangelising at the Redlands Easter Family Festival today. We handed out 5,000 gospel tracts, over 200 Bibles, and many good gospel conversations were had.

Here is a short video from the day:

Please pray for all who heard the gospel. To God be the glory!

 

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It was very busy on Friday night at our weekly Gold Coast outreach. It was the start of the Easter weekend and clearly many people had flocked to Surfers Paradise for a holiday.

This provided a great opportunity for evangelism. We used the sketchboard to preach a couple messages explaining what Easter is all about, and handed out lots of our 'Happy Easter' gospel tract.

We also had a 77 year old man join us for the outreach and he loved it and is keen to return. So for those of you who may be thinking, 'I am too old to evangelise', you're not. I hope this is an encouragement to you to make the most of the time that you have left on this Earth.

After I finished preaching a message on 'The Way to Heaven' - how being good, simply stopping sin, or saying sorry won't save us, and how instead it is only by Jesus taking the punishment for our sin on our behalf that we can be saved - I had a conversation with two young people, Matt & Britney. They were just walking by and didn't hear my preaching, so I asked them whether they would go to Heaven.

They responded by saying "Yes, because we are good people". So I went through some of the commandments and they began to realise their sin, but said, "We will stop doing our sin." I explained how that wouldn't get rid of any of the history of their sin. 

They said, "Ok, but I will say sorry to God." I explained how in a court of law, if a criminal said sorry, we would still be guilty. Similarly, it doesn't matter how many times we say sorry to God, he wouldn't be able to simply overlook our sin.

It was really interesting to me that their ideas of how to get to Heaven were the very things I had just preached about not being the way. I find that those three things are what most people think will save them.

That is why these days before I explain the news of the cross, I will spend some time trying to dispel any false ideas out of their mind regarding the way to Heaven, so that once they've come to the point of, "Well there is nothing I can do then!" then I find they come to grasp the gospel better. For there really is nothing we can do to earn our way to Heaven, it is instead completely the work of Christ on the cross that saves us, which is received by repentance and faith.

Matt and Britney came to understand the gospel and said they were going to count the cost. They were happy to receive a gospel of John. Please pray for them.

Please also pray for Partarna who belongs to a Buddhist family. He heard the gospel and took a gospel of John. 

There were many other conversations had as well on Friday. To God alone be the glory!

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Lots of people took free Bibles and other resources during our Brisbane outreach last night.

The rain caused people to come undercover and they couldn't but help notice our free Bibles table. Team member Jordan remarked that he found himself in one conversation after another with people as they came up to the Bible and were happy to talk with him about the things of God.

The first conversation I had was with a young lady named Mandy. She said she doesn't believe that God exists and during the conversation, kept bringing up that religion has done many bad things in history. I explained that just like the fact there are some bad doctors out there does not mean that medicine is wrong, so in the same way, having some bad religious people out there does not mean the beliefs of every religion are wrong. She acknowledged that, and so then I addressed her denying of God's existence.

I pointed out that just like a building proves there was a builder, so in the same way we look at the universe and realise it had a beginning and so therefore it proves there was a creator. She thought about it for a moment and couldn't do anything but agree. So now that she recognised God's existence, I asked her if she was a good person. She said yes. And so I went through some commandments of God and she was beginning to see her sin and how like the rest of us, she falls short.

I explained the news of Christ's death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, and about how she needs to repent and trust in Christ. She responded, "Honestly, I am not ready. I want to live life my own way for a bit longer. Maybe later."

That is what it always is, a love for sin is what stops people from coming to Christ. I responded, "What good is enjoying a cup of pleasure in exchange for an ocean of pain and suffering?" She thanked me greatly for the conversation. Please pray for her.

There were many other people spoken to during our outreach, but here are just a few other names to pray for:

• Paul & Trent - heard whole message...going to think seriously about it.

• Richard - goes to Catholic Church, thought works saved him. Appeared to come to understand gospel, realised he needs to find a new church.

To God be the glory!

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We had a good outreach at Woodridge. As soon as I arrived, I saw some of the high school students I shared the gospel with the week before at the same spot, and so I started talking with them again.

It wasn't long before they asked one of their friends to join the conversation. He said he was religious. I asked him why he is going to Heaven, and he replied by saying that he has been taught by his church that baptism wipes away all his sin and that is why 2 weeks ago he got baptised. Thus he thought that he was all good to go to Heaven.

I pointed out Matthew 5:48 to him, how Jesus says we must be perfect. Then I went through some of the commandments with him asking if he had kept them. Just like the rest of us, he hadn't. He began to realise that he deserved Hell, but then said he would try be better from now on. I pointed out that doing that wouldn't get rid of the history of his sin. Neither would getting baptised or asking for forgiveness - I gave him the courtroom analogy to make this clear.

When I said that the only way of forgiveness is through a perfect person taking our Hell punishment for us on our behalf, he was beginning to understand it, but his bus then turned up. He said he wanted to continue talking with me next week.

Soon after, I had two other young men come over to ask me a question. They asked, "Is there a certain day you need to go to church?" I responded by quoting Romans 14:5-6 how the day of the week that one goes to church isn't a big deal. But I immediately recognised the bigger issue, I needed to find out whether these guys understood the gospel.

Desra, the one who liked my answer to the question, thought he was going to Heaven because he is reforming his life and starting to read the Bible.
While Bernard, the one who didn't really like my answer to the question, thought his own goodness and praying saved him.

So I talked about sin, the coming judgement, Heaven, Hell, the cross, repentance and faith with them. And it took about half a dozen times of explaining the gospel over again in different ways before they came to grasp it.

I could tell Desra was clearly counting the cost, seeing whether he was prepared to repent and trust in Christ. He asked if someone could come over to his house regularly to explain the things of the Bible. I could tell they were both really open, and so I went through a few key passages with them, such as Ephesians 2:8-10, Matthew 10:32-39, and Matthew 5:27-30. Please pray for them that they will truly repent and trust in Christ. I am hoping to continue going through the Bible with them in future weeks.

Other team members began to arrive during this time, we had four of us in total.

In the attached photo, Stephen is talking with a man about the gospel, but this man said he wants to take the blame for his own sin instead of having Jesus take it for him.

Please also pray for:

• Jonathan - he said he believes in Jesus, but said he needs to do a bit of good to be saved. He was receptive to the message of salvation by grace through faith alone.

• Raw & Nimrod - heard whole message. Said they really appreciated the chat and would think seriously about the message.

All the glory goes to God!

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Thank you all for your ongoing prayers for the work in Hobart's CBD. God is blessing the work and many tracts and bibles have been going out. People have been coming back for repeat conversations. I have even had non-Christians stop me when giving out tracts to thank us for what we are doing and encourage us to continue. 

One repeat visitor at the bible table is an older man who is interested in the Christadelphianism. Primarily he came to discuss the issue of hell which he struggles with (as do many people). He is attracted to the idea of annihilationism, that God would destroy completely sinners at the final judgment and that there would be no hell in an eternal sense. Praise God he has been willing to discuss what God says in His word about these views. It has been encouraging to see the openness that he has to consider and struggle with these issues. Please pray that he will continue to come and speak with us and that we would be able to share wisely and respectfully from God's word.

The team are now regularly handing out tracts at the nearby traffic intersection, that is when they are not caught up in gospel conversations! I regularly look around to check on tracting team members only to find they are deep in gospel conversation. Praise God for these wonderful opportunities and the privilege of gossiping the gospel in Hobart!

Our regular heckler Mr S.has been staying away but over the last two weeks he and I have chatted for short periods. It was a positive discussion and he is wanting (as I am) to make sure that things remain calm in the mall on Tuesday afternoons. I am grateful for this and hope that we will be able to have more positive discussions in the future. Please continue to pray for Mr S., that God will bless him and give him peace.

We have begun preaching again in the mall and for the last two weeks the people who have gathered have been very quiet and listening to what was said. In some ways this has been a challenge as it is easier to bounce off people's questions and gather a crowd from the heckling. At the same time I am grateful for the opportunity to preach on an issue uninterrupted and develop thoughts fully. There were small groups that gathered and the usual people sitting/standing at the edges of hearing range pretending not to listen but obviously straining to hear. 

This week I decided to be ambitious and have begun a series of sermons on the world's greatest preacher's one recorded sermon. I began with the telling and world inverting verse: 
Mt 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
From this verse I sought to show how the sinful nature of our hearts and the pride that comes naturally to us all prevents us from coming into the kingdom of God. Also on the other hand the humble attitude Jesus points to is an expression of true repentance. If we will not put down our self-centredness we cannot come to Jesus in faith to seek His Goodness, His righteousness, His atonement and His life. This is in many ways the first step in becoming a child of the kingdom.

There is great riches in this one verse alone and there is much that could be said. Please pray that I will do Jesus' words some kind of justice in my preaching and that it will draw people to him in Hobart. 

Praise God for His grace and kindness!

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