Battle Log

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Good size crowds & A flying sketchboard!

For a couple hours crowds kept gathering to listen to the preaching of the gospel at our Brisbane outreach.

Someone took great offense at Jesus being the only way that he made our sketchboard fly. Check out the video (please note that the footage is straight from the streets and may contain coarse language).

The message I had preached with the sketchboard earlier was how the greatest gift one could ever receive for a birthday is not any material possession (like a car or a house) but is instead the person of the Lord Jesus who by his death on the cross offers forgiveness of sins to whoever comes to him in repentance and faith.

After that, Joel got up to preach starting off by talking about the origins of St. Patrick's Day, since it was St Patrick's Day weekend. There were quite a number of Irish people who were heckling him asking him all sorts of questions. God used that to attract a good size crowd.

Later on though, Joel had some people who really didn't like the fact that he was preaching about Jesus. One commented that he would stab Joel if he was out in the bush. Then one of them picked up the sketchboard, which is very heavy by the way, and made it fly. He didn't want to stick around after that, as he knew in his conscience he had done something wrong.

No matter what people do to try and stop the glorious gospel from being preached, God's word still goes out. So to him alone be all the glory!

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A good number of gospel tracts were handed out and many good gospel conversations were had at Woodridge yesterday.

We had one guy who was really confronted about the tract "You may not have tomorrow", and by making threats towards us he was hoping we would be intimidated by him. But he ended up softening majorly and we had a great long gospel conversation with him.

Please also pray for:

• Tour - gave gospel of John, knew already he wouldn't go to heaven because of how he has been living, heard gospel.

• Clay - Jordan had a good conversation with him, and gave him a gospel of John. He said he would count the cost.

We sow the seed, but God gives the increase. So to Him be all the glory!

 

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As we were meeting for prayer before our Saturday night outreach in Brisbane city, a guy named Jack came up to us saying that he recognised me. He said I had spoken to him in the past at some stage.

So I asked him whether he has thought further about the message he heard. He said he had been beaten up since then and couldn't remember the conversation.

So we spent some time talking about sin and the judgement to come, and even when some friends of his were trying to distract him and drag him away, he told them to go away because he wanted to keep listening. We then shared the glorious news of the gospel. 

His response was, "I am not ready yet." He explained how he wanted to keep living life his own way for a while longer. We showed him how that's really not a good idea and so he said he would consider the message.

When we arrived in Queen Street Mall at 7:30pm, we set up the sketchboard and I preached a message on the 'greatest gift'. 

Throughout the night, we received quite a few encouraging remarks from Christians who were excited to see the gospel going out. We encouraged them to share their faith as well.

A few other people to pray for from the night:

Barman - came from Iran 2 years ago, said he loves sin, not really religious, "I know Jesus says he is the only way, but I want to go my own way."

Tarlier - thought she was a good person, very receptive. Came to understand the gospel. Never has read the Bible before. Happily accepted a Bible.

Photo: John is explaining the message on the gospel tract to this Sikh man.

To God be the glory for another wonderful night!

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As I was driving to the Gold Coast on Friday evening, I noticed dark rain clouds over the area. I suspected that it may be another rainy night. But I prayed that God would not allow it to rain until the outreach was over.

It was fine weather when I arrived and continued that way for the entire outreach! And as soon as 10pm rolled around (we had already packed up), then the rain started.

Praise be to God for answering that prayer. For the fine weather meant that there were lots of people around to witness to.

We used the sketchboards and good size crowds gathered to listen and observe as we preached while illustrating the message with paint.

While this was happening, the rest of the team were having conversations with people or handing out tracts. A few of the conversations that were had were with Muslims (such as the one on this photo). 

Most of the Muslims we talk to are tourists from Middle Eastern countries where it would be very hard for us to go and preach there (it would be illegal), but the good news is that they all come to us, in a country where we can preach to them. They then can take the message and tracts back to the countries where they come from. It is great how God works.

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

 

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There is some opposition to the work in Hobart's CBD that has begun to make itself felt. This has primarily come in the form of increased aggression and abuse from our "regular heckler" Mr S.. Please continue to pray for him, he needs salvation and the peace of God. 

This week we where initially unable to enter the mall due to the Lady Mayoress making an inspection of the new street cleaning machine. This was turned into a blessed opportunity as Mitchell and I were able to hand out 80 or so tracts in the space of 30 minutes. Praise God for those 80 little soldiers of The Lord, they will never sleep, never get tired of preaching the gospel and be patiently waiting for whoever looks at them. I love giving people tracts, they will turn up in some of the most interesting and astonishing places. 

The Bible table has continued to be a source of good conversations, this week we had three good conversations that occurred around the table. 

Ms A. - has recently lost her son due to suicide and struggles with a neighbour who is abusive. Yet in-spite of this she is an active member of the Salvation Army church here in Hobart. We were able to talk at length and encourage each other.

Mr A. - a long term contact of Carl's, he is a Shia Muslim and they have had many conversations and discussed the person of Jesus many times. Please pray for him that he would follow the true prophet and only saviour Jesus Christ.

Preaching this week focused initially on the two prisoners in Bali and what a scandal it would be if their lawyer was to offer to take their place. Yet this is exactly what we see in the work of Jesus our Lord, He takes the place of sinners who hate Him so that they can come into a loving relationship with God. 

Romans 5: 6-11 
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person-though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die- but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Mr S. as always had some very forceful opinions to air and some very aggressive opposition he directed at the team. Ironically Mr S. thinks that the forgiveness of sin is one of the most shameful aspects of the gospel. He preaches for me in a backhanded manner, parading around the scandal of forgiveness of even the most evil through Jesus. He equally thinks that hell is abhorrent and will preach on how horrible God's punishment of sinners in hell is. Through all of this I try to provide the theological correctives needed and let him preach the gospel!

Interspersed through the various rants (he was not in a good mood this week for some reason) that Mr S. had this week a few other people asked questions:

Three high school girls - asked about homosexuality and divorce. I spoke with them about God's model for sexuality and marriage (a loving Christlike husband serving and his wife submitting to his love). I also emphasised as I have to frequently that Christians are called to love and respect people even when they must identify a lifestyle as sinful and leading to hell. One of the girls was very affected by by the preaching and took a bible afterwards. Please pray that she would love the giver of these good gifts not the just gifts.

Homosexual man - protested that the bible is written by man and we cannot know any of it is true (Chinese whispers scenario). There are so many good responses to this that we are spoilt as Christians. I provided a couple of reasons to believe but he left scoffing. Please pray that God would open both his ears and his heart to hear the truth.

One high school guy - as a secularist this guy essentially wanted to stop the preaching because it is forcing Christianity on others. He stayed afterwards for a period and listened to the discussions/debates that happened. He did not engage a lot but would comment from time to time. Please pray that he will consider carefully what he has heard and will come again and be changed by the gospel as he hears it.

It was a full week and afterwards there were good discussions that continued for an hour after we finished. Please pray for the people of Hobart, many that I do not interact with hear the gospel and need salvation through Jesus Christ. Pray that the Holy Spirit would give them life and bring them to Jesus. Pray to The Lord of the harvest to save souls and send workers into the fields of Hobart. 

Most of all please pray that God would be glorified in all that we do and say and that he would keep us from the many stumbling blocks that litter the path of this ministry.

Amen

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The fields are white for harvest! This was again evident during our outreach this afternoon at Sunnybank.

Many good conversations were had and lots of gospel tracts were handed out.

Please pray for:

• Jack & Mirah - two school kids, came to understand the gospel. As Jack was hearing the gospel he was saying, "Wow, that makes sense."

He told me that his dad died and since then he has been thinking about what comes after death. He said he even tried googling to find the answer. They both were very appreciative of the chat.

• Editaa - have talked before, he has been reading the gospel of John I gave him. He has Hindu parents. His parents said he can only read the Bible for education purposes and is not allowed to become a Christian.

So I encouraged him to keep reading the Bible and talked about how our love for Christ should far exceed even the love we have for our parents in that if they are preventing you from becoming a Christian, you should become a Christian anyway. He understood that and said that he has got some serious thinking to do.

• Calvin - initially said "I will go to Heaven because I've been nice". Was intently listening as I went through the law and the gospel. Gave him a gospel of John.

• Lachim - Have talked before, he says he is not ready to come to Christ because he loves his sin.

• Kevin - would go and count the cost. Gave him gospel of John.

• Claire - high school, intently listening.

• Shaun & Justin - school kids, said they would repent and trust in Christ.

Praise be to the God of all!

Photo: Col handing out some of the Biggest Problem gospel tracts.

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Many gospel tracts were handed out today at Woodridge, and some good conversations were had.

The place where we evangelise is where lots of school students hang out after school. Today I had good chat with a large group of high school students, some who were Muslims, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses in the one conversation.

Please pray for all who heard the gospel including:

• Tadila - thought works saved. Heard gospel. Would consider message.

• Oscar - faith & works, came to understand gospel. Gave him gospel of John.

• Lelan - tradie, listening intently, gave him gospel of John.

Photo: Wilter is explaining the message of the cross to this gentleman.

To God be the glory!

- Ryan Hemelaar

 

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Even though it was raining on Thursday, the gospel still went out in Sunnybank.

A Mormon missionary who Col has been speaking to in recent weeks, I got to speak to. He's from China and says he is on mission as a Mormon to find out what the truth is. He's not sure which religion is true, and he is thinking that all religions lead to the same God. I explained how logically that doesn't make sense.

After explaining the gospel to him, one of the other Mormon missionaries came up to me asking mocking questions about the God of the Bible, like "So your God can do whatever He likes, can He? That's crazy." I responded by quoting Psalm 115:3 - "Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases."

After this occurred, I continued talking with the Chinese Mormon missionary and he said, "I actually think you might have the truth, because even when some of the other missionaries say mocking things to you, you don't get angry; you stay very calm. I am going to think about what you said." Please pray for him.

Please also pray for:

• Runya - Arabic speaker, gave gospel of John

• Conrad & Linden - go to a catholic school, not prepared to turn from their sin. Listened to whole message.

• Faria - thought good person, came to understand gospel.

• Thomas & Julian - Thomas Mum is Buddhist, unsure which religion is true, going to think about it seriously.

Photo: One of the bus stops that we witness at in Sunnybank.

 

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It was blowing a gale when I arrived for the Woodridge outreach on Tuesday. But it didn't really hinder people stopping and talking about eternal matters.

The first conversation I had was with one of the Mormon missionaries who I met several weeks ago. He had brought in assistance from someone outside their area. This missionary too however didn't really know what the Bible taught. 

They were arguing that the Bible has been changed, and the reason they gave to back this up was: "Because that is what Muslims say."

I was shocked to hear them rely on an argument like that. So I explained how we have thousands of manuscripts of Bible from all over the world in the original languages and so we can know for certain the Bible hasn't been corrupted. I then showed them in the Bible how salvation is by grace through faith, but they were very stubborn in holding on to their works. Please pray for them.

Please also pray for:

• Banjo & Beni - school kids, one thought his asking for forgiveness would save him....both came to understand the gospel and said they would repent and believe.

• Deanna - young lady, talked to her November last year after her dad passed away. Just this week, her mum had a heart attack, and was in hospital. 

She said she loved her sin and knew she would be going to Hell. But the recent events regarding her parents has been making her think about God a lot. Explained gospel, urged her to come to saving faith. She said she would seriously think about it.

Photo: Jordan is speaking to a young man who didn't mind if he ended up in Hell.

 

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What a night! There were constant crowds listening to the preaching for over an hour and a half during our Brisbane outreach last night. 

We used the sketchboard to present the gospel and after explaining the message of the cross, a very loud vocal heckler in a large black trench coat started asking lots of questions, like "Why is a blood sacrifice needed?" and "What about the laws in Leviticus?"

This man said he had studied 6 years to be a Roman Catholic priest, but had now rejected Catholicism because he didn't know how to answer the problem of suffering in the world. He said he now believes in a different god who doesn't judge and has rejected the Bible.

    

His arguments were not very good, as many times he had to resort to looking up things on his phone. Yet God used this man to draw in large crowds to hear the gospel.

During this time, many one to one conversations were had. At the end of the preaching, a lesbian lady expressed her disgust at the heckler, but thanked us for the message we shared. She was happy to take a Bible and wants to return to find out more.

Please pray for all who heard the gospel, including Rafael & Daniel - from Brazil, they thought they were Christians, but thought their own goodness saved them. They came to understand the gospel and said they would repent and trust in Christ from today onwards. I recommended a local church for them to start attending.

Here is a video from the night:

To God be all the glory!

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