Battle Log

• Battle Log
• Online Evangelism
• Page 4

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Online Evangelism

Here are the tentative weekly outreach times for online evangelism:

Sunday 1-3pm (Practical Training Outreach)
Monday 9am-5pm
Tuesday 1-5pm
Wednesday 1-5pm
Thursday 9am-5pm
Friday 1-4pm
Saturday 1-4pm

These times are all in AEST (GMT+10), so adjust them based on your own timezone.

How to take part

To watch any of our online outreaches, you can watch live on our YouTube channel or Facebook page. Or to take part in any of these outreaches, email us for the virtual room meeting link.

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On Saturday I (in NZ) was doing online outreach in the morning, and the team in Aussie were on in the Afternoon.

I had a lot of great conversations, but three stand out.  One brought me to tears.

The first was with a young man who didn’t want to talk, just type.  I could see him and talk to him though.  So in this way, I was able to share the law and the gospel with him.

I had made sure the guy understood the cost of following Jesus, and to finish up, I asked him a final checking question and he said:

Stranger: I need to trust that Jesus died on the cross for us and paid for our sins

He seemed to be understanding, which is great - praise God.  I then asked if he had any questions:

Stranger: No it's just that I would never expect this you just changed my life thank you

It touched me deeply.  I know it’s nothing I do that will change someone's life.  All glory to God alone.  But, the deepest desire of my heart is for people to be saved.  So I had a good cry, and I’m not ashamed to say it - I’m passionate about this.  It’s so serious, and so real.  He is in God’s hands, may he really be changed by God.  May you be encouraged to see what is important in life, and get out to share the amazing news of Jesus with people.

The second conversation I want to mention was with a lady who was a scientist who worked in nanotechnology!  I don’t come across many people like that on Omegle!  She also didn’t want to talk, only type.  But she was deeply atheist and resistant to any logic of the reality of God.  She was even mocking.  I knew I wasn’t going to make progress and sure enough, she bailed from the conversation.  The reason why this conversation is so significant is because of the third conversation…

About fifteen minutes afterwards, after a string of rejections, I get into another conversation with someone that only wanted to type!  I turned on their video and I was shocked.  It was the same lady from the second conversation!  There were 50,000 people on Omegle at the time, and I’ve never ever been paired with the same person twice.  I said, “I think God wants me to talk to you!”  It felt like an amazing piece of providence.  And I instantly thought to take the conversation on a different tack.  I went with my testimony, to try to find ground she would identify with, so that I would be able to gain the trust to be able to get to the law and the gospel.

Praise God, I was able to at least get to the law, before she bailed again.  But before she bailed, I was able to drop a link to needGod.net.

I sat back in wonder.  May something I said stick, may she look at the website.  May God use it as He wills - for His glory.

Sunday saw the usual practical training outreach online.  Ryan asked me to do the initial demo to the group, and I was nervous - mainly because I didn’t want to get into a long conversation that would hold everyone up from getting to their own harvest opportunities.

I ended up getting into a conversation with two French guys.  Their English wasn’t the best, and it was hard to establish a clear line of reason with them.  I managed to get through the law and the gospel, yet I’m not confident they understood - sadly.

The team then broke into smaller Jitsi groups and we took turns sharing the gospel on Omegle, while sharing our screen for the rest to observe.  It was wonderful getting to know some of the other team members better in between, and we were able to discuss afterwards to learn from each other.  Praise God.

My eldest daughter is still keen to be involved, and so she sat next to me while she had a few goes.  I was really proud of her!  She was so nervous, but it was great watching her confidence grow as she got into it.  She managed to get two people through the law before they bailed on her.  But praise God, he uses our efforts.  We will continue to practice sharing the gospel in our family devotion times.

Glory to God for the weekend of opportunity to share His gospel.  Glory to God, alone, for any fruit.
 

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Online evangelism is like nothing you've ever experienced. Any rejection is minor and the reception glorious!

The team has found that the vast majority of the people on Omegle (from America) a professing Christians who know little of the gospel or a people who are pretty sure they're done with Christianity when they haven't even started. Neither group seems to have a good understanding of the gospel and almost all seem to be believing that it is their own goodness and what they have to offer God that is the reason for their entry into Heaven or their rejection of God.

But over the past weeks each day around ten people from Australia and New Zealand have been gathering digitally, praying together and then heading out into the harvest field to proclaim to good news of the Kingdom!

There have been so many beautiful conversations. Ranging from gang members who professed faith knowing that they could die for it, to ardent atheists turning 180 and saying that today they want to trust that Jesus has taken the punishment for their sin!

A highlight from today was with a man named B, he at first was being silly and then with a bit of warning about the seriousness of eternity and the reality that it could begin for him at any moment he tuned in to listen. Early on in hearing the gospel he noted that he had heard it all before but it was just moments later the he remarked, "Oh that makes sense now". He came to profess a desire to trust in Christ, as the propitiation for his sin and said that he would read the gospel of John.

It was a beautiful day, of outreach and among other conversations a Muslim came to hear of the gospel but rejected it and atheist said, "This is the first time I've ever heard of this and now I will have to consider it" and a third man originally proclaiming his own righteousness was so cut to the heart by the law, seeing his guilt said, "I have to go now".

Please be praying for the many who heard the good news today, that this hearing would result in faith and that they too would desire to see others come to a saving knowledge of the truth!

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Since my last report, we have added Facebook live streaming (as well as You Tube).  It’s never been easier to watch real life, live, gospel conversations.  We hope you will be encouraged by this, and encouraged to get involved as well!

Today we had a random Christian join our outreach (via Jitsi meeting room).  We have been able to interact with him and he has been able to watch and get a feel for how it works.  This guy is from Canada, and we have never met him before - so encouraged to be able to make new connections like this.

Live streaming has taken some getting used to.  It just feels weird knowing anyone could be watching / listening to the conversation you are having!  But it’s a good thing.  I’ve got nothing to hide, except my mistakes.  And this only gives me an opportunity to apologise and make it right as best as I can.  If you watch, and see any blind spots that I could learn about - please do let me know.  But be nice about it! :)  Proverbs 12:1 (ESV) Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

I normally take notes of my gospel conversations, so I can write about them in this report, but for some reason, I haven’t done this over the last two days?  Thursday afternoon is a bit of a blank for me, so I’ll go see some of the things others in the team have been saying…

Ryan: “Just had an amazing chat with two ladies. They initially said we are just a bunch of atoms, nothing happens to us after we die.

Showed them God’s existence, they said “Wow that makes so much sense!”

Explained the gospel, one said “This is amazing! If you had not told me this, I would never have known this, I never would have thought that someone could take my punishment. This is the best chat I have had on Omegle.””

Andy: “Just had the hands down best chat ever on Omegle.
Guy was like...... I've never heard this before..... Gob smacked.... listened intensely, humble like a child. 
He was asking me for web sites to know more.... 
Be encouraged everyone.... the harvest is plentiful....”

Oh, this one is from me, I kinda remember talking to this Muslim: “Epic convo with a Muslim.  But hard of heart, yet he heard the gospel.  Convict him Lord, Save him by your grace.  But ultimately - may You be glorified! ??”

Oh yeah, this one is really interesting, from Ryan: “Just chatted to a guy from Christchurch on Omegle named Tyler who has seen Glen Richards witness in Cashell Mall!  He hasn’t spoken to Glen before, but one of his friends has. Encouraged him to say hi to Glen after the Coronavirus season. He thought his good deeds would save him, but grasped the gospel and professed to start believing it today”

Kane: “Fynn Johnson that chat with the Jewish girl Michelle was gold. The look on her face when she read Isaiah 53 then the look on your face when you asked her where she was up to and she said "Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted". #priceless”

Matt: “"Hey man seriously, you've just totally just changed my mind"” & “"audible gasp in" as he grasped the gospel”

Martin: “By God's grace I met a guy from New Zealand and He understood the gospel clearly and we got connected through facebook, continuing our chat through FB. What a joy!@!!!!!!! Praise God !” & “"I prayed for a relationship with Jesus literally today and you gave me the key or the answer to have that relationship.  I think God sent you to fix me" - He just sent me this message through FB .. what can we say? God is so faithful and He is always working Soli Deo Gloria !!!”

Wow, that was super encouraging.  It’s funny, I think you get used to it and desensitised when you are constantly sharing the gospel.  You see a LOT of rejection and resistance.  But when you stand back and look at a highlights reel like that, it’s really, very encouraging.  Glory to God.  God, you are amazing.  That you use feeble messengers like us, and allow us to be involved.  You are wonderful!  May there be fruit, for your glory Lord.  May you receive the reward of your suffering.

Friday is my biggest day of outreach.  Seven hours of evangelism and then an hour writing this report.  I did capture some of my text conversations, I’ll go see if there is anything interesting…

Oh yeah, I started the day with a video chat with a guy from India, it was a poor video connection, so we used text chat a bit as well.  We connected on Facebook, and he said he would follow up with me tomorrow…

I then had a long conversation with a Catholic from Lebanon.  He was resistant, but I relied on questions to get him engaged.  He came to see that I wasn’t trying to pick a fight with him, that I cared.  And also that he was trusting in his works to save him - and why that wouldn’t work.  He came to understand the gospel:

Stranger: Is there any people here on omegle who listen to u?
Stranger: Or a few?
You: Good question. Most skip me. But I have many good conversations with people. Because this is such an important thing to talk about.
You: Heaven is real, Hell is real.
Stranger: Yes

Many video chats, with all sorts of people.  Many faces cross my mind, too many conversations to write about.  Can I encourage you, come join us in the harvest.
 

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Time flies.  Next thing you know we will be in eternity.  I can’t wait.  But till that time, I want to use the gifts and talents God has given me to bring honour to God by making disciples.

Time flies, I can’t believe I’ve been doing online evangelism for nearly six weeks now.  A few months ago, I would never have dreamed I would be doing this.  And yet here I am.  One door closes and another opens.  And oh, what an opportunity it is!  It’s never been easier to get a gospel conversation started.

And yet, it has its downsides.  Anyone thinking of getting involved with online evangelism needs to consider these factors first, and apply wisdom.

As one of my co-elders put it, Omegle is a cesspit.  It’s a place where the depravity of man can so easily rise to the surface.  You can so easily be confronted with dangerous images, links & unwholesome language.  Much more so than on a regular street outreach.  Therefore, this kind of evangelism will not be for everyone!  If this might be a temptation for you - stay away.  If you are a teenager - discuss this with your parents first.  If you are an adult - discuss it with your Elders / Pastors.  And listen to their advice, they care for your soul.

That said, we are having wonderful opportunities to share the hope of Jesus in this dark place.  And we are learning more ways of putting appropriate protections in place.  I’ve already touched on many of those precautions in previous reports, but I’m going to mention them all again here, and cover some new ones as well.

Firstly, on Omegle, to get out of a conversation: hit the escape key on your keyboard twice.  The first time will prompt if you are sure.  The second time will disconnect you from the person you are talking to.  The other option is to just close the browser tab.

If you are doing video conversations, being able to initially (or constantly) hide the video feed of the other person is a must.  We now have three ways of doing this:

1. Physically hide the video feed.  You can do this in many ways.  But one way is to take a piece of paper, like a gospel tract, fold it in half, and then put it over the top of your screen (as per the picture).

2. Next is to have another window sitting over top of the video feed.  In my pictured example, I am using Notepad2 to do this.  Notepad2 is a free download from here.  The added benefit of using Notepad2 is that you can turn on the highlighted “Always On Top” feature (accessed from the Settings menu), so that even when you have another window selected (like Omegle in your web browser), Notepad2 will always stay on top of it.

3. Finally, you can install a Chrome browser extension so that you can completely hide the video feeds HTML element.  Here are the instructions for how to do that:

   1. In Chrome, go to: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/remove-html-elements/enegojdnkeicfoiknhfjaedhlckeahmf

   2. Click the “Add to Chrome” Bufton.

   3. To use it, press the new HTML icon that is now near your address bar and then click on the part of the website you want to hide.

   4. Press Ctrl+Z to undo what you have hidden once you know the person can be trusted.

   5. To turn off the extension, simply press the HTML button again.

   6. There is also a way to toggle the Remove HTML elements extension (that you’ve installed) via your keyboard in Chrome (without having to click the HTML button with your mouse).

   7. Go to chrome://extensions/shortcuts in your address bar and on that page set a key combination to activate/deactivate it

   8. I have set mine as Ctrl+Space

You can also use the Chrome browser extension to hide inappropriate lines of text chat (esp. appropriate if you are live streaming, as per below)

Another thing to do is have accountability in place.  Have others in the room with you when you are doing online evangelism.  Or join an online outreach team (see this link to be part of ours) where you are all together in a virtual meeting room with your screen shared into it.

Our online outreach team now live streams via YouTube - which provides another layer of accountability.  Everything we say and do can be seen by anyone.

So, in summary, online evangelism is a wonderful opportunity - and we want to encourage it!  But it’s not for everyone.  If you are going to get involved, put precautions in place to protect yourself.

As to the last two days of outreach (which this report covers), I can only summarise it as many wonderful conversations, with many who were up to no good, but encountered the gospel instead.  At least twice over these last two days, I heard people thank me for being on Omegle and sharing what I am.  And I’ve had many opportunities to tell people to get off Omegle - it's a place they shouldn’t be.  After hearing the gospel, they understand what I mean!

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Another wonderful weekend of online outreach, that culminated in the practical training outreach on Sunday afternoon (NZ & AU time).  It was a bit chaotic - but we managed to split up into pairings and get out there to encourage each other in sharing the gospel.

One of my daughters was keen to join the outreach, and so we paired up on my computer (as per the picture).  I gave Haley opportunities to get involved in the gospel conversations - and she did really well! :)

I think it might have something to do with it being the weekend, because I had more people being inappropriate than usual, but that’s okay: a) precautions were in place, and b) those people need the gospel.

Had a lot of conversations, they are a bit of a blur.  No real standouts - the last one was with a Muslim from Egypt.  He heard the gospel - praise God for that - but he was quite resistant. At the end, he said he would check out needGod.net.

Reflecting on Saturday, I worked the morning shift (NZ time), and then the Aussie team took the afternoon / evening shift.

It was great having various people joining me on Jitsi throughout the morning.  Emma (from NZ) was there, and some from Aussie came and went.

One of the text based Omegle conversations involved a guy who thought he was good, but the law deeply impacted him taking away that self-righteousness.  He heard the gospel, but seemed a bit stunned.  He ended up bailing on me before I could make sure he really understood.  I felt a bit grieved by that, but there is nothing more I can do.  They are in God’s hands.  Here is how it ended:

Stranger: are you priest btw
You: He does what he pleases, but he can't deny his nature.
You: no, i'm not a priest.
You: Just a Christian that wants to share hope.
Stranger: love you man!
You: I am a rebel, that deserves hell, and I'm not going there
Stranger: ur good
You: no, I'm bad
You: But Jesus is good
Stranger: u will be in heaven
Stranger: believe me
You: why?
You: What do we have to do to go to heaven?
Stranger: because look at what ur doing now
Stranger: ur giving me hope
You: I'm doing good deeds, but that does not get me to heaven
Stranger has disconnected.

A highlight video conversation was with a young Pacific Islander who heard the law and the gospel, and then I started working through a suite of checking questions.  Because of this, I could tell he wasn’t grasping the gospel and was able to track back to re-explain.  I then moved to another checking question, and then he suddenly bailed.  Sometimes that happens, you think it’s going well, and the person is engaging, and then they go.  Were they understanding and uncomfortable with this new information?  We’ll never know, we just move on and keep sharing the gospel.

Another video conversation I was having with a Muslim was going really well, and then suddenly the video and audio died.  It’s just out of your hands, but you keep going :)

A text conversation I had with a Hindu guy ended interestingly.  They were initially resistant to the reality of the law and I was gently trying to reason with them on it, in the hope they would open up to hear the gospel.  As soon as I shifted the conversation to lust, they became very sleepy:

You: Lust is adultery in the heart.
Stranger: ok bye ..I am sleepy
You: needGod.net
Stranger: its 4am
You: see ya
Stranger: sorry bro
You: God Bless
Stranger: gn
Stranger: same to you bro
Stranger has disconnected.

I’m still hanging out in IRC, but it’s not my focus.  Even in my own time, from time to time, I will follow the conversation and interject.  I’m starting to get to know these people, who are happy to talk about the deep things in life.  I don’t let myself get baited into apologetical rabbit trails, but will continue to be a witness for Christ and share the gospel as I can.

Christians, be encouraged to continue to share Jesus wherever you are, and if you don’t have other opportunity, join us online - we would love to labour for our Lord with you!

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Online evangelism just keeps getting better.  Our latest tweaks involve giving people more access: Christians to be encouraged in evangelism, Unbelievers to hear the good news of the gospel.

Firstly, the team is now staying together in our Jitsi meeting found here: https://meet.jit.si/Operation513 throughout the outreach.  It’s an open meeting room, anyone can join or leave as they like.  But we will stay hanging out here for mutual encouragement.  Also, as much as possible, one of the team will always be sharing their screen and audio into this meeting room, so those that join can come and listen to a gospel conversation: Christians to be encouraged through observation and by asking questions, unbelievers to hear the gospel and be able to ask questions.

For Christians, the objective is ultimately to encourage you into more evangelism: online or otherwise.  For unbelievers, the objective is to allow them to hear the gospel, that God would save them, and then ultimately to encourage them into discipleship & evangelism: online or otherwise.

There should be something happening there at these times:

Sun 1-3pm (Practical Training Outreach)
Mon 1-5pm, 7-10pm
Tue 11am-5pm
Wed 11am-5pm
Thu 11am-5pm, 7-10pm
Fri 6:30-10:30am, 11am-5pm
Sat 6:30-10:30am, 1-5pm

These times are all in AEST (GMT+10), so adjust them based on your own timezone (e.g., add 2 hours if you are in NZ).

The other addition is that we are going to start live streaming these gospel chats on YouTube. This means anyone can go to this URL to just watch what we do: https://www.youtube.com/user/Operation513/ - subscribe to get notified of when the live stream starts.

We pray that God would use these feeble efforts for His glory alone.

We will continue to make changes to the way we do things, as appropriate.

So this report is covering the online evangelism for Thursday and Friday.  And there has just been so much happening, just for me, let alone everyone else in the team, I can’t talk about it all, or barely remember it all.  Praise God for that!

The highlight from Thursday was a conversation I had with a young atheist - he was wearing a cool hat with horns.  He had been a Christian up to 5 years prior, but a Christian camp (which he said was cultish) had put him off.  But it was clear he had never understood the gospel, and although he initially wanted to leave the conversation, he became engaged, and then genuinely impacted as I explained the gospel to him.  In particular, the fireman analogy (explaining the fruit of repentance) brought the balance he sensed was missing - yet he now understood that the sacrifice of Jesus, and his faith alone in that, was the only thing that would save him.

Friday was a long day of outreach.  Here is what stands out:

Conversations with four young men who were all open, and all came to grasp the gospel.  For example, one of those kids, who said he was a Christian, said that before our conversation he thought he had to trust in Jesus AND do good deeds to go to heaven.  But he came to grasp the gospel and said, “I'm going to talk to my Dad about this, you've made my week!”

I had a conversation with an intelligent young girl who was very resistant.  She said that someone from my team had already talked to her!  But she said it was an American, so maybe it was another team?  I wasn’t able to share the gospel with her, sadly she didn’t want to hear it.

I finished my day with a great conversation with an open Muslim guy from Morocco.

Thank you so much for your continued prayer and support of the Operation 513 team, we are in awe of God at the opportunities he is giving us online.  All glory to Him for any fruit.  Come, join us! :)
 

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Emma: “Hey Glen - righto I need to give this online evangelism a crack.”
Me: “Pick a time and we can show you how it works... no pressure, observation is fine”
Emma: “ah Im scared!  yep okay that 'll be cool. thanks!  So....maybe tomorrow :)”
Me: “Yip, me too! Haha”

The next day.

Me: “See ya at 3pm :)”
Emma: “Yes :) Phil is going to join me as well if that's okay.  He's keen to give it a go too.”
Me: “Awesome! :)”

Sure enough, Phil & Emma joined the virtual meeting.  I was late, as I was still in a longish video gospel conversation with a guy from Canada.  But when I finally joined, Matt was doing an Omegle demo to them and the rest of the team.

Phil & Emma then joined me in our own virtual meeting room, where we were able to discuss online evangelism.  I then shared my screen and audio and proceeded to do another demo for them - with a late teen girl who was happy to hear the gospel, and then ask questions.  And then another - this time with a Muslim from the UK.  He was open, but we sensed he knew where it was going and bailed before I could share the gospel.  But I had managed to drop a link to needGod.net before he left.

After further discussion, Phil was keen to give it a go!  And Emma too.  And so I left them to it.

It’s so encouraging to see people giving it a try!  And if you are not keen for video chat (yet), you can start with text based Omegle chat.  And there are other options too.

You may be wondering, “but how do I start the conversation?”  Here is a suggestion: “Hi there, hey, I’ve got a deep question for you, what do you think happens after life?”  It’s not as hard as you think, because you are willingly entering a conversation with a complete stranger, and so are they - it really does lower the barrier (the social awkwardness) to asking direct questions like that.  Give it a try, you’d be surprised how many are keen to talk about the deep questions of life.  And if it doesn’t go well, smile and say, “check out needGod.net, have a nice day”.  And then hit ESC twice on your keyboard.  Pray, then try again!

Earlier in the afternoon, I entered an Omegle video chat and was greeted with the pictured view!  The guy had Hot Wheels (tm) all over his walls!  A great conversation starter!  And then I noticed he had a t-shirt on with a picture of Jesus on a surfboard!  It just couldn’t get better, as it gave me an easy way to swing the conversation from the natural to the spiritual.  In this case, the guy heard the law, but I could tell he was going to exit the conversation, so I quickly dropped a link to needGod.net.  To my surprise, he looked at it and then, under his breath, as though talking to himself, said: “I’ll copy that so I don’t lose it”.  He then proceeded to tell me how things worked in the world (in a nice way), and then, unsurprisingly, bailed - he was gone forever.  But he heard the bad news, and he has access to the good news.  He is in God’s hands.

I’ve mentioned IRC (Internet Relay Chat) a few times in my reports, and I continue to keep this in the background.  Yesterday, I managed to get into a great conversation with a guy who thought there was an objective standard of morality that didn’t require God.  As the conversation ended, I “preached” the gospel in the channel, but I became aware of a newbie to the channel.  Long story short, it turns out the newbie is a Christian I’ve worked with many times in street evangelism!  David had been reading my battle logs (haha, I say this all the time, but - people are actually reading them??) and so checked out IRC for himself.  It turns out that he had already taken on the guy I had just been discussing with, about the very same subject (and I never realised, because I came into the channel after David was there).  

I’m so encouraged to see Christians getting involved, as they can!  Praise God, glory to Him.

Today God gave me a special opportunity to talk about the gospel in IRC.  Sadly, the conversation was on the topic of drugs.  I am Zedude.  I’ve done my best to cut out unrelated chat lines.  With multiple people contributing to the conversation it can get hard to follow everything, but I hope you can make out what was going on.

[2020-04-22 13:00:55] [Zedude] Afternoon!
[2020-04-22 13:46:45] → android1 joined (~androirc@unaffiliated/vadre)
[2020-04-22 13:48:45] [android1] passionate about truth
[2020-04-22 13:50:24] [Zedude] android1: you are passionate about truth?
[2020-04-22 13:51:25] [android1] michael highway to heaven
[2020-04-22 13:51:48] [Zedude] Huh?
[2020-04-22 13:51:58] [android1] highway to heaven
[2020-04-22 13:52:09] [Zedude] Are you on it?
[2020-04-22 13:52:20] [android1] are you a club24 member
[2020-04-22 13:52:24] [Zedude] no
[2020-04-22 13:52:31] [android1] sign ip
[2020-04-22 13:52:44] [Zedude] It's a narrow road to heaven, btw
[2020-04-22 13:54:12] [Zedude] android1: are you a good person?  Will you go to heaven when you die?
[2020-04-22 13:56:37] [pbxman] what are your thoughts on psychedelic trips doc235 ?
[2020-04-22 13:56:48] [doc235] i love them
[2020-04-22 14:00:10] [doc235] i seen a blue dragon in my kitchen :)
[2020-04-22 14:00:30] [_Sam--] I see a knee dragon on my wall
[2020-04-22 14:01:51] [Zedude] Drugs: here be dragons
[2020-04-22 14:07:13] ← android1 left (~androirc@unaffiliated/vadre): "Quit"
[2020-04-22 14:11:01] [Zedude] Well, if this life is all there is, might as well make the most of it.  But then I read Ecclesiastes and I cried like a baby.
[2020-04-22 14:11:16] [dumbguy] Zenude: sup
[2020-04-22 14:11:29] [pbxman] why Zedude? what did touch you?
[2020-04-22 14:12:25] [Zedude] Well, I saw life as so meaningless, and Ecclesiastes confirmed that for me - and touched me in a deep way.  It put it into perspective for me.
[2020-04-22 14:16:03] [Zedude] .bible ecc 12:13
[2020-04-22 14:16:04] [HEYYOUGUYS] (Zedude) Ecclesiastes 12:13 Having heard everything, I have reached this conclusion: Fear God and keep his commandments, because this is the whole duty of man. 
[2020-04-22 14:16:10] [Zedude] .bible ecc 12:14
[2020-04-22 14:16:10] [HEYYOUGUYS] (Zedude) Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God will evaluate every deed, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. 
[2020-04-22 14:16:45] [pbxman] Zedude, how do you think god will evaluate you? What do you expect to get from god?
[2020-04-22 14:17:12] [Zedude] pbxman, by his standard written on my heart: my conscience.
[2020-04-22 14:17:33] [Zedude] A standard I fail.
[2020-04-22 14:17:34] [dave0] Zedude: is ecclesiastes new testament?
[2020-04-22 14:17:39] [Zedude] No, OT
[2020-04-22 14:17:46] [dave0] oh ok
[2020-04-22 14:17:53] [pbxman] Zedude, do you take confession ?
[2020-04-22 14:18:03] [Zedude] pbxman, no.
[2020-04-22 14:18:16] [pbxman] Zedude, do you expect to be rewarded by god?
[2020-04-22 14:18:18] [Zedude] We have direct access to God, through Jesus sacrifice
[2020-04-22 14:18:45] [dave0] nope, sacrifice means nothing
[2020-04-22 14:18:46] [Zedude] no, I'm not worth of any reward; and any I get, I want to cast before Jesus in honour of him.
[2020-04-22 14:19:22] [dave0] another religious snake who thinks the torture and murder of an innocent man for no reason is "good"
[2020-04-22 14:19:25] [pbxman] Zedude, do you think deep meditation or psychedelics could get you closer to Jesus?
[2020-04-22 14:19:28] [Zedude] dave0: through the cross, the temple veil was torn top to bottom.
[2020-04-22 14:19:42] [dave0] Zedude: means nothing
[2020-04-22 14:20:19] [dave0] who said he had to die? what can he teach in death that he couldn't teach in life?
[2020-04-22 14:20:20] [Zedude] dave0: it wasn't for no reason.  Jesus did it willingly, to satsify justice and offer mercy.
[2020-04-22 14:20:25] [pbxman] dave0,  According to the bible Jesus knew what would happen to him
[2020-04-22 14:20:26] [hi63vj] Do you beleive in magic?
[2020-04-22 14:20:33] [dave0] Zedude: it's meaningless
[2020-04-22 14:20:35] [Zedude] dave0: at a cost we won't be able to comprehend.
[2020-04-22 14:20:52] [Zedude] pbxman: no further away
[2020-04-22 14:21:18] [dave0] knowing it would happen changes nothing
[2020-04-22 14:21:34] [Zedude] dave0: ?
[2020-04-22 14:21:51] [pbxman] to me meditation and psychedelics is what gets me closer to the source of consciousness or "god" 
[2020-04-22 14:22:11] [Zedude] pbxman: key statement: "to me".  What matters is what is true.
[2020-04-22 14:22:25] [dave0] Zedude: so you say killing jesus was a good thing?
[2020-04-22 14:22:32] [pbxman] Zedude, truth is complicated word in matters of faith
[2020-04-22 14:22:33] [Zedude] dave0: yes
[2020-04-22 14:22:41] [dave0] Zedude: snake
[2020-04-22 14:22:44] [_Sam--] I support the Jews and Romans decision to kill Jesus.
[2020-04-22 14:22:54] [_Sam--] He was going around bringing people from the dead for no reason.
[2020-04-22 14:22:56] [Zedude] dave0: why?
[2020-04-22 14:23:16] [dave0] Zedude: you argue for killing people?
[2020-04-22 14:23:27] [Zedude] pbxman: truth is not complicated, it is true :)
[2020-04-22 14:23:30] [pbxman] .bible john 19:30
[2020-04-22 14:23:31] [HEYYOUGUYS] (pbxman) John 19:30 When he had received the sour wine, Jesus said, “It is completed!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 
[2020-04-22 14:23:39] [_Sam--] If some dude came around today and started bringing dead people back to life in a morgue, would you want that dude alive?
[2020-04-22 14:23:43] [Zedude] dave0: I argue for truth and justice.
[2020-04-22 14:23:44] [_Sam--] Or would you want that dude killed?
[2020-04-22 14:24:12] [dave0] Zedude: you call murder truth and justice
[2020-04-22 14:24:31] [Zedude] dave0: no.  Murder is objectively wrong.
[2020-04-22 14:24:39] [pbxman] according to the bible he said "it is completed" so he came here for a purpose
[2020-04-22 14:24:50] [dave0] Zedude: no. you say it is good
[2020-04-22 14:25:04] [dave0] Zedude: because you are a snake
[2020-04-22 14:25:17] [_Sam--] It's like lots of other jews before jesus had powers too
[2020-04-22 14:25:22] [_Sam--] And they did good things with them
[2020-04-22 14:25:24] [_Sam--] Like parted a sea
[2020-04-22 14:25:29] [_Sam--] and helped Jews
[2020-04-22 14:25:36] [_Sam--] All Jesus did was bring some people back from the dead
[2020-04-22 14:25:37] [dave0] for which good deed do you stone him
[2020-04-22 14:25:40] [_Sam--] and caught a couple fish
[2020-04-22 14:25:42] [_Sam--] That's it
[2020-04-22 14:25:44] [_Sam--] BFD
[2020-04-22 14:25:46] [Zedude] dave0: Jesus willing went to the cross, to satisfy the justice of God.  God kills, but it is not murder, it is justice.  By what standard am I a snake?
[2020-04-22 14:26:07] [dave0] Zedude: by your own standard that murder is objectively wrong
[2020-04-22 14:26:23] ⇐ pbxman quit (~pbxman@84.78.242.15): Remote host closed the connection
[2020-04-22 14:26:56] [Zedude] dave0: I don't have a standard, but God does.  Justice.  We all believe in it.  But God is also merciful.
[2020-04-22 14:27:01] [dave0] yep god kills, jesus hasn't killed yet, murder is truth and justice... and you ask why you are a snake
[2020-04-22 14:27:30] [Zedude] dave0: you are twisting my words.  Why?  Why are you so angry?
[2020-04-22 14:27:39] [dave0] Zedude: you've never heard his voice or seen his form
[2020-04-22 14:27:53] [dave0] because i hate it when religious idiots advocate murder
[2020-04-22 14:28:10] [dave0] i hate it when anyone advocates murder
[2020-04-22 14:28:29] [Zedude] dave0: true - directly I haven't.  But I hear his voice indirecly, through the Bible.  Written language is objective.
[2020-04-22 14:28:51] [Zedude] dave0: I never ever advocate for murder.
[2020-04-22 14:29:03] [CrystalMath] _Sam--: see i'm only partially jewish, the most i ever did was caused a particular flame to burn more strongly from a large distance
[2020-04-22 14:29:12] [_Sam--] Capital Punishment
[2020-04-22 14:29:14] [_Sam--] I for an I
[2020-04-22 14:29:22] [_Sam--] People get killed in proper justice.
[2020-04-22 14:29:23] [Zedude] dave0: but I did murder - I murdered Jesus.  My life should be forfiet.
[2020-04-22 14:29:36] [dave0] snake
[2020-04-22 14:29:42] [Zedude] yes I am
[2020-04-22 14:30:13] [Zedude] I deserve Hell.  Cos I'm a snake.  But I'm not going there.  Because my justice has been satisfied by Jesus.  And I have accepted his mercy.
[2020-04-22 14:30:24] [CrystalMath] apart from also doing some gentile magic tricks
[2020-04-22 14:31:09] [Zedude] And that mercy and grace is available to all of you.  https://needgod.net/
[2020-04-22 14:31:12] [HEYYOUGUYS] Title: Need God - What's After Life?

And then the conversation died out.  That was the last thing I said.  There was silence.  With up to 300 people in the channel, I just pray that some of them were listening.  That some follow the link.  Do your best to share the gospel, leave the results in God’s hands - what more can we do?  The great thing is that I’m regularly in that channel, people can follow up with me if they want.

 

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The weekend was full of evangelism for Operation 513.  It culminated in a practical online training outreach on Sunday afternoon.  It was incredibly encouraging to have about twenty five connections into our initial virtual meet up!  And some of those connections had multiple people - including whole families.  There were people from at least four cities involved: Brisbane (AU), Melbourne (AU), Christchurch (NZ), and Timaru (NZ).  (Of those connecting from Christchurch, there were representatives of at least three local churches.)

Some were there to observe, and get a feel for it, which is fine.

We started with introductions, and then I led the team in prayer, before Ryan did an Omegle demo while everyone else watched.

Matt organised us into smaller outreach teams, and we moved into our own separate virtual meetings where one person would share their screen and audio with the rest in the meeting so the others could observe the Omegle gospel conversation.  And that continued, taking turns.

It just blows me away, how easy it is to get a gospel conversation started in the modern world.  With a few taps on your phone, and you are away.  I literally just tried it as I was writing this.  I pulled out my phone, I went into my web browser app, I typed “omegle.com”, and then I tapped on “Video”.  Instantly I was talking to a stranger, I smiled and said, “I can’t believe how easy it is to find someone to talk to”.  A conversation was away!  Soon after I asked, “Hey, I’ve got a deep question for you”.  They said, “sure, what is it?”.  And I said, “What do you think happens after life?”.  And they wanted to talk about it - because it’s such an important question!  After the chat, I just stared at my phone and marvelled.  It’s never been easier to get to the harvest field!

Sure, there are precautions we need to take - as there is no doubt we need to keep the principle of “stranger danger” in mind.  You need to be able to cover the video feed coming from the stranger (initially anyway), in case something undesirable comes up (easily solved).  And you need to be able to safely exit in a hurry if you need to (also easy).  But this is no different to any type of social interacting we do.  And we need to socially interact to be able to share the gospel.  And in these odd days of social distancing, due to Covid-19, online evangelism is a revelation.

I was also online on Saturday morning too.  I spent some time on the Internet Relay Chat interacting with people and sharing the gospel.  I then moved to Omegle and I had a fascinating video gospel conversation with a guy who responded only with facial expressions and hand gestures (I have no idea why).  But he listened to what I had to say, and I could tell he was comprehending.  He eventually started typing replies to my questions.

But the highlight of the morning was a text based Omegle conversation with a guy with a Christian background.  He was very smart and witty, but he became very engaged.

You: Do you think it's possible to work out which of your 3 options it is.
Stranger: No
Stranger: Mathematically speaking
Stranger: That isn’t possible
You: Logically speaking, I think it is.
Stranger: Prove it.
You: ok :)

I sensed that he partly understood what I was talking about (due to his background knowledge), but I could tell he really loved his sin too.  He seemed to be caught in this place of wanting what I was explaining (Jesus), but wanting his sin too.  He was open, but resistant.  I could see him closing up, and I pointed it out, and it irritated him.  At one point, I got frustrated with this guy (for being unreasonable) - I had to apologise.  This guy also liked everything set down in simple steps.  He wanted his gospel medicine that way, but I had to explain that it didn’t work like that:

Stranger: That makes 0 sense
Stranger: Yeah sorry I got annoyed by that but u should understand
Stranger: At least where I’m coming from
You: I want the best for you, I'm sorry if I've misunderstood you.
You: I confess, I got frustrated
You: Because you seem to be missing the deepest point.
Stranger: Which is what
You: That we will all die, we all know that God exists, we all know we do wrong. Logically there must be justice, but that God has done something to satisfy that justice, and give you mercy. JESUS. He is our only hope, trust in him, knowing it will change you.
Stranger: Ok stranger.
You: I want the best for you. I want you to know God's mercy. But it's a gift of God
You: Bless ya :)
Stranger: Tell me how to EXACTLY trust
Stranger: Like the step by step rules
You: I can't give you a formula, other than what the Bible says.
Stranger: No no
Stranger: U definitely know
Stranger: What do you do
Stranger: To show you trust him
You: Sorry, it's not something we can do or manipulate, it's something God does for us.
Stranger: That doesnt make sense
Stranger: There has to be like things we can show that we trust him or like a habit
Stranger: That u should be doing
You: TRUST that Jesus paid the fine for your sin, there by knowing 100% you will go to heaven, and knowing that your life will grow in holiness if you do.
Stranger: Wait wait
Stranger: That is easy to say but u still haven’t answered the question
Stranger: How do you TRUST
You: Wow, I'm learning so much from this conversation - thanks so much :)
Stranger: Do I just say it in my head 2 million times?
Stranger: Or what
Stranger: There needs to be a step by step instruction or manual or guide
You: It's not a magical incantation.
You: There is, the Bible. The Gospel message I've explained to you. There is not 3 easy steps, great I'm going to heaven, now lets enjoy life.
You: It's not like that.
You: Salvation is from God, For Gods glory. It's not about you or I. It's about Him.
Stranger: Ok how do I ask for salvation
Stranger: Then after salvation what’s next
You: He saves us, and then shows us the next steps. But he condescends to use weak feeble ppl like me to tell the message to others, God will do the rest.

This was the longest text based chat I’ve ever had.  In the end, I had to end it because I wasn’t making any further progress.  It was time to leave this guy in God’s hands.  I did my best to share the gospel.  I left him with plenty of reference links throughout the conversation, including the source itself, the Bible.

You: Dude, I gotta go :) Thanks for the chat. You know how to get in touch: needGod.net
You: God bless ya :)
You have disconnected.

So, a very encouraging weekend of outreach!  I’ve had a good rest today (Monday), looking forward to another week in the harvest fields - it’s never been easier for you to join me! ;)
 

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Well, it’s Friday, and I’ve just spent seven hours in online evangelism - so good!  Earlier in the day (NZ time), I seemed to be talking to people from the UK, but later in the day, and it was people in the US, but then you get people from all over the world.  It’s just so amazing how easy it is to find someone to share the gospel with.

And I know Omegle is not the place for a Christian to be hanging out.  But I just can’t help thinking of the Salvation Army in the early days.  Going for sinners, and going for the worst.  In the pubs and the brothels.

We are an unexpected life line to people.

Stranger: We need more people like you on Omegle.
Me: Yeah, I'm trying to encourage others to get involved

At about the same time someone said that to me, someone said the same thing to Grace:

Stranger: We need more people like you in the world
You: aww bless
You: you could be one of them?

The team meets face to face on Jitsi (prayer, demo, and debrief), and we also have a Facebook Messenger group.  We encourage each other with the gospel conversations we are having.

Here is one from Andy:

“Just had two chats straight.... Both professed to put faith in Christ,  both seemed really sincere in trusting Jesus paying for their sin from today..... one young church going guy was like..... Whooooooh , when he got it!
Yesterday was way hard..... like pulling teeth. God help me be faithful through high and low…”

And from Matt:

“At first professed he wasn't sure and then quickly came to acknowledge he knew God exists. But then started asking about homosexuality. We went down some explaining with helping him to understand.  But he was struggling to grasp it because he didn't know the gospel. So to help him understand I said, "I think this is critical to your understanding" and took him through the law and the gospel and he came to understand it. "It's a free gift, it's not because of what I do and my actions are just a display of gratitude" he said. He professed that he would believe from this moment onward! Then he asked a few questions and then I bought it back to the beginning when he had asked about homosexuality and I didn't even really have to answer, it had already fallen into place for him! He said, "I get it now. A Christian can love a homosexual and disagree with them and they can show that love by tell the news about Jesus and a homosexual can go to Heaven if they believe that Jesus paid for their sin and if they do, they will just remain single!"

I think in this conversation I witnessed regeneration and repentance followed by faith! What a joyful conversation! I left him with needGod.net, a link to a recent interview with a homosexual I did and my Facebook.”

This one from me:

“Nearly an hour talking with an Atheist (video, so it was a long one).  Hard as, but worth every second of my time.  He heard the gospel, and was deeply challenged.  But God!”  (Note, this one is pictured - they guy with the electric guitar.)

And this:

“Ahh, just had a chat with a kid stoned and drunk, he wouldn't leave, and I just kept going over the law and gospel, hoping something would stick. He said he would write down "needGod.net" and look at it in the morning.  He seemed impacted - you know something is going on inside, and you just don't know what... the hurts, the hatred.  Gotta leave ‘em in God's hands.”

Martin:

“Just spoke to a guy from a Muslim country who was secular and atheist, believing in science etc

But he said he liked what I said. He said he had not heard it explained that way before 

I was able to go through the whole gospel with checking questions. 

He said he would read the book of John. 

So that was encouraging”

Omegle is only one place we can go to share the gospel.  There are many others.  I’m still persisting with IRC, I keep it going in the background.  The channel I’m in has over 300 people in it, and a handful of them are very keen to engage.

This morning, I walked into a debate between a Christian and some others.  It was just a lot of apologetics, and the Christian was a bit of a bull in a china shop (yeah, I know, many of you think I’m a bull in a china shop for what I do, but).  So I made an effort to swing it to the law and gospel, and I was successful.  An hour very well spent, considering the people potentially reading, or who can read in their logs.  They have a bot in the channel, and you can use .bible REF and it quotes it, which makes it easy to tie what you are saying to the scripture.

And what’s great is that I’m starting to get to know some of the people in the channel.  One guy is an ex-JW (and yet strangely still fights against the doctrine of the trinity).  There is a liberal Christian, Atheists… but they all have personality, real people - who need the gospel, like we all do.

Thanks for keeping the team in prayer.  And please consider joining us - it’s hard work, but it’s so easy to access and so worth it!  Soli Deo Gloria.
 

---

The online outreach team continues to have people joining in.  On Tuesday we even had a guy join us all the way from the Philippines - the wonders of technology!  We started with explaining how we share the gospel (pictured), and then, after we prayed together, I did an Omegle demo to everyone in the team.

The team then split up, and I stayed with the newbie - I would have video chats via Omegle, while he watched and prayed.

The first was with a guy who believed he was a good person, so I took him through the law, and I could see he was deeply challenged.  I was very encouraged by this, but I wasn’t surprised when he disconnected before he could hear the gospel.  May he not be able to forget what was said, may it bother him, may the Lord bring a conviction of sin, and may he have an opportunity to hear the gospel!

I then moved into a conversation with a young man who didn’t want to talk, but type responses instead.  He heard the law and the gospel and was very open to it.  It seems he was already a Christian, but was just lacking some clarity on the gospel and surrounding concepts.  He eventually ditched the typing and started talking to me directly.  He seemed genuinely appreciative for the conversation.

I finally had a long video conversation with another young Christian guy who also received clarity on the gospel, but then started asking a string of good questions which I did my best to answer.

It was a very encouraging afternoon of outreach!

Earlier in the day I had a weird text chat with someone who wanted to see me nude! :O

You: Last Q, 3) have you ever murdered someone?
Stranger: No
You: I'm glad,
Stranger: Do you send nudes
You: needGod.net - in case you bolt, but Jesus said, anger is like murder in the heart, and lust is like adultery, so, no, I don't send nudes - I don't think you would want to see them anyway!
You: There is good news, but
Stranger: I mean I would like to see them
You: I don't send nudes, but, if you died today, and faced God, and he judged you by perfection, would you be innocent or guilty?
Stranger: Idk
Stranger has disconnected.

On Wednesday I also had some interesting text chats.  The first was with someone who bailed as soon as I mentioned God:

You: ok, here is the point: anger is like murder in your heart.
You: to God.
Stranger: I thought u were religious
Stranger has disconnected.

But I then had a long conversation with someone with a Christian background, but didn’t understand the gospel.  They were very postmodern (can’t know things to be true; whatever you believe is true), so I worked to address this:

You: ok, I won't labour the point. But, If I wanted reality to be that 1+1=3.... well, I can believe that, but it will have dire consequences when I do my taxes :)
Stranger: tru tru
You: Let me change tack, where did the universe come from?

I then was able to share the law, and it seemed to strike true:

You: last one :) 3) Have you ever murdered a human.
Stranger: nah
Stranger: have i wanted to before? hell yeh
You: You've hit the nail on the head.
You: Because
Stranger: becauseeee?
You: Jesus said, anger is like murder in the heart to God (I'm paraphrasing)

They kinda understood the gospel, but misunderstood some related concepts:

Stranger: repent
You: What does repent mean?
Stranger: pray, and forgive yourself of your crimes

Wrong answer!

So I was able to clearly explain the wonder of the gospel, and the resulting change that would occur.  I’m confident they understood, but they became resistant, and started to be illogical to get around it.  Their shields went up.  I tried to fight it for a bit, but then resigned myself.  Here is how it ended:

You: we don't make the rules tho.
Stranger: ik
You: And nonexistence is not just.
You: God is good, and must give justice.
You: But he is also merciful, and has paid the fine.
You: If you TRUST that Jesus paid your fine.
You: But most reject the gift, cos they know they will change if they do. And they want to live their life their way, not Gods.
You: It's a paradox
You: A gift, that will cost you
You: That sounds like a contradiction, but it's not.
Stranger: yeah but im not gonna change, i got no reason to lol
You: You have every reason to: there is justice.
Stranger: i dont need justice
You: It's not you deciding.
Stranger: true but i believe in myself so it doesnt matter
You: You are fooling yourself, we have already covered this.
You: It's like saying
Stranger: yessir i know
You: I don't believe in trucks
You: And then cross the road in front of a truck.
You: This is the hardest things about what I do.
Stranger: ha id do something that stupid
You: I talk to people who know what I'm saying. They know, and they reject it.
You: I'm helpless, I can't change you. Only God can.
You: :)
You: So what is my job?
You: To tell you the truth, and share the good news.
Stranger: im sorry but i have my own beliefs and trust in myself and i know everything about the bible and what it means i just dont think about what will happen in the future, i go with the flow no matter what
You: ok
Stranger: i should go now, its late and im tired so it was wonderful talking to you mr. stranger have a good time and stay believing in what you do
You: needGod.net
You: is a summary of what I want to share with ya :)
Stranger: ill look it up
You: God bless ya, thanks for your time :)
Stranger: God bless you too and ofc :)
Stranger has disconnected.

I ended my day with a wonderful conversation with a young man in the US.  A Christian, who I wanted to check he understood the gospel, and as I was taking him through the law, he said, “I’m familiar with Ray Comfort”.  I still spent some time discussing the gospel with him, and then we settled into a chat where we compared notes on our walk with the Lord.  Up until recently he wasn’t right with God, but he had made some drastic changes in his life to change that and has a desire to grow in the Lord.  He showed me some of the Bibles he was reading.  We even connected on Facebook.

A great way to finish.  Thank you for your continued prayer and support of the Operation 513 team - we really appreciate it.

PS, yes I shaved!

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