Hi Everyone

Present today: Peck, Di, Mike, Maree, Helen & June. Pastor Jarryd, Simeon & Bruce met us at the shops.

I opened with Psalm 145, which reveals God’s greatness, His mercy, and our protection:

I will extol You, my God, O King;
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
And His greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty,
And on Your wondrous works.
Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts,
And I will declare Your greatness.
They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness,
And shall sing of Your righteousness.

The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,
Slow to anger and great in mercy.
The Lord is good to all,
And His tender mercies are over all His works.

All Your works shall praise You, O Lord,
And Your saints shall bless You.
They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom,
And talk of Your power,
To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts,
And the glorious majesty of His kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

The Lord upholds all who fall,
And raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look expectantly to You,
And You give them their food in due season.
You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

The Lord is righteous in all His ways,
Gracious in all His works.
The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and save them.
The Lord preserves all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.
My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord,
And all flesh shall bless His holy name
Forever and ever.

We prayed, and thanked God for all He has done for us in Christ. We prayed for protection, and also a boldness to share the truth, in love.

It was quite a nice day down at the shops, with plenty of people to keep us busy!

Many took tracts off me, and at the start it was difficult to get anyone to stop and talk.

It took a while to hook a fish, but at least they were now biting!

Barry – this guy was sitting waiting for his coffee from the cart. He laughed at me when I asked about the afterlife, saying that there was nothing I could do or say that could convince him that there was a God. He was right, they are only just my words, and it would take God to illuminate his soul. I gave him the building/builder analogy and he agreed nothing can make itself. I said I agreed, and the same would apply to the universe. I asked him what would happen if I walked into his house and started to mess about with his stuff, rip of his wallpaper, throw away his pictures? He said he would throw me out. I agreed – his house, his rules. So we know that the universe maker should also have rules about how we live in His universe – His universe, His rules. He lost it there, saying that there was no comparison, and that I was just trying to push religion on him. Trying to keep his attention, I asked him about justice. He believed in it. So what about the universe makers justice? He was getting a bit annoyed with me, and took the chance to pick up his coffee order to get away from me. I shook his hand and thanked him for the chat. He wouldn’t take a tract off me.

I was watching Mike work the Good Person Test chart when out the corner of my eye I noticed a guy sitting eating his lunch, listening in as well. He said his name was Tevita, and he was visiting from Sydney. He told me he was a Christian. I asked him what would he say to God if he asked him why he should not throw him into hell. He said because he believes in Jesus. I asked him “Doesn’t Satan believe in Jesus?”. He said yes but you need to accept Him into your heart. I get a bit wary of this Christianese. It doesn’t automatically mean they are not saved, but it does cast a bit of doubt. So I asked him what he would say to God when He asked him why He should let him into heaven. Again he said because he believes in Jesus and has a relationship with Him. So I decided to start from scratch with him, going through the law. He was as guilty as all of us are, and he knew it. I asked what he deserved, and he said hell. I asked him how he could avoid his hell punishment. He said through Jesus. It was frustrating trying to get him to join the dots. So I showed him the needgod pictures from their Gospel of John, and it finally clicked into place. He said yes, he knew that already. I remembered that I used to be like that – a solid Christian, yet unable to articulate it properly why. It didn’t mean I was lost, it was the words that were lost. Tevita said he had to go and find his mother, as he had to take her to the airport back to Sydney. I gave him some tracts to take with him, shook hands, and parted ways.

At the kids play area I came across Julio. This was a great chat, but he was constantly being distracted by his son who wanted him to play with him. He thought he was going to heaven, but after going through the law realised that wasn’t the case. His smile dropped suddenly. He asked if that was the case, wouldn’t everyone go to hell? I said yes, we all deserved to go to hell, but there was a way to avoid it. He asked how, and because I thought he would run off after his son, I gave him the Gospel directly. His son was pulling on his arm, but he ignored him and listened intently. Afterwards he said that it made so much sense. He said he would seriously consider what I was saying, and took a couple of tracts with him.

My last conversation was one of the saddest I have had since I can remember. For privacy purposes, I’ll call this guy ‘R’. He was pushing his bike through the mall area, so I called him over and asked him to sit down for a chat. He was keen to talk. I asked him about the afterlife, and he said he thought about it all the time. He said that there couldn’t be a God, because of all the nasty things that went on in the world. I asked him why that would possibly disprove God, and he came back saying if He was a God of love, he would stop it happening. I asked when people do bad things to each other, is that God’s fault or the person’s? He said the persons, but why would God let it happen. I asked R why should God be good to him? He said He should be nice to everyone because that is his character. So I went through the law with R, and he confessed to being a liar, thief, a blasphemer, and didn’t love his neighbour. Did that sound like a good person? He said probably not. So why should God be good to you when you’ve broken most of his laws? He agreed with what I was saying. Then R said something very personal about some abuse that took place when he was a toddler. It was horrifying to hear. And this was the driving motivation behind his view of God: “How could He proclaim to be a loving God, and let that happen?” My heart sank for him for what he had endured. But at the same time I couldn’t just let him off the hook because He still had to face God’s wrath against him. I couldn’t turn back the clock for him, but I could offer him some eternal hope and reconciliation. I had to choose my words carefully, though, as he could take exception to my words and walk away. I still needed to hold him to the Gospel. I went down the path of evil – comparing how we see evil vs how the Creator sees it – the fact that we have broken every law that God has given us, and just like those who commit atrocities, we have also committed atrocities against God. This attracts a punishment, which He will pour out on judgement day. Then I told him the good news – how God offers to commute our death sentence by taking it on Himself. R said he knew all that – but wasn’t willing to humble himself and his bitterness towards God. He had to go, even though he wanted to stay and talk. We hugged, and when we separated, I just held onto his arms and implored him not to throw away his eternity just because he couldn’t believe in an ‘unjust’ God. He will still have to give an account to him on judgement day regardless. He said he would consider it, and I pray he does.

So it turned out to be an awesome day today, and God definitely received all the glory. His tender mercies are available as a free gift to anyone who is willing to humble themselves and receive.

Blessings,

Craig.