Hi Everyone

Present today: Josh, Meli, Michael, Mike, Di, June, Helen, Royce. Maree and Frances met us down at the shops. A big team today – some here to help distribute fliers for our holiday program.

I opened with the call of Isaiah:

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

The whole earth is full of His glory!”

And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.

So I said:

“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The Lord of hosts.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said:

“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged.”

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:

“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”

Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

And He said, “Go, and tell this people:

‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

“Make the heart of this people dull,
And their ears heavy,
And shut their eyes;
Lest they see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart,
And return and be healed.”

Then I said, “Lord, how long?”

And He answered:

“Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant,
The houses are without a man,
The land is utterly desolate,
The Lord has removed men far away,
And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
But yet a tenth will be in it,
And will return and be for consuming,
As a terebinth tree or as an oak,
Whose stump remains when it is cut down.
So the holy seed shall be its stump.” (Is 6:1-13).

We talked about how we can think we are not equipped for evangelism because we are sinners too. There is a whole world out there rushing to go to hell, and we feel inadequate to tell them how to get to heaven. But God has washed us clean – and purified our lips, given us the message of life. Some may listen and repent, some may listen and ignore, or never listen at all and suffer the consequences. Our job is to plant and water the seed. God’s job is to bring the increase.

We prayed for courage to tell the truth, and that all who listen will respond in repentance. We also prayed for a good response to the holiday program fliers.

Some chose to do a letterbox drop for the fliers. A few of us chose to go to our usual fishing hole down at the centre. It was pretty quiet down there, the Wellington spring weather was being changeable as usual. The number of vendors was low again too. Maybe the weather was putting them off as well.

The million dollar tracts were getting gobbled up as usual, but was having trouble engaging with anyone, also as usual.

I spotted 2 Maori guys sitting, eating their hangi (food cooked the traditional Maori way, in the ground). When I say eating, I mean they were actually trying to inhale it as if it was their last meal. I thought to myself that they weren’t going anywhere in a hurry, so engaged them. They thought they would go to heaven, but learnt that they would actually go to hell. They were really humble as I managed to go through the law and Gospel with them. They understood the consequences if they rejected Jesus paying for their hell punishment. They said they would give it some serious consideration. They were quite contrite, so I can only leave them in God’s hands.

Outside the Dollar Shop I stopped a couple of ladies named Cheryl and Wendy. They were open to talk about the afterlife, but were staunch in their good works getting them to heaven. I asked them how good they needed to be – when do the scales tip in their favour? They said only God knows. I told them exactly what God knows, what we know, and the consequences if we think anything we do can earn our way to heaven. They thanked me for explaining, non-committing to anything, apart from trusting their good works. They left with a couple of tracts each, so it is up to God to change their hearts.

Around by the roast shop I bumped into Errol again. I have had a few chats with Errol over my time coming down here. It is usually a struggle to keep him steering the conversation down the rabbit trail of conspiracy theory. Today was no exception, with all the latest goings on in the USA front and centre. I gritted my teeth and asked him again if he has given any more thought about the afterlife – and he immediately took the conversation down the rabbit hole of unfaithful Catholic priests. I sighed, left him a different tract to read, and we said our goodbyes.

So it was a good day out again, and we always give God the glory regardless of how any Gospel chats we have!

Blessings

Craig.