During His ministry on earth, Jesus Christ asked His disciples as to who the people thought He was. Now, it wasn’t that He didn’t know what the people were thinking or saying about Him, but He used this to challenge the disciples with His next question, “Who do you say I am?” To all who have heard the gospel of Christ, the same question applies today. Continue reading “Who do you say I am?”
Deep sadness in their lives
From the street, the home and property looked interesting. The garden was slightly over grown, the weather-board house looked to be in need of painting and maintenance in comparison to the one attached to it and I could see numerous bird cages in the closed-in veranda. The front door was open so I opened the gate, walked up the path and knocked. Continue reading “Deep sadness in their lives”
No time for your Jesus or your Bible
I spent a very interesting hour with Scott, a New Zealander in his late twenties who at one time was caught up in the teachings of a well known cult. He didn’t actually join this cult, but in his time of searching for reality he’d spent many years reading books and listening to tapes, studying their beliefs. He had since stopped doing this, but he told me that their influences continued to be heavy upon him even after going through some extensive de-programming. Continue reading “No time for your Jesus or your Bible”
I’ve got a lot of guilt you know
He introduced himself as Jack Brown when he answered my knock at his door. He was a tall old gentleman with bright eyes and a sharp mind and quick to tell me he was in his 80’s. After introducing myself and explaining that I represented one of the local churches he seemed pleased that someone would stop by for a chat. He was a very interesting man, telling me he was an historian who had written numerous books and was still active in research, catching the train at least once a week to go into Melbourne City Library. Continue reading “I’ve got a lot of guilt you know”
Different Gospel responses from all kinds of people
Many people I met with were more than aware of their lack of knowledge of God and as such were embarrassed. Others felt guilty. For a lot of them the embarrassment and guilt set in when their children and grandchildren began to ask them questions about where they (the children) came from, how they were born, the creation of animals, flowers and the stars etc. Continue reading “Different Gospel responses from all kinds of people”
He said he’d missed death by inches many times in his life
One mid-afternoon I walked by the home of a smiling old man standing in his front door entrance. I stopped and introduced myself and informed him I was from the local church around the corner. He looked pleased when told of this and he asked me if I could come back late afternoon to talk. Whenever someone asks me to do that, I know without a doubt that God has His hand on that person and He is going to reveal Himself if that should be his or her desire. Continue reading “He said he’d missed death by inches many times in his life”
Guilt, Confusion, Fear, Anger……..
As a messenger of the gospel of Jesus Christ working in one of Melbourne’s middle-class suburbs, I learned to discern very quickly the plight of so many individual people. Guilt, fear, confusion, worry, anger, anxiety, hurts, bitterness etc – if these were not verbally expressed, then they’d be written on their faces and if not on their faces it would show up in their eyes. I tried to make no judgements about this however, because many of these emotions are what motivated me for 39 years also. But when I met the Lord Jesus Christ He began to release me from them. Continue reading “Guilt, Confusion, Fear, Anger……..”
You’ll think I’m mad, everybody else does!
With her approval, I shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with Jean at her doorstep, I prayed for her, gave her my phone number and then said that when she felt the need for God’s help, to then pray to God the Father in Jesus’ name and ask Him for help. She thanked me and said she would do so. Continue reading “You’ll think I’m mad, everybody else does!”
Not always smooth sailing out there
Being a street minister for the gospel of Jesus Christ is not easy work. In four or five hours of any one day I would meet a variety of people and I never knew what to expect from any one them. Some were warm and welcoming to Christ’s gospel message, others were indifferent to it and still others were downright antagonistic towards the message.
In his experience it was too political
He introduced himself as Jim when he answered my ring on his doorbell. I explained that I was in his street today representing my local church, offering prayer for any personal or family needs. Jim, perhaps in his mid-fifties, was surprised, telling me his local church didn’t do this and wondered why mine did. I explained that we believed it was part of our calling, based on the command of the Lord Jesus Christ, who told the church to go and tell others what Christ had done for them. He nodded his head.