The Need To Get Your Heart Broken

Its funny. I just wrote another post about a broken heart for my other blog. But that was a more worldly and carnal post. Right now, I’m talking about witnessing to our friends. I was witnessing to a friend who I’ve been trying to reach all year. Her heart is cold as stone and she’s pissed off with God who she doesn’t believe in because her greatest sin is ‘not believing in Jesus’. I think I made a big mistake by trying to explain things to her in a certain way, it just made things more confusing. Well, I’ve tried so many ways so I just kept trying different ways to explain things. Maybe I’m not in tune with the Holy Spirit enough. Maybe my prayer life sucks. I don’t know. I just try my best.

What was good was that she finally revealed her ‘secret blog’ to me and I read what she really thought about God. It was a no holes barred, full-on catharsis. Quite frankly, it was heartbreaking. I guess its just a small glimpse of what prophets like Jeremiah felt as they mourned the unbelief of their hearers. The danger is that it would drive some Christians to discouragement and inactivity because they lose hope and think their actions are futile. Instead, what we should feel is deep compassion and concern about the doom that people are facing.

It may sound simplistic but the greatest tragedy is dying without Jesus. Many of your friends, hundreds of people you know are heading that way. Do you care enough to at least warn them?

Sharing with Friends

Sharing your faith with friends isn’t something that is so difficult that it is untenable. Think about it. You recommend good places to eat to your friends all the time. You recommend good movies to your mates all the time. Is it really so hard? In a sense it is, but in a sense, its not. One of the main deterrents is probably the fear of man. Fear that others would think you are weird. But that is pride. That is like saying that the work that was done by the apostles and Jesus himself is beneath us. It is like saying the work of evangelism is not worthy of our time.

Another main deterrent that is equally horrible is apathy. Ray Comfort calls it ‘depraved indifference’. As Charles Spurgeon once put it, God save us from living in comfort while sinners are sinking into Hell! Our compassion for others should overwhelm our apathy and pride so that witnessing becomes something we do on a constant basis! Not once in a blue moon! If we pray, sing, read and do church regularly, why do we not witness regularly?

I have set myself the goal of witnessing to as many friends and acquaintances as possible in Frankston by the end of the year. I had to start in my own home. I have two housemates who are open to listening about Jesus but yet to receive him. I ‘reasoned with them about righteousness and self-control and the coming day of judgment (Acts 24:25)’ but as of yet there is no fruit. Hope springs eternal. I just found out an acquaintance of mine listens to indie music. Maybe that can be a springboard to a witnessing opportunity.

Your Grace Is Enough

You know, its hard being a soldier of Christ. Its hard to proclaim the Law to people. Its hard to proclaim Christ to people. The task being as hard as it is we face opposition from many other sources. One of them is feelings of inadequacy. We feel as if we don't know enough. OR we feel as if we're not holy enough to tell people. Yes, these feelings are common to me. Especially when I fail God i.e. sin. But really, we're just a drowning man telling another drowning man that there is a lifeboat. The main problem is convincing the drowning man that he actually is drowning.

Today I want to celebrate the song (and accompanying passage of Scripture) that lifts my spirits whenever I feel inadequate.

Your Grace Is Enough is written by Matt Maher and popularized by Chris Tomlin. It is the FIRST song to reach 100 plays on my iTunes! Yeah! Its true. I often need God to lift me up and remind me that despite my failings his grace is sufficient for me.

Great is Your faithfulness oh God
You wrestle with the sinner's restless heart
You lead us by still waters and to mercy
And nothing can keep us apart

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me

Great is Your love and justice God of Jacob
You use the weak to lead the strong
You lead us in the song of Your salvation
And all Your people sing along

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me (x2)

remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me

Your grace is enough
Heaven reaches out to us
Your grace is enough for me
God i see your grace is enough
I'm covered in your love
Your grace is enough for me
For me
For me

2 Corinthians 12

⁷To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Lord help me boast in my weaknesses for I want Christ's power to rest in me.


I am so poor right now but I will not be ashamed of my poverty. I will boast in it for it forces me to rely on God and God's power will rest on me!

Conversations with Buddhists

God blessed me yesterday with an opportunity to witness. I've been challenging myself to witness weekly and as long as I've been writing this blog, by God's grace it is working so far.

The key is really to make time for it in your schedule and turn any openings you find in conversations with people towards God.

Yesterday I was in a car with a Buddhist friend of mine who comes for life group but is reluctant to stay during discussion. So she comes for life group but never hears the gospel preached.

From my experience, one important facet of sharing the gospel to Buddhists, Muslims or people from other faiths is to first ask them about their faith and be genuinely interested in their faith.

Which is exactly what I did last night. When the time came my friend was fully ready to hear what I had to share about the work and person of Jesus Christ. I brought up the Lewis' Trilemma argument. I didn't have time to go further but I believe I did it right last night with the opportunity that presented itself. Praise God.

Buddhists can be really nice and moral people. But let us not fall into the trap of admiring their morality lest we forget that they are still sinners.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

Let us remember that all have sinned and all sin is despicable to a holy and righteous God.

Who is Jesus Christ?

We just had campus evax(evangelism) today. Promoting the Alpha course for CCM, Sam, Hannah and myself went forth into battle while other soldiers were sidelined by class, placement or assignments. I don't condemn them one iota as it is a Christian's duty to attend class and do well. I was inspired by this interviewer who went around asking people "Who is Jesus Christ?" and taping their response. I decided that this could be a good conversation starter as we handed out fliers.

Its always better to have a plan or system when you do public evangelism unless you are a seasoned veteran which none of us are. So this is the plan of attack that I taught the troops.

Stephen/CCM Member: Hey, how you going?

Stranger: Not too bad.

Step/CCM: We were just doing a simple survey around campus asking for students' opinion on a matter. Can I ask for your opinion?

Stranger: Sure

Step/CCM: Who is Jesus Christ?

Stranger: Some religious dude.

Step/CCM: I think that is the most important question that everyone has to answer. Who is Jesus Christ to them. Would you be interested in finding out more about him?

Stranger: Not really

Step/CCM: Well, I'm from a club on campus called CCM and we're doing this course to help understand more about Jesus and the Christian faith. If you ever feel like finding out more, we meet near uni. Here's a flier.

Stranger: Cheers

Step/CCM: Have a good day.


After a few role plays we were good to go! Our work today didn't bring any obvious results but our confidence is in Christ. We only obey his command.

Alms for the Poor

An issue that sparks some debate among people. When a beggar comes to you and asks for money, do you give? The argument for not giving is that they will never learn how to find a job, they will use the money for drugs, alcohol, etc...

The argument for giving is that God only commands us to love people and be kind to the poor (as opposed to overanalysing every moral action we take). What the poor actually do with the money is between them and God. Just like in Les Miserables where Bishop Myriel actually protects Jean Valjean, the man who just robbed him of his silverware, from the authorities. (Actually, that doesn't apply to this scenario. But its a cool story.)

An idea came to me awhile ago but I haven't actually put it into action. The idea is: whenever people ask me for change, I would first give them a tract, ask them to read it and then give them the money.

Hopefully their consciences would lead them to read the tract and God would use the tract to speak to them.

I just stuffed two of the Navigators' 'Bridge' tracts into my wallet. Lets see how we go.

Soldiering On

Nothing very interesting to report. In the time I haven't blogged I have witnessed to a bunch of different people in different ways.

• I spent an afternoon with a strong atheist friend having a constructive argument (debate?) with him about the validity of Christ's claims to be God and defending Christianity's relevance.
• I failed to share Christ much with my friend's mom but I suspect others already have. I didn't feel led to share with her at length, strangely enough. I may have missed the Spirit's leading. I won't know. I ended up giving her a tract my good ol' dad wrote as I drove her to the airport.
• I continued witnessing to a friend I have been witnessing to all through the year. Defences still strong. The apathy of this person humbles me. It reduces my best arguments to dust. Yet I am confident that whenever Christ is preached, God can use the words I've spoken. His word will not return void.

Have you witnessed this week?