Myer

I now work at Myer Frankston, the major department store in my town, Frankston. There are interesting people at work. Like, most of the population, most of my colleagues are unbelievers. There are some who believe though. There is a Greek orthodox Christian guy who goes out with a Catholic Australian girl of Malaysian Chinese origin.

In my department, there’s this 17 year old blond kid who told me his mom had him when she was 16. I’m not sure if his parents are married. He told me about how he broke up with his last girlfriend. He asked her out after meeting her once. He told me about how for people his age, a four month relationship is a pretty long one. He’s a nice enough lad. He let me swap shifts with him so I could go for life group and church. I’m not sure how I can reach him, all I know is he needs Jesus.

I’ll tell you a secret. I’m afraid. I’m uneasy about evangelizing to people at work. I’ve conquered the fear of evangelizing to friends but I have not overcome the fear of evangelizing to colleagues or strangers. But yesterday I invited blondie to church for Christmas service. As per usual, a non-committal response typifies our generation. He may have family plans so its justified. I’ve done my bit, now its up to God to bring him to church.

There’s this other guy. He’s 23 like me. He’s worked at the home entertainment department for 2 years now. He’s a nice guy, teaching us how all the processes work. In Myer, I’m the only non-Australian around. There are 2 Chinese Australians and 1 Sri Lankan Australian so you can see how I would stick out. Anyways, yesterday this guy, lets call him spiky, told me he enjoys Christmas because his girlfriend buys him lots of gifts. I asked him if his girlfriend has a lot of money and he said, ‘Of course she does. She’s a stripper’. To say I was unprepared for that was an understatement but I kept my composure and said ‘oh, OK’ in as casual a manner as I could. I lack the boldness to evangelize to him. I echo Paul as I pray.

19Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. (Ephesians 6)

Witnessing in November

This post was meant to come out in November but I was too busy to write it and post it. Here is a short report about my exploits.


1. I live with this Indian Australian bloke who taught me to watch cricket.

One Thrusday he asked me what happened at CCM the week before. I had the privilege of explaining what I knew about the history of Israel, God’s people, how three religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam all branched out of father Abraham. I guess you don’t always have to talk about Jesus like a broken record all the time. Occasionally, mixing it up and talking about Israel is good. Who know? God could use the history of His people to lead someone to salvation. We just don’t know, we are just called to proclaim.


2. One Sunday night, I was on a train home and some dark skinned guys (the kind of guys your mom would ask you to stay away from) asked me for some change. I said I had none. As I walked away, I paused because I realized I had some in my bag. Then I remembered what I told God I wanted to do. To give away tracts to people who asked for money.

As I paused, another one of those guys, like a vulture sniffing out rotting flesh, swooped on me. Before I could count my money he was upon me. I asked him how much he needed and what he needed it for. He said he needed 3 dollars for some food because they missed the last train and had to spend the night at the station. I said OK and said, ‘but you have to take this as well. Take it and have a read’. Its not like they are in a position to say no. God only knows what happened in their hearts, whether they read the tract or threw it into the bin. But I rejoice because I was faithful and obedient to the call of God.


3.I got hired by Myer so I had to go for my induction session which was all the way in the city because there weren’t that many Christmas casuals at Frankston so I had to join the city induction session. There were mostly Australians.

There were a couple of Australian Chinese and there was this huge, hulking guy next to me who looked like The Great Khali.

I found out he was from Bangladesh. He was a gentle giant, speaking kindly and courteously. His name was Hasham. God presented an opportunity to talk about religion and I dived in. H was interested and open to know what Christians think. He spoke reverently about Jesus, talking about Him with an admiration one would think a Muslim would reserve for Muhammad. He even told me something I never knew before, that Muslims believe that Jesus, not Muhammad would return as judge on judgment day. How cool is that? But I knew I had to get to the point. To let him know that however wonderful he thinks Jesus is, its not enough. He has to call Him Lord. So I used my opening gambit, the ‘did you know that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God?’ which he heard before and countered with ‘but nowhere in the Bible is it written that Jesus explicitly said ‘I am the son of God’ ‘. I wasn’t armed with a Bible but I knew there would be plenty of conversations where its apparent that Jesus is referring to himself as the unique son of God. Quite a few in John, I think. But the Spirit quickened me to the passage where Jesus calmed the storm.

After he did that, the disciples worshipped him. I told H that in the Bible, no character would ever accept worship from another person. Even angels ask people to stop worshipping them for it is a sin. The only instance of a guy accepting worship that I know of is in Acts where Herod acknowledges the worship of people calling him god. Immediately, the angel of the Lord struck him dead and worms proceed to eat his corpse. How incredibly gory and awesome is that? I don’t know if H will be saved. I think there is a chance as he is open. I will probably never see him again but I am confident that I played my role in his journey and I praise God for using me and making me obedient to His call.

My Favourite Book of the Year 2009

I try to read as much as I can. I wouldn't call myself a voracious reader but I think reading is essential to life. The book I read the most every year is the Bible so it is excluded from contention. Most of the books I read are Christian literature. This year, my favourite has been a book I've only bought recently.

SPURGEON GOLD
compiled by Ray Comfort



This is a book of quotes by one of the finest preachers ever to walk this earth. Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Known as the Prince of Preachers. He was a British minister who lived in the 1800s.

In this book, Ray Comfort compiles nuggets of Spurgeon's wisdom specifically about evangelism. It is some of the most inspirational words I have ever read. When I lack zeal, I read this book and it fires me up.

Its almost like a book of quotes. I used to read CS Lewis quotes a lot. They would be packed with reason, wisdom and insight. Spurgeon's are packed with passion, zeal and inspiration. Any person serious about winning people to Christ has to read this book.