Operation 513 London: Leicester Square & Tooting Broadway (13th-14th June)

Having met up with Antonio on Friday evening at Tooting Broadway, Phil and I hopped on the tube and headed to Leicester Square. (Antonio stayed behind to hand out tracts to all those coming in and out of the tube station.) We arrived at 8.30pm and immediately met up with Andrew and Virgil. We opened in prayer and spent a short while handing out tracts and talking with people. After about twenty minutes or so I stood up to preach.

At first only a handful of people stopped to listen. People came and went but then after about fifteen minutes or so a young man by the name of Chris stopped to heckle me. In return I started heckling him (well, not really, I simply engaged in open debate) and in about five minutes the crowd grew from about ten people to about thirty people. Oh the drawing power of a good heckler! Chris openly professed to be a good person (Proverbs 20:6) and so I took him through the law of God and showed him that just like the rest of us he has fallen short of the glory of God. I reiterated to the crowd the predicament we all in and that we all desperately need a Saviour. This allowed me to expound on the amazing grace of God, fulfilled with the coming of His Son Jesus Christ, who substituted Himself in our place so that we could go free.

At one point a Muslim man began asking me questions about prayer, particularly whether or not God answers our prayers. I told him that there are three responses to our prayer requests: yes, no, or not yet. He had a book on prayer, presumably a Muslim book. He came right up to me and asked me to read a section from it to the crowd. He was quite insistent and at one point I felt rather intimidated. I took stock of the situation and gathered my thoughts as to how I should deal with it. The Lord very graciously helped me to think quickly. I turned to the man and, holding my Bible in my hand, said, “Sir, I am not here to promote that book, I am here to promote this book. If you wish to promote your book then get your own little stepladder and stand here next to me and promote it.” At this he went rather quiet and was at a loss as to how to respond. The crowd thought it was very funny and although it was not my intention to embarrass the man it did serve to remove him and endure the crowd to me even more. In open air preaching winning the crowd and keeping the crowd is your main task. Your ultimate objective is to preach the gospel so that the people may be won to the Lord. After I finished preaching I got talking with a Muslim man called Farrukh. He was not aggressive and so that made talking to him much easier. He was, however, loaded with some preposterous notions concerning Christianity and the Bible. He repeatedly attacked the Bible, saying it had been changed and was corrupt. This has become a very common objection that I seem to continually encounter. I will in later posts provide answers to these objections, evidence that shows the Bible is actually the most authentic book in all of antiquity and that it is not full of error at all. I was able to get Farrukh’s email address so I will be writing to him to show him the overwhelming evidence that supports the veracity of the Bible. The rest of the team had all been chatting with people and handing out tracts. Open air preaching is wonderful in that after the preacher has finished many one-to-one’s can take place. We left a little after 11:00pm. It had been a good night!

Saturday morning came around and once more we took the gospel to the people of Tooting. Andrew, Antonio and Barney, Phil and I made up the team. It was great to have Barney with us as he can’t always make it, however whenever he’s with us he certainly sets to work! After I had preached we all set to talking with people and handing out tracts. I spoke for a short while with a young man named Ian. He’d had a Christian background and certainly had a fair amount of knowledge concerning the Bible. One of the objections he put before me was that the Bible is in affect contradictory because it shows a very different God in the Old Testament compared with how God is presented in the New Testament. I explained to him that this is based very much on the two different covenants we see in the Bible. The Old Covenant, found in the Old Testament, is broken by God’s people, and so He makes a new covenant with His people (Jeremiah 31:31-34). “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). Ian was quite pleasant to talk to and he seemed willing to listen. He mentioned that he would like to talk some more so I took down his details and told him that I would send him some information to help him with his questions.

We all had a good afternoon talking with the people of Tooting. Barney, in particular, spoke with a number of people and very kindly wrote up a report of those conversations…

I spent 45 minutes talking to an atheist who openly rejoiced in his sin. Initially he was very confrontational, ridiculing Christianity and the Bible. I was forced by his approach to deal with a couple of individual issues he raised (e.g. Adam and Eve as real people), but I was then able to move him on to consider his own sinfulness before the Creator's law and the saving work of Christ. Towards the end he was much more open to considering the gospel, but still far from Christ and also, sadly, unwilling to meet again.

I spent a while talking to a Muslim student. She gave the standard Muslim objections to the Bible, which I quickly dealt with and then we used the law to discuss our sinfulness in God's sight and the sacrifice of Christ which deals with sin. She was particularly intrigued as I explained that the Old Testament prophets point to sacrifice as the answer to sin rather than good deeds, something Muslims know nothing of despite animal sacrifices during their festival of Eid. She has agreed to attend a church service with my wife and I, pray that she does.

I spent some time talking to a group of 6 Muslim teenagers. After talking about our failure to meet God's standards from the law, I explained that arguing from your good deeds on judgement day would not do any good and gave the example of a normal law court. They agreed that they were therefore likely to go hell but didn't seem worried as apparently they have been told hell will not be eternal, but rather will be like Catholic purgatory (i.e. paying for sin for a while then heaven afterwards). I will have to research this as no Muslim has given this as an objection to me before. Anyway, I explained that the Bible does teach hell as eternal punishment and (continuing the law court example) that Christ's sacrifice is the payment of our fine.

They were not convinced, but one gave me his email to follow up.

All in all, a great weekend of ministry.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Do You Know The Lord?

Here is a quote by Richard Lewontin, an American evolutionary biologist. His blatant admission is startling.

Are you the same as Richard Lewontin, or do you have open mind? Are you willing to examine the evidence? What are your presuppositions concerning the existence of God? Do you realise that there is nothing in science that rules out the supernatural? So, do you refuse to believe in God because you are confident that you are able to prove away His existence, or do you refuse to believe in God simply because to do so would be to admit that one day you will be held accountable to Him? It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). God will one day judge this world in righteousness (Psalm 9:8). On that day all those who have received Christ will be saved (Matthew 25:31-46).

The primary purpose of this blog is to equip and help Christians. However, if you do not know the Lord then I would plead with you to make sure that you have been reconciled to the God who made you. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31). If you know that you are still a slave to your sin, then turn and be reconciled to God. If you do not see yourself as a sinner then ask yourself these questions: Have you ever told a lie, stolen anything or used God’s name in a common, disrespectful way? If you have then in God’s eyes you are a liar, a thief and a blasphemer. We have all broken God's law and we all deserve to be punished. Yet because He is a God of love He has done the unthinkable. 2000 years ago He sent His Son Jesus to die on a cross for sinners, and today, if you would repent (turn from your sin) and put your trust in Him He would save you. Jesus Christ died in the place of sinners so that through turning from their sin and trusting in what He did they could be saved. You don't have to go to hell. The sacrifice He made for sinners is sufficient to save all who would believe, and so I urge you, today, turn from your sin and put your trust in Him. He is the only One who can save you. Turn to Him today.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

Operation 513 London: Leicester Square (6th June 2008)

This past Friday the team began its ministry by meeting together at Tooting Broadway. I arrived before Antonio and Phil and got talking with a young Latvian man named Alex. At times his command of English meant that I had to repeat things more than once, but this wasn't too much of a hindrance. I was able to share the whole counsel of God with him and I could see that he was of the right temperament in that he was willing to listen to what I had to tell him. He particularly liked the Ten Commandment coin tract I gave him. Please pray that the Lord will minister to him through the Word that was sown.

We arrived at Leicester Square a little past 8:30pm and were joined by Virgil. We were few in numbers, which was a little unusual, but we were still looking forward to being used of the Lord for His glory. We were blessed in that there was an opening for us to set up in a spot that I particularly like, namely against the railing opposite the Empire Theatre. We were not centre but rather over to the left, a good distance from the artists who are stationed in front of the railing. Even so, an artist to our immediate right came up to us protesting that if we preached it would rob her of her business. While it is not my intention to infringe upon a person who is working a business, this particular person was most unreasonable. We were a good distance from where she was sitting. It seems to be an ongoing issue that we face each week and I am not sure what we are going to face each week. Please pray for us that the Lord would continue to keep the door open for us to preach at Leicester Square.After we prayed we went up speaking with people and handing out tracts. We met with a wonderful couple from Texas who are Christians. They were very supportive when we told them what we were in Leicester Square to do and so they decided to hang around while I ministered the Word. After a little while I stood up to preach. I drew a few hecklers, which caused a small crowd to form. My hecklers were Muslims, and even though they are a challenge in terms of their many objections and the aggressiveness of their approach, they do serve to bring in a crowd. After a little while my small crowd moved on and even though there were only a small few who were now listening I continued to preach. After a little while a new crowd formed and I was most grateful to the Lord for this. I had considered stopping but was glad that I had not.


After I finished preaching we all got to talking with people who had been listening. Even our new friends from Texas were getting involved! I got talking John and Rachel who, although they were together, were quite different in the beliefs. John seemed to be saying that he did not believe in God, even though he could not categorically say that there was no God. Rachel seemed far more open. At one point the conversation turned to evolution. I explained to Rachel that one of the major problems with evolution is the lack of transitional forms found in the fossil record that serves to support the notion that various species of animals have evolved from one form into another. An article on the subject can be found here. Rachel found this piece of information quite interesting and I pray that God will use it to cause her to question things further. After using various apologetics I was able to share the gospel more easily. Leaving them with both an in-depth gospel tract I thanked them for their time. Please pray for them both.

I turned to see both Phil and Virgil in conversation. Virgil was chatting with a young couple, and I found out later that the young man he had spoken with claimed that at one point he was a Christian but felt that he had now lost his salvation because he had so drifted. Virgil rightly explained to him that a true Christian, someone who has truly repented and trusted in Jesus, cannot lose their salvation, since when they become a Christian they become a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come. He reiterated the gospel to them both and left them with tracts and his details. Virgil correctly pointed out to this young man that the proof of anyone’s conversion is the fruit of repentance in their life. A true Christian continues to live repentant for the rest of his or her life. You may want to view the following video that speaks of the perseverance of the saints. Our perseverance does not secure our salvation. God secures our perseverance.

Before we left to go home I got to speak with a few more people. One in particular was a young man named Alex was is only 15. I was happy to see that he understood the gospel and what he needed to do to be made right with God after I had finished sharing the gospel with him. I also got to share the gospel with three young men from Georgia. They had grown up in the Eastern Orthodox Church and after I had spoken with for a short while they had a works-righteous mindset. I stressed to them that we are justified by faith in Christ (Romans 1:17), and that faith is proved real by the deeds that we do (Acts 26:20). There was a small language barrier and so it is my hope that I was able to communicate to them clearly that they must turn from their own self-righteousness and trust purely in the atoning work of Christ. We left about 11:15pm.

We were not out Saturday because my Mum was down for the weekend. Friday evening had been a good night. May the Lord grant repentance and faith to all those who heard the Word.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Answering Muslim Objections

Very often when I am out evangelising I am approached by Muslims. There are a number of objections that they fire at me, particularly when I preach open air. There is one in particular that I would like to address, namely, that nowhere in the New Testament does Jesus instruct people to worship Him. If He is God then why did He not command people to worship Him? While it is true that we do not find Jesus saying words to the effect of, “Worship Me,” we do see Jesus receiving worship from a number of people. We will see that He never rebuked them for worshiping Him, quite unlike the angel who rebuked the apostle John in the book of Revelation. (Revelation 19:10)

I believe this question can be easily answered. Firstly, all through the gospels we see Jesus showing us that He is in fact God. Allow me to show overwhelming support for this.

1) God is omniscient:

God knows all things. He knows the hearts and thoughts of men. He knows the past and the future. He knows the number of grains of sand, and the number of the stars. There is nothing He does not know.

Christ is omniscient:

“But Jesus did not commit himself to them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.” (John 2:24, 25)
He knew the whereabouts of Nathaniel: “Nathaniel said to him, ‘Where do you know me from?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’” (John 1:48)
He knew the plot of Judas: “Jesus answered them, ‘Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?’ He spoke of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon.” (John 6:70, 71)
He knew the heart of the Pharisees: “And Jesus knew their thoughts.” (Matthew 12:25) “But when Jesus perceived their thoughts.” (Luke 5:22) “But he knew their thoughts.” (Luke 6:8)
He knew the history of the Samaritan woman. (John 4:16–29)

2) God forgives sin:

Only God can forgive sin, because all sin is against a holy God. No man can truly forgive sin. “Who can forgive sins but God only?” (Mark 2:7)

Christ forgives sin:

“When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, your sins be forgiven you.” (Mark 2:5)
“And he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’” (Luke 7:48)

3) God creates:

Only God can truly create. To form something from nothing takes an act of God. Man can refashion or reform something that already exists, but only God can create.

Christ creates:

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.” (Colossians 1:16)
“All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1:3)

4) God saves:

“Salvation belongs unto the LORD.” (Psalm 3:8)

Christ saves:

“For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.” (Matthew 18:11)
“For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” (Luke 9:56)
“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:17)
“If any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world." (John 12:47)

Now let us examine the evidence that supports the decree that Jesus is to be worshiped.

5) God is worshiped:

Only God can rightly be worshiped. “For you shall worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” (Exodus 34:14) Whenever a man was worshiping another man, he was immediately rebuked: “And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshiped him. But Peter took him up, saying, ‘Stand up; I myself also am a man.’” (Acts 10:25, 26) See also Acts 14:11–15 where Paul refuses worship. Even the angels refuse worship of men: “I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things. Then said he to me, ‘See you do it not: for I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.’” (Revelation 22:8, 9)

Christ is worshiped:

He was worshiped by the wise men: “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him.” (Matthew 2:11)
He was worshiped by the leper: “And behold, there came a leper and worshiped him.” (Matthew 8:2)
He was worshiped by the ruler: “While he spoke these things to them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshiped him.” (Matthew 9:18)
He said, “‘Lord, I believe,’” and he worshiped him. (John 9:38)
He was worshiped by the angels: “And again, when he brought in the first begotten into the world, he said, ‘And let all the angels of God worship him.’” (Hebrews 1:6)

There are many other examples of people worshiping Christ. At no time did He rebuke them. He accepted their worship.

Operation 513 London: Leicester Square & Tooting Broadway (30th -31st May 2008)

As usual Philip and I met up with Antonio on Friday evening for the start of another weekend of ministry. Arriving at Tooting Broadway we set about handing out tracts to the passerby’s. After a short while I stood up to preach.

About this time some Christians from another church arrived and began setting up sound equipment for what I expected to be some form of evangelism. While not many people stopped to hear God’s word, I could see that my message was an encouragement to these Christians. After I finished preaching I managed to speak with a chap who turned out to be the pastor of their church. Because I believe it to be vital for the church today I spoke with him about the importance of true biblical evangelism; that is, using the law to preach about sin, righteousness and judgment before preaching about grace. I was encouraged to hear that he understood this important principle, as he mentioned he had listened to Hell’s Best Kept Secret by Ray Comfort.

After saying goodbye to our fellow Christian brothers and sisters, and of course Antonio, we hopped on board the tube bound for Leicester Square. Going up and down the carriage in either direction I quickly went about tracting the people on board. If you look left you can see those who are in the middle of reading their tract. When a young girl had finished reading her tract I asked her what she thought. She said that she was going to start reading her Bible when she got home. Too cool!

Arriving at Leicester Square we quickly met up with Carl, Andrew and my brother James. Carl really makes me smile because every time we arrive he is always in a conversation with people, sharing the gospel. He certainly doesn’t muck about! The place was heaving, and so after opening in prayer, so we set about handing out tracts and talking with the people. Below you can see a picture of my brother in a conversation with three people. I got talking with a young couple, Page and her boyfriend Carlos. This was a really good conversation, as both Page and Carlos listened intently as I shared the whole counsel of God with them. Page in particular seemed quite moved by the message and when I asked them what they were going to do with what they had heard they both said that they were going to give it some serious thought. Praise God.

During my conversation with Page and Carlos I noticed that there were some other Christians who had arrived for the evening. They were parading up and down the square and some were also preaching, although they used no form of elevation. It’s great to see other Christians and while it would have been good to fellowship with them and get to know them, we had a job to do. Stepping up on my ladder I started preaching. I preached just as I have done in previous weeks and yet no crowd seemed to form, which meant no hecklers either. It really was quite strange, given that the place was bustling with so many people.

After I finished preaching a young man arrived with his own little soapbox and stood up to preach. I have met him once before and during that time I was able to chat with him briefly. I don’t really know much about him and so it will be good if I can get to talk with him again. In the last few weeks we have also been joined by Paddy and his friend Steven. They carry with them large placards that simply say the words “John 3:7” on them. The idea is that people will approach them and ask them what John 3:7 means. This of course allows you to then share the gospel with them. I admit this is quite a fascinating way of engaging with people. Paddy in particular is very keen on coming alongside us and working with us each Friday evening. I have not approached them about joining our ministry as they are already in their own ministry. Paddy is also very much charismatic in his theology and so there are some things he teaches that I seriously disagree with.

As the young man who had arrived began preaching Carl came running to me and asked me to come and speak with a Muslim gentleman who had some questions. We spoke for at least half an hour and covered a number of topics. One particular issue that we disagreed on pertains to that of original sin. This refers to the fact that we are born sinners. My new Muslim friend, Ali, disagreed and instead said that we are born pure, we simply “lose our way” when Satan tempts us. I explained to him that it is quite evident we are sinners from birth, however he refused to believe that the wrong we did was evidence that we are all born evil. He kept alluding to the good that people do. However it is clear that if we are born pure then it does not square with the fact that we all sin, and that we all begin doing so from a very early age. The Bible clearly teaches that it is because of the Fall that we all inherit the sin of Adam.

After I finished speaking with Ali I noticed that Paddy had stepped up to preach. I listened to his message and was deeply concerned to hear the watered-down version he was preaching. It’s going to be tough but I will be speaking to him the next time we meet to tell him that as things stand right now we cannot align ourselves with him. Hopefully he will take on board what I have to say when I share with him concerning the importance of preaching a complete and sound gospel message.

It was now past 11:00pm and so we departed Leicester Square and headed on home. We may not have had a big crowd but we had handed out many tracts and had witnessed to quite a few people. To God alone be the glory.

Saturday came around and it was back to Tooting Broadway. Antonio and Andrew were there to meet both Phil and I. We arrived at 12pm and spent the first part of the afternoon talking with people one-to-one and handing out tracts. After a little while I stood up to preach. We continue to get few people who stop to listen at Tooting Broadway but I believe that this can change. You never know what impact the gospel is having as the people of the area continue to hear the message week after week. When God commissioned Ezekiel he said to him, “And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.” (Ezekiel 2:7).

Later that afternoon I met with two Mormon missionaries. Mormonism (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) is a heretical offshoot of Christianity. I met with them because they had first approached me a few weeks back and had given me some of their literature. As we talked we spoke about their beliefs and how they differ with orthodox Christianity. They believe that their “version” of the gospel is the restoration of the gospel, but this simply is not the case. The Book of Mormon, for example, conflicts with the teaching of the Bible. The following link will show you the major difference between the Christian gospel and the Mormon gospel. I did not get to spend as much time with them as I would have liked as they had to leave quite early. I did ask them if I could meet with them again and they said yes. I do hope this will happen and I ask you to join with me in prayer that it would.

We had met in McDonalds and so there were a number of people sat around us as we had been talking. As I was getting ready to leave a young girl who was sat nearby spoke up and said that she had been listening to the conversation. Quickly I sat down next to her and asked her what she thought. It turns out that her Mum is a Mormon; however she claimed to not be religious, although she did believe in God. I spoke with her for at least twenty minutes and shared the whole counsel of God with her. When I had finished she said that it made sense and that she knew what she needed to do in order to be reconciled to God. She seemed quite convicted as well and so I urged her to get right with God whilst there is still time. She said that she would certainly be giving it careful thought. Her name is Elizabeth. Please pray that God would grant her repentance and that He would bring her to the knowledge of the truth.

Soli Deo Gloria!