Walk up evangelism

I had my first walk up evangelism yesterday. Though I have done advertising and things like that before, it was only things like handing out lollies and cards and flyers, not really talking to strangers. So actually walking up to a stranger was a bit intimidating for me.

But it was pretty interesting having some that were open, but also some who were rather against it or had other beliefs.

I also managed to do the 'Two Ways to Live' with a female international student, which I'm pretty happy about. Though the girl didn't really have much opinion about this sort of thing, though she said that some of her friends who were Christians were nice and do things together.

Thank God for giving me this opportunity and pray that he gives me more opportunities and courage to talk to people and evangelise.

Daniel 1

I was going through Daniel 1 today with Heather Reid and there were all these things that I had never noticed.

(I quite enjoy when I find out something new from the Bible, it makes it a bit exciting I think.)

So, I'll share what I learnt:

- The book of Daniel has a large emphasis of God doing things, as in 'the Lord delivered' (v2), 'God had caused' (v9) and 'God gave' (v17). This really emphasised that in fact God was in control of the whole situation. Though, King Nebuchadnezzar thought that he defeated Judah, it was in fact 'the Lord [who] delivered'(v2) Judah into his hands. And though Nebuchadnezzar thought that he had chose the best men and gave them knowledge, it was in fact 'God [who] gave knowledge and understanding' (v17), and also 'God [who] had caused the official to show favour and compassion to Daniel' (v9). Thus, we have a situation here where Nebuchadnezzar thinks that he's in control and that he 'won', but in reality it was all God's doing.

Heather also mentioned that even though the titles of this section were all along the lines of 'Daniel's training in Babylon', this section is more on the fact that it is God vs. Nebuchadnezzar. And at the end of chapter 1, we are given a hint of who would eventually win. 'And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus' (v 21) This sentence suggesting that Daniel outlasted Nebuchadnezzar, that is the man of God outlasted Nebuchadnezzar, who thought himself as being so great.

Some other interesting things:

- When Judah was exiled, Daniel must have been only around 14 - 15 years old. This is an estimate, but he must have had been this young to in fact be still alive during King Cyrus. And I find this fact absolutely amazing.

- In verse 2: 'And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia [a] and put in the treasure house of his god.' The footnote [a] says Hebrew Shinar. Now Heather asked me if I had recognised that name, which I did not, but then we turned to Genesis 11:1-9:

'1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

3 They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel [c] —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.'

I found it rather interesting that the place where Nebuchadnezzar placed the articles from the temple of God, in the same place where the tower of Babel was.

I shall continue writing about the things I learn, because I quite enjoy it and it helps reinforce what I learnt and it might be interesting for others too.

"When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all."

Lyrics: Issac Watts, 1707
Passage: Galatians 6:14

faith

today at monday bible study we went though Hebrews 11
and the passage talked a lot about faith
what struck me was that
the author gave many examples of faith
not of people who have seen or were disciples of Jesus
(ie. they weren't during or after Jesus' time on earth)
but all the examples of faith he gave were all from the Old Testament
that is of: Abel, Noah, Enoch, Abraham, Moses, Rahab, etc. etc.
they all showed faith in God,
though not knowing about Jesus Christ,
but just faith in God that would provide
whether it was salvation, or anything else.

Like Noah for instance (Genesis 6-9)
he built an ark on a hill
and it must have taken him years
even though he was constantly mocked by other people.
but he trust in God, that the flood will happen
and that when it did come,
he and his family will be safe.

Or Abraham (Genesis 22)
who was willing to sacrifice his one and only son
(amongst other acts of faith)
bore to him in his old age
because he trusted that God will provide
in any circumstance.

Also, this struck me because it is written to the Jews (Hebrews)
and to them, they thought salvation was through sacrifices
but the author illustrates
that no, it wasn't just doing the sacrifices
since abraham, abel, noah, enoch never did any sacrifices
but it was because God saw them as being faithful.
"Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness." Genesis 15:6

thus, in Hebrews 11
the author illustrated (to the Hebrews) that
it was only through faith in the old testament
that God saw people as being righteous
not because of the sacrifices itself.
(though, through performing the sacrifices, it could also be an act of faith)
Therefore, the author argues that having faith in God,
like their predecessors,
but more specifically faith in Jesus Christ, is the way to salvation.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2: 8-9

love ♥

First off, I will share with you one of my all time favourite verses in the Bible:

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 8:38-39

I absolutely love this verse.

It is an absolute reflection of how much God loves us, that nothing, NOTHING, can separate us from the love of God. So much so that he sent his one and only son, to bear own sins on the cross and take that punishment that we deserve.

NOTHING, not even his own son, he withheld from us.

God is so amazing.

♥