Skypecast Report

Sunday, 11 May 2008

The night started off a bit slow, although first up we had a Jewish heckler who professed that he had nothing wrong. He was very hard-hearted and self-righteous, so Josh showed him the law of Moses. The fellow didn't like being convicted of his sin so he kept trying to change the topic. Josh was also able to show that Jesus is the Messiah that can take the punishment for our sins.

We then had a chat with Raven, who believed that the God of Christianity is the same one as the Islamic god. She even tried to make the case that in Aramaic, the name of God sounds so similar to "Allah". Except Josh pointed out that "Eloi" is not similar at all to "Allah". I also pointed out that the scriptures of the two religions are so different that they simply cannot both be from God. For example, the Qu'ran says that there is one god. But the Bible says there is one God, but made up of three distinct persons. They're mutually exclusive and so they both cannot be true at the same time.

Our next heckler held the belief that the best idea is not to actually pick a religion because they are all based on faith. I showed him that they're not all based on faith, in fact the major events in Christianity, such as Jesus death on the cross and even his resurrection are historical events. Even archeology agrees with what the Bible says. Moreover I argued that every other world religion is logically inconsistent because they think you can get to Heaven based on your good works. However that means their god's justice is not upheld. In Christianity, God's justice is still satisfied, yet he is shows his mercy because of Jesus' death on the cross.

Josh had a chat with a Catholic fellow who asked what proof there is for God's existence. So Josh explained the teleological argument - the complexity and fine-tuning of the unvierse gives evidence of an intelligent designer. After establishing God's existence, Josh then went onto the law and gospel.

The next heckler we had was an Aussie bloke who didn't hold to any religion and he kept making the claim that the things in the Bible are fairy tales. So I asked him what proof he have that these stories are just fairy tales. He just said, "With logic we know that it is wrong." So I asked again, "What logical argument do you have to prove it is a fairy tale?" He had nothing.

So I explained that events in the Bible are historical and we have evidence for that. But then said, "Oh, but they were all uneducated back then." I pointed out that some of the greatest minds were around back then, such as Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, etc. He then admitted, "OK, the events are probably historical."

He also denied that there is a god, so explained the Kalam Cosmological argument to him and then after that admitted that there is a god. He then pointed out that that does not mean that god is the God of the Bible. And that's true, so then I passed it onto Josh Williamson who was doing the closing gospel message and he explained why we can know Christianity is true.

Overall, it was a great night. We had 345 people listen in during the course of the evening, with at one point having over 100 people in the Skypecast. We discovered that over these last two Skypecasts, we have had people listening in from over 70 different countries from around the globe.

We will have another Skypecast at the same time next week - Sunday 9pm - 12am GMT+10. If you would like to advertise the upcoming Operation 513 Skypecasts on your webpage/blog/myspace, please visit the Skypecast page and that will give you the instructions on how you can do so.

To God be the glory!

Skypecast Report

Sunday, 4 May 2008

The night started off pretty slow with no hecklers wanting to speak for about the first hour. Or for the ones that did want to speak, their microphones were not working. However there was still a lot of people in the listening area.

Josh Williamson had a conversation with an American who believed in the theory of evolution. Josh showed why it is not a scientific fact, but rather just another belief because the evidence supporting it is non-existent.

Our second heckler was a Hindu man who said he believed in millions of gods. He then went on to say that god is in everything (panentheism). So then I asked him, "If there are millions of gods, which god is in everything?" He then said, "Oh there is only one god." The fellow then explained that he thought that a person gets reincarnated seven times then they will either be sent to Heaven or Hell. So I asked him where he thinks he's going to go. He wasn't sure, so I went onto the law and the gospel with Him.

Josh had a chat with a man who had questions about the trinity. He made the assertion that the Bible does not contain the doctrine of the trinity in it. The guy was mixing up what he believed - one sentence he would be a modalist (Father, Son, Holy Spirit are all same person), next sentence he was denying that Jesus is God, and the next sentence he would hold to the Biblical view. Josh cleared up the issue with him explaining what the Bible says about who God is - three distinct persons yet one in essence.

It was another good night overall in which the gospel was preached to 115 listeners.

We will have another Skypecast at the same time next week - Sunday 9pm - 12am GMT+10. If you would like to advertise the upcoming Operation 513 Skypecasts on your webpage/blog/myspace, please visit the Skypecast page and that will give you the instructions on how you can do so.

To God be the glory!

Skypecast Report

Sunday, 27 April 2008

At the scheduled time of 9pm the Skypecast started and pretty much instantaneously the room filled up with people and there were many folks who wanted to have their say.

So the first heckler we had was a Muslim lady from Egypt. I asked her why she is a Muslim, and she responded, "because my parents are." She couldn't give any objective reasons why someone would become a Muslim. So I then asked about what happens after she dies, she said there is a judgment. And good people go to Heaven, and bad people go to Hell. I then showed that if God lets someone into Heaven because of their good works, he is then not a just judge. Yet that is how the god of Islam operates, yet the Qu'ran says that Allah is just, exposing a fundamental internal contradiction proving Allah's non-existence. The lady admitted that it was a contradiction. So I posed the question to her, "Why would you believe in something that you know is false?" I then explained to her how she can have her sins forgiven while God's justice is upheld and yet He still shows his love, and that was by the death of Jesus Christ.

Andrew Hsu then discussed with another Muslim person and when asked why he thinks Islam is true, he said because his parents said so. The man then tried to say the Qu'ran has never changed but the Bible has. When Andrew asked for what evidence he has for that claim, the man was speechless.

Andrew then had a discussion with a skeptic named Peter, who we have spoken to in the past. He tried making the claim, "why do Christians believe in the trinity when it's not in the gospels?" Andrew informed the fellow that it is in-fact throughout it and he gave various scripture references.

I then had a chat with another Muslim heckler who said that she would actually answer my questions about Islam unlike the other Muslims who we spoke to earlier. So I then brought up the fundamental flaw regarding Allah's contradictory justice, which then lead straight into the true gospel. She couldn't answer that contradiction.

Josh Williamson then dealt with a Catholic man who said he is going to Heaven because he just went to confession. Josh showed him in the Bible where it says we are saved by grace through faith alone and contrasted that to what the Catholic Catechism of 1993 states that it is by yours works that you get to Heaven.

After this, I had a chat with a Sikh fellow. During the conversation I pointed out three internal contradictions within Sikhism:
1) Sikhism believes we are all part of God. That means God could not fully exist before the creation of the universe.
2) Sikhism believes all religions are true. Except because of the vastly different claims made within the various religions and the law of non-contradiction, they all cannot be true.
3) The Sikh god judges based on a person's good works and bad works, making him unjust.

The fellow could only respond by saying, well this is what I believe. So I pointed out, the task of the individual is examine the various religions and find out which one is true. They all cannot be true, and you shouldn't just believe in a religion because your parents do.

Andrew Caswell then finished up the Skypecast with an in-depth law and gospel message calling everyone to repentance and faith.

Overall, it was a great night with a constant flow of hecklers wanting to speak, and a total of 280 people listened in.

We will have another Skypecast at the same time next week - Sunday 9pm - 12am GMT+10. If you would like to advertise the upcoming Operation 513 Skypecasts on your webpage/blog/myspace, please visit the Skypecast page and that will give you the instructions on how you can do so.

To God be the glory!

Skypecast Report

Sunday, 20 April 2008

At the usual time of 9pm the Skypecast kicked off without any technical difficulties. Almost immediately we had a gentlemen named Peter who wanted to have a chat with us. So we brought him up to the talking area and he said that he doesn't believe in God. So I explained why it is the rational viewpoint to believe in God using logical arguments, and showed why if he continues to say there is no God in light of the evidence to the contrary, he denies God's existence on the basis of faith alone. I then showed him why there needs to be judgment after we die, and asked him if he would go to Heaven or Hell. After going through the law with him, he realised he was deserving of Hell. So then I preached the good news of the gospel to him and called him to repent and trust Christ as his Saviour.

However, he made the statement, "I will never believe that." By that statement that showed that it's not an intellectual problem he has in believing it, but rather a problem with his will. I explained that if someone does not become a Christian, it is usually because of one of these three reasons:
1) Because they love their sin and want to stay in it.
2) Because they have pride and do not want to bow the knee to Jesus Christ
3) Because they think they have done too many sins that Jesus can't pay for it (this is a rare case)

The conversation ended soon after because we had another person who wanted to speak and had been waiting for 20 minutes already before he could do so. However Peter stayed and listened to the entire Skypecast right to the end. Please pray that God will change Peter's heart so that he will flee from his love of sin and trust Christ.

The next person who wanted to speak was Rambit. Rambit was an atheist, so firstly I proved the existence of God to him. Because he had no leg to stand on there, he tried bringing up numerous other objections to the Christian faith, such as original sin and he even said that adultery was okay. He said he didn't mind if someone pervs upon his wife or even commits adultery with her. That clearly shows that he truly does not love his wife. In fact, Rambit said pornography is alright as well because the ladies willingly put up their photos up on the Internet. He said that child pornography was wrong, however Josh pointed out that he has a double standard, because what about those children who willingly put up their photo onto the Internet? Rambit saw his fleeting moral standards but decided to go onto a tangent without letting Josh speak. So we had to move him down into the listening area so Josh could respond to his comments. It is sad to see someone who has suppressed that conscience so much that they even try to justify their sin.

After that conversation was over, Tanika wanted to join in and make a quick comment regarding the conversation that just occurred. She was a UN worker in Bangkok that works with women who have been trapped in the sex trade business. She made the profound point that women do not willingly involve themselves in the pornography business, but rather the majority of them are forced.

I thanked Tanika for her insightful comments and then asked her about what beliefs she had. She said she was raised a Hindu but married a Catholic. She studied the various religions at a Catholic college and even taught there for a number of years. However, she now deems herself a non-religious spiritualist. She didn't know what happens after she dies but knew that there is a God. So I showed her that there must be a judgment after we die, which then lead onto the law, and the gospel.

Ralph Patrick then did the closing gospel message, but his microphone stopped working half way through. So I finished the gospel presentation calling everyone that was listening to repent and believe.

We will have another Skypecast at the same time next week - Sunday 9pm - 12am GMT+10. If you would like to advertise the upcoming Operation 513 Skypecasts on your webpage/blog/myspace, please visit the Skypecast page and that will give you the instructions on how you can do so.

If you would like to read more reports from past Skypecasts or from any of the other Operation 513 weekly street evangelism teams, please go to our Battle Log.

To God be the glory!

RC Sproul interviews Ben Stein about the movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed