Making a Stand on loss of Freedom Day

Making a Stand on loss of Freedom Day
By Dr. Peter Hammond

"For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…" Romans 1:16

On Monday the 27th of April Freedom Day at Blaauwberg beach front Marine Drive I set up a gazebo, with shark fin banners, at a busy public venue along Blaauwberg beach front road, Marine drive.
By God's grace, I was able to distribute hundreds of Gospel booklets and evangelistic tracts and engage in a number of constructive conversations with passers-by.

Blaauwberg Strand Marine Drive Stand for Cape Independence on Freedom Day 27 April 2026-2

Blaauwberg Strand Marine Drive Stand for Cape Independence on Freedom Day 27 April 2026-3

​This included with a Friendly man from England, a gracious  older man from Namibia and a very angry atheist from Ireland. Despite being raised in a Catholic school, he now condemned all versions of Christianity and all religions as fraudulent!
 
Distinguishing between the Fake and the Real
I acknowledged that there is a lot of fraud and fake in the world today, including false religions, but nobody tries to make counterfeits of what is worthless. There is no market for counterfeit Zimbabwe dollars for example. The fact that there are fakes does not prove that there isn’t also the real and the genuine. The Irishman then lashed out at abusive Catholic priests in Ireland. When I brought up the Protestant Reformation, he adamantly condemned Protestants as just as bad! I challenged him on that. When did Protestants ever ban Bibles, or burn people at the stake? There never was a Protestant inquisition! He didn't want to discuss that, so he then raised the presence of evil in the world.
 
Why does God not stop all the Suffering in the World?
How could a good God allow evil? I replied that it is not fair to blame God for the evil choices people make. Just consider how many multiplied millions of innocent people were murdered by Atheist governments, such as the Soviet Union and Red China, in the 20th century! You cannot reasonably blame God for what those who reject God chose to do.
 
How can we Know what is True?
This atheist then came up with further objections: How can we know what is true or not. I said that is a very good question. We need to to thorough research to ascertain the facts. You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free! The man then claimed that there is no outside corroborating evidence to support what we read in the Bible.
 
Evidence that Demands a Verdict
I referred to the research of skeptics such as Josh McDowell in his Evidence that Demands a Verdict book. And Frank Morison, a cynical unbelieving secular lawyer who decided to investigate the evidence against the Resurrection of Christ to thereby undermined Christianity. The results of his exhaustive investigations was his conversion to Christ and the publication of the landmark book Who Moved the Stone?
 
Never make up your mind about any case until you have Examined the Evidence
Simon Greenleaf, the founder of the Harvard Law School, and a skeptical atheistic Jew, was challenged by one of the students to apply his own principle of: Never make up your mind about any case until you have examined the evidence, with regard to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. When he did so, after a thorough and exhaustive examination of the objective evidence of the Resurrection and of the four Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Simon Greenleaf published The Testimony of the Evangelists wherein he concluded that: “any court of law, if presented with the evidence of the Resurrection would have to give a verdict in favour of the integrity and accuracy of the Gospel writers and the facts of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!”
 
The Determined Research of a Secular Atheist Journalist
I offered the Irishman a free copy of Lee Strobel’s book The Case for Christ, which is the true story of a skeptical secular journalist who was an atheist and determined to disprove the Resurrection of Christ in order to persuade his wife, who had converted to Christ, to return to atheism. However, the atheist from Ireland refused to take this gift saying that he did not want to read anything religious! But I said that this is a book written by someone who was an atheist, secular and skeptical, determined to undermine Christianity and all religion. The Irishman remained adamant that he could not and would not read anything religious! I asked him so are you choosing to be closed minded? He denied that he was close minded and asserted that I and all religious people are brainwashed!
 
From Skepticism to Faith
In response I shared my testimony that I was brought up in a secular family, without any prayer or Bible reading, my family never went to church. However, in 1977 I had an encounter with the reality of God. I am not promoting a religion, or a ritual. We are offering a real Relationship with God in the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is alive today. God is real! The atheist denied that there is any God and reasserted that I must be  brainwashed. I declared that I used to be brainwashed when I was a convinced agnostic. But now having encountered the reality of God, having experienced His power and presence, His protection under fire in war zones and His healing hand, I could no longer deny the reality of God.  Sadly, the Irish Catholic atheist walked away mumbling about brainwashed Christians!
 
An Answer to Prayer
One woman to whom I handed a World Missionary Press Gospel booklet The Path to Life, declared “This is what I need! I was in deep despair this morning. This is an answer to prayer!” She then came to the table and took a copy of every tract and Gospel booklet we had available in our stands, including God Loves You,  The Way to God, Don't waste your Life and The Heart of the Problem is the Problem of the Heart.
 
"So shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:11