Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed knowing you are born of Him. I had a good day on campus met with a guy and Jude and Donte prayed to receive Jesus. Their stories are below of you want to take the time. Please pray they grow in their faith.

Jude was sitting in a ground floor vending machine lounge of the BIC next to a hallway with skylights three stories up. He was looking at his phone so he seemed like he might have some time. He was willing and reached out and shook my hand when I gave him my name. He wore a Cubs hat with a bear inside the C, a blue hoodie and jeans. He was clean-shaven breaking out a bit and looked like the cartoon character DJ in the movie “Monster House”. He was a nice guy and when I asked him one thing he wanted to do before he died he said, “Have a family.” That response is a basically a 100% tell a guy will come to Christ or is already a Christian. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and was asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” He said, “’Cause you’re full of mercy.” He thought the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 30% and went to a Catholic Church. I began to go through the Gospel with him and explained John 17:3, “Eternal life is knowing God,” because the Holy Spirit lives inside you. So if you know God that way you’d be one with God who is eternal and the source of life. So you’d have eternal life. So God wants to live inside you but first He has to take away your sin so you are made like God. I compared it to a blood transfusion. I asked, “So what is the big thing Jesus does while He is on earth to take away your sins?” He dies on the cross,” he replied. I agreed and explained the atonement. Jesus blood cleanses us and is a payment to God for what we owe, “God got paid.” He was pretty serious throughout and said next to nothing. I went on to say Jesus earned the righteousness of God and this righteousness, like extra credit in a class, was given to him when he was adopted by God. I said all Jesus has done was his by faith. I then said this was in the symbolism of the Mass, the wafer was symbolic of His body and the wine His blood and it was saying Jesus had died for you so you are forgiven so when you take it you should just say “Thank You.” I finally got him to smile with the idea his good stuff did not fix his bad stuff. I said, “You seem like a pretty good person, do good things, you’re a Cub fan so you must be loyal.” He smiled and agreed. “Say you had a girlfriend and you thought she was pretty cool. Then you found out she was cheating on you and stealing your stuff. So you cut her loose. She comes around in about a week and says, ‘Jude I know I did you really wrong, I was even stealing your stuff and selling it for drugs. But I just want you to know I’m gonna be nice to my next 3 boyfriends.’” He scoffed and agreed this was laughable. I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else. Showing him the 2 circles one with God living inside him forgiving him and giving him strength with the Holy Spirit the other with God outside his life. “That one,” he replied pointing to the circle with God inside. “So when you are asking for forgiveness for your sins have you been thinking God is merciful so He will forgive me or have you been thinking I know I’ll be forgiven because Jesus died for me or did you never really think about it?” I asked. “Never really thought about it,” he admitted. So I said, “If you’d want to be forgiven there’s a prayer you can pray.” I talked him through the prayer reading the line, “It says here Does this prayer express the desire of you heart? Would you say it does? “Yeah,” he replied looking at it. I continued saying he could pray it silently. Wanna do it? “Yeah,” he said. He prayed then to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to him. He had a Bible so I said John was a good place to start to read. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. He said, “Thank you,” when I handed it to him. I gave him a Bible Study to read and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet And said the likelihood he would now go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus that was worth an infinite amount. I explained living by the Spirit’s Power, Inside Out, asking God to transform him. I told him I would pray a Bible Verse for him each day from now until Spring and on year after asking God to bless him. He thanked me and I got up to go shaking his hand telling him I would see him in Heaven. “Merry Christmas,” I said. “Merry Christmas,” he replied and I headed off.

Donte was in the medical building in a short hall on the first floor that ends in an exit door at the east end to go outside. He had dark blue near black jeans on wore a grey pulled up over a watch cap on his head.  Her wore small wire rectangle glasses and had a small face with a mustache and a chin beard from what I could see of it, not very tall. He was African American and had a frank look on his face as we talked. He said he had gone to church every day and then corrected it to every weekend, until High School. He was engaged and tracked with everything right through, he described himself as “quiet and reserved” though. I asked him what he would say to God if he did and were asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?’ “There’s nothing I can say that would make you change your mind from what you’ve decided already. I only hope that the things I’ve done in my life would let me into Heaven.” He said he thought he had a 50/50 chance when I asked the likelihood he would get into Heaven. He said it with kind of a bit of a scoff, almost like “Well, good luck with that.” He listened closely to the Gospel and he knew Jesus had died to take away his sins saying He was crucified. Once again he seemed focused and smiled a bit at word pictures but said nothing as I went through the Gospel saying everything I had said to Jude. So after explaining the blood and righteousness of Jesus, to his credit, I asked him if he would want to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else. “I would want to be forgiven for my sins,” he said with conviction. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I turned the page and explained the prayer. “Can I take a picture of that?” he asked. “You can keep the booklet but if you wanted to be forgiven you could pray this silently right now. I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven. Wanna do it?” There was a hitch in time then and he said, “Yeah,” and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I began to go through the Christian life with him and he said he had a Bible, “It’s in my pack,” he replied. So I told him he could read in John. I explained that the Christina life was by the Spirit’s Power. He would give him all the strength he needed to do whatever God wanted him to do and that Christianity was living “Inside out” first we are transformed by the Spirit than we become good men who will do good things. The likelihood he’d now go to Heaven was 100%. Take the two of us, I’m old so I’ve sinned way more than you. I sin every year and by now there is a big pile God has forgiven. But if they did something and collapsed the building on us and we stood before God and He looked at your pile He might send you and say to me, we need to talk.” He laughed. “But it’s not what we’ve done but what Jesus has done that will get us in, so I’ll get in too even though you deserve it more.” I said it like I was cheating on him and he grinned.  I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and forgiven on the inside. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study explaining it a bit and said I would keep him in my prayers from now until Spring and one year after, praying a Bible verse for him each day. He shook my hand as I got up to go and said, “Thank you.” Merry Christmas,” I replied and he said Merry Christmas and he went upstairs with about 10 minutes before class started and headed off to meet a guy.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed today.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope ya had a great day marching with the righteous. I had a good day on campus and Gianna prayed with me to receive Christ and I had an impromptu Bible Study with 3 guys from another Christian group on campus, I have gotten to know them, it went on for an hour. So I felt useful to the Lord. Gianna’s story is below if you have time, please pray she grows in her faith.

I ended up over at the Health and Science building early on, I usually go down to the first floor but I felt like I was supposed to stay on the second and crossed over the lounge bridge and bumped into Gianna sitting on a padded bench with table connected to the same on the other side. She said her name was Italian. She had light brown hair, pulled back in a pony tail, not as dark as the stereo type, it was parted perfectly down the middle, tight and flat on her head. She wore clear plastic glasses, over a pretty face and long bent eyelashes that seemed too symmetrical to be sourced in the gene pool. She had on pale blue jeans that were randomly shredded thigh to ankle and a black hoodie. A few days back she was walking with some black girls and had said something about some boy “giving her some $#!+”. I made some dumb joke, but somehow got the timing right, about a gift like that, what was he thinking you’re a gardener and you need fertilizer and I went on about cows or something and how she should lose the guy. It was so random coming up behind them the black girls completely cracked up and she laughed too, you had to be there I guess. So today my sarcasm from the day before seemed inspired. I asked her if she wanted to do a student survey. She said she would and then said, “I’ve seen you around you gave me some good advice once so I thought I would pay back the favor.” “Ok cool,” I said and got her name and three words to describe herself. Then I asked, “What advice did I give you?” “Something about gardening she said, I don’t remember exactly but it was good,” she replied. “Oh yeah you were walking with those girls over by the doors at the cafeteria,” I said. She agreed and we were off. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and were asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I’ve loved You my whole life,” she replied. She thought she had about a 75% chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with her and when I asked, “What’s the big thing Jesus has done to take away your sins,” She said, “He forgives you.” “I said, “What does he do so He can forgive you?” “His sacrifice on the cross.” She replied. I said she was right and began to explain His blood that cleansed her and the payment for her sin. She knew the story. I explained the righteousness of God Jesus earned and she liked the story if it being like extra credit she got in a class. I explained that it was all hers by faith and God could work all things into good. “Can I tell you a story?” she asked. I said, “Yeah,” enthusiastically. “This happened in 2022 so a couple years ago,” she began. She told me then that her mom had been in the city in a bad neighborhood and was shot in the head.  She touched her own forehead then just right off center above her eye. That put her mother into a coma but she came out of it and then they put her in a medically induced coma, for several more weeks. But when her mom came out of it she was ok, “She could walk and talk, she lost an eye but that’s not as bad as a life.” She said the neurologists working on her said they had never seen anything like it. “That’s when I got closer to God,” she said, this was also true of her mom she said. She had been to church regularly but had gotten too busy for it working weekends and going to school but planned to go back on the weekend. I asked her if she wanted to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. “When you pray for forgiveness are you thinking God would be merciful and just forgive you or were you thinking, ‘I know I will be forgiven because Jesus died for my sins?’” She said she struggled to have faith not in God but in History as people say it happened. I agreed it was hard to know what to believe coming in from outside. She said, “Talking to God is my faith.” Then saying, “Something is out there.” She replied. So I said. “Do you believe Jesus is God, He died for your sins and rose from the dead, do you think that’s a true story?” Thinking for a moment she said, “Yes.” So I said then if you wanted to be forgiven there is a prayer you could pray and I talked her through it and finished saying, you’d be saying Jesus is your God trusting in Him. You could pray it silently; I wouldn’t hear but God would hear you and you’d know. “I was reading it with you,” she replied. “OK, Amen?” “Amen,” she said. I said that now if she trusted in Jesus’ righteousness to be her righteousness the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. “I appreciate that,” she said thankfully. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and forgiven in the front. I said she could read the verses for encouragement or turn them into a prayer or write them in people’s birthday cards.  “Thank you, I love this,” she said then in a matter-of-fact way said, “I like to write in birthday cards.” I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. This is like Christmas,” she replied. “Yep, Merry Christmas,” I said. I gave her a Bible Study and explained a bit of it. I told her I would pray for her each day, a Bible verse, from now until Spring and one year after. “Thank you,” she replied.  “If I see ya I’ll give ya a wave,” I said. I got up to go and said, “Merry Christmas.” “Merry Christmas to you too,” she replied and I was off. I bumped into her later by the vending machines and said, “God bless you.” and she said, “God bless you too.”

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance, God blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was good and you walked in joy you received from the Holy Spirit. I got lights on the front porch so I’m done ‘til after this next Thanksgiving holiday. I had a good day on campus and Moe and Salvador each prayed with me to receive Jesus. Their stories are below if you have time. Please pray they grow and truly rest on the blood and righteousness of Christ for forgiveness of their sins.

I was headed the opposite direction down the first-floor hallway of the BIC and had a sense I should walk toward the MAC Arts building the other direction. I just turned around. I sometimes don’t know if that kind of thing is a nudge from God to get me somewhere I’m just supposed to say hi to someone. I really am (it seems) getting blown around like John 3:8 on campus and I just have to roll with it. Lex a black girl with a cute small face, greeted me in the PE this afternoon. She said it was always great to see me around. So that encouraged me before I had talked to anyone for example though I felt led to go to the PE lounge.

I headed the other way and saw Moe, an African American, sitting at a table, he wore a black hoodie up over his afro and you could see he had a block chin and mustache, the beard seemed to run his Jaw line. He wore light grey sweats. He said he had to run to class and had not time so I asked if he would want to hear the big question to think about for the day. Usually I just give someone the booklet after if there is not time. But his answer was a bit off. He said thinking on it, “I’m a believer, I pray before I do anything before a play basketball…” he listed a couple other activities he prayed before. “I guess it would be those two things.” He replied about being a believer and prayer. I said, “Ok,” and just asked as I continued on with him a bit saying, “Christianity is like a blood transfusion and I had A+ blood so if you fill me with B- I clot up and die.” He could not tell me then what Jesus had done to take away his sins so God could live in him. As I queried him more after explaining the blood and righteousness of Christ. I asked him if when he asked for forgiveness he was thinking Christ had died and rose from the dead or was thinking he was a good person and God forgives. He said that that part of it (the atonement as I had explained it with verses) was not part of his thoughts. I asked if he would want to trust in what Jesus had done to be forgiven. He said he would so I said there was a prayer he could pray quietly to be forgiven and explained it. He was willing to do it. At that point Salvador interrupted me saying, “I see you are preaching.” and I said just a moment I want to finish this. As Moe prayed I wrote his name and the date and forgiven on the inside of Bible Promises for You and I quickly gave him The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet. I felt like I had rushed a bit and felt bad as I do once in a while when I can give so little time to someone. Fortunately the Holy Spirit will bring guidance in Him now and I don’t trust in anything but the power of Him and the Verses He wrote. Moe seemed to have a Christian religious, life. But he had to run to class. So I will pray for him and hope now he is believing on Jesus seeing the difference. I’ve prayed since he’d have real joy and validation by the Spirit and His word. I tried to write down some things he said but could not do that as Salvador came back.

I had moved over to an ottoman and Salvador more or less said he’d felt led to talk to me and sat I the chair in front of me. I stopped writing in mid-thought and he began to tell me his story. He had a short James Cagney cut face. He was a Latino, a bit darker and had swept back hair in the classic Clark Kent fashion. Clean-shaven. His hoodie was a zip up with an interesting kind of paper clip link gold chain and a gold crucifix. His black t-shirt was the skyline of Chicago. We talked a long time. He told me he’d seen all his family members lives crumble. His mom was homeless, his dad who was very unforgiving and distant had cheated on her, his sister had an out of wedlock baby. He had been the angry guy in the military. But he had a Sgt. Who had talked to him about John 1 and that Jesus was the Word of God. This man had failed to explain the Gospel however somehow or Salvador hadn’t picked up on it. That seemed to be a real turning point for him that had really struck him. I told him this was also saying Jesus was the creator God and the name for Jesus came from the first chapter of Jeremiah. I asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sins so God could live inside him. “Sacrifice,” he replied. But I’m not sure how he meant that as I asked him why he thought God took away his sins and then he said something like, “He is good and kind and I sin but I am trying to be good.” So I repeated that back to him and he said yeah that was it. So I went through the atonement also with him. He interrupted periodically. The Catholic Church had not moved him at all so he left it, sighting the repetitiveness of the liturgy.  As I was explaining that it cost God something to forgive and it was because God had to be Just quoting 1John 1:9. He went the wrong direction with it so I corrected him with what I meant and he said, “Oh I didn’t know you meant that.” He seemed to be thinking of the next thing to tell me and missing what I said so I just kept working us back to the point. I made sure he understood it was because, “God got paid” by the Blood of Jesus that he was forgiven. He said something like, Oh I had not thought about it that way. He began a story about getting into an argument with his sister and though they lived in the same house they did not speak for 4 months. Finally he approached her and patched things up not really sure at that time what had been said, but took the first step. I used that as an example of how it cost him something to forgive. It cost God to forgive too. Jesus had died. I explained how it mattered who did the work and Jesus, being God, His work was worth an infinite amount. He talked about other times (a church in Naperville that had pressured him to attend and meet with them but said that we all used to be angels before our time on earth. (He at one point had also rejected the Mormon Church when they told him he needed to pray to their book and ask for faith to believe it.) I said that was false we were made originally out of the dust and God breathed a soul into us, we had definitely not been angels. He agreed feeling like that and some other things they had said. I finished explaining the righteousness of God and that he would not go to Heaven because he was good but because Jesus was good. Paul said he would not be saved by his own righteousness but “by the righteousness that was by faith.” I asked (after hearing out his interjections and redirecting him to the Gospel) if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done for him on the cross. He said he would. I walked him through the prayer he could pray. Saying he could pray it silently, the only other person in the lounge was a girl with ear buds behind us, not listening to us as she waited for a boyfriend. He prayed softly then but audible to trust in Christ. He said he’d been baptized; I think 2 years before. I said that what I had explained to him he should have had explained to him by whoever had baptized him. They said he only need to ask Christ to live in his heart, this had given him a warm feeling all over for a day but he’d slipped away from following then so I talked about the risk of feelings as a guide though he seemed to have some guidance by the holy Spirit I mentioned John 14:17. I explained living by the Power of the Spirit Inside out. We talked more I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave him The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet and told him a bit of Strobel’s story. I showed him a Bible Study connecting a story on how Jesus had walked upon the water to Job’s description of God in Job 9:8, he thought that was great. We walked down the hall until he peeled off to use the bathroom and I excused myself and headed off we’ve been texting a bit and he said, “Thank you so much happy Thanksgiving to you as well I appreciate the talk today means a lot to me.”  We talked about needing a Church as a base of operations like the Delta Force soldier at the end of the movie “Black Hawk Down”, which he had seen.  Even that guy needed the Ranger camp to get some grub and more ammo. Please pray he finds a good one.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today, God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and you are feeling cool as soon it will be the Yuletide time. So we covered the potted plants for tonight’s snow and Ellen cut the last of the green tomatoes to do some last recipe with as it looks to be no warmer than 40 for the rest of the year. Max prayed to receive Jesus today his story is below. Tate a tall solid build strawberry blonde Methodist, dressed in sweats with a mustache was close, saying he would pray when he was alone. “I picked up what you are laying down when you were taking about the crucifixion,” he also said. I encouraged some Christians also so it was a good day of ministry.

Max was sitting in the cafeteria. He had a zip neck two toned pullover and jeans on. He was clean-shaven and had parted, longer brown hair, wavy bangs, shaggy to his jaw line and a bit longer in back. He wanted to fly jets. So I mentioned that, at the end in talking about the Holy Spirit’s power saying God could help him to fly by the power of the Spirit in him. I mentioned the book, God is My Co-Pilot. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and was asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I believe in forgiveness. I tried the best of my ability to be humble throughout life,” he replied. I asked what the likelihood was he would go to Heaven. He said, “I don’t know I don’t think there is a way to know.” He said he went to church when I asked. He said it was a Catholic Church. I began to go through the Gospel with him as he finished the bits of his lunch in the cafeteria at the table where we sat, half way in near the trashcans. I asked what God had done with Jesus to take away the sins of the world. “He was crucified,” Max replied, it came to him right away. As I explained that the blood of Jesus had cleansed him I said this was how God got paid. That Jesus blood was worth an infinite amount so it paid God back for the imperfect things we owed God for having done. When I said God got paid, he gave me a smirk and said that made sense. I explained the righteousness of God Christ had earned and, it was to his credit. “Like if you marry a millionaire you got a million bucks or if you get adopted by a billionaire you get to live in the mansion drive the cars and fly the planes” That got him to smile. God adopted him and gave him the blessings of his family, the sacrifice for his sins, blood that cleansed him and righteousness that surrounded him and then filled him with the Holy Spirit. I said then this was what was seen in the mass, the wafer was symbolic of His body and the wine His blood so it was commemorating Jesus had died for him and so he was forgiven. “So when you take it you should just say, ‘Thank You.’ I could tell looking him in the eyes then, he had not thought to do that.  I explained that this was received by faith and faith saved him, “Not that you just knew the story but that this is what you place your trust in to be forgiven. So if someone would ask you why should God let you into Heaven you should just say, ‘Because Jesus died for me.” I asked if he would want to be forgiven and explained the other options. In response he said something like, “I’d be there,” pointing at the circle with Christ on the throne. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through it asking if it was the desire of his heart and if it was he could pray it silently. “I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven.” He took the booklet then and prayed to receive Jesus and closed the booklet and set it to his left away from me. I told him he could keep it and he said, “Thank you.” I explained the Christian life “By the Spirit’s power living “Inside Out” and told him God could teach him how to fly a jet as I mentioned. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and forgiven on the inside. He really seemed grateful I also gave him a Bible study on the deity of Christ from the Old and New Testament showing him one example and I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet He shook my hand and thanked me again and I told him I would pray for him a Bible verse each day until Spring and one year after. I got up to go and he got up to toss out his trash. And I headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God blessed again.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today in steadfastness of Christ and the love of God. I had a good day on campus talking with students the last couple days though no one prayed to trust in Jesus. I’ve have had two days of going through the Bible with Christians. I know that’s part of what God would have me do. Hearing the Gospel to reinforces the faith of young Christians and shows them how they might go through the Gospel with others. Though I like it better when at least one person trusts In Christ and believes in Him as savior. 

Yesterday, Drake, a black student really understood he needed to trust in Christ alone to save him for the first time.  Because he had already been baptized he was inclined to think he’d been believing his moral goodness alone did not save him, but really wasn’t sure he’d been trusting in Jesus. But he was happy and trusting in Christ as we parted, finally getting it, and shook my hand warmly.  

Today, after going through salvation with a couple of Christians, I spent a couple hours with Josh who I pray for each night, answering questions and talking about life. He’s a heavy metal guitarist who’s been reading the Bible.

So thanks for your prayers to guide me.  I know God is doing as He wishes and I’m trusting there are still some yet to trust in the Good News of God’s word this semester.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your weekend has been blessed do far looking to the reward of eternal life. I had a good day yesterday on campus, Dailen prayed with me to receive Christ. Mark in the PE lounge said he would pray later when alone. He had brown hair swept to the side and looked a bit like Robert Urich, with a mustache only 5 o’clock shadow. He’d come into the conversation trusting in his works. I had a good week on campus as 6 students prayed to receive Jesus: Keith, Matthew, Julia, Jessica & Panos, also prayed. Dailen’s story is below if you have the time. Please pray these students grow in their faith.

Dailen was sitting at a counter height table in the hallway outside the entrance to the bookstore. The braids out of his afro came poking out from under a nylon cap and he had sharp features. He was African American and medium in build about like me. He had on a white hoodie with a beige splash design all over it and white sweats. He had a thin mustache and a goatee under his chin. He said he wanted to take care of his mom and pay her back, so I think he was from a one parent family. I asked him what he would say if he was hit by a bus and died, then stood before God and was asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” He mused with an, “I would say… that’s a good question.” Then he decided, “He should let me in because during my time I walked in His name. I tried to do everything I could to walk in His name.” He thought he had a 70% chance of getting into Heaven and he’d been to Church. I began to go through the Gospel with him saying knowing God was that He lived inside him by the Holy Spirit. I said he had to match God and be cleansed. The problem was everyone sinned. So God had to take away his sins to transfuse His life inside into and live inside him. I asked what Jesus had done to take away his sins. He struggled over the idea a bit and then said, “You tell me.” So I said God forgives him because he got paid and explained the atonement. God became a man. The Blood of Christ cleansed him and paid God back for what we had damaged in His world. I explained the righteousness of God and that he could be saved grace through faith. I finished explaining that his good stuff would not fix his bad stuff and asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done, then God would live in him and give him the strength he needed in life, or did he think something else giving him the cliff notes version of Islam’s god and the Buddha. Then I said again, “So would you want to be forgiven?” “I think I would,” he said in an affirmative tone. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked him through it and asked if it was the desire of his heart. He said it was and so I said he could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “Wanna do it?” I asked. “I will,” he said and took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ after I said, “Just pretend I’m not here.” I said he could keep the booklet and explained the Christian life living inside out by the Spirit’s Power. He had a Bible so I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and forgiven in the front. I gave it to him and he said, “Thank you.” I explained, now trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus, both worth and infinite amount, he could be sure his sins were paid for and he was forgiven. I told him I, being old, had sinned way more than him. But we’d both be let in. I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day from now until Spring and one year after. “I might not be able to picture your face too well by this time next year but I’ll still be praying for ya.” He smiled at that. I got up to go and said, “See you in heaven you can tell me how it all went down and what you did for your mom.” “For sure,” he replied. I headed off around the bend to sit on the floor in a way that stretched my sciatica and helped my stitches.

So Thanks for your prayers for the ministry last week and evangelism Thursday if you had a chance, God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

 I hope you day was blessed today and you were encouraged in love. I had a couple brothers come up to me on campus and encourage me and Jessica and Panos each prayed with me to receive Jesus. That was a great blessing too. There stories are below if you have some time. Please pray they grow in their faith.

Jessica was up on the third floor BIC building sitting in a lounge with some vending machines in it. It looks down on an atrium. She had Latina coloring and was pretty with a sharp jaw line, had a piercing in her left eyebrow. She wore a shrink top and high wasted jeans. When I asked her what she would say to God if she died and were asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” she replied, “I feel I’m a good person.” She thought she had a 60-70% chance of going to Heaven and went to church every week. I began to go through the Gospel with her and said knowing God meant He lived inside her. This was eternal life. I asked what Jesus had done to take away her sins so he could live in her. She could not think of anything so I said something like, “Well, this is how it works.” I explained the cross as the cleansing and payment for her sins. “So now you are alive inside and God can live inside you.” I explained the righteousness Jesus had earned and then she glanced at her phone so I knew she had very little time. I said God adopted her and skipped a couple summary sentences and said she could receive this by faith in that Jesus was God, He died for her sins and rose from the dead. Not that she just knew the story but that she put her trust in this so that if someone would say to her, “Why should God let you into Heaven?” you’d say, “Because Jesus died for me.” I asked if she’d want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done, then he would live inside her giving her strength by the Spirit and she’d know she was going to Heaven or thought something else, quickly explaining Islam as an example of a different God. “That one,” she said pointing at the circle with Jesus inside her. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray. I began to explain it and asked if it was the desire of her heart. “Yes, I’m praying it right now,” she said so I shut up and she said “Amen.” I explained a life “By the Spirit’s Power” living “Inside Out”. I quickly gave her Bible Promises for You. I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside and said I would pray a Bible Verse for her until next Spring and one year after. “Thank you,” she said as she got up to go and I said, “God bless you,” and she headed out. A girl who was sitting about 8 feet from me jumped up to invite her to a Bible Study at the entrance but Jessica had to run. The girl was Christine who was a lifelong Christian but just starting to discover things in the Bible.  So I taught her some cool stuff, accidentally making her late by quite a bit for her Bible Study it turned out,. Fortunately, her teacher was a campus worker I knew who forgave me. She later emailed me (I imagine getting my email off the Bible Study I had given Christine) to say she was praying for me.

I had an older Indian gentleman want to pray over me in the hallway who I had met before, so he did. Later, a late 20’s black veteran, David, stopped me in the hallway after saying, “hi” at the sink in the washroom. He was encouraging me to keep after my calling and gave me a hug. Cool dude thin dude taller than me with a mustache and goatee and braids out of squared blocks on his head. I was grateful so I guess God thought I needed some encouragement.

Finally at the end of the day I met Panos. He was sitting just past the glass fire doors out of the hallway along the construction out of the SSC building. He was sitting in a big chair and I at first squatted beside him but that wasn’t working for my stiches so I pulled a chair like his over to sit on the arm. He had tight curls of sandy colored hair, a mop on top short on the sides and a rounded nose, block chin, clean shaven. I looked at some old Greek sculptures but I was wrong to think he looked like one. He had on a hoodie, dark blue or near black and white cargo pants. I asked him one thing he’s like to do before he died. “Be saved before I die,” he replied. I asked him what he’d say to God to get into Heaven, “You shouldn’t,” he replied. “Is there a but in there anywhere? I asked. “That depends on each person,” he replied. “I haven’t repented yet.” I asked the likelihood he would go to Heaven when he died. “Not likely,” he said sticking to his position. I explained to him also that God had to take away his sin to live inside him. “So what’s the thing Jesus does to take away your sin?” I asked. “He forgives you?” he said. I said it was true God forgives but the reason He does is because He gets paid. “The Bible says if you confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. God is just to forgive you because there was a payment for your sins.” I went on to explain the means of Christ’s blood to cleanse us of sin and make a payment to God. He gave verbal expressions of acceptance all the way through each point of the atonement and the righteousness Christ earned to His credit and that God wanted to adopt him. I said all this done for him could be had if he received Christ and then he’d be saved by grace through faith. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven trusting in Jesus so God could live inside him or thought something else. “Be forgiven,” he replied. I said there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it. I asked if it was the desire of his heart. “I’m praying it now, yeah” he said. And he finished with Amen. I said the likelihood he would now be forgiven was 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus and His blood. I said, “It matters who does the work. Say I meet a billionaire and he owns a soccer team. I say I always thought it would be fun to pay in a soccer game. He says, ‘Well my team sucks there’s one game left and I’m going to fire everybody after so you can play for me.” So I play a game for fun and my reward would be I got to play in a professional soccer game. But if they brought in a real player to play for the day they might have to pay him thousands of dollars. It matters who does the work. Jesus is God so when he does the work it’s worth an infinite amount.” He got it. I explained living “By the Spirit’s Power Inside Out” and I gave him Bible Promises for You I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. “Thank you,” he said as I handed it to him. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible Study I explained also. I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day from now until Spring and one year after. I got up to go and he said, “Thanks I appreciate it, have a good one.” “Yeah, thanks for your time,” I replied. He said Sure.” And I headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism toady if you had a moment. God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was filled with grace and peace. I had a good day on campus. Julia prayed with me to receive Jesus today so that was great. Please pray she rows in her faith. I’m grateful for your help. Her story is below if you have some time.

Julia was sitting on one of the ledges that overlook the big science lounge that joins the buildings. She had mostly blonde long wavy hair and was wearing a powder blue hoodie and grey sweats. She had sharp pretty features, a narrow face, looked sweet and kind. I asked her to describe herself and she said, kind and hardworking and loyal. She later said she wanted to become a dentist but one thing she wanted to do before she died was have kids. I asked her, if she got hit by a bus, and she died what she would say to God if He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Oh my gosh!” she replied, and then a “hmm.” “I’ve been pretty loyal to Him as well,” she replied. I go to Church every Sunday. She thought she had a 90% chance of going to Heaven. I told her knowing God meant He lived inside her and this would give her eternal life. First however He had to take away her sin. I asked her What God had done “to take away your sins?” “Confession?” she said. “Well, the priest says you are forgiven but the reason he can do that is because he knows God got paid,” I replied. “This is how it works. I began to explain that we owed God a perfect life, but we could not be perfect. So Jesus had died after living a perfect life for us and His blood cleansed her and “When He pours out his blood it pays God back for all the imperfect things we’ve done that we owe God something perfect for,” to pay Him for wrecking damaging what belonged to Him. So the real reason God forgives you is “He got paid,” but He had to pay Himself. I explained the righteousness Jesus earned to her credit and this was hers when God adopted her and made her His child. I said this was the symbolism behind the mass, the wine symbolic of His blood the wafer symbolic of His body, it was reminding her He had died and so she was forgiven, “So when you take it you should just say, Thank You.”  I explained the rest then that this was hers when she believed. “Not that you just knew the story but that that’s what you put your trust in to be forgiven so if someone asked you “Why should God let you into Heaven you’d say because Jesus died for me, I’m trusting in that.” And I explained how her good stuff could not fix her bad stuff. I asked then if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done for her, so He could live inside her, then she would know she was forgiven. “Like when you are praying for forgiveness for your sins. Are you thinking you would be forgiven because you were doing good things? Or did you know you would be forgiven because Jesus died for you?” She seemed caught up thinking about that so I said, “If you wanted to be forgiven and you had not asked God before there is a prayer you could pray.” I explained the prayer and asked, “It says here is this prayer the desire of you heart? So if you thought it did you could pray it silently right now, I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven. Wanna do it?” “Sure,” she said. I said, “Just pretend I’m not here.” She chuckled at that since I had been kneeling on the floor beside her in the way of everything looking down at the booklet. Then she prayed to receive Jesus. When she finished she handed me back the booklet and said, “Thank you.” I said she could keep the booklet and she said, “Oh,” in a pleased kind of way. I explained living the Christian life to her praying, reading and confessing and living by the Power of the Holy Spirit who would help her in everything she wanted to do if she asked. He could help her do well in school. I explained living “Inside Out”. I said that now the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the righteousness and blood of Jesus. I would be forgiven too though being old I had sinned way more than her. She smiled at that. “Thank you so much,” She replied. I told her I would pray for her each day and put her on a list and pray for her until the Spring and one year after, and that I had just bumped into a girl, Neeha, who had prayed to receive Jesus last year who I was still praying for. “Oh,” she said like she was happy to hear that. I gave her Bible Promises for You and I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and she appreciated that. I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet told her Strobel’s story and said she might have time to read it at Christmas break. I also gave her a Bible study. We both said, “Have a good one,” at the same time as I got up to go. Then I said, “God bless you.” “You as well.” She replied and I headed off around the corner.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brother is Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with good things from above walking with the Lord. I had a good day on campus though still a bit sore and worn and Keith and Matthew each prayed with me to receive Jesus as their savior. Please pray they grow and faith and knowledge of God. Their stories are below if you have some time. Thanks for your help in prayer.

 Keith was sitting in the long hallway that heads toward the foyer near the bookstore.  He was a slightly built guy and short, had brown thin hair kind of swept around and black framed glasses for hard classes. He wore a grey hoodie and some polyester sweats of a different shade of grey. He was a nice guy, kind of pointed features, he looked like a guy who belonged in school. He said he went to church on major holidays but could not say what kind of church it was. I asked one thing he would want to do before he died and he said, “Start a family.” That response is a tell a guy will trust in Christ as I speak with them or will turn out to already be a Christian. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” I pondered repeating the question and then said, “I always tried to be a good person and to help others who were in need.” I said there was a Bible verse that said, “Engage in good deeds meet pressing needs” [Titus 3:14]. He thought he had a 50/50 chance of getting into Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he leaned forward to look at the booklet interested as I spoke. He periodically looked me in the eye seeming to be interested and engaged. I asked what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world and he knew he had sacrificed Himself. I continued to explain how the blood of Jesus had purified him and was the payment for his sins. I explained the righteousness of God and salvation by faith. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins, then God would live inside him and give him strength, or did he think something else. He looked at the options and said, “I’ll go with that one,” pointing to the circle with Jesus on the throne of his life. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I explained the prayer and then said, “It says here, ‘Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ would you say it does?” He said something like, “For the most part yes.”  I said he could pray it silently now and know he was forgiven. He said, “What time is it?” he quickly looked at his phone and then said, “I have time. I’ll do it. It can’t do me any harm; it can only do me good.” I agreed and he prayed then to receive Jesus. I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven! In the front and he seemed grateful. I explained then that trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness and His blood to forgive him the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I quickly gave him a Bible Study and The case for Christ Answer Booklet saying he might have time to look at some things later. He was grateful and said, “Have a good day.” As I got up to leave. I said “God bless you,” and headed off.

Matthew was sitting on the upper floor lounge of the PE building near the workout equipment. He was in a section of couches by himself and agreed to do a student survey. He had a mustache that like Michael Jordan, not thick. His hair was a mop top that was bangs in the front like the teeth of a comb. He had black rectangle glasses and was Latino in coloring but his features were Caucasian. He had on a black hoodie and wore grey sweats. I asked him what he would say to God if He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Maybe… let me think,” he began and then said, “I didn’t do nothing wrong and at the same time, everyone made mistakes. Maybe ask for forgiveness too.” He replied. He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. He said he went to church every week. I began to go through the Gospel with him saying that knowing God was that the Spirit of God lived inside you. The problem is that everyone sins. I read him the verses to say, sin kills you and God gives you life, so God can’t be in the same place as sin.  I explained like I nearly always do that it’s like a blood transfusion where a hospital matches your blood-type. “God wants to transfuse His life into you but first He has to make you his type so He takes away your sin then you are perfect and holy inside and you match God and God can live inside you. So what’s the thing Jesus does to take away the sins of the world?” He really tried hard to think about it. “What is it?” he was asking himself. It turned out he went to a Catholic church and so I said, “It’s is symbolized in the mass.” That did not help. He was probably trying to think of the word “reconciliation” that that did not pop into my head to say. Some students know the word but can’t tell you what it means. “I really do go to Church every week,” he said as he gave up. I said no worries and I said something like, “This is how it works.” I explained then that Jesus lived a perfect life for him, he could not live and then He was the infinite and perfect payment for his sin. The blood of Christ cleansed him from all sin. I inserted there then that it was symbolized in the mass that the wine was symbolic of Jesus blood and the wafer of His body. It was reminding him that Jesus had died for him so he should in taking it say, “Thank You.” I went on to explain the righteousness of God that Christ earned and this was to his credit given to him when God adopted him and made him his child. I said, “So how do you hook up with all that? The Bible says you believe it or receive it.” I quoted John 1:12 he had to believe Jesus was God, died for his sins and rose from the dead. “Not that you just kind of know the story from being a kid but that that’s what you put your trust in as an adult. So if someone would say to you, ‘Why should God let you into Heaven?’ you’d say, ‘Because Jesus died for me.’” I said, His good stuff would not fix his bad stuff. So I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or if he thought something else. “Forgiven,” he said. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked it through asking if it was the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he said definitively. I said he could pray it silently right now; I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “Wanna do it?” “Yeah,” he said with a touch of enthusiasm. He took the booklet then and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the likelihood he’d now go to Heaven, trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus, was 100%. He was grateful and thanked me. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “Forgiven!” on the inside. “Thank you,” he said again as I handed it to him. I gave him The case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible Study explaining it. I shook his hand and he said, “Nice to meet you.” “Nice to meet you too, so now when you go to church it’s all solid man.” He agreed. I told him I would pray for him and headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed the work.

In Him,

Bob