Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with all good things as the Lord promises to them that walk uprightly, so I’m praying God would make me upright. I had a good day on campus and talked mostly with Christians who enjoyed learning some new ways to talk about the Gospel, or wanted some advice. Alenka prayed to receive Jesus Wednesday. Her story in below if you want to take time to read it. Please pray she grows in her faith.

 Alenka was sitting on a counter height table on the second floor overlooking the lounge by the MAC Theatre. She was wearing a black and white plaid flannel shirt and black pants; she had rectangle black plastic rimmed glasses. She had a cleft chin and dark brown hair in a shag haircut, she had a kind sweet personality when I asked her 3 words to describe herself she said, “Little Quiet, changing, little hopeful.” She said she came from a Roman Catholic background and her family was originally from Slovakia but she had never been there. I said I’d never been to Sweden where my family was from, (at least more from there than anywhere else). I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I hope I was a good enough person.” I asked her what the likelihood was that she would go to Heaven when she died. “I don’t think that’s my place to say, He does that,” she replied. I agreed it would not seem like in the moment you could argue with God about it. I began to go through the Gospel with her saying God had to take away her sin. So like a blood transfusion, where you had to have the same kind of blood, God had to first make her His type so He could live inside her. I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sins, she said, “The Eucharist.” I said what he did was symbolized in that and I went on to explain how the blood of Jesus cleansed her and was how God got paid. The righteousness of Jesus was too her credit and I told her an analogy of extra credit in a class. Jesus earned the righteousness of God, which was to her credit when she was clothed with Jesus and the Father adopted her. “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 and drive the cars. So God adopts you into His family and he gives you the blessings of His family. He gives you the sacrifice for your sins, the blood that cleanses you and the righteousness of God that surrounds you and He fills you with His Holy Spirit. So you got some place to go, Heaven and something to wear when you get there, the righteousness of God.” She was bright and engaged the entire time and it was great to talk to her. I said that all this God had done for her. So how does she hook up with it to know she is going to Heaven? The Bible say you believe it or receive it. “As many as received Him to them he gave the right to become children of God. So you’re a child of God if you believe Jesus is God he died for my sins and rose from the dead. Not that you just know the story from growing up with it but that that’s what you place your trust in so that if someone asked you, ‘Why should God let you into Heaven?’ you’d say, ‘Because Jesus died for me.’ That would mean you had faith in Jesus.” Then the Bible says, “It’s by grace you are saved through faith, it’s not from yourselves it’s a gift from God and not by works so no one can boast.” So you should do good things to please God or you’d be a hypocrite but the good things that you do they wouldn’t fix your bad things. Like say you had a boyfriend for about 3 weeks. You thought he was pretty cool but then you found out he was cheating on you and stealing your stuff, so you cut him loose. Then he comes back in about a week and he says, “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 three girlfriends.” You’d be like, “that doesn’t help me at all, you can’t do good things over there to fix your bad things here.” But that’s how some people think it works but God says he has to turn your bad things into good things. It says in Romans 8:28 that all things work together for good for them that love God and are called according to His purposes. I asked her if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done so He could then live inside her to give her strength and bring her to Heaven when she died, or thought something else She said she’d want to be forgiven. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I talked her through it and asked if it expressed the desire of her heart. She agreed 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” I said.  “Maybe really quick,” she said meekly. She took the booklet and prayed then to receive Jesus. When she finished she looked at me and said, “Thank you.” I said, “You’re welcome.” I explained the Christian life to her then, Living “By the Spirit’s Power Inside Out.” I said I would pray a Bible verse for her each day from now until Spring and one year after, asking God to bless her. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I also gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study. I said, “You might disagree with me but I think now the likelihood you will go to Heaven is 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus.” She smiled. I got up to go and she said, “Thank you, you have really good analogies.” I thanked her again. And I headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism if you’ve had a chance, God really blessed this week and 7 students prayed to receive Jesus.

 In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with good things from above, like manna in the wilderness the snacks of Heaven. It’s too cold today to envy gathering any manna but I had a good day of evangelism on campus and Zach and Stepan (not a spelling error but related to a similar English version of Stephen) both prayed to receive Jesus. Their stories are below if ya got some time, please pray they grow in their faith. I also spoke with a Wheaton College student for a while at a table set up by The College Church in town (it’s not connected to the academic school at all it’s just across the street). The school had become so woke he said was thinking of a transfer out of it.

 Zach was sitting in a lounge at a table up on the 3^rd floor of the BIC. He had a grey poly long sleeve shirt on and black sweats. He was a lean well-built kid about my height, dark brown hair and a black ball cap turned backwards. He had a couple days growth of beard. Good-looking guy. He reached out and shook my hand as I sat down. He hadn’t been living the Christian life but seemed to know the Gospel a bit. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and God asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” He thought a while and finally said, “Probably say You shouldn’t. I was baptized as an infant and in the last years I’ve let it slip away from me. So my honest answer would be you shouldn’t.” “Yeah, no reason to lie,” I said. He agreed. He said he had gotten busy and he’d had a girlfriend, she seemed to be past tense. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he believed in Jesus and seemed to know Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world. I explained all of the Gospel I usually do and he tuned in following very closely. He seemed interested to hear the way I explained the blood that cleansed him and the righteousness of Christ to his credit. He took salvation by faith to heart and I asked him if he would want to trust in what Jesus had done for him or thought something else. “Definitely,” he replied. So I explained that if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and after talking him through it I asked if it was the desire of his heart. He said it was. I said he could pray it silently and he said taking the booklet, “Can I have this?” “Sure, but if you wanted you could pray right now and know you were forgiven,” I replied. “OK,” he said and prayed then to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to him about reading the Bible and he said, “A friend of mine at the gym said he was starting a Bible Study this week and I said I would come.” I was grateful to hear that and said that was “Great”. I said that the Christian life was “By the Spirit’s Power”. I continued saying, “Say you go to Church and they say, ‘you should do this you should do that’ and you are like, ‘This is great but I’m going to forget this by Wednesday.’ But if you wanted to you could ask God, ‘Make me this kind of man.’ Then if you forgot by Wednesday God is already at work.” I explained that Christianity was “Inside Out not outside in”. “You ask God to transform you on the inside you become a good man and God transforms you on the outside.” I gave him Bible Promises for You showing him some of the topics and writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and told him Strobel’s story. I also gave him a Bible study on ways Jesus claims to be the same God as the God of the Old Testament. I said the likelihood he would go to Heaven now was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day from now until a year from Spring asking God to bless him. We talked some more and I got up to go. He reached out and shook my hand and said, “Thank you. I appreciate you coming and sitting down and talking to me. Thank you for everything.” I said, “Your welcome.” And I headed off grateful.

 I came across Stepan sitting with his legs swung over a chair in a lounge on one of the arbor patios on the 1^st floor. He was up for doing a survey and I sat down next to him and he swung around to talk. He had an oval face like of the Pillsbury Dough Boy look. He wore clear rimmed classes semi round frames. He had on a white T-shirt and faded blue jeans. He had stick straight light brown hair the bangs were no more than an inch and pointed out. He had a bit of facial hair trying to make it, mustache and chin.  He was a kind nice person.  I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven if he died and he said, “You shouldn’t.” “Is there a ‘but’ in there or anything?” I asked. Well to me it’s mediocrity [the problem]. I don’t know if I’m worthy or what it takes.” He thought he had a 100% chance of going to Heaven nonetheless. He said J Cole (the rap artist) had a song “Snow on the Bluff”, where he said, “Well maybe ’cause deep down I know I ain’t doing enough.” He said it was about Cole thinking he thought he was trying but maybe he was not using his celebrity to do enough to change things socially. I read the lyrics on line when I got home and I think he’d gotten the point of the song. And when it comes to the message that you have to earn salvation, how would you know you had ever done enough with what God gave you? I began to go through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died. He would say, “OK” a couple times as I went through following along. We were alone in the lounge. I finished talking about the blood and righteousness of Christ cleansing him and paying for his sin and too his credit. “Makes sense,” he said. So I said all Jesus had done for him could be his by faith, believing Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead. Then I read that it was grace, he had been saved by faith. Not then by works, his good stuff could not fix his bad stuff. I explained that thinking it would was really a category error in logic, you can’t do a different kind of good thing unrelated to another and repair the bad you had done. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done. Then He would live inside him giving him strength and take him to Heaven when he died. Or did he think something else. He said he would want to be forgiven. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through it and asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. “I think it does,” he agreed. I said then he could pray it silently, I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “Wanna do it?” I asked. “Yeah,” he replied and he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life then to him, he had a Bible to read. I explained to him also living “By the Spirit’s Power” “Inside Out”. I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. He was grateful. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and told him a bit of Strobel’s story. I gave him a Bible study also. I said the likelihood he would go to Heaven now was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. I told him I would keep him in by prayers when I scribbled something down to remember him saying I’d pray a Bible verse for him each day until a year from Spring asking God to bless him and that I might not be able to picture him by this time next year but I’d try. “I’ll return the favor,” he replied and he wrote some notes in the booklet of what I looked like saying he’d pray for me and I thanked him as he noted I had blue eyes. His were grey. We talked about AI. He wanted to be an accountant. He said his dad drove a truck sometimes (an owner operator) and crossed state lines when I explained Ellen’s job. I finally got up to go and said, “Thanks for talking with me, it was really nice to meet you.” “Nice to meet you too Bob,” he said. “Have a good one.” I said, “You too,” and headed out.

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 Brothers in Christ,

I hope you were blessed so far today with life and peace. I had a good day on campus and James, Melody, Quami and Shaun each prayed to receive Jesus today. If you have a moment please pray they each grow in their faith in Christ. There stories are below if you have the time to spend.

 James was sitting in the east side of the science and Health buildings on a second-floor balcony at a table that overlooked the lounge dividing the two buildings. He was wearing khaki pants and a dark grey t-shirt. He had a rag mop of dark hair parted on the side making a wave across his forehead. Looked like he hadn’t showered in a couple days and had about 3 days’ worth of beard on his large oval face and was working on an extra chin, big guy. But if there’s not a pretty girl in your class who cares—at his age. It’s not uncommon for me to talk to a girl in the science building who looks like she just rolled out of bed and pulled on some sweats. I’d walked by him once but he’d looked like he was studying on a dark grey laptop. I asked if he’s like to do a student survey for a Bible Study group. He said he was going to a Bible Study on Thursday. “Oh is that Intervarsity?” I asked but that didn’t seem to sound familiar as he got a look on his face like he wasn’t sure so I said, “Would you like to hear the big metaphysical question to think about until Thursday or are ya busy?” “Sure,” he said in a friendly way. “Say you’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus, so you’re dead and you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “That’s a good question,” he replied. He said something about hoping he’d done enough. “Would you like to hear some Bible verses that tell you how to get to Heaven?” I asked. “Sure,” he said. So I began to go through the Gospel with him. I told him God took away his sins so he would be perfect and Holy inside and God could live inside him. I asked what God had done to take away his sins. “He forgives you,” he replied. I agreed and said, “What does he do so He can forgive you.” He couldn’t think of anything so I said, “What’s the big thing Jesus does to take away the sins of the world?” “Oh his sacrifice on the cross,” he replied. “Right. Sorry I didn’t ask the question right,” I said. He smiled and half laughed and said, “No problem.” I went on to explain the rest of the Gospel and he knew of course knew the atonement and so I explained Jesus’ blood cleansed us and was how God was paid so He could forgive us. I explained the righteousness of God to his credit and that God adopted him. He was saved receiving Christ, that he believed Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead, not that he just knew the story but that that’s what he places his trust in to be forgiven for his sins. And grace by faith. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done, then He would live inside him and give him strength by the Spirit and he’d know he was going to Heaven. “Or is God on the outside of your life?” I asked, and briefly explained Islam and the Buddha. Saying then, “So when you are asking for forgiveness for your sins are you thinking in your heart that you hope you’ve been good enough and God would forgive you? Or are you thinking I know I’ll be forgiven for my sin because Jesus died for me. I could tell you knew the story.” “Yeah, I was raised in the Catholic Church,” he put in. “So were you trusting in what Jesus had done or were you hoping you were good enough?” “Definitely the later,” he replied. “Well, if you’d want to be forgiven for your sins there’s a prayer you can pray,” I turned to the prayer and read through it saying what it meant. And asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. He said it did. So I said he could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d be forgiven. “Wanna do that?” I asked and he nodded and took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. I went through the Christian life with him and he had a Bible so I told him the Christian life was living “By the Spirit’s Power,” and gave him an example of asking God to change him on the Inside and then he would do good things on the outside. I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I gave him a Bible study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. “Well ya got a Bible study to go to so that’s cool I’ll pray a Bible verse for you each day until Spring and one year after asking for God to bless you” I said. I showed him the card with the survey on it and the question asking how likely he thought it was he’d go to Heaven and explained that now trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus it was 100%. He said “OK,” seemed please and I headed out.

 I came across Melody in the PE building on the ground floor of the lounge. She was pretty and had her curly/wavy hair in a very short boy’s haircut. She had on a black shrink top and plaid long pants. Though African American in coloring and accent, her features were Caucasian, small nose and a sharp jaw line. I had spoken with her before but it was only to quickly go through the Gospel and leave her with a booklet. She’d been sitting under the stairs by the bookstore last year but I had forgotten her. Now she was sitting at a table alone and said we’d talked and I’d given her a booklet and just the other day she had read it, “Now all I need to do is get a Bible,” she said. I said I had a couple Bibles and if she’d like one I would give her one. She picked the more compact of the two. I asked if she had prayed the prayer in the booklet. She didn’t seem to know what I had meant. So I said a couple things and then explained the prayer. She said she’d read it but she had not prayed it. I asked if she would want to pray it and she said, “Yes,” and she prayed to receive Christ. I waited wanting to make sure I spelled her name right and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I said I would pray for her each day until a year from Spring asking God to bless her. She thanked me and I went and sat down for a minute and wrote her name in Bible Promises for You and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and I went back and showed them to her, “Can I have this one?” she asked of the promise book and I said they were both for her. I also gave her a Bible study and said if I saw her I would wave she smiled and said “OK” and I headed upstairs.

Quami was on the second-floor sort of laying on his side (like the last super) on a couch wearing a grey hoodie and light grey sweats. His head was on his backpack looking at his phone. Good looking African American guy he had a square chin with a bit of a beard and a mustache.  His dockworker block nose had small raised bumps on the end of it. I couldn’t remember seeing on a nose before, but I’m always grateful for something on a face to help me remember someone. He had an afro stacked straight up 5 inches but the top of it ended in thin 4-inch braids. He didn’t look that tall but said he wanted to play in the NFL. I talked about a friend I knew who made the NFL and asked if he played corner. He said he did so I asked if he had hops and he smile a proud grin saying he did. I asked if he knew a guy had gone to school here for a year that played I the Super Bowl, he knew. I asked what he would say to God if he died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I’d be like, ‘I’m a great individual at heart and I followed your ways,’” he paused a moment and added, “And I didn’t commit any really big sins.” He thought he the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. He went to Church. I began to go through the Gospel with him then and he knew Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world. I explained how Jesus’ blood and righteousness had cleansed him quoting 1 John 1:7. “I understand,” he said. I also explained the righteousness of God and how because Jesus did the work it was worth an infinite amount because he was God. He would not go to Heaven because he was good but because Jesus was good and he was connected to him. I compared it to a Quarter Back who wasn’t really that good but had a great Offensive line and a great running back and they made him look good. “And guys to throw it to,” he added.” I agreed, “He could just throw it up and they would go get it.” “He’s got his people,” he replied. Right Jesus is all your people. He liked that and stretched back listening with a grin. I explained he had to receive Christ, to believe He was God and died for his sins and rose from the dead. Not Just knowing the story but putting his trust in that. I explained everything and asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus. “I want to be forgiven for my sins,” he replied. So I said there was a prayer he could pray and I began to read through and explain it and realizing he was praying it as I went I paused a bit after the phrases. So I asked if it was the desire of his heart and he said it was so I asked if he wanted to pray it silently. “I was reading it,” he replied. “OK, Amen?” Amen,” he confirmed. I fist bumped him. I went through the Christian life with him. He said he had an app on his phone to read the Bible and had one at his mom’s also. I explained living by the Spirit’s power. I gave him, Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “Forgiven!” on the inside. “For real,” he said seeing the word. “Yeah,” I said. “Things have been going… I needed some guidance,” he said. “That’s why God sent me along,” I replied. I said the likelihood he would now go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the Blood and Righteousness of Jesus. I asked if he liked to read and he said “I like to listen. I can see things too.” I told him he was what’s called an auditory learner so I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and said he could look for the author’s stuff on line. “I appreciate you so much,” he said as I got up to go. And I stood up and shook his hand and said “Thanks.”

 I cut across to the BIC building outside, rare to do in January. I sat and wrote some notes down and just down the second-floor hall I came across Shaun sitting on a row of chairs. An African American he had a nylon cap on and some thick braids coming down from under it. His black jeans had no knees left, he wore a hoodie and a T-shirt. He had a wiry build and looked a bit like Russell Brand in profile, from the front his nose was flatter, he had high cheek bones a more Caucasian mouth. Nice guy he said he wanted to buy his mom a house. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven. The question really made him think and he said, “It’s a bigger question than that,” he felt like the answer would be longer than the question, to clarify. Finally he said, “I’m not too sure. I pray to Him. And then we’ve all done some good and some bad. I just pray and ask God to forgive,” he finally concluded. He thought he would have an 80% chance of going to Heaven. It seemed like he used to go to Church regularly but now he went mostly on Holidays and then thinking about it he said he just went on Holidays. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he didn’t immediately know what Jesus had done to take away his sins. I explained all of the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins and the cleansing blood of Christ as a payment for what he had done. “Hum,” he responded listening. I explained this was how God got paid so He could forgive him. I told him about the righteousness Christ earned to his credit. God wanted to adopt him and that he needed to receive Christ to believe Jesus is God, died for his sins and rose from the dead. This was a gift of God’s grace by faith. His good stuff could not fix his bad stuff. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done or if he thought something else. “This one right here,” he replied pointing to the circle with Christ inside him on the throne of his life. “Well if you want to be forgiven there’s a prayer you can pray,” I said and explained the prayer talking him through it. I asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. “Umhum,” he replied. I said he could pray it silently. “Ok, can I keep this?” he paused and asked of the booklet. I said, “Sure,” and he prayed then to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to him then, he had a Bible and I said everything in the Christian life was “By the Spirit’s Power” and that Christianity was living inside out, first asking God to change him on the inside so he would do good on the outside and then in everything he should “Just Ask”. God would help him in all things. I told him that the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the Blood and Righteousness of Christ. I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I also gave him, The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible Study. I told him I would pray for him each day through Spring and one year after asking God to bless him. I told him I would see him in Heaven and he should look for me. “Ok it’s Bob right?” I said it was. Good to meet you,” I said. “Good to meet you too sir,” he replied and I headed off.

 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 Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day has been a good one walking in the Light as He is in the Light. 6 students received Christ this week. I had a good day on campus Thursday and Ryan prayed to receive Christ. Emily, the last person spoke to in the day said she wanted to be forgiven. She had brown hair an oval cute face, her oval eyes had eyeliner end commas for the illusion of an almond shape, wore a pretty white print blouse. Latina I believe. She’d turned over her phone to ignore texts, (which turned out to be from her ride) for a few minutes so I could finish and asked if she could pray at home. I said, “Sure,” and gave her Bible Promises for You. So hopefully she will pray and I’ll bump into her again to find out she did. If you have a moment to pray two would be drawn closer to God I’d appreciate it.

Ryan was on the top floor of the PE lounge his back to a half wall separating out the equipment area. He had a reddish-brown beard and a collared shirt shaggy short hair and looked mature; a bit older than the usual student. He said he’d seen me around since last year but lately he had been trying to take faith seriously. It seemed this was provoked by encouragement from a girl with whom he was now serious. He had a lot of enthusiasm for the church he attended and the pastor. But Ryan had a works righteousness faith, which would be in keeping with what a friend I have who attended there in high school says it the basic message. A couple years back I had attended his Church, a large one west of my house by at least 30 minutes by car. The pastor there had offered a relationship with God never once explaining the atonement in any way. Neither the cross nor sin was mentioned or even Christ rising from the dead. It was announced 30 people had raised their hand to come to Christ at the end of the service in response. So I was not surprised Ryan was not saved. He hoped he’d be more likely to go to Heaven when he became more consistent in religious activates and knowledge for a longer period of time. He had kind of a weighted idea of how he’d hope to be judged that God would look more at his recent efforts. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and was asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” He said, “Umm, probably at this point—very recently I’ve started to become more religious—I’d hope that he would judge on recent events more than everything [from the past].” He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven when I asked. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world. So I explained that Jesus blood cleansed him and was a payment to God for all he owed. Jesus earned the righteousness of Christ and this was to his credit if God adopted him. All Christ had done could be his along with the Holy Spirit living in Him if he received Christ. He must believe Jesus was God, had died for his sins and rose from the dead. But not that he just knew the story but that he placed his trust in that to be forgiven. So if someone would ask him, “Why should God let you into Heaven?” he’d say, “Because Jesus died for me.” He asked me a question or two as I went through and I answered those questions too as he ate a late lunch. Finally I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. “Be forgiven, that one,” he said about the circle on the right. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I walked him through asking if it expressed the desire of his heart. He said it did and nodded his head. So I said he could pray it silently and he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to Him “By the Spirit’s Power” and living “Inside Out”. I answered some other questions for him about the faith of the Jews in the Old Testament. I taught him a bit and I gave him Bible Promises for You I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet; he had never heard of Strobel. I also gave him a Bible study. We talked quite a while but I never criticized his Church as it seemed to have some aspects he thought would be good for a life of fellowship. I don’t criticize Churches as I believe people can grow in an unhealthy Church and the Spirit will lead them elsewhere in His time, if need be. Students are so spread out that I wouldn’t know what church to send them too anyway and I often do not know where they live. I told him I would pray for him through next Spring and one year after. I explained to Ryan that now trusting in the Blood of Jesus and His righteousness imputed to him the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I got up to go and he looked me in the eye and said, “Thank you.” I said “Sure.” And I headed off down the stairs.

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

 In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was filled with Joy and you could Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; [Psa. 3 7:7] I had a good day on campus and Cody, Nyla and Anthony each prayed with me to receive Jesus. So that was great. I also went through the Gospel very fast with Trevor [oval face, black ball cap, smooth shaven, slight guy with braces on his teeth). He had almost no time before class and had talked with someone at a table. I slipped the question in on him and in reply he had a works righteousness thing going on. He said he’d go to Heaven by keeping the Commandments. “Have you ever told a lie?” I asked. “Yeah,” he replied. “Then you broke the commandment not to bear false witness against your neighbor,” I replied with a smile. I said God wanted to live inside him with His Spirit. I then took a booklet saying I could very quick show him some verses, so very fast touched on the points and showed him a prayer he could pray. “Thanks for going fast,” he replied and I said sure and headed off. I’ll pray for him some and hope to bump into him again.  I’d be grateful for your prayers to bless them and ask God to help them grow in faith. Their stories are below if you have some time.

 Cody is African American and was sitting in the PE lounge on the upper floor at a table by himself, his back to the wall holding a window looking out to the pool. He had on a black hoodie and light grey sweats with a black stripe up the sides. His hair was in tight ringlets about 5 inches long about as wide as the end of a Q-tip. He his nose was something of a flat triangle not very wide, he was shorter and his smaller face had sharp edges, good looking guy. His mustache and bit of chin beard were giving it a try. When I asked him one thing he wanted to do before he died he said, “Have a family.” which is the telling response that always means someone will pray to receive Jesus. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and was asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Ahh…” he said thinking. “Right now would be, I don’t think I’d be worthy of going. I guess [it depends on] how I did, I did with my life. Then go from there.” I asked him the likelihood he would get into Heaven, a %. “I wouldn’t really know. I don’t know I hope that I do.” He listened closely to the Gospel. I explained God had to take away his sins so He could live inside him and he knew Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world. I went on to explain the atonement that he knew and the Righteousness to His credit. He had to receive Him, to believe Jesus is God he died for his sins and rose from the dead. Not that he just knew the story but that he placed his trust in that to be forgiven and then if someone would say, “Why should God let you into Heaven?” he’d say, “Because Jesus died for me.” That is faith in Jesus. He could be saved by faith. I asked if he wanted to trust in what Jesus had done to be forgiven or did he think something else. “Be forgiven,” he said. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through it and asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. He nodded. I said he could pray it quietly and I wouldn’t hear him but God would. He had a thought that distracted him for half a second. I asked if he’d want to do it. “Do what?” he asked coming out of a split-second muse. “Pray this prayer” I said. “Oh. Yeah,” he replied and he prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to him living, “By the Spirit’s Power.” And that Christianity was living “Inside Out not Outside in” where he could ask God to change him not only forgive him. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front explaining one day he could explain the promises to his kids and showed him some examples. I gave him a Bible study on some ways Jesus claims to be the God of the Old Testament and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet explaining Strobel’s story. I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day from now until the end of the Spring and one year after asking God to bless him. “See you in Heaven,” I said getting up to go. “I’ll see you there,” he replied. “Be like hey you old man how’s it going,” I said and he laughed. “Thank you,” he said seriously and I said, “Sure,” and headed off.

 I bumped into Nyla sitting in a row of chairs that is along the stairway going up from the foyer in front of the cafeteria. She was a cute black girl with clear plastic glasses in the larger half circle style now popular. She had classic full lips of an African American and her face was a bit rounded she had straightened hair pulled back. She wore a light grey Nike fleece zipped up the front with a black stripe down the side. She wore jeans. When I asked her one thing she wanted to do before she died she thought for a bit and said she wanted to have a family. “I want to have kids, part of me that’s left behind.” I asked her what she would say to God if she died and were asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “That’s a good question too,” she replied. Then thinking a bit she said, “If I’m going to be honest I wouldn’t know how to answer. I just went to my first Bible study today. I submitted my life to God so I would hope because I began.” “Because you got started?” I asked. “Yeah,” she replied. (It turned out I knew the Bible Study she had gone to and the guy who taught it was an evangelical that stuck to the Bible.) I began to explain that God loved her and knowing God, and Jesus was eternal life. I asked if she knew what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world. She could not think of anything. So I began to explain the blood and righteousness of Christ for her and the payment made for her sins. When I had told her all of the Gospel I asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done for her or thought something else. “Yeah,” she said she did want to be forgiven. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I talked her through it. I asked if it expressed the desire of her heart, “Yeah,” in a frank matter of fact way she said again. So I said she could pray it silently and she nodded and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I began to explain the Christian life to her asking her if she had a Bible. “No,” she said. “Would you like one?” “Yeah,” she said. So I got out a Bible and explained some of the study helps and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave it to her. “Thank you,” she said. “This has been such a strange day. The Bible Study was so last minute but I went, and now I’m getting a Bible and didn’t have to purchase one.” She broke down a bit then and was starting to cry. “I’m sorry to be emotional,” she said. “That’s fine,” I said. That’s joy knowing God is taking care of you.” She nodded. I went through the rest of the Christian life explaining that everything is “By the Spirit’s Power.” And I explained living “Inside Out.” I gave her Bible Promises for You and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet explaining Strobel’s story a bit. I also gave her a Bible study. “Thank you so much, I really appreciate that,” she said about everything. I said the likelihood she would not go to Heaven was 100% and that as soon as she told God she believed His Spirit entered her and sealed her. I got up to go and I told her I would pray for her each day until Spring and one year after asking God to bless her. She was grateful. I bumped into her again a bit later and she was happy and I said I’m praying for you already and she lit up with a big smile.

 Anthony was down around the corner sitting alone in a big chair with a round ottoman in front of it. He was formerly Orthodox. He was wearing an oversized black t-shirt and black shorts. He had a decent sized cross around his neck and behind it was a trident on another chain. He had good looking feature, clean shaven with a solid jaw line. He had rings of curls that would wrap around a pinky finger in a mop in front of his face. He looked Greek; he was on the shorter side kind of a square build. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and were asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I always made sure to treat people with respect, how I wanted to be treated.” I said that that was in the Bible and is called the Golden rule [Matthew 7:12]. I asked the likelihood he would go to Heaven when he died and he said after thinking a bit uncomfortably, “I’m going with 65% being honest.” I went through the Gospel with him. I asked him what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world and he knew Jesus had died on the cross. I couldn’t tell if the word was taking root and I was tired so I prayed as I went. Finally after finishing with the Gospel turned to the two circles one with Christ on the throne of your life and living inside you and the other with Christ outside your life asking if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Christ has done so the Spirit could live inside him and give him strength or if he thought something else mentioning Islam and Buddhism. “That first one,” he replied. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and after reading him through it I asked if it was the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he replied. I said, “If you wanted then you could pray it silently, I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven, wanna do it?” “Sure,” he said. And he prayed to receive Jesus. I told him then the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I gave him I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible Study explaining it a bit. I asked about the trident, he said he had planned to join the Navy but now had decided to be a Marine. He’d already tested and score high enough to be an MP so he was up for heading into the breach in June. I shook his hand and said I respected him for that. Seemed like he wanted to be a cop when he got out so we talked a little about it. I showed him stuff in the promise book that could help him in “Basic Training” and give him strength all the way through and I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day until Spring and one year after so he’d know someone was praying for him. He was grateful and I said I’d see him around and we fist bumped and I was off. I passed him in the hall later and we fist bumped as we passed each other he now with the strength inside that would make for a Marine.

 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 Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking with God in the Spirit.  I had a good day on campus and went through the gospel with an atheist, Jordan, a huge back dude (on the fat side a bit but just big) with a beard who wasn’t a student at school but was willing to hear what the Bible said was the way you got into Heaven. He’d been through some dark days and he felt like God had not shown Himself to him and he’d lost faith. He took the booklet I’d gone through with him and The Case for Christ Answer Book. I also went through the Gospel with 2 Muslims as well with no apparent effect. But Gabe prayed to receive Christ today so that was great. His story is below if you have a moment. Please pray he grows in his faith.

 Gabe was sitting at the far end of the hallway from Bookstore that ends at what might have been the frame for fire doors, at one time. He said he’d do a survey. He had a mop of curls and wore wire frame glasses; he had a smaller mouth with a ready smile. He had on a dark sweatshirt and jeans, had a firm jaw line, friendly guy. I asked him what he would say to God if he’d died and were asked by Him, “Why should I let you into Heaven. He thought a second and said, “I mean, like, I’ve tried serving my life to what was right and righteous to show what a perfect human was. It’s in your hands because you know all really. He knows my sins.” I asked him the likelihood he would go to heaven. He thought it was 100% but qualified that saying, “I don’t have malice in my heart, I sin… [but] I do my best to follow the path of God. Everyone deserves to be in Heaven, or [at least] everyone has a chance to be saved.” He went to a Catholic Church and thought he wanted to be a teacher. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he followed closely and seemed interested in it all the way through. When I asked him what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world he said, “Sacrifice.” So, agreeing, I explained the Jesus had lived a perfect life and because he was God His life and blood were worth an infinite amount. When He poured out His blood it paid God back for all the imperfect things we had done that we owe God something perfect for. I said this was like the symbolism in the Mass. The wafer is his body and the wine His blood. I explained Jesus gave His righteous to us. I completed all I say in explaining the Gospel. I asked, “Which kind of person would you say you are or want to be?” I explained the two circles in the booklet one was trusting in what Jesus had done and other religions had God on the outside of your life or for Buddhists God was in everything and the world was an illusion. I then said, “So when you are asking for forgiveness for your sins have you thought, I’m a good person and God will see that and forgive me or have you been thinking I know I’ll be forgiven because Jesus died for me? I know you knew the story but had you placed your trust in that to be forgiven?” “I was trusting I was good and he’d forgive me,” he replied. “Well, if you would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done there’s a prayer you could pray,” and I walked him through it and said, reading, “Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?” He said it did so I said if he wanted to then he could pray it silently and know he was forgiven, “I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven.” “Ok,” he said and he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I went on to tell him about living the Christian life “By the Spirit’s power” I said, “Christianity is inside out not outside in. Other religions you do good things on the outside and God is pleased with you and take you to heaven or the Universe is pleased with you and you don’t come back as a cow or something, that’s not true anyway. But in Christianity you ask God to transform you and you become a good man on the inside and then you do good things on the outside because God has transformed you and made you good.” 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 Book and a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ. I told him I would pray for him each day until Spring and one year after, “I don’t know if I’ll see you again but I’ll be praying for ya.” He was grateful. I told him about ICR saying there was some stuff he could pick up there to teach to kids. Joe Rogan, Mel Gibson, and the Science They Missed | Expert Reacts

“Well I’ve taken enough of your time,” I said. “It’s all good,” he said cheerfully. And we shook hands. “God bless you,” I said. “God bless you too,” he replied and said thanks and I headed off.

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

 In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today and you were able to rest in Christ loving God with all your soul. I had a good day on campus.  Kiyla prayed to receive Jesus today and Ian prayed and rededicated his life to Christ having lapsed into an immoral life. We prayed again together as I left him after having giving him a lot of guidance. Ian’s a smallish guy sharp jaw line and angular jaw with a small square under chin beard. He was wearing a Blackhawk cap and a hoodie.  I had long talks answering questions for several Christian students also. I was able to go through the Gospel with 7 people; a couple had not understood the Gospel before though they did not believe. Jacob an oval faced sort of chinless dude in a grey knit watch cap and Emily, who’s face looked like actress Megan Fox (when young though Emily’s blonde and blue eyed) but both seemed interested. Emily thought it would be nice to have someone over her watching out for her and thanked me for explaining everything so clearly but was unsure wanting to think more about it. She said she had not been a religious person and now only went to church on holidays having been in Catholic school through 2^nd grade. Thanks for your prayers, please pray those I spoke with today would grow in their faith or will turn to the Lord.

 Kiyal was an African American young woman, her nose small and lips thinner than the stereotype for her race. She was sitting at the counter in the cafeteria looking out the window. She had an attractive diamond shaped face and her back hair was straightened and fell several inches past her shoulder. She wore a black sweatshirt with white printing on it (I never got the angle to read) and blue jeans. She said she went to church regularly. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and God asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I’m really trying,” she quickly replied. She thought she had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven saying, “I have my moments” I asked if the moments were good or bad and she said, “Mainly good.”  I began to go through the Gospel with her and she knew John 3:16. When I asked her what the big thing Jesus had done to “take away or pay for her sins” so God could live inside her she said, “He forgives?” I asked what He had done so He could forgive her but she could not think of anything. She tuned right into the Gospel as I began and said affirming words throughout as I explained Christ’s blood and righteousness to save her. I asked finally if she would want to be forgiven with God living inside her and giving her strength or if she thought something else. I then explained Islam and Buddhism. She said her grandfather had been a Buddhist and she had gone to the memorial service in a Temple and had a very bad feeling there.  I asked again if she would want to be forgiven, “I would,” she replied. I asked if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and talked her through it and asked if it expressed the desire of her heart. “Hmhum,” she replied. I said she could pray it silently and she said, “OK,” and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to her, “By the Spirit’s power.” I told her everything in Christianity was “Just Ask” and that God wanted to help and guide her in everything. I told her now trusting in the Blood and Righteousness of Jesus the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside of Bible promises for you. I also gave her a Bible Study on some ways Jesus claims to be the God of the Old Testament in the New Testament. I gave her Lee Strobel’s book, The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told her I would pray for her through Spring and one year after asking God to bless her. “Nice meeting you Bob, “she said as I got up to go. “Thank you.” I thanked her for talking with me and headed off.

 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 Brothers in Christ,

I hope your Holiday season has been a blessing so far. With thankful hearts we are grateful for fruit at College of DuPage. We’ve had a good year on campus and 96 students have prayed with me to receive Jesus this semester. I thought I would send a list of some things I often say to students, in case they come up for you in seeing people over the Holidays. So here are a few:

>We have a different God than the god of Islam. God is called Allah in the Arabic-speaking Middle East, regardless of the faith. But just like you might know a guy named “Alex” and a girl named “Alex” who are obviously not the same person, they are not to be confused because they share a name. I often say: 1) The god of Islam does not live inside you (His Spirit is in the world but not known by you, indwelling you). 2) He is not a father, because he didn’t have a son. 3) Allah of Islam requires no sacrifice for sin. So Islam has a different god. Several years back, Wheaton College seemed to have a controversy over this when one of the professor’s said Christians have the same God as Islam. Other professors said the question was “complicated.” But the answer is actually quite simple; they have a different god.

>Quick, imperfect definition of the Trinity: We are in parts, or plural beings (see the words in blue): Mark 12:30 “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.”  I will tell students, You are something like a Trinity in that there are parts to you.  When you talk to yourself when you are alone, who is listening to you, who are talking to you? There is another you inside you. You are a plural being, a life or a “soul.” You have a body—your soul and strength—like Jesus. You have a will or a mind, like the Father. You have a heart or emotions, like the Holy Spirit. Though the pieces of you are not complete in each of the others as in God. So you are kind of like a dysfunctional trinity inasmuch as someone could say something rude to you and it could affect your ability to concentrate, your emotions or heart upsetting your mind. Or you could get injured and become upset from the pain, your body affecting your heart. But God is a complete Trinity; 3 in one, where He loved Himself and was in agreement within Himself. The Scripture says God is love. The god of Islam cannot be love from eternity past as before he created he could not love. Love is an action acted upon another. The Christian God loves Himself, loves the other persons of the Trinity. Allah is alone.

>Students have said to me they feel like they already have a relationship with God after I explain the Gospel (and then ask if they want to be forgiven for their sins). So I’ll say, “I’m not asking you if you “have” a relationship with God. Everyone does because He is your creator (Offspring, Acts 17:28). I am asking if you want to be “in” a relationship with God, where He lives inside you (knows you John 17:3) and is your Savior. In the Old Testament the Spirit came “on” people not “in” people. Because their sins were not paid for yet, God could not truly be one with them.  John 14:17 “…that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you.” As soon as you believe, the Spirit enters you and seals you (Ephesians 1:13). But David feared to lose God’s Spirit (Psalm 51:11).

>Some quick thoughts about evolution. 1)Michael Behe once said in an interview, “Darwin thought the cell was as complex as a jellybean with a ball bearing in the middle of it. We now know one cell is as complex as the city of NY at rush hour.” We each have 30-40 trillion cells in us. The body is too complex to have evolved. Because every set of human parents pass on between 60 to 200 mutations to their offspring, scientists can know by approximating the number of total mutations in the human body, and working backward, that the human genome is about 10,000 to 6,500 years old. It can be demonstrated through Mitochondrial Eve genetics that all women alive today inherited their mitochondrial DNA from a common single ancestor. All women are related to one original woman. Similarly, science has discovered Y- chromosomal Adam. He is the male from whom all living men are descended. Scientists would maintain that there were other humans who existed at the same time, but have no genetic evidence this was true. So it is scientifically justifiable to say everyone came from Adam and Eve. Darwin could not pass a Junior High Science test and knew little science.  2) They now find soft tissue they did not look for before in dinosaur bones and find fragments of DNA in this tissue. These bones are dated sometimes to millions of years ago based on the rock level they find them in. But DNA will only last 15,000 years in lab tests. So we know they have wrongly dated bones in over 100 examples they have found.

>The Bible says God remembers your sins no more. The Bible always teaches God knows all things and that we are sinful; such that even the good things we do have no value (Isaiah 64:6). So how does God remember us if so much of what we do involves sin? The Bible also teaches “All thing work together for good.” So God does not remember us as the evil we did, but as the good He made out of it.

>It matters who does the work. Say I somehow become friends with a billionaire and it turns out he owns a baseball team.  I say to him, “You know I’ve always thought it would be great to play baseball but I’m not any good at it.” “Well, it’s your lucky day,” he replies. “I own the worst team in the league and the last game is this weekend. I don’t care if we win or lose the game. We already got the top draft pick. I’ll stick you in left field. You might not see a fly ball but it doesn’t matter if do and you catch it. You can have an at-bat but it’s an American League game and we can use a designated hitter.” So sure enough I play. What’s my reward for playing in that game? It’s just that I actually got to put on a uniform and stand in the field. But if they were bringing a guy in who was a free-agent after being injured and just wanted to see him pitch under pressure for an inning, to see if they would sign him in the Spring, they’d probably have to pay him a hundred-thousand dollars. They’d pay the pitcher more because it matters who does the work. Jesus does the work to earn God’s righteousness for us, so the work is worth an infinite amount because He is God.

>I’ll tell a student to look down the hallway and look at the carpet line or look out the window and look at the line on the horizon, then to pretend that is eternity. But your life here on earth is only as long as the white edge of my fingernail. This life can be hard, but the next life will be worth it if we trust in Him here.

>Muhammad had said Muslims were to read the “Injil”—this was the Arabic name for the Gospels. They should then check it against what Muhammad said. We have the entire New Testament in Greek fragments by 350 AD and some from quotes of the Church Fathers, so they used them. I point out Muhammad’s time was in the 600’s, so the Gospel he recommended to his followers to read was the same one we read. Muhammad’s story did not match the New Testament they read when he was alive.

>The entire book of Mormon took place in North Central & South America by 300AD. In the stories in the book of Mormon there are wheels, chariots, horses, barley for making beer and metallurgy for swords and coins—but we know none of these things existed on this continent until the Spanish (Columbus then Cortez) came to the Americas more than 1,000 years later. Mormons own a mountain in NY where a battle that killed a million people took place in their book. But there are no bones on it. Basically the book was made up.

These are the names of the students who prayed with me to receive Jesus or in a couple cases said they would pray later and I bumped into them and they said they did pray. We’d be grateful if you might mention them in prayer and ask God to bless them.

David, Jonah, Skylar, Rosslyn, Phil, John, Erick, Lilly, Erick, Matt, Sergio, Jaydi, Brandon, Adrian, Lauren, Camille, Ella, Madi, AJ, Charles, Jomally, Ellie, Madison, Odalys, Jess*, Rebecca, India, Jorie, Markail, Monse, Ethan, Kevin, Kai, Alijana, Michael, Adam, Rita, Arielle, Samantha, Michael, Josh, Reanne, Danielle, Marisa, Tamara, Annette, Ellis, Savannah, Lena, Joseph, Kaycee, Alexa, Malcolm, Daniel, Abbie, Ozzy, Michael, John, Roger, Connor, Q, Brandon, John, J, Diego, Damo, Roy, Victor, Daniel, KD, Charlie, John, Areli, Tamryn, Pablo, Mari, Julianna, Alijah, Cam, Keith, Matthew, Julia, Jessica, Panos, Dailen, Max, Jon, Moe, Salvador, Keri, Yace [ya say], Gianna, Jude, Donte, Jack, Dajah, Aly

Thank you for your prayers and financial support this year.  We trust the Lord to provide for our needs. Your partnership let us bring the Good News to students who need Jesus.

In Him, 

Bob & Ellen                                                                                                                                                    

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your week was blessed with good things from the hand of the Lord. I had a good last day on campus yesterday and Jack, Dajah and Aly each prayed with me to receive Jesus. Please pray they grow in their faith. Their stories are below if you have some time. Thanks for your prayers.

 I came across a guy named Michael in a vending machine lounge on the north side of the first floor of the BIC. He was Greek orthodox and had a few days’ worth of beard and a curly mop of hair. Looked like a teenage Cat Stevens. He was up for doing a survey and as we finished the survey but hadn’t gone into the Gospel his friend walked up and he introduced me, then asked he if he wanted to do the survey too. His name was Jack. He had a boxer’s flattened nose and a pointed chin and was clean shaven. His hair parted on the right and made a wavy sweep of bangs across his forehead broken into points. He had on a two-tone grey zip up jacket and Jeans. He was Greek Orthodox too. When I’d asked Michael what he would say to God to get into Heaven he listed numerous things he’d done serving at church. But he’d said he wanted to “have a big happy family” so I thought he’d trust in Jesus. Jack had said he’d like to travel to Greece and Eastern Europe. I think it was a, see the start of his gene pool and faith tradition kind of thing. Jack’s response to what he’d say to get into Heaven was different. “I’ve struggled in life with faith. Struggled a lot. Ultimately to let me into Heaven, it’s only by His mercy and love. I’m no saint, I’m a sinner I did the best I could here on Earth.” Hearing that reply Michael said, “That’s a good answer.” I asked if they had 5 minutes to go through the booklet. Michael then excused himself saying his class was starting. So I said, “Here’s a booklet you can take.” He cheerfully took it and I later told Jack he should talk it over with Michael to see what he’d say. I began to go through the Gospel with Jack who remained. I said God wanted to live inside him. So had to take away his sin, asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sins and he knew He’d died on the cross. As I went through the Gospel he was tuned right in accepting the blood and righteousness of Christ and that this had to be received by faith. I asked if would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. I then mentioned Islam and a few points of how they differed. He jumped on that saying he’d looked into Islam and there was not much there that could be validated, pointing out they said Jesus had not died and was replaced by Judas on the cross hundreds of years later. I agreed and explained that Muhammad had said Muslims were to read the  Injil—this was the Arabic name for the Gospels. They should then check it against what he said. “We have the entire New Testament in Greek fragments by 350 AD,” I told him. I pointed out Muhammad’s time was in the 600’s so the Gospel he recommended to his followers to read was the same one we read. His story did not match the New Testament, so there was no source for the Judas replacement theory until 600 years after Jesus ascended.  He also said he’d had a Mormon friend and found the Mormon faith less than credible. So I told him then that the entire book of Mormon took place in North Central and South America by 300AD. In the stories in the book of Mormon there are wheels, chariots, horses, barley for making beer and metallurgy for swords and coins but we know none of this existed on this continent until the Spanish and Columbus came to the Americas about 1100 years later. Mormons owned a mountain in NY where a battle that killed a million people took place, but there are no bones on it. Basically the book was made up. He agreed he’d found no archeology to support their claims. So I told him a couple claims that were validated concerning the Bible by archeological finds, the “House of David”, the Hittites and the now believe they have found Sodom. I asked again then if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done. “Yes,” he said emphatically. So I said there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it. I asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he said firmly. I said he could pray it silently, “Wanna do that?” “Yeah,” he said and he prayed out loud to receive Jesus. We were alone in the lounge but most students have wi-fi earbuds in these days and can’t overhear you.  We talked about some evidenced based stuff he could look into as well I recommended ICR for creation stuff and told him about Y-chromosomal Adam and Mitochondrial Eve. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven! In the front. I explained that now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to and His blood the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100% (I had not asked him what the likelihood he’d thought he would get in was earlier.) I told him I would pray a Bible verse for Him for him each day from now until Spring and one year after asking God to bless him. He was grateful. I also gave him Lee Strobel’s The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study and compared some passages he’d not heard before. We talked about Kierkegaard and Dostoyevsky; He liked the Grand Inquisitor passage in Dostoyevsky. I said the leap of faith Kierkegaard speaks of was really what he’d done though Kierkegaard was wrong about it. It might feel like a leap but as soon as you step off the Spirit comes in and you’re riding on one of Tolkien’s eagles. He smiled liking the analogy. We wished each other Merry Christmas and I said I’d see him in Heaven and he said he hoped so.

 Aly and Dajah, a couple of black girls were sitting at a counter height table in the hallway that runs past the bookstore. I walked past them as they had just sat down with bags of food for lunch but then thought they might be up for hearing something while they ate, (they did work on their salads as I taught them). Aly had Asian eyes and a flat face that seem to scowl a bit but lit up pretty when she smiled, smaller nose. She wore a black zip up fleece and jeans and had straight hair past her shoulders, it was growing out a bit curly at the top. Dajah had stick straight hair but looked like she’d just left the salon, it was the same length. She was pretty and wore a black sweater and slacks and seemed a bit more social. They weren’t sure about the survey so I kind of weaseled in the big question, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus, so you’re dead and you stand before God and He asks, “Why should I let you into Heaven what would you say?” Neither of them had an answer that included what Jesus had done for them in the atonement, they hemmed and hawed a bit. So I said as I have hundreds of times, “Well Christianity is like a blood transfusion. I have A+ blood if you fill me full of B- blood I would clot up and die. So God wants to fill you full of His Spirit and live inside you but the problem is everyone is sinful. God can’t be in the same place as sin so he has to take away your sin. So do you remember how Jesus takes away your sin?” Ally answered, “Baptism,” and then Dajah said the same thing. I explained Baptism a bit saying Peter says in the Bible, “this is how baptism saves you as an appeal to God for a clear conscience.” So when you are baptized you are asking God for a clear conscience. You have a clear conscience when your sins are taken away. I asked, “What happened that you are appealing to in Baptism to take away your sins?” Neither of them knew so I said “Well here I can show you the Bible verses real quick” and they were fine with that so I took out the booklet and went through it all. When I came to finish explaining the blood and righteousness of Jesus I said, “So this is what you are appealing to in a Baptism.” I said the person baptizing you should ask if you believe Jesus was God died for your sins and rose from the dead and then ask you if you trust in that. Then at some churches you would go under the water like buried with Christ in death and come out of it like a rising from the Dead like He did. Some Churches might also sprinkle you and water is purification in the Bible and so they emphasize that,” trying to keep it simple. I explained that they then would not go to Heaven because they were good but because Jesus was and they were connected to him. I said all Jesus had done was received by faith in Jesus and what He had done. Their good stuff did not fix their bad stuff and used the idea of Aly having an old boyfriend who was cheating on her and stealing her stuff but thought he could make up for it by being nice to his next 3 girlfriends. Your good stuff does not fix your bad stuff. I asked if they would want to be forgiven for their sins trusting in Jesus. They each did. I said there was a prayer they could pray, explained it, they agreed it expressed their heart’s desire.  Asking if they wanted to pray it silently Ally said, “Yes” emphatically and Dajah agreed with an Uum hum. They each took a booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When Aly was done she asked, “Couldn’t someone just say they prayed this and that’s all they needed to do?” “‘Could they lie? Yes.” I replied. I explained that if someone was sincere about asking for forgiveness they would look like it and that the Bible says you should bring froth the fruit that comes from repentance. I explained if someone was married and hitting on them they’d know they did not really mean the vows they took to be loyal to their wife. I said that no one was perfect and if they saw someone struggling they knew who was a Christian they should pray for them. Christians are transformed by the Spirit inside them and I explained living by the Spirit’s power “Inside Out.” “You should look like who you are,” I said. Dajah asked if she should get baptized again if she was only baptized as a child. I explained how Baptizing children went and a bit more and said she should do what the Church she was attending was saying. I said as long as a church was not saying Jesus did not die for your sins or saying the Bible was not true it was probably OK but that they might not agree with absolutely everything at a church. I offered them Bibles. It seemed Aly had recently been going to an Orthodox Church and said she did not want one as she wanted to buy an Orthodox study Bible. I said I had one but it was only the New Testament. Dajah took a Bible from me however and I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front of it. I also showed her some things in it. I wrote Aly’s name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front of Bible promises for You I did it again in the front of that book for Dajah. I gave them each The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study. I talked to them about how it was not what they had done but what Jesus had done that would get them into Heaven. They each said, “Thank you.” I said,” God bless you.” They said God bless you too and when I said, “Merry Christmas,” they echoed that as well. I went back and explained that the likelihood they would go to Heaven was now 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. And we wished each other a Merry Christmas a second time and I was off.

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

 In Him,

Bob

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