Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking with the Lord in the light of His word. I had a good day on campus and Anzhelo (angelo from Bulgaria) prayed to receive Jesus and Jack confessed Christ. Their stories are below if you have some time. Please pray they grow in faith.

Anzhelo was sitting in the cafeteria with a pizza in front of him. He said he was born in Bulgaria. His parents used google translate on his name for an English spelling, (a Bulgarian equivalent of Angelo) and thus the unique spelling. He was very slight in build and short. He had the classic Clark Kent hair swept up and a cleft chin, slightly pocked face. He looked like the stereotype of a dockworker but was far too small to fit the bill. He had on sky blue t-shirt with darker lettering I never made out and ringed sleeves. I never saw his pants. He said he was from an Orthodox Church background but had not been regularly attending Church as he used too. He only knew Bulgarian people in the Church, which spoke Bulgarian and he was bilingual.  I asked him what he would say to God if he died and was asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Not too sure,” he replied. “ ‘Cause like I can’t really say ‘this is why’. At the same time you’re your own cover of your own book and you read into it. I’m biased of my own self.” I asked what the likelihood was he would get into Heaven. Again he said, “Not too sure… Under 50%. [But] If I get my act together, if I ask for forgiveness well enough, just get it together, than 50%.” I explained that God wanted to know and live inside him but had to first take away his sins. I asked how God did that and he knew that Jesus had died for him. I went on to explain the cleansing power of Christ’s blood and that in it was life, so that it paid God back for the life we had in some measure ruined by our sins. We owed God a perfect life and Jesus completed a payment to God for what we owed Him. I explained Jesus earned the righteousness of God, which was to our credit when God adopted us. “So you don’t go to Heaven because you’re good but because Jesus is good and you’re connected to Him.” I said all God had done was ours when we receive Jesus by faith. Explaining our efforts to be good notwithstanding we could not be perfect. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins trusting in Jesus then He would live inside him and give him strength and take him to Heaven when he died. Or did he think something else, explaining a bit of Islam’s god and the Buddha. “The first one,” he replied. 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. He said it did so I asked if he would want to pray it silently and he said, “Yeah.” He took the booklet then and prayed to receive Jesus. He had a Bulgarian Bible at home and access to an English one on his phone. I explained the likelihood he would not go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of God in Christ to save him. I explained that everything in the Christian Life was “By the Spirit’s power”. Christianity was inside out not outside in, we ask God to transform us on the inside, He makes us good men and then we do good things by His power on the outside. I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I also gave him a Bible Study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet telling him there was some good stuff about Easter inside. He thanked me. I told him I would pray for him through the Spring and one year after each day. “It was really nice to meet you,” I said. “Really nice to meet you too,” he replied “Thank you.” And I headed out.

I bumped into Jack in the southeast corner lounge on the BIC on the second floor. He had on a washed-out red hoodie and grey sweats.  He had a mop of curly, sandy hair and rosy cheeks and freckles. He had a handshake like a wrestler and a medium build. He said he already was in a one-on-one Bible study and I asked, “with who?” and he said the guy’s name. I didn’t know the guy. He could not answer the question of why God should let him into Heaven. I asked if he wanted to hear the Bible verses that answered the question but he somehow thought I’d asked if he had a Bible and showed me the app on his phone. I explained a bit more offering him a booklet. He was open so I began explaining it at the beginning I asked way through what Jesus had done to remove his sins. “He forgives you?” I explained that he did and then showed him how. In the end he said he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done. I showed him the prayer then and he was like “OK.” He took the booklet and I said, “If I asked you now to you believe Jesus is God died for your sins and rose from the dead would you say you did?” He nodded. “And do you put your trust in that to be forgiven?” He nodded again so I said, “Would you say I do?” “I do,” he said. So then I said, “Well the Bible says if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, meaning He’s God and believe in your heart He rose from the dead, meaning He had to die for your sins to rise again, you’ll be saved.” I said he had said it to me he just needed to say it to God. He asked me about the Church that meets on campus and I said I had not heard anything bad about it but I said he should just be on the alert with anyone who was saying you had to come to their Church or were trying to control his life. His life as a Christian was between him and God. “Thank you,” he said. “Thanks for the talk.”  “Thanks for your time,” I replied. And I 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 your day was blessed walking with the Lord. I had a good day on campus and Alfonso prayed with me to receive Christ. Everyone else I spoke with claimed Christ after hearing the Gospel. Initially they didn’t articulate faith alone in Christ or were not sure but the confessed Christ in the end. Alfonso story is below if you have time to spend. Please take a moment and pray he grows in faith.

I was walking around school and came down the stairs to the ground floor of the north side of the BIC building. Initially I began to walk to the PE building but I felt a nudge to go down the tunnel to the MAC arts building instead. I went to the big lounge and found no one to talk. I headed down by Einstein Bagels and Alfonso sat at one of the counter height tables against the glass wall looking out to the small amphitheater where they have outside concerts. He agreed to do a survey. He had a narrow long oval face, was pretty fair skinned for a Latino guy, his ears stuck out a bit. He had a mop of dark hair, the sides were shaved in a fade over his ears and wore a dark grey hoodie, light grey pants and grey tennis shoes. He wanted to be in a movie. He had a bit of an accent. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven. “I do things every day to be better than yesterday—every day is a gift. I heard it said you may be the only Bible someone reads, so you should treat people with kindness and respect,” he replied. I agreed saying that if everyone did that the world would be way better. He thought he had an 80% chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus’ sacrifice had taken away the sins of the world. He listened attentively to the Gospel and smiled here and there not saying anything verbally after saying he knew Jesus had died. I explained that the Blood of Jesus because he was the source of all life cleansed us and paid in His life’s blood for what we had done. When we sinned against someone we took some of his or her life (which really belonged to God). So Jesus blood paid God back for all the imperfect things we had done. Jesus earned God’s righteousness, we don’t go to Heaven because we are good but because Jesus is good and we are connected to Him. God’s righteousness became credit to us when were adopted by God. He made us His children. I explained this was the symbolism in the mass, the Wafer symbolic of His Body and the Wine symbolic of His blood. The Greek word “Eucharist” means “thanksgiving” so when you take it you should just say thank you as it is telling you Jesus died for you and so you are forgiven. Then all God had done was his receiving Christ by faith. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else using the circles in the booklet. He pointed to the circle with Christ Jesus living in you on the throne of your life and said, “That one.” So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked through it and asked reading, “Does this prayer express the desire of your heart.” He nodded. I said if he wanted 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 and he nodded and he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained to him then the Christian life, praying and reading the Bible saying to read John, asking for forgiveness and asking for the Spirit’s power to transform him. He had a Bible and I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and forgiven in the front. I gave him a Bible study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet telling him there was some stuff in it about Easter. I explained some more about what God had done. He was grateful. I said I would see him in Heaven and he said, “OK. thank you!” And I headed out. Later he passed me in the hall with a big smile and I said, “See ya around.” He relied with, “See ya around.” And headed down the hall happy.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your weekend has been bless so far walking by faith. God blessed last week where Kaitlyn, Ivy, Vanna each prayed to receive Jesus. Vanna emailed me after saying, “This is Vanna from yesterday morning. I believe it was God’s intention for me to hear from you that day so I prayed about you. Thank you for your guidance, it helped me more than you know. And thank you for the books, I have started looking into them and I will be reading them every night.” 

I also a good day on campus on Thursday and Princess prayed to receive Jesus. Her story is below if you have the time. Please pray these grow in their faith.

Princess was sitting in a chair that is by itself facing the construction that is now a wall of drywall blocking renovations to the SSC lounge. She had on a trucker’s ball cap tilted back on her head a bit with straight bangs and straight black hair down past her shoulders. She was a fair skinned African American. She was slight in build wearing a grey sweatshirt with some printing on it I never had the angle to read. She had a pretty face with a triangle nose and sharp jawline with a bright smile.  She looked 20 years old. I found out she was a mother in her answer to the question: What’s one thing you’d like to do before you die? “Something to do with my children, leave them a lot of wealth. But not just money.” I agreed saying wealth in terms of money can badly screw people up. She agreed. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked: “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Ooo, Oo,” she replied thinking about it. “I’m not, ha ha… that’s terrible,” she said then continued after some thought. “Because I was trying to know more about Him that’s the Honest to God truth.” She thought she had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with her saying God loved her and had created her and wanted her to believe in Him. Eternal life was knowing God—that He would live inside her. But everyone is sinful so like a blood transfusion first God had to make her His “type” taking her sins away. I asked her what God did with Jesus to take away her sins. “Isn’t it something with the water?” she asked.  I said, “That’s part of the symbolism it works like this,” I went on to explain that Jesus died for her and His blood cleansed her from all sin and was a payment to God for what we owe Him.  “Hmm,” she replied understanding the atonement for the first time. I explained the righteousness of God earned by Christ, which was to her credit by God adopting her as His child. She needed to receive Jesus, to believe Jesus was God, died for her sins and rose from the dead. This happened by grace through faith. I turned to the page with 2 circles one was being forgiven with the Holy Spirit living inside her to give her strength and take her to Heaven when she died. The other was God living outside her like the god of Islam. “So would you want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus or do you think something else?” I asked. “Definitely forgiven,” she said pointing to the circle with Christ inside her life. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I talked her through it and read, “Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?” She said it did and I said she could pray it silently and she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I began to go through the Christian life with her. She said she had been meaning to get a Bible so I gave her one that had a couple Bible reading plans and maps and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I told her that everything in the Christian life was “By the Spirit’s Power” and He would give her all the strength she needed just by asking. Christianity is “Inside Out not outside in, first we are transformed on the inside and then do good things on the outside.” I explained that as soon as she asked God to forgive her trusting in Jesus God lived in her and would then take her to Heaven. “You know what this is like, say you have a friend back in High School and you just hang around with him all year then one day he says to you, ‘So we are going to prom,’ You’d say, ‘Maybe as soon as you ask.’” She laughed and agreed. “Pretty girls like to be asked and God is like that, I explained, you have to ask Him to forgive you trusting in Jesus.” “I have some questions,” she said. “Ok shoot,” I said. Are there many different versions of the Bible?” I said there were and each was trying to use words that are either closest to the original language or help communicate the idea better. I explained the NKJV I gave her and that it was updated. The KJV was originally based on Tyndale’s translation, which they burned him at the stake for writing. It might be a bit harder to understand but she could go to Biblegateway.com and look at other versions if the language was hard to follow. I told her I would give her Bible Promises for You and it was the New International Version and the verses in it might be easier. Then she asked, “What do you think about people saying they Manifest?” I said as best I understood it people that claim that believe they can make demands of God or of the universe, often for wealth, “Like we said before wealth might destroy them.” I explained she would really not want God to give everything she asked for because He is much wiser and knows what will happen better than we do. He might not want to give you something because something bad will happen if He does. You might want a job but driving there will get you in an accident where you kill 4 children, so He does not give it to you. “Think about your own children,” I said. “Say one of them watched a YouTube where a guy was cutting down trees with a chainsaw and they ask you if they can have a chain saw so you say, ‘Fine I’ll save up and get you one.’ You wouldn’t say that because they might cut off their foot with a chainsaw. Sometimes we don’t know it but we are asking God for a chainsaw we can’t handle.” She accepted that. Then she said someone had told her that slave owners made the slaves Christians so that they would accept slavery. I explained that the opposite was often true. Paul encouraged people to be free if they could in the Bible. I explained what slavery had been in the U.S.. After the first few decades here where white Europeans were made slaves, all slavery here was black people who were kidnapped from Africa. They were either kidnapped by Arab slavers from their tribe or another tribe raided them and enslaved them. They were brought to the coast and sold to white people (usually) who brought them here.  But everyone was kidnapped at first or born to people who were kidnapped here. The Bible teaches that kidnapping was punishable by death so no one had the right from the Bible to hold on to kidnapped people. Also in the Old Testament you could only be enslaved in Israel for 7 years then the law required you be made free unless you did not want to be and that slavery was part of the welfare system for women. I explained many states did not allow people to free their slaves even if they inherited them and did not want them. There were too many black people and not enough work for them if all were made free at once and they would starve. It wasn’t like you could just go get a job at a 7.11 selling slushies. Everyone in the south mostly worked on farms.  Some could not fend for themselves. But some people found a way to free their slaves. George Washington took some of his slaves out of Virginia where he lived (where they could not legally be free) to Washington DC where they could be freed. When he left after his time as president was over he freed them and they stayed there. She liked that story. I told her some unpleasant things about Lincoln too that are good to know, in case someone brought that up. I explained, people were sometime enslaved by the Romans for committing crimes. Paul encouraged people to try to become free but some could not but probably the majority of slaves in Paul’s time were not black people either. So the Bible did not support slavery like we had here where black people were kidnapped. The truth is many slave owners refused to teach their slaves to read knowing if they read the Bible for themselves they would want freedom. People telling her the opposite of that were trying to make other people distrust the Bible. “They also try to say it is a white religion but the first guy to bring the Gospel to Africa was the Ethiopian Eunuch (which I defined) who worked for the Queen of Ethiopia. He was told the Gospel by Phillip who was a Jew from the Middle East who walked around in the sun all day so he was dark. So he wasn’t a white guy, “He looked a lot more like you than me,” I said. The paintings of Jesus that make Him look white in the Middle Ages were painted by people in Europe. The Jews they knew were most often converts to Judaism not from the Middle East so they looked European unlike Jesus,” I explained. I also gave her a copy of The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible Study on the ways Jesus claims to be God. I told her now the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100% and that as so as she asked for forgiveness the Holy Spirit entered her and sealed her; God would always be with her. I told her I would pray a Bible verse for her each day through Spring and one year after asking God to bless her. She said she would pray for me too. “Thank you so much,” she said as I was getting up to go. “Your welcome God bless you,” I replied. “God bless you as well, have a good one,” she replied and I headed off. After walking down the hall it dawned on me I did not know her kids’ names. I went back and asked if she could tell me them so I could pray for them too. She said, “Raquel, Ioshe (with a y sound not i) and Austin,” she thanked me again and I blessed her again and headed off.

So Thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you have a chance, God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed yesterday and is today walking with the Lord and in the light of His word. I had a good day on campus Tuesday and Vanna prayed to receive Jesus. Her story is below if you have the time to spend. Please pray she grows in her faith.

Vanna was sitting on a seat on the NE corner of the second floor BIC building. The classroom door was open just past us so I kept my voice down as we talked. She was wearing a grey V-neck top that did not meet the waste of her black pants. She had long straight brown hair with Latina coloring and a full mouth. Her hair was parted down the middle. She was pretty with rounded features. I asked her if she wanted to do a student survey. “Maybe,” she replied.  “Well,” I said “the big question is: 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?” “I don’t know,” she replied. “Well, would you like to know what the Bible says is the answer to that question or not so much? I could show you the verses?” I asked. “OK,” she replied. So I sat beside her and got her name, I found out she went to a Catholic Church. And said, “This might sound familiar to you,” then began to explain the Gospel.  I said as I always do that knowing God is eternal life and this means He lives inside you. God has to make you His type so He takes away your sin so like a blood transfusion He can put the Holy Spirit in you and give you life. “God can’t be in the same place as sin. So what’s the big thing God does with Jesus that takes away your sin?” I asked. “He forgives you?” She said. I said He did and “this is how it works.” I showed her that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin and there is life in Jesus’ blood. When He pours out His blood that pays God back for all we owe Him for harming His stuff. Then the credit from Jesus’ life, He earns the righteousness of God perfectly fulfilling the Old Testament Law, is credited to you when God adopts you. I said this was symbolized in the Mass or the Eucharist, the wafer is Jesus body and the wine is His blood. It’s reminding you Jesus died for you. “So when you take it you should just say thank You. The Greek word for Eucharist means thanksgiving.” “Oh,” she replied. So then all God has done is yours when you receive Christ. If you believe Jesus is God, died for your sins and rose from the dead. Not that you just know the story but that you place your trust in that to be forgiven. Then if someone asked, “Why should God let you into Heaven?” You’d say, “Because Jesus died for me.” That would mean you had faith in Jesus. By grace you are saved through faith. I asked her if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done. Then His Spirit would live inside her to give her strength and take her to Heaven when she died. “Or do you think something else,” I asked giving her the cliff notes version of an Islamic God and of the Buddha. “That one,” she said pointing to the first option I had offered. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and reading it to her I asked if it expressed the desire of her heart. She nodded it did. So I said she could pray it silently, I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear and she’d know she was forgiven. “Wanna do it?” I asked. “Yeah,” she replied and she prayed to receive Jesus. When she finished I explained the Christian life to her living “By the Spirit’s Power, Inside Out”. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and forgiven on the inside. I also gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet telling her a bit of Strobel’s story and saying there were some things in it about Easter. I gave her a Bible study explaining different ways Jesus claimed to be the God of the Old Testament. I used the example of Jesus walking on the water compared to Job 9:8 “He alone has spread out the heavens and marches on the waves of the sea.” She did not understand the analogy. I used an illustration of Michael Jordan jumping for a dunk off the free throw line in a pickup game and someone seeing it and for the first time realizing it was MJ. Because he did something only MJ could do. She got it then.  I told her I would pray a Bible verse or part of one each day for her each day asking God to bless her from now until Spring and one year after. “I don’t know if I’ll see you again but I’ll be praying for you,” I said. “Well I wait here every day,” she replied. I said “OK,” and “I’ll see you in Heaven,” getting up to go. “OK I’ll see you. Thank you so much, have a nice day,” she replied. “OK,” I said and headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism this week. I’ll be back at it tomorrow on campus tomorrow Lord willing post kitchen sink plumbing project which went well.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day has been filled with love and the truth. I had a good day on campus and Kaitlyn and Ivy prayed to receive Jesus today. I held a Bible study also so that was good.  These young women’s stories are below if you have some time. Please pray they grow in their faith.

 Kaitlyn was sitting alone at the far end of the cafeteria at a table. She had on a grey, knit, long sleeve, V-neck top that did not meet the waste of her black pants. She had a few gold chains around her neck and a very pretty small face with a pointed chin and full lips. Her coloring looked Latina and she had straight dark hair past her shoulders. It was parted in the middle. She was soft spoken and when I asked her what she wanted to do before she died. She said, “Have a family.” That’s usually a “tell” someone will trust in Christ as their savior. I asked what she would say to God if she died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Humm,” she mused briefly and then said, “Because I tried my best while I was on earth.” She thought she had an 80% chance of going to Heaven and corrected it to 75%. She had gone to a Baptist church but not as much lately. I explained that “Eternal life is just knowing God because you know you got the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit,” She nodded. “The Holy Spirit lives inside you. So if you know God that way it’s kind of like you are the Energizer Bunny and God is the batteries, you keep going and going and when you die it’s like you don’t die, because God’s inside.” Saying the problem was that God could not be in the same place as sin. I asked What God did to take away her sin so He could live inside her and she knew Jesus had died. I went on to explain that the sacrifice of Jesus had cleansed her and paid for her sins and that Jesus earned the righteousness of God. God gave her this righteousness to her credit when He adopted her. To have all that God offered her she had to receive Jesus; to believe He was God and died for her sins and rose from the dead. Not just that she knew the story but that she trusted in what Jesus had done to be forgiven. If someone asked why she’d be let into Heaven then she would say, “Because Jesus died for me.” That would mean she had faith in Jesus. And by grace she was saved by faith. I asked if she’d want to be forgiven or thought something else. “Forgiven,” she replied. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and after reading it I asked if it was the desire of her heart. She said it was. I asked if she’d want to pray it silently to know she was forgiven and she said, “Sure.” And taking the booklet she prayed to receive Jesus. I told her then the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the Blood and righteousness of Jesus. I explained, “living the Christian life By the Spirit’s Power Inside Out” I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front of Bible Promises for You which she liked. I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet saying there were some things on Easter in it. I also gave her a Bible study on ways Jesus claims to be the God of the Old Testament. I told her I would pray a Bible verse for her each day through Spring and one year after and she thanked me and I was off.

 Ivy was sitting at the long set of tables by the stairs on the ground floor of the PE lounge. She had an insulated puffy vest on and had a thick brown ponytail pulled out the back of a white golf hat. Her long-sleeved work out shirt had green sleeves. She had a wide cute face and was on the golf team. She planned to go to Judson College next year. She said her family was really Catholic. She had gone to Catholic school beginning part way through grade school and though high school. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into heaven she said, “Probably…” and then though and said, “That’s hard. I’ve been very Catholic all of my life… It’s hard because… I don’t know.” “That’s fine,” I said. I asked her what the likelihood was she would go to Heaven when she died. “70%” she replied. She listened to the Gospel as I began to tell her God wanted to live inside her with His Holy Spirit. I asked what God had done to take away her sin so He could. She tried a theological word and dismissed it as wrong and then said, “Reconciliation.” I said that was right but what had Jesus done to reconcile her to God. She didn’t know. So I began to explain how Jesus’ blood had cleansed her and paid for her sins quoting Bible verses to her. I explained the righteousness of God and God adopting her making her Child and I said it was like the mass. “The Eucharist,” she put in. I said right and that the wafer was Jesus body and the wine his blood and it was reminding her He had died for her so she was forgiven so when she took it she could just say, “Thank You.” It’s hard to know what you are supposed to do right then,” I said and she agreed. I said that she needed to receive Jesus by faith and grace by faith saved her. I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else and then asked to clarify, “When you are asking for forgiveness for your sins have you been thinking you hoped you would be good enough or were you thinking, ‘I know I’ll be forgiven because Jesus died for me?’” “When I ask for forgiveness I feel like He is not going to forgive me because He knows I’m just going to do it again.” I said “Jesus talked about that to Peter.” She said she remembered Peter had said three times he had never been with Jesus. I said that was right and Jesus forgave him but before Jesus died Peter came to him and asked how many times he had to forgive someone. Jesus said, “70 times 7.” I pointed out that was more times than she had done anything and God would always forgive her. She went on to say that sometimes she felt dark forces pushing on her and she asked Jesus to take them away. I said everyone gets strange thoughts in their head, like a voice telling you to jump off a bridge or something. “It’s been a long time since I walked over a bridge but hey,” she agreed.  I said when I get them I ask God to, “take the thoughts of Satan out of my heart.” “That’s a good idea,” she said. I said the thing that she needed was to ask God to live inside her and be forgiven. “The Bible says, ‘Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world.’” I said if she wanted to she could pray the prayer quietly and know she was forgiven. “OK, Thanks,” she replied and I said something like it’s right there having handed her the booklet and she prayed silently to receive Christ. When she finished she said, “OK.” I went through the Christian life with her and explained everything was “By the Spirit’s Power Inside Out” I explained that God would help her in everything she was trying to do in life, “Just Ask.” He could help her play golf. I gave her a copy of Bible Promises for You and I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!’ in the front. I said that before she had her parent’s faith and she thought so too. I told her that now the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. I explained that when she went to confession the priest did not forgive her sins but was telling her as Gods rep that God forgave her sin. (The doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church teaches only God can forgive sins.) I compared the priest to an insurance agent when you buy insurance for your car. When you wreck your car it isn’t the agent that pays it’s the company that pays. The priest can tell you that you are forgiven because he knows God paid for your sins. I also gave her a Bible Study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I said I would pray for her each day asking God to bless her from now until next year in the Spring. She said, “Thanks,” as I got up to go and I said, “I’ll see you in Heaven.” And she replied with a happy laugh.

 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 had a good day walking with God in Christ. I had a good day on campus walking with Him there and Jose and Brandon each prayed to receive Jesus today. They were both very thankful. Their stories are below if you have some time. Please pray they grow in faith.

 Jose was sitting on the floor leaning against the wall just west of where you enter the tunnel to get over to the PE building. He was a good-looking Latino guy with a mustache and a goatee under his chin, a line going up to his mouth. He had a slight triangle nose and a curly mop of hair short on the sides. Sharp features, he might have been 5’10” and wore a red hoodie with black sweats. I asked him if he wanted to do a student survey and he said he’d already done one by the front doors. I said this was a little different and said the big question was, “You are 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?” “That’d be hard,” he replied. “Would you like to hear the Bible verses that tell you how you get into Heaven?” I asked. “Sure,” he replied so I sat on the floor with his backpack between us and wrote down his name and the reply and began going through the Gospel. I told him God, created him, loved him and had a plan for him. Jesus said Eternal life was knowing God and that meant God lived inside him. The problem was sin, God can’t be in the same place as sin so He takes away your sin so he can live inside you. “So do you know what the big thing was that Jesus did to take away your sin, like what they might have said at Church or something?” I asked. “It’s been a minute,” he said with a smile, meaning been a while since he went to church. “Yeah no worries this is how it works,” I said and began to explain the blood of Jesus cleansed him from his sin. “Life is in the blood and Jesus is the source of all life so when He pours out his blood it pays God back for all the imperfect things we have done that we owe God something perfect for,” I explained, having told him that when we sin we damage what belongs to God. We effectively take life from people when we sin against them so the life in Christ’s blood pays for what we did. I explained the righteousness of God Jesus earned by perfectly keeping the Law in the Old Testament. God then gives this righteousness to us when He adopts us, we’re clothed with Jesus. I said we have to receive Jesus believing in His name, in His reputation. Believing, “He is God, died for your sins and rose from the dead.” So if someone asked you why God should let you into Heaven you’d say, “Because Jesus died for me.” I said his good stuff would not fix his bad stuff But God can make bad into good. I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done of if he thought something else. “Be forgiven,” he replied. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through the prayer and asked, “It says here, ‘Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ Would you say it does?” He nodded. Well if you want to 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?’ I asked. He said, “Yeah.” I handed him the booklet and he said, “Thank you.” He prayed then to receive Jesus. When he finished I began to go through the Christian life with him. He didn’t have a Bible so I gave him one explaining the study helps. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and handed it to him and he said “Thank you.” I gave him Bible Promises for You and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet telling him there was some stuff on Easter in it and he might have time over Spring Break. I gave him a Bible Study too. He thanked me again for all of it and I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day asking God to bless him from now until Spring and one year after. I got up to go and he stood with me and reached out to shake my hand and said, “Thank you so much.’ I said, “Have a good one.” “Thank you,” he said again and he headed into the tunnel. I passed him later walking with his girlfriend and said Hey and we both waved.

 Brandon was sitting in the hallway just a little west of the doorway to the bookstore. He was from NJ. He had his brown hair combed back in a pompadour it was short on the sides something of a fade at the temples. He had boyish sharp features, was clean-shaven with a slight build. He was dressed in a black Marine emblem hoodie and black sweats. He looked pretty young but had already been a corporal in the Marines and had recently reenlisted in the reserves. He’d been a rifleman but it seemed like he was returning to a logistics position and was moving back to an M4 from the H&K416. I had on my H&K hat so we talked a bit about guns. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven and he said, “I wouldn’t give him a reason—I’d say it’s up to you. I wouldn’t define what I’d done in the past, good and bad. It’d up to God.” I asked him the likelihood he would get into Heaven. “I’m not a perfect man, I’ve done some bad and some good, nothing egregious.” I began to go through the Gospel with Him. Saying God wanted to live inside him. He talked about his grandmother and mother’s religious views. They condemned their Catholic roots but he felt it was really about men. His grandma was into crystals and Tarot cards. She had given him a crystal saying she wanted him to wear it but he said he’d only put it on his desk. “They want to condemn organized religion, they say they are spiritual,” he said he thought it was the same thing and I agreed. I went on and explained all I usually do about the Gospel, the cleansing blood and righteousness of Christ allowed God to live inside him and that God adopted him and gave him the rights of a child of God when he believed. I asked if he would want to be forgiven or thought something else. I mentioned Islam as another view and Buddhism. He reflected over them a bit rejecting Islam for its treatment of women and the Buddha as his world was illusion and asked about Judaism. I said they had changed to a God not found in the Bible in the Old Testament which was in 2 powers there’s was now more like Islam and tribal. “It would seem that Christianity was the best choice,” he said finally and I agreed. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it asking if it expressed what he thought. He said it did. I said he could pray it silently and he said “OK.” He took the booklet and prayed aloud to receive Christ. We were alone in the hall as it was later in the afternoon. I began to go through the Christian life with him. He said he had his Grandfather’s Bible back in NJ so I said he could read the Bible on line at Bible Gateway they would send him a daily verse or reading on his phone. I said everything in Christianity was “By the Spirit’s Power. Inside Out.”

We talked about astrology as his grandmother was into it. He said he’d told his grandmother it was what science believed until they decided it was wrong. I explained the impossibility of checking what it would say as credible. It was possible that the planets had some effect on us but how would anyone prove what it was. I told him I was born at 2AM on September 4^th. But even if you could collect all the people born in the Chicago area at that time, how would you discover what the effect had been of the moon or the planets. People born a bit later—the planet or moon would be in a different place or if born on the other side of the earth a completely different star chart would exist. But how could you check effects. You could only guess and people born on the same day, in the same year were just as likely to have nothing in common, in how they were seemed fated in life, as several things in common. But even were you to find this out you could never demonstrate a near planet had been the cause and it was not something else entirely. Effectively I was making the case it was all made up. I pointed out CERN the Hadron Collider made statements they had opened another dimension. But how would you know you were in another dimension if you arrived there. All your instruments were designed for this dimension, if they continue to work that would be evidence you had not left your own dimension, if they failed you’d be unable to say why, knowing nothing. I think it was Socrates who said you can’t find the truth if you know nothing, as you would not know you had found the truth when you did—if you do not know what you are looking for. You have to be guided into the truth by others who already know it. I gave him the larger book The Case for Christianity Answer Book and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet as he said he liked to read. I gave him the Rose Publication “100 Prophecies fulfilled by Jesus” and a Bible Study and a book of Pocket Prayers by Lucado. I also wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front of Bible Promises for You. It just did not seem like he had had a lot to go on coming from where he did and he was a reader. We talked nearly 45 minutes I think. He had a Rosary a Chaplain had given him overseas. I said, “I seemed like praying to Mary would make it impossible for her to hear you. She was the greatest woman in the Bible but she was still just a woman, it would seem she could only listen to a couple people at a time. I said I had a friend who prayed with beads and if they helped you focus that was fine. I told him I would pray for him each day through Spring and one year after. I said the likelihood he would now go to Heaven was 100% as God would not look at what we’d done but what Christ did for us. He stood up and shook my hand as I got up to go in thanks and I said I’d see him in Heaven.

 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 with the Grace of God in Christ. I had a good day on campus and Kejsi [pronounced KC] prayed to receive Jesus today. I gave a book to Case who had not heard the Gospel before and gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and he seemed grateful.  I went through the Gospel with a few others too so that was a good day. Her story is below if you have some time, please pray she grows in faith.

 I first bumped into Kejsi talking with a Wheaton student, Aiden, who volunteers with Intervarsity helping them to run their table on campus. I just fist bumped him as I walked by and shook her hand and said hi, just goofing around. They seemed to be talking seriously so I kept walking. Later walking around the Science building she was sitting at a table right across from the vending machines, second floor of the big center lounge. I think because Aiden had prayed with her she recognized me she was willing to do a survey as she ate her cheese and crackers. It turned out she was raised Orthodox and was Albanian. She had long brown hair and cute rounded soft features. She wore no makeup and had on plain grey baggy sweats; the top was a hoodie. She was dating a Christian guy and had just started to go to Church again at Willow Creek. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I’d tell Him you shouldn’t, I’m a sinner. I’m not perfect. I repented, you know. I’d tell Him I’m not perfect… I don’t belong in the Kingdom.” I asked her the likelihood she would get into Heaven; she thought maybe 50%. I began to explain the Gospel to her saying that knowing God was that He lived inside her with His Holy Spirit. If God lived in you then He is eternal and the source of life, so you’d have eternal life, one with Him. I said that God can’t live in some because of sin. God has to take away your sin because he cannot be one with sin. “So what is the big thing God does with Jesus to take away your sins?” I asked. “Repentance?” She guessed. I said that God forgives when you repent and this is how it works. So I explained that God comes down to us as a man. “He tells people the truth, so they kill Him, but that’s what Jesus wants, He wants to die because the Bible says without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. The Bible says life is in the blood and Jesus is the source of all life so when He pours out His blood he pours out like a life-force on the world and makes life where we made death. There’s death inside us because of our sin. It says in 1John 1:7 the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. So now you are alive inside and you match God so now God can live inside you.” “Oh,” she said like she had never understood that before. I went on to explain Christ’s blood as a payment for sin and the righteousness of God to her credit Jesus earned fulfilling the Law. I said she had to receive Jesus and place her trust in that He was God, died for her sins and rose from the dead. This would mean she had faith in Jesus. It was by grace she was saved through this faith. I then asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done, then He would live inside her and take her to Heaven when she died, or if she thought something else. I said it seemed that God was on the outside of her life now. (Then kind of like the woman at the well she stated talking about the mountain or Jerusalem.) She said she was dating a guy who said he did not believe in God and she felt like that had pushed her away from Him. (I checked and the Him she meant was away from God.) The boy cheated on her and was now dating a “super Christian” girl for whom he’s changed his story. He now is saying he believes in God according to his friend she talked to who told her the X BF was insincere. She felt he had broken up with her because she was unwilling to have sex until marriage and cheated on her. I said that it was not likely he was a believer but went back to the question and said that she needed to be forgiven for her sins. I told her, “You need God inside you.” As she talked about a sense she had that Satan was bugging her with thoughts. I said, “One of my most frequent prayers is to pray, ‘Lord take the thoughts of Satan out of my heart.’” She liked that. I said if you want to be forgiven there is a prayer you can pray and I talked her through it asking if it was the desire of her heart. She nodded. I said she could pray it silently right now. I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear and she’d know she was forgiven, “Wanna do that?” I asked. She nodded again and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When she finished she said, “I feel like you talking to me was not an accident. I was talking to that guy, what’s his name again?” “Aiden,” I replied. “I think he prayed God would give me a sign or something like that. I don’t know exactly what he prayed.” Then she said after praying she felt different, “I feel like a weight lifted off me. I feel relief. I feel happy,” she proclaimed softly. “I don’t’ know how I’m going to explain this to my boyfriend.” I showed her how she could grow in the Christian life and that everything was by the Spirit’s power. Christianity was “Inside out, first you ask God to transform you on the inside, you become a good person and then do good things on the outside. She should just ask God for help in everything. I got out a copy of Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and she liked that. She said then she had been raised in an Orthodox family but she did not think of herself that way and asked what the difference in that and in being just a Christian. I explained the Orthodox look to tradition and the Church fathers. But the oldest tradition we have in in the Bible. The Church Fathers talk a lot about works, we don’t have all their writings and don’t know all they taught. But the Bible says you are saved by faith. The Orthodox Church talks a lot about doing good deeds and keeping tradition. She nodded in agreement. I said I thought they were wrong. I told her the likelihood she would now go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus, which are both worth an infinite amount. I said though I was old and had sinned way more than her God was not going to look at our piles of sin but at what Jesus had done for us. I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible Study I explained telling her she could do it with her boyfriend. She was happy and 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. “If I see ya I’ll just say hi, you don’t have a new stalker or anything,” she grinned at the joke. “Thanks for talking with me you made my day,” I said getting up to go. “You made my day too,” she replied. And I headed off.

 I bumped into Aiden packing up the table and told him the story. “Dude your praying for her led me right to her. I think she talked to me because she knew you knew me and figured I was “OK”. He was happy to hear it saying, “I don’t know exactly what she believed. It was hard to tell.” We hugged each other as I told him, “You get a half sack,” both happy to see someone come to Christ. I know someone is praying for many students I then see pray to receive Christ.

 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 blessed day walking with the God of our salvation. I had a good day on campus and Jabari and Jorge each prayed to receive Jesus today. There stories are below if you want to spend the time. Please pray they grow in the faith.

 Jabari was sitting in a lounge about 7 minutes to the top of the hour. He was African American. He wore a black hoodie with the hood up and camo-print cargo pants. His hair was in a black nylon cap and poured out from under it in 10inch braids. He had a caterpillar mustache and an under the chin beard, a pump nose and full lips. He said he did not have time to do a survey as his class was about to start. I asked him if I could tell him the big question to think about for the day. “You can do that,” he said. So I said, “You’re walkin’ 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?” He thought for a minute and said he didn’t know what he would say. So I said, how he could think about it and began to go through the Gospel with him. I asked if he ever went to Church when he was a kid. He said he had and still went sometimes. As I explained the Holy Spirit in Him was possible because Jesus had taken away his sin. I asked if he could remember what Jesus had done to take away his sins and he thought for a second and said, “He died for our sin.” I agreed and explained that His blood cleansed us and was a payment to God. I explained the righteousness Jesus earned that he could inherit when he was adopted into God’s family. I explained receiving Christ, that if he believed Jesus was God, died for his sins and rose from the dead he had faith. Not that he just knew the story but that that’s what he placed his trust in to be forgiven. “So if someone would ask, ‘Why would God let you into Heaven?’ you’d say, ‘Because Jesus died for me.’ That would mean you had faith in Jesus.” I explained then that he was saved by faith. I asked then if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. “The first one,” he replied. So I said then there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through it and asked if it was the desire of his heart. He said, “Yeah,” it was. I said he could pray it silently God would hear him. “Wanna do that?” “Yeah,” he said and took the booklet. He finished praying and I said he could keep the booklet. I quickly explained the Christian life and that everything was by the Spirit’s power, Inside Out. I wrote his name and the date and forgiven in the front of Bible Promises for You. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Book and a Bible Study. “Sorry I made you late for class,” I said, letting him go. “No problem, it’s just down the hall,” he replied. I’ll pray for ya for a year,” I said. “Likewise,” he said. “You take care.” And he disappeared around the corner.

Jorge [George] was sitting right outside the cafeteria in some stuffed chairs with an ottoman in front of them. He was from a Roman Catholic Background. He had a slight accent I could not place. He wore black sweats, they looked cotton, and a nylon zip up black Jacket. He had black hair short on the sides and a bit curly on top. He had an under the chin beard, a mustache only slightly thicker than Michael Jordan. He had a small nose and mouth, thin lips. He was engaged in the discussion. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven. He struggled with a “Hmm,” and could not think of anything. To prompt him I asked what he thought it was that you did got you into Heaven. “Righteousness,” he replied. “The Ten Commandments from the Bible; if you like follow those, like faith and believe in Jesus.” He thought he had about a 30% chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with him and said God wanted to know and live inside him. I asked what Jesus had done to take away his sins. “Death and shedding blood,” he replied. He seemed to agree with all I said as I made each point a couple time restating them in different words of agreement. I explained how Christ blood cleansed us and was a payment to God for our sins so God could be Just in forgiving us. I compared this to the symbolism of the Mass and said that it was to remind him that Jesus had died for him and so he was forgiven. So when he took it he could just say, “Thank You.” I explained then that he needed to receive Jesus and to place his faith in what he had done to be forgiven, then he was saved by faith. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. “I’d want to be forgiven,” he replied. So I asked if when he prayed for forgiveness if he was hoping he was good enough or had thought that he’d know he was forgiven because Jesus had died for him. “I ask for forgiveness but then I do the same thing again, like in a loop,” he replied. I said if he wanted he could ask God to forgive him telling Him that he trusted in Jesus’ work. Then the Holy Spirit inside him could give him strength to be transformed. I said there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it and he got out his phone to take a picture, so I let him and then said he could keep the booklet. “Oh ok,” he replied. I said if he wanted he could pray it silently now. “Yeah,” he said and he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to him. He said he had a KJV Bible and he found it hard to understand at times. I gave him a NKJV and showed him some of the study helps. It had a daily reading through the year and a list of Q & A with verses attached to it. I wrote his name and the date and forgiven in the front. I also gave him Bible Promises for You saying he could turn them into prayers asking God to give him strength. I also gave him a Bible study on ways Jesus claimed to be God, he had not heard the story of Jesus walking on water. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and explained there were several two-page chapters on Easter. I said now trusting in the blood of Jesus to cleanse and pay for his sins and His righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I said I would pray he gets out of the loop he is in and pray for Him each day. He was grateful and I thanked him 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 your week was blessed with a sense of the nearness of God and His love and care for you. I had a good week on campus. Kyran, Matthew, Steve* & Shay trusted in the blood and righteousness of Christ to save them. Shay prayed to receive Christ on Thursday and her story is below if you have some time you want to spend. Please pray she grows in her faith.

 Shay was sitting in the lounge between the science buildings on a bench couch under the stairs a table was pulled up in front of it but the vendor had left for the day. Someone she knew was with her, a large African American guy with a beard, possibly her brother. Later I saw her leave with someone who had to be her mom based on their dynamics and he left with them. She had her afro parted down the middle and in popcorn balls that would look like Mickey mouse ears in a silhouette. Her afro was dyed in random streaking of blue and green. Her medium sized nose was pierced with a tiny gold Playboy Bunny and she wore large gold hoop earrings. She was an above average size young woman, had on shredded jeans and a white, baseball jersey styled, blouse on with black printing. I never got the angle to read the words across her chest once seated. Her head looked nearly round from where I sat and she had full lips, only the liner remained on the edge of the bottom lip. I asked him first and he said he “wasn’t a student here”. Shay said she was and was getting emails from another Bible Study group. (There’s 3 on campus and a couple cults.) I said this was a little different and asked her the question, “You get hit by a bus and you’re dead. You stand before God and He asks, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “I don’t know but I’ve been wanting to know that,” she replied. So I asked if she’d like to see the Bible verses that gave her the answer and she said something I didn’t make out and I asked again and she said, “Sure.” I began to go through the Gospel with her explaining the things I always do. I asked what Jesus had done to take away her sins and she knew He died. So I explained His blood to cleanse and pay for her sins and righteousness to her credit when God adopted her. I said we had to receive this by faith, which was a gift from God. Though we could not be perfect, and our good stuff could not fix our bad stuff God could change bad things into good outcomes. I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done. Then God would live inside her by His Spirit and give her strength and take her to Heaven when she died. “Yeah,” she replied with an upward lilt in her voice like that seemed great. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray. I talked her through it asking if it was the desire of her heart. She nodded it was in reply. I said she could pray it silently and God would hear her and she’d know she was forgiven trusting in Jesus. She nodded again, took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. I showed her then the acrostic for living the Christian life, Beginning with Go to God in prayer and Read the Bible. She did not have a Bible so I gave her one and wrote her name and the date and forgiven in the front. I explained confession and that everything in the Christian life was “By the Spirit’s Power” “If you go to Church they’ll say, “You should do this, you should do that.” Then you think this is great but I’m gonna forget this by Wednesday. But if you wanted you could say, ‘Lord make me this kind of woman.’ Then if you forgot by Wednesday it doesn’t matter because God’s already at work. Christianity is Inside Out not outside in. First you ask God to transform you on the inside, then you become a good person and you do good things on the outside. I gave her Bible Promises for You and a Bible study I briefly explained and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet saying there were some things about Easter in it. “See you in Heaven,” I said getting up to go, she laughed a bit with something like a “He he.” Then said, “Yes! Thank you.”

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was filled with the love of God and the Steadfastness of Christ your Savior. I had a good day on campus and Matthew prayed to receive Jesus and Steve trusted in Christ. After going through the Gospel with Steve, I asked if he believed, “Jesus is God He died for your sins and rose from the dead?” He said, “Yes.” “And do you place your trust in that to be forgiven?” He said, “Yes,” again. “Well, the Bible says if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, He’s God, and believe in your heart He rose from the dead after He died for your sins, you will be saved.”  He believed. He was the older brother of Marisa who prayed to receive Jesus last semester. He is a big round guy with rectangle rimmed glasses, short hair and a Michael Jordan mustache. He was taking a class at Church, which was mostly an emphasis on going to Church.

 Matthew was sitting in the cafeteria. He was eating but agreed to do a survey. He had a square chin and sharp jaw line, hawk nose, kind of a diamond shaped face. He was clean-shaven with a curly mop of hair on top, short on the sides. He wore a grey t-shirt and was eating a Chipotle bowl at a table. He was a Roman Catholic who went to church each week. I asked him what he would he would say to God if he died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I followed the commandments. I tried to be the best person I can be, always looked up to Him, always prayed. I tried to be the best version of myself.” He thought the likelihood he would get into Heaven was 90%. I began to go through the Gospel with him saying Jesus said eternal life was knowing God. But God had to take away his sin so He could live inside him. I asked what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world. “He forgives you?” he tried. “Well this is what He does to forgive you,” I said. I explained the sacrifice of Christ and His blood to cleanse him and be a payment to God for what he had done. I explained the righteousness of God Jesus earned that was his when God adopted him. I told him we receive Christ by faith believing He was God had died for our sins and rose from the dead. Then Grace by faith saved him not works. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done. Then he would live inside him and take him to Heaven when he died. Or did he think something else? “Definitely forgiven,” he replied. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through the prayer and read the line, asking, “Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?” He nodded it did. So I said if he wanted he could pray it right now. I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “Sure,” he replied. He took the booklet then and prayed to receive Jesus. I showed him the question again, “How likely is it you are going to Heaven when you die?” I said this was now 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. I gave him Bible Promises for You and I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. He was happy with that. I also gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible Study on ways Jesus claims to be the God of the Old Testament. I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day until the spring and one year after asking God to bless him. “I don’t know if I’ll see ya again but if I see ya around I’ll just say hi,” I said. I shook his hand and said, “God bless you man.” “You too, take it easy,” He replied and I headed off. About a half hour later I passed him in the hall and as we passed each other he gave me a fist bump and I said again, “God bless you man.” “I’ll see you in Heaven,” he said with some joy. “I’ll be there,” I replied and we headed off in opposite directions.

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

 In Him,

Bob