Hey Sisters n Brothers in Christ,

I hope His faithfulness was a shield and a bulwark to you today in all things. I had a good day on campus and Jorie, Markail [mar kell], and Monse [mon say] prayed to receive Jesus today and Karoulin[car-o-lyn] said she would pray later as her friend walked up. Please pray they grow in their faith and Karoulin trusts in the Lord. She had curly hair in flat tight individual waves, a pretty-cute face and was a Latina saying she had a relationship with God and then it dropped and it was her fault. The other three have their stories below if you have the time. Thanks so much for your prayers.

 Jorie was sitting at the last doorway out of the second floor of the BIC as you head east on a bench outside the lounge on the corner. African American, she had a narrow face, sharper than an oval. Her eyebrows came to flat ends, one the right had a line cut across it. She had a small pug nose and wore black-rimmed nearly round large lensed glasses. Her upper lip was full and flat with only the tiniest V in the top of it beneath her nose. Interesting looking girl. She’d straightened her hair and frosted it here and there with highlights. She wore a black tank shrink top and had grey sweats on tight at the ankles. She was up for doing a survey and I asked her what she would say to God if she died and were asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I don’t know, um…” Then the answer seemed to dawn on her and she said, “Because I’ve been a faithful servant.” She thought the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. She had recently gotten a job that went late Saturday nights and she’d had a hard time getting out early to Church, it seemed like with someone she lived with who was her ride. I began to go through the Gospel with her, she knew Jesus had died so I explained how the blood and righteousness of Christ cleansed and was a payment to God. His resurrection was predicted by scripture. She was engaged and smiled and chuckled when I said something in a way novel to her. When I finished I asked her if she would want to be forgiven or thought something else. “I want to be forgiven,” she said solemnly. I said, “It doesn’t seem like you had put this together before?” I asked. She shook her head, No, she hadn’t. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray. I talked it through with her saying then that, “It says here does this prayer express the desire of your heart?” She nodded and I asked if she would want to pray it silently. She nodded yes and I gave her the booklet and she prayed to receive Jesus. I explained living the Christian life “By the Spirit’s Power” and I gave her then The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave her a Bible Study explaining it and said I would pray a Bible verse for her each day from now until Spring and one year after. I said the likelihood she would now go to Heaven really was 100% trusting in the Blood and Righteousness of Jesus. “Thank you so much,” she said as I got up to go. “Thank you,” I replied and shook her hand saying “God bless you.” “God bless you too,” she said and I headed off.

 Markail was not far down the hall in one of the lettered connecting hallways. He had a loose afro that ended in pin-curls and a rounded square face, his mustache was short, no longer than his mouth and was only the width of a pencil. He had almost Asian eyes. Good-looking guy. He had a black polyester short sleeve shirt on and black sweats with white stripes down the sides. He had open back sandals on and white socks. When I asked him one thing he wanted to do before he died he said, “Accomplish my dream to be a pro-athlete.” I asked what sport he played and he said football. “What position do you play?” I asked. “No let me guess, safety,” I said. He grinned and laughed with a “Yeah.” I asked what he would say to God if asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I been really trying to get closer to Him. I have been missing it but I have been trying,” he replied. He said the likelihood he would get into Heaven was 75%.  I began to God through the Gospel with him and saying God had to take away his sins so He could live inside him I asked, “What is the big thing Jesus did to take away your sins?” He thought for a second and said he didn’t know. So I began to explain that Jesus had died to cleanse him and take away his sins and that His righteousness would be his if God adopted him. And He would fill him with the Spirit. This was God’s gift by grace through faith. I asked him if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. He raised his eyebrows and pointed to the circle with Jesus on the throne of your life. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked him through it saying, “It says here does this prayer express the desire of you heart?” He nodded it did. I said he could pray it silently and I wouldn’t her but God would and he’d know he was forgiven, “Wanna do that?”. “Yeah,” he replied and he took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. “This is crazy!” he said when he was done. “I had just been trying to get closer to God.” “Yeah and then God sends me along to tell you how.” He should his head and said again “This is crazy.” I explained the likelihood he would now go to Heaven trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus was 100%. I explained living by the Spirit’s power that that God could help us do anything He wanted us to do. As a safety he was really like a quarterback on defense also a middle linebacker but he had to pick out what was going on “See the field,” and he could ask God to help him do that or remember the coach’s instructions. He listened closely to that. I said if God blessed him and he got famous and someone asked how he got there then he could tell them it was Jesus and God would get the praise. He had a Bible so I encouraged him to read John. I gave him Bible Promises for You and I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the inside. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Book and a Bible Study. I told him I would pray for him a Bible verse each day from now until Spring and one year after. If I see ya I’ll just give ya a wave. He let out kind of a joyful chuckle and said, “Thank you.” We fist bumped and I headed off.

I felt like I was supposed to go over to the science building so I headed there. I came across Monse sitting alone in a chair in the lounge on the first floor of the west most end of the second building. She was a cute Latina girl with a round face, short and a little pump wearing black leggings and a gray sweat shirt. Her hair was frosted in what would have framed her face but it was pulled back behind her head tight. She said she went to church and wanted to take care of her parents. Her goal was to be a nurse practitioner. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven and she said thinking just a moment, “Because I’m your child.” She thought she had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with her and she knew Jesus had died for her sins and said she had been to Church. I went through the Gospel with her and she listened closely that the Blood of Jesus had cleansed her and was a payment to God for what we owed Him. Everything belongs to Him so we owe for damaging what was His, for all the imperfect things we had done—we owed God something perfect, to repair, “But if I accidentally roll over your foot in the parking lot I don’t have an extra spare perfect foot to give to God. So I owe Him for all these things and I can’t pay. But God loves me so He becomes a perfect man. His Blood is worth an infinite amount because He is God. 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 that Jesus earned the Righteousness of God by perfectly fulfilling the Old Testament Law and He can give this to us as promised in Isaiah 61:10 fulfilled by Christ Galatians 3:27. I said this was hers when God adopted us. I said it says in Acts we are all children of God (His offspring) but by faith in Jesus we have the “rights” of a Child of God. If I found out where you lived and driving by I climbed in the kitchen window and started eating stuff in the refrigerator and your mom walked in and said, “What are you doing here?” I said, “I met Monse at school and she said we are all children of God so I thought I would get something to eat.” She would kick me out because I don’t have the rights of your family.” This made her smile. “But when you join God’s family you have the blessings of His family, the sacrifice for your sins the blood that cleanses you and the righteousness of God that surround you. So you have someplace to go, Heaven, and something to wear when you get there, the Righteousness of God. And he fills you with the Holy Spirit. I asked if she wanted to be forgiven for her sins or thought something else. “Be forgiven for my sins,” she replied. So I said there was a prayer she could pray and talked her through it. I said, “It says does this prayer express the desire of your heart?” She said it did so I said if she wanted she could pray it silently right now and know she was forgiven. “Wanna do that?” I asked. “Hum hum,” she replied and she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I said when she finished that the likelihood she would be forgiven now trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus was 100%.  I gave her Bible Promises for You and I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the inside. I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Book and a Bible Study. And asking if she liked science she said she was interested in the human body. I gave her a creation magazine (it had a genetics article) and a couple quick statements of fact on Mitochondrial Eve and Y chromosomal Adam and mutations. I said God Spirit could give her insight into diagnosing patients so she would know how to treat them and what medicine to give them. She could ask for His help in that.  I told her I would be praying a Bible verse for her each day from now until Spring and a year after asking God to bless her. Saying I was sorry if I took too much time I got up to go. “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you,” I replied shaking her hand and I headed down the hall. She walked past me on her way out and we waved.

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 week enjoying the last of the summer weeks. I had a good day on campus Thursday. Rebecca and India each prayed to receive Jesus and be forgiven today and Ellias was close seemed to believe saying he would pray later, after first saying God would observe him and what he did and he would get into Heaven. He did not know Jesus had died for his sins. He was a good-looking black dude with short braids and a green bandana like a sweat band around his forehead. He knew Ella who prayed earlier in the week and sat by us near the end it seemed they had a class together. Notes from the girls’ stories are below if you want to spend the time. Please pray they grow and Ellias trusts in Jesus.

I came across Rebecca in the cafeteria. She was a pretty fair skinned Latina girl. She had straight brown hair past her shoulders with highlight framing her wider diamond shaped face. She wore the moth-wing granny glasses that I see a lot. Hers were silver on the bottom and across the top gun metal color. She had the longest eyeliner commas on the tips of her eyes, maybe an inch and a half perfectly applied. She was wearing thigh high leggings that looked to be black lace and ended in bellbottoms (over white tennis shoes) coming up a half foot from black cuffed shorts. Her a blouse looked to match her lacy bell bottoms, the sleeves ending wineglass shapes at the wrist. Her fingers, ending in long pink fingernails were pretty glam. She was Roman Catholic growing up but had begun to attend a “Christian” church with her boyfriend and felt like that had made “God closer to me”. She said her BF was in a study group at school but could not remember the name. They meet on the second floor of the PE lounge. I actually always say hi to them, there’s 5 or 6 guys that all seem happy to see me doing evangelism. I asked her what one thing was she’d like to do before she died. “That’s hard…” she replied and then said, “That through my life I follow what the Bible has said.” She thought the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 80%.  I said “Knowing God” was that He lived inside her and asked what Jesus had done to take away her sins and she knew He was crucified. She listened closely to the Gospel and took it all in and I explained that the cleansing blood of Christ that paid God for sin and His righteousness would be hers when God adopted her—if she believed by faith and put her trust in what Jesus had done to be forgiven. She voiced agreement with the points of the Gospel. I asked if she’d like to be forgiven or thought something else. She said she would like to be forgiven so I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and talked her though it saying, “It says here ‘Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ So would you say it does?” “Yeah,’ She replied. I said she could pray it silently and know she was forgiven. Would you want to do that?” I asked. “Yeah,” she said again and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I told her then that the likelihood she would go to Heaven now was 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus. I explained the Christian life to her was living by the Spirit’s power asking Him to transform her. She did not have a Bible when I asked saying, “I’ve been meaning to get one.” So I gave her the NKJV I had and showed her Bible study helps it has in it. I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I also gave her Bible Promises for You and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I explained the prophecy it begins with and gave her a Bible Study on ways Jesus claims to be God. She was nice and said, “Thank you.” “So nice to meet you,” I replied. “Nice to meet you too,” She said and I said I would see her in Heaven, she nodded and said, “Have a nice day.” And I was off.

 India was sitting in the Science building lounge. She was dressed a bit like a tomboy in khaki cargo pants and dusty blue zip up fleece, white tennis shoes. She had her afro in braids and had soft classic black features. Cute, slightly round face really lit up in a bright white smile. She had a tiny precious stones pierced in each side of her nostrils. She was a warm person. She said her family members were all Christians. She had not gone to church since she was small. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven. “Hmm, she replied. “I wouldn’t have a good answer.” I asked her what the likelihood she would go to Heaven was. “Zero percent at this rate right now, I don’t want to lie.” I began to go through the Gospel with her and she knew that Jesus had died for her sins. She took in the ideas and smiled at the metaphors. The God wanted to live inside her and she would then be like the energizer battery and God was the batteries. I said that her good stuff would not fix her bad stuff. I asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in Jesus or thought something else explaining other religious options and then asked her if she would want to be forgiven. ”What?” she asked. I must have spoken to fast and slurred something I was pretty worn-out Thursday. I asked the same thing again. “I’d want to be forgiven,” she then replied. I said she could pray silently and I would not hear her but God would. She took the booklet and prayed then to receive Jesus. I said the likelihood now she would go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. She had a Bible and so I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside saying if you ever doubt it you can look here and think “that old Christian man said this”. I gave her a Bible Study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. We talked more about how the Christian life is By the Spirit’s Power. I said Christianity was the only religion where God lived inside you. I pointed out that the Bible predicted the future and if God wrote a Book He would know the future. I gave her the Rose fold out “100 Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus”. Nice to meet you man,” I said getting up off the floor at her feet where I had been sitting. “You too,” she said cheerfully. I reached out and shook her hand and said, “God bless you.” “God bless you too,” she replied and I was 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 Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you’ve had a great day filled up to the fullness of God, walking with Him in Newness of life. I had a good day on campus and 2 girls prayed, Madison and Odalys and one girl from last year Ellie said she had prayed since we’d spoken (I had been praying for her). Finally, Jess confessed Christ after hearing the Gospel and said she wanted to pray later in her own private space. So a great birthday, thanks so much for your prayers. Their stories are below if you have time please pray each of these girls grow in faith.

Ellie was sitting in the cafeteria. She has stick straight blonde hair, the roots out a bit and was wearing Jeans and a t-shirt. She’s pretty squared facial features. I recognized her and said, “Haven’t we talked before?” She said we had and as I began to say her name she finished it for me. She said, “Actually I have been reading my Bible a lot lately.” She had said before she had begun to read her Grandmothers Bible so I assume it was the same one. I said that was great and I asked if I had given her a booklet. She said she still had it. So I asked if she ever had prayed the prayer in it. “Actually I have.” I asked how she was doing she said she was trying to get to church but said her “mom is a lesbian and does not really encourage it”. I said, “Oh that’s hard”, and she agreed it was. I said I had been praying for her and now would pray a Bible verse for her each day until Spring and one year after. She was grateful and I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet which she really liked and wrote her name and “forgiven!” in the front and explained she could find Strobel on line as she was interested in his story. She thanked me and was on her way.

As Ellie walked away I went over to ask a few people and finally Madison said she would do a survey. She too had been reading the Bible more frequently of late. Her mom died a year ago and she felt drawn closer to God since. She had a wide sweet looking oval face, a pointed nose, she was a cute kid with reddish brown hair parted down the middle straight just past her shoulders. She wore light blue jeans and a light brown sweatshirt and had a small silver cross around her neck. I asked her what she would say to God if asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I’m a good person.” She replied. She had originally gone to a Lutheran church with her grandmother. She thought the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. I began to go through the Gospel with her and when I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sins she said, “Crucified?” “Right,” I said and I explained that Jesus was God and His blood being worth an infinite amount both cleansed her of sin and was a payment for sin. When I said “The real reason God forgives you is God got paid.” She laughed lightly and I said, “Really just as a fiction story if you stood before God and Satan walked up and said, “you can’t let her in,” God could say, “nope I paid for her”. So God is Just to forgive you because there was a payment. She peppered me with questions as I went through, she asked what the difference was between the Old Testament and the New Testament. I said that in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit does not live inside people yet because Jesus had not died yet, they weren’t cleansed by his blood and sacrifice. In the New Testament God can live inside her and I explained there were prophecies in the Old Testament that Jesus fulfilled so you would know who he was when He came. I explained the Trinity also and explained how Jesus appeared as the Angel of Jehovah in the Old Testament. She agreed as I went through the Gospel interjecting a, “Yes,” here and there. I explained the righteousness of Christ and salvation by faith. I finally asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus and not hoping she was good enough. “Yes,” she said. So I asked if she had ever asked to be forgiven for her sins, “Yes,” she put in. “What I mean is have you asked God to forgive you telling Him you were trusting in what Jesus had done?” “No not like that,” she replied. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray. I talked her through it and said “It says here, ‘Does this prayer express the desire of you heart?” “Yes,” she said again. I asked if she’d like to pray it silently right now I would not hear her but God would hear and she’d know she was forgiven, “Wanna do that?” “Yeah,” she replied and she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to her by the Spirit’s Power and gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave her The Case for Christ Answer  Booklet and a Bible study. She thought she would come to a Bible Study next week. I told her I would pray for her every day from now until Spring and one year after. We agreed she would see me in Heaven and I told her to have a good semester. “Thank you, you too,” she replied and I headed out.

Odalys [Oh Dallas] was sitting on the ground floor of the east most science building in the hall. She did not have too much time. She had a ball cap on and long brown hair past her shoulders. She had on pink hued “Granny Style” glasses. She wore Jeans and a white t-shirt white tennis shoes and ankle socks. Her name was new to me but is a common enough Spanish name on the web, though she was using the English pronunciation. She was fair skinned Latina and didn’t wear any make-up, looked like a young business woman.  She was kind and it seemed like she had aging parents who she felt like she wanted to spend more time with, “take them to the beach”. She had been to church when she was young and knew Jesus had been crucified for her sins when I asked what He had done to take away her sins. I asked her one thing she would want to do before she died and she said, “Spend time with my family, experience more and be present with them.” I asked what she would say to God and she said, “That’s a very good question. I feel like I’ve been there for everyone, I’ve tried to be selfless.  Religiously I’m not very close to God. When I get in a serious situation that’s when I ask God for help.” I said I thought many people were that way and God wanted us to ask for help all the time even for help on a test. I went through the Gospel with her. She knew Jesus had died for her. I explained the cleansing blood and Christ’s payment for her sins and righteousness. I asked if she would want to be forgiven or thought something else. “The first option,” she relied. I asked if she would want to be forgiven there was a prayer and talked her through it “Yeah,” she said when I asked if it was the desire of her heart. Asking if she’d like to pray it she said, “That’s fine,” and did then pray to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life y the Spirit’s power and told her I would be praying for her. I quickly gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave her Strobel’s book and she had to run saying, “I will keep in touch with you I have your email, Thank you.” “Have a good day, God bless you,” I replied and she hurried off. I felt like I took too much time as she had to rush. That’s not uncommon.

Jess was laid back against the windows her elbow up on a motorcycle helmet in the science lounge, looked tall. Pretty, she had strawberry blonde hair in two thick long braids up onto the top of her head and freckles, a diamond shaped face. She wore leggings and a tan long sleeved shirt with thumbholes. She said the helmet was her boyfriend’s. She said he was a religious guy and they had deep conversations at times. She used to go to a Mega Church in Naperville but it seemed to have been a while. There was an ink line tattoo on her ankle and she wore running shoes. When I asked her what why she should get into Heaven what she would say to God, “To see my Grandpa,” was the reply.  She thought she had a 90% chance of going to Heaven. I said, “That was a sweet answer, to see your Grandpa, but what is it you think gets someone into Heaven?” “Be kind, helping anybody be open to anybody,” she said. Agreeing with me that had boundaries. As I began to go through the Gospel with her she did not know what Jesus had done to take away her sins. I began to explain the Gospel and the Cross the Blood and righteousness of God. “This is blowing open my brain,” she said. I explained then that this was hers by faith—if she believed Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. Not that she just knew the story but that that’s what she placed her trust in as a woman to be forgiven and go to Heaven. She nodded. I explained her good stuff would not fix her bad stuff. “Say you had a boyfriend before this one you thought he was cool but then you found out he was cheating on you and stealing your stuff.”  She nodded with a smirk indicating that guy was in her rear-view mirror. “So you cut him loose.” She nodded that had happened. “He comes around in a week and says I know I did you 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 girlfriends.” She scoffed and I said “You’d be like whatever, because you can’t do good stuff over there to fix your bad stuff here.” She agreed. But I said God could turn bad things into good things because He controls the future.” I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done where He then could live inside her and give her strength. She said she would. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray. I went through it with her asking if it was the desire of her heart. She said it was. I said she could pray it silently and she said she really likes to pray in her own space. “If I can keep this?” I said she could and there was more in it about faith and explained the Spirit’s power. I said, “So let me ask you, do you now believe Jesus is God He died for your sins and rose from the dead?” “Yes,” she said. “And do you trust now in that to be forgiven and go to Heaven. “Yes,” she replied. “Well the Bible says if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart he rose from the Dead after dying for your sins you will be saved.” She liked that. ‘You still have to say it to God of course,” I put in. I gave her a book and reached out with my left hand as I got up to go, it was nice to meet you, I’ll see you in Heaven. She squeezed my hand with her right. “Nice to meet you too. And I headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with God as a present help in trouble, many are the afflictions of the righteous, and the Lord delivers us from them all (Ps 34:19). My day on campus ended well as Jomelly prayed to receive Jesus. I had a good conversation with Gwen encouraging her faith she wanted to share with friends. Earlier Savannah heard the Gospel and she thought she would “probably pray tonight” so maybe I’ll find out if I bump into her again. She was a cute blonde softball player in the PE lounge. Jomelly’s story is below if you have some time. Please pray she grows in her faith.

Jomelly was sitting in the little 10-foot square lounge where people wait to have dental work done by students The work is discounted when compared to a dental office, but it takes longer, so if need cleaner teeth, then hey. Jomelly described herself as an introvert. She was a pretty Latina with an oval face that ended in a petite square chin. Her hair was in loose waves that might have been ringlets if very short. Hers went down past her shoulders and was tinted framing her face. Her face was the color of a perfect tan and she wore leggings and a pink long sleeve t-shirt. She was really nice. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “‘Cause I always trusted His faith was there,” she replied. She had been at a church she really liked but it seemed like her family had moved away and she had not been able to find the community she had. Community by nature is something you can lose quickly but not regain quickly. She thought she had a 65% chance of going to Heaven. She listened to the Gospel smiling here and there but didn’t have much verbal comment at all. So I just prayed as I was speaking that God would touch her Heart to believe. She knew Jesus had died to take away her sins. So I explained that the Bible said His blood cleansed her and was a payment to God. I explained the righteousness of Christ to her credit when God adopted her, she could be then saved by faith in what He has done. I asked if she wanted to be forgiven or thought something else, showing her the circles and explaining what Islam and the Buddha thought. She read under the circle with Christ on the throne, “A life entrusted to Christ,” as her answer. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray. I explained it asking if it was the desire of her heart. She said it was so I said she could pray it silently and that I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear and she’d know she was forgiven. She nodded and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus and folded the corner where the prayer was. I told her she could keep it and said now trusting in the blood of Jesus and His righteousness to be hers the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. “Thank you,” she said and I said she was welcome. I explained a life living by the Spirit’s power and she had a Bible so I said she could read in John. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and also, The case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible Study. I said if she had any questions I reminded her my email was on the back of the booklet. “See you in Heaven,” I said getting up to go. She smiled and said, “OK.” 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 Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you had a blessed week knowing the goodness of the Lord. I had a good day on campus and Ella, Madi, AJ and Charles each prayed to receive Jesus Thursday. Please pray they grow in their faith. Their stories are below if you have the time. I had a quick opportunity to go through the Gospel with Ethan. He had shoulder length hair that had not been recently washed. He wore a purple shirt and black shorts, sitting outside the cafeteria. He said he went to Church every week but could not think of what Jesus had done to take away his sins. I left him with the booklet after speedily going through the points with a couple quick analogies. He hadn’t wanted to talk but said, “Thank you,” as I walked away and I said, “no worries”.

 Ella was sitting along the hallway beside the bookstore at a counter height table. I walked past her. She seemed busy but two steps later I decided to see if she’d do a student survey and turned back. She was a pretty girl wearing a grey hoodie and blue shorts. She her nose was a small pretty version of the Statue of Liberty, not as wide but the top of it was flat. She had a sharp jaw line and long brown hair. She said she wanted to go to Italy so I asked if she was Italian and she said, “Yes.” 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, I’ve thought about that a lot,” she said and then said, “I think the majority of my life he’d observe me, [and] because of what I do, He knows my heart, I care and my empathy for others and when I love someone I love them, He’d see that.” She thought she had a 75% chance of going to heaven. She went to church with a neighbor and another friend sometimes. I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sin so He could live inside her and she thought for a bit and could not remember. Turning the page I said, “He died for you.” “That was on the tip of my tongue,” she said. I explained that the blood of Jesus cleansed her and was how God got paid. She tracked with everything and was a quarter step ahead to the conclusion of each illustration. I thought she was rushing but I realized later she was just tracking hard on the story of redemption. I explained Jesus had earned the righteousness of God and this was her credit when God adopted her. All Jesus had done was hers by faith and His Grace. I asked if she wanted to be forgiven for her sin or thought something else. “Be forgiven,” she replied. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I read it through for her with explanation saying, “It says here, ‘Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ Would you say that’s true?”  She nodded. I said she could pray it silently right now and know she was forgiven, “Wanna do that?” “Yeah,” she replied and she prayed to receive Jesus. When she finished she said, “You explained this really well.” I thanked her and said the likelihood now she would go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the righteousness and blood of Jesus. She had a Bible, I explained living life by the Spirit’s power. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet  and a Bible study on the Deity of Christ. I said I would pray a Bible verse for her each day from now until Spring and one year after. “I don’t know if I will see you again.” “Hopefully,” she put in sweetly. “But I’ll be praying,” I replied. “Thank you so much I appreciate your coming up to me.” “Thanks for saying that,” I replied, “God bless you.” “God bless you too,” she said and I headed off down the hall.

 Madi was sitting in a lounge that is by the student account windows. She had her back to the hallway. I guess she was caught up in what she was listening to as I startled her, asking her to do a student survey. I apologized and she asked what I’d said so I asked again and she said, “I can do that.” She was a really cute kid with a small face and freckles her summer blonde hair pulled back behind her head in kind of a bun, she was tan. She was wearing gray shorts and a gray hoodie of the same fabric. I sat down in the chair next to her after she made some room by moving her backpack and got her name. I asked her what reason she would say to God to get into Heaven.  “What I’ve been through the last 10 years,” she said firmly. “OK,” I replied. I asked the likelihood she would go to Heaven, “99.5%… I would hope,” she said. I explained that God wanted to live inside her and to do that He had to take away her sins, make her His type. She said she had gone to church now and again so I asked if she remembered what Jesus had done to take away her sins. She said she had not “gotten into it that deeply” before. So I explained the atonement like I usually do, His blood to cleanse her and pay for her sis and righteousness of Christ. I said God would adopt her and give her the blessings of His family. All that God had done she could have by faith. “If you believe Jesus is God died for your sins and rose from the dead and put your trust in that,” I explained that would mean you had faith. And it’s by grace you are saved by faith. Her good stuff would not fix her bad stuff but God would make all things work together for good. “He can turn a bad thing into a good thing because He controls the future.” I asked then would she like to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done or did she think something else. “Be forgiven,” she said. 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,” she replied. I asked if she wanted she could pray it quietly right now and know she was forgiven. “Yeah I can do that,” she said taking the booklet. She paused for a moment and then she started to cry. “Sorry I just get really emotional with this kind of stuff,” she said. “I’ll be ok in a minute.” I said Ok I’ll just look down and wait,” wanting to give her privacy. It threw me a bit since she came across as pretty determined. Then she prayed to receive Jesus. I told her the likelihood she would now go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet saying there might be some questions it would answer and the author had more on line. I also gave her a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ. I said I would pray a Bible Verse for her each day from now through Spring and one year after asking God to bless her. I touched her shoulder with my finger tips and said, “God bless you.” “Yeah, thank you,” she replied and I headed off. I think I’ll bump into her again somehow.

 AJ and Charles were sitting on the second floor of the PE building in some couches at the top of the stairs. AJ had tattoos running down his left leg, on a hat turned backwards and a narrow square jaw face with a mustache and a chin beard. Charles had tattoos on what I could see of his forearms. His black hat had a 2inch band and then the rest of it looked like curly lamb’s wool. His face had dark cheeks where I think a heavy beard would have grown in he had an inch long beard growing only under his chin.  They were wearing t-shirts and shorts. AJ said he’d do a survey right away and Charles jumped in after. They both seemed athletic but only AJ said he was who seemed just a bit more engaged than Charles but he might have just been thinking faster being the first to reply to everything.  When I asked them what they would say to God to get into Heaven AJ said, “There’s something you say… I forget. I would just hope God didn’t judge me off my actions but He judged me off my heart.” Charles replied with, “Pretty much the same thing he said.” AJ said that he was sure he was going to Heaven and Charles agreed. “100%,” I asked and each replied, “100%.” I began to go through the Gospel with them and AJ knew that Jesus had died for his sins, but though Charles agreed with him and it seemed like he hadn’t known that before. I explained the rest of the Gospel, that the blood of Jesus cleansed them and this was also how God got paid but he had to pay Himself. I explained the righteousness of God. Christ earn this and it was to their credit and they were given this by faith. We were alone off to the side and both of them listened closely to everything I said. “So would you like to be forgiven for your sins trusting in what Jesus has done? Then He would live inside you and give you strength. Or do you think something else?” I finally asked. “Be forgiven,” AJ said immediately. “What about you?” I asked Charles. “Be forgiven,” he replied. So I said if they wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer they could pray and I talked them through it asking if this prayer was “the desire of their hearts”.  Yeah,” AJ said and Charles nodded. So I said they could pray it right now and they wanted to. AJ took the booklet and asked “Can we keep this?” I said they could and they then each prayed silently. I took AJ’s booklet back and wrote all the additional Bible verses in it. I explained the Christian life was living “By the Spirit’s Power”.  I only had one Bible Promise Book left, so I wrote their names and the date and “forgiven!” in The Case for Christ Answer Booklet inside each book. I wrote in AJ’s first and then Charles who was beside me handing it to him I said, “Your documents.” AJ wanted the promise book so I gave it to him and gave a prayer book to Charles telling him I was around a lot and he could get a promise book from me when he saw me. I gave them each Bible studies too and told them I would keep them in my prayers each day from now until Spring and one year after. They were both grateful and I headed out to get more books from the truck.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism last week if you had a chance. God truly blessed and 10 students prayed to trust Christ as Savior.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with goodness and grace. I had a good day on campus and Lauren and Camille Each prayed to receive Jesus today. Please pray they grow in their faith. Their stories are below if you are interested and have some time.

 Lauren was sitting on the ground floor of the west science building in the hallway. I had rested my pack on a bench and she passed me and sat down on the other end of it. She was wearing gray nylon sweats and a blue-gray t-shirt and clog slippers with faux fur on the edge against white ankle socks. She had long natural eyelashes and an oval face that was bright when she smiled. Her light brown hair was pulled behind her head in a bun. She possessed one of those princess-pretty faces you would hope to see on the babysitter. One of the words she used to describe herself for the student survey was “tidy”. She was a nice, caring person. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “That’s a good question,” she replied thinking. “I try to be the greatest person I can be and incorporate [that] into my community as well, help others when they need it.” I asked her what the likelihood was she would go to Heaven. She said 100% a bit hesitantly. She said something like didn’t want to sound arrogant. “But you have always thought you would go to Heaven,” I said. She agreed that was how she thought things would work out. I began to go through the Gospel with her asking what Jesus had done to take away her sins. She knew He was crucified. I explained then that His blood cleansed her and this was why God could forgive her because He got paid. At some point she said “Wow.” And I explained the righteousness of God that Christ earned like getting extra credit someone else had earned in a class. Isaiah 61:10 said one day she would be clothed with His salvation and that she was clothed with Jesus in Galatians 3:27. “That’s awesome,” she replied. I explained salvation by faith and then asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins. Christ would then live inside her with His holy Spirit. She said she had gone to “Church School” all her life. “They always told us to let God into us to live inside us.” She said in response. (This morning before school I listened to an interview with a couple guys from form day4 Astronomy while I was getting ready to head out.

The Mind-Blowing Purpose of Outer Space

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UCXl2rVQWY

One of them, James, mentioned that he had read Ray Comfort’s book, Hells Best Kept Secret. I had not read it so I bought it on eBay when I got home. He said Comfort had challenged him in reading that book. He realized had never actually asked God to forgive him for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done on the cross though he had gone to Church most of his adult life. So he prayed to receive Jesus and the Spirit had opened his eyes to Astronomy testifying to scripture after. So when Lauren said that I remembered his words.) And though I’d done this with students before I felt like God was tipping me off for today and I should help her think it through. I asked if she had ever asked God to forgive her for her sins based on what Jesus had done for her on the cross, this would cleanse her of her sins and then the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, would live inside her. “Not directly,” she said. So I said that if she wanted to ask there was a prayer she could pray. I talked her through the prayer in the Booklet I’d gone through. I asked if she would want she could pray that silently and know she was forgiven. “Would you want to do that?” I asked. “Yes,” she said immediately. So I said she could pray it right now. “OK,” she replied and took the Booklet and prayed to receive Christ. I explained to her then living “By the Spirit’s power” asking for His help in everything. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and forgiven! in the front. She had not heard of Lee Strobel. I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet showing her that it was some short 2-page explanations. I gave her a Bible Study and told her the story of how Jesus had walked on the water as a way to claim he was God as described in Job 9:8. She had not seemed to hear all of the gospel story before. I said I would pray a Bible verse for her each day from now until Spring and one year after. I might not see her again but I would be praying. I got up to go and she said, “Thank you so so much for everything.” “You’re welcome,” I said “have a good day.” “You have a good day too,” she said enthusiastically and I thanked her and headed off.

Later in the day I came across Camille [cam eel] sitting along in a fist floor lounge in the BIC that has an atrium attached to it. She had a round full cute face and was a big person but not fat at all. She had really thick poof-ed brown wavy hair that was full from her head out and past her shoulders. She was not interested in a Bible Study and had done a survey already, she said she was just too busy to join a group. I said this survey was different and just asked the question, “Say you are walking down the road and 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? So do you have any interest in what the Bible says is the way you get into Heaven or not so much?” “OK,” she replied. Would you like to hear the Bible verses that explain it? “She said she would. She said she went to a Catholic Church. I went through the gospel with her. She had a hard time remembering at first what Jesus had done to take away her sins. I said, “He died for you.” “Oh yeah,” she said remembering. So I explained how Jesus’ blood had cleansed her and was really how God got paid for the imperfect things we had done to wreck God’s stuff, we owed Him something perfect for this in return. I said this was like the mass at church that the wine was symbolic of Jesus blood and the wafer of His body and it was reminding her she was forgiven because of Jesus. When she took it she could just say, “Thank you.” She smiled pleasantly all through. I explained the righteousness of God and salvation by faith. I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done and she said again she did not have time for a Bible study but maybe in the summer she could come. I took note of the huge Anatomy text beside her on the table and said I could see she was going to be busy studying. I understood she would have no time for a group but what I was asking was would she want to be forgiven for her sins so God could live inside her or did she think something else. “Be forgiven,” she replied. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I talked her through it. It says, “Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?” She said it did so I said she could pray it silently and know she was forgiven. “Wanna do that?” She nodded and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave her Strobel’s The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I said maybe she would have some time to look at it at Christmas break. I told her I would pray a Bible verse for her each day through this next Spring and one year after asking God to bless her and if I saw her again I would just wave. “Thank you,” she said smiling 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 Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking by the Spirit. I had a good day on campus. I spoke with a lot of Christians and Brandon and Adrian each prayed with me to receive Jesus. Please pray they grow in their faith. Their stories are below if you are interested.

Brandon was sitting in the PE lounge against the south wall. The guy he was with was sprawled out looking at his phone but he was sitting up straight looking around, smart guy. He was a good-looking black guy with a diamond shaped face and braids that were about 6 inches long coming down off the top of his head. He had a slight mustache and a chin beard. He wore a pullover hoodie with blue and orange printing on it (Chicago Bears colors) and athletic shorts. His legs looked strong but he looked slightly built. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and was asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I’d say… that I just never stopped believing in faith, no matter how bad gets you got to have faith. No matter how bad life gets it’s God’s plan.” he said. He thought he had a 70% chance of going to Heaven. He had gone to church when he was younger. I began to go through the Gospel with him and I asked what Jesus had done to take away his sin so God could live inside him. He could not think of anything so I went on to explain the blood and righteousness of Jesus to cleanse him and be a payment for our sin to God. He listened careful to all I said about the blood and righteousness of Christ. I explained that what God had done could be his by faith. Faith saved him and he could not fix his bad stuff with other good stuff. I showed him the two circles and 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 to live life. I explained then the circle on the left and said God would be on the outside of his life. Islam had a religion based on that. God’s Spirit did not live inside them he is not a father because he did not have a son and there is no sacrifice for sin, “So they have a different god,” I explained. Then I asked if he would want to be forgiven or thought something else. He pointed at the circle with Christ inside him. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I explained it. “It says here, ‘Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ so would you say it does?” I asked. “Yeah,” he replied. So I said he could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “Wanna do it?” “Um Hum,” he replied so I handed him the booklet and he prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to him living by the Spirit’s power. He had a Bible so I gave him a Bible Study and Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I said that now trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. He asked when the Bible study was and I said in a week we’d start it in the cafeteria at 2 PM. I told him that I would pray a Bible Verse for him each day from now until Spring and one year after. I got up to go having been sitting on the floor at his feet and said, “Thanks for your time.” “No problem. Thank you,” he said and I headed out.

Adrian was sitting in the cafeteria. He had bright-red hair and skin like mine, some scaring on his forehead and cheeks. He had on a white FILA t-shit and purple and black sweats that looked to be in some kind of tie dye pattern. He was born here but his parents were from the Czech Republic. He said things had changed in the perspective of people he knew who had come to the US. Whereas once the American dream seemed a possibility, costs had gone so high for even a subway sandwich, that some doubted prosperity would be attainable. I asked him one thing he wanted to do before he died and he said, “Have a loving family.” So he fit into the experience I had of guys who said that on campus (they wanted a family) that they were either already Christians or would pray with me to receive Christ. I asked what he would say to God if he died and were asked why should I let you into Heaven. “Well I’m not perfect, no one is but every time I think about it it’s not necessary to think about it like that you just always should do your best.” He went on to say that that meant trying harder at whatever situation you found yourself in. He said his parents were Roman Catholic but he felt that just being Christian in whatever denomination was acceptable, it was about community and repentance. He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. “I don’t know, there’s only one person who knows, so 50/50.” he said smiling. He didn’t feel He was interesting to talk to and he was engaged with the Gospel as I made each point and asked, “What version of the Bible would you say I should read?” I said I had a New King James version with me he could have, which was an early translation into English that used some Latin texts that later were replaced with Greek. It was updated a bit.  The New American Standard was good too. I said I could give him one and he said that would be great. I said I had memorized verses out of both.  He knew Jesus had died for our sins. When I had explained the righteousness of God and salvation by faith I asked if he would want to be forgiven or thought something else he said something like, “I’d be forgiven of course.” So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I asked if it was the desire of his heart. He said it was so I said he could pray it now silently. “Can I take a picture of this?” I said, “Sure but you could pray it now.” “I will,” he replied, “but I want to pray it again later.” He took a picture and prayed to receive Jesus. Later when I gave him the booklet he said smiling, “So I did not need to take a picture.” I agreed with a smile, he didn’t. I told him now the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the Blood and Righteousness of Jesus. I gave him a Bible writing his name and the date and forgiven!” in the front. I explained the Christian life to him living by the Spirit’s power. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and Bible Promises for You. Opening the promise book I just happened to turn to the page with promises on finances and he had said he wanted to be an accountant, we’d talked about that and Ellen’s professional life (when she wasn’t doing all the stuff for the administrative part of the ministry for free). He was a sharp thoughtful guy and I was glad he’d joined the Kingdom. He was grateful for all the free stuff; I also gave him a Creation magazine. I said people donated to the ministry to pay for the books and Bible so no worries. He had to head to class so I said I would pray for him a Bible verse each day from now through Spring and one year after. “I’ll pray for you too,” he said and I thanked him and he was off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope ya had a good day walking in the Kingdom God granted to you. I had a good day on campus encouraging some Christians in their faith (Klaudia and Alicia) and Sergio and Jaydi each prayed to receive Jesus, after I offered them the Gospel. Please pray they grow in faith.

Sergio was sitting at the end of the second floor SRC building hallway on the second floor just past the glass doors (fire-doors?). It’s sort of a hallway on the west end of the student services building right there, there’s some chairs. He had like of a honey bear looking face, wore black framed glasses, Latino, 5×5 in build wearing solid blue shorts and a t-shirt. He had a mop of brown hair and a nearly transparent mustache. He was an athlete, probably a defensive back. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven and he said, “I’m not [going to Heaven], I don’t deserve to go.” I asked him what the likelihood was he would go to Heaven and he said, “Zero.” He said he grew up in the Catholic Church. He listened closely to the Gospel and when I asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sins he knew Jesus had died. I explained the blood righteousness of Christ to him saying the being cleansed by the blood of Christ would allow God to come into him. I explained salvation by faith and how his good stuff could not fix his bad stuff, and he agreed. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in Jesus so God could live inside him or thought something else. “I would want to be forgiven,” he replied. So I said there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through the prayer and said, “It says here, ‘Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ would you say it does?” “Yeah,” he said. I said he could pray it silently and be forgiven saying, “Wanna do that?” He nodded and then he took the booklet and looked at it and set it down open and talked about his life, “When I would go to do something stupid there would always be something in me that would stop me.” I said that was the Holy Spirit on the outside trying to direct him.  “When you walked up it was quiet and then when you began to talk there was all this noise and people walking by.” He was right too there was suddenly after we’d been alone for a moment a lot of traffic. He felt like they were looking at him in a questioning way. There was even a guy who went by in a walker whose movements were very erratic and chaotic. He seemed to feel like they were almost sent to distract him. I said that I’d seen that. I redirected him to the prayer asking if he still wanted to pray and he said he did and prayed to receive Christ. He finished and I talked to him about how life sucked sometimes. He agreed. I said that God allowed that so that He could find people who would be strong by trusting in Him. They would be filled with the Spirit and become one with God and they could be part of the resistance against everything going to Hell. I said that by God’s Spirit making him stronger he would become like a rock that the wave breaks against helping to hold things together. Because he would be one with the Rock that is Christ. He nodded and seemed to resonate with the picture. He did not have a Bible so I gave him one and I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. If anyone ever said he was not God’s he could get the Bible and read in the front and remember he was. I said Ephesians 1:13 said as soon as he believed the Holy Spirit comes into him and this would seal him and God’s Spirit would not leave him. I gave him Bible Promises for You. He did not like to read so I gave him a Bible Study on places Jesus clams to be God explaining it. I said I would pray a Bible verse for him each day from now until Spring and one year after asking God to bless him. “I may not be able to remember your face that well by this time next year but I will still be praying,” I said. He reached out and shook my hand, he was strong and had a solid grip and said, “Good to see you man,” he said looking me in the eye. “Good to see you,” I said and I headed out.

I also went through the Gospel with a pretty, light brown-haired girl Klaudia. Her hair was stick straight and pulled back the front edges lightened. She was sitting in the PE building in black running shorts and a half top with spaghetti string shoulders. She had no make-up on and had a tiny cross around her neck. To answer the question she said, “I would say I’m also a believer of God, I tried to spread the Gospel and just be a good follower.” When I had finished going through the Gospel with her I asked her if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or if she thought she had already done that. She felt like she had trusted in Christ already growing up in the Church. She hadn’t easily been able to express saving faith though she knew Jesus had died for her. So I said that growing up in the Church you believe everything but have not always had that one moment you can point to if your Church tradition was not telling you to have a time you just decided. So like a chain snapped or a shot from a gun, because you had not lived some kind of dramatically sinful life you had to turn from. She nodded that was true. But that this was a way she could not share her faith giving her the booklet. She was grateful to have the content I’d given her in it and added to it. I gave her Bible Promises for You and a Bible Study. “Thank you so much for everything! This was very impactful!” She said as I got up to go. “You’re welcome,” I replied and headed off.

I had a good talk with Alicia a black woman (heavy set with straight black hair and kind of traditional African America features) who seemed to be in her late 20’s in the science building hall. She really appreciated the Gospel clearly explained. I said maybe she could ask the question if you died and God asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven? what would you say?” to a niece or a nephew to help them understand. “I have a daughter,” she replied. I’m going to go through this with her.

Jaydi (jay dee) was in a lounge in the Science building at a table. She had one of those pretty sweet faces you’d expect in a painting of Mary the Mother of Jesus. She had Latina coloring and long brown straight hair to her elbows. She had perfectly lined eyebrows with flat edges above her nose like some girls have to draw on. She was a student athlete and had on a dark grey sweatshirt. She said she went to a Catholic Church. I asked her what she would say to God if He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Hmm, I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve done anything that’s worth punishment,” she said. She thought the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. As I went through the Gospel with her I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sins and she said, “The blood?” I said that yes He had died for her shedding his blood. I explained that the Bible said in 1John 1:7 the blood of Jesus cleanses us from our sins.

I explained the righteousness of God that was hers when He adopted her. I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus has done or did she think she had done that asking God to forgive her trusting in Jesus? She said something like, “I don’t think I have ever done that.” So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I explained it to her and said, “It says here, ‘Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ Would you say that it does? “Yeah she replied. So I said she could pray it quietly and I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear her and she’d know she was forgiven. “Wanna do that?” I asked. “Yeah,” she replied and she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained living “By the Spirit’s Power” asking for God help in everything. “Then because you have asked Him for strength in small things when something big happens you will have become used to trusting in Him and you will ask for His help.” She nodded. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. “Thank you,” she said taking the book. I also gave her  The Case for Christ Answer Booklet explaining a bit of Strobel’s story and a Bible Study on some ways Jesus claimed to be God. When you go to Church and take the mass you can remember the wine is symbolic of Jesus Blood and the wafer is symbolic of His Body broken for you, so when you take it you can just say “Thank you” knowing you are forgiven. I told her I would pray a Bible Verse for her each day from now until Spring and one year after and if I saw her I would just give her a wave.  Thank you, it was so nice to meet you,” she said as I got up to go. “It was nice to meet you too. I’ll keep you in my prayers,” I replied. “Thank you,” she said again and I said, “Ok,” 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 and you were given the power to do all the things the faith God has placed in you prompted. I had a good day on campus Thursday and 3 students prayed to receive Jesus; Lilly, Erick and Matt.  Their stories are below if you have the time. Please pray they grow in their faith. Another girl Anna was close who was dressed all in black with platform boots sporting big silver buckles, she looked like the girl in the musical grease, almond eyes, light brown hair shag haircut. She had not thought about asking God to forgive her based on what Jesus had done and went to a church that taught what she interpreted as universal salvation.

 Lilly was sitting on the edge of the foyer at the doors that overlook the bookstore up on the second floor. I had taken the elevator up to spare my leg and planned to talk to a guy I’d seen over there but she sat down right as I got to that spot so I asked her instead. She was a pretty girl with a slight gap tooth smile, light brown hair past her shoulders. She wore yoga pants and a black t-shirt. Her short pretty face looked tan. She smiled a closed lipped smile periodically as I explained the Gospel to her. Nice kid she said she’d had religious education through the 8^th grade. When I asked her what she would say to God if she died to get into Heaven she said, “I always tend to put others before myself.” She thought she had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven.  She listened closely and knew Jesus had died to take away her sins. I explained how she was cleansed by the blood of Christ. His blood was also a payment to God and His righteousness could be hers by faith. I asked her if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else explaining the other ideas and returning to Jesus on the throne and she quickly then said, “Yes.” I said there was a prayer she could pray if she wanted to be forgiven and talked her through it asking if it was the desire of her heart. “Yeah,” she said. I said she could pray it silently and know she was forgiven and she replied with “Ahh, yeah.” She took the booklet and I said, “Just pretend I’m not here.” She nodded and prayed to receive Jesus. I gave her a Bible Promise book and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. “Thank you,” she said as I handed it to her. I gave her a Bible study and explained it and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told her I would pray a Bible verse for her each day through next spring and one year after. “Thank you,” she said again sweetly and I said If I saw her around I would just wave and she smiled and I headed off.

Erick was sitting on a bench on the west side of the lounge connecting the science buildings. He was a tall guy with curly light brown hair and angular features, square jaw. He said his family was from Poland but he had never been there and he’d like to go. I said I had a friend who married a polish girl and he’d just seen it for the first time. He went to a catholic church near him, he could not think of the name. “Our Lady of Mercy” popped in my head so I asked if that was it and he said, “Yeah that’s it!” I asked him what he would say to God if he died and was asked why should I let you into Heaven. “That’s a good question actually,” he said thinking. “I guess ‘cause I did my best.” He thought he had a 40% chance of going to Heaven. He knew Jesus had been crucified to take away the sins of the world. I went on to explain the Gospel, that he was cleansed by the blood of Jesus who paid his way to God. I explained the righteousness of God and believing by faith. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else. “Yeah, be forgiven,” he said. So I once again said there was a prayer he could pray if he wanted to be forgiven and talked him through it. I said he could pray it silently. “Yeah, I’ll do it,” he replied and he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to him reading the Bible. He did not have one so I gave him one and showed him all the study aids in it. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I explained living by the Spirit’s power to ask for His help in everything. I gave him a Bible Promise book and Strobel’s Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I gave him a Bible Study on the deity of Christ too and said I would pray for him until a year from Spring. I showed him the question again, what is the likelihood you will go to Heaven. Saying, “This is 100%, if you trust in the righteousness of Christ to be your righteousness.” I explained the righteousness of Christ and His blood was worth an infinite amount. There was enough for us both. He was grateful and I headed out.

In the face, Matt looked a bit like Archie from the comic books. His hair was reddish brown and he had freckles. He had a slight build and a silver cross around his neck. He wore a blue t-shirt and maroon shorts. He was a real nice guy and went to an evangelical multi-site church that has a campus in Wheaton. He said he wanted to travel. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and God asked why should I let you in. “I don’t think I would say I deserve to go to Heaven,” he began. “I heard before that it’s only by the blood of Jesus I would be let in nothing that I do. That would be my answer.” He thought he had an 80% chance of going to Heaven. I explained the Gospel in the usual way, and then also the righteousness of Christ and he said, “That’s awesome.” In the end I said that he would receive all God had done by faith. So I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else. He wanted to be forgiven so I asked if he had ever had a chance to tell God he wanted to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done. “I haven’t done anything like that but I would want to,” he replied. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I explained it to him and asked if it was the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he replied I said he could pray it silently and I would not hear him but Jesus would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. I asked, “Wanna do it?” “Yeah,” came his response, so I handed him the booklet and he prayed to receive Christ. I gave him a copy of 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and forgiven on the front saying everything the author was saying he needed to do he should “just ask” for God’s strength to do it. I turned to the 13^th one that said, “God can’t withhold his guidance when you trust Him” I said. “You might respond, ‘great but I’m having a hard time trusting in God’. So if that is true just ask for more trust. You just step it back to the point you are willing. Say you were trying to stop smoking but you loved cigarettes. So you knew God would help you stop but you did not want to give them up. So you could pray, ‘Lord make me the kind of person who would be willing to pray that I would have the strength to stop smoking.’” He nodded with a smirk, obviously not a smoker. He liked the book and took it with a, “Thank you.”  I gave him a Bible Study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet telling him Strobel had other stuff he could find on line. I said I would pray a Bible verse for him each day until Spring of next year. “Thank you Bob, I really appreciate it,” he said shaking my hand. So I said that was cool and headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism last week. 10 students prayed with me to receive Jesus. And 3 others (Issac, Jake, and Anna) were close.

David, Jonah, Skylar, Rosslyn, Phil, John, Erick, Lilly, Erick, Matt

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with God’s peace today as you walked with Him. I had a good day on campus. 3 guys Phil, John and Erick each prayed to receive Jesus. I’d be grateful if you had a moment that you would ask they be blessed in their life in the Lord. Their stories are below if you have a chance. Sheily (shah lee) was close and thought she might pray later. She was a short Latina looking girl with jeans on and a white Gibson guitar t-shirt. She had a cute sort of round-cheeked face and long thin brown hair. She went to Church several times a week but had not seemed to know that Jesus died to pay for her sins.

Phil was sitting at the counter in the cafeteria looking outside. He had bright blue eyes but his hair was light brown and he wore a black t-shirt and black nylon shorts with some kind of print at the hips. He said he was Presbyterian. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven. He said something about your opinion of yourself might not be very accurate. He thought for a while more and said, “I guess ’cause I care for everyone, not just humans, not just family, but everyone, even people I don’t agree with.” I said a lot of people would not say that, things are pretty messed up. He thought he had a 90% chance of going to Heaven. He smiled at some of the things I said, “God wants to live inside you but he can’t because of sin, you know the stuff that ticks off your mom.” And he smirked a smile in other places too. He knew Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world but he had not been trusting in that to be forgiven. So I explained it was Christ’s righteousness not our goodness that saved us. His blood cleansed us and it’s how God got paid. That way of putting it got another smile.  I said that your good things would not fix your bad things saying, “Say you had a girl friend for about 3 weeks. You thought she was pretty cool but then it turned out she was cheating on you and stealing your stuff. So you cut her loose. She comes around in about a week and says, ‘I know I did you 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 boyfriend.’ You’d be like, ‘Yeah that’s not gonna help me at all.’ Because the good stuff you do over there can’t fix the bad things you did here.” He got that so I said all that God had done for him he could have by faith and finally asked him if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done for him to be saved or if he thought something else. He said he’d want to be forgiven. I said if he would like to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked him through it saying, “It says here does this prayer express the desire of you heart, so do you think it does. “Yeah,” he said. I said if he wanted to he could pray it silently, I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “Wanna do it?” “Sure,” he replied. “Ok, just pretend I’m not here. “Ok,” he said and prayed to receive Christ. I wrote something down and when I looked up he had finished. I told him he could keep the booklet and that now if he trusted in the Righteousness of Christ to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I explained that the Christian life was “By the Spirit’s Power” and gave him a Bible Study and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front of Bible Promises for You. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and told him I would pray a Bible verse for him through next spring and one year after. “Thank you,” he replied. And I headed out.

John was sitting in the MAC arts building lounge on the edge of display pictures of giant heads of Olmec from Mesoamerica. Why they are on display in wall size posters in the MAC art building was not worth my time to discover. John looked a bit like the actor Bradley Cooper when he was in the show “Alias”. He had a mop of curly blondish brown hair, very short beard and white blonde mustache. He had the most wrinkled tan t-shirt I remember seeing at school. He was upbeat and when I asked him if he’d do a survey he said, “I can do that,” in a tone suggesting he was willing to do me a favor. He said he was religious though he had not been to church in a while and thought he’d like to have a religious experience. By way of an example I mentioned I had recently heard again that people who have an experience where they believe themselves to be abducted by aliens (from space), have claimed the name of Christ and the abduction stops. I asked what he would say to God to get into Heaven and he said, “I think I would say… you know… I have good intentions in my heart.” He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. I went through the Gospel and he knew Jesus had died. I felt like he had limited time so I was sticking to the things I always say about the blood and righteousness of Christ and he believed. I asked if he would want to trust in what Jesus has done and be forgiven for his sins where Christ would live inside him and he said, “I would hope so.” So I said there was a prayer he could pray and after talking him through it I asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. “I would say so,“ he replied. I said if he wanted he could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear but God would and he’d know he was forgiven. “Wanna do it?” I asked. He nodded and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I told him then that the likelihood he would not go to Heaven trusting in the righteousness of Christ and his blood was 100%. I explained the Christian life was living by the Spirit’s power. I also gave him a Bible Study and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front of Bible Promises for You. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and told him I would pray a Bible verse for him through next spring and one year after. “Thank you,” he replied. “Have a good semester, :I said getting up to go. “You too, thank you,” he said and I was off.

I looked around a bit more and had been there for several hours. I had to sit a bit so my leg would stop aching (sciatica) and had a little time before an appointment I set up for treatments on it. I headed down the 2^nd floor south patio of the BIC from the PE building. Seeing a brown head of hair at the west end I thought I would ask him and then head to the truck. Erick was sitting there at a rubber coated wire mesh picnic table with attached benches. He had a dark mustache that stopped at a gap under his nose (like Charles Bronson) and a slight chin beard, looked Latino. He had skin like mine in college and wore a grey t-shirt with gothic lettering and blue jeans. He seemed very reserved. I asked if he wanted to do a student survey. “Is this for CRU?” he asked. They had a table all week set up at the doors getting names with info surveys. “It’s a little different it’s really the answer to the 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?” He started to say, “I don’t…” and hesitated. “Do bad things?” I tried. It’s really asking what gets you into Heaven. “Just being a good person,” he replied. Well would you like to hear some Bible verses that give the answer. “Yeah,” he replied and making sure he was not interested in a survey I began to go through the Gospel. He tuned right in listening carefully without much expression or response. I was pretty tired so I just prayed God would work and went on explaining the sacrifice of Jesus, the blood to cleanse him and the righteousness of God to his credit received by faith. He knew Jesus had died for the sins of the world. He took it all in saying “OK,” here and there. I then asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done showing him the two circles.  I explained that Islam had a god who was on the outside of your life, “He does not come inside people, he’s not a father as he didn’t have a son and there’s no sacrifice for sin, so they have a different god.” I’m definitely on this side,” he said pointing to the circle with Christ in you on the throne of your life. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and read it through with explanation and asked, “It says here, ‘Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ would you say it does?” “UmHum” he replied. So I said he could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “Wanna do it?” I asked. “Yeah,” he said. And he prayed then to receive Christ. I said I had some stuff to give him and asked if he had a Bible, he didn’t so I gave him one showing him some of the study helps and writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I gave Bible Promises for You and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I would pray a Bible verse for him “through next spring and one year after,” I said. I showed him the survey and told him that had he done the survey one question was “How likely is it you’ll go to Heaven?”. So now the answer for him was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. “I’m old so I have sinned way more than you as each year it adds up, God forgives me but all told you’ve sinned less than me but if we both died today we’d both go to Heaven. His blood is worth an infinite amount and his righteousness is worth an infinite amount so there is enough for us both. And since I’m old I’d die and be there first so you can look me up and I’d show you where all the cool places are.” He smiled at that and said he’d look for me 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