Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with mercy peace and love from the Father. I had a good day on campus and Josh and Shey each prayed to receive Jesus. Please pray that they receive the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. Their stories are below if you have a moment.

 Josh was sitting in the MAC arts lounge on the second floor at a counter height table at the furthest end from the front door. He had on a black NIKE windbreaker with a Michael Jordan silhouette and sweats. He wore a nylon cap tight to his head. He had a black beard along his jaw line; it didn’t grow under his lip and fanned out at his chin. His thin mustache squeezed in under a modest nose and full lips. He had a warm smile with a gap between front teeth, above average looking guy, nice. He was upbeat and willing to talk. The survey questions had made him think and when I asked him, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?”  He said with a big smile, “You’re putting me on the spot again….” He thought a moment more and said, “I guess I would say something like, “I don’t think I’m obligated to go here [I think meaning God was not obligated to let him into Heaven] because nobody is perfect or anything like that, maybe compared to other people… I haven’t don’t anything like the worst things.” He thought for a moment and said, “That’s kind of judgmental.” I agreed that when you say you are good you really mean compared to someone else. He agreed. I asked what he thought the likelihood was he would get into Heaven. “I guess I’d give myself 50/50,” he replied. I asked if he went to Church and he said he had and did sometimes and was baptized. I began to go through the Gospel with Him and asked him what Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world. He couldn’t think of anything at first but then it dawned on him and he said, “He died,” and I said, “Sorry too obvious.” He agreed and said he thought it might be a trick question. I began to go through the Gospel with him then explaining how the blood of Christ cleansed him and was a payment to God and I explained He earned God’s righteousness ad it was to our credit, “You don’t go to Heaven because you are perfect but because Jesus is perfect and you’re connect to Him. I explained that it mattered who did the work, when Jesus did the work it was perfect and used the fiction illustration I have explained before of my playing on a baseball team for a day and a real pro ball player getting a 100,000 just to play a half an inning and I just got a uniform. He liked it whenever I went into an illustration and was a bit more attentive. God adopted us and this had to be received by faith in the name of Jesus. So if someone would say to him, “Why should God let you into Heaven? You’d say, ‘Because Jesus died for me’.” Faith saved him and his good stuff did not fix his bad stuff. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else giving him the quick version of Islam’s god and the Buddha. “So would you like to be forgiven trusting in Jesus? Then he would live inside you and give you strength take you to Heaven when you die?” “Yeah,” he replied. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I explained it and asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. He said it did so I said he could pray it silently right now; I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “Wanna do that?” “Yeah maybe,” he said. “I just said, “OK, go ahead.” I wished later I had asked him if he wanted to pray, again, because I never nudge people. But he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus.  Said then the likelihood he would not be forgiven trusting in the blood and righteousness of Christ was 100%. I explained the Christian life reading the Bible and praying and he had a Bible so I said you could start in the book of John. I said if he failed to obey God He would forgive him right away because of Jesus. I explained living, “By the Spirit’s Power, Inside Out” I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. “Kind of a commemorative book,” I said and he smiled. I showed him how he could turn a verse into a prayer. I gave him, The Case for Christ Answer Book and said there might be one of the short chapters listed in the beginning he’d like since most were only 2 pages. I also gave him a Bible Study on Jesus’ claims to be God. 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’ll see you in Heaven,” I said getting up to go. We shook hands and he said, “Yeah. Thanks.” And I headed off.

 Shey was sitting outside the SSC lounge on a bench in the sun. She’d been sitting a bit as I’d seen her from inside and came back and thought I’d see if she would talk. She was a tall back woman. She looked to be in her late 20’s or so and had a long angular face and chin like Sandra Bullock. She wore large back frame glasses, the old vintage looking kind someone would wear in a black and white movie. Hers said MK (for Michael Kors?) on the side. She had a silver nose ring in her septum. She had long straightened hair past her shoulders that was kind of flyaway in the breeze as we sat in the sun. She had on a black T-shirt and light blue jeans and athletic shoes. She was kind and friendly. She said she was a mom. I asked her one thing she wanted to do before she died and she thought for a long while and said she wanted to finish reading the Bible. She had 2 kids a boy and a girl, Olivia and Deacon. I asked her, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “Oh my gosh,” she said surprised. “After a minute she said, “If I’m going to be honest I’d probably question if I was worthy enough to be in Heaven.” I asked if she’d ever gone to church and she said she had when she was a kid but had been forced to go. “Bad taste?” I asked. “Yeah,” she said. “Not you,” I put in. She agreed. I began to go through the Gospel with her and when I asked she knew Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world. I began to explain how that would work with the sacrifice of Jesus blood to cleanse her so God could live inside her and be a payment for sin, “Oh,” she said having understood it seemed for the first time. I explained that God’s righteousness, He earned by perfect obedience, was to her credit. God adopted her and she had to receive Christ by faith believing on His name. Faith saved her, her good stuff wouldn’t fix her bad stuff. I asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done. “Then He would live inside you and give you strength and take you to Heaven when you died, or do you think something else?” I gave her the CliffsNotes version of Islam and the Buddha and asked again “So would you want to be forgiven for your sins?” “I would want to be forgiven,” she said frankly. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray. I talked her through it and asked if it expressed the desire of her heart. She read it through silently and she said, “Yeah.” I said she could pray it silently and know she was forgiven. “Wanna do that?” “Yeah,” she said again and she prayed then to receive Jesus. I told her then the likelihood she would be forgiven trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus was 100%. I explained the Christian life to her. Praying and reading the Bible and recommended she begin reading in John. I said now that God would give her strength to live the Christian life “By the Spirit’s Power.” I said that the real difference between Christianity and other religions is in Christianity you ask Go to change you on the inside and then you become a good person and do good things on the outside. I told her I would keep her in my prayers and pray a Bible verse for her each day from now until Spring and one year after asking God to bless her. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ. “Well thank you,” she said and shook my hand. “You’re welcome, I’ll see you in Heaven,” I replied. “Thank you, I’ll see you there,” she said and I headed off.

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

 In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you had a good week walking with the Lord in the light of His word. I had a good week on campus and Zaylen, Vincent, Arbor and Anthony all prayed to receive Christ; Arbor and Anthony on Thursday. Their responses are below if you have some time you want to spend. Please pray all of these have the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.

 Arbor was sitting on the first row of seats as you enter the SSC lounge on the 3^rd floor from the east. I walked right past him at first.  His is head was down in his laptop from my angle and the top of his hair was kind of a mop of wavy curly dishwater blonde hair; I thought I had talked with him before. But I was unsure and walked back ready to apologize if he looked up and I recognized him. But he said he’d do a survey. He had a Michael Jordan mustache and a bit of a goatee barely coming in, blue-collar looking guy but not very big in stature. He wore a grey zip up hoodie and a white t-shirt and had grey sweats that matched. When I began and got his name he was finishing something on his laptop. He described himself as “energetic and ambitious” and couldn’t think of a third thing and didn’t seem that interested. He turned away from the computer and focused a bit more to answer 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 says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “All the good things that I’ve done in life to help out family and friends,” he replied. Jesus words in Luke 6:33 popped into my head “And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.” But hey your friends can be thankless jerks and your family could be ingrates as well; I just wrote it down. He thought he had a 95% chance of going to Heaven. I asked if he went to Church and he said he didn’t. Seems like many families didn’t return to church after Covid. Going was just a habit for many and the habit just stopped. But as I began to go through the Gospel verses he became focused and it seemed like God was at work. I said God wanted to live inside him and that was “eternal life.” I asked what Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world. “He was crucified,” he said not really struggling at all for an answer. He took in all the illustrations of the blood of Christ to cleanse him and be a payment for sin and was engaged. I explained Jesus was perfect. Jesus said we had to be perfect. So someone had to be perfected to enter the presence of God in Heaven.  And Jesus earned the righteousness of God in perfect obedience and fulfillment of the Old Testament law. “You don’t go to Heaven because you are perfect but because Jesus is perfect and you are connected to Him. Like if you marry a millionaire you got a million bucks or if you get adopted into a billionaire’s family you get to live in the mansion and drive the cars. So God adopts you into His family. He makes you His child and gives you the blessings of His family; He gives you the sacrifice for your sins the blood to cleanse you and the righteousness of God that surrounds you. So you got some place to go, Heaven, and something to wear when you get there, the robe of God’s righteousness,” I told him, as I always say. I said Christ rose from the dead reading the verses. And said Jesus was the only way. He needed to receive this by faith. Faith saved him. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in Jesus. I gave him other options Islam with a different god or the Buddha where the world was an illusion and after 100’s of thousands of births and deaths you entered the void. “So would you want to be forgiven for your sins?” I asked again. “Yeah,” he replied. So I said, “If you want to be forgiven there’s a prayer you can pray,” I talked through it and asked reading, “Does this prayer express the desire of you heart?” “Yeah,” he replied nodding. I said he could pray it silently, “I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven, wanna do it?” I asked. “Sure,” he replied and he took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. I began to go through the Christian life with him and asked if he had a Bible. He didn’t, “Would you like one?” I asked. “I’d like to get one,” he replied. “Would you want me to give you one or are you saying you want to get one?” I asked. “I’ll take one from you,” he said and I gave him a Bible and showed him the study helps and that it had a ribbon marker for John to start there. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I went back the card with the questionnaire on it and said, “The likelihood you will now go to Heaven trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus is 100%.” I said I would pray a prayer for him each day from now until Spring asking God to bless him. I explained living “By the Spirit’s Power, Inside Out”. I gave him Bible Promises for You showing him how to turn a verse into a prayer and gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet telling him Strobel’s story also I gave him a Bible study on the deity of Christ. I went through the miracle of walking on the water and he was familiar with it showing a bit more that he’d been in Church at one time. “I’ll see you in Heaven,” I said. He reached out and shook my hand and said sincerely, “I appreciate it.” I nodded and headed off.

Anthony was sitting at a counter height table not far from the bookstore in the hallway. I walked by him too as his head was down and I’d also thought I’d asked him to do a survey before. But passing him I got a different angle on his head and went back to ask. Probably 10 people have told me “No” for every one who would talk to me so it is a little hard to remember who refused already by the end of a year; I only have a moment to see a face. When Anthony looked up to answer I knew we’d never spoke. He looked like a well-groomed Latino businessman. He had a perfect caterpillar mustache that fit his eyebrows and black narrow rectangle glasses. He wasn’t a big guy and wore a black fleece that had a monogram that said “Hawaii” over the heart. He wore black sweats. He said he didn’t have much time before class but he would do a survey. The words he used to describe himself fit the look, “Nice, caring, responsible.” He said he wanted to go out of the country, travel. I asked him, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “That’s a good question,” he replied and thought and said, “I guess I’d just, um, I tried to be the best I can, treat everyone respectfully.” I asked the likelihood he would go to Heaven when he died. “I guess it’s 50/50,” he replied. “I don’t know if I get to choose that, I just got to hope I guess.” He didn’t go to Church either. I began with verses from the Bible and asked what Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world. He thought a moment and could not think of anything. “It’ll come back to ya,” I said. I dove into the perfect life of Christ and the sacrifice of His blood and righteousness. He took it all in and I got to say everything I say concerning the Gospel and asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else. “I would like to be forgiven,” he said. So I said if he would want to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and explained it and asked, “Does this prayer express the desire of you heart?” reading the line from the booklet. “I’d say it does,” he replied. I said he could pray it silently and know he was forgiven, “Wanna do that?” “Sure,” he said. He took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I barely had time to explain the Christian life “By the Spirit’s Power Inside out”. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!’ in the front. I appreciate it,” he said taking it. I said I would pray a verse for him each day from now until Spring asking God to bless him. He realized he had like 5 minutes to get to class and threw his stuff I his backpack. I quickly gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and said it had some good arguments in it to strengthen his faith and gave him a Bible study. “I appreciated it,” he said again shaking my hand. I said I’d see him in heaven and he said something like, “I’ll see ya” and headed off. In the same direction as me him heading up the stairs to the science building bridge.

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

 In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with good things from the Lord who provides all your needs. I had a good day on campus and Vincent prayed to receive Jesus. A Latino guy Junior believed the Gospel was true hearing it the first time he actually said, “Wow!” a couple times. But he was unwilling to commit to Christ. He said, “This was really cool,” and was appreciative. But he took The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. He was short with a heavy beard and short bangs. Please pray Vincent is sanctified by the Spirit and Junior comes in. I also bumped into Sal who trusted in Christ last week. Some good things had been happening for him with his former girlfriend, Yolanda, that we’d both prayed for and he was walking in the Lord so that was great to hear.

 Vincent was sitting at the long set of tables near the stairs in the PE waiting for someone he was picking up. He had a thin mustache and a goatee and looked to be 50 years old. He wore a black fleece and sweats. He said he wasn’t a student and went to Willow Creek Church; he wasn’t interested in talking about the Gospel. He thought he was going to heaven because of the good things he had done in life. After I asked him if he wanted to hear the question he could ask around to tell people about Christ. He reluctantly agreed. I asked, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” He basically said he did good things. I asked if he would like to hear some Bible verses. He said they had Bibles at home; then said some weak things about why they were not read. So I kind of pushed on that a bit and said Christianity was like a Blood transfusion I have A+ Blood, if you fill me with B- blood I would clot up and die. So God wants to transfuse His life into you and fill you with the Holy Spirit, but first he has to make you His type so He has to take away his sins. I asked him what the big thing was Jesus had done back in History to take away his sins. He reiterated that he had done good works. I said that’s what you have done what does Jesus do to take away your sins? He didn’t know. I asked if I could show him some Bible verses and I somehow quickly slipped out a booklet and began explaining the verses. I explained that Jesus lived a perfect life and the Bible said, “You are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” [Matthew 5:48.] If he stood before God he’d have to admit he had not lived a perfect life. So I explained God could say, “Well everything here is perfect. “I’m perfect and it’s a perfect place; you don’t fit in here.” But if He said that we’d all go to Hell because nobody is perfect. But God could technically say that because Heaven isn’t just a place it’s the presence of God so you have to be perfected to enter in to it. So this is what God does.” I went on to explain Jesus lived a perfect life for us and the extra credit of that life is stored up like extra credit in a class. Then He went around telling people the truth. So they got ticked at Him and they killed Him. But that’s what Jesus wants; He wants to die. I explained Jesus 1 John 1:7, to cleanse; now God can live inside you. I told of the payment of His blood for what we owed and the Righteousness of God He earned by His perfect obedience and perfect fulfillment of the OT law. The righteousness of God for us was predicted in Isaiah 61:10 and fulfilled Galatians 3:27. “So you don’t go to Heaven because you are good, you go to Heaven because Jesus is good and you are connected to Him,” I said. I explained all this was ours as the blessing of God’s family through adoption. I said he had to receive it by faith. Not that He just knew the story but that that’s what he put his trust in so that if someone would say to him, “Why should God let you into Heaven?” he would say, “Because Jesus died for me.” This would mean he had faith in Jesus. Faith saved him. I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else explaining the different God Islam had and the Buddha who was not looking for God. He said he would want to be forgiven. He signaled those waiting for him now that he’d be with them shorty and they went over by the door. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I read it with explanation and he said, “Right.” I said he could pray it silently. “Oh yeah,” he said and took the booklet and read it again and said OK and prayed. “Thank you, I really appreciate it,” he said and shook my hand. I explained living, “By the Spirit’s power Inside Out”. I said let me give you a Book. I gave him Bible Promises for You suggesting he could read a verse each day. I picked a short verse and said how it could be turned into a prayer. 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 told him the story in a couple sentences. He said he hoped I would find some students to tell this to and I said, “Yes, they don’t even know how to live but though you did you now have security knowing Jesus died for you.” He agreed. As he walked to the door I said, “I’ll keep you in my prayers.” “Please do,” he replied and he headed off smiling.

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 good things from the hand of the Lord. I had a good day on campus though I only found one new person to go through the Gospel with but Zaylen prayed to receive Christ. Please pray he is sanctified by the Holy Spirit. His story is below if you have time.

 When I first got to campus I asked God to lead me where to go and kind of headed toward the cafeteria. The elevator door opened as I walked by it and I had a nudge to ride it to the 3^rd floor and look in the cut out small lounges that sort of look out over the SSC lounge. So I headed there and found Zaylen he was sitting with a guy I had gone through the Gospel with before named Jaylen who was a Christian. Zalen had long dreadlocks coming out of an afro that came halfway down his neck. He had black metal rimmed glasses, rectangular shaped and wore a black windbreaker and sweats. I asked them if they wanted to do a survey and Zaylen asked what it was about so 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 says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say? So it’s really the answer to that question have any interest in that or do ya know the answer already or not so much.” Jaylen said he knew the answer. Zaylen put his hand up turning it side to side saying, “Sort of’.” He looked like a guy waving in a parade from a convertible, except he wasn’t smiling. “Well ya wanna just hear the verses?” I asked. He agreed so I began and then kneeling at the coffee table they sat in front of. I then recognized Jaylen’s face seeing a scar on his face, he had an inch and a half high afro and said I’d given him the booklet. I began to go through the Gospel with Zaylen and Jaylen his friend listened to most of it again short of a moment on his phone. I said all I usually do asking him what the big thing was back in History that Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world so God could live inside us and give us eternal life. He said He was crucified and so I explained all that meant. He lived a perfect life we could not live and then was a sacrifice for our sin. His blood cleansed us and was a payment to God and He earned the righteousness of God, which was to our credit when God adopted us. I said he needed to receive Christ; to believe Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead. “Not that you just knew the story but that that’s what you put your trust in as an adult so if someone would say, ‘Why should God let you into Heaven?’ You’d say, ‘Because Jesus died for me, I trust in that.’ That would mean you had faith in Jesus.” I said that faith saved him and read the verse. Saying the last question is would you want to be forgiven for your sins trusting in Jesus then He would live inside you and give you strength take you to heaven when you die, or do you think something else? I explained a bit of Islam and the Buddha. I then said, “So when you are asking for forgiveness of your sins are you thinking I’m a good guy and pretty solid and I think God will forgive me because of that or are you thinking I know I’ll be forgiven because Jesus died for me? I know you knew the story because you answered the question about how Jesus died but do you trusted in that or think you’d never put it all together before?” I asked. “Never put it together before,” he said. So I said ok well, if you’d want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus has done there’s a prayer you could pray and I talked him through it asking if it expressed the desire of his heart. He said it did. So I said he could pray it silently right now and only God would hear him and he’d know he was forgiven. He took the booklet and they both bowed their heads and he prayed aloud to receive Jesus. So that was great. I began to go through the Christian life with him and he didn’t have a Bible but said he’d like one. I gave him one and explained all the study aids and wrote his name and the date in the front in black and “forgiven!” in red. He thanked me when I gave it to him. I also gave him Bible Promises for You. I showed him how to turn a verse into a prayer. Jaylen said he had one at home. I gave him a copy of The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study on the deity of Christ. I told him I would be praying from him the next year. He was smiling then and I said I would see them both in Heaven. “I’m older than you so I’ll get there first so that will be nice when ya get there to have an old guy show ya where the cool places are,” I said. They both grinned and Zaylen expressed his gratitude and told me to have a good one 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 week was blessed with the presence of the Lord’s Spirit. I had a short week on campus missing Monday but Sal, prayed to receive Christ as possibly did Juan Carlos who seemed to read through the prayer and then shook my hand and then said he had too much on his plate for a Bible Study, so I’ll pray he comes to truly believe on the Lord. Isabella on Thursday prayed with me to receive salvation. Please pray they all are sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

  Isabella was sitting in a lounge on the north side first floor of the BIC building, the back of which empties out into a hall with skylights 3 floors up. She was alone at a table. She looked Latina in coloring and had long brown hair she’d flipped a section of back over the top of her narrow pretty face. She had a square chin and perfect eyebrows making a flat edge at the top of her nose. She wore a white t-shirt with some printing on it that I saw as I got up to go was knotted just above her hip 4 inches above some grey sweats. She was thin. She was willing to do a survey. I sat down and she said she wanted to travel possibly to Greece, saying she wasn’t Greek but it looked beautiful. I said I’d heard the Greek islands were all pretty, “I bet that would be nice to travel to with my wife, maybe I’ll get there someday,” I said. I asked her, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “I honestly don’t know,” She replied.  She said by way of qualifying why, “I grew up Catholic but I left that church.”  She said she was either trying other churches and had been going to one. “My boyfriend and I are trying to get closer to God. But I really don’t know what I would say.” I said that that was understandable since she’d decided the church she’d grown up with was wrong but wasn’t exactly clear on the teaching of what she was in now. She agreed. When I asked what she thought the likelihood was she would go to Heaven she said 50% and then changed it to 60%. I began to explain the Gospel. I’d written all the extra verses and notes in a booklet a bisexual guy over in the MAC did not want after going through the Gospel. (I had explained to him that Homosexuality destroyed his soul and God loved him and did not want him to destroy his soul and so told him not to do it.) So I just looked her in the eye as I recited things I’d write, instead of having to look away. Since I was opposite her across the table that worked out great to just hold it in front of her and then read the other verses that were printed when I came to them. She held my gaze and looked me right in the eye all throughout. So I explained as I always do that knowing God was eternal life because in the New Testament this meant God lived inside her, transfused His life into her with His Spirit like a blood transfusion. First then He had to take away her sin to she’d match God. I asked what the big thing was Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world and she said Jesus had died on the cross. So I began to explain how that worked, that He lived a perfect life and we were to be perfect and owed God something perfect, owed Him life, for the life we had taken away from others. Jesus was the creator God; His blood cleansed us and was filled with life. When He poured out His blood it paid God back for all the imperfect things we had done that we owed God something perfect for. “So the real reason God forgave us was that He got paid, by the blood of Christ, but He had to pay Himself.” I explained the righteousness of God Christ earned by perfect obedience and fulfillment of the Old Testament law. I said all the other things I say that He rose from the dead, people saw Him and He was the only way. She had to receive this by faith; faith saved her. I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus and He would live inside her and give her strength. “Yes,” she said nodding. So I said then there was a prayer she could pray. I talked her through it and asked if expressed the desire of her heart. She nodded. I said if she would want to be forgiven she could pray it silently and know she was forgiven trusting in Jesus. “Wanna do that?” I asked. “Yeah,” she replied nodding and she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When she finished I said, “Your sins are forgiven.” “Thank you,” she replied. I explained the likelihood she would now be forgiven trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus was 100%. I found out she had a Bible and said she could begin with John. I gave her Bible Promises for You I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the inside after showing her how she could turn a verse into a prayer. “Thank you,” she said taking the book. I also gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible Study. She told me she’d been in the club life and we talked about things that go wrong God will use as a test to encourage us to trust in Him by the Spirit’s power and I explained living “Inside Out” asking for transformation. I said the Bible says God will always provide a way of escape and for her that meant don’t go to the clubs. She agreed. I told her I would pray a prayer for her each day from now until Spring and one year after using a Bible verse asking God to bless her. “I don’t know if I’ll see you again but I’ll know God is blessing you,” I said. I got up to go and she reached her hand across the table to shake mine and I took it with both my hands shaking it. “Thank you Bob,” she said. “You’re welcome, thanks for talking with me,” I said and I headed off.

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

 In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with good things from above. I had a good day on campus and Sal prayed to receive Christ. I had a good conversation with Osiris who was a nominal Christian thinking about it juxtaposed against Islam, he’d not received the Lord or understood the Gospel before. It seemed to be something of an excuse not to commit but I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. He was waiting for the Bus so I might see him again as there are a couple weeks left. Please pray these guys grow in faith and come to saving faith in the case of Osiris.

 Sal was sitting at a table overlooking the SE corner of the science lounge that joins the buildings. He had on a tan t-shirt and jeans and had swept back hair and a wider tanned Latino face. He was in his late 20’s a rounded block nose. He described himself, “Believer, I believe in God. Not just any God but in Jesus Christ. That He took on flesh and lived so we would be close to Him.” I asked him one thing he wanted to do before he died and he said, “Give back to Christ for the life He gave us.” (It turned out this not mean salvation to him.) I asked him, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “Um, that’s a good question. I would say I lived the life I was supposed to live. At that point you reflect; did you live your life so you could be proud of the person you were. There’s a quote that says something about you’re remembered by the person you were.” I asked the likelihood he would go to Heaven when he died. “I don’t know that’s a good question Jesus Christ is the only perfect person.” He went on to say that he didn’t think there were any perfect people in Heaven but only those who had Jesus in their hearts. (By this he did not mean the indwelling Spirit.) He said Jesus did not judge the people he was with. He thought that Jesus lived life and so was able to relate to us. I began to go through the Gospel with him and as I did he interjected questions about how to live so I said I’d get to that knowing I would explain the Holy Spirit. He knew Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world but had not placed his trust in that to be forgiven nor thought about his own sins being cleansed so God could live inside him and give him strength. As I went through the Gospel he had an increased understanding that he would not go to Heaven because he was trying to be a good person but because he had been cleansed from sin. I explained that he had no righteousness of his own and that Paul wrote this in the Bible saying he had the “righteousness that is by faith”. All the people in Heaven were in fact perfect because they’d been cleansed by the blood of Christ. This was the righteousness Christ had earned by His perfect obedience and perfect fulfillment of the Law. God adopted him and give him these things, the sacrifice for his sins, the blood that cleansed him and the righteousness that surrounded him. I explained receiving Christ and that his good stuff did not fix his bad stuff. He got it and when I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done for him on the cross. “Yes,” he replied. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it and asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. He read it again and then read, “Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?” “Yes,” he said answering the question he’d read to himself. I said if he wanted to then he could pray it silently and know he was forgiven trusting in Christ, “Wanna do that?” I asked. “Yeah,” he replied and he took the booklet and softly prayed to receive Christ. I explained than living by the Spirit’s power. “Does God meet us half way?” he asked. “No, God does all the work,” I replied and I explained that first we asked God to transform us on the inside we become good men and then we do good things on the outside. “So we do 1%,” he asked. “No,” I replied. “Jesus says I am the Vine you are the branches apart from me you can do nothing,” He accepted that that the Christian life was the work of God in him and mentioned he thought God had a plan. I quoted Ephesians 2:10 saying, “we are His workmanship created for good works in Christ that He has prepared beforehand that we should walk I them.” I explained that the likelihood he would now go to Heaven was 100% trusting I the blood and righteousness of Jesus. He talked to me about feeling guilt saying he had not been to church for quite a while and so did not go to church on Easter feeling going then would be like a hypocrite. I explained we are regularly hypocrites because we fail but God says His blessings are new every morning and that we should forget what lies behind and begin again asking God to transform us. He said it was difficult I said, “it is but you have to let God give you strength and carry you and do the work.” I quoted Jesus saying “my burden is easy and my yoke is light” and explained the metaphor. I gave him Bible Promises for You, and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave him a copy of The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible Study explaining it to him. He asked me about what day was holy and I explained Hebrews 4 and that we are now in the Sabbath rest of Jesus, we are His Temple and He lives in us so every day is the Sabbath rest where we honor God. I showed him Matt 11:28-30 in the promise book I had given him and showed how he could change the words into a prayer. He expressed a desire to just be able to rest in the Lord and not falling asleep at night. I explained again how now the Holy Spirit lived inside him and he would have strength. I said to ask the Lord to take the thoughts of Satan out of his heart, if he was troubled. We talked a bit more and about a relationship he’d recently left and I got her name and her daughter’s name from another man not in the picture at all. Yolanda and her daughter Leilani, to pray for. I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day from now until Spring and one year after asking God to bless him. He thanked me and said, “You really cleared this up for me.” He was grateful.

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

 In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking with Jesus. I had an active day on campus though no one prayed with me to receive Jesus. I had some good discussions, Jason seemed interested, had to run to leave for a ride. Gianna was sympathetic, sometimes went to Church with her mom but was not quite interested to commit to Christ. I had a long apologetic discussion with Stephan who had a religious belief in Evolutionary science he could not see and talked to him about y-chromosomal Adam and Mitochondrial Eve which he at first refused to believe existed but then looked up on his laptop and in his Anthropology book, which said of Eve “Of course she came from a group of individuals who contributed to her DNA. I pointed the “Of course” was gratuitous. I’m not sure I made any headway with him. I suggested his only sources of information were from the educational establishment and that there were high ranking biologists at secular universities that denied evolutionary theory could fit modern evidence. He denied this as well and I told him if he looked into it he’d realize I was correct and quoted some of their names. And encouraged a couple Christians in their faith who were grateful to hear the Gospel Kevion and Bryce. 

So no takers but I was grateful to be able to present the Gospel to many who heard it. Particularly after a couple days where I did not seem to come across anyone who even wanted to hear. I was glad to speak with some. The results as always in the hands of the Lord.

I’m very grateful for your prayers.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was filled with life and peace from the Lord knowing His love for you. I had a good day on campus talking to a couple Christians and also Michael prayed to receive Christ. Please pray he is sanctified by the Holy Spirit. His story is below.

Michael was standing leaning against the counter in the PE lounge. He was a short smallish guy and looked a bit like Mickey Rooney’s little elf faced brother. They are probably the same height. He had a curly/wavy light brown near blonde hair, dense on top short on the sides. He wore a COD team Baseball t-shirt and black shorts and was probably waiting for practice to start. I asked him if he wanted to do a student survey on what he thought about God and stuff for a Bible study group. He said he had a Bible study. “Ya wanna hear the big question you could bring back to the group?” I asked. “OK,” he replied. I began, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “That’s a tough question,” he said thinking. I asked if he’d want to hear the Bible verses that answered it. He agreed. So I got his name and began to go through the Gospel with him. I told him John 3:16 and then 17:3 saying that knowing God was eternal life because He lived inside him. But first God had to take away his sin so he would match God inside. I asked what Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world. “He died on the cross,” he replied. I said, “Right,” and then went on to explain that Jesus blood cleansed him and was a payment to God. “Hum,” he said to a couple of the points I made as if understanding it better or for the first time. I said Jesus earned the Righteousness of God by perfect obedience and could give it to him and God adopted him. I said all this was his when he received Christ, (John 1:12); If he believed Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead. Not that he just knew the story but that that’s what he put his trust in to be forgiven. So if someone said to him “Why should God let you into Heaven?” he’d say, “Because Jesus died for me.” That would mean he had faith in Jesus. Faith saved him. I asked, “What kind of person are you or would you want to be? Would you want to be forgiven for your sins trusting in Jesus? Then His Spirit would live inside you and give you strength; take you to Heaven when you die. Or do you think something else?” Then I told him a quick difference between Islam with a different god and the Buddha and said, “When you’re asking for forgiveness for your sins are you thinking, ‘I’m a good person I go to a Bible study and try to do the right stuff so I think I’ll be forgiven or are you thinking, ‘I know all be forgiven because Jesus died for me? I know you knew the story but had you been trusting in that to be forgiven? Or hadn’t you put it together before?” He thought for a minute and said, “I think I put it together a little bit.” “Well if you would want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus there’s a prayer you could pray.” I talked him through it and said, “It says here does this prayer express the desire of your heart?” But he only half heard me because a couple of short, brown-haired girls walked together across his vision on the far side of the lounge in volleyball shorts and he was temporarily distracted, possibly thinking they were his height. So I said it again. (He’d really tuned in the entire time very well until that moment.) He was back then and agreed it did. I said he could pray silently it to be sure; I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “Yeah sure,” he said and he prayed to receive Jesus. I said I had a couple of books to give him and quickly explained the Christian life living “By the Spirit’s Power, Inside Out.” I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day for a year, from now until Spring and a year after asking God to bless him. “Thank you,” he said. I gave him, Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and forgiven in the front. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study explaining it quick. “I’ll see ya in Heaven,” I said. “See ya there,” he replied and I headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had the chance. There are not many students left to talk to at school but God blessed today.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today walking with the Lord in newness of life. I had a good day on campus and Caitlyn and Daniel each prayed with me to receive Jesus today so I was grateful for God’s blessing in that. Please pray that they are sanctified by the Spirit. Their stories are below if you have time.

 Caitlyn was sitting in the hallway of the west most science building on the 1^st floor on the south side. She had on a white short-sleeved shirt and black baggy sweat like pants. She was tall and had a pretty plum shaped face with a tiny chin, fair skin. Her hair was stick straight pulled back behind her ears, kind of dishwater blonde. She was nice. I asked if she wanted to do a student survey and she was thinking about it, so I told her the main question and said, “It’s kind of the answer to that question from the Bible. Ya got any interest in that or not so much?” She said, “Sure.” I got her name and she said she wanted to travel. I asked her, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” She thought for a minute and said, “I don’t know to be honest.” I asked if she went to church and she said she hadn’t, recently being busy with school. I said that wasn’t unusual and that I thought there were students who didn’t go for the 4 years they were in college. I asked what she thought the likelihood was she would go to Heaven. She thought it was 80%. I began to go through the Gospel with her and said Jesus had said “knowing God” was “eternal life” because God would live inside her. If he did, “It’s like you’re the energizer bunny and God is the batteries, you keep going and going and when ya die it’s like you don’t die because God’s inside.” That brought a smile to her face and I compared it to a blood transfusion saying God had to make her His type so He had to take away her sin to live in her. I asked what Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world. “He died on the cross,” she replied. I said that was right and explained His blood to cleanse her from sin and as a payment of life to God and righteousness of Christ (in the way I usually do). I said God adopted her and He rose from the dead. I said all this was hers if she received Christ and believe He was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. Not that she just knew the story but that that is what she put her trust in to be forgiven. That would mean she had faith in Jesus; faith saved her. I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting I what Jesus had done, then He would live inside her and give her strength and take her to Heaven when she died or thought something else giving her the short version of other religions. I then asked, “So would you want to be forgiven for your sins?” She nodded yes just a small couple nods. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and talked her through it. I asked if it expressed the desire of her heart praying it would. She smiled just a bit and nodded. I said if she wanted she could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear and she’d know she was forgiven. “Wanna do that?” I asked. She nodded with a sight shrug and of affirmation and she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When she finished I explained the likelihood now she would go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. She had a Bible and I explained 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 telling her she could always remember. “Thank you,” she replied taking it. I also gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet explaining some of Strobel’s story and Bible study. I told her I would pray a Bible verse for her each day from now until Spring and one year after asking God to bless her. “I don’t know if I will see you again but I’ll know God is blessing you.” “Who knows,” she said in a way that said it’d be nice to see ya. “OK any questions?” I asked. “I don’t think so. Thank you,” she replied. “Yeah you’re welcome I’ll see you in Heaven,” I said. “Yeah that sound good,” she said. “Yeah, it sounds good,” I replied. And I headed off.

 I came across David in the hall on my way out. There were some students who looked to be waiting to get into class and the teacher had not arrived yet to open the door. David was a good-looking guy with both arms inked up in black outlined tattoo sleeves. He wore a black short sleeve shirt, black baggy wide bottom sweats. His small mustache was reddish brown and he had a bit of chin beard; his hair was slightly darker. He had black rectangle frame glasses; double diamond stone pierced earrings and a few gold necklaces one of which was a cross. I asked if he wanted to do a student survey for a Bible Study group but he wasn’t interested saying he did a Bible study with his brother. I asked if he wanted to hear a question he could bring to the Bible study for them to think about. “OK,” he replied. I asked, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” I then said, “So what would you say?” He said he didn’t know. I asked if he’d like to hear the Bible verses that answer the question real quick and he agreed. So I sat down and got his name and began saying all I usually say and I’d just finished telling Caitlyn less than 10 minutes before. He knew when I asked that Jesus was, “crucified for our sins.” After I had explained the blood and righteousness of Christ and said he had to receive Christ by faith I asked, “Which kind of person are you or would you want to be? Would you want to be forgiven for your sins trusting in what Jesus had done? Then He would live inside you and give you strength through life and take you to Heaven when you die. Or is God on the outside of your life and you think something else?” I gave him the quick CliffsNotes versions of Islam and the Buddha. And said, “When you are asking for forgiveness for your sins are you thinking, ‘I hope I’ll be forgiven because I’m a good person and try to please God. I’m in a Bible study with my brother and stuff,’ or are you thinking I know I’ll be forgiven because Jesus died for me? I know you knew the story but had you put your trust in that to be forgiven?” He thought for a moment and said, “The first one.”  I said then, “Well if you want to be forgiven there’s a prayer you can pray,” and I talked him through it and said, “It says here does this prayer express the desire of your heart. He agreed it did. 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 that?” “I prayed on the way to school today,” he replied. “This would be different. This would be to ask for forgiveness trusting in Jesus,” I replied. He took the booklet then and prayed to receive Jesus. He was happy then and said “Thank you.” I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day from now until Spring and one year after asking God to bless him. I quickly gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet telling him also Strobel’s story. Then I gave him a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ and explained walking on the water in Job, which he liked. I said he could do it with his brother and he agreed so I gave him an extra one. “I’ll keep you in my prayers, nice to meet you,” I said. “Thank you,” He replied. “You too.” And I headed off. His instructor had yet to arrive.

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

 In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your week was blessed walking with the Lord. I had a good week serving the Lord. Ashton a family friend prayed with me to receive Jesus on Easter in North Carolina and Tyrell, Kevin, Ali and then on Thursday Evan each prayed to receive Jesus as their savior and no longer hope in being good enough. Please pray each of these is will be sanctified by the Spirit.

 Evan was sitting on the floor in the hallway that heads south in the PE building out to the outdoor theatre by the MAC. He was wearing jeans and cross trainers and had on a red and black flannel shirt open over a t-shirt. His hair was a shaggy mop in strings that went down to his shoulders and he had a random beard that was short but had been left to come in wherever it would for a few weeks, thin mustache. His glasses were two and a quarter inch wide rectangles that turned his look from mountain man into computer guy. I asked him if he wanted to do a survey, “about what ya think about God and stuff” and was surprised a bit he said yes. I sat on the floor beside him. He didn’t have the look of an interested party somehow (there’s not really a look). But when I asked him one thing he’d want to do before he died he said, “Get married have kids.” That answer is a tell that a guy will receive Christ or is a Christian. I asked him, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “My parents and my grandparents,” He replied. “What about them?” I asked. He explained that they were dead and it would be nice to see them again. He did not seem to have clear assurance what would get him into Heaven as he thought the likelihood he would go there was 40%. He listened to the Gospel as I went through it and when I asked what Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world he said, “Well, He was crucified.” As if to say, Well, there’s that. I explained all I usually do of Jesus living a perfect life for us earning the righteousness of God by perfect obedience and fulfilling the law and then that His blood cleansed us and was a payment to God. God wants to adopt us and give us these blessings of His family; we’re then saved by faith receiving Christ. I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting I what Jesus had done or thought something else. “Probably forgiven,” he replied. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through it and asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. “I’d say it does,” he replied. I said if he wanted to he could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear but God would hear, “Wanna do it?” “Sure,” he replied and he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When he finished he said, “Thank you.” I explained the Christian life to him a bit beginning with reading the Bible. He liked the Bible on his phone as it had a lot of different versions. It turned out he had an aunt he said was, “More Christian than me.” She had a Bible version she really liked he did not think was on his phone but he was cool with just the phone app. I gave him a Bible study explaining it a bit and he said he had been going to a Bible study for a while, some of his High School friends had put together, they now went to different colleges. I don’t know if they were local or met on line. I wrote his name and the date and ‘forgiven!” on the inside of Bible Promises for You. I also gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and explained Strobel’s story a bit. I told him I would pray a prayer for him each day until a year from this Spring asking God to bless him. “Nice to meet you,” he said as I was moving to get up to go. I shook his hand saying, “Nice to meet you too, I’ll see you in Heaven.” And I headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob