Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with life and peace from the Lord. I had a good day on campus giving assurance of salvation to one new Christian and Yami prayed to receive Jesus today. Please pray for those who heard the Gospel today that they would be blessed.

Another girl Breana who first described herself as “lost right now” said, after hearing the Gospel, “I’m like spiritual, I used to be a Christian, this kind of resonates with me.” She was very focused as we spoke and asked for my contact information. Slight, she had a pretty oval face and almond shaped eyes her long brown hair pouring out under a winter cap and a coat on. She said she was going to think about it and I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and then I offered her Bible Promises for You saying she could pray the verses too. “I’ll take it,” she said. Later I gave a book to Mo (Mohammed) comparing Christ of the Scriptures (Dear Muslim Friend by Mattix) to the Isa of the Quran. He was friendly but believed the Quran was universalistic in offering salvation to any sincere practicing Christian. I encouraged some Christians too it was a blessed day.

Yami was sitting outside some administration offices in a row of chairs on the third floor. It’s kind of a bridge through the Student Services Center. Her back was to the lounge below. She was a pretty girl her face was kind of a wide diamond shape framed by brown hair the edges dyed blue. She had a bright smile. I think she was a Latina based on her coloring. She wore black leggings and a faux black leather shirt over a blue t-shirt. She was very upbeat and said right away she would do a survey, I told her the main question (Why should God let you into Heaven?) and asked if she was interested in some Bible verses to give the answer. She said she was but only had 10 minutes. I began to go through the booklet with her and she tuned right in with expressions of sort of surprised interest at what was being said, “This is sweet,” she said sweetly, she really seemed to be touched by the love of God. I asked what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world so God could live inside her. She knew Jesus had died but had said she did not go to Church. I explained the payment for her sin and how God was paid through the blood of Christ. I explained trusting in what Jesus had done by faith. I asked if she would want to be forgiven. “Yes I would want to be forgiven,” she replied. I explained then how God living inside her to transform her was living the Christian life, “Inside > Out” which I usually say later. (as I wasn’t sure how I was doing on time). I said if she wanted to trust in Christ to be forgiven and know she was going to Heaven there was a prayer she could pray. I talked her through it and she wanted to pray. She took the booklet, checked if she could pray it silently and then prayed to receive Jesus. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet writing her name in that and a Bible study. I told her I would keep her in my prayers each day praying a Bible verse for her until spring and one year after.  It seemed like she still had moment so I explained the righteousness of God Christ had earned that was to her credit. “Oh my heart,” she exclaimed. “Thank you so much! I’m gonna cry!” She was such a sweet kid. We parted ways and she took my contact information. Then in a moment I looked at my hand where I had written her name at first and realized I had spelled it Yani in the books I gave her. I hurried back over and found her in the lounge and checked and I said, I think I spelled her name wrong in the books. “Oh that’s OK I can fix it later,” she said. “Would you like me to fix it quick?” “Yes,” she said with a smile and it was easy to turn and “n: into and “m”. She thanked me happily and I left the inner lounge grateful to have been given the grace to fix my mistake.

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 week was blessed with Grace and Peace from the Lord. I had a blessed week on campus and 7 students (Gabriel, Alissa, Christopher, Kadin, Emerson, Lexi, Caliah) trusted Christ, though I don’t know the date the last one, Caliah, trusted Christ. She is a thin, tall, cute Black girl who yesterday had red thin braids down to her elbows. The last time I had seen her they were thicker and black and blue. Her glasses are in the shape of “aviators” and she has a narrow face. I found out she had prayed to receive Jesus talking with her on Thursday. I first went through the Gospel with her the week of September 20 in the Science and health buildings and later seeing her there gave her a Creation Science Magazine called “Acts & Facts”. I had also had given her a copy of Bible Promises for You. Thursday she told me, under the stairs in the PE building, she had found two promises to pray as I had encouraged her to do and was praying them before class and each day, she believed the Lord had been helping her. She was happy with how well she’d done on a couple of tests in a hard class she used as an example. When I had first asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said, “I have a lot of love for [others]. If He wants to look at my previous records, I have nothing to ashamed of, I’m a truly positive person.” I was grateful she had trusted in Christ and not her own goodness and was in the Word.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with good things and the nearness of God was your good. We took a guy we are discipling out to lunch for his birthday. I did not know if I would get back to school for certain. The afternoon was pretty much over when I did but Lexi and Emerson each prayed with me to receive Christ. The Lord blessed in the little time I had. Please pray they are blessed in their walk with the Lord.

Lexi and Emerson were sitting together in the hallway around the bend from the student activities area, some ministries often set up just down the hall, the Gideons and some churches and the Jehovah’s Witnesses (who no one talks to). They were just chatting waiting for the next class and were willing to do a survey together. Lexi with long brown hair had high cheekbones and a cute face and Emerson with long blonde hair had a narrow oval face, they were attractive girls. Each wore black leggings and Emerson had a red hoodie from ISU and Lexi wore a black vest. They were nice girls and it turned out they went to Catholic Church. I sat “Indian style” (as we said as kids watching Westerns) on the floor in front of them. Lexi was a bit more talkative and took the lead a bit.  Both were intelligent. I asked what they would say to God to get into Heaven if they died. Lexi said, “I don’t think I’ve done anything to say why He should.” “Have any good reason why He should,” Emerson put in to clarify and agree. I asked what the likelihood was they would go to Heaven. Lexi said, “I think I would, there’s more I could do, I feel like I could do more.” “I agree,” Emerson said. “I’d [like to be] getting closer to God,” Lexi put in and Emerson agreed again. I began to go through the Gospel with them saying God had to take away their sin to make them “His type” so He could live inside them and asked What Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world. Neither of them could think of anything, the atonement is not always spoken of that way in the Catholic Church.  I have had students reply, “Reconciliation” not knowing what Jesus did but knowing from CCD that He did it. But once I begin to explain that Jesus died for their sins and this cleansed them and was a payment for sins they tuned in and tracked with all the Bible verses. I said then that all God had done for them was theirs by faith believing that Jesus was God had died for their sins and rose from the dead. They probably had the faith of their parents as kids but now if someone would ask them why God should let them into Heaven they should say, “Because Jesus died for me.” “Not that you just know the story but that that is what you place your trust in to be forgiven.” Then the Bible said “By grace you have been saved by faith… not by works so no one can boast.” I asked if they would want to be forgiven for their sins trusting in what Jesus had done for them on the cross or thought something else. “Be forgiven,” Lexi said “always.” I said then to Emerson would you want to be forgiven then too. “Yeah,” she replied in agreement. So I said there was a prayer they could pray, if they hadn’t had a chance as an adult, to say to God that they wanted to trust in what Jesus had done. I walked them through the prayer, asking if it was the desire of their hearts. They nodded.  I said they could pray it silently “and know you were forgiven and going to Heaven”. I compared this to the symbolism in the mass where it was commemorating that Jesus had died for them and so they were forgiven.  “Wanna do it?” “Sure,” Lexi said and I asked Emerson if she would like to do it too and she said, “Sure.” They each took a booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I waited for them and Lexi when she’d finished asked Emerson if she had and she said, “Yeah I was just reading a bit more”. I told them they could keep the booklets and I said to Emerson I’ll just write a couple verses in yours and I took it back filling them in. Then I took Lexi’s book and talked about living “Inside > Out” by the Spirit’s power. I said God wanted them to ask Him for strength for everything they did in life. I explained that they might fail to obey God but they could confess their sins knowing God’s anger was poured out on the cross and he knew ahead of time they would fail and had a plan to fix it. They were thankful but had to go so I quickly gave each of them Bible Promises for You writing their name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. And I gave them each a copy of The Case for Christ Answer Book and a Bible study with a quick explanation. I said I would pray a Bible verse for them each day from now until Spring and one year after asking that they would be blessed. I said I would see them in Heaven. They thanked me and headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today walking in the Spirit. I had a good day on campus and Alissa, Christopher and Kadin each prayed to receive Jesus today. I’d be grateful for your prayers to bless them. Thanks so much for praying for the ministry. God blessed and guided me. Their stories are below if you have the time.

Alissa was sitting in the MAC Arts center lounge. She had a painting in front of her on the table. She was dressed in black and had long brown hair past her shoulders, her bangs swept to the right she had an oval face and wore glasses and looked a bit Asian. I asked her if she’d want to do a student survey. She said she was already in a Bible Study group and had gone to 2 Bible studies it seemed, the one they just did was on “The New Name” but she could not seem to remember what it was about. I asked her if she’d like to hear the big question she could use to start a conversation about faith. She said “OK.” So 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?” “What would you say?” she quickly replied. “You tell me first and then I’ll tell ya what I’d say.” She thought for a bit and said she did not know what to say. I asked if she went church and what they’d say got you into Heaven and she said the Bible Study group was the “Chicago Church of Christ”. She did not know the answer still. I thought the cult group by that name (that emphasizes works righteousness and baptismal regeneration) went by another name on campus this year. There is a regular church called the “Church of Christ”. So not knowing what the Church was I could not condemn it outright. She said she was really new to Christianity. I asked if she would want to hear some Bible verses that explained how you would get into Heaven. She said she would. I sat down and got her name gave her mine and began to go through the Gospel. I said God wanted to know and live inside her and asked what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world to make that possible. She did not know so I began to explain how Jesus had died and this cleansed her and was the payment for sin. I explained the righteousness of Christ and salvation by faith. I explained why her good deeds would not be a payment for her bad deeds and I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done for her on the cross or thought something else. I think she said, “A life entrusted to Christ”. (The booklet uses that phrase so sometimes people say it, as it the first sentence by the circle they chose.) I said since she had not put all this together before there was a prayer she could pray and know she was forgiven. I walked her through it. I asked if it expressed the desire of her heart. She read it again and said it did so I said she could pray it right now and know she would be forgiven. She agreed she’d like to and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I began to explain the Christian life living “Inside > Out” by the Spirit’s power to do any good thing she wanted to do. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside which she liked. She already had a copy of The Case for Christ and had Bible Study’s with her group. I said I would keep her in my prayers praying a Bible verse for her each day from now until Spring and on year after. I showed her the survey (she had not done) and said one of the questions was “What is the likelihood you will go to Heaven.” I said for her now this was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus, both being of infinite value. She thanked me and I said if she had any questions about anything my email was on the back of the booklet. I’ve already been praying if she’s in a bad church something will happen that she can’t attend anymore. I said I’d see her around and headed out.

 Christopher was sitting right across from the locker I used. I had forgotten to put more booklets in my back pack so went out to my truck to get a few and passed him on the way in. He’d heard me go through things before with a friend and was back at school this year after a semester (at least) away. He wanted to hear the Bible verses after I asked him, “Did I ever ask you the question…”  the question I had asked Alissa. He said no and so I asked if he’d want to hear what the Bible said was an answer. He said sure he had 10 minutes before class. He had an oval face and looked like a classic Latino with a narrow mustache a small goatee. He had a truckers cap he and on backwards a blue zip up hoodie and Khaki cargo pants that looked a bit deeper than the typical color. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he could not remember what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world saying, “I haven’t been to Church in a couple months.” I explained the atonement to him also. I began saying “God sees you can’t come up to Him because of your sin. So He comes down and becomes a man Jesus. And Jesus lives a perfect life.”  “Oh,” he said, I think remembering what Christ did in seeing the picture of the cross on the page. I continued to say he was supposed to live a perfect life. He couldn’t so Jesus lived a perfect life for him. I explained then he was a sacrifice for sin, the blood of Jesus cleansing him from sin and being a perfect payment to God. He listened then to the rest and after I had explained John 1:12 “the right to become Children of God” and “Believe on His Name” to mean “If you believe Jesus is God died for your sins and rose from the dead. Not that you just knew the story from Church but that that’s what you place your trust in to be forgiven. So if someone would say to you, ‘Why should God let you into Heaven you’d say, Because Jesus died for me.” “Jesus died for me,” he repeated.  He needed to believe by faith and faith saved him. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in Jesus so God could live inside him. Or did he think something else. “Well, I’m a Catholic,” he replied. “So that one.” He pointed then at the circle with Christ on the throne of his life. I had shortened a bit of what I usually said by illustration knowing he had little time and asked if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through it mentioning the symbolism in the Mass. I asked if he’d like to pray it silently after he affirmed it was where he was at. “Sure,” he said. He took the booklet then and prayed to receive Jesus. I quickly gave him a Bible Study and Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. Knowing he had to run I said he could read the rest of the booklet. He stood up and reached out his hand to shake mine saying, “Appreciate it.” I said sure and I’d see him in Heaven and he headed off to class.

I passed Kadin walking in the hallway ramp that is above the bookstore and leads to the library. I asked him if he’d do a survey a bit passed him, feeling compelled. I usually look for people with some time sitting down. He had ear-buds in and did not hear me so I turned around and caught up to him and asked if he’d do a student survey about God for a Bible Study group. I saw then he had a couple gold necklaces on and one had a cross on it. He was African American, shorter than me and his hair dyed rust on the top in thin braids, straight up. It was short on the sides. He had a gold ring in his left nostril and wore a black corduroy (sort of) jacket that zipped up and jeans. Wider nose, classic features, good-looking guy. I asked him what he would say to God. “I’ve tried to begin following Him, not earlier but in the last 2 or 3 years I’ve done better giving my life to Christ. I wouldn’t say I haven’t done anything bad. But I would say I haven’t done anything that meets the criteria of going to Hell.” I asked if he went to Church at all. “When I was younger, 13, I’m 19 now so it’s been a few years. My parents made me go.” I began to go through the Gospel with him and when I asked him what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world he said, “He sacrificed Himself.” I explained what the atonement meant then to purify him and as a payment to God. I explained the righteousness of Christ to His credit if he was adopted by God as His child. I explained salvation by faith not by works and the rest. I asked if he would want to be forgiven, trusting in Jesus’ work to save him or thought something else. “What else is there to think,” he said enthusiastically. “I want to be forgiven.” I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it. I asked if it expressed the desire of his heart and he nodded. I said then he could pray it silently and he said, “Yeah.” And took the booklet saying, “Out loud?” “No silently, it’s not my business,” and he smiled and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained then the Christian life “Inside > Out” By the Spirit’s Power. He had a Bible so I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave him a Bible Study illustrating one of the points for him and The case for Christ Answer Booklet. I said the likelihood he would go to Heaven was now 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Christ. I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day from now until Spring and one year after. And I said God would bless him when he asked as much as would help him follow God. “This was good,” he said. “I’ll see you in Heaven,” I said shaking his hand. “I like that, I’m gonna use it.”  “Thank you Mr. Bob,” he said as we parted. I said he was welcome and thanked him for his time.

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 in the kind intention of His will for you. I had a good day on campus as Gabriel prayed to receive Jesus today and a long brown haired Latina girl Cierra might have been close in the science building. I’ll check with her if I see her again. She was busy with studying so I had to leave her in hope. I felt like she wanted to process it all some more. Gabriel’s story is below if you have some time.

Gabriel was sitting at the counter in the cafeteria having I think just finished lunch. He had a small build, his blondish hair combed over to the right and part of it tied in the beginning of a short not in back. He had sharp features and a pointed nose and wore a match pair of sweats, grey zip up hoodie and pants that had the Under Armor symbol on them. I asked him what he would say to God if asked, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ “I need to think that through a second,” he replied. He thought a few moments and then said, “I guess I’ve done the best that I could… maybe.” He thought he had a 90% chance of going to Heaven. He went to church regularly. I began to go through the Gospel with him telling him God wanted to live inside him and if He did it would be like he was the Energizer Bunny and God was the batteries, when he died it was like he didn’t die, “Because God’s inside.” “Hmh,” he said not having thought about God inside him before. I asked him what it was Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world. But he said he could not think of anything. I began to explain the atonement to Him and the righteousness of God Jesus earned that could be to his credit if God adopted him and made him His child. I said that if He believed Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead; not that he just knew the story from Church but that that was what he put his faith in to be forgiven and go to Heaven. That would mean he had faith. And faith would save him. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins believing in what Jesus had done on the cross to forgive him or if he thought something else. “Accept Jesus into my life,” he replied. I went through the prayer with him and asked if it expressed the desire of his heart, he nodded. I said he could pray it silently and he decided to do it and took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. When he’d finished I said he could keep the booklet and he replied, “I would like that.” I told him now trusting in Jesus the likelihood he would go to Heaven trusting in the blood and righteousness of Christ was 100%. I explained the Christian life living “Inside > Out” and “by the Spirit’s Power” and gave him back the booklet. “Thank you sir,” he said. He’d forgotten my name and asked me of it a couple minutes later. I gave him, Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside and a Bible Study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I said I would keep in in my prayers praying a bible verse for him each day through Spring and next school year. “Nice to meet ya, have a good one,” I said getting up to go. “You too Bob,” he 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.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with gratitude in your heart, it’s a blessing to feel thankful. Pablo trusted in Jesus today so that was great. I hope I helped clear a path to truly trusting Jesus in a few Christians who had been trusting in their works. Lord willing that takes root too. It’s hard sometimes to know if people were trusting in Christ. The nomenclature of their answers is correct, even saying they believe Jesus is their savior, but then can’t tell you what Jesus did to take away the sins of the world.  Later they seem to be hoping in that they have been good people and so they’d be saved. Two back girls Moyo and Auri were that way today. After going through the Gospel, I asked if when they asked for forgiveness they knew they’d be forgiven because Jesus died for them or they hoped they would be forgiven being good enough. One said “A little of both” and the other parroted the same response. So I asked, “Do you now trust in Jesus’ righteousness and blood to forgive you for your sins?” saying twice; once to each. And each said, “Yes.”. So by confession they are in Christ. I hope they are not merely religious people any longer. Sometimes it is hard when 2 are sitting together to help them focus. I showed them the prayer and said if they had never told this to God they could pray it on their own. [Gal 3:2] Another guy (Oscar) was in the cult group on campus, they believe baptism saves with your good works, struggled with him too. But we shook hands at the end and he gave me a hug so I hope I got through. The group likes me because I am doing good works in their view I guess. I think he was in the group because he was attracted to a girl in it, but hey.

Pablo was a Latino he had a narrow mustache in two pieces (like Charles Bronson) and a chin beard. He had a gold necklace with his name spelled on it and a gold cross. He had a solid oval face. First glance he looked like a very tough guy. He was a kind, quiet, nice guy however, wore a baseball cap backward and had a black t-shirt with a scull over the left chest and jeans on. He said one day he wanted to buy a house for his parents, which reminded me I was blessed to grow up in a house. He was studying to go into Law Enforcement.  I asked what he would say to God if he died and was asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I would say I want to see my grandfather,” he replied. It turned out he and his brother were about to go to see their grandfather, (they had never met) when they were teenagers. It seemed his grandfather lived in Mexico or another state. But before they could get there, he died. I began to go through the Gospel with him and when I asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sins he said, “He died.” Other than that, he made eye contact as I went through the Gospel and told of the blood and righteousness of God to save him by faith. I compared what I had said saying in the Mass, the wafer was symbolic of Jesus Body and the Wine symbolic of His blood. So when he went to Church and took it he could just say “Thank you” because it was reminding him Jesus had died for him and so he was forgiven. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins, trusting in Jesus, or thought something else, explaining Islam, as an example of a different god where their god is not a father because he did not have a son. God does not live inside humans and there is no sacrifice for sin. He looked me in the eye and did not say anything so I repeated, “Would you want to be forgiven for your sins, trusting in what Jesus did for you on the Cross?” He nodded. So I said there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it asking if it represented the desire of his heart. He nodded again. I asked if he wanted to pray it silently. He nodded a third time. Then he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. He did not have a Bible so I gave him one writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside and then told him the likelihood he would go to Heaven was now 100%. I explained the Christian life “Inside > Out”. I gave him a copy of Bible Promises for You. He didn’t like to read so he did not want anything more but a Bible Study. I said I would keep him in my prayers each day until spring and a year after. He seemed appreciative and I shook his hand saying, “God bless you.” And he said, “God bless you too.” And I headed off.

Thanks so much for your prayers. For the ministry God blessed today and I hope I had the right words for the students.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with the peace only God can provide in what seems like a fracturing world. I had a good day on campus and Cristina and Maritza each prayed to receive Christ. Please pray they grow. Yesterday I did pastoral counseling with some students. I knew and one I met Allison who had kind of lost her faith which had been more in her church than in Christ. The Church was screwing some things up (that they could be sued for frankly) and the fallout was affecting her family. Strawberry blonde hair waiting for the pool to open, milk-white rimmed glasses.  I’ll be praying for her to trust in Jesus as she was not sure she ever had and her answers to get into Heaven were good works stuff. Another girl Lauren today with ringlets of hair and a Puerto Rican look was into nearly everything, flat earth, aliens and Gaza, yet quoting Holocaust victims, missing their point. There’s a lot out there right now. Thanks for your prayers.

I felt a nudge to go to the 3^rd floor and knew to turn left as I went out of the elevator and saw Cristina sitting in a lounge that looks out on one of the atriums on my left as I went down the hall. She was a lovely girl with dark brown wavy hair, almond shaped eyes. She had on a maroon pullover hoodie with one of the IL colleges on it and grey sweats. She had a heart shaped mouth when it pursed to help her think and a sharp jaw line, was slight. I sat to her left.  I asked her to do a student survey and she agreed. She said she wanted to go to Greece but wasn’t Greek. I said I thought it would be cool to see the ruins and it was warm there. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked: “Why should I let you into Heaven?” She said, “Because I’ve always had faith in Him, and I’ve always trusted Him.” She thought she had an 80% chance of going to Heaven. She went to church but could not remember the name of it. She listened attentively to the Gospel and took it all in. When I asked what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world she said, “He died on the cross.” Summing up everything I’d said about the atonement and resurrection I read the verse in Rom. 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” She gave out a nearly imperceptible, “Hmm”. As if something had registered. I finished telling her salvation was by faith. I asked if she’d want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus, so He could live inside her and guide her life, or thought something else. She gestured with a pinky touching the circle with Christ inside with a long nail. I said that there was a prayer she could pray then and read it through for her. I asked “Does this prayer express the desire of your heart. “Hm hum,” she said. I said she could pray it silently, “I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven, wanna to it?” She nodded twice and I gave her the booklet and she prayed to receive Jesus. When she’d finished I when back to the survey card and said of the likelihood she would go to Heaven, “This is 100%, if you’re trusting in the righteousness of Jesus His righteousness is worth an infinite amount.” I said that though I was old and had sinned more that if we both died Jesus’ blood would cover us both. I went through the Christian life and she said her family had a Bible to read. I told her of the fruit of the Spirit and explained that by the Spirit’s power she could live “Inside > Out” first transformed on the inside and then doing good things on the outside, “everything in Christianity is Just ask”. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I also gave her a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. 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. “Thank you,” she said as I got up to go. Thanks so much for your time,” I replied. “Of course,” she said and I headed off down the hall.

It wasn’t too far down I came across Maritza sitting in the hallway. She was very pretty as well and had a cross around her neck. Her brown hair was up in a random bun. She wore a zip up black hoodie on and black sweats. Her skin was very fair and she had a couple of beauty mark freckles. Kind of a button nose, and narrow face, slight build. Her shoes looked like slip-on slippers a lot of students wear showing painted toenails. (I later saw a guy in some in the parking lot.) She said she had 20 minutes before class and some time. She seemed family oriented and wanted to have kids. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven. She said, “I’d say I think—I know was a good person. I’m grateful for everything I have.” She was certain she would go to Heaven, 100% but she never went to Church though she had recently been to a wedding where she had. I began to go through the Gospel with her. I said God wanted to live inside her, “It’s like you’re the Energizer Bunny and God is the batteries, you keep going and going and when you die it’s like you don’t die ‘cause God’s inside.” That got a closed mouth smile in response but she was very serious, concentrating as I went through the Gospel with her. I asked what the thing was that Jesus had done to take away her sin so she could be one with God. She didn’t know. So I said, “Well this is how it works.” I began to tell her that Jesus lived a perfect life she could not live and poured out His blood that cleansed her and was a payment for her sin. I explained it was fair for God to forgive her sins as there was a payment for them. He rose from the Dead. I explained that if she believed Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the Dead that would mean she had faith in Jesus and she was saved by faith. I asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done to be forgiven. She said she did. I said there was then a prayer she could pray and I asked if was the desire of her heart.  “Yeah,” she said. I asked if she would want to pray silently to be forgiven and she nodded and took the booklet and said, “Thank you so much.” She prayed to receive Christ then and looking at the booklet she said, “Can I keep this?” I said she could. I took it to explain the Christian life to her. She said 2 girls had asked her to do a Bible Study. I said to be careful and that there were cults on campus and that if they wanted her to join their Church that she should be wary. I said she could email me if she had any questions and told her about our Bible study and another one on a different day campus. She did not have a Bible so I gave her one explaining the contents, the study helps and maps and such. I could tell she really liked the Bible. I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I gave her Bible Promises for You and she said, “I always wanted a book with Bible verses in it.” The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study. I said the likelihood she would go to Heaven now was 100% trusting in the righteousness of God to be her righteousness. I told her I would pray a Bible verse for her each day until spring and one year after asking God to bless her. I got up to go she said “Thank you,” again 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 your day was filled with thankfulness in your heart, by the Spirit. I had a good day talking to students and Leo prayed to receive Jesus today and Clare committed to Christ saying she would pray later. She was grateful so I hope to see her again to see if she’s prayed to receive Jesus. Please pray they grow in faith. The story is below. Thanks for your help in prayer. I made it through the day sitting when the sciatica in my leg flared up, so thank for those prayers too.  I hope God will decide I’ve had enough and my leg will chill out soon.

Leo was sitting on the 3^rd floor overlooking the SSC lounge. He looked Latino and had a mop of dark hair, sort of parted on the left He had a young good looking diamond shaped face. He was kind of small and wore a Black t-shirt and grey corduroy pants. I asked if he’d want to do a survey “What you think about God and stuff for a Bible study group,” and he asked what it was about. I said the main question is “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus, so you’re dead and you stand before God and he asks, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “I would prefer not to exist at all,” he replied. “That’s not actually an option,” I replied. “It isn’t?” he replied. He did not think he would want to go to Heaven. I said, “Think of the best and most happy days you have had and think about a place where you have a day like that over and over. You would get up each day and never meet anyone who would argue with you or who was unhappy,” and wouldn’t he be interested in a place like that where that would never stop. I asked if he would like to know what the Bible says is the answer to how he could get to Heaven, “Any interest in that or not so much?” He said, “Yes,” he’d do a survey. He had some interesting answers to the questions. In words to describe himself he said he liked problems and that he thought people needed them to be happy. I said he might be right. I said that my father had told us as kids we wouldn’t be happy if we did not have something to complain about. He thought of himself as an optimist however. When asked one thing he’d like to do before he died he said, “Save someone.” In answering the how to get in question he added “Heaven is incomprehensible and Religion is faith.” I agreed that Paul in the Bible had been to Heaven and could not describe it. I asked the likelihood he would go to heaven when he died. “I think that a lot of us are doomed. They say only a small amount will be fit to, will go Heaven. But then again maybe He just loves us too much.” I agreed saying, “Jesus said you enter by a narrow gate.” It turned out he went to Willow Creek. He asked if I’d heard of it and I said I had gone to the original Church that had met in a movie theatre that was now torn down. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world. He seemed to agree with everything I said and took in all the Bible verses as I explained them. The cleansing of the blood of Christ and His payment for our sin and the righteousness of God to our credit. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. He agreed that it was not only being a good person. He asked me some other questions and I answered them and then asked again, “So do you think you would want to receive Christ and trust in what He did for you on the Cross?” “Yeah,” he said. So I said if he did there was a prayer he could pray. I explained it and asked if it “expressed the desire of his heart. He said, “Yeah,” again.  He’d taken the booklet already, he then prayed to receive Jesus.  I gave him two Bible studies, the deity of Christ and the Angel of Jehovah because he had asked about Jewish belief. I explained that no Jews any longer believed in God as described in the Old Testament if they were not Christians. I told him the likelihood that he would not go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus. I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave him, The Case for Christ Answer Booklet saying Strobel had spoken at Willow Creek before. I told him he could use the booklet and if he told someone else and they trusted Christ God would use him to “Save someone.” As he’d mentioned though he said he was thinking more of pulling them out of a river or something. He was grateful and talked a bit more and I told him I would pray a verse for him each day until Spring and one year after. I shook his hand and headed off in the opposite direction.

Clare was sitting at the main entrance near the Book Store on some seats overlooking the doors. She had fair skin but was Latina, slight build. Pretty, long eyelashes, long wavy hair and narrow sharp features, she had a black fleece jacket on, wore powder blue jeans and a t-shirt that had the cartoon Betty Boop. She wanted to have kids or a job where she would take care of them. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven. “I think out of a lot of people who don’t like to admit the damage they’ve done I’m capable of change, and wanting to change and to do better.” She listened to the verses and knew Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world. When I said her good stuff did not fix her bad stuff I said, “Say you had a boyfriend and you thought he was pretty cool but then it turned out he was cheating on you,” She made a face then and I knew that had happened. I said he was also “stealing your stuff”. “So you cut him loose. He comes back in a week and says, I know I did you wrong but I just want you to know I’m gonna be nice to my next 3 girlfriends. You’d say yeah that doesn’t help me at all. ‘Cause you can’t do good stuff over there to fix you bad stuff here.” I said I was sorry about her boyfriend and she said that had happened today.    After going through the Gospel, I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done on the cross or thought something else. “A life with Christ,” she replied. I said there was a prayer she could pray if she did not think she had asked God to forgive her before trusting in what Jesus had done.  I offered her the prayer she could pray talking her through it. She thought it expressed the desire of her heart but did not want to pray then. I said that was fine she could pray later. I asked, “Do you believe Jesus is God He died for your sins and rose from the dead? Do you believe that is a true story. “Yes,” she said. I asked if She would place her trust in that to be forgiven for her sins. “Yes,” she said again.  I gave her Bible Promises for You I wrote her name in the front and the word, “forgiven!” saying when you pray that prayer you will know you are forgiven. I gave her a Bible study too. “What’s your name again?” she asked. “Bob,” I replied. “It’s on the back of the booklet.” Looking at it she said, “Oh great,” she said. Thanks Bob. I told her if I saw her again I would give her a wave. “Thank you so much,” she replied and she headed off to her ride that had pulled up.

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 week was blessed with the grace of God allowing you to stand. I had a good week and 5 people (Simona, Joseph, Darion, Michael, Jimmy) prayed with me to receive Christ. One, a girl Ben, had prayed after I spoke with her in September and I met her again and found that out.

Jimmy prayed with me to receive Jesus. His story is below if ya feel like a read. Please pray these are all blessed in their faith.

Jimmy was sitting around the corner of a lounge on the 1^st floor of the BIC. It has vending machines and a hall out the back with skylights above it. He was wearing a black pull over hoodie with an anime character on it wore blue jeans and florescent green mesh tennis shoes. He had a short mop of wavy brown hair and a day’s growth of beard. He had somewhat soft-edged features, kind of the ‘every man’ look. He was a nice friendly guy and it turned out he had been through Catholic school. He said he wanted to own a house, kind of a by-gone era goal with housing prices falling in many places, though it has not set in around our area as much. I asked him what he would say to God if asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Because I’ve strived to help people,” he replied. He seemed like a nice guy. He hadn’t seemed to have understood the meaning behind Jesus’ death. I explained the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin and that He was a payment for sin and earned the righteousness by God. I said the Bible taught by grace faith saved him and I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else. I showed him the two circles one with Christ inside on the throne the other with Christ outside. ”To be honest that (pointing at Christ on the outside) seems more like where I am at. The other seems too cheap.” He said he felt like people would abuse that and say they were forgiven and do nothing, in terms of righteous acts or good deeds because they would think they did not have to earn it. I said I agreed that some people might not do good, thinking they could skate, but people like that would then be lying that they truly believed that Jesus had suffered and died to make the Christian life or that they even believed in a God, their actions would betray that belief. I asked him if he had a favorite football team. He said he liked the Tennessee Titans, “But they’re not very good right now.” I gave an example where I more or less said I had a friend who played briefly for the Titans who used to live next door. So, say he called me when the Titans were in town and said he had a couple of tickets and would I like to go, he had a skybox and could not fill it. I said yeah I knew a guy who liked them and he said he’d leave them at the gate. So I stayed in touch with you somehow and gave you a call and we went. We got to the gate and said we had free tickets. She asked who’d left them for us and we gave my friends name and then asked ours and she said, “Yep I got your tickets,” and she handed them over. You said to her, “I want to show that I appreciate these can I give you some money for them?” “I can’t take money for free tickets or I could get fired,” she replied. “But here’s what you can to. When you get to the skybox don’t cheer for the Bears, it’s all Titan’s fans there. Be cool to everyone and don’t spill any drinks on the crowd beneath you and stuff.” I said then that you can’t pay for your free ticket to go to Heaven but you can please God with your life and do the good things He would want you to do. “I can honor God,” he replied. “Right,” I replied. The other problem with doing good things to earn Heaven is every time you told someone you were going to Heaven, if they asked why, you’d basically say, Because I’m good, or better than you. And that would be pride, which is a sin. So every time you told people why you were going to Heaven you’d be sinning. He smiled at that and agreed it seemed to be a problem.  I went on to tell him then about the power of the Holy Spirit. I turned to the back and read the quote, “Your walk with Christ depends on what you allow Him to do in and through you empowered by the Holy Spirit, not what you do for Him through self-effort.” So, it’s really by the Holy Spirit’s power that we can live a life that pleases God. I explained the fruit of the Spirit then too. That all made sense to him so asked then if he’d want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus. He said that he did so I said there was a prayer he could pray and I read it through asking if it was the desire of his heart. “Un ha,” he replied and I said if he wanted he could pray it silently and he said, “Sure.” He prayed then to receive Jesus. I talked him through what I had not said about the Christian life, Bible reading and prayer and confessing your sins. I gave him Bible Promises for You and I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. “Is this a prayer book?” he asked. I said, “You can use it like that.” I talked to him about being a kid and there was a midweek snow fall and asking my dad to take us sledding. He promised to go to the toboggan run on the weekend. When the weekend came we said, “You promised to take us sledding,” And he said, “Your right. I promised, so I will.” So, when you pray if you use Bible verses God has promised you know these are things He has said so you can pray them. He seemed to like that idea. I also gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study and explained it a bit. He asked about Bible study so I told him when ours was and told him I would keep him in my prayers praying a Bible verse for him each day until Spring and one year after. He was grateful and we went our separate ways.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you had a good day walking with the Lord, resting in His love for you that surpasses knowledge. I had a good day on campus. Ellen and I had a good Bible study and Darion and Michael each prayed to receive Jesus today. I’d be grateful if you could pray they’d be blessed. Thanks for your prayers to bless and help the ministry. Their stories are below if you have the time.

I had a nudge to go to the PE building after we’d finished Bible Study and I walked Ellen to her car. So I made my way to the other side of campus, asking around in case there was someone God wish me to talk to on the way. I look for people setting apart from others for the most part since I hope they’d pray to receive Jesus. This has happened in groups but it seems more likely someone would pray if not involved with others.

I entered into the PE through the tunnel and the main lounge was pretty crowded. I checked at a couple tables and then circled around the counter some guys were sitting. I asked a big football player on the end if he’d want to do a student survey for a Bible study group on what he thought about God. Darion [dare E on] He said he didn’t think he had time for a group. He was African American and turned out he played D-back. I said the survey was really to tell you how you get to Heaven from the Bible and I asked if he would want to see the Bible verses that explained that. He had a mustache that was pretty thick but only grew as thick as a pencil, a bit of a chin beard. He was over 6 foot and about 250. He had a really short haircut; his skin was a bit pitted on his cheek bones but he was a good-looking guy wearing a tie-dye powder blue and white hoodie. I began to go through the Gospel with him and when I asked him what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world he said he had died. I explained that this purified him by His blood and paid for his sins allowing God to live inside him and forgive him. “The Bible says if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. So God is just to forgive us. It is fair for him to do it because he was paid by Jesus perfect blood. So He forgives us because He got paid but He had to pay Himself.” He nodded that he understood. I explained that Jesus earned the righteousness of God and it was to his credit and the story I told made him smile just a bit. He was pretty reserved. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else after explaining salvation by faith. He nodded. I said there was a prayer he could pray and walked him through it and saying he could pray it silently I asked if he’d want to do it and he’d know he was forgiven. “Yeah I’ll do it.” He said and he took the booklet and then slowly read it and prayed to receive Jesus.  When he finished I said, “Your sins are forgiven,” I shook his hand. I told him he could keep the booklet and explained the Christian life. I talked about asking God for self-control on the field and peace and patience waiting for the snap of the ball. He said he had a Bible at home answering my questions with “Yes sir.” I gave him Bible Promises for You though he said he had a book like that he said, “I’ll take another one though.” I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside and gave it to him. I told him I would keep him in my prayers praying a Bible verse for him each day through the Spring and one year after. “Thank you, I appreciate that,” he replied sincerely and I headed out. The loud conversations a couple feet from us had never let up or noticed me.

I went through the Gospel with a guy named Alex. He had a couple days growth of beard and a narrow mustache. His face has a sharp jaw line like the character the Joker in the comics.  We were overlooking the lounge in the MAC arts building. While talking to him an administrator with chartreuse Crocs on slid in with his back to me interrupting and asking him, “Is this guy bothering you?” The burearistocrat flashed a lanyard with his ID on it never saying his name. I never saw his face. The student kindly said, “It’s fine.” The burearistocrat turned and towards his office and said, “He likes to prey upon students,” and went inside. “Interesting thing to say considering he’s never met me,” I said quietly. I briefly went through the Gospel after he’d explained his Roman Catholic father and Mormon mother. I left him the booklet I hadn’t used much showing him the prayer and thanked him and he said no problem and I left the Croc-booted enemy encamped in their offices. I headed to the cafeteria. I thought later I should have corrected the burearistocrat and said “I like to pray with students.” But I never poke the egos there on purpose.

Michael was sitting at the counter in the cafeteria looking out the window. He was up for doing a student survey. He was smallish in build had a solid looking face, square chin and clean shaven. He wore a cap with tan curls pouring out from beneath. He wore a pull over hoodie and had sweats on. I asked him what he would say to God if He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” He replied after a bit of thought, “I’ve had a positive effect, tried to have a positive effect, on all the people I’ve met. I tried to leave off on a good note even if I never see them again.” He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to heaven. I asked him if he ever went to Church “like when he was a kid”. He said his parents had taken him to St. Isidore. (I had never heard of it but looked it up and it’s in Bloomingdale.) and then he had joined a Bible club in High School. He said it was led by his cousin who was going to be a pastor. He seemed very interested in the Bible and was attentive when I quoted a Bible verse. I asked him if he knew what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world and he said “Yeah,” but it seemed more like he was saying he knew Jesus had done something to do so. I began to go through the heart of the Gospel then with him and he took right-to everything I said concerning the sacrifice for his sins and the blood that cleansed him and the righteousness of God to his credit. I asked if he’d want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in Jesus or if he thought something else. His pinky came out of a fist and pointed nail down to the circle with Christ on the throne of your life. “Well, if you want to be forgiven there’s a prayer you could pray.” I explained it. Does this prayer express the desire of your heart got a “Yeah.” And asking if he’d like to pray it silently got “Yeah,” also again nodding in support. So I said, “Just pretend I’m not here.” And he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When he finished I said his sins were forgiven and he smiled. I explained the Christian life living inside out by the Spirit’s power. He had heard of the fruit of the Spirit. I gave him Bible Promises for You and write his name and the date and forgiven in the front. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet saying that it answered some questions or he could email me if he had any.  I also handed him a Bible study explaining the deity of Christ by His own claims, which he liked. So I gave him another on the Angel of Jehovah. I told him the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100% now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus. Though I had sinned far more than him, being old, “If we both died today there would be enough righteousness to cover us both.” I shook his hand saying, “Nice to meet you.” “Thank you,” he replied with a grin. “Yeah tell your cousin I said hi,” “I will,” he said enthusiastically. And I headed out to the truck.

Thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had time. God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob