Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and you are feeling the Love of God. I had a good day on campus Jacob prayed with me to receive Jesus. I spent some time helping a new Christian, Jesus [hey sues], understand salvation by faith a bit more. He had been very dissatisfied with the Roman Cath. church but kept attending to keep his parents from freaking out. I gave him the Rose publications “Following Jesus” & “Who I am in Christ” and a promise book for his girl friend, Meghan, who he was leading closer to Christ. He seemed to be trusting in his good works at the beginning by his answers. But as often happens by the time I’d finished he’d agreed it was only by faith and that he needed to trust in Christ’s righteousness not his own. So he did not pray with me but coupled with some other experiences in the evangelical churches of friends he seemed well on his way to growing in faith.

Jacob was sitting in the hall of the BIC building on the third floor waiting the day out until his next Friday class. He had gone to SIU last year but decided to save some money at COD. He was a really amicable guy, had a bit of a chin beard and black frame glasses, bit of a double chin short sandy hair with short bangs stout, not fat. He was tall. He had on a knit sweater and jeans. I asked him what he would say to God if He asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” and he said, “”Umm that’s a tough question. I guess because of the kind of person I am I’d try to go over the things in my life. It’s a time of reflection to go over the good and the bad.” He thought he had about an 80% chance of going to Heaven saying he did confirmation in the Catholic church and had attended regularly until his Junior year and now it was hit and miss as he had gotten so busy with school. He listened attentively to the Gospel but struggled to say what it was Jesus had done to take away his sins. As I went through the Gospel point by point he would say, “I see.” or “Oh.” as if he was hearing the explanation for the first time. As I came to the end he said he wanted to be forgiven when I offered him the option to do so. I asked him if he believed Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead. “Yeah I do,” he said slowly as if thinking about it. I said if he wanted to place his trust in that there was a prayer he could pray that would be receiving God’s forgiveness. I talked him through it and said. “You know as you grow up you are just kind of in the Church and roll with it and you don’t really think about it. If you do something wrong, you just think that you are basically a good person and God will forgive you because He is a good and forgiving God.” He agreed that was just where he’d been at. I explained that when you get older you have to make up your own mind which way you are going and what you will trust in and this is like that placing your trust in Jesus and what He has done to save you. So I said if he wanted to he could pray to tell God that was the way he wanted to go with his life, trusting in Christ.  “Ah sure. Yeah,” he said deciding. And he took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. I explained then he could read in the book of John. He had a Bible, a big one and a personal one. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do and wrote “Ask by the Spirit” and explained how everything God was asking him to do He would give him the power to do by changing him. I gave him a Bible study too. He said he’d try to drop by the Bible study so I hope he will. I said I would be praying him through the spring and for one year after and he was really happy about that, to have someone praying for him.  I got up to go we’d talked for a long time. “Thanks you it was nice to talk to you,” he said. “Yeah, great to talk to you too man,” I said and we parted, he was a great guy.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance God blessed again and I had some joy.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and you had joy in Jesus. I had a good day on campus and Jaden and Roben each prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Roben was sitting in the Hallway on a row of chairs in the BIC on the second floor, the hall was pretty empty. I asked him if he wanted to do a student survey for a Bible study group. “I already did that last semester I think, are you with CRU?” “No this is something different. Like you’re walking down the road and ya get hit by a bus so you’re dead and ya stand before God and He asks you, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “It would be up to Him.” ‘Right it is up to Him but there are things that God wants you to believe for Him to let you into Heaven. So would you want to know what the Bible says it is that gets you into Heaven?” He thought it would saying, “Be nice to know.” I did a survey with him. He had jeans on and a knit sweater, was from the Philippines and had gone to church there when he was a kid. He wore his hair in bangs, wore rectangular rim glasses and had a warm wide face. Gentle kind voice, he wanted to be a grade school teacher. He was really engaged as I went through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died to take away sin but he hadn’t put His death and resurrection together before. When I explained how he was cleansed by the blood of Christ he responded with an “Oh.” of realization. He was really receptive and grateful to know everything concerning salvation, and in the end I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven or thought something else showing him the circles depicted in the booklet. “I would be that one with God inside,” he replied pointing to the circle on the right. I asked if he believed Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead and he said he did. So I explained there was a prayer he could pray to be forgiven and tell God he wanted to know Him. He was enthusiastic to find that out and listened to the explanation of the prayer and when I said he could pray it silently if he wanted to he said, “Yeah,” enthusiastically. He took the booklet from me then and prayed to receive Christ. I explained then living inside out by the Spirit’s power” as I always do if someone does not have to immediately run to a class. I wrote “Ask” and “By the Spirit’s power in the front of 20 Things God Can’t Do along with his name and the date and “Forgiven” in the front. I explained everything God was asking him to do He would give him the power to do if he would ask for it by the Spirit. I explained some other things to him with some word pictures and gave him a Bible Study and got his e-mail to send him a follow up with the verses I quoted to him not written in the booklet. “This is 100% then,” I said pointing to the number. “If you are trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be your righteousness. How righteousness is Jesus? 100% righteous. What’s His righteousness worth? An infinite amount.” He liked hearing that.  “Nice to have met you,” I said shaking his hand. “You too,” he said cheerfully. “God bless you.” “You too,” he said again and I headed out happy.

Late in the day of work I got over to the PE building where I hadn’t been for a couple days. I went through the Gospel with a professing Christian on the football team Kelly. He just talked about all the religious works he had done to get into Heaven but he let me go through the Gospel with Him and then in the end insisted he’d been trusting in Jesus. So I hope it redirected him. Big bearded dude wanted to pay in the NFL his hair pulled straight up over his head into a mass of curly afro about 4 cups of hair. Good guy.

As I came down the stairs I saw some guys hanging out against the counter just to the side of the staircase. Jaden had a rough afro shorter on the sides and high over his head, a bit of facial hair on his chin and lip. He had a wide nose and his chin was set back a bit, not a bad looking kid and he described himself as handsome when I’d asked for 3 words to describe himself, wore sweats and athletic shoes. He had a couple of football players on either side so I walked up to them all and said, “Hey anybody wanna do a student survey what you think about God and stuff?” “I’ll do it,” Jaden said. I got his name and asked him something he wanted to do before he died. “Win the Super Bowl,” he replied. His friends laughed, as the one on his left had done when he’d described himself as handsome. He was a really sincere guy though, a good person with good intentions. I asked him what he would say to God if he died to get into Heaven and he said, “I been kind and generous to people all my life. I ain’t never had nothing so I gave back.” He thought he had about a “50-60%” chance of going to Heaven. He said he had stopped going to church early in his teen years, something seemed to have stopped the habit. As I went through the Gospel he knew Jesus had died for his sins. I explained how His blood had also cleansed him and His righteousness was to his credit like extra credit in a class. As I finished I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus and he said he would. I asked him too if he believed Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead. He shook his head and said, “Yeah.” I showed him the prayer where he could trust in it too and just a few moments before I finished 3 of the foot ballplayers chatting around us suddenly up and walked away. I was glad to see that hoping he would be willing to pray and he did. We talked some more about living the Christian life “Inside out”. He did not want a book. His grades had not been good enough to play football I think so I doubt he was much of a reader.  Sometimes I think they could have a whole extra set of professional sports if the public schools actually gave more guys the skies to get through college. He said he knew an app he could get or had on his phone to read the Bible so I’ll pray he will. I explained if he would trust in the righteousness of Jesus to be his it was 100% sure he would go to Heaven. I told him I would be praying for him and said, “You want me to pray you get into the NFL?” “Yeah” he replied with some enthusiasm. “You got hops? He was not that tall only my height 6 foot or so, “Can you dunk a ball.” (Different sport I know but I wanted to ask how high he could jump and most athletes play around a bit with basket ball) “Yeah I can.” “Alright you got hops then man what do you play, he said he was a receiver.  I said, “Who knows what God has but I’ll pray that.” He thanked me and said he appreciated it and I headed out after getting him to take a Bible study to read.

So thanks for your prayers for the Bible study 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 and you are warm and dry. I had a good day on campus and Flora and James each prayed with me to receive Christ.

Flora was up on the 3rd floor of the BIC sitting on a bench on the outside of the lounge with the vending machines on the south side. She was a colorful person, had reddish streaks in her dark brown hair. She wore black rectangular framed glasses, her nose turned up in a point (kinda like a elf) and her lips when relaxed were in bit of a frown.  But she was upbeat and pleasant. She wore some kind of sweats or leggings that were loose fitting, her knit, lose, crew neck sweater was black with narrow pink stripes. She said she’d do a survey and when I asked her what she would say to God she exclaimed, “Oh ____,” with an expletive and I laughed and said she probably should not say that. She agreed and thinking quickly said like it had dawned on her, “Cause I’m a child of God. I swear but…” She said she thought she had a 50% chance of going to Heaven. Her mother had converted from Roman Catholicism when she married her dad and become Greek Orthodox. So the big Holiday with family was Easter she said, when they always went to church and had “A lamb on a spigot.” I explained God wanted to live inside her but first had to make her His type and take away her sin. I asked how Jesus did that, she couldn’t think of anything. But she listened to my explanation of the Gospel, Our sin, Christ’s death and resurrection. His blood and imputation and a relationship entered by faith. When I asked her if she would like to be forgiven for her sins with God inside her or thought something else she said, “I would want to be forgiven for my sins with God inside.” So I offered her a prayer explaining it saying she could pray and be forgiven placing her faith in Jesus. “Right now!” she said her eyes wide taking the booklet away from me. I said, “Sure.” “Down on my knees or something?” “No just right here,” “Do I say it out loud,” “No you can do it quietly in your heart.” So she prayed then and received Christ. I explained living the Christian life and asked her if she had a Bible, “No I really want one though.” “I’ll give you one,” I replied. So I finished explaining the Holy Spirit and living “inside out” and gave her a Bible and showed her the “Where to Turn” section and explained what messianic passages were telling her Jesus words were in red. I wrote her name in the front and the date and “Forgiven”. I told her that if she would trust in the righteousness of God to be her righteousness the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. I also gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do and a Bible study. She Thanked me. “I like your hair color it looks cool,” I said getting up to leave. “Thanks,” she replied, I just had it done yesterday.” And I headed out.

James was over in the science building waiting to get into class. He was studying to be a nurse. He is Filipino with fair skin; His features looked more classically African American, full lips and a broad nose. He was wearing an athletic fleece; half zipped with a team name across the front I never got an angle on to read, blue jeans and with tennis shoes. He was Roman Catholic. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I don’t know what I’d say.” So I asked him what he thought it was that got you to Heaven and he said, “Obey God’s commands.” He said he was a little sleepy and looked like he’d been studying. But he listened quietly to the Gospel and I got him to smile a few times. He knew Jesus had died to take away his sins. I asked him if he would want to be forgiven with God inside or thought something else. “Forgiven,” he replied. I said there was a prayer he could pray and walked him through it suggesting he could pray it silently and be forgiven and would he want to. “Yeah,” was all he said and he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I took it back and showed him more of what was inside and then said he could keep it handing it to him and he said, “Thank you.” I also gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do and a Bible study. I told him if he was trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I gave him a Bible a well as he did not have one. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” on the inside and gave him a symbolic view of the mass saying when he took it, it was to remind him Jesus had died for his sins and he could just say thank you. He seemed grateful and we said good bye and I headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and things are good. I had a good day on campus and Joe prayed with me to receive Jesus. I got a good seed planted with Micheal as well who took a Bible study and the student edition of The Case for Christ from me. Bearded guy in a ball cap jeans and work boots in the Science Building sitting in one of the cubbies looking down at the lounge. We got side swiped on the way home from a wedding on Saturday going somewhere around 60 on the tollway, guy fell asleep it seems so we brought the car in to a shop tonight. God had an angel caring for us is seems as the guy just bounced off and went over a couple lanes and hit the brakes before he went into the back of another car but we stayed in our lane and were unscathed. Ya never know what might happen.

Joe was sitting in a lounge in the BIC just chilling out between classes on the north-side ground floor. He was wearing a Sox cap said he wanted to find a way to work for them in marketing for a career. “Getting people to come to the park.” He had on a gray hoodie under a tan jacket, skinning jeans and work boots. He had that boy next door look, strangely similar to an another guy I’d talked to this year, Sam. The fresh faced kid thing. When I asked him what he would say to God if he died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” He said, “I think I’m an overall nice person, I try to do the right thing on most occasions.” As I went through the Gospel with him he knew Jesus had died for his sins. It was really great to talk to him, he was really enthusiastic and engaged and in agreement with each point of the Gospel, His death, His blood cleansing us and Jesus imputed righteousness. So I asked him if he would want to be forgiven with God living inside him or thought something else. “I would want God living inside me,” he replied. I explained that he hadn’t had the right answer to the question of how he would get into Heaven but I might have caught him off guard with the question. I said I knew he knew the story but when he asked for forgiveness for his sins was he thinking he would try to do better and God was forgiving or had he thought, “I know I’ll be forgiven because Jesus died for me.” I asked if he had been trusting in Christ’s work for forgiveness. “Not until now,” he said, smiling seriously.  So I said “Well if you’d like to place your trust in that, there is a prayer you could pray” and I explained it as I went. “Lord Jesus I want to know your personally” so I want you to live inside me “Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins” so you’d be grateful “I open the door of my life and I receive you” or I believe “you are my Savior and Lord” Lord means God “Thank you for forgiving me of my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be.” I said he could pray that silently in his heart, not so I would hear but God would and he could be sure he would be forgiven and God would live inside him. “Wanna do it?” “Yeah,” he replied. “Just pretend I’m not here,” I said. “Alright,” he replied. When he finished praying to receive Jesus I explained the Christian life living by the Spirit’s power and gave him a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ and 20 Thing God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the inside and “By the Spirit’s Power” I explained everything God was asking him to do He would give him the power to do he just needed to ask. “Just ask,” he replied. I told him the parable about wearing God’s righteousness in Matthew 22 and a couple other things and he was visibly happy. It was great. He gave me his email to send him some stuff and I got up to go saying, “It was really nice to meet you.” “You too, thanks so much,” he said shaking my hand. I told him I hoped he got that Sox job and he laughed 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 and you have some joy looking forward to the weekend. I’ll be in the wedding of a friend who I met in college ministry when he was a student. Joy & grace abounds. Cameron and Lupita each prayed to receive Christ Thursday, so much for your prayers.

Cameron was a young looking guy, a bit on the short side with a mop of sandy hair covering his ears, wearing sweats, nice kid. When I asked him what he would say to God if He asked him why should I let you into Heaven he said, “Because I’m always caring.” He had gone to Church on Saturdays when he was younger but had not been in a while, having gotten busy with school. So I gave him a card for the Compass church when we parted, suggesting he could listen to some sermons. He thought he had about a 75% chance of going to Heaven. He listened attentively to the Gospel without much reaction or eye contact; he did not know what God had done to take away his sins. I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done on the Cross or if he thought something else. I showed him the two circles in the booklet, describing them as representing a life with God inside or one living for yourself. I said Islam did not believe God’s Spirit could live inside them so they had a different God. And the Buddha had left his wife and children to seek enlightenment saying, “So he’s not looking for God he’s just trying to get his head straight.” “I agree with this one,” he replied, pointing to the circle with God inside. I asked if he believed Jesus was God, had died for his sins and rose from the dead. He thought for a moment and said, “Yes.” I explained that if he wanted to place his trust in that to be forgiven for his sins and know he was going to Heaven, there was a prayer he could pray and I walked him through it. I said he could pray it silently and be forgiven “Wanna do it?” I asked. “Um, sure,” he replied and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained that if he trusted in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness, the likelihood he would go to Heaven was now 100%. He did not have a Bible, so I gave him one, writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front and showing him the sections in the back on where to turn and prophecies fulfilled and Christ’s words in red. I explained living “Inside Out” trusting in God’s Spirit to change him. I also gave him a copy of 20 Things God Can’t Do explaining that he could ask for God’s power in everything and wrote “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front. He was grateful and I gave him a Bible study. He seemed like a pretty simple hearted guy and talked to me about his issues of jealousy with his girlfriend Sarah (he was quiet and she talked to other guys a lot). So I told him I would pray about that and encouraged him to pray about it, and I said goodbye as another woman walked up who seemed to be some kind of guidance counselor,

Lupita was wearing black leggings, a jacket and Uggs. She was a pretty girl, looked Latina, and had fair skin, an oval face and long dark hair past her shoulders. She was sitting in one of the cubbies that looks down on the Science building lounge from the second floor. She was nice and smiled sweetly here and there as we talked. She said she was Catholic. When I asked her what she would say to God she said, “I tried to do what was right.” She thought she had about a 90% chance of going to Heaven and regularly went to Church. I explained to her that we had to trust in the righteousness God provides in Jesus. She knew Jesus had died for her sins. As I finished she said she would want to be forgiven but did not seem very decided, but then I asked her if she believed Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. She said she did. I said if she wanted to trust in that to be forgiven, there was a prayer she could pray. I offered her the chance to pray it and thinking, she said firmly with a smile “Yeah.” Lupita prayed to receive Jesus then. After she finished, I said, “You grow up in the church and don’t think about things much. But when you become a woman, you have to decide for yourself, and she agreed. I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I gave her Zwingli’s view of the mass as symbolic, saying it was to remind her Jesus had died for her and so she was forgiven and so when she came to that time in the service she could simply say. “Thank you”. She thanked me and I gave her a Bible Study too. I also explained that if she was trusting in the righteousness of God to be her righteousness that it was 100% sure she would be in Heaven. I got up to leave her, saying maybe I’d see her in Heaven, “Who knows, it’s a big place.” She smiled and I said, “God bless you.” “Thank you, God bless you too.” I nodded and headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the Bible Study and for evangelism Thursday if you had a chance. God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today with all good things. I had a good day on campus and  Anthony and Tavarus each prayed to receive Jesus today. I still get chronic headaches, muscle tension in my neck that I wake up with, so I think I’ll have to find something to kill the pain for that. The Chiropractor said it is probably stress related.

Tavarus was sitting in the hallway of the BIC, idling away the time, and said he’d do a survey. He had a rough-top afro cut very short on the sides. With one strand pulled down across his forehead with a couple silver beads on it. He wore a hoodie and sweats. He had a warm, wide face with full features and a chin beard he stroked occasionally. Good looking guy. He said he’d do a survey and went to an evangelical church on Rt 59 that a lot of students attend. He was a musician and played several instruments. I asked him what he would say to God if He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” He said, “Because I’ve been following His message and His word. I believe in Him.” He was 90% sure he would go to Heaven but qualified it saying, “No one is perfect. We’re all gonna get judged.” I said I agreed and often thought if when the Bible said “He will wipe away every tear from your eyes” it meant we would be crying when we got there for a moment. I began to go through the Gospel with him and asked him what the big thing was that God had done to take away his sins. He struggled to think of something saying, “For me personally?” I said for anyone and said, “What the Bible says He did.” “Well there are a lot of things,” he continued trying to think of one so I stopped him and said something like, “Here I’ll just tell you.” and began to explain what Jesus had done in dying for him, that His blood had cleansed him and that His righteousness was to his credit. I could see the explanations I gave him from the scripture were novel to him. After finishing the explanation I asked if he would want to be forgiven with God living inside him or thought something else. “I’d be forgiven,” he replied. “Well, it seems like you had never put this together before right?” I asked. “Yeah,” he admitted with a big smile. So I explained if he wanted to be forgiven, there was a prayer he could pray. I walked him through it suggesting he could pray it silently so only God could hear,and be forgiven and God would live in Him and give him guidance for life. He shook his head, smiling, and took the booklet asking, “Can I keep this?” I said he could. Then he silently prayed to receive Jesus. He was happy then and I explained the Christian life living “inside out” by the Spirit’s power. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do, writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the inside. He thought that was great. I also wrote “By the Spirit” after explaining anything the book said that seemed conditional, like it was on him to do his part first; God would give him the power to do that too. Anything God wanted him to do, if he could see the future, would be something he would want to do, as it would turn out better than whatever else he wanted to do to the contrary, in the moment. He gave me his email to get a Bible study. I gave him a Bible study on the Deity of Christ too. I stood up to leave and he reached out shaking my hand and said, “Thank you, thank you. Have a good day.” “You too,” I replied and I headed off.

Anthony was sitting in the Mac building by the elevator as the stairs up to the doors. He looked to be a bit older than that average guy, maybe 30 or so. He had some ink on his hands and across his fingers I could see. He wore a short beard, mustache and short brown hair, had on a brown hoodie and baggy jeans, he was a pretty big guy, somehow had kind of the midlevel monk look. He said he only had 10 minutes to talk, so I asked if he’d like the cliff notes version. He was cool with that so getting his name I just asked what he would say to God if he died and was asked why He should let him into Heaven. “Because I’ve surrendered to Him and I believe in Him,” he replied. That would seem like he was in the camp, but after many years of evangelism I know this kind of response does not necessarily mean someone is trusting in Christ as their Savior. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he was engaged, but he did not know what Jesus had done to take away his sins. I could see with him too that what I was telling him he had not heard before. So I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in Jesus or if he thought something else. “Yeah,” he said firmly that he’d want to. I said (as I had 40 minutes earlier to Tavarus), “It seems like you had not really put all this together before.” “No,” he said frankly. So I offered him a prayer to trust in Christ to forgive him talking him through it as well and asked if he’d like to pray silently and he said, “Yeah,” again and prayed to receive Jesus. I knew I did not have much time so I quickly explained living “inside out” and by the spirit’s power and wrote the later in the front of 20 Things God Can’t Do along with his name and the date and “forgiven.” I gave him a Bible study and he asked where ours met. I told him and said there was free pizza. “I’m on a special diet but I think I can come next week (it seemed like God had healed him of something). So I hope he does. “Thank you, thanks Bob,” he said as I got up to leave. “”You’re welcome,” I said happily and I headed off to the other side of campus to head to the Chiropractor.

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 and the bad weather has missed ya if you’re near me, Ice storm tonight. If it’s warm and sunny by you–well God bless ya. I had a good day on campus and Sam prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Sam was on the second floor where I felt nudged to go when I first got to school. He was just killing time on his phone waiting for his class to begin directly across the hall. He was wearing running clothes, heavy nylon sweats and a Jacket and a red and blue winter hat pulled down so I could not see his hair. Had a boyish face with skin like a kid. He had been to a Lutheran Church growing up and now had begun to get back into Church and go with some couples he found at school. I warned him there were cults at school, since I did not know who his new friends were. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and God asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” He said, “I don’t know to be honest. I don’t think there is a right answer I could give that would be good enough. It’s really in God’s hands. It would just be begging at that point.” He was nonetheless certain he would go to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died to save us from the consequences of our sin. He understood the Gospel better as I went through it and really liked the illustrations I used and related to them. I asked him in the end if he would want to be forgiven for his sins and have God live inside him. “I would want to be forgiven.” So I began to ask if he had been trusting in what Jesus had done for him to be forgiven. It turned out he had not really been thinking about it at all. “I really just pray a lot,” he explained. I explained the difference in having a relationship with God as his Creator and being in a relationship with God as his Savior. He talked about his friend who was engaged at the age of 20 to a girl of the same age. He said his friend had said the first thing he did when he got up in the morning was to text her. His friend went on to say that he should be doing that with God, the first thing in the morning he should talk to Him. I said that was great, but getting back to their relationship; the reason he could text her was because they were engaged. If I started texting her first thing in the morning that would be creepy. Their relationship made that texting meaningful. I said he had not been sure there was anything he could say to God that would get him into Heaven. But God had told him what he could trust in to do just that. I said he could not have been trusting in that truth, that Jesus was God, had died for his sins and rose from the dead, if he did not believe there was such a truth. He agreed and so I said if he wanted to trust in Christ there was a prayer he could pray. I finished explaining it and asked if he thought he’d like to pray it. “I like it,” he replied. Then checking to see if it was OK to do so silently, Sam prayed to receive Jesus. We talked some more about providence and I quoted Ephesians 2:10 to him. I explained the Christian life was walking by the Spirit. I gave him a Bible study and 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I also wrote “By the Spirit’s Power” and explained asking for help in all things. He thanked me and asked about the Bible study again, so I am hopeful he will come. We had a great talk right up to the minute before his class began and then he took 6 steps across the hall and went in.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed. I also directed the faith of some Christians who seemed to change to be trusting in Christ instead of their own righteousness once I left them.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I had a good day today on campus. Ben, Dylan and Nicole prayed to receive Jesus today. I hope your day was blessed as well and you had some joy.

Ben was sitting in the hallway on some chairs on the second floor of the BIC and said he had already done a survey. I said this was something else (after making sure he had not done it with me and I wasn’t having a brain lapse). “It’s how you get to Heaven. Like say you are 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 he didn’t know what to say, so I asked if he’d like to hear some “Bible verses that tell you how you get to Heaven–or not so much?” “Ok,” he said. So I said my name and got his name. He was a solidly-built black guy, handsome features, dark skin. He had a black hoodie on, pulled up over a rough cut afro. He wore sweats, tight at the ankles covered in what looked like a knit tweed print. Low-top black canvass shoes. “Do you wanna do the survey or just hear the verses?” I asked. “You can just tell me the verses,” he replied. So I went into the Gospel with him, using some of the verses in the booklet I use and adding more conversationally.  He knew Jesus had died for his sins. He listened intently to everything I said, not really making eye contact but staring at the booklet very seriously. I did get him to glance my way and smile once or twice. I finished up telling him about the blood of Christ and the imputed righteousness that could be ours by faith because He was God. I explained he needed to trust in that and that faith saved him. “So would you want to be forgiven for your sins, trusting in Jesus or do you think something else?” “Forgiven for my sins,” he replied. “If you want to trust in Jesus to be forgiven and have God live inside you, there is a prayer you can pray,” I said, going right into the explanation and reading it through. I read the line, “Is this prayer the desire of your heart?” “Yeah,” he replied. So I said he could “pray it silently in his heart and God would hear and forgive him and could live inside him.” He said “yeah” again when I offered it and prayed to receive Jesus. I walked him through the Christian life and the fruit of the Spirit and gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do. I explained everything in the book was “by the Spirit’s power.” So I wrote that and his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front, and gave him an example asking if he followed. “I get it,” he replied.  I asked if he had a Bible and he responded, “Yeah, I believe in God,” as if everyone who believed in God would have a Bible. I responded with something like, “Well, now you understand He is Jesus and forgives you.” He had to run to class then and stood up after I gave him a Bible study and said, “Thanks,” and shook my hand and headed off.

I headed down the hall then and had a sense I should head over to the PE building and thought, “I’ll head over there,” and then thought to myself, “If you are going to head over there, why are you walking in the wrong direction?” So I just abruptly turned around and went down stairs to  the tunnel from the BIC. I’m not sure where those little conversations come from (I may just be reasoning with myself) but in this case it lined up right to find Dylan who had decided to lay down on a hard bench under the staircase, (where a girl named Bre had trusted Christ a few weeks ago). Dylan was a real good looking kid, like a catalogue model. Brown hair wearing a hoodie and jeans. When I asked what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I’m your son.” I asked him the likelihood he would get into Heaven and he said, “100%. I don’t see God sending me elsewhere, even though I’ve definitely sinned.” I said the last part of the survey was what he thought about Christianity in this little booklet. “It’s funny you should come by,” he said as if he’d been thinking about it. “I don’t really know the story of Christianity.” He then said something like he was not raised with any faith but he believed in God. So I went through the Gospel with him too, saying all I’d said to Ben and asked if he’d want to be forgiven for his sins, trusting in Jesus. He said he did, so I read him through the prayer, saying he could pray it silently, not so I would hear it but God would hear and be forgiven with God inside him. “Wanna do it?” I asked. “Yes sir,” he replied and he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I also gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front along with “by the Spirit’s Power” explaining the Christian life to him. He had to run to class then and said looking at his phone, “Bob, I gotta go to class,” and said for the second time, “I appreciate it,” offering me his hand to shake. I quickly pulled out a Bible study and he said he’d try to make it to ours and headed off down the hall.

Nicole was sitting up on the third floor of the BIC building. After 2 PM the hall was pretty empty, but the classroom near us was in group discussions. She was a very pretty girl and might have passed for sisters with the actress Katie Holmes. She had long brown hair past her elbows and a narrower face than the actress. She wore leggings, black and white canvass hightops and a light blue hoodie. I asked her to do a survey and she said, “I’ll do it. I said no the last time you asked me but I’ve seen you around so OK.” So, so much for worrying that I am bugging students, asking them more than once to do a survey when they say no. This has happened to me before. When I asked her what she would say to God she said, “I pray to God a lot. I wouldn’t owe anybody anything. I’ve believed in Him my whole life, I’ve never doubted.” She was sure she would go to Heaven, 100%, and said she had gone to church when she was young and “taken all the classes.” As I went through the Gospel with her, I asked her if she knew what Jesus had done to take away her sins. She had no idea. So I said it would probably come back to her as I went through it, but I really don’t think she had ever understood the Gospel. I explained how the blood of Jesus poured out, sort of like His life-force on the world and made life all the places we made death. “There’s death inside us from our sin and the Bible says the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin, turns death into life. So now you’re alive inside and you match God so He can live inside you.” “Wow, that’s so cool,” she replied. I told her that good works could not save us and she agreed your good things could not fix your bad things. “But God says He can turn your bad stuff into good stuff.” I quoted Romans 8:28 to her. I asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins and she did, so I said there was a prayer she could pray to trust in Christ and explained it to her. I said she could pray it silently if she wanted. “Thank you,” she said taking the booklet to pray and she did. I gave her a Bible Study she was interested to read. Her mom had a very old copy of the Bible that had been in the family that she said she would borrow sometimes. I asked if she’d like one of her own and she said she would. I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front and she really liked that. I also showed her the “Where to Turn” passages and said there was a section on prophecies Jesus had fulfilled. I also gave her the book 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front and explaining the Christian life is asking God for strength to do everything. As I said to everyone today, the Christian life is living “Inside out.” “God transforms you on the inside, you become a good woman and then you do good things on the outside.” I got her email to send her some stuff and she’d thanked me several times as I went though things. I got up to go and said, “It was really nice to meet you,” shaking her hand “thanks for taking a chance and talking to me.” “Thank you. It was nice to meet you too,” she responded. “You’re welcome” I said and headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and the Lord was near to your heart. Leondra received Christ and I had a good day encouraging some of the peeps who were Christians and also a girl named Grace who had lost her father to suicide. Please pray for her. I also gave her a bible promise book. She came from an old-school catholic family who had told her her whole life that her dad was in Hell and she would go to hell when she died because she had never been baptized. I walked her through the Gospel, and she said she’d like to be forgiven. But she’d given up on having enough faith and being good enough. I explained again that faith was a gift she could ask for if she wanted, and God could give her the strength to believe. She was grateful and said she would think about it.

Leondra was sitting on the counter in front of the vending machines at school. She was an athletic built black girl with long black straight hair held in place with a hair band. Nice looking girl with frank features, wore jeans and boots and a jacket. Her friend walked up after she said she’d do a survey but wandered off a bit as we talked. She thought of herself as a Christian it seemed, and said she didn’t go to Church as much as she ought to, having gotten busy with school. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said, “I feel as if I’m a nice person. I go out of my way to help people. I’ve done right in life, haven’t done anything wrong.” She thought she had about an 85% chance of going to Heaven. She listened to the Gospel and when I asked her what God had done to take away her sins, she didn’t have any idea. As I explained that Christ’s blood cleansed her so God could live inside her, she seemed to have a moment of realization. I explained that she did not go to Heaven because she was good but because Jesus was good and His righteousness was to her credit. She wanted to be forgiven and so I asked if she believed Jesus was God, He died for her sins and rose from the dead. She did, so I said if she wanted to place her trust in that there was a prayer she could pray and after I walked her through it. I asked if it was the desire of her heart. She nodded, so I said she could pray it so only God could hear and be forgiven. “Wanna do it?” “Yeah,” she said kind of sweetly with a touch of relief. I explained the Christian life living inside out and I gave her a Bible Study. I said I had a couple of books and would she like some bible promises or some short things to read. “Something to read,” she replied so I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do and wrote “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front. I showed her there were 100 verses in the back that the author thought were good. Then I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front and she really like that. She thanked me and I thanked her friend, who had returned, for waiting and she slid off the counter to wrap her arm around her buddy and look at a text over her shoulder 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 blessed today with the leading of the Spirit into love and good things. I had a good day on campus and Gaetano prayed to trust in Christ today. He was Latino. I got to present the Gospel to a couple of Muslim girls sitting together at the counter in the cafeteria too, so it was a good day. They really seemed to enjoy it and both took a booklet and the little tract “Jesus and the Quran.”  Leen from Jordan who moved here when she was 6 (slight build, long dark brown hair and round plastic glasses) and Jud(e) from Saudi Arabia (Long lighter brown hair wire-rim glasses) who had just been here a few weeks, but had gone to an English speaking school. Both spoke English with no accent. Neither wore a head scarf. They said they believed in it, but were not ready to commit. They listened attentively and politely to the Gospel.

When I got too school, I had had a poor night’s sleep and was still a bit worn out from everyone I spoke with yesterday. I asked God to give me some leading as to where I should go and I got a picture in my mind of the PE lounge. So I decided that was as good an idea as any and headed over that way, asking some students along the way, but no one was interested. Gaetano [Guy tan oh] was sitting in the upstairs of the lounge at a table against the glass, looking down on the pool. He had a thin mustache and a beard that began more or less on his jaw line and rectangle glasses. He was not very tall, wearing a jacket and jeans, fair skin. He had kind of a square face and a medium brown hair parted on the side swept to the right. He knew Jesus had died for his sins and was a practicing Catholic. He had taken an Old Testament class at COD last semester. When I asked him if he wanted to do a survey, questions about how you get to Heaven, he said, “I can listen to you for a while.” So I asked him some questions. He thought he had about a 40% chance of going to Heaven. When I asked what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I don’t know what I’d say. I’d be more in shock than anything in meeting Him.” I began to go through the Gospel with him. He understood a lot of it already and knew Jesus had died for his sins. He followed well as I explained “When you think about it, what God wants most from you is what you would want in someone you married, to believe Him.” “Trust,” he immediately put in. “Right,” I replied. As I finished explaining the righteousness of Christ imputed to him he saw how everything fit together, so I asked if he’d want to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else. He wanted to be forgiven, so I asked if he had been trusting in what Jesus had done for him or had known the story but had not really applied it to himself to be forgiven. He thought maybe it was “50/50” So I said, “Well, if you would like to completely trust in Jesus to be forgiven, there is a prayer you could pray.” And I walked him through it, explaining he was asking God to live inside him (to know Him personally) and was expressing he was grateful for being forgiven. I asked if he’d like to pray it silently so only God could hear and be sure he was forgiven by trusting in Christ. “Yeah, I’ll do it,” he replied. And he prayed to receive Jesus. He had seen me around a few times he’d said. We talked about prophecy and the limitations of science to know truth. He had begun to take a New Testament class with a professor I knew who was a Christian. I gave him 2 Rose publications, one listed 100 prophecies Jesus had fulfilled and the other show some scholarly reasons to trust the Bible. I also gave him a Bible study on the deity of Christ and explained living inside out by the Spirit’s power, that everything God was asking him to do He would give him the power to do. He wanted to work with autistic kids and I said God’s Spirit could help him break through the limitations of communication in a learning environment.  He felt he had found some validations of the Bible himself. We talked about the likelihood that there had been a worldwide flood, as 500 different cultures in the ancient world are on record in their belief there was a flood of some kind that destroyed all or nearly everything. He thanked me as we finally got up to leave, over an hour later, and shook my hand and said he’d look for me. I got his email to send him some stuff. I said I would keep him in my prayers and that when someone decided to trust Christ and prayed with me I kept them in my prayers each night until that spring and for one year following. He said he would pray for me too and I thanked him and we parted Brothers. He had met the Lord.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed. We had 4 kids at our discipleship Bible study tonight so that was great. One, Stephanie, prayed to receive Jesus last semester.

Blessings,

Bob