Results of the Work – 12/5/18

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and things went well. I had kind of a long day on campus walking around for about an hour and a half or more before I could get anyone to talk to me about Jesus. Though I did talk to some guys handing out Christian books briefly and one of the Guys I had gone through the Gospel with last year and his friends in passing. There really are not many students sitting around by the point in the semester, a lot have dropped their afternoon class(s) realizing they had taken on too much along with their job they do for money. So ya have to hope to come across someone who was headed out the door but decided to sit for a minute before heading out the door or their ride was late. I think this turned out to be true of Jack, who prayed to receive Christ.

He was sitting by the door facing north to the parking lot sitting on a padded bench. He was a small good looking guy, looked about 15 but said he was 18. He had a sandy mop of hair and wore jeans and a blue coat with a back pack at his feet, had small features and several beauty mark freckles (could have played an elf in the Christmas play). I asked if he’d like to do a student survey for the Bible study group, what he thought about God and stuff. Jack asked what it was about and I said, “Its questions like, say you’re walking down the road, and you get hit by a bus, so you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” He thought for a minute and said, “I don’t know what I’d say.” So I said, “Well would like me to show you some Bible verses that tell you how to get to Heaven and answer the question?” He said something a bit noncommittal like, “Well, I guess you could.” I had not talked to anyone for what was now approaching 2 hours so that was enough of an opening. I sat down and took out a booklet to show him some of the verses I was about to quote and began to go through the Gospel. I asked if he had ever gone to church and he replied, “Not for a while, unfortunately.” He was responsive to the verses I shared. I explained the perfect life of Christ and His sacrifice for his sins and His blood that cleansed him explained how Jesus had earned the righteousness of God by perfectly fulfilling the Law and now could give it to Him, it was to his credit. “If you marry a millionaire ya got a million bucks or if ya get adopted by a billionaire you get to live in the mansion and drive the cars. So God adopts us and makes us His children and then He gives us His stuff. He gives us the sacrifice for our sins, Jesus dies so we do not have to die eternally in Hell. The blood cleanses us so God can live inside us and He gives us the righteousness of God that surrounds us. So ya got some place to go, Heaven and something to wear when ya get there, the Righteousness of God.” I summed up Christianity for him again and asked if he’d like to be forgiven for his sins so God could live inside him or thought something else. He asked me to say it again, I did, he and answered, “I would like to be forgiven.” I said, “Well if you have not trusted in Jesus before there is a prayer you could pray. Do you believe Jesus is God, he died for your sins and rose from the dead?” He said he did after a moment of thought so I walked him through the prayer and asked reading the line “Is this prayer the desire of your heart?” “Yeah,” he said looking at the words. “Well if you wanted to you could pray it right now, not liked I’d hear you but silently and God would hear your prayer and forgive you, wanna do it?” “Yeah, sure.” He took the booklet and to pray and said, “So do I do it within myself?” “Yeah just inside, God can read your mind.” He silently prayed then and received Christ. I told him he could keep the booklet reading the rest and said this is how you live the Christian life.” and went through life Inside out by the Spirit   He did not have a Bible so I offered him one. “What’s it look like?” he asked. Then he saw it looked cool, my friend bought me some with leather look covers. I showed him the Messianic passages section and the “Where to Turn” passage and the Messianic passages fulfilled lists. I wrote his name in the front and the date and “forgiven”. I gave him a Bible Study and a card for Compass Church in Wheaton saying he could check out the messages on the website on the card. I wrote “By the Spirit’s power” in the front of 20 Things God Can’t Do. I explained everything God was asking him to do he’d given him the power to do. He got up to leave and shook my hand and said, “Well, thanks for showing me all that.” “Yeah, if I don’t see ya again I’ll see ya in Heaven.” I replied. “Yeah, thank you so much.” I headed down the stairs and off to a class my friend Hesham invited me to sit in on, on Islam, and he out the door to his car.

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

In Him,

Bob

Results of the Work – 12/4/18

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking with the Lord. I had a good day on campus and had some good apologetic discussions and got two seeds pretty well planted. Migul took the student edition of The Case for Christ to read and was genuinely searching and was grateful. I had a philosophy student (Andy) who thought there probably was a God but went only as far as that, so not quite agnostic talk to me for nearly 30 minutes. We talked of God and the Bible and the presumed contradictions in the NT gospels (there are not any you cannot resolve in my view), metaphysics in general and other issues. He rejected Revelation unless it came directly to him existentially. He saw no obligation to believe it otherwise. His name was Andy. Of course God’s book of nature is a direct revelation to all men and so is the Bible if you read it prayerfully and allow the Holy Spirit to speak. I told him many things, the Easter apologetic as follows among them:

Q: Do you believe in God? A: He thought he did. Q:do you believe God can do anything He wants (not any stupid self-contradictory thing you can come up with)? A: Ok Yes that is part of my idea of God. Q; then could God become a man? A: kind of stuck with a yes there. Q: if God became a man would He tell people the truth? A: If you believe in a greatest of all possible beings (Descartes or Anselm via Aristotle, God as an infinite or most perfect being) God would tell the truth. Q; What would happen to a man who knew the truth and spoke it to the corrupt powers of his day. A: They would kill him, they would kill you today in D.C. if you did the same thing. Q: Given all the above, if they killed God what would God do next? Answer I said is: He would rise from the dead. So the Christian story proceeds through logically possibilities if you grant there is a God.

Before this I walked around the corner and saw that two Mormons had cornered a girl Tamara (cute petite black girl) who prayed to receive Jesus this year on some chairs in the hallway on the first floor of the BIC. So I went over and gave her five and said, “What’s up?” I read their name tags “Elder Hollis” and “Elder Anderson” and started in with them. I told them stuff politely for 15 or 20 minutes to steer them away from her and try to shake them loose from the lies they believed. Another Christian campus worker I know (Jim) tagged in after me. I gave each one a Rose Publication hand out. To Hollis I gave “100 Prophecies fulfilled by Jesus” to Anderson I gave scholarly samplings on “Why Trust the Bible”. I said this was the kind of thing they would have to come up with to be convincing in a University setting. If they had anything remotely considered scholarly that would be accepted outside Brigham Young University to please contact me and gave them my phone# and email on a card. In case you never looked into it the Book of Mormon takes place in North and Central America, (somewhere) by 400AD. Most of the locations mentioned in it they cannot today find (conversely all the places mentioned in the NT we can locate), though the Latter Day Saints church owns a Mountain in NY state where a battle took place the book mentions where about a million people died. Unfortunately for them they have never found any human bones on the hill. Which I pointed out to them.  Telling me to just read the book of Mormon and ask God for a feeling was not worth doing in my view as there were absolutely no facts to support it. He said he had not told me to ask for a feeling and I said that was all that was left to me since there was no scholarly fact to support anything in the book of Mormon. I pointed out to the Elders that in its pages we find Horses, Wheels, Chariots, Steel swords, Metallurgy for coins and barley and hops. But we know for certain none of those things existed here until a 1,000 years later brought by the Spanish. So historically speaking the Book of Mormon is demonstrably false. I said that if they were not sure on a historical level of the book and had not investigated its history and it turned out they believed something wrong, but were telling people it was the truth they would be held accountable for it by God, and be responsible for spreading lies. They walked away unconvinced as far as I could see but I know God might have used something I said to plant a seed that He can trigger later.

That plus 2 hours of chatting up the peeps at Bible study made for a long day and I am wiped out and will be glad for a bit of Christmas break. But there are 3 more days so I hope a few more will come in still this year.

Thanks for praying, God gave me words.

Peace,

Bob

Results of the Work – 12/3/18

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and life was grand. I had a good day on campus chatting with the peeps. Josh prayed with me to receive Jesus.

I felt provoked to head up to the third floor of the BIC as I approached the elevators at the back southwest corner. Maybe being tired as I am at this point in the semester I just felt like a ride and up feels like progress. But I soon found Josh sitting in the hallway on a bench outside a glass walled lounge so God had probably nudged me. I asked if he’d like to do a student survey and he said, “I will if you would like me too,” thinking to do me a favor I think, which is what I was trying to do for him. I replied something like I would if he was willing and introduced myself and sat down getting his name. He had bright red hair and a thin mustache, bit of a chin beard, all to match. He was a good looking kid. He wore dark blue nylon sweats and a lighter blue t-shirt. He said he went to Catholic Church regularly when I asked. When I asked him what he would say to God if He asked why should I let you into Heaven? he said, “That’s an interesting question…” and began to ponder over it a bit. “I might not been the best at fulfilling the 10 Commandments but it does not mean I’m a bad person.” So I began to go through the Gospel with him and he tuned right in with a good spirit as I explained you had to be perfect to get into Heaven (Matthew 5:48), which would mean if God left it at that everyone would go to Hell and he saw the problem. He remembered Jesus had died for his sins and I explained that, how His blood cleansed us from all sin and He died in our place his righteousness was our righteousness. He wanted to be forgiven for his sins and I suggested he might not have realized all this before to commit his life to it as a man but if he wanted to trust in what Jesus had done to take away his sins there was a prayer he could pray. Finishing explaining it I said, “It says here, does this prayer express the desire of your heart?” He said it did. So I said if he wanted to he could pray and then know his sins were forgiven, and God would like inside him, silently in his heart. “Not so I could hear but God would hear,” I said. “Why not,” he replied. And I handed it to him and said, “Just pretend I’m not even here.” “Exactly,” he replied. It seemed like he took a long time to pray but I think at one point we were both waiting for the other to look over. He did not have his own Bible so I gave him one writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front which he liked. And I showed him there was a “Where to Turn” section in the back and one on Messianic passages. I also gave him a Bible study on the Deity of Christ and 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “By the Holy Spirit’s power” in the front explaining everything God was asking him to do he’d give him the power to do. His class was starting in minutes so he had to go. “Thank you Bob, I appreciate it,” he said shaking my hand. “Yeah, you have a good one,” I replied. “I’ll see you in Heaven you can tell me how it went.” “Sounds good,” he replied. “Merry Christmas!” I said over my shoulder as I walked off. “Merry Christmas to you as well,” he replied and we parted ways.

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

In Him,

Bob

Results of the Work – 11/30/18

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you day was blessed today and it’s getting warmer on the weekend over by you as it is promised here. I had a good day on campus and Stephanie and Brian each prayed with me to receive Jesus. I had a good conversation with Gilda too who had doubts but gratefully took the student edition of  The Case for Christ and “100 Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus”  [Rose Publication]. Also Victor a US Marine who seemed close heard the Gospel.

Stephanie was sitting in one of the bigger lounges on the 1st floor of the BIC. She had a short haircut, kinda shaggy on either side of her ear; stick straight, near black hair. She looked Native American in features and coloring. She had a red hoodie on with the words pony writing a dozen times on a ribbon up her sleeves and black pants. She was drinking a large coffee and as I talked she placed her chin on the cup lid sitting on the arm table between us and listened. When I asked her what she would say if God asked her why He should let her into Heaven she thought for a while said, “You tell me why you shouldn’t let me in and I’ll give you a counter argument.” She went to Church every Sunday and thought she had about a 50% chance of going to Heaven. I went through the Gospel with her and she listened carefully and she knew Jesus died to take away her sins but she had not trusted in the Gospel. She was interested in everything I said though, that His blood cleansed her and His righteousness was to her credit. And that she did not get to Heaven by being good enough but by trusting in the work and person of Christ. I asked her if she would want to be forgiven or thought something else and she thought for a long while and I waited and she finally said, “I don’t want a life without Jesus.” So I asked her if she wanted to place her trust in Him there was a prayer she could pray and I explained it. Then I said something like: You know you grow up in the Church and never quite think about it but this would be a way as an adult to tell God you are trusting in what Jesus has done to be forgiven. I asked if she’d like to pray it silently and she just said, “Sure.” Then she silently prayed to receive Christ. I talked to her then about living “inside out” I wrote “By the Spirit’s power” and her name, the date and “forgiven “in the front of 20 Things God Can’t Do and she thanked me. I gave her a bible study and also explained the symbolism of the mass commemorating that Jesus had died for her and so she was forgiven and that when she took it she could just say “thank you.” I told her if she would trust in the righteousness of Jesus to be her righteousness the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. She had to run to class then but she reached out to shake my hand and smiled and said, “Thank you. Nice meeting you.” “Nice meeting you too, you’re welcome.” And she headed out of the lounge.

Brian had dark hair and looked ethnically from the country of India. He had no accent and seemed American. He had a beard/mustache, thin on his cheeks and heavy on his chin and jaw line. He was a good looking guy, bigger than me, wore Clark Kent glasses, black sweats and a t-shirt. He was sitting in the big lounge where we have Bible Study at a table waiting for his ride to call him. We talked a long time as I walked him through the philosophical ideas he had been encountering in his philosophy class. We talked about how they compared to Christian thought. He talked about Aristotle and Descartes and liked Descartes’ idea that God’s Existence is derived immediately from the clear and distinct idea of a supremely perfect being. When I asked him what he would say to God if asked why He should let him into Heaven he said, “Oh wow, the soul bit…” He thought some and then said, “I would say to Him I thought I’ve done my best to help others… Lived the best life that I could.” He thought he had a 50/50 shot at going to Heaven. I explained to him that the problem of our getting into Heaven was that Heaven was not just a place it was a presence. So our real problem was ontological (the study of being). Our being does not match God’s being so we have to be perfected to be in God’s presence or we’d be like a paper bag trying to hold fire. We had to be changed, and only Christianity taught the soul could be transformed in this life. Other religions might teach that a part of you goes on after but the soul of humans as a part of us that is changed by God’s presence in us and transformed for the better is exclusively Christian. I explained some of the differences in the different denominational ideas in Christianity, his questions were about Catholicism and I explained sacramentalism to him suggesting that if this were true (though the Bible did not expressly say the sacraments contributed to the wellbeing or growth of the soul) this effect would still be accomplished by the Holy Spirit. So then not by the sacraments being turned into a charm of some kind by being spoken over, and this charm then affecting you. We talked more about the mass in this light. That the Blood of Jesus that now cleanses us from all sin (1John 1:7 Hebrew 9:22) is now a power in the world. Because God lives in us and cannot be one with sin, if the Mass were required to cleanse us from sin God’s presence would have to leave us between our times of taking the mass  once we sin–until we could be cleansed again by another sacramental experience (or do an act of prescribed confession and penance). Sacraments would only have power if the Holy Spirit decided to recognize and use them and would be insufficient to keep us one with God as we cannot do them every moment. This all made sense to Him. After I went through the Gospel (and I had to hurry at the end as his friend who it turned out had been waiting called him), he said he wanted to be forgiven. He hesitated to pray in a rush for just a moment and then decided saying, “I have to go to… yeah sure.” I quickly gave him a Bible study on the Deity of Christ and wrote “By the Spirit’s power” his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front of 20 Things God Can’t Do. Then he got up grabbing his jacket and said, “Awesome sir, thank you,” and shook my hand. I said he was welcome and he ran off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today had a chance. God was guiding me and blessed the work.

In Him,

Bob

Results of the Work – 11/28/18

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and it was sunny all day. I had a good day on campus and, Jalen, Grant and Alex each prayed with me to receive Jesus today. I went through the Gospel with 6 people all together. 2 others claimed to be Christians though they could not tell me initially what they would appeal to get into Heaven. A very big and wide black guy named Steve, and a religious Catholic named Luca.

Jalen was sitting in the Cafeteria at a table looking at his computer. He was a middle sized black guy a bit bigger than I am. He had on a quilted black coat and a black shirt and black sweats, a winter cap on his head and a beard that was a bit heavier around his mouth. He wore a large silver crucifix around his neck that I believe he said later his Grandma gave him. He had a warm friendly face and modest features. He hadn’t been to church in about 5 years since they’d moved out of the city to Naperville, they just hadn’t gotten reconnected. But I got his email so I’ll send him a link to Compass Church there (I ran out of their cards). When I asked him what he would say if he died and God asked why should I let you into Heaven he thought for a moment and said, “I would say I’m kind to people and I try to help people much as I can. I love animals. I want to go through those pearly gates and meet God himself. I try to stay out of trouble.” When I asked him the likelihood he would get into Heaven when he died he said, “A good 80%.” As I went through the Gospel he vaguely remembered that Jesus had died to take away our sins but he was still enthusiastic to hear the Gospel–How the blood of Jesus cleansed him so God could live inside him and after I had explained the righteousness of God to His credit and how all that was the gift of God who He adopted us he said, “That’s amazing!” So I am pretty sure he had not had it spelled out before memory. He was very grateful to understand everything but had not been trusting in Jesus to save him. So I asked him If he would want to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else. He enthusiastically said he’d want to be forgiven. I talked him through the prayer and asked if he would like to pray it silently to receive forgiveness and he said, “Yeah. Yeah, yes.” So I said he could pray it right now silently and he took the booklet and said, “Ok, yeah. Thanks you very much.” God really gave me an audience with him. When he had finished I explained living the Christian life “inside out”.  I gave him a Bible, that he was really grateful for, showing him the “Where to Turn” section and the Messianic prophecies fulfilled encouraging him to read in John. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I wrote “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front of 20 Things God Can’t Do and explained that a bit (the 100 verses in the back) and a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ telling him I was “loading him up for Christmas”. And he liked that and was grateful. He was really a great guy and I gave him my contact information and said, “Merry Christmas man!” “Merry Christmas to you too Bob,” he replied and I got up to go and as I walked away I heard him say enthusiastically to himself, “All right!” He was the most outwardly expressive and enthusiastic guy who has prayed with me in a while, pretty great.

Grant was sitting on the bench by the bank and said he’d do a survey. He had a bit of a barely there mustache and short blondish hair, pretty tall, short stick straight hair. Seemed kind of business like in jeans and a winter jacket. He remained very circumspect the entire time we talked. He described himself in three words as an “American Christian Conservative.” And I said, “Yeah, that’d be me too.” When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “That I tried my best to be a good person. I’ve been a believer my whole life. I trust His judgment. It’s up to Him.” He thought he had an 85% chance of getting into Heaven. As I explained the Grace of God in the sacrifice of Christ and that he did not go to Heaven because he was good but because Jesus was good he said, “It’s not like Karma then.” “Not at all,” I replied and explained Buddhism a bit. A former missionary a short pretty lady with curly brown hair walked up. I had been talking with him for a half hour explaining the work of the Holy Spirit’s power in living the Christian life. He had yet to pray to receive Christ (though I had completed the Gospel) as he was asking questions, about God’s leading and how to make decisions. She walked up and was very complimentary of what I had said and told him everything I had said was true. “I know,” he replied. She said she was a former missionary and I assume she was trying to help, Christians interrupt me sometimes. It throws of the connection and usually a student is pressed for time. It does not really seem to help. But what do I know I can’t read a student’s mind. Anyway we rebounded well (she’d only stayed a few minutes) as he still wanted to pick my mind. I explained that because all things worked together for good (I’d told him that during the Gospel saying your good stuff can’t fix your bad stuff) we could ask for God’s guidance. Then by His Spirit we could ask for peace about a decision, if we had already thought about it and were sure it was moral by God’s word. If God gave us peace about more than one option we could simply pick one, knowing God would control our destiny for good. I explained that the Bible encouraged us to make choices and to pray, telling us our prayer had effect. So there was some way God worked free will into His providence for our future. It might have something to do with His being beyond time and knowing things outside our dimensional reality (this to answer another question). I think one day this will make sense to us. I told him the most important thing was to always ask for God’s help. When Jesus encouraged us to “become as a child” He did not mean to become stupid, there were 12 year old children smarter than us at Harvard right now. But every night they called their moms. Why? Because children are dependent. God wants us to be dependent upon him. “Your problem is that the guidance you need is from the Holy Spirit living inside you. Until you have asked God to forgive your sins, trusting in Jesus work on the cross, He dies not live in you to become one with you. You basically have your sox on over your shoes and wonder why your sox are wearing out.” He smiled at that and I showed him the prayer again asking if he would like to pray it and he said ok and prayed to receive Jesus. You could see something lift in him after praying it was great. I gave him a Rose Publication on Bible Promises and 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and “forgiven” and “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front. He said he had a Bible he’d gotten from the Presbyterians. I don’t know who that was they must have put up a table at some point and given way Bibles. So I encouraged him to begin reading in John. I explained living inside out and gave him a Bible study. He finally had to run so I gave him my contact information and he said he appreciated my explaining everything and he ran off having recently realized he was about to be late for something. We’d spoken for nearly an hour.

I went to my locker pretty tapped out and got my coat and bundled up and headed out to the doors between me and the truck. As I go through the last lounge at the doorway where I park if there is anyone sitting unoccupied I’ll ask then to do a survey on my way out. I’m half grateful at that point if they say no since I’m tapped when I leave. So I walked by Alex and he said, “yes” I was surprised but I took off my gloves and earmuffs and unzipped my coat and began. He looked 17 was shorter than me by a head or so. He wore light blue pants and red tennis shoes. He had a very young tenor voice for a guy. He had short reddish hair, some freckles, a barely perceptible smattering of beard under his chin and jaw line and an earring in his right ear. He had on a jacket and jeans and was waiting for his dad it turned out. He had a back pack with about 50 nickel size round pins I never got a good look at on the front sitting on the ledge of the window where we sat. He seemed like a very kind soul. He said he wanted to go to Ireland, was Irish and looked it (the proverbial Irish Tenor). I asked him if he died what he would say to God to get into heaven and he said, “That’s a hard question.” Then thinking some more he had nothing so I said, “Do you think you might say that?” “I think so,” he replied, “I wouldn’t know what to say. I really don’t think I did anything to deserve to be in Heaven but I didn’t do anything to deserve not to go either.” He thought he had about a 50% chance of getting to Heaven. He said he had not been to Church since he was small and could not remember what kind it was. As I went through the Gospel I asked him, “Do you know the big thing Jesus did to take away your sins.” “Unhuh,” he replied, the way someone says it when they don’t know. So I explained the death of Christ for his sins, the blood that ceased him and the righteousness of God to his credit and that Jesus had risen from the dead to prove it to the peeps. He gave polite affirmation of it all as I went through. So I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins with God living inside him or thought something else and he said he’d “be the first one”. So I said if he wanted to trust in that there was a prayer he could pray and, after I explained it, I asked if he would want to pray silently to receive Jesus. He became very quiet and almost whispered, “Yes.” So I said he could pray then like I wasn’t there and asked if he like to, “Yes,” he said very softly and seriously again and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life inside out then and his dad walked up ( guy a bit shorter than me with a belly and a salt and pepper beard, seemed cool) and he said, “This is my dad.” I nodded to him and kept teaching Alex as I saw I’d pretty much run out of time. Something I said about trusting in God caught his dad’s attention and he said, “I’ve been telling him that his whole life.” I acknowledged him but kept focused on Alex and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front of the book Bible Promises for You to read and a Bible study in the Deity of Christ.  He did not have a bible so I had said if he’d like to wait I would get him one from my truck and he’d agreed but mentioning it again after his dad came up his dad said they had two Bibles at home. I regret now not getting him one with the stuff in back of his own so I hope I bump into him later. But it prompted me to give him the Rose Publication “Following Jesus”. I did not want to make his dad wait anymore and my truck was a decent walk away.  I told him God could forgive anything and gave him my contact info saying he could contact me about anything. I shook his hand which was small in mine but he had a solid grip and said I’d pray for him through spring and one year after and wished them Merry Christmas. The wished it back to me. I wish now I had offered his dad a booklet to read but my guess is he will look at what I gave Alex or God would have prompted me that way. I hope it wasn’t because I was tired.

So thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance, God truly blessed. 70 students have prayed to receive Jesus this semester so far.

Love ya,

Bob

Results of the Work – 11/27/18

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and you were warm somewhere, it’s really unseasonably cold west of Chicago. I had a good day on campus today and went through the Gospel with 8 people and Alec and Mia each prayed to receive Jesus. I think David and Diana were close but both had to run for different reasons today.

Alec was sitting in a third floor lounge of the BIC by the vending machines and said he’d do a survey. He had sandy hair and fair skin, wore a light green t-shirt and jeans. He had a beard on his chin up half his jaw line, sharp features and a mustache that was thin, like Anonymous (but other than the width of his mustache he bore no resemblance to that guy). He was kind of in “just the facts mode” it seemed. He said he wanted to run for president some day. He said he hadn’t gone to church at all but might have meant lately. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into heaven he said without missing a beat, “I’ve lived an honest life.” He thought he had about a 75% chance of going to Heaven. He listened patiently to the story of sin and the death and resurrection of Christ to atone for his sins. I did not think he was interested at all so I began to pray for him as I spoke the verses and explained the righteousness of Christ to his credit. When I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Christ had done on the cross and have God live inside or thought something else he said, “I’d want a life entrusted to Jesus.” (This to my pleasant surprise.) Which sounded like something a guy who had been to Church or heard some of the good news before in a Church setting might say. So I said if he wanted to place his trust in Jesus there was a prayer he could pray and after explaining it I read, “Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?” He acknowledged it did and so I said if he’d like he could pray it right now silently so only God would hear and I asked if he’d like to do so and he said, “Yes.” “Just pretend I’m not here,” I said looking away and he whispered the words of the prayer praying to accept Christ’s forgiveness. When he finished I explained the Christian life living Inside Out and “by the Spirit’s power” writing that in the front of 20 Things God Can’t Do and gave it to him. He did not have a Bible so I gave him one and showed him the “Where to Turn” and “Messianic Prophecies Fulfilled” sections. I wrote his name and the date and forgiven in the front. I also gave him a Bible study and he patiently and gladly took it all and gave me his email. I told him I would pray for him. He was grateful and gave me a firm stiff handshake and I said I’d look for him if he ran for president and promised to vote for him. He grinned at that and I wished him a good Christmas and headed out.

Mia is Roman Catholic, goes to church, was a bit on the short side, a very pretty girl with brown curly hair down past her shoulders, round face and a small thin mouth. She had on black tight slacks and a black t-shirt with a long, gray, thigh length cardigan sweater and high heal, tan half boots. She said she was a musician. I asked her what she would say to God if He asked why He should let her into Heaven and she said, “Because I pray each night to you… Because I love you.” She thought she had about a 90% chance of going to Heaven when she died. I asked her what the big thing was that Jesus had done to take away her sins and she guessed, “Baptism?” I said, “If Augustine was right that took away your original sin from Adam (this is the original use of infant Baptism in the western Church) but what took away the sins you committed after that?” She was not sure so I explained it was Jesus. I think that started to come back to her and she listed the the story of His sacrifice for sins, His blood that washed her clean (“Ohhhh,” she responded when I told her that) and His imputed righteousness she would be clothed with in Heaven. She wanted to be forgiven when I asked her if she did. So I said there was a prayer she could pray to trust in what Jesus had done and said she could pray it silently. “Right now in front of you?” she said a bit surprised. “I’ll go around the corner I said with a smile and walked 10 feet away to sit on a bench out of sight in the seating area, around the corner near us, in the MAC Arts building lounge. I peaked around at her after a bit and she was finishing and I walked back and told her she could keep the booklet. She had a Bible but I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do writing her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. “That’s cute,” she said to that liking it. I also wrote “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front. I told her I would pray for her. Getting up to go I said, “Thanks for talking to me.” “No problem,” she replied. “God bless you,” I said. “God bless you too,” she replied and I headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Results of the Work – 11/20/18

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and you are walking with the Lord in Joy. My day on campus (Tuesday) was unusual in as much as though I talked for a while with 2 students (on different occasions through the day) who had previously received Christ and another Christian I knew briefly, I did not get one single student to talk to me all day until the last guys I talked to in the afternoon. Not many peeps were about since it is Thanksgiving week and there are only 2 days of class (none today) but I ended up near the end of my day in the PE lounge and decided to interrupt the idling of two guys Nino and Kam, and Nino prayed with me to receive Jesus.

They were leading against a counter in the PE lounge where I have gotten some conversations going before. I asked if either of them wanted to do a student survey on what they thought about God for a Bible study group. Nino said he’d do it and tried to persuade Kam who hemmed and hawed and landed on “nah” and was disinterested, in as much as he overheard after the questionnaire part ended and the Gospel began. But Nino zeroed right in to everything I said. Where Kam had larger features and was a slightly bigger guy with shoulder length braids, Nino had the sides of his head basically shaved and his hair line cut just so, but on top he had a mop of hair like a fern. He had a jaw line beard and a mustache and a warm smile. He wore a quilted black jacket zipped all the way up and Black sweats. Both played football. When I asked him what he would say to God if asked why should I let you into Heaven he said, “Because I do a lot of good things.” Kim scoffed at this and I said, “You better hope he is not behind you in line.” And Kam thought that was funny. But that was as much as Kam participated. Nino was very attentive as I said. I don’t think he knew what Jesus had done to take away his sins, just that He had. I went through all I teach students about the death and resurrection of Jesus for the payment of their sins and that when God adopts them as his children he gives them the sacrifice for their sins, His blood to cleanse them and the righteousness of God to their credit. Nino was sure he wanted to be forgiven and so I said something like, “Well, it seems like you have never put all this together before or had a chance to trust in it, right?” Yeah he said. So I said if he wanted to trust in what Jesus had done so he could be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through it and said if he wanted to he could pray it silently right now and be forgiven. “Wanna do it?” I asked. “Yeah,” he replied and he silently prayed to receive Jesus. Kim had walked away and conversed with others as we talked, but Nino had not been distracted by that in the least, or all the racket going on in the room. He said he had a bible so I asked, “Is it a family Bible or your Bible?” “Family,” he said. So I offered him one and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” in it in the front. I showed him the “Where to Turn” section and the Messianic passages fulfilled pages explaining what that was about. I also gave him ad Bible study and taught him one of the examples on how Jesus claims to be God and a copy of 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front. I told him happy Thanksgiving and maybe I’d see him around and he was thankful and I headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and for evangelism yesterday if you had a chance, patience and your prayers paid off.

In Him,

Bob

Results of the Work – 11/19/18

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with things you did not expect showing you the goodness of God. I had kind of a difficult time getting going on campus as I had a bad headache late last night and the medicine made me feel a bit like I was walking on a sand dune all day. But I had some good conversations with Christians helping them affirm their faith and Patty prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Patty was a cute kid; she had on nylon royal blue sets and a jacket over some kind of athletic shirt and a stocking cap. Her thick brown hair came down past her shoulders and she wore brown framed glasses. She was sitting with her brother, Drey (who had prayed to receive Jesus October 1st) in the science building lounge. Recognizing me we said hi and he said something like, “This is my sister go through that stuff with her.” Seeing my opportunity and remembering I had not done any kind of survey with him I asked her, “OK ya wanna answer the magical question?” She said something like, “Is this the guy you were telling me about?” “Yeah” he said interested to see what she would say. “OK,” she replied. “So you are walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead, and you stand before God and He asks “Why should I let you into Heaven?'” She thought about it and shad to Drey, “Did you get the answer right?” “Obviously not,” he replied grinning a little. I got her name and gave her mine then, he had not really introduced us. “I don’t know,” she finally said. “Would you like to know some Bible verses that tell you the answer to the question?” I asked. “OK,” she answered. So I took out a booklet to help her remember what I was saying and used some of the Bible verses to tell her the Gospel. When I began to explain imputed righteousness like (the perfect life to her credit) the extra credit you get in a class she said to Drey, “This is that story you told me?” “Yeah,” he said. I told her the story anyway because in my experience people often screw up my stories and God was talking to her now. I explained the death of Jesus, so she would not have to die, and His blood cleansing her and that He rose from the dead. After that I asked her if she would want to be forgiven for her sins or thought something else. “I would want to be forgiven,” she replied so I told her there was a prayer she could pray silently, “Not like we’d hear you but God would hear” after I talked her through the prayer. She took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. I wink-nodded at her brother and he nodded while she was praying. I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do and wrote “By the Spirit’s power” along with her name and the date and “forgiven in the front. I asked her if she’d like a Bible Study to read and she said yes. I had not given one to Drey so he took one too and I talked her through one of the examples of how Jesus claims to be God by walking on the water. I also gave her some other examples of Jesus appearing in the Old Testament. I thanked Drey for setting me up and gave him a hug. I got her Email and said that would see them both in Heaven. “Thanks,” she said as I got up and began to walk away. “Yeah, Happy Thanksgiving.” I replied.

So thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance, God blessed through my weakness.

In Him,

Bob

Results of the Work – 11/15/18

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today. It took Ellen an hour to get to work past the accidents, peeps relearning to drive in the snow. But I slip-slides my way to COD just fine and  Issac prayed with me to receive Jesus. Robert who had shoulder length hair and a flannel came jacket on looked a bit like Errol Flynn (Robin Hood without facial hair), also took the Student Edition of The Case for Christ to read. He said he thought religion got a bad rap from the News but he was exploring through different faiths (had talked to some Mormons) to see which was the right one. So hopefully the book will help.

Issac was sitting up on the third floor of the BIC building in a lounge by the vending machines. He was a good looking guy, bit shorter with a Clark Kent hair cut and a red Tommy Hilfiger jacket. He wore black sweats and had a couple days growth of beard. He said he wanted to become a fireman. I asked him if he would do a student survey for our Bible Study group and he said sure. He had grown up Roman Catholic. When I asked him what he would say to God if He asked why should I let you into Heaven he thought for a minute and said, “‘Cause I’ve helped people out before, so give me a chance.” He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. He listened to the Gospel and liked all the metaphors I used, he really tuned in. He could not remember what Jesus had done to take away his sins. But I think some of it might have come back to him as I spoke. He said, “Makes sense.” When I explained that God wanted to live inside him with the Holy Spirit but would have to take away his sins and make him His type, that this was what it meant to know God leading to eternal life. As I finished I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done for him on the cross or thought something else he said. “Forgiven for my sins.” I asked if he believed Jesus was God, had died for his sins and rose from the dead. He said he did. I said then if he wanted to trust in that to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked through the prayer and asked if he would want to pray it silently so God would hear and forgive him and live inside. “Yeah,” he said. And he prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to him living “inside out”, “by the Spirit’s power” writing that in the inside of 20 Things God Can’t Do. I gave him a Bible writing his name and the date and “forgiven” on the inside, I showed him the “Where to Turn” section and the Messianic passages fulfilled section. Also gave him a Bible study and explained how Jesus claimed to be God. He said he helped his dad do janitorial work at the Church sometimes. He gave me his Email and thanked me and I said, “God bless you” told him I would be praying for him each night and headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the Bible study and for evangelism today if you had a chance, God was with me and guided me.

In Him,

Bob

Results of the Work – 11/13 & 11/14/18

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking with the Lord. I had a couple of good days on campus. Today Lauren and Oscar each prayed to receive Christ and Tyshon took 100 Prophecies fulfilled by Jesus and a Bible Study (he didn’t like to read books) and Karli accepted a pocket New Testament (I got from the Gideon’s) and a Bible study on the deity of Christ. Yesterday I was able to go through the Gospel with about a half dozen people and got some good seeds planted. Krit was a Hindu guy who said he only believed in one God though he was raised to believe in many. He was searching as to who that God was. I went through the Gospel with him and he took a copy of the Student Edition of The Case for Christ to read. So I will be praying for him. Melanie was another person who seemed close, I think. She was going to meet with a couple of Christians on Thursday, I warned her about the Mother goddess cult on campus and she listened closely to the Gospel and took the booklet to think about it.

Lauren was sitting in the hall where I first enter the main building as it is near a bunch of empty lockers. When I saw her I prayed that if God wanted her to know Him she would talk to me. I hung up my coat and locked it but as I passed her she put her nose into her computer and I felt like she was studying. I took two more steps and remembered I’d felt led to pray so went back and I interrupted her to ask if she’d do a student survey for our Bible study group. “Sure I haven’t done one of those yet,” she replied in a friendly voice so I sat down with her and began. She was wearing leggings and a long sleeve T-shirt had long brown hair, had a cute elf like face, small built like a distance runner. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said, “I… probably, ‘lived my life helping people. I made good decisions and did not get influenced by anything [bad].'” She thought she might have about a 55% chance of going to Heaven. She went to a Roman Catholic Church called Holy Spirit. She listened attentively to the Gospel; she knew Jesus had died for her sins. But I explained Jesus had said in Matt. 5:48 “So you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” So Jesus lived a perfect life for us and His righteousness was to her credit and His blood had cleansed her from sin. I asked if she would want to trust in what Jesus had done to be forgiven or if she thought something else and she said she wanted to be forgiven. So I said, “If you wanted to trust in Jesus there is a prayer you can pray.”Oh cool,” she replied enthusiastically. So I talked her through the prayer saying she could pray it silently so only God would hear. “OK,” she said and taking the booklet she prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to her living inside out when she had finished and gave her a Bible study and 20 Things God Can’t Do. I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven” on the inside and “By the Spirit’s power”. I said everything God was asking her to do He would give her the Power to do by His Spirit. I explained the mass was symbolic of his dying for her and that when she took it she could just say “Thank You”. She thought she’d like to come to the Bible study so hopefully she will drop by. I told her if she now trusted in Jesus righteousness to be her righteousness the likelihood she would go to Heaven is 100%. I would be praying for her and she thanked me and I said, “God bless you,” and headed down the hall. She had a bright spirit in her it was great to talk to her.

Oscar was sitting in the cafeteria against the glass at the counter munching on some Fritos and said he would do a student survey. He’s a slightly built Latino guy with a trace of an accent. He had a wisp of a mustache and a beard. His wavy hair was in bangs that made kind of a curb across the top of his forehead. Nice looking guy. He wore a long sleeved green t-shirt and jeans. When I asked him what he would say to God if He asked why He should let him into Heaven he said, “Hmm… I don’t know.” Thinking a bit more he said, “I think that is what I would say, ‘I don’t know.” He went to Catholic Church each Sunday and he knew Jesus had died to take away his sins. He listened attentively to the Gospel and said he would want to be forgiven for his sins. So I asked, “Do you believe Jesus is God, He died for your sins and rose from the dead?” Well, I didn’t know Jesus was God, He’s God’s son right?” I took out a Bible study then showing him that Jesus often and in many ways claimed to be God and prophecy [Isaiah 9:6] said the Messiah would be God. I showed him that Job 9:8 says that Jesus walks on the waves of the sea and this was one way Jesus claimed to be God by doing that. “I guess he is God,” he replied convinced by the Bible verses I showed him. I said if he wanted to trust in what Jesus had done to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through the prayer saying in praying it he could be forgiven. “Wanna do it?” “Yeah,” he replied then and he prayed to receive Christ. I gave him a Bible as he did not have one of his own and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I told him the mass was symbolic of Christ dying for him and in talking it he could say thank you. I showed him the “Where to Turn” section and the messianic prophecies that Christ had fulfilled in another section. I told him I would pray for him and got his email. “Thanks this was really good how you explained everything, like a TED talk.” I thanked him for talking with me and then headed out saying hey to another guy I knew.

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

In Him,

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