Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you had a great day and really felt blessed. I had a good day on campus and Emily prayed to receive Christ. Lekayla* asked if she could pray later. So I will be praying for her She had long braids and classic African-American features wore a hoodie and jeans. She said her dad is a pastor. I saw her down the hallway in the PE building that goes to the outdoor amphitheater and began to head down that way. A black guy who knew what I was about said I should talk to her because her brother had died. So I walked up with him and asked if I could give her a book with some Bible verses in it that might be of comfort. She was wearing There was a wet line down one of her cheeks so you could tell she had been crying. She said she was a Christian. She wanted a book so I gave her  Bible Promises for You and put her name in it. I asked her if she knew what she would say if she’d died and God asked why He should let her into Heaven. She said, “Because I have been faithful.” “Do you mean because you have done good things?” I asked. She shook her head. I said the Bible said something a little different and asked if she would like to know what the Bible said. She did so I explained the Gospel to her. She did not know what Jesus had done to take away her sins in the moment but it might have been that she had been a little distraught. Talking to me had gotten her mind off things and she had calmed down. Still as I finished she said she would want to be forgiven and I walked her through the prayer she could pray. “Could I pray this later,” she asked. “Sure,” I said. I asked if she believed Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead and she did. I asked her if she trusted in that now to be forgiven and she did. “So you’ve told me that you just need to tell that to God,” I said.  I asked her about what had happened. Her brother worked as security in Robbins at a bar and the police had shot him when they responded to a call about a fight and shots fired. He was a musician and played at several Churches Lekayla said. The news report said he was wearing a vest that said “SECURITY” and that the bystanders told the cops, “He’s security!” The medical examiner said he died from multiple gunshot wounds.  Vigil held for security guard fatally shot by police in Robbins bar I asked if she thought her brother knew Jesus and she thought he did so I said he is up in Heaven then having a good day celebrating with the angels and looking down on you and you’ll see him again. I asked if I could pray for her and she let me pray and then she got up then feeling a bit better and walked back to the lounge to visit with her friends.

Emily was sitting in a cubby that overlooked the science building lounge. She had long stick straight light brown hair and a tan knit short sleeved shirt and jeans on. She looked up at me as I passed by and so even though she looked like she was studying I walked back to ask her if she wanted to do a student survey and she said, “OK” and made room for me to sit by her feet pulling them up a bit. Pretty girl, shy, no make-up she regularly attended the Roman Catholic Church and when I asked her what she would say to God if He asked why He should let her into Heaven she said, “Umm… I don’t know. Probably, ‘I tried my best.'” She thought she had about a 70% chance of going to Heaven. I went through the Gospel with her and she was really attentive. She knew Jesus had died to take away her sins. I explained his righteousness could be hers too and His blood cleansed her and gave her a symbolic view of the mass suggesting she could just say “thank you” knowing that it symbolized that He had died for her and so her sin was forgiven. In the end I asked if she wanted to be forgiven and she did. So I asked if had been trusting in Jesus and that he had died for or if she’d just had grown up in the Church and hadn’t thought about it much, had been hoping she was good enough. “Probably good enough,” she said. So I said if she wanted to trust in what Jesus had done there was a prayer she could pray silently and be forgiven and God could then live inside her. I talked her through it and asked if it was the desire of her heart she said it was and when I asked if she wanted to pray she said “OK.” She prayed then to receive Christ. She did not have her own Bible so I offered her one and she said she’d like her own. I showed her the “Where to Turn” section and told her there was a prophecy section showing prophecies Jesus had fulfilled a Messianic section and the His words were in red. I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven.” in the front. I explained living the Christian life asking God to change her. She did not want a book or anything else to read and so I got up to go and she said, “Have a nice day.” “Yeah, you too,” I replied.  And I headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today. God blessed and I’ll hope and pray Lekayla prays to receive Jesus and her family can find some comfort.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking with Christ. I had a good day on campus and Nataly prayed with me to receive Christ and a couple of black athletes, Dave and Keandall, each committed to Christ sitting at a table together in the big SSC lounge where we have Bible study saying they would pray later.

Nataly was sitting in a lounge on the second floor doing an on line quiz for a class. She has blonde hair and a cute round face with a small chin, sweet kid. She was wearing a red, white and blue pullover jacket with solid color panels, straight leg jeans cuffed at white tennis shoes. I asked her if she’d like to do a student survey for a Bible study group on what she thought about God. “I just have to finish this quiz, then I can take it,” she said. “Ok, I’ll wait,” I said and sat in the armchair beside her. When she finished I asked her what she would say to God if he asked her, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “So I can ask Him why I died like this.” It didn’t really answer the question but I said I had thought before that if you went to Hell you might not even be given the chance to find out how you died. There might not be anyone in Hell to ask or who knew. “That’s really interesting,” she replied. She thought she had about an 80% chance of going to Heaven and said she went to a Roman Catholic Church. She knew Jesus had died to take away our sins. As I finished going through the Gospel I asked her which kind of person she thought she was or would want to be; Forgiven and having God live inside or thinking something else. I said I knew she knew the story but had she ever placed her trust in what Jesus had done for her? She said she felt like she “would trust in Him. Allow him to come into your life and talk to you so I think I would go about it that way.” I thought that probably meant she would like to trust in Christ. So I talked through the prayer saying that if she had never as an adult had a chance to tell this to God, that she wanted to trust in Jesus, she could pray it. If she wanted she could do so silently so God would hear and tell Him. “Um hum,” she said nodding her head. She took the booklet from me then and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to her living by trusting in the Spirit’s power and writing that in the front of 20 Things God Can’t Do showing her there some verses in the back and after each one page chapter. I gave her a Bible study on places where Jesus claims to be God. She did not have a Bible of her own so I gave her one and wrote her name and the Date and “forgiven” under it in the front. I showed her the “Where to Turn” pages in the back. There is a section of Messianic prophecies in the back too that are fulfilled and I explained what that meant and that that was part of what made the Bible different from other religious books, it predicted the future and that is how you know God wrote it. I told her when she took the Mass that the wafer was symbolic of Jesus body and wine symbolic of His blood. It was to remind her that Jesus had died for her and so she was forgiven, so when she took it she could just say to God, “Thanks.” She reached out her hand to shake mine and said, “Thank you.” “God bless you,” I replied. “You as well,” she said 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 and ya kept warm as the winter closes in and the trees are stripped bare. I had a good day on campus and Tanner prayed with me to receive Jesus.

I went up to the third floor of the BIC when I first got to school and Tanner was the first guy I talked to. He was wearing a Jacksonville Jaguars cap and a hoodie pulled up over his head. He had a bit of facial hair, and a square jaw, sharp features. It turned out he was in The Knights of Columbus at his church. He said his dad and his uncle were in it and when his dad asked him to join, at first he wasn’t that up for the meetings but his dad said, “You get a sword and a cape.” So he decided to go for it and it was fun to be part of the ceremonies at church. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I don’t know, that’s a good question. I would say I think I’ve lived a pretty good life, not the best but I’ve tried to keep in line.” He thought he had about an 85% chance of Going to Heaven. He knew Jesus had died for his sins and listened closely to the Gospel. When I was explaining how we are clothed with Jesus (His imputed righteousness) I said, “So it’s like ya got someplace to go, Heaven, and something to wear when ya get there, you know like the cape.” He liked that. I finished I said so which kind of person are you or would you want to be, would you want to be forgiven for your sins with God living inside trusting in Jesus or do you think something else?” I gave him options of what other religions would say and said, “You know you grow up in the church and you just go along with stuff.” He agreed. But then you have to decide if it is what you want to follow. I said if he wanted to commit to Christ there was a prayer he could pray and I walked him through it. He said He had struggled some with faith and had been into science and his dad had talked him through it. I talked with him about the complexities of DNA, one cell being as complex as the city of NY at rush hour. I said that studies of the Human Genome have shown that every generation passes on mutations and they grow in number. He said he knew that from Biology in college. I said that  due to this we are actually on a trajectory towards extinction, we are not evolving up. People cling to it because they do not want to believe in God. “Your kids are not going to give birth to the first X-men,” I said and he laughed in agreement. I talked about the gaps in the fossil record too. I gave him a copy of the student edition of The Case for a Creator later. I asked if he’d like to pray and receive Christ and that if God lived inside him he would give him the power to do everything He was asking him to do. I said he could pray silently. “Hmm,” he hesitated, he breathed out like he was bracing himself for something and said, “Yeah sure.” And took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. I explained living inside out by the Spirit’s power and wrote that, his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front of 20 Things God Can’t Do showing him the verses in it. I said, “When you are at church you know the wafer is symbolic of Christ’s body and the wine of His blood and it is commenting that Jesus has died for you, so you are forgiven. So when you take it you can just say, “Thank you.” that sounded good to him and we agreed church could be a little hard to get into sometimes. “Thanks you,” he said as we got up to leave. “Yeah, it was nice meeting you,” I replied. “It was nice to meet you as well.” We shook hands and I said, “Have a good week,” and headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and life was good walking with Jesus by His Spirit. I had a good day on campus but it began slow as very many peeps turned me down over an hour or so. But in the end Malcolm prayed with me to receive Christ and his friend Dorian confessed Christ so I hope he was a Christian already or had heard enough to truly believe. I will pray for him. I also had a good conversation end of the day with Jacob a black guy in the cafeteria. I had talked to him a bit before when he’d had to run for his ride. He seemed to want to talk. I went through the Gospel with him and helped him sort out the lies he had been told by a cult group on campus. This group believes in the “Mother-goddess” in Korea and I believe calls themselves “Melchizedek”. We talked for 30 minutes or more and in the end I gave him the student edition of The Case for Christ and a bible. He was very close to receiving Jesus. He looked very well groomed and professional, gap-toothed smile with a very short trimmed haircut and beard. He seemed glad to have some direction saying he’d been looking for a book to read.

Early on was slow. After about an hour of getting next to no one to talk to me I felt like I was supposed to head over to the PE building. Since I was pressed to get someone to talk I couldn’t ignore the premonition. I walked through and the PE lounge had a lot of peeps. So I headed up the stair looking for someone sitting alone giving the nod to a guy I had spoken with before heading up the stair. Literally one guy was up there but I knew him and he was studying so I headed back down. Looking over the lounge from the stairs decided to suck it up and try to butt into a group of black male athletes sitting on the counter with jackets on to see if I could get some interest. “Anyone wanna do a student survey?” I got a “No” from a really good looking guy who looked like a smaller Rick Fox (old Lakers player) and the next two guys I asked if they wanted to do a survey. One was more or less unresponsive (Dorian). He had kind of the same hair as the guy beside him kind of rough and every which way on top and short on the sides. Both had facial hair but Malcolm, beside him, had more beneath the chin and jaw line. Good looking guys. Malcolm said he was “already in a group” and began to search for his phone to show me a text. Then had a slight panic, unable to find his phone. So he got up and walked away to where he had been sitting a table away and got it. The text was from CRU. So I said, “I started that group on campus. Ya wanna answer the big metaphysical question?” “Ok” “Say you are walking down the road and get hit by a bus, so you’re dead and you stand before God and He says, ‘why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “I would say because I have forgiven myself for everything.” “Well, that is good you have forgiven yourself but why does God forgive you? Everything belongs to God so when we do something wrong we damage His stuff, even if we damage us since we belong to Him too. So how does he get paid for the damage we did to He can forgive us.” I quoted 1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  “So God is just to forgive us because He got paid. Who paid for your sins?” He did not know so I got out a trusty booklet and began to explain the Gospel to Malcolm. I talked about His blood that cleansed him and he said, “He pays with His blood!” And I said, “Blood pays for sin like Discover Card pays for pizza.” and he liked that. I explained Christ’s imputed righteousness and he said, “That’s nice!”  And as I finished that part he said, “So it is all about Jesus.” Right I said. I explained he needed to trust in what Christ had done and that his good stuff did not fix his bad stuff. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven or if he thought something else and he said he wanted to be forgiven. I offered him the prayer and after I explained it he prayed it quietly. I explained the Christian life to him living “Inside Out” and showed him it was a Crew booklet saying how it had come full circle to find him and he laughed. I gave him 20 things God Can’t Do and explained a bit showing him the verses and wrote “By the Spirit’s Power” and “Forgiven” in the front. Dorian overheard it and said, “Hey can I get one of those books? I grew up in a Christian home.” I asked if he believed Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead. He said, “Yes,” so I said, “Say I believe it,” playing’ with him a little. So he said “I believe it,’ smiled and I gave him the book wrote his name in it and “By the Spirit’s power” in the front too. They talked then about their religious grandma’s. I gave them both Bible Studies on the Deity of Christ they were happy. I wrote down their names than on a card and joked a second and we headed out in different directions.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance God gave me courage and blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking with the Lord. I had a good day on campus and Nickie & Jaslynn [jazz lin] each prayed with me to receive Jesus today. 

Nickie was sitting on a cubby hole that looks out over the science building lounge she had a pull over fence on and leggings. She had long brown hair to her shoulders. Her face had squared larger features, she seemed really well adjusted and happy, and she said she had been having some struggles so about a year ago she decided to give her life to Christ. I think that for her that meant to try to live a life she assumed would be more pleasing to God. When I asked her if she died what she would say to God to get into heaven she struggled with the question for a while, “Oh my gosh… I should know the answer to this.” So I asked her about church and what they would say. She had been going to a church near her but it got strange somehow, so she and her two older brothers do a bible study now at her house. “Well what do you think it is that get you into Heaven?” I asked. “I never really thought about it,” she replied. So I said I would explain it to her and began going through the Gospel with her. When I asked her how God had taken away her son she referred to her past and it seemed like she felt like she had had a time where God become closer to her existentially, in a feeling sort of way. I said that was great but it did not forgive her sins. She was close the truth in her intentions to draw closer to God but to be in a relationship with Him (not just have a relationship with Him as her creator where she merely felt more near to Him) she needed to trust in what Jesus had done to be her savior. After I had finished talking to her about what Jesus had done to die for her sins she said she wanted to be forgiven. I asked if she’d want to trust in that there was a prayer she could pray, explaining it I asked “would she like to pray it silently?” “Yeah,” she said brightly and then prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to her living “Inside Out” asking for God’s power and help in all things. I gave her a Bible study and 20 Things God Can’t Do writing her name and the date and “forgiven” In the front. I gave her a couple of Bible studies too. “Thank you,” she said as I got up to leave after getting her email. “Yeah, it was nice to meet you,” I replied. “It was nice to meet you too,” she said. “Tell your brothers I said hi.” and she said she would.

Jaslynn was sitting on a bench in the other science building in the hall. She had long brown hair, nice looking girl in a sweat shirt and was with her infant daughter who was in a pink print, footed, pajama. Her child didn’t have much brown hair, bit of a mop on top but was very active on the bench. I suppose she was 1 years old. I walked up smiling and asked her child’s name and it was “Genesis.” “God bless you Genesis,” I said putting my hand on her head, really cute little kid. “Oh Genesis like the first book in the Bible, are you religious at all?” “No but my grandparents are,” she said. I said “We have a bible study on campus,” I talked to her a bit and then asks if she were to die and stand before God and he asked her why He should let her into Heaven what would she say? She didn’t know so I said, “Well, I have a little booklet you could read if you wanted to know how it is you get to Heaven, would you like it?” She said she would so I got it out and began to read the Bible verses to her. She took in all of the Gospel and wanted to be forgiven so I walked her through the prayer and she read it as I explained it and said, “Amen.” I gave her her own Bible since she only had a family Bible. I showed her the “Where to Turn” section and gave her some things she could read and I gave her a Bible study on The prayers of Paul. It turned out her dad had died when she was very young, I think she said 11. Her mom was upset at first about her pregnancy but now she lived at home and really loves her grandchild. I explained how everything God was asking her to do he would give her the strength to do it. I gave her the book Bible promises for You writing her name inside and the date and “forgiven”. She thanked me and I told her I would keep her in my prayers. She told me she went to Triton for school then, so I’ll pray for her knowing I’ll not see her again. I blessed Genesis again and headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed in the Lord. I had a good day on campus and Jessica prayed to receive Jesus today.  Jocelyn said she would pray later. I only went through the Gospel with her as she had done some kind of survey with another group. I asked if she would like to know how the Bible said she went to Heaven and let me explain everything to her. I gave her a Bible Promises for You book.

Earlier in the day I talked with Moe, a Muslim from India. He had a nice beard and a mop of hair had a hoodie on pulled up over his head. I have talked to him before. He saw me walking down the hall and as the last time our conversation was cut short he called me over and we began to talk about the differences in our two faiths.  A teacher interrupted us and hassled me. I was talking with Moe about how the Declaration of Independence says our rights come from our Creator so the State cannot take them away (we were both born in the US). I said this was also reflected in the Pledge of Allegiance that said we were a nation under God. The short bearded, graying pudgy teacher butted in crossing the hall to us from where he had been eavesdropping and said that phrase (under God) was only added in the 50’s. I agreed and said that was true it was under Eisenhower. “It wasn’t in 1776,” he replied. Of course I had never said it was. Then he began asking Moe who had initiated our conversation. He, as a few other teachers I have encountered, was under the impression I could not come on campus and initiate a conversation. This isn’t true but Moe said he had initiated the conversation in reply which was true. It did not dawn on him that he had interpreted us trying to initiate an unsolicited conversation. He informed me that the letter I carried I was required to produce upon demand. I hadn’t told him about the letter so I guess the atheists professors are chatting about me when I’m not there. I told him, “No I’m not.” “Yes you are,” replied to me getting upset. This went back and forth a few times like we were on a play ground. It was demonstrably true I did not need to show him the letter, because I was in fact not showing it to him. I actually only carry the letter, (which is correspondence with our Lawyer and the Administration) at our Lawyers recommendation to show to the cops. So the teachers who are fond of hassling me seem to have made up a fiction. First about my being required to carry a letter and Second that I must produce it upon request. The contents of the letter are just assurances from the Vice President that the Cops will not hassle me. He said, “We have talked to the Vice President.” I imagine that was supposed to get a reaction. “OK,” I said and turned away from him. (There is more than one Vice President on campus; he did not seem to know that.) I said he could have the last word and said some more about the letter and I let him storm off. “Is he an Atheist?” Moe asked when he was gone. I said I did not know, he never said. In fact he never even told us his name. Maybe he is afraid I will file a complaint against him since I was not doing what he said I could not do. The teachers that occasionally interrupt me have never given me their names. Moe and I agreed that it was our freedom of speech to talk about religion in the hallway. Moe and I talked some more and I said that Muhammed had taught that you should check his writings against what was said by, “The people of the Book.” and read the gospels. He said he’d like to read the Bible. I asked if he had one and he didn’t so I gave him one and he really liked it and I showed him the “Where to Turn” section. “So it answers questions for you?” he said interested. “Some of them,” I said. He said with a grin he’d been interested to have a Bible but he didn’t want to buy it. I said I could see why he wouldn’t want to. We shook hands and I also gave him a Bible study on the Deity of Christ so I will be praying for him and hope to see him again. As we talked a campus cop came up and looked at us. Moe said hi, he was either looking for someone else and walked away or saw it was me and had been told not to talk to me.

Jessie was sitting in a lounge tucked away in the middle of the building on the Third Floor. She had what looked to be naturally curly blonde hair pulled up on her head kind of randomly, oval face nice smile, cute kid. She was wearing a grey hoodie and jeans. She was waiting to go into class and said she’d do a survey. She went to a Roman Catholic Church sometimes. I asked her what she would say to God if He asked her why He should let her into Heaven. She paused a moment with an “Umm,” and said, “Because I have good morals.” She thought she had an 80% chance of going to heaven. She had a ready laugh and enjoyed hearing the Gospel it seemed. I asked her, “What’s the big thing Jesus did to take away your sins?” “I don’t know,” she replied. I said, “Well this is how it works you’ll probably remember a bit as I tell ya.” It seemed familiar to her I think, I finished telling her How Jesus had died for her, His blood cleansed her and his righteousness was to her credit. I asked if she would want to be forgiven or thought something else. “Probably that one,” she replied pointing at the circle to be forgiven. So I asked if she believed Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. She thought she did. So I said if she wanted to put her trust in that she could be forgiven and I walked her through the prayer. I explained that then God would live in her and help her do everything He was asking her to do “Inside Out” and that if she would trust in Christ’s righteousness to be hers the likelihood she would get into Heave was 100%. I asked her if when she asked for forgiveness of she thought God would be merciful and she went to Church and stuff so she’d probably be forgiven. Or if she’d been trusting in what Jesus had done to forgive her. “I don’t know,” she replied. “Well if you don’t know you probably were not trusting in Him, right?” “Right,” she said. So I asked if she would like to pray to be forgiven. “Sure she said softly kind of conspiratorially as the lounge was filling with students going into the classroom and she prayed to receive Jesus. I quickly gave her a Bible Study and asked if she’d like Bible Promises for You. I described the contents and she said, “Yes,” enthusiastically. So I wrote her name and the date and forgiven in the front and told her I would be praying for her. “Thank you,” she said. “It was nice to meet you,” I replied. “Nice to meet you too,” she said and headed into class.

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 in the Lord. I had a good day on campus in as much as I got several good seeds planted. But today was a little strange. I was sitting on the floor on the ground floor of the BIC building not far from the East door out. I was going through the Gospel with a guy named Hollis. Long chin beard, slight mustache, pretty jovial guy actually with his black hoodie up over a ball cap. In the middle of our conversation a young woman (she seemed like a special needs student) walked up shouting. She had a big parka on and her arms filled with fast food. She shouted (among other things), “All Korean people go to Hell.” So I paused and told her that was not true. Her speech was a bit slurred. She walked off a bit from us and was taking really loud using profanity. It through me off for a moment but Hollis seemed completely unfazed. I went on a bit more and she came back shouting some other things and I suggested there were some really nice seats in the MAC lounge over down the hall from us, wouldn’t she like to sit there. She complained about the cold a little less loudly, in spite of having a parka on and walked off. I finished up with Hollis and he took a copy of the student edition of The Case for Christ to read and we said good bye.

I chatted up some peeps I knew that had trusted Christ and encouraged a Christian guy in his faith. The last guy I talked to (Neil) was an Indian guy (lapsed from Temple attendance). Neil at the end said he thought the likelihood be believed Jesus was God and had died for his sins and rose from the dead was 50/50. As I  was offering him the booklet and explaining the last little thing about what is different about Christianity and other religions a grossly overweight, sloppily dressed, teacher, bald with a grey long beard walked up and interrupted asking the student if I had initiated the conversation. The student said I had. He turned to me informing me I was not allowed to do that. I informed him I was infect allowed to talk to students, and had a letter from the Vice President of Student Activities that said as much and directed the police to come to him before talking to me if they had received a complaint. He said he wanted to see it. I said I was not interested in showing it to him. He began to argue with me and I interrupted him and I asked him who had initiated the conversation we were now having. He said he had. I said I was not interested in talking to him and began to turn back to talk to Neil. He said I was required to produce that letter upon request. “No I’m not,” I replied and began talking to Neil. The faculty walked away saying some weird thing to Neil about burning in hell and Rastafarianism. I finished talking with Neil who slurped down the last of his milkshake and asked, “Was that guy kidding?” I said I didn’t know but guys like him were why I had to get a lawyer. Neil took the booklet to think about it and left out the doors. But I was a little bent at the guy and forgot to offer Neil a book. So I’ll pray for Neil and against the Professor whom I am sure attacks Christianity in his classes.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today, God blessed. Fascist teachers in the hall notwithstanding.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and you found your rest in Him. I had a good day on campus and Sean and Stephanie each prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Stephanie was sitting in the MAC lounge. She is Latina and goes every Sunday to a Catholic Church. She wore black rimmed glasses and had dark hair just past her shoulders had a v-neck shirt on a jacket and black pants. Good looking kid she was shy but nice. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said, “Oh gosh… I don’t know, I’ve always got my faith even when bad things happen to me, I’ve always felt like He has a plan.” She knew Jesus had died for her sins and after going through the gospel with her and asking her if she wanted to be forgiven trusting in Jesus with God inside her she said, “Trusting with God inside.” I asked her if she thought she had ever placed her trust in Jesus and she said, “I feel like… I don’t really know.” I said that if she did not know she probably wasn’t trusting in it and she agreed. I gave her some analogies and then I said there was a prayer she could pray and asked if it was the desire of her heart she nodded and I asked if she’d like to pray, “Yes,” she whispered and she prayed to receive Jesus. She had a Bible and I told her she could begin to start reading in John and explained John called Jesus, “the Word,” which was a name Jeremiah called Jesus in the Old Testament. I gave her a Bible study and talked her through that and the book 20 Things God Can’t Do writing her name and the date and “forgiven” on the inside. She thanked me and I headed out.

Sean was back at COD after finishing his degree to take paramedic classes. He was wearing gray sweats and a gray hoodie with 45 and stars on the front. Seemed he was in the PE building sitting at the table after having worked out. He had a neatly trimmed beard and his hair brown swept back, kind of a classic good looking, tall solid built guy. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “There is no good reason, the only reason I’d be getting in is because of Christ.” When I asked him the % likelihood he would get into Heaven when he died he said, “I’m optimistic. I can’t really do much about what He has to say, I’m hoping.” I figured he was a Christian and possibly just did not have assurance and he was nominally but he had forgotten how Jesus took away his sins, if he had ever known. He’d been an assistant youth pastor at his Methodist Church where he did not attend anymore. I went through the Gospel with him and he took it all in enthusiastically and said he would want to be forgiven. I explained he needed to trust in Christ’s work on the cross that paid for and so forgave his sins, “It seems like you were kind of thinking about Jesus more like he’d be there when you die and you hope He’d just say, ‘That’s my guy he can go in.'” He laughed and agreed. So I showed him the prayer he could pray talking him through it. “That’s cool!” he responded enthusiastically. And I said, “It hits all the bases”. I said he could pray it like I wasn’t even there and he did. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do and a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ he really liked. Then we talked for over 2 hours about the lies his friends believed and the things they said about God. He knew a lot of apologetics and read a lot on line and mentioned some websites. These all seemed to assume you knew the Gospel, and he had believed Jesus was God. The complexity of the human body science he was learning in his anatomy and physiology class was reinforcing that the world as we now know it could not evolve. We talked about confirmation bias and he felt like a lot of the guys he knew just found things they thought supported their stuff. He’d broken up with his last girl friend because she had said the Bible was just nice sayings and he’d been realizing how it all fit together and that the Bible was a miraculous book. He realized dating her to try and change her mind wasn’t going to work. But I don’t see how before talking with me he could have told her how to be saved anyway. I enjoyed talking with him and he thanked me and we parted ways. So I hope I’ll bump into him again, he said he would try to make it to the Bible Study.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today. I had a good day on campus and Cindy, Chuck and Nick each prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Cindy was sitting in the row of chairs in the entranceway outside the cafeteria. She said she’d do a student survey. She was a pretty Latina girl with long hair well past her shoulders. She had polished, striped, short nails, a thin gold ring in her left nostril and a military style camo jacket on and skinny jeans. It turned out she had a daughter named Alexa and attended a Roman Catholic Church. When I asked her what she would say to God if asked why he should let her into Heaven she said, “‘Cause I wanna be happy.” She nodded, affirming, as I went though each point of the Gospel with her, she did not know what Jesus had done to take away her sins however. So I explained how Jesus had died for her sins so she would not have to die in Hell and that His blood cleansed her from all her sins on an ongoing basis as a power in the world and then that His righteousness was her righteousness if she trusted in Christ. She agreed that she hadn’t put it all together before, trusting in what Jesus had done but she nodded that she would want to be forgiven for her sins. I talked her through the prayer she could pray to receive forgiveness trusting in Jesus and asked if it was the desire of her heart. She nodded again and I said if she wanted she could pray it silently. She nodded again and I said, “Just pretend I’m not even here.” She said ok with a slight laugh. I explained the Christian life and the symbolism of the Mass as originally intended. I gave her a copy of 20 Things God Can’t Do and wrote “by the Spirit’s Power” in the front with her name and the date and “forgiven”. She thanked me for it. I also gave her a Bible study. Getting up I said, “It was nice to meet you.” “Same,” she said and I headed out.

Chuck was a real big guy but about 6 foot tall he played football, African American. He had jeans on and a fisherman’s hat, wore glasses had a warm inviting smile. He made eye contact with me so I nodded and fist bumped him and asked if he wanted to do a student survey. He said sure and I sat down beside him in the row of chairs leading into the tunnel to the PE building. He went to a Catholic church back where he was from and thought he had a 50/50 shot at going to Heaven. He listened closely to the Gospel and really seemed to enjoy hearing the illustrations and laughed a lot, as expressive as Cindy had been quiet. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “Isn’t that why I was created?” As I went through the Gospel he hadn’t seemed to understand any of it before. “So Jesus dies for my sins and [cleanses us by] his blood, I got it,” he summarized after I had finished saying as much. I told him he needed to receive Jesus and trust in that to be forgiven and that was by faith, reading him some verses that applied. “So would you want to be forgiven for your sins with God living inside you or do you think something else.” Be forgiven with God living inside,” he said. So I explained there was a prayer he could pray to be forgiven and said he could pray it silently and he said OK and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life living “Inside Out”. I wrote “by the Spirit’s Power” in the front of  20 Things God Can’t Do along with his name and the date and “forgiven”. He dug that and I gave him a Bible study. He was a charismatic guy and shook my hand firmly (like a rock) and said, “Thank you,” enthusiastically. God bless you I said shaking his hand again, “Thank you, God bless you too.”

Nick was sitting in the hall lounge on the third floor of the Science Building. I almost never go up there because there is no place except that tiny lounge to sit and it’s been empty when I checked. But I got into the elevator after tooling around the lower floors with one good conversation. I had some time before a chiropractic appointment. When I got in the elevator I pushed 2 but then feeling compelled to go up I pushed 3. I then wearily got off on 2 and took the stairs realizing the elevator had gone up without me and I’d zoned on the floor. But happily it was worth the climb because I bumped into Nick in the lounge there was one other guy sitting in the on a couch. He was at the table he seemed really interested to talk. He attended a Maronite Church (Eastern catholic). He had a curly mop of hair and a thin curly beard and straight mustache. He wore a hoodie and sweats. He said he wanted to have a family. A lot of guys that say that have prayed to receive Christ have said that so I was hopeful. When I asked him what he would say to God he said, “I was friendly to everyone I met, I never engaged in violence and I went to Church.” He was really interested in the Gospel and followed very closely like it was the best thing he had heard all day. When I got to the end I asked him if he “wanted to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus and done or thought something else. You know you grow up in the church and it becomes part of your identity… But do you think you had trusted in what Jesus had done for you to be forgiven or were you just kinda going through the motions?” “Going through the motions,” he replied “but now I’m thinking about this way,” he said pointing at the circle with a cross on the throne.” So I told him he could ask for forgiveness and talked him through the prayer and said he could pray it silently. He took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do and also wrote “By the Spirit’s Power” and his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front after explaining how God would give him the power to do everything He asked him to do. I gave him a Bible study. When I showed him Job 9:8 teaches God walks on the water and 1000 years later Jesus did that to tell us he is God his eyes went wide and he said, “Wow!”  That was great. I told him I would pray for him and got his email and got up to go. “Thank you very much my man,” he said shaking my hand with a big smile. “Yeah thank you, I’ll see you around.” 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 you had a good day and the Lord blessed. I had a slow day on campus and after hours only had 2 guys talk with me. One was vision impaired but could read the time on his phone if held 2 inches from his eye. He used a walking stick to get around and had only been that way about 4 years. The next Anthony prayed to receive Christ.

Anthony was sitting in the cafeteria having nearly finished his Chick-fil-a. He was from Detroit and played football at COD. They get students from far away as it is the only community college for more than 200 miles in any direction with a football team. He was wearing a long sleeve white t-shirt that said “College of DuPage Football” athletic shorts and sandals with white socks. His afro was about 5 inches high and he wore a Malcolm X looking pair of glasses. He had nice features clean shaven good looking guy. When I asked him what he would say to God to be let into Heaven he said, “I would say…” then he stopped and started with a couple approaches and finally said, “I’ve been a true follower since I’ve aged.” By that he meant he had more recently decided to try to follow God. He though he had a 50% chance of going to Heaven. I explained the Gospel to him and he knew Jesus had died to take away his sins. So I explained that he did not go to Heaven because he had tried to be good doing what he thought it meant to follow God but he went to Heaven because Jesus was good.  He had to be trusting that Jesus had taken away his sins and so he would be forgiven. “Does it matter if you are baptized?” he asked. I queried him a bit about that.  It turned out he had been baptized when he was about 14 but had not really understood the Christian life. I asked if they had asked him if he believed Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead. He thought they had but he had not understood what that meant. I explained he needed to be trusting in Christ’s righteousness to be to his credit by faith and told him the parable from Matthew 22. There the king throws the man without the wedding garment into Hell for not wearing the right clothes, which he thought was crazy until I explained the symbolism. We must be clothed with Christ [Gal. 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ like a garment.] I explained he needed to trust in the righteousness of Christ. I said the things Paul listed he had gone through to preach the Gospel and if anyone might have been said to earn a spot in Heaven it would have been Paul. Yet Paul said it wasn’t by his own righteousness but by the righteousness that is by faith in Christ that He earned for him that he would be saved [Phil. 3:9]. I asked him if he would want to be forgiven trusting in Christ. He nodded and I showed him the prayer he could pray and asked if this was the desire of his heart and he nodded and prayed. I explained more to him. He had left his Bible back in Detroit so I gave him one writing his name and the date and “forgiven” under it in the front. I showed him where to turn section. I got his email and gave him a Bible Study and 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “by the Spirit’s power” in the front explaining anything that God was asking him to do he would give him the power to do. He said he had been asking for Gods help. I said that before he was asking for God to provide the right circumstances but now God could help him by making him a different man, inside by His Spirit, then he would have the strength to do good things on the outside. And 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 thanked him for talking to me telling him I would be praying for him each night. “Thanks for talking to me. I really needed it,” he replied. “Yeah,” I said, “It seems like God just needed to give you a little bit to make it all clear.” And he rushed off to class since I had made him a bit late.

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

In Him,

Bob