Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you’ve been blessed walking with the Lord today. I was sick last night and into today. But Joe prayed with me to receive Jesus on Monday. And Matt up in the BIC 3rd floor lounge(tall short light brown crew cut day’s growth of beard, warm smile all-American boy look) said he would pray later saying he usually prayed at night, so maybe I’ll bump into him sometime and find out

Joe was sitting on the first floor of the BIC in a lounge with a lot of vending machines on the Northeast end. Nice guy, he had braces on, a broad smile and lighter brown hair parted on the side and flipped over to the left. He had on a plaid shirt and grey sweats tight at the ankle, white tennis shoes. His face was angular and he had a day’s growth of beard. He went to a Catholic Church. When I asked him what he would say to God if He asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” he said, “I guess I tried my best to be as good as humanly possible.” He thought he had a 90% chance of going to Heaven. He was really engaged as we talked and listened closely to everything I said as I went through the Gospel. He knew Jesus had died to take away our sin. But I could tell he hadn’t put all that together personally before to be forgiven. He had not trusted in Jesus work to forgive him or thought about His righteousness before. So at the end I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus with God inside or if he thought something else he said, “It would be nice to have God inside.” So I said there was a prayer he could pray to be forgiven and ask God to live inside him, to know Him personally. I said he could pray without anyone but God hearing and he said, “Yeah, I guess I’d be interested.” “To do it?” I asked. “Yeah,” he replied and he took the booklet to pray to receive Jesus and did. When he was done I said he could keep the booklet and walked him through living the Christian life. I told him if he was now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. He had a Bible on his phone, so I gave him a Bible study and 20 Things God Can’t Do and wrote his name and the date and “Just ask, By the spirit’s power” in the front and “forgiven” saying he could remember when he’d been forgiven. We talked about the Christian life, first asking God to change you inside and then doing good things on the outside because He had given you strength by His power. He had to go to class then so I headed out and he thanked me.

So thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and for evangelism on Monday if you had a chance. I taught Bible study tonight so if my intestinal track continues to cooperate I’ll be back at school tomorrow [Wednesday].

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with all good things from the Lord. I had a good day on campus and Yadi prayed with me to receive Jesus. 110 have now come to Christ this school year.

I felt prompted to go to the third floor when I first got to school and then (once up there) felt kept from turning down a hallway. I figured what the heck and kept walking and then I found Yadi sitting on a bench on the outside of a lounge with vending machines. It seemed she had stopped to look at her phone after class as her red puffy coat was zipped up but she said she’d do a survey and so we began. She had highlights through her hair that made it lighter brown and near blonde. She had jeans and black, over the knee boots on, sharp pretty features and something of a square face. She wore black rimmed rectangular glasses. She had a slight accent, was a Latina former Catholic but was now attending what she described as a Christian church. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said, “That’s a hard one… I mean right now I don’t know what I would say but I’m working on that… I acknowledge my wrongs. I try to improve myself… I don’t know” She thought she had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with her and I asked if she knew what Jesus had done to take away her sins. “Umhum,” she replied like someone does when they are not really sure they know the answer. So I said, “This is how it works” and began to explain the atonement and the blood of Christ to cleanse us and His imputed righteousness, without any theological terms. She listened closely without much remark but was engaged. So I said there were two kinds of people, those who have asked God to forgive them, trusting in what Jesus has done–then he can live inside them and they know they are going to Heaven. Then there are those who God is on the outside of their life, “Islam believes God’s a mystery that can’t be known, His Spirit does not come inside people, so they have a different God. Or someone like the Buddha, he left his wife and kids to seek enlightenment. So he’s not looking for God at all he’s just trying to get his head straight. So which would you rather be forgiven with God inside or do you think something else?” “No, I want God living inside me,” she replied. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and walking her through it I asked if it was the desire of her heart. She said it was so I said she could pray it silently, “Not .like I heard you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven and going to Heaven.” She took the booklet with an “Um Hum” and prayed to receive Jesus. She was glad and thanked me. I explained the Christian life asking for the fruit of the Spirit and “Inside out” by His power first transforming us so we might do good things. I got her e-mail to send her some stuff and have her 20 Things God Can’t Do. I wrote “Just ask” and “By the Spirit’s Power” and her name and the date and “forgiven” on the inside and she thanked me again. She might drop by the Bible Study as it is right before her class. I told her “I’ll see you in Heaven.” “Yeah,” she said with a laugh. “Have a good one.” “You too,” she replied and I headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance God blessed and I got a couple seeds planted as well.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you had a great day walking with the Lord. Here in Illinois we are holding on with bated breath in the hope that we will take deeper breaths in 40 degree air. It is promised us at the end of the week. I had a great day on campus talking up some Christians and encouraging one of the girls who had prayed to receive Jesus this year who is from Africa and has had a rough dark winter. And Nas Prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Nas was sitting in the first lounge I passed on what is basically the ground floor of the BIC, it has a lot of vending machines. He was a cool looking black dude in a parka. He had long thin braids dyed brown in places that would have reached his shoulders, tied behind his head with a forehead hair band. His round face had a short beard that mostly came in on the underside of his chin and a mustache only over his lip, near perfect, thin, 120 degree eyebrows like they were drawn with a compass.  He wore gray pants that were quilted and cross stitched. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven and he said, “Umm that’s a hard question.” Then he grinned and said, “Because I’m your angel,” and chucked. He thought he had a 90% chance of going to Heaven and went to a Baptist church in Roselle. I began to explain the Gospel to him and how God wanted to know and live inside him asking what the big thing was that Jesus had done to take away his sins so that could happen. He could not think of anything so I just said something like, “This how it works,” and began to explain why Jesus died. He was interested in the Bible verses and was engaged listening closely to what I said, that Jesus had died for him and His blood cleansed us so God could live inside him. Then I explained the righteousness of God was to his credit. I finished explaining he needed to receive Jesus by faith. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else and he said he’d be forgiven. So I said there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it and I asked if it was the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he acknowledged. I said he could pray it silently and he took the booklet and prayed. When he finished I explained the Christian life living by asking God to create the fruit of the Spirit. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “Just Ask” and “By the Spirit’s power”, his name and the date and “forgiven” on the inside. I explained everything God was asking Him to do he would give him the power to do and told him a story I made up. It’s about having a Billionaire Uncle who always said he should start a business and then when he found one to start financed him. “”God is better than a rich Uncle, he lives inside you and everything He is asking you to do He will give you the power to do.” I gave him a Bible study on the Deity of Christ and got up to leave saying, “If I see ya I’ll just say hi. You don’t got a new stalker or anything.” He laughed and said, “Same here.” “Have a good one Brother,” I said as I walked off.” And he said, “You too.”

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 & Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed. I had a good day on campus and  Michael,  Juana & Aislinn [IceLeen] each prayed to receive Jesus today. And then Aislinn came to Bible study tonight so that was great.

Micheal was at school to take his GED it turns out he is 17. He forgot some kind of ID and so could only take the reading portion today and they told him he was above the averages he needed. He was sitting in the big lounge where we had bible study tonight against the glass wall. He had a short, plain afro and 3 large scars (one pencil size of 3 inches) on his forehead running down toward his eyebrows. It turned out he had gotten them when he was 12. He and a 13 year old friend had stolen a minivan, lost control of it and crashed in an alley into a pole. The resulting flying glass cut him. He had a good looking face for all the wear he showed. He’d been living in the city and had a lot of run-ins with the law and had been kicked out of Willowbrook (after moving to the suburbs) for fighting a cop, he claimed by protecting his brother. As we talked he had said he was a “man of God” and I could probably sense something in him but when I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I’m not going to Heaven there’s stuff God don’t forgive.” I explained there was nothing He could not forgive and gave him illustrations of biblical characters who had sinned worse than him in David and Paul. Finally taking my point he said, “I’d tell Him forgive me for all my sins, plead the blood of Jesus.” It turned out that was what his grandfather, a pastor, had always told him. He thought he had a 20% chance of going to Heaven. I went through the Gospel with him calling his mind back to pay attention, repeatedly, he was easily distracted. Finally showing him the prayer to be forgiven and talking it through with him more than once I asked if he had ever prayed anything like that before. He shook his head no. I said then that he could do so and be forgiven and he prayed to receive Jesus. I talked with him a lot and prayed over him asking God to lift the influences off him and remove any powers affecting him. He was easily distracted by any girl that walked by. He seemed to be having a hard time getting an Uber so I offered him a ride home and he said, “Well, you have taken up a lot of my time.” So he accepted the ride to Lombard. I gave him Bible Promises for You which he liked a lot and explained living by the Spirit’s power writing that and his name and the date and “Forgiven” in the front of 20 Things God Can’t Do showing him the Bible verses in the back. He was enthusiastic about it in the truck saying he liked that the books had short stuff to read like individual verses in them. As we drove him said he was going to get a job, there were a lot of places hiring at Yorktown mall not far from him. He wanted to get some work history and turn things around in his life. He said had quit smoking. He was now living at his Grandmother’s house (one not related to his pastor Grandfather). He said he wanted to show me something in his bible as the language was hard to understand. A theological word he did not understand so I offered him a HCSB bible then with more clear English and he thought that would be better. I wrote his name and the date and forgiven in the front of that as well. He said he’d look for me tomorrow after taking the next part of his test. He had a long tough story and as he got out of the truck said he was going to work at change. I said he should instead ask God to change him by His Spirit as I had repeated to him a few times already. So I’ll be praying for him that that would be true and he can move in God’s Power from here.

Juana was sitting in the hall of the BIC at the Northeast corner looking at her phone. I had washed my hands in the bathroom after returning to school from my short road trip and felt like I was supposed to head toward the PE building. Drying my hands I almost heard the word “Hurry” so I headed quickly out and then thought I was supposed to turn the other way to go down stairs. So I reversed course and just around the corner and saw Juana on the corner of a bench outside the lounge checking her phone. She only had a few minutes before class it turned out. She was taking classes to get into the nursing program and wanted to eventually get an MA in Nursing. She was bundled up in a wine colored parka and had aqua colored sweat pants on, no makeup and her hair pulled back into a light brown pony tail. She had a round face and a cute pointed little nose and black plastic framed glasses. Kinda looked like she had just rolled out of bed. But she agreed to do a survey. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said, “I really don’t know.” I asked if she had gone to church ever, and she had gone to a “Christian” church when she was a bit younger. I asked what they would have said it was that got you into Heaven and she said, “I don’t know, believe in Him–I’m not sure.” She thought she had about a 75% chance of going to Heaven. I went through things quickly with her right to the point as I felt there was little time. She looked me in the eye and was very attentive and at one point said, “Oh.” as if understanding part of the Gospel for the first time, but she had known He had died to take away our sins. As I finished everything I asked if she would want to be forgiven or thought something else and she silently pointed at the circle with God inside on the throne of your life. So I asked if she believed it was true that Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead, “Yes,” she replied. So I said if she’d like to trust in that to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray. I walked her through it and told her she could pray it silently and God would hear and forgive her and live inside her. “Wanna do it?” I asked. “Yep.” she replied and prayed to receive Jesus. I gave her the booklet explaining a life in Christ quickly explaining living by the Spirit and asking for God’s help. 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 a Bible so I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front of 20 Things God Can’t Do and “By the Spirit’s Power” inside the cover giving it to her I told her I would pray for her through the spring and for a year after. “Thank you,” she replied. I gave her a Bible study as she got up to go to run to class that was beginning in 5 minutes. “Thank you so much,” she said and I nodded and she headed off.

Down the hallway at the other end of the building back in the lounge where we have Bible Study I came across Aislinn. Since she pronounces her name Ice-leen. I said she could be a character in Frozen and she grinned at that. She was really nice. She is on the short side and has naturally curly hair that was tucked under a cap with ear caps and tassels coming down to her shoulders. She has a friendly warm face, cute kid, had a blue shirt on with a black parka and boots. She goes to the Catholic Church and hoped one day to buy her mom a house. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said, “‘Cause… um… I feel like I’m a good person. I don’t know. He’ll see, He reads our thoughts so He’ll know if I’m on the good side of things, if you care about other people and are not self centered.” She listened closely to the Gospel really being interactive and telling me her brother did not believe in God because there was so much evil in the world. I suggested to her she could tell her brother that if God got rid of all the evil immediately He would have to kill all of us and put us in Hell since we are all a little evil. “How would he like it if God began with him?” I explained God was doing something about evil but not as fast as some people wanted him to act but He did not want to break us in the process of helping us. “Baby steps.” she replied. I smiled and said, “Right, Jesus said to become as a child.” She really understood how the Gospel fit together for the first time and exclaimed, “I love Jesus!” as I explained God forgave us by what Jesus had done to take away our sins and his imputed righteousness. “In the Catholic Church you have to ask for forgiveness,” she said. I said, that was right and then explained how we receive Jesus buy faith. “Oh it’s just faith,” she said. And I said yes, in what Jesus had done for her.  We talked about how love is rules and everyone lives by rules even if they don’t know it. She wanted to be forgiven for her sins when I asked as I finished and I told her there was a prayer she could pray and walked her through it. And she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to her too by the Spirit and gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front and her name and the date. I explained a symbolic view of the mass and  gave her a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ which she liked. “Oh I gotta go!’ she said suddenly looking at her phone and quickly gathering everything and standing up. But she had said she could probably come to the Bible Study so I said, “See ya later.” She gave me a thumbs up and said, “See ya later, Bye!” and ran off. Later when she came to the study I made sure she understood how we had to trust in Jesus righteousness not our own.

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

Love ya,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking with the Lord. I had to run out the door to pick up Ellen’s car this morning from some repairs. We were sideswiped on the highway when another driver fell asleep a couple weeks ago coming home from a wedding. In my rush I forgot that I’d be going straight to campus and forgot to send out “Going Out”. But God had mercy leading some to pray I know because Kaela prayed with me to receive Jesus and Erik committed to Christ saying he would pray later. He promised and offered to pinky swear that he’d pray, so we did. I think he wanted to run it past his mother who was a Christian but who had never taught him the Gospel. She was from El Salvador and was a Christian he believed. He had a round face and a warm smile, was a bit heavy set dressed in gray sweats he wanted to be an Engineer. I’d asked him to talk before but he did not know the Gospel. I apologized for bothering him again but he was cool about it so I gave him a Bible Promise book and then snuck in some questions until I had gone through everything. He was really interested and said he believed Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead when I was finished so I hope he will pray.

Kaela was sitting in the long row of chairs outside the cafeteria. As I walked out of the eating area I asked another guy who turned me down. She looked up at me, overhearing, and cheerfully said “I’ll do one.” She’s a pretty girl with full features who looked Filipino. Her hair was pulled up over her head with flyaway bangs down to her jaw line. Wearing a grey peasant style blouse under a jacket and light gray jeans she had a pretty flower pendant around her neck the size of a quarter. She dreamed of being a singer and getting a record deal. When I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked her why He should let her into Heaven she said, “Well I haven’t ever done anything really bad. I always go to Church; I try my best to do the right thing all the time.” I asked her what the likelihood was she would go to Heaven and she struggled to put a % on it, “I don’t know,” And said she was pretty sure. “Likely?” I asked. “Very likely” she replied. She was really expressive through the hearing of the Gospel and knew Jesus had died to take away our sins. Another strange girl walked up trying to interrupt at least 3 times, between walking off and talking on the phone. I had talked to her before and she was vitriolic, and I dodged around it disarming her a bit. But I could tell other forces were trying to use her distract Kaela. But Kaela was so enthusiastic about what she was hearing she just ignored the sarcasm, and the girl, who she knew, and kept listening. She loved word pictures and I used a few explaining things and she thought they were great. The other girl walked up the first time and said rhetorically (after I explained the death of Jesus and His blood cleansing us) “So you just kill someone and you are forgiven.” “Yep that’s it.” I replied dismissively without looking at her since I had explained the gospel to her a few weeks back I felt no need to take her remark seriously. And I just keep talking as she hovered and Kaela never made eye contact. As I explained Jesus imputed righteousness Kaela said, “This is so great. I love this!” The girl took a phone call, I had silently prayed for God to bind her. I asked Kaela if she would want to be forgiven or thought something else and she said she would definitely want to be forgiven. “Well it doesn’t seem like you had a chance to put all this together before right?” She agreed. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and walked her through it. The antagonist returned looking for an opening but seeing none walked off again to talk on her phone. “I would pray this every day!” Kaela exclaimed. I said if she wanted to she could pray it silently now and God would hear her. It turned out the other girl was waiting for a ride and at first I thought she was waiting for them to go to class together. Kaela enthusiastically took the booklet and began to pray. The other girl walked up again and interrupted Kaela and she paused and said, “I’m praying,” to silence her. The girl spoke again and I looked up at her and put my finger over my lips and shushed her. She shut up then and Kaela finished. I gave her a Bible Study on Hope and one on the deity of Christ and got her email. I offered her a book and she said, “Oh I get a book,” thrilled. I wrote “By the Spirit’s Power” her name and the date and “Forgiven” on the inside of 20 Things God Can’t Do and she thought that was great. The other girl interrupted again and asked her to call her leaving for her ride and Kaela agreed to get rid of her. I explained a symbolic view of the mass and said when she took it she could simply say, “thank you”, as it was to remind her Jesus had died and so she was forgiven. “I always say that,” she said. She was happy and thanked me several times and I got up to go saying good bye. I thought I should also give her a Bible Promise book then and walked back offering it to her, “Oh I get more!” she said happily. So I wrote her name in that and headed off. She was the most enthusiastic person I’ve talked to all year. Please pray God protects her from the Spirit in the other girl, she was strange.

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

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

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

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

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

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

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

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and you are warm and dry. I had a good day on campus and Flora and James each prayed with me to receive Christ.

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

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

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

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

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

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your week was blessed and you have some joy looking forward to the weekend. I’ll be in the wedding of a friend who I met in college ministry when he was a student. Joy & grace abounds. Cameron and Lupita each prayed to receive Christ Thursday, so much for your prayers.

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

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

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

In Him,

Bob