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

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

How’s the life? Hope you were blessed today. Sunny day today in Wheaton and I went for a brief ride, winter is coming but it was still harvest today and  Jesse and  Kyle prayed with me to receive Jesus also Patricia* (an African American girl with long two tone braids, dark with wide features, cute kid) committed to Christ but had to run to class. She began by asking me about Buddhism for her world religions class for a paper and I explained it in light of Christianity, which took too long but helped he see the lie of it. Her friend from class walked up and she had to go, not having time to pray as I finished the Gospel. But I hope to see her again to check since she was sitting outside the cafeteria and her class was right down the hall so maybe I can catch her next week.

Jesse was sitting on an overstuffed chair in the big lounge by Starbucks where we have our Bible study on Tuesday, so I sat at his feet on the floor. He was not a very big guy he had brown straight hair and was wearing grey sweats and a dark blue-grey short sleeved shirt. He look Latino, had a nice smile, though I did not see it until the end. When I asked him what he would say to God if asked why He should let him into Heaven he said, “Hmm,” for just a second and then spit out “It’s up to you,” like someone remembering an answer they had been told. I asked him what the likelihood was he would go to Heaven and he said, “I have no idea.” He attended a Roman Catholic Church in Elmhurst. He was really quiet. But though he was nearly completely unresponsive he was listening and undistracted by the occasional outburst of racket that went on in the lounge. I told myself God would be doing the work and just kept going through the Gospel. When I asked him how God had taken away his sins he kind of mumbled some stuff and I said, “He dies for you” and that seemed to sound familiar. As I finished the gospel I asked him if he would want to be forgiven or if he thought something else and then said to clarify, “When you have asked for forgiveness did you just think God was merciful and you’d try to do better or were you thinking ‘I know I’ll be forgiven because Jesus died for me.’ So were you trusting in Jesus or you just didn’t know.” “I didn’t know,” he replied. So I explained that if he wanted to receive God’s forgiveness trusting in what Jesus had done for him there was a prayer he could pray and I read it through with a bit of explanation. “Lord Jesus I want to know you personally. (so I want you to live inside me). Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive you as my Savior and my Lord. (or my 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.” Then I read the line, “Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?” He said “Yeah,” shaking his head affirmatively. So I said he could pray it silently and be forgiven and God would live inside him and he said “Alright,” and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus and when I saw him making the sign of the cross out of the corner of my eye I knew he was finished. I told him he could kept booklet and explained the Christian life. He did not want a Bible but I gave him a Bible Study and explained the Christian life by living the Power of the Spirit, writing that and his name and “forgiven” in the front of 20 Things God Can’t Do. I shook his hand and he said, “Thank you,” as I did and I said I would keep him in my prayers each night until this spring and then for one year after. “Thank you so much,” he replied and he got a big smile on his face for the first time and I headed out.

Kyle had a very thin mustache he was trying out, dark brown hair parted on the side with an occasional freckle or birthmark on his neck on the side of him I sat by. He had a sharp nose and chin and fair skin. When I first passed him he was clutching his phone and holding it close to his face. His posture and cock of his head somehow looked like he might be one of the students talking special needs classes at school. That doesn’t matter to me I’ll talk to anyone, though most of the time those kids don’t want to talk with me if they are really focused on something. If I see them they are usually by the cafeteria doors. He was in the ground floor hall just down from the back doors that empty out to the outside amphitheater. I felt really wiped out and it is often a challenge to communicate with some of those students. I walked past him and he did not look up so I kept walking. But I felt like I should try talk to him so after walking down the hall I turned to go back and ask him if he’d do a student survey. And he put the phone he’d been playing a game on away instantly to talk. I realized he was not special needs but had eye problems. I think he had Horizontal Nystagmus which is sometimes called “dancing eyes”. It is a condition that causes involuntary, rapid movement of one or both eyes back and oath from side to side. He had this in both eyes and it appeared like he was watching a tennis match on fast forward on a TV screen at times. Nystagmus often occurs with vision problems, including blurriness, I think he had that too because he occasionally leaned forward to read a verse I was reading to him, close to the words and would explain the way he’d been looking at the game on his phone. He was wearing black nylon sweats that zipped at the ankle and a black and white vertical striped cardigan that zipped up over a white T-shirt. His black slip on shoes zipped up. He was articulate in his responses to the questions. When I asked him what he would say to God if asked why he should be let into Heaven he said, “”Hmm,” and then as if reading a quote, “No man is without their flaws, I have mine but that is what makes us who we are.” I replied that I agreed that that was true but I did not think it would get him into Heaven. “Worth a shot,” he said as a verbal shrug so I asked what the likelihood was he would go to Heaven when he died. He thought 60% 40% and I said, “60+?” “Something like that, yeah,” he replied. He had gone to Church every Saturday (being Roman Catholic) until he was 14 or so and had been through CCD. He listened to the Gospel remarking interest and ascent here and there and knew Jesus had sacrificed Himself to pay for our sins. When I asked him if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done so He could live inside him or if he thought something else he said, “Probably the former.” So I said, “Do you believe Jesus is God He died for your sins and rose from the dead.” “Yeah, it makes sense,” he replied after thinking a moment. So I said if he would want to place his trust in that to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and after walking him through it he agreed it was the “desire of his heart” and prayed to receive Jesus. I got his email and gave him a Bible Study and 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and “forgiven” and “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front. I explained the Christian life living “Inside Out”. “Nice to meet ya,” I said getting up to go. “Nice to meet you too,” he replied and I headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed. I had a good day of work on campus, Colin and DJ prayed with me to receive Jesus and Stephanie who told me she would pray later at the book table (August 29) told me today she had prayed to receive Jesus today. I was sure she had received Jesus by her testimony but it is always great to hear someone has prayed. “I feel so good,” she told me with a smile. So that was really great. (I put her story at the bottom).

I came across Colin in the PE building lounge upstairs by the workout area. He had a mop of blonde wavy hair going everywhere, a bit unshaven good-looking guy with pronounced cheeks (Kinda like Dudley Do-right without the chin). He wore a black short sleeve shirt with a baseball emblem on the left side and tan cargo shorts. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said. “I feel as though throughout my life I’ve tried to help people, put other people before me, tried to help them make decisions.” He thought he had a 70% chance of going to Heaven. He came from a Roman Catholic background and he knew Jesus had died to take away his sins. So I explained how the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin so God can live inside us and that His righteousness is ours and we are wrapped in it. I explained how your good stuff couldn’t fix your bad stuff and your bad stuff was still out there kicking people around but that God says He’ll turn our bad things into good things in Romans 8:28. I asked him he felt like he had been trusting in Christ for the forgiveness of his sins. I said I knew he knew the story but sometimes when you grow up in the Church you are cool with everything and just kind of along for the ride. Did he think as an adult he had told God he was trusting in what Jesus had done for him to be forgiven? He said he was, “Not sure,” kind of “Between”. Like you knew the story but had not really thought about it and he agreed. So I showed him the prayer where he could receive forgiveness mentioning the Mass was symbolic of all that and that he was forgiven by the death of Jesus. After I read through the prayer I said he could start trusting in what Jesus had done for him and God could live in him by faith. I said he could pray it silently and would he like to, “Yeah sure.” he said. And he prayed to receive Jesus making the sign of the cross as he finished. He didn’t have a Bible so I gave him one (I showed him the “where to turn” section in the back) explaining some of the books that taught you prayed for the dead and could buy your way out of Heaven were not in it from back in Catholic History and he thought that would be fine. I put his name and the date in it and “forgiven” under it. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do and wrote “By the Spirit’s Power” in it and explained living inside out and the fruit of the Spirit. I gave him a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ. We shook hands and he said, “Thanks.” and I said I would keep him in my prayers and he said, “Appreciate it.”

I headed out to my truck to get another Bible and came back in and talked in the MAC lounge to one of the counter cultural guys I chat up sometimes Lukas, he’s a trip. Coming down the hall into the BIC from there DJ was sitting alone on a chair in a line of them. He had a hoodie on and Jeans tucked into black boots. He seems a shade foreign it turned out his family was from Greece. His hair was brown and short on the sides one the ears, receding a bit on the temples and he had the top pulled up into a slight wedge as some do these days. Had a round-tip nose, kind, young face. When I asked him what he would say to God if asked why He should let him into Heaven he said, “Because through all the bad things I might have done my intentions were always good.” He thought he had a 50% chance of going to heaven. I asked if he ever went to Church and he said, “It’s been a long time.” He did not know what Jesus had done to take away his sins. So I explained the Gospel to him and all that Jesus had done and asked him if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins and he said he did. So I said, “Do you believe Jesus is God he died for your sins and rose from the dead?” He thought for a bit and then said, “I do.” I said that if he wanted to place his trust in that there was a prayer he could pray to receive God’s forgiveness and after reading it through with him I said he could pray it like I wasn’t even there, would he wanna do it. “Yeah,” he replied and he prayed to receive Jesus. He didn’t have his own Bible so I gave him one (grateful I had felt the need to go back to the truck, I parked close). I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front and showed him the “Where to Turn” section in the front and the book of John to start to read. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “by the Spirit’s power” in the front. I gave him a card for Compass church to check out their web site and listen to some sermons. I explained living by the Spirit’s power telling him everything God was asking him to do God would give him the power to do, living inside him. I gave him a Bible study and he thanked me and we shook hands and he thanked me again and I told him I would keep him in my prayers.

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

In Him,

Bob

PS.

Stephanie story from August 29.

I was talking to an older student who I used to know from Africa, Mariah who had just finished up at Southern in Physical therapy. She was visiting school and dropped by to ask for a prayer request that she would pass her boards (please pray she does) and say hi. She paused our conversation over her prayer request as Stephanie had picked up  Evolution the Lie and was looking at 20 Things God Can’t Do. Mariah said to her, “I know I saw that too.” I used the break to explain the book a bit and then asked her if she wanted to answer a question. She agreed and I asked her if she died and stood before God what would she say to get into Heaven. She did not know but said I could tell her what the Bible said. I went through the Gospel with her having to blow off Mariah but she understood. Stephanie was a slight tiny girl , a pointed chin small face, cute with glasses and long light brown hair, several inches past her shoulders. She was wearing one of the balloon hats they were making for students on clubs and activities day. I made sure I didn’t rush since she was so hard to read, very quiet and reserved. She had a mostly pink multi colored shirt on with some white and blue. She wore a couple necklaces. She knew Jesus had died to take away her sin but had seemed to be hoping she would be good enough. She was attentive but did not say anything as I explained the Gospel to her. She said she went to a Roman Catholic Church. When I asked her if she would want to be forgiven for her sins she looked up at me in the eyes and nodded. So having finished the Gospel I walked her through the prayer and read, “It says here: Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? So would you say that it did, she nodded again and I said if she wanted she could pray and ask God to forgive her trusting in what Jesus had done to pay for her sins on the cross and His Spirit would live inside her.. She said she would pray it later when she was alone. I explained living buy the Spirit’s Power inside out. I gave her a copy of 20 Things God Can’t Do and wrote her name and “By the Spirit’s Power” explaining how everything God was asking her to do He would give her the power to do. I explained a symbolic view of the Mass as remembering Jesus had died for her sins and she was forgiven and when she took it she could just say, “thank you”. I think she also took a Rose publication hand out called “Following Jesus” she had some other things in her hands. I also gave her a Bible study. I apologized for taking so long and she said “No I needed this.” So I said something like, Do you believe Jesus is God he died for your sins and rose from the Dead and do you trust in that to take away your sins and bring you to heaven? And she said she did. So I said all that is left then is for you to pray and tell that to God. She was grateful. I put her balloon hat back on her head for her she’d left on the table to straighten her hair as she’d almost forgot it and she headed out. So that was great