Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with good things. One guy Alexis prayed to receive Jesus so that was great. However I had a slow day on campus. I had a some time talking with some peeps I knew already. But otherwise only 2 students would talk about God with me for about 3 hours of walking around, and both were Christians. One I kind of gave a lesson to about sharing her faith. The other was a more mature Christian, Peter, looked in his early 20’s and had come solidly to Jesus about a year before out of agnosticism. So that kind of lifted my heart chatting him up. I left him at about 10 after 3 having gotten a late start, Wednesday is tough.  (Tuesdays are a long day with Bible study.) So I figured I’d head out but had a bit of a strange second wind (after which a day of 20 or so replies of “Not interested” were lifted). I came across Alexis siting on the edge of a lounge in the BIC.

Alexis had a black ball cap on with a green frog on it wore a button up the front mostly black shirt with some pattern on it and jeans. He looked Latino, smaller in stature friendly boyish face clean shaven good looking kid. He went to a nondenominational church it turned out. I’d thought he was Roman Catholic as when I asked him what he would say if God asked him why He should let him into Heaven he said, “I’m baptized… right now I’m truly serving to expand his kingdom. I’ll just wait for my judgement.” He thought he had about a 60% chance of going to Heaven. So I began to go through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died to take away his sins. I explained the imputed righteousness of Christ and that he didn’t go to Heaven because he was good but because Jesus was good and he was connected to Him. “So I hate to say it but what you said here is wrong,” I said pointing at his response. He acknowledged that it was good-naturedly and I thought it would be a conversation that ended refocusing him on Christ’s work. A lot of Churches fail to teach the Christian life is only possible walking by the Spirit. So many feel they are saved by Grace but stay saved by works. I asked him if he was one of two circles where where He’d trusted in Christ to be forgiven and He was on the throne or the drivers seat of his life or thought something else. He said he’d want to be forgiven. But as we talked more he talked about “not being there yet”, there was “more he had to do”. I explained that the Bible talked about 3 different ways of being saved, one was from harms in this life and obedience would save you some from that, one was ultimate salvation in Heaven and one was the process of sanctification (where we are becoming more like Christ). I explained living inside out by the Spirit. He said he wanted to be in control to achieve the things he wanted to achieve. “I’d just say in response then that being in control is not the way to achieve what you really want,” I replied. I gave him some word pictures about God doing the work, quoting, ‘We are His workmanship created for good works that He has prepared beforehand that we might walk in them.” He only needed to do what God was asking him to do and He would give him the power to do what that was–he wanted to have his own family and have”lots of kids”. I walked him through the prayer and said that he needed to ask God by the power of His Spirit to live the Christian life. I showed him some sections in 20 Things God Can’t Do. The 4th one is that you must forgive others to be forgiven by God but that is impossible sometimes when someone has really hurt you without asking God to give you a Spirit of forgiveness. The 13th I showed him also was “God can’t withhold his guidance when you trust in Him”. “But what if you are having a hard time trusting God? Ask Him to give you more trust.” I said that if he hadn’t done so he needed to trust in Christ to be forgiven for His sins, then the Holy Spirit could live inside him and give him the power to live the Christian life. “Everyone has a relationship with God as their creator but not everyone is in a relationship with God where He is there savior and lives inside them,” I said. He felt he still needed to do that (having been trying to earn it) and prayed to receive Christ. I gave him a Bible study and Bible Promises for You book. He seemed relieved. I wrote his name and the date he’d been forgiven in the front of 20 Things God Can’t Do and “by the Spirit’s Power”. I explained that now the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100% now that he was trusting in the righteousness of Christ to be his righteousness. We both got up to leave. He said there was just so much he had to do in his life and for his family and he was feeling the crush of it all. I encouraged him to ask God for His strength and let His power carry him to do his best and after that it would be enough. We parted at the stairs and I told him I would be praying for him having got his email. He thanked me 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 Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed, pretty warm here when the sun was out, almost 60 but when you are sitting in the overcast preaching the gospel to a guy it gets cold in the breeze. Cole prayed to receive Jesus today–outside, so that’s why the fall has been warm if you were wondering. And I bumped into Larry (who said he said his prayers at night and would pray then, when I went through the Gospel with him on September 21st) and he said he had prayed to receive Christ too so that was great.

I went out the northeast most doors of the BIC building having a flannel shirt on I kidded myself I could dash across the sidewalks to the MAC Arts Building without a coat. Then I saw Cole sitting looking at his phone next to his gallon jug of water (turned out he was very health-conscious about water much like Ellen and I). He had on polyester workout pants and zip up jacket (Under Armour) with a shinny shirt under it. Big, thick guy, same height as me. He had a backpack and was sitting looking at a phone in a slice of the sun between the building and the stone wall he sat on. I asked him if he wanted to do a student survey and (when he said yes) hoped the sun would stay out and it would be quick. Neither happened. He had dark blonde hair with an occasional strand of light blonde here and there like he’d recently cut off the summer bleach, a days growth of beard, oval face, pink from the cold. He went to a nondenominational church but could not remember the name, “I just remember how to get there,” he said. Churches have such strange names now-a-days I think he can be forgiven for it. Possibly it was named after a tree or a directional tool for navigation. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I would say… Because I’ve given all of myself to Him.” He thought he had about a 50% chance of going to Heaven.” I began to go through the Gospel with him and he tuned right in listening and saying, “OK” here and there. When I asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sin he honestly didn’t know. “Well, this is how it works,” I said and explained the atonement and resurrection and imputed righteousness of Christ. I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins with God living inside him and he did. So I said, “Well it doesn’t seem like you have put all this together before and he agreed he had not. So I said he could ask for God to forgive him based on what Jesus had done and walked him through the prayer asking if it was the desire of his heart and and he said, “Yeah.” Then saying he could pray right there silently and God would hear his thoughts, “Wanna do it?””Definitely.”  he replied. and he took a bit of time reading it then looking away from the booklet to pray. Finishing I gave him a Bible study and some stuff. I’d explained living “inside out” already and he took 20 Things God Can’t Do and I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” under it in the front and also, “By the teaching of the Bible by the Spirit’s Power” I gave him a Bible study and “Bible Promises for hope and courage”. He began talking about how it had been a really hard week and last night he’d been praying for guidance and then said, “I was sitting here in the sun and you just walked up to talk to me about God.” He began to tear up and wiped them away several times, “Yeah it’s really powerful,” he said. As we talked some more, we were into some of the same political theories and I got his email to send him some verses and gave him this one Christian guy’s website for alternative news. It turned out he did not have a hard copy of the Bible but intended to buy one so I said I’d give him one (having failed to ask already). I wrote his name in the front and the date and showed him the “Where to Turn” section.  We ended with him even getting a bit cold but in bright spirits and Heading for the MAC. I headed back into the BIC to warm up, never getting past the wall we sat on. So that was really great.

So Thanks so much 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 Monday was blessed and you enjoyed the unseasonably warm air in IL and elsewhere, they are bracing for sub freezing temps and snow in England, so I’m grateful to live here. Andrew prayed with me to receive Jesus today, He was a nice guy sitting on the third floor overlooking the SSC Lounge where we have Bible Study on Tuesdays. His eyes swept me off and on like he was reading a 5 foot sign I held up against my face, so it was hard to tell if he was listening.  But it turned out he was and wasn’t bothered at all. He wore a red hoodie and khakis had a curly sandy head of hair with a beard trying to come in semi-uniformly. Regular looking guy nice features. When I asked him what he would say to to God to get into heaven he said,”Because I’m forgiven.” He thought he had a 90% chance of going to Heaven. He hadn’t been to the Catholic Church he’d grown up in in a while in Winfield near where I’d grown up. He knew Jesus had sacrificed Himself to forgive sin. After I had explained the gospel and imputed righteousness of Christ, I asked if he wanted to be forgiven and he said he did. So I asked something like if he was trusting in what Christ had done for him on the cross or if he’d though God was cool and would forgiven him because He was magnanimous. “The second one,” he replied. So I said if he wanted to trust in what Jesus had done for him on the cross to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I walked him through it asking if it was the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he replied so I said he could pray it silently right then and he took the booklet looked at me and said, “Thanks.” and prayed to receive Jesus. I gave him a Bible since he did not have one putting his name the date and “forgiven” under it. I showed him the “Where to Turn” section in the back. I also gave him a Bible Study and 20 Thing God Can’t Do writing “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front and explained living the Christian life “Inside Out”. I gave him a symbolic view of the Mass saying when he took it if he went back to church at Christmas he could remember Jesus had died for him so he was forgiven and say “Thank You”. I explained  that if he was  trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. “Thanks a lot.” he said as I got up to leave and I said he was welcome and headed out.

I got some other seeds planted as well giving an atheist Olivia sitting with her Christian friend Leah I’d spoken to before the student edition of The Case for a Creator. I gave a Rose Publication hand out “Bible Promises for Hope and Courage” to a shy girl who thought she’d think about praying to receive Christ later alone, she had nominal belief though. Julia was from a catholic home so I was hopeful when we parted, really tough to read her [Julia] though.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are feeling grateful for the blessings you had this past year and for the Grace He gave through suffering you had to bear. I had a good day on campus on Tuesday and Tom prayed with me to receive Christ. An agnostic Chad took The Case for a Creator and the Rose Publication, “Why Trust the Bible” from me to read and seemed earnest in his desire to believe, long face nice features had his hoodie up the entire time we spoke sitting in the MAC by the elevators.

Tom was sitting in the PE lounge upstairs where you enter the workout area. He was dressed like and had the build of a distance runner. Long mop of curly hair parted down the middle almost to his shoulders, he had a broader nose, fair skinned good looking Latino guy, had a faded red hoodie on and a gray jacked and sweats narrow at the ankles, gray running shoes. He was kind and used my first name when he replied to me or addressed me, seemed like a sensitive soul. He said his family had recently stopped going to Catholic Church, he didn’t directly say the issue but that they had gone because his mom wanted to go, now she didn’t go. I thought at first that meant something for him but it wasn’t his issue but hers. When I asked him why God should let him into Heaven he said, “I feel like I haven’t done something so terrible that I would not be let into Heaven,” I’ve gotten that kind of response a few times, it seems more often this year for whatever reason. Almost like Heaven is a border crossing, if you are not a felon or wanted for anything serious they let you cross. You don’t even have to do anything good, just not be real bad. Secret of success: Low Standards. He said he thought he had a 65-70% chance of getting into Heaven. I went through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died for his sins. He listened to everything I said engagingly. He seemed to accept everything I said and so I offered him the possibility of being forgiven for his sins trusting in the work of Christ on the Cross and His blood to cleanse him. “So would you want to be forgiven for your sins or do you think something else?” I asked. “Oh are you asking me?” he seemed lost in listening a bit. “Yeah that’s the last question,” I replied. “Yeah, sure why not?” “Do you believe Jesus is God died for your sins and rose from the dead?” I asked. He thought for a moment and said he did so I said, “Would you want to trust in that to be forgiven?” He responded almost as if I was asking the same question and said emphatically, “Yes.” So I walked him through the prayer and asked if he would want to pray silently in his heart asking for forgiveness and for God to live inside him. “I’ll do that right now,” he replied and took the booklet to pray and did. He expressed he wanted to keep the booklet so I said he could keep it (I always leave it with students.), He did not have a Bible so I gave him one. “How many books do you carry with you, giving people Bibles..” he asked. I said there were a couple more I’d give him and I pulled out Pocket Prayers explaining it shows how to pray referring to a Bible verse, I showed him the “Where to Turn’ index in the Bible and I wrote his name on the Presentation page and the Date he’d been forgiven. I also gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “By the Spirit’s power” in the front and explained the Christian Life walking by the Spirit. Then that the likelihood he would go to Heaven, if he was trusting in the Righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness, was 100%. He thanked me a few times, I told him I’d pray for him and he gave me his email. “Thanks very much for the talk Bob,” he said shaking my hand. I said he was welcome and got up and thanked him for being cool in talking with me and he said sure and I headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Hope your day was blessed we had some mild weather for this time of year so a spent a 3 hours doing yard work until an hour or so after dark, wish night didn’t come so early. But I had a good day of work on campus bring some light there and Frank and Mathew each prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Frank was sitting in the hall leading out of the cafeteria against the steps. He looked like a young W.C. Fields might look. in his features, mop of blonde hair, smattering of facial hair trying to come in, a self described nerd, sweet guy wearing tan pants and a shirt. He was in some sadness and seemed very serious. He is the first guy ever to list a computer game achievement “level up every piece of gear in Warfare” when I asked him one thing he wanted to do before he died. When I asked him what he would say to get into Heaven he had a lot to say, “That’s a very good question, umm… It’s ironic, well It’s coincidental that you asked that, I been thinking about that for a while, been in a rocky point regarding my relationship with God. I’ve been angry about that, that’s the reason I don’t have an answer because of the way I feel. I didn’t know if I deserved to go to Heaven because of my feelings. I know the whole bit about if you receive God in your heart but the way I feel…” Of course you don’t go to Heaven because you “receive God into your heart”. You receive Christ when you believe on His name, His name or reputation is that He is God has died for your sins and rose from the dead, this is His power and the power of His name, it pays for your sin and defeats death. Receive means believe on, but on very specific things. I knew he was feeling some hurt so I silently prayed God would give me the right thing to say but felt I needed to go through the Gospel with him first. He thought he had a 50% chance of going to heaven. He told me later (when I asked him if there was something specific I could pray for him over) about his grandpa.  His Grandfather had taken some falls and had such bad dementia he could not be part of their Holiday times as a family as he was in a care facility. It used to surround around going to his grandparents house. The joy of the holidays seemed spoiled to him with the grief surrounding his grandpa. As I went through the Gospel he knew that Christ had died for sin. Right after I explained His imputed righteousness I told him a word picture I’ve told many times to other students about how I could never solve the Rubic Cube and had a roommate who could do it in 18 seconds. I worked for a while on his pestering to get one side blue, then disregarding my work he began to solve it. I asked if there was anything I’d done? Could he use my done side? And he said no you have to do the whole puzzle all at once. I told him God is running the universe and has a Rubic Cube with billions of squares on every side. We get our little corner of blue and think “I got this” Then God in fixing the world messes up our corner and we ask Him, “Couldn’t you just leave my corner alone the way I wanted it? Why did you have to mess with it? And God says, I am doing the entire puzzle all at once, to understand what I am doing you would have understand the entire cube.” And you’d have to reply, “I could never understand that, I didn’t even get the one I tried back in college.” (Frank had said he didn’t get it either). Then God says, “Yes that’s My point.” “Can I write that down, that really speaks to me?” Frank replied. I said here “I’ll write it” and just wrote God’s Rubic Cube Billion sides and corner of Blue and dong the entire puzzle all at once on the front. I went on to explain how he needed to receive Jesus trusting in Him. He said he would want to be forgiven so I asked, “I know you knew some of this but were you trusting in Christ and that He died for your sins to forgive you or did you just know the story?” “I think I just knew the story,” he replied. So I said he could receive God forgiveness trusting in Jesus by asking and talked him through the prayer, and he prayed to receive Christ. We talked for a while after that (I read him the beginning of 2Cor. about comfort) and I gave him the student edition of The Case for Faith, a Rose pamphlet “Bible Promises for Hope and Courage” I explained the spirit filled life writing “By the Spirit’s Power” the date and his name in the front of 20 Things God Can’t Do. I also explained that, if he was now trusting in Christ’s righteousness to be his, the likelihood he was going to Heaven was 100%. He was going to a Bible study that is Semi-Pelagian in some measure (wiht the Chicago Church of Christ, kind of a cult) so I encouraged him to try a different one, explaining again how all the things we do to please God we can only do by the power of His Spirit. He was Methodist. He was in class during ours so I suggested CRU as it is lead by a Free Church pastor, Nate at COD so they have some good things happening now and meet during the day. We talked for some time. “Thanks I think I really needed to hear this.” He said at the end of our conversation. And I blessed him and headed off.

Mathew was sitting in the same place a couple hours later. He had a perfect beard, looked about 21, smallish guy from India with an reasonably heavy accent to match. Nice looking guy his pretty cousin who he ignored came in during our discussion and took her back pack from between us. Then standing about 10 feet away giving the signal she wanted to go, he ignored her. But I checked and he was unconcerned and wanted to hear all I had to say. In the end I gave him the Student edition of The Case for A Creator asking him to tell her I was sorry, hey it has a pretty cover. He was from a Roman catholic background and thought of himself as helpful and that he really wanted to help others. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he smiled warmly and said, I don’t know. I asked what he thought his church would tell him and he said, “Like you know, doing things to help people, even to your fierce enemies to love them and to help them.” I asked if he thought you went to Heaven by doing helpful things. He agreed somewhat but was unsure. He also thought he had a 50/50% chance of going to Heaven. I’m not sure he knew what Jesus had done to take away his sin, when I asked he just nodded so I went on to finish the Gospel and then to to asked if he wanted to be forgiven with God living inside him or if he thought something else. “I would want God inside me,” he replied. So I explained the prayer he could pray asked if he would like to receive forgiveness trusting in Jesus and what he had done on the cross. “Yeah,” he replied. So I said he could pray it silently in his heart and he said, “OK.” and did. So that was great. I explained that if he trusted in Christ’s Righteousness to he could be 100% sure he would go to heaven. I explained a symbolic view of the Mass too. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do also writing his name, “By the Spirit’s Power” and when he was forgiven and explaining the idea of living “Inside Out” with God giving him power. He gave me his email to send him some stuff and thanked me and I headed out.

I had some other conversations giving Quinton a sandy haired agnostic, in glasses, with a bar piercing through 2 places in the top of his left ear, the student edition of The Case for Christ. I left him in good spirit’s having said he was “Presently Undecided” about Christianity so hopefully the book with help remove some false obstacles. I’ll pray for him for a while.

So thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and for evangelism if you had a chance. God blessed today. There is one day left at school before thanksgiving.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you day was blessed. I had a good day on campus. Hira prayed with me to receive Jesus. Also David a Latino guy took the student edition of The Case for a Creator saying, “I’m kinda confused about religion at the moment. I want to believe there is a God. I might just stick with Roman Catholic that’s what I am.” I encouraged him to ask God for Faith since it was a gift. I also bumped into Justin again who I’ve been praying for since last year and who took Pocket Prayers from my last I saw him after he said he’d enjoyed The Case for a Creator. He is moving in faith no longer believing only in scientific materialism and I gave him two Rose Publications, “100 Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus” and “Why Trust the Bible”. We talked about world events and faith for about 35 minutes today. His brother was at the concert in Las Vegas where nearly 60 were killed, but his brother escaped unharmed. He seems to be very interested in the Truth and brought to a conclusion through the Holy Spirit I hope this will lead to saving faith. So I will continue to pray for him. I told him I had been praying for him since we first spoke and he said he thought, “That’s what got me here.”

Hira was sitting at a counter high table overlooking the MAC lounge. A pretty girl with a tiny diamond in her right nostril, she looked like and was from India in heritage. But she had obviously grown up here from her conversational use. She had fair skin wavy hair, a black and white knit sweater on. She loved Castles and wanted to go to see them in Ireland. She’d sung in a lot of Cathedrals when she was in a Choir. I asked her why God should let her into Heaven and she said thinking at first, “Hmm that’s a great question. Because I’m a good person I guess. We all make mistakes but I’ve tried to learn from them.” Her family was interested in other religions and she seemed like she might have been raised religious as they as a family had visited Churches and Mosques but mentioned going to Temple first. She said they had about 3 Bibles at home. She thought she’d have a 70% chance of going to Heaven. She seemed to enjoy listening to the Gospel and said she would want to be forgiven for her sins when I finished. So I asked if she believed Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. She said she did. So I said if she would want to trust in that God could live inside her and would forgive her by prayer and I talked her through the prayer in the booklet. I offered to her and she prayed to receive Jesus. I explained Christianity was living inside out asking for the Spirit to transform her. I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do and wrote “By the Spirit in the Front” explaining that also giving her a Bible Study. I told her I would keep her in my prayers until a year from Spring. She had to head to class but I hope I’ll get to see her again and possibly give her more materials if I am the person God wants to use in that way. She thanked me and we both 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 Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and you walked with the Lord by the Spirit.  I had a slow day trying to find people to talk for the last hour or so towards the end but the last person I spoke with Liam prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Liam was sitting on the bench of NW corner lounge of the BIC on the ground floor facing the hall. I had just been tied up in a conversation with an older Chinese christian student for 20 minutes or so that kind of seemed to drag on and was headed out for the locker where I stowed my coat. I passed him as I turned the corner, stopped and went back and tried one more request. Liam said he would do a student survey. He wore a red flannel jacket and straight leg jeans had a days growth of beard, shorter hair. Not as tall as me and friendly. He was just waiting for class to begin. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven and he said, “I tried my best.” He had gone to the Lutheran church but stopped going sometime in High School. He thought he had an 80% chance of going to Heaven. When I asked if he knew what the big thing was that Jesus had done to take away his sins he said, “Yeah.” So I’m not sure what he thought i that moment but when people answer vaguely like that I don’t press them. I feel like they sometimes think they ought to know and I don’t want to corner them. It is also possible they misunderstood the question. But I know the Holy Spirit will convict them if they are truly led to Him. I went on to explain the Gospel and he didn’t give any clues as to if he was accepting it. But he listened closely and tracked with everything and I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven and he took the booklet from me and looked at the circles for a moment and seemed to be reading about a life centered on Christ. And then looked at me and said he would want to be forgiven. So I said he’d probably known the story a bit from growing up with it but if he would want to place his trust in what Christ had done there was a prayer he could pray. I talked through it saying he could pray it silently and God would hear his thoughts. I paused and it was almost like he was thinking still and said, “Do what…pray?” I said if he wanted to and he said, “Yeah.” He prayed to receive Jesus then and I told him he could keep the booklet and explained the fruit of the Spirit and living Inside out. He didn’t have a Bible so I gave him one writing his name inside and the date he’d been forgiven. I gave him a Bible Study and 20 Things God Can’t Do and I wrote “By the Spirit” in the front. He got up to leave and shook my hand and said, “Thanks for everything.” I said sure I’d keep him in my prayers and see him in Heaven.

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 today. I had a good day on campus and David [or Dawit as I think he later said his name was in Eritrea] prayed with me to receive Jesus as his savior.  I’ll be going out to teach the students the Good News of Jesus and His sacrificial love for us later today and I’d be grateful for your prayers.

He was sitting in a ground floor lounge on the North side of the BIC. He was wearing Jeans and a jacket and killing time before class. He had a thin build like me and was as dark as I am pale this time of year. He had kind of a rough afro. Nice and friendly his accent was a bit heavy. I was not sure how well he could understand, so I spoke steadily. It turned out that like many where English as a second language speakers he could understand what was spoken better than he could speak it. He seemed to have all the right answers. When I asked him one thing he wanted to do before he died he said, “Serve God.” And as to what he would say to God to get into heaven he did not think long and said, “Because I already accept God, I believe in Jesus, I hope He will let me into Heaven.” “100%” was his response as to the likelihood he would get into heaven. This almost lead to the rookie mistake of assuming he was a Christian breezing through a bit of the booklet and hitting the road with friendly greetings with another believer. But I’ve learned since the first couple years of contact evangelism. Even when people would get the answers wrong and or say they had believe in Jesus I take the opportunity to go through the Gospel with people, I know from experience some realize what I was talking about later after God’s Spirit percolates it in them for a while (when I speak with them after some time has passed). But in David’s case I thought I would just teach him a bit and let him hear the verses in English so he could communicate them, I thought he was redeemed. So though it was close to class time I went pretty slow and he took it all in. But pretty quickly I realized he did not understand the Gospel. I asked what was the big thing Jesus had done to take away his sin and he did not know at all. So I explained the atonement to him and he stopped me just before I could illustrate Christ’s imputed righteousness and said he only had a minute to get to class. So I stopped using illustrations and said it was not enough to believe in Jesus and that He would kindly let him into Heaven, he had to believe Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead and trust in that, this is what it meant to receive Him reading him John 1:12. Then I explained he could be saved by faith, reading Ephesians 2:8.9. He kept listening and said in explanation for why he had not understood and trusted in the Gospel, “I do not read my Bible. I go to church every week but I do not read my Bible.” I said if he wanted to trust in Christ there was a prayer he could pray and I read it through with him explaining as I went. “This is good!” he said as I finished. “Do you want to make this your prayer as you were reading it through with me?””Yes,” he replied. “Amen?” I asked. “Amen!” he replied confidently and with visible joy. It was great. I hurriedly gave him a Bible study and 20 Things God Can’t Do and the booklet I had used some of the verses from. I explained everything God asked him to do He gave him the power to do “By the Spirit” writing that in the front saying, “If God asks you to forgive ask Him for a forgiving spirit, if He asked you to trust Him so He can Guide you ask for more trust.” He smiled and shook his head standing to leave. I had just written his name and the date and “Forgiven” in the front. He very happily thanked me I said he could email me he said OK ran off to his class. I thanked God then that I had decided to go through the Gospel with him and not just leave him a booklet.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and yesterday for evangelism and today if you have a moment. God lead me to another who needed to hear.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you had a blessed day waking with the Lord. I had a good day on campus and Richard and Sal each prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Richard was sitting just inside the corner lounge in what is effectively the NW corner of the BIC building on what is the ground floor on the North (the south side goes another floor down). He looked like James Franco with dark brown hair swept back, kind of classic features. He said he wanted to have kids, which is always a good sign a guy will be sympathetic to the Gospel. He wore a light colored zippered neck pull over fleece and tan colored skinny leg pants. Not a very big guy. He said he went to church maybe once a month and “All the holidays”. When I asked him what he would say to God if He asked why He should let him into Heaven he paused for a moment thinking like the question kind of threw him and said, “I mean… I’ve always tried to live my life according to God’s will so…” He thought he had a 70-80 % chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with him saying God loved him and wanted to transfuse His Spirit into Him but had to take away his sin first, I asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sin. “Breaking the bread?” He guessed. So I explained a symbolic view of the mass, saying that he could use that time to be grateful. I said that represented what Jesus had done and began to explain Jesus had died for him and His righteousness could be a gift of God to him when he was adopted. He wanted to be forgiven and believed so I said he could trust in what Christ had done and pray. I asked if he wanted to do that and he shook his head (yes) with a frank look I handed him the prayer and he prayed to receive Christ. I gave him a Bible study and 20 Things God Can’t Do and explained all the power he needed to live the Christian life was had by the Holy Spirit living in him. I wrote “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front of the book and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” under it. I explained that if he was trusting in Christ’s righteousness to be his the likelihood he would go to heaven was 100%. He gave me his email to send him some stuff and brightly said, “Alright, thank you,” shaking my hand. I told him I would be praying for him and he thanked me again and I headed off.

Sal was sitting in the hall of the science building facing the North waiting for class to start. He wore jeans and black rubber one strap sandals with black socks and a white nylon pullover hooded jacket. He had sandy blonde swept back hair and a couple days growth of beard, kind of an old school wrestler look to his features, tough looking. But that wasn’t him at all he had a folksy voice and used some of the “country” verbiage. He wanted to buy his mom a house. When I asked him why God should let him into Heaven he said “I don’t know… I was a good person… I don’t know.” He said he’d never gone to church at all but had gone to a youth group once a week, “mostly for the games”. I asked him how likely it was he was going to Heaven and he said, “100% doesn’t everyone that believes in God go to Heaven?” “It depends what you believe about God.” I pointed out, saying the Bible says demons believed and they tremble and they are not going to Heaven. That gave him something to think about for a moment. He was smart and half a step ahead of my explanations processing the conclusion early after that as I began to go through the Gospel. He didn’t remember anything about the forgiveness of sins so I bean to explain the atonement and he said, “Oh is this the blood of Jesus thing?” I said it was and explained how, after dying for his sins, Christ’s blood became a power in the world that cleansed him from his sin and then that Jesus had earned the righteousness of God and it could be given to him. I finished and explained the option of being forgiven by trusting in Jesus or believing something else. He did not take it as a question so I asked if he thought he believed that Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead, he hesitated kind of discovering that he did believe that and then saying he did. I asked if he would want to trust in that he could pray, and walked him through a prayer. He said he felt it wouldn’t be authentic since they were not his words so I suggested he could take the ideas and pray them in his own words and he said, “I don’t really know how to pray, do I just think it?” I said that would work. He accepted that and read and then closed his eyes and prayed a couple times. I gave him a Bible showing him the “Where to Turn” section which he liked, saying, “I never saw a Bible like that.” I wrote his name on the presentation page and the date and “forgiven” beneath it. I explained walking in the Spirit to him gave him a Bible study and 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “By the Spirit’s power” in the front. He gave me his email to get some more verses and I began to get up to leave and he said “Thank you bob I appreciate it.” shaking my hand. I told him I’d pray for him and see him in Heaven and he said. “Alright have a good day” I said, “Thanks you too. I walked out of sight and wrote down a couple notes and then remembered what he’d said about not really knowing how to pray and walked back to give him Pocket Prayers by Lucado. He flipped through it right away and thanked me and I said, “Sure.” And I headed back down the hall.

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 getting hunkered down for the colder weather unless it is always warm by you and then you are remembering us and our cold feet in prayer. I had a good day on campus and Destini prayed with me to receive Jesus.

She was sitting by the doors exiting the south side of the BIC building wearing a hooded sweatshirt and jeans looking at her computer, her brown hair was pulled straight back into a pony tail. She has a sweet kind round face, cute kid. She said she’d do a student survey. When I asked her if she died what she would say to God to get into Heaven she gave a bit of an expression of surprise and said, “I don’t know what I’d say, I don’t really know if I’m deserving… It’s up to him so, yeah.” She thought she had a 40% chance of going to Heaven. She’d gone to Catholic Church every week when she was younger and some kind of youth group each Wednesday. She listened closely to the Gospel and when I asked her if she’d want to be forgiven she said, “I’ve always kind of been on the fence.” She believed Jesus was God and had died for her sins she said but she had doubts. I told her faith was a gift from God showing her the verse again and said she could ask for more faith from God. We talked more about faith for a bit and I walked her through the prayer and talked about how God would give her the strength to live the Christian life. Asking her if it was the desire of her heart, she said it was. So I said she could pray it silently in her heart so only God would hear and He would forgive her and live inside her. “So what do you think, wanna do it?” “Yeah,” she said and laughed and took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. I explained living by the Spirit’s power where God gives her all the strength she needs to live the Christian life living “Inside Out” and told her a story I made up to illustrate it about selling fire alarms. I gave her a Bible Study and the book 20 Things God Can’t Do and write her name and the date and “Forgiven” under it. I explained anything the book suggested she needed to do she could simply ask God to help her to do, if it said God would give her guidance if she’d only trust Him, but she thought, “Great but I am having a hard time trusting him.” She could simply ask God to give her more trust. She took a Bible study too. She had her own Bible so I showed her the 100 Bible verses good to know in the back of the book saying she could look them up in her own version if she wanted. Then I gave her Bible Promises for You and she really likes that saying “This will really be good thanks.” “God bless you Destini,” I said getting up to leave. “Thank you so much,” she replied happily.

I also had a long talk for about an hour with a girl, Sydney, who was 6 feet tall and played softball. Pretty girl with dark hair wearing a pullover jacket and leggings. She’d said she was not sure there was a God and was not religious at all and had never been to Church. I answered a lot of questions for her and refereed her to a book for Alfa females and gave her a Rose Pamphlet “100 prophecies fulfilled by Jesus”.  I left her on good terms and I believe God had gotten her thinking. She’d had some real struggles and had experienced some unkindness for Christians. So I’ll be praying for her.

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

In Him,

Bob