Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed.  I had a great day walking with the Lord. Stephanie, Lexy and Blexendi Each prayed with me to receive Jesus today at school.

Stephanie was sitting on a bench with some time before class and was happy to do a student survey, she went to St. Mary’s Church. She looked Latina, pretty had kinda square framed glasses and sharp features, long brown hair past her shoulders. She wore a white knit sweater and a jacket, warm smile. When I asked her what she would say to God if asked why He should let her into heaven she said, “I’ve always tried to follow God, when I had times of doubt I would… do my best. She thought she had about a 60% chance of going to heaven.  We had a nice talk since she wanted to go to Australia and I went there once, she wanted to swim with jellyfish on an Island called Palou. Ginger Zee Travels to Palau’s Jellyfish Lake

I almost ran out of time before her class talking too long bout travel things. i finally got back to the Gospel. I explained how God lived inside her by talking away her sins making her His type. So He died for her and poured out His blood, that poured out His life on the World (giving us life by His Spirit 1Corinthians 15:45) and He made life all the places we made death, ‘There is death inside us from our sin so the bible says the Blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin, it turns death into life. So now you are alive inside and you match God and God can live in you.” She said, “Wow, I have been going to church my whole life and I never understood this and you just explained it in 10 minutes.” I went on to tell her about the imputed righteousness of Christ. Then she said she had to get to class since she had a test to take.  So I quickly explained a few more verses about receiving Jesus by faith and she said she wanted to be forgiven for her sins and I offered her a prayer and she prayed it to receive Jesus.  I gave her the booklet quickly explaining living “inside out” buy the power of the spirit and Zwingli’s view of the symbolic mass, remembering when she took it she was forgiven because Jesus had died for her, which she liked.  She seemed kind of happily taken aback by what she had learned. I explained that if she was trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be her righteousness she could know that she would go to heaven, 100% [Philippians 3:9 ]. I gave her the book Pocket Prayers, Bible Promises for You and a Bible Study and encouraged her if she wanted another one to email me. She shook my hand as she stood up to go and warmly said, “Thank you.” Then ran to class.

Lexy was sitting in the Mac Arts building, she seemed to be studying looking at some flash cards but I chatted up a Christian girl I knew for a bit and then took in the Gallery display. She was sitting idly then as I walked out of the gallery so I asked her if she wanted to do a survey. She had 10 minutes or so and agreed to talk. I made sure to stay on point and get through all the verses. She described herself as “Artsy” and she looked it, she had on yoga pants with a colorful pattern on them and Ugg boots, light sandy hair kind of a diamond shaped face, pretty girl, seemed shy. She had gone to Catholic school but did not go to church lately and was sure she was going to heaven. When I asked her what she would say if God asked her why He should let her into heaven she said, “‘Cause I’ve been looking out for people, I never lost sight of that.” “Love your neighbor,” I replied. “Yeah,” she said. “Jesus said that” I responded. I began to teach her the Gospel and she responded with short words of affirmation all through it like “wow”. She knew Christ had died but had not trusted in Him to be forgiven. So I explained how she could pray a prayer accepting God’s forgiveness and thanking Him for dying on the cross to forgive her and give her eternal life. I asked her if she would want to pray to be forgiven and she said, “Yeah… for sure.” and she prayed to receive Christ. I gave her the book 20 Things God Can’t Do writing her name, the date and “By the Spirit” having explained the Christian life living “Inside out” transformed on the inside by His Power to live. I gave her the book Pocket Prayers and a Bible Study she liked.  I told her I would keep her in my prayers each night through the spring and then for a year after and she said, “Thank you that’s so sweet.” I said goodbye and headed off.

Blexendi’s name was a combination of his parent’s names. He is from Haiti. He had a strong face, mustache and a beard with jacket on, he was sitting alone at a table in the cafeteria. “They call me Blex” he said. He said his parents were Roman Catholic and Baptist. He had many questions about reincarnation and History and we talked for about an hour. When I asked him what he would say to God if he died and were asked why He should let him into Heaven he thought for a while and uncertainly said, “I guess because I have a good heart, I suppose.” When I asked him how likely it was he would go to heaven he said, “I have no idea.” As I went through the Gospel he asked me many clarifying questions. I explained the Bible was validated by prophecy and some of what Jesus had fulfilled. (I got his email at the end to send him a Bible study on fulfilled prophecy.) I explained that God was not in everything or even everyone in answer to his queries. He said he had not felt a closeness to God in prayer and I explained that though God was with him he was not in Him unless he had trusted in Christ to pay for his sins by faith. He asked if God couldn’t be in everyone and I said he could not unless they were made like Him. (Later in thinking about this God could be in them, at least for the microsecond it would take for them to be destroyed as ontologically they could not contain Him if still in their sin, God cannot be one with sin.) He wanted to be forgiven and I said it hadn’t seemed like he had trusted in Christ and he reminded me of his answer to my question about what he would say to God pointing out he had struggled with an answer having not known. I explained faith was a gift and asked if deep in his heart he believed Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead, he thought just a moment and said, “Yes.” So asked if he would want to place his trust in that to be forgiven and talked him through the prayer. He took up the booklet and then asked me another question. I answered (I believe one about prayer) then he prayed to receive Christ. I gave him Pocket Prayers and 20 Things God Can’t Do. I also gave him a Bible study on Jesus claims to be God and the Student Edition of The Case for Faith. He was grateful and thanked me and I headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking with the Lord. I had another great day on campus talking with students. I encouraged some Christians before class and Jamelle, Theresa and Ymari (E-mari) each prayed with me to receive Christ today after I got out of my class at 3 PM.
Jamelle, an African American with strong dark features, was sitting on the couches just outside the cafeteria. I asked him as I headed in if he wanted to do a student survey for our Bible Study group.  “I’m not a student here,” he replied and I said, “Well would ya like to do one anyway and learn something about God?” He said no. So I headed into the cafeteria and said hi to some peeps I knew but couldn’t find anyone new to talk to. When I came out, I walked by Jamelle again. He was wearing stone washed jeans and a puffy coat with thin horizontal stitching a red t-shirt and had his hair in braids with the ends dyed multiple bright colors. I walked past 10 feet, but I felt like I was supposed to talk to him, so I went back and offered him, “a booklet that would tell you how to get to Heaven.” He said he’d take one and as I handed it to him I began to explain Christianity to him a bit to see if he would listen a little. He kept listening, so I kept talking until I had gone through the Gospel a bit and I asked him what he would say to get into Heaven if God asked him. He said something like he tried to do good things, “though I do some bad”. “So you hope your good things will out-number your bad things?” I asked. “Yeah,” he replied. So I explained more of the Gospel to him. It turned out he lived in Rockford and went to church out there, though he was originally from Chicago. I explained Christ’s imputed righteousness to him and how God could turn bad things into good in his life, that the real answer to the question why he should be let into Heaven is “because Jesus died for me.” I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven and have God live inside him or thought something else. “I’d want to be forgiven,” he replied. So I walked him through the prayer and asked him if he would want to pray to receive Christ quietly in his heart. That if he’d like to, God would hear. ‘Yeah,” he said and took the booklet from me and prayed.  I then explained the Christian life to him a bit more and offered him a book. He did not want one to read but the Bible Promises for You book looked good to him and he took that to have. “Thanks for letting me tell you some stuff. I know you don’t go here and some freak walks up and wants to talk to you about God. I understand how you’d have some reservations.” He shook my hand and I walked down the hall. I had been at school for several hours already, but I had thought I’d do evangelism for an hour after class. I was only about a half hour in, so I headed over to the MAC with no success as the school had emptied out. I passed Jamelle again through the tunnel coming out and he was really friendly, so that was good. He was looking for a friend who was taking “Music arts” classes.  I told him “Well this is the MAC arts building so that’s where he’d be.” I asked him a question about where he was from and said, “God bless ya man.” “Alright, you too.” And we headed in opposite directions like the Ethiopian and Philip.
I felt prompted to go to the PE building and had 20 minutes left on my plan not to run myself into the ground over much. Theresa and Ymari were sitting at the same table two girls had come to Christ at earlier last semester.  They said they’d do a survey with me. I sat beside Theresa and Ymari sat beside her.  They both had their hair up in two buns like mouse ears. Theresa had a longer, slightly squared face and her hair was in a lot of braids which she said took her 2 hours to put up herself. Ymari had straight hair in her buns. She was a bit smaller in stature with a red and white jacket on. Both were cute kids. Theresa answered the question of what she would say to God if she died and He asked her why He should let her into heaven, “I’m saved, baptized.” She said later she went to church and followed God, (she also recited John 3:16 as I read it). Ymari said, “I’ve left a positive mark.” But they both thought they only had a 50/50 chance of going to heaven. “You know you follow but then you stray sometimes,” Theresa said. I let Ymari answer when I asked what the big thing Jesus did that took away their sins and she said “He died on the cross.” I explained how they had to be perfect to go to Heaven (pointing out Theresa had said she wasn’t) so Jesus earned the righteousness of God and died for them. They both were very attentive to the gospel though Theresa looked like she was under conviction a bit. I asked if they would want to be forgiven and they both said yes. I said I know they both knew the story of what Jesus had done but they had to trust in Jesus and not just “leaving a good mark”. I asked Theresa if when she asked for forgiveness if she had been trusting in Jesus or in being a good enough person. At first she said “a little of both” and then got a smirk on her face and I said, “So not really trusting in Jesus at all.” She laughed a half laugh then and said that was right.  So I offered them a prayer they could each pray and got out another booklet offering them to each that they could pray silently to the Lord and be forgiven. And each of them then did. I explained the Christian life was living in the power God gave them and the fruit of the Spirit always asking for God’s help.  I gave them each a Bible study and a copy of the book 20 Things God Can’t Do explaining how anything God asked them to do He gave them the power to do.  I wrote their names in the books and the date and they liked that and told them I would pray for them each night.  They each gave me their e-mail and thanked me and then one of the black guys pulled me aside to chat me up about some girl for a while. I finally left at 5:30, worn out, having talked up several other students with questions as I headed out but I thought, man I have a great job.
 

So thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and evangelism on campus today God truly blessed me and the work.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking with the Lord. I got tied up in conversations with several people I knew on campus and only got to go through the Gospel today with 2 people. One guy was a Christian, and Shanice prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Shanice was sitting alone at a set of tables, eating a salad, in the big Student Services center Lounge where we have Bible Study.  She had a V-neck t-shirt on and a button blouse pulled over it. Her straight hair was pulled back tight upon her head back into a pony tail. African American, she had an oval face and pretty skin. She was nice and went to a Christian Church. I asked her what she would say to God if asked, “Why He should let her into Heaven?” She thought for a minute with a “Hmm…” so I wrote that down and she said, “I’d say more than that.” And I laughed and said I was just kidding.  She laughed too and then said, “‘Cause I believe in God.” She thought she’d have about an 85% chance of going to Heaven.  She listened closely to the Gospel as I presented it to her and knew Jesus had died for man’s sin. At the end she wanted to be forgiven, so I asked her if, when she asked for forgiveness she was thinking she’d been pretty good person and God was merciful and forgiving or if she’d been trusting in Jesus. At first she thought it was a little of both. “I think when you do something wrong you try to do something to make up for it,” she said. “Yeah to try to balance things out. But you really can’t do that,” I replied. She agreed. “But there are times when things happen [for your benefit] and I know it had to be God,” she said. “I’m not really asking you that,” I replied. “You are right that God is with you. Everyone has a relationship with God because He is their creator, but not everyone is in a relationship with God where He lives inside them because they are forgiven, trusting in Jesus.” She thought about that and decided she had never really trusted in what Jesus had done on the Cross to be forgiven. So I offered her a prayer to accept God’s forgiveness and explained it to her, talking her through it. I told her she could pray it silently like I wasn’t there and she said, “I was kind of praying as you read it,” but she took it from me and prayed. I explained the Christian life, living “inside out” to her and gave her a Bible Study and the book 20 Things God Can’t Do. She liked the book and thanked me and was happy. I stood up to go and shook her hand and said “Nice meeting you.” She said, “Nice meeting You!” with an exclamation on the you. So I was really glad to have talked with her.

So that was my day.  Tonight we had Bible Study and an Islamic guy Micheal who has been coming heard most of a presentation on Islam.  He took the notes and asked for some outline pages I had on the Quran from Jay Smith, who is a polemic debater at Speakers corner in London. He wants to develop an apologetic for these things, but the notes from the Bible study were comparative facts with Christianity for the most part. Hopefully Jesus will be able to break through to him when he sees the weakness of the Quran.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and 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. It is supposed to be sunny tomorrow in Chicago and warm, so I am looking forward to it.  I was blessed on campus today and Isaiah prayed with me to receive Jesus. He was sitting at a table by himself in the Student Services Center lounge where we meet for bible study.  He’s African American and had a rough topped afro and a neatly trimmed mustache and bit of a goatee. He was wearing a multi colored blue and black hoodie.  Nice kid. When he told me his name I said, “Did you know the first black guy who came to Christ in the New Testament was reading the book of Isaiah?” He said he hadn’t, so I told him the story quickly and started asking him some questions for our survey. When I asked him what he would say to God if asked why He should let him into Heaven he said, “I don’t know… What would I say if He asked that?” thinking a bit. “I go to church and pray. I pretty much have an active relationship.” I said, “Of course going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.” I think I heard that at camp as a kid. He nodded in response, but he did not seem to know what I was talking about. He thought he had about a 60% chance of going to Heaven. (I later told him that since he was trusting in the righteousness of Jesus this was 100 %.) I began to go through the Gospel with him and said God had to take away his sin to make him God’s type, like a blood transfusion where you have to have the same type of blood to have life transfused into you. “So what is the big thing God does to take away your sin?” I asked. He thought for a bit and said, “I don’t know.”  So I went on to tell him the Gospel and about the righteousness of Christ imputed to him.  He wanted to be forgiven so I said, “It doesn’t seem like you have had a chance to put all this together before,” and he nodded. So I explained he could pray and receive the forgiveness of God by faith and walked him through the prayer, explaining it to him and saying he could pray it silently and be forgiven. He took the booklet from me across the table and silently prayed to receive Christ. I explained the Christian life to him, living “Inside Out” [walking by the Spirit] asking for God’s power to live the Christian life.  I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do and a Bible study to read through on his own and he gave me his email to send him some stuff. He did not want a Bible saying he had one on his phone. “Do you have any other questions about anything or do you feel like you got this down now pretty well?” “I got it” he said. “Yeah I think you do,” I replied and for the first time he got a big smile on his face (he’d been really focused). So I shook his hand and said I would see him in Heaven and headed off glad.

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 you felt the nearness of God.  I had a good day at campus and got a few conversations going and seeds well planted. Ciara (See AR AH) was a black girl with multiple braids and a pink snow coat on, sitting across some chairs with her legs up in the hall.  She did not want to do a student survey but I asked her if she would like to read a booklet on her own.  She said yes. So in handing it to her I began to go through the Gospel quickly. I asked her what she would say to God if asked why He should let her into Heaven. She said He’d look at her heart and the things she had done. “So you believe if you do good things you go to heaven?” I asked. “No, not just that but God also looks at your heart,” she replied.  I went through a short version of the Gospel, leaving her the booklet and showing her the prayer and told her how she could pray to accept God forgiveness.  “Oh thank you!” she exclaimed. I also gave her the book Pocket Prayers, and got another enthusiastic “Thank you!” She began to read it as I walked away, encouraging her to pray and tell God she wanted forgiveness, trusting in Jesus.  I went back and got the spelling of her name, telling her I would pray for her.

At the end of the day, Diana, who was a Latina girl, was sitting by the locker I used today.  She had long hair and a cute face. When I asked her what she would say she said “Honestly I would say ‘I regret everything I’ve done and I’m scared to go to Hell.'” She thought she had a 50% chance of going to Heaven, expressing that she had done bad things.  She took in the Gospel and I asked her if she believed Jesus was God, had died for her sins and rose from the dead. She seemed uncertain, but then said she thought deep in her heart she did and wanted to be forgiven.  She had only been to Catholic Church a few times with an aunt as a child. I gave her the Pocket Prayers book and then went back to give her the student edition of The Case for Christ, which I knew to give her (and then had a lapse at the end of the conversation. Just over tired I guess).  So she took it from me cheerfully, thanking me. She was going to think more about it and decide.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry today if you had a chance.  I feel like God led me to a couple peeps who might soon pray to receive Him and seemed very close to the Kingdom of God.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with the nearness of God.  I had a good day sharing the faith at school and Darian, Kofi and Josh all prayed to receive Jesus today and Jenny recommitted her life to Christ or came to Christ. Her story is below.

I was walking up above on the third floor of the SSC lounge and saw 4 black guys sitting together at a table on the 2nd floor where we have Bible Study. I thought I would go down and see if I could get one of them to talk with me. It turned out one of the guys, Ben, was a Christian who had talked with me before. I asked them if they wanted to do a survey and Ben said he already had. He encouraged the rest, but seeing their uncertainty I started to tell them a funny story about being pulled over by a cop who thought my truck was stolen. I had them laughing a bit and Darian asked, “What was it you wanted us to do?” I told him “Do a survey for our Bible study group.” “That was a good story. I bet it’s good. I’ll do it,” he replied. After that, Kofi and Josh agreed to do it too. Darian had a rough top afro and a mustache and a goatee. He was 6’4″ had a hoodie on. He’s a DJ. Kofi was 5’3″ had a very neat short cropped afro, bit of trimmed facial hair and a leather jacket on. Josh had a lot of work to his hair cut, high afro on top and shaved close on the sides, small, short mustache and beard on his chin. He had a fleece shirt on, button v neck (he had game).  They were all good natured guys and a nice looking bunch. The conversation went all over the place with questions from Darian. At one point, Ali, a Muslim had joined in and sat to listen. He slid the booklet on the table back to me when I was finished though, not wanting it. At another point, another Muslim came by to say hi to Kofi. Kofi said we were talking about God and the Muslim (who oddly had a Trinity shirt on with a big cross with names of God including Christ on it said, “I am going to see God now.” And he walked off to pray.  I had just explained how a lot of people who thank God in Music and Hollywood are not talking about the same God as I am. Kofi and Josh together said, “That was just what you were talking about. He is Muslim.” Josh was amazed to think some of the popular celebrities were not talking about the real God. I explained the Muslim guy did not mean he would see God by Him living inside him. He meant he was going to talk to God. He did not mean what a Christian meant by seeing him. Josh said, answering what he would say to God to get into Heaven, “Despite the decisions that I made, I fulfilled your word. I’m no criminal, not that bad of a person.” Kofi said, “I always knew you was real. You gotta believe in Him.” Josh said, “Accept me because I don’t know who you actually are.” Darian then said something about no one is perfect and I said, “Jesus said, ‘You are to be perfect as your Heavenly father is perfect.’ It is the last verse in the Sermon on the Mount.” That got a reaction and I began to go through the Gospel. As I explained imputation and how Jesus had paid for their sins, Darian said to me, “You are going to Heaven! For telling people this!” “Not for ‘this’,” meaning talking to them, I replied. Josh said, “For telling people the word.” I said “No this is how you go to Heaven.” and I explained how they had to receive Jesus and become a child of God. I explained they couldn’t just do whatever they wanted to, then saying, ‘You can’t be playing on women and such.” And that made Josh and Kofi look at each other. Josh acknowledged what I said to him and Kofi said, “I know.” Darian was talking me up some more. And when I finally got them back to the prayer, they all decided to receive Jesus.  Kofi finished first and they each prayed silently.  I talked them through the Christian life, trying to continue to juggle the conversations. I gave Kofi Bible Promises for You as he had to get to class. I also gave him a Bible study and told them I would be praying for them.  I gave the same book to Josh. Darian wanted one too so I asked if he had 4 minutes for me to go to get one in my truck. He did and providentially I had parked very close. I also gave them both 20 Things God Can’t Do when I got back, which Ben took along with Pocket prayers. They each took a Bible Study and Josh and Darian gave me their email to send them some stuff.  I thanked them for letting me talk to them so long and headed off as they got up to go to class. It was a fun and even funny conversation. I wish I could have recorded it. God gives me grace with young black men it seems.

I lastly came upon Jenny as she was waiting for a friend outside of class who came and sat with us during the Gospel. She had not been to church for a while as her parents had moved around and they had fallen out of regular attendance. She was a cute Latina girl with long brown hair. I asked her what she would say to God and she said, “I did my best to try help… kinda spread His word to people that were in need of it or didn’t know Him.” She thought she had a 45% chance of going to Heaven saying, “Hopefully I had time to repent myself before I die.”  I still am not sure she knew the Lord when we began, as she did not know what Jesus had done to take away her sins when I asked. When I explained it, she exclaimed at one point, “Jesus died for my sins!” She looked over at her friend then and started to cry, big tears rolling down her face. I comforted her some and said she could pray to receive Jesus, as I was pretty sure she had not known what it meant that Jesus was her “Savior” At least not truly understanding it based on anything she’d said to me. A pantheist, white hipster girl walked up and stood there staring critically at the goings on. We were at the end of the hall and she stood against the opposite wall. She told Jenny, “God is inside you girl” seemedly suggesting she should be ignoring what she assumed I had told Jenny. She’d missed all of what I said.  I prayed she’d leave, but before she did, Jenny in response half ignored her and just kept crying and said she had prayed something like that referring to the prayer and said, “Jesus is my Savior.” That sent the white girl packing. Jenny continued to cry and then and explained she had been going through a “Rough patch.” I hugged her and suggested she could pray the prayer on her own as kind of a dedication prayer, realizing I was not going to get through the tears. I gave her friend a booklet and both of them 20 Things God Can’t Do. As they stood to leave, I explained that if she trusted in Jesus righteousness to be her righteousness, the answer to the question how likely it was she would go to Heaven was 100%. She had joy in that and I gave her another hug across her shoulders and said God loved her and she was forgiven (as from everything I had seen she had now accepted the Gospel) which made her smile through her tears and they headed down the hall. Only God knows her heart, but I think she was saved in the midst of our time together.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your weekend has been blessed so far.  I had a slow day of sharing on Friday and a lot of walking about. On Fridays, COD is kind of a Ghost Town. I did go through the Gospel with 3 people. The last was a solid Christian. Then Rex, a black guy, said he would have to think about it. He seemed to have never hear the Gospel before, though he claimed to occasionally darken the doors of a good local church. Lizzie was a girl I had never met, who had heard of me from some friends and friended me on Facebook. Not that uncommon. I did not realize she was the same person and though I had gotten through the work of Christ and imputation, I had not gotten to receiving him by faith when she had to run for her bus. When she said, “I don’t mean to interrupt you, but I have to go to my bus.” I had to say, “Ok, well maybe you’d like to read the rest yourself.” She took the booklet.  She messaged me on Facebook last night to say it had been nice to meet me. She’d told me at school her name was Elizabeth, so I hadn’t placed her while talking as she goes by Lizzie on Facebook.  I asked if she read the rest of the booklet and she said, “I did. I liked it. I liked how it explained things.” “Yeah, I like it too. Maybe we can talk some more sometime. :)” I replied. When I had asked her what she would say to God if he asked her why He should let her into Heaven she had said, “So I would say…Because I did my best to obey you and that I was able to help people through that.” This is works righteousness, so I will be praying to come across her again to make sure she has trusted in Jesus to forgive her sins.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism Friday if you had a chance. And please pray I get another shot with Lizzie or can communicate more with her through Facebook.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you had a great day walking with the Lord. I had a great day on campus and Marcello, Kennedy and Danny each prayed to receive Jesus today.
Marcello was the first guy I talked to today that was up for answering some questions. He was sitting on the row of chairs across from the double doors outside the cafeteria. He had on a grey championship Cubs hat and a Cubs sweatshirt and back sweats. I had my black championship hat on that I got from my buddy Jon for Christmas, so I had an instant in. Marcello wore a neatly trimmed reddish beard and had a boyish face and short hair. When I asked him what he would say to God if He asked “Why should I let you into Heaven he said, “That’s a good question.” Then thinking a moment he said, “I’m a good person. I would never do you wrong, don’t have any hate [towards others] in myself–give me the chance to prove it to you.” Nice guy, he was religious in as much as he prayed every night but hadn’t been to church of late. So he said because of that he gave himself an 80% chance of going to Heaven, pulling a gold cross out of his sweatshirt to show me. Church would have given him a bump towards 100% he thought, but he changed his mind about how he got to Heaven a few minutes later. He was very interested in the Gospel and hadn’t seemed to understand it before at all.  He wanted to be forgiven as I asked him, and I walked him through the prayer in the booklet and he prayed to receive Jesus. He had been trying to be religious in his own way away from church. So I explained to him that “Everyone has a relationship with God because He is their creator. But not everyone is in a relationship with God, where He lives inside them and forgives them and can direct their life because they have placed their faith in what Jesus has done. I explained how God works good, with even our mistakes and sins and has created us for good works in Christ that He has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. I gave him a Bible to read, writing his name in it and the date.  I also gave him the book Pocket Prayers that has 40 prayers with a Bible verse on the top, along with 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “By the Spirit” in the front. I gave him a Bible study and quipped he had enough to keep him busy for a few months.  I also explained a remembrance view of the Mass. I got his email to send him some stuff. Then we talked about the Cubs for a while and the Christian life in the Spirit. He thanked me and I told him I’d see him in Heaven and he laughed and said that would be great.

Kennedy was sitting in the MAC Arts building on the second floor overlooking the lounge. She’s African American and has long braids that go down past her shoulders, she was wearing jeans and high tops and had a long narrow face and features, pretty. She seemed to have gone to church once in a while. When I asked her what she would say to God if asked why He should let her into Heaven she said, “I’d say please,” and then she laughed lightheartedly. She thought some more and said, “I did what you asked me to, so can I please come in.” She thought she’d have a 92% chance of going to Heaven. She was interested in the Gospel and she knew Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world. When I finished going through the Gospel and Christ’s imputed righteousness, I asked her if she would want to be forgiven for her sins. “Who wouldn’t?” she asked. I told her about a guy I had gone through the Gospel with who wanted to keep doing his girlfriend, so he did not want to ask for forgiveness and have to stop. I explained that if she wanted to she could pray for forgiveness, trusting in what Jesus had done for her. I walked her through the prayer and asked if it was the desire of her heart and if she’d like to pray. She said, “Sure.” and did.  I explained walking by the Spirit and asking for the fruit of God’s Spirit and power to live. I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do, writing “By the Spirit” in the front. I also gave her Pocket Prayers and a bible Study. She was happy and thanked me, and I told her I would be praying for her until a year from spring which seemed to touch her heart and I headed off.
 

I came across Danny sitting with his backpack on a bench in the Science building at about 2:15 or so looking at his phone. He kind of reminded me of a bit of Felix Unger (from the Odd Couple on 1970’s TV) in appearance, his demeanor was far less animated. He had the same haircut and look, clean shaven though you could see he had a heavy beard that would grow in. He said he wanted to see the ocean. He described himself as passive. He had time though, as all the students seemed to today, so I took it up and told him the Gospel. When I asked him what he would say to God he said, “‘Cause He like made me. I’m your kid.” Seemed more like an evangelical response colloquially, but he had been to Catholic Church and knew Christ had died for his sins when I asked. He gave himself a 70% chance of going to Heaven. He was a nice guy and listened attentively to the Gospel and seemed he wanted to be forgiven, saying so. I showed him the prayer and walked him through it and offered it to him to pray quietly and he hesitated flipping through the pages. I really didn’t want him to pray unless he wanted to and then he asked me about Job and what I thought it was about at the end, “It’s just like a list of things?” I said “Yeah. It was God pointing out how complicated the creation was and how great it was, telling Job about Leviathan” (the sea monster kind of a dinosaur still alive in Job’s time and a big dinosaur with a tail like a cedar tree.) I talked about how the world is as complex as a Rubic’s Cube with a billion squares on each side and you would have to understand the entire puzzle to solve it. When God turns it, it is sometimes things we do not want but we have to trust Him, as sometimes events are beyond our understanding. But the point of the book is showing the contest between Satan and God. Satan thinks the world is about power and advantage and God says it is about love. He shows Satan that even if he takes everything from him except his life, God won’t let him take that. Job has a great heart for God and says, “Though He slay me yet will I trust Him.” Job’s great heart proves Satan wrong. I explained that the Bible teaches it is all about love, and we are to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. I showed him the verse where Job says God will walk upon the water. Something in all that seemed to answer something for him and I asked him again if he thought he would want to pray and he said, ‘Yeah,” and did. I explained living by the Spirit and how we never fail if we trust in Him by the Spirit, though sometimes God might close a door. I showed him some verses on courage in the book, Bible Promises for You. I wrote his name in the front. I also gave him a copy of The Case for a Creator which he wanted to read. I got up to go and he said, ‘Thank you.” I told him I would see him in Heaven.

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

Blessings,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today and you felt the presence of the Lord. We are having awesome weather at my house and today on campus Trent and Dominque each prayed to receive Jesus.

Trent was sitting in the hallway in the BIC building on the main floor with all the doors that lead out with his friend Juwan (who was a Christian and had talked to me before). He was tall about 6’2″ had a ball cap on and a mustache and goatee, African American, good looking guy in jeans and a fleece pullover.  I asked him what he would say to God if He asked. “Why should I let you into Heaven?” Trent said, “I’ve never done anything to intentionally harm anyone in my life. I always maintained a positive outlook on life and the positive [overall].” I asked him how likely it was he thought he would go to Heaven and he said, “101%”. I asked him if he went to church and he said he did regularly back home. I believe he said he lived in Missouri, where he was a Baptist.  “So just to be clear,” I said, “you think if you have a positive attitude and do good things you will go to Heaven?” “Yeah,” he replied. ‘So you think that good people go to Heaven that’s what gets you there?” I asked. ‘Yeah,” he said again. “Ok,” I said “Well the last part of this is what the Bible says. So it’s 4 quick points and say what you think.” I began to explain the Gospel to him, how God wanted to live inside him but could not because of sin. He sobered right up and I asked “So what is it that Jesus does to take away your sins?” “Baptism?” he guessed. “Well, it is symbolic of that,” and I told him about the Cross and how he had to be perfect. He tuned into all of it and said he wanted to be forgiven and used a churchy colloquialism to suggest he was already there. I had reinforced his answer to the question and he had to admit that, though the story seemed familiar, he had not been trusting in Christ to save him. He put on kind of a sheepish smile, realizing from everything he had said he had not been trusting in Christ as I pointed it out.  I told him if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and walked him through it, suggesting he could pray it right then like we were not there and he didn’t wait. He began to pray it while I held the book, as I could see his eyes go back and forth over the phrases as I held it out. When he finished he said, “Ok.” “Amen” I replied. “Can I keep this?” he asked, referring to the booklet. I said sure and explained the Christian life to him, living by the Spirit. I chatted Trent and Juwan up a bit more and gave Trent a Bible Study and 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name in the front and the day he had given his life to Christ and he was happy.  I told them I would see them in Heaven, “I’ll get there before you guys so I’ll know all the great places and I’ll show you around.” They laughed and I told them I would keep them in my prayers.

Dominque was sitting in the science building on a bench on the edge of the lounge. Also African American she had straight hair past her shoulders and wore round black rimmed glasses and a chiffon scarf around her neck over a light blue jean shirt. She had jeans on and had a triangular pointed nose, cute kid. She was quiet and soft spoken and had grown up going to the Catholic church a bit. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven and she said, “Because I am a good person, like I never do anything bad. I know some relatives up there too. Oh and I don’t want to meet any celebrities there.” I told her I wasn’t sure any celebrities made it anyway. She listened attentively to the Gospel. I asked her if she knew what Jesus had done to take away her sins and she said, “I don’t know why they killed Him.” So it seemed like she knew Christ had died because of sin but she hadn’t understood anything else.  I explained the Gospel and the imputed righteousness of Christ to her explaining she had to trust in that to be forgiven. I asked her if she would like to be forgiven for her sins and she said, “Yeah.” “Do you believe Jesus is God, that He died for you sins and rose from the dead?” I asked her. She thought for a moment and said, “I could believe that.” I talked her through a prayer she could pray then, reading the line beneath it to her, “Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?” “Yeah,” she replied. So I told her she could pray quietly in her heart and God would read her thoughts and she could be forgiven and she silently did that. I explained the Christian life to her, living “Inside out” by the Spirit and gave her the book 20 Things God Can’t Do, writing her name in the front and the day she had given her life to Christ and a Bible study. I walked back and gave her the little Max Lucado book I just got called Pocket Prayers. She was grateful and I headed to my class.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you had a blessed day walking with the Lord.  I had a great day on campus and Brian prayed to receive Christ. I also talked with an Albanian guy, Lis (good looking tall clean shaven guy). Though Albania is largely Muslim, his family was not religious at all and he said, “Your presentation was very good so I will take the book to read (I had offered him the student edition of The Case for Christ). I will be praying for him. Later, Olivia, an African American girl said she had no reason not to believe, but had not been immersed in Christianity at all before. She had never gone to Church, but she was very open. I encouraged her to ask for faith, after going through the Gospel with her and gave her The Case for Christ and a Bible and a short book by Max Lucado Pocket Prayers and a Bible study.  So I am hopeful she will be led to Christ.  Dan, a Muslim from Indonesia heard the Gospel today too and he took a Jesus and the Quran pamphlet. So I am hopeful that might take root for someone else to give him the truth.

Brian was sitting on a set of chairs overlooking the revolving doors where a lot of kids wait for the bus outside the SRC building. He said he had time to answer some questions. He just wanted to get a job and be successful in life.  He is Roman Catholic and Latino, slight accent.  He had a jacket and jeans on, straight short hair and a Micheal Jordan mustache [he had more hope in than showed] a small cut on his upper lip and skin like mine on his cheeks. Regular looking guy, nice, took everything quite serious. When I asked him what he would say if God asked him why he should let him into Heaven he let out a bit of a thinkers laugh and said, “That’s a hard question.” He thought some and said, “If God asked me, I wouldn’t have a question. I’ve always been trying to help people that need my help. Sometimes they don’t want to be helped, but I try to help them as best I can.” I asked him what the likelihood he would go to Heaven and he said he hoped it would be 100% but he settled on having a 50/50 shot explaining, “Because most of the time I feel like I’m doing good things, [but] I reflect back and think, ‘oh I really did some bad things–I should have done something different.'” He listened attentively to the Gospel and understood it.  When I offered him the opportunity to be forgiven, trusting in Jesus, he said he’d like to be. So I asked if he’d been trusting in what Jesus had done for him in asking for forgiveness or if he’d thought he would try harder and try to do things to make up for it. “Kind of do good things,” he replied. So I offered him a prayer to be forgiven and he leaned in attentively as I explained it. I said he could pray it quietly in his heart where God could read his thoughts.  He prayed then and seemed at rest. I offered him the booklet to take and explained the Christian life “By the Spirit” to him and a remembrance view of the mass. As he got up to go, I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do and a book called Pocket Prayers. He smiled at me and said, “Thank you, have a great day.” I wished him well and he headed for the bus.

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

In Him,

Bob