Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you were blessed today in all you did!  Mandy prayed to receive Jesus today, so that was great.

I was looking for the last person I’d talked to and my Jaw was sore so I thought I’d head out. I prayed to talk to one more person who would trust Jesus before I left. Mandy was sitting in the chairs along the wall as you go into the Cafeteria.  She was waiting for class to start and, as it turned out, miscalculating her day had gotten her to school way early.  As she later described the events that brought her to school early, I realized God had been at work.  She was a sweet, cute Latino looking girl, tall.  She had a good sense of humor.  Her long brown hair was pulled up behind her head and the bangs on the left hung down across her face.  Perfect, smooth skin. Ha, I didn’t notice that stuff until mine began to wrinkle.  But I am now solidly into the age bracket where the kids I talk to could be my children.  She had blue jeans on, cuffed up at the bottom a couple times, wearing sandals and a V-neck white t-shirt.  She said she wanted to build her own house, which isn’t as impossible as it once would have been, with pneumatic nailers and laser guided chop saws, but I suggested she’d need some help with the roof and heavy stuff.  I asked her what she would tell God if He asked ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’  “I would say… Wow that’s a tough one,” she said, thinking a bit more.  “Because I tried in almost everything I’ve done in my life.  I don’t give up easily and that includes people.  Because people make mistakes.”  She thought she’d have a 50/50 shot at going to Heaven, and went to a couple different catholic churches locally.  I told her the last part of the survey was what she thought about Christianity and there were 4 quick points, so I began going through a little bit of the booklet I use and scribble in. I pretty much just use the Bible verses and make my own points as it doesn’t have quite enough content.  She listened to the Gospel and knew Christ had died. She agreed with or liked the stories I told her. When I explained the crucifixion and that Christ wanted to die that “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” she said, “Oh that’s like what we do at church with the bread and the wine.”  I said that was symbolic, and it was a good time to remember that Christ had died so she could be forgiven.  I explained how she needed to receive Christ and trust in what He’d done.  “So if someone said why should God let you into Heaven you’d say, ‘Because Jesus died on the cross for my sins.’”  I said it seemed like she was trying to do good things and that pleased God, but she needed to do them with His power living in her and that her good stuff could not fix her bad stuff.  I explained that it seemed like she was familiar with the story, but that she had been doing good things hoping that justified her with God. But nothing she did was perfect enough to offer to God. She saw that and wanted to be forgiven.  So when I offered her the opportunity to pray, talking her through what it meant, she just took the booklet and prayed without responding to me.  She ended saying “Amen thank you Lord.”  I explained the Christian life to her some more and asking for power by the Spirit.  I asked her if she had her own Bible and she said she had 3, so I explained the differences in the Gospels and said John was a good place to read.  I gave her a Bible study on the Deity of Christ and a Rose Publications hand out on our identity in Christ that we had used at Bible Study the night before. I offered her a book explaining some of the content.  “I don’t know, which one do you think I should have?” Mandy asked. I asked her if she had any doubts or questions. She said she did some times, like anyone, but she prayed regularly.  So I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do and The Case for Christ, at first offering her the student edition. But she said she’d like the longer one and that she liked to read.  We talked about the differences between some Roman Catholic teaching and the Bible.  But it turned out she did not believe in the sacramental power of the Church when I explained that the bible taught this power actually came from the Holy Spirit’s work directly in you.  She asked if she needed the Church and I said in as much as it supported her world view it was good to be in the company of likeminded people. And that as long as she was comfortable there, she could go. (It is my hope the Holy Spirit will lead people into good churches.) But I said, “Many people go to churches where they overlook things they disagree with, as long as they are teaching that Jesus is God and that He died for your sins and trusting in that is most important. I don’t criticize people going to a Christian Church. I know there are priests that don’t teach stuff that is not in the Bible in Roman Catholic Churches.”  I explained some of Mormonism to her as an exception, saying they were not Christians.  I said I had gone to a funeral of a woman and the Catholic priest said she was in Heaven, I knew she had been genuinely saved before she died, but he did not say she was going to purgatory.  I don’t think he believed in it.  It turned out Mandy did not find it to be a reasonable idea either.  We talked a lot.  I said the Bible study we had was not a particular denomination and some students occasionally bring up things their church believes that is not in the Bible.  I tell them that since there is a denomination that teaches that, they are free to believe it. But I explain that when the Bible does not teach something, some denominations have added it.  It was a long conversation and we covered a lot.  I gave her my name again, showing her my email and she said, “Bob you’re awesome.” I told her that wasn’t true, but I had been worse and God was making me better.  She thought she’d make it to Bible study and said “Thanks so much,” and we shook hands.

So thanks for your prayers of the ministry and for evangelism if you had a chance today. God blessed. I also went through the Gospel with a Muslim, Ramin, but he wasn’t very reflective at all.  I gave materials to several Christians to strengthen their faith.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope things were blessed for you today and you felt the nearness of God.  I didn’t plan to do evangelism today, as Ellen and I got together with 3 students who used to go to COD, whom we love a lot but have moved on (to DePaul and Nursing School respectively).  But I had a couple hours left in the tank late in the afternoon and dropped by COD to see what God might do. Bee, Javier and Xavier each prayed with me to receive Christ.  So that was a blessing.

Bee was sitting between the doors of the PE building with a couple of the pretty black girls I know who have prayed to receive Christ or know Him.  She is Latina and one of the girls wanted to do a student survey with her who had done it before, Tiffani.  It was a good refresher course for Megan (sitting near) who had a couple questions and had prayed last year.  Bee had naturally wavy curly hair, died a sandy blonde.  She had what looked like workout clothes on.  Said she’d be crying if she stood before God and were asked why He should let her into Heaven, and said she really wanted to go badly.  She listened to the Gospel attentively as some of the peeps came in and out. When I’d finished, I said since she hadn’t really known how to go to Heaven and have a relationship with God, she might want to pray for forgiveness and ask Him to live inside her.  By then Megan had gone off to talk privately with another girl who and showed up, and Tiffani was over talking to someone else.  A girl who did not give me her name and did not want to answer any questions was still there talking by then to Brionna, who had sat down on the floor with us.  I took out the booklet then and showed Bee the prayer for forgiveness, saying she could pray it quietly in her heart like no one was there and she said, “I’ll do it.”  So Bee prayed and I showed her some other things about the Christian life.  She had her own Bible and didn’t want anything else to read.  I told her I would be praying for her, and Brionna, who had sat down at some point said, “He prays for everyone.” And it did seem like I was praying for more and more of her friends.  The conversation picked up again between them and I slipped away.

Javier was sitting outside on a bench, waiting for a bus, but said he would talk as long as his bus didn’t show up.  He had a half-week growth of stick straight beard (like his hair), the sides of which were not going to reach his chin where he had a bit more, or his lip, where he had a bit more yet.  He had jeans on and tennis shoes that were a tan color.  He wore a gray zip up hoodie. He sat stick straight like he could not move his neck with his hands in his lap.  He might have had an injury as he only moved his eyes not tilting his head forward or it was just a thing.  It could have been a little off putting, but hey if you can’t do awkward moments, well, don’t do contact evangelism. I asked if he’d be ok with going through some verses about Christianity in this little booklet and he said “Ok.” I guess I should have held the booklet higher sitting by him on the bench, but it would have seemed odd to hold it in his face.  He turned out to be friendly enough.  As we went through the Gospel, Javier had short, quick responses of agreement.  He was also wearing sunglasses that I could just see under to see the movement of his eyes looking down, as I read a verse for him to follow.  Earlier he’d said he hoped to see Mexico someday since it was his “home country.”  I told him, “Yeah my family was from Sweden on my mom’s side, and I haven’t been there either.”  As to why he should go to Heaven he said “I’d leave that up to Him…regarding my position against others.  I wouldn’t say compare me to others, but judge me as He judged others.” As to if he’d go to Heaven he said, “I’d give it 50/50.”  He hadn’t been to church in a few months.  After explaining God loved him and wanted to live inside him with His Holy Spirit, to give Him Eternal life, I said He first had to take away his sin. “Do you know what Jesus did back in the day to take away the sins of the world?” I asked. “Honestly no,” he replied.  So I explained the Gospel.  I offered him the opportunity to be forgiven with God inside or conversely to have God on the outside of his life and he said, “The first one.”  So I offered him the prayer where he could accept God’s forgiveness.  All this time his head never moved his head, just his eyes, even when he responded verbally.  But I just went with it.  I read through the prayer and he did not say he’d like to pray. Watching his eyes and lips move just barely, I could tell he was praying it. And so I held the booklet for him to pray until he finished.  I walked him through the Christian life a bit by the power of the Holy Spirit asking him if he had a Bible. “Yes,” he said.  “Is it your own Bible or a family Bible?”  I ventured. “Personal,” he said.  I offered him the booklet and he said, “I’ll keep it.”  He wanted to read the longer version of The Case for Christ, so I gave him that and a Bible study, asking if he had any more questions.  He asked about the Bible study so I gave him a copy of the one we’d done last week on “Adoption as Sons”.  He didn’t have any connections at school (or an email) but being from Carol Stream he thought he might come to Bible study.  I got up to leave and said I’d pray for him. “I appreciate your talking to me, it really does help,” he said.  I said, “Sure” and walked down the sidewalk and inside the revolving doors of the SRC.

Xavier is African American.  On the short side with a short afro.  He was friendly and responsive compared to the others I’d spoken to today. Seemed quite intelligent.  He looked and talked suburban. I’d have pegged him for an accountant. He’d gone to Catholic school, but the one he attended is now closed.  He had grass-green skinny-legged slacks on and a nice shirt.  He was just sitting on a set of connected couch style chairs, kind of under the stairs as you walk in. He wanted to travel, and hadn’t been anywhere in the states.  When I asked him what he would say to God if asked why He should let him into Heaven he said, “Oooo, tough question.”  He thought a moment more and said, “I’d talk about how I try to be the best person I can be. I’m not perfect or anything but I try.” So I began to go through the Gospel with him.  I explained eternal life was knowing God, being one with Him where He lived inside you.  “It’s like you’re the Energizer Bunny and God’s the batteries. You keep going and going, and when you die it’s like you don’t die ’cause God’s inside.”  “I like that,” he replied amiably.  I asked if he knew what Jesus had done to take away his sins and he said “No.”  So I began to tell him about the atonement and imputed righteousness of Christ and His resurrection.  When I asked him if he’d want to be forgiven by faith he said, “Definitely.”  So I asked if, when asking for forgiveness, he had been trusting in Christ, or in God being a forgiving God and his being good enough.  He agreed it was the later. “I feel like God’s forgiving and [would forgive] me.” He prayed to receive Christ after I offered him the prayer too.  I explained the power of the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life and offered him a book.  He took 20 Things God Can’t Do, so I handed it to him and he said, “For me?” in the way you say it being grateful.  I gave him a Bible study and got his email to send him more.  I said good bye and he thanked me 3 times, that was nice.  I was really tanked from several hours of talking today, so I headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for Evangelism today if you had an inclination.  God truly blessed and past prayers carried me.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you had a great day walking with the Lord. Vanessa prayed with me to receive Jesus today so that was great.  I was pretty tapped out from a longer day of talking than usual yesterday. My jaw is still broken and swells up when I talk too much and it hurt, so I decided I needed to rest it and left a bit early.  I got through the Gospel with 6 people though, so that was good.  I know you are thinking I should be grateful. Most people don’t have an objective means of knowing when they talk too much–Ha.

Vanessa was sitting outside at the top of the stone work that lines the stairs outside the MAC arts building atop the last concrete cap.  She was willing to talk, so I slipped over the top of the hand rail and sat on top of the next tier down.  She is a cute Latino kid, wore bleached out skinny jeans and a gray pullover hoodie with a school name on it I never quite made out. She had sea-blue nail polish on all but one finger.  She wanted to travel, so we talked about that and I asked her what she would say to God if she got hit by a bus and was killed and stood before Him and He asked why He should let her into Heaven.  She held her face in both her hands and kind of exclaimed, “I don’t know.” Then after thinking a bit she said, “First I would question why that day I got hit by a bus–then if I deserved to get hit by a bus.  And then if I do I guess I don’t deserve to go to Heaven. I don’t know.”  I asked her if she thought she’d go to Heaven and she said, ‘I feel I do, more than 50%…”  She thought more and landed on 70%.  So she had a merit view of her salvation.  Later, when I asked her if she went to church, she said she hadn’t a lot lately and that was why she only gave herself a 70% chance of going to Heaven.  She listened to the Gospel and nodded and took it all in. She said she’d like to be forgiven, just pointing at the circle I described as the kind of person who had “asked God to forgive them based on what Jesus had done on the Cross so He could live inside them.”  She had known Jesus had died for sin but acknowledged she hadn’t put it all together or trusted in it, but was hoping she was good enough. I showed her the prayer, saying she could pray and she said, “I like to pray alone.”  “Well I could walk over there and leave you by yourself and come back in a little bit” I offered. “You want me to pray right now?” she asked. I said I did, because the Bible says Satan can steal the seed of God. The sower goes out and sows it, but Satan can take it away.  “I’m worried that if you wait, you will forget or give Satan a chance to take it away.”  That made sense to her, so I walked away, leaving my stuff and after a few paces recited the prayer in my head (for timing) I had read to people so many times.  I paused and looked at something I saw in the grass. I was just a bit over the rise but when I looked up she was looking at me, seeing just her head over the bushes, looking like she was finished so I came back.  I talked her through some more things and gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do.  I gave her a Bible study on the Deity of Christ and gave her Zwingli’s view of the mass, just to remember when she took it that she was forgiven.  I talked to her about how God loved her and was not surprised at her sins when she confessed them but wanted to make them into Good. (2Cor. 7:10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death).  I got her email to send her some stuff.  She was a very sweet soul. I shook her hand to say goodbye and told her my name again and she said, “Nice to meet you Bob.”  I said, “God bless you.”  “God bless you too,” she said and smiled.  That felt good in my heart.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you were blessed today in many ways.  I had a good day on campus and finally Peter came to pray to receive Christ. This, after navigating a potential mine field with Amber in the cafeteria. She was an agnostic black girl who turned out to be nice and complimented me for being respectful after I explained to her why all religions do not teach the same thing or even have the same concept of God, care about Him or believe the same thing about the good man and what he would look like. We share a bit of political insight too.  After that, I talked to Sam in the PE lounge, (looked like Bobby Vinton with blonde hair) a local boy who had lost his faith to Physics.  In the end, he thanked me for talking with him.  I recommended to him the work of Barry Setterfield [ Issachar Insight – Chuck Missler and Barry Setterfield ]

and the movie “The Principle” to bring him back to the Biblical world view.  So I will really pray God leads him to that. The physics from these two sources is world changing. http://www.theprinciplemovie.com/  A complete paradigm shift.

Peter was sitting on one of the step seats of the science lounge and I had walked all the way over there, grateful no one had wanted to talk to me as I decompressed from the other two conversations mentioned above.  He was a blonde guy with short side cropped hair and a brush cut on the top. Good lookin’ kid. He was wearing poly workout sweats with a phone bulging in the front pocket.  He was more than happy to talk and had a religious heart.  I asked if he ever went to church and he said “Every week.”  He said it was a hard question to know what he’d say to God if asked why he should be let into Heaven, but didn’t pause much before saying, “I’ve done all you’ve asked for. I’ve gone to confession.”  He was pretty sure that covered him, being 90% sure he’d go to Heaven.  But he was really interested in the Gospel and leaned in to listen attentively.  He broke in with something to affirm each point, usually “Right.” Though when I asked him, “What’s the big thing was Jesus did back in the day to take away everyone’s sin?” he was unsure. “I don’t know” he said. “He did a lot of things…”  I said, “Well here – it will probably come back to ya.” And I began to explain the Cross and the imputed righteousness of Christ.  He was visibly glad to hear it, but I could tell that in spite of his affirmations, it was novel.  “Well, it seems like you hadn’t really put this all together before” I asked. “I hadn’t put it together,” he admitted.  So I said, since he’d said he wanted to be forgiven, he could ask God for forgiveness with a prayer where God could forgive his sins.  “Like when you go to confession, the priest is telling you that God forgives your sins. He can’t forgive them {himself], he’s just a dude.” “Right he’s got the same problems I have” Peter said.  “Right” I replied.  He took the booklet from me and silently prayed the prayer I had explained, to receive Jesus, as I had offered he might do.  I then gave him a Bible study and the book 20 Things God Can’t Do.  That he was glad also to have. It was great talking to a receptive soul, when with the others I’d spent so long talking to, all I could get was amicable discussion and no visible penetration of the truth.  I asked him if he would like to get a bible study in his email, but he said looking at the book and the Bible study, “No this is enough.”  I have gotten that same response a few times before, after someone prayed who had been religious. They were holding in their hand more study related to the Bible than they had ever done before on their own, and it seems to them like it would last a long time.  And with the work of the Holy Spirit, as there are 100 Bible verses in the index in the back of that book, it should keep them for a bit.  Peter thanked me and I headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance.  Bible study was well attended tonight and we had 8 peeps besides us. Good for COD at night.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope ya had a great day walking with the Lord.  I had a good day on campus, and Jimmy and Daminesha each prayed to receive Christ.

Jimmy was sitting on a couch in the lounge in the BIC, one doorway down from where we have Bible study.  He had medium-blonde hair, an oval, full face and was wearing polyester athletic shorts and a white shirt.  He had gone to a Roman Catholic Church a bit as a kid, but little recently.  He was Italian and wanted to go to Italy, so his heritage must be from the North.  When I asked what he would say to God if asked why he should be let into Heaven he replied, “That’s a tough question…”  I agreed.  He thought some more and said, “I believed that you were real and… That’s hard.” and he left it at that.  He had some familiarity with the Gospel in as much as he knew Christ had died for the sins of the world.  It was tough to get him to crack a smile and he took the Gospel very seriously. So I went with that, and he voiced agreement as I went through the verses and explained things.  I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins or if he thought something else, but what he heard was “Do you think you will be forgiven for your sins?”  “I guess I’d be forgiven,” he said uncertainly. “Well, if you want to be forgiven, you can simply ask God for that,” I said and walked him through the prayer. I suggested he could pray it quietly in his heart, like I wasn’t there, and he didn’t even take the booklet from me but began praying.  So I held it and looked down.  I looked up a couple times and when he’d finished I said “Amen.” He nodded.  I told him he could keep the booklet and went on to explain to him the Christian life by the Spirit.  I also gave him a Bible study.  “Do you have your own Bible or just a family Bible?” I asked. “I don’t have one,” he answered. So I gave him a bible and he opened it right up, enthusiastically. I showed him the book of John, suggesting he could begin reading there, explaining that Jesus’ words were in red.  I offered him a book and he took the Student Editions of The Case for Faith  and The Case for Christ, so that was good to see him interested to learn more. Most people won’t take two books. Jimmy thanked me and I said “Sure”.

Daminesha (Dom in E sha) was sitting in the hallway in the second floor of the science building.  She had on a white baseball cap that hid her hair, but you could see the edge of her afro.  She wore a blue-colored hoodie and skinny blue jeans, and had long, pink finger nails that matched the toes in her sandals.  Cute kid with fair skin and freckles.  I asked if she wanted to do a student survey for our Bible Study group and she said, “Can’t hurt.”  I asked what she would say to God if asked why she should be let into Heaven. She said, “I tried my best to live a righteous life.” She thought she had about a 60% chance of going to Heaven.   Daminesha followed along good naturally with the Gospel, and knew Christ had died for her sins. But she hadn’t been trusting His work on the Cross, just hoping she’d be good enough to be forgiven. I explained the righteousness of God was given to her because Christ had earned it when God adopted her, and that she was saved by faith in what Jesus had done.  I asked if she wanted to be forgiven or if she thought something else and she said, “No, I want to be forgiven.”  So I offered the prayer to her, talking her through the words and she took it and silently prayed to receive Christ.  I explained the Fruit of the Spirit to her and living the Christian life in God’s power.  She had a Bible at home and I gave her a Bible study. I showed her the 100 Bible verses in the back of 20 Things God Can’t Do, so she wanted to take that.  I promised to pray for her until spring of 2018 and she got a big smile and said, “That’s cool!”

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 ya had a good day walking with the Lord.  It rained here, but I had a good day on campus. Though I could only get 3 students to talk with me in the course of over 3 1/2 hours or so, they all received Jesus as Savior.  I did preach to a few of the football players, so I hope that will lead to a longer conversation later in the year. One guy, named “Lucky,” might just have to move a bit more.  Thanks for your prayers.  Oscar, Heidi and Viviana prayed to receive Christ today.

Oscar was the first guy I talked to in the Lunch room, at the counter against the glass, and was named after the famous pugilist.  When he told me his name I asked “Like Oscar Robinson?”  “Like De La hoya,” he answered.  “Cool,” I replied.  He said he was born at the time De La hoya was big.  (Boxers had cache still in some subcultures when the sport had no mainstream names left for a lot of people in the US, so it was interesting.) He was smaller in size and height than his name sake (same ethnicity).  Had a little facial hair and wore dark-rimmed glasses that were taped together on the white side I could see.  He wore an orange shirt and jeans.  He hadn’t gone to church since he was young. That seems to be the more common story of those I’ve talked to this year, they don’t go to church anymore nor does their family.  When I asked him what he would say if God asked him why He should let him into Heaven he said, “I’ve always been an open person to You, I guess, and I’ve always wanted to be [there] after death.”  He thought he’d have an 80% chance of ending up in Heaven.  But he listened to the gospel closely.  He didn’t have any idea how God took away his sin and I explained the Gospel to him.  I told him what God wanted most from him was that he believe Him, much like he would want in a relationship someday with someone he would marry. “You want to be able to believe her and you’d want her to believe you.”  Then I asked, “So would you like to be forgiven, trusting in Jesus so God could live inside you? Or do you think something else?”  “Forgiven” he said.  I explained he could ask God for forgiveness and I walked him through the prayer. He read it (as I held it) and prayed.  I explained the work of the Holy Spirit to him, and gave him a Bible study and a Bible, as he did not have one.  I also gave him the book 20 Things God Can’t Do.  I told him I would be praying for him until a year from spring and he was really grateful. I said good bye and he said, “Thanks a lot!” I got his email to send him more stuff.  It was great to talk with Oscar because he had a heart for God. I gave him a card for the Compass church, suggesting he could watch some sermons online.

Heidi was sitting in the hall of the BIC, waiting for her class to start.  She was from Alaska and was living with her aunts (one of which, at least, was a nurse) and planning to become a nurse at another school after 2 years at COD.  She went to the “Christian” church in her small town “Everybody went to” and hadn’t really found a place to go locally yet.  She wore a black t-shirt and black nylon running sweats with stripes down the legs and I sat at her feet while she sat in a hall chair.  She’s a cute kid, kind of athletic looking like a softball player.  She was an outgoing person but self-described as shy.  She had long, dark-blonde hair, straight past her shoulders, nice kid.  When I asked her what she’d tell God to get into Heaven she said, “If He’s watching, He should know what I’ve done.  I haven’t done anything (not gonna say I’m perfect) that He wouldn’t let me in.”  In telling her the Gospel, when I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sins, she said He, “Gave Himself up.” She liked the stories I told her to illustrate things, and laughed and wanted to be forgiven.  So said I knew she had known the story, but asked if she was “really trusting in Christ to forgive her”.  When she’d done something wrong, was she assuming she was good enough and God was forgiving? Or was she believing she was forgiven because of what Jesus had done.  That gave her pause and she thought and realized she hadn’t really been trusting in Christ, “Humf,” she said in realization.  And she decided to pray to receive Jesus and did.  I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do and a Bible study.  I also gave her a card for the Compass Church since she lived locally.  She was grateful and happy when I left.  I invited her to Bible study. I hope she’ll think about coming.

Viviana was sitting at one of the tables in the big lounge where we have Bible study on Tuesdays.  She was wearing a dark-blue hoodie made out of velour with a zipper front.  She was cute, Latina, had long brown hair that was kind of wavy around her face, she wore black rimed Ray Bans and had a big smile, that let you see all her teeth all at once. They seemed perfectly straight.  She was nice and was interested in the Gospel, though she had not been to church since she was young and didn’t know how her sins were forgiven.  I asked her what she’d say to God if asked why He should let her into Heaven, “I’d say… Because in my life I’ve tried to help as many people as I could. To help them to the fullest extent [of my ability].”  She listened to the Gospel and enjoyed hearing about what God had done and wanted to be forgiven. But she was a bit hesitant, so I asked her if she believed Jesus was God and had died for her sins. She seemed unsure.  I was praying in my heart as I spoke that God would move in her heart.  “Maybe this will help you,” I said. “Do you believe in God?”  “Yes,” she said nodding.  “Do you believe He can do whatever He wants to do? I’m not asking if He can to anything no matter how irrational, like making a rock so big He can’t lift it.”  She thought about it and decided He could do what He wanted.  “So could He become a man if He wanted to?”  “Yes,” she agreed.  “And if He did, would he tell people the truth?” “Well I hope so,” she laughed.  “Otherwise you are talking about a different God than you imagined,” I said and she agreed.  I asked, hypothetically, if she knew the truth about the presidential candidates, and could expose all their darkest deeds in Washington tomorrow, if she would live very long if she started finding a way to announce all of this stuff in Washington.  She thought she’d be killed. I agreed, saying some people close to Clinton had already died.  I explained that is part of the reason they killed Jesus and asked, “If God became a man and they killed Him, what would He do next?  He’d rise from the dead.  And He did.  So it all makes sense. It’s just that Christianity tells the story of why God would do all that. He did it because he loves you and had to pay for your sins.”  Viviana tracked with all I told her and I was still praying God would grant her faith as I talked. “You know how when you go to forgive someone, how it cost you something?” I asked. “Yes it does.” she replied.  “It cost God something to forgive us. There is a balance to the universe, and God paid for us by dying for us.”  At some point I explained the prayer to her, talking some more and she said, “I really like that.”  I said if she wanted and if she believed enough to ask, she could pray for forgiveness and ask God to give her more faith, as faith was a gift. But if she wasn’t ready to pray, she should wait and think about it.  She looked at the prayer again and said again that it was “A good prayer.”  “I haven’t prayed in a long time,” she said, looking down and reading. And then she prayed as I saw her lips moving and she slowly read the sections. So I looked down, letting her finish.  I talked to her about The Case for Christ and offered her the student edition of it, to help strengthen her faith which she took.  I walked her through the Bible study I had and gave her a book called Bible Basics.  At the time I had already given away the bible I had in my satchel.  She said she thought she had one at home somewhere.  So I gave her a Gospel of John.  We talked a bit more and I got her email.  “Thank you so much, I appreciate your time,” she said as I got up to leave.  “You’re welcome” I said.  And we parted.  Then I walked over to the science building and felt convicted I should get over to my truck and get another Bible, in the chance she hadn’t moved from the table.  When I got back she was there and was really grateful for it. So I was grateful God moved me to do that.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and sisters in Christ,

I hope ya had a good day and no ill wind was blowing by your house.  Today Josh prayed to receive Christ.

Josh has a rough-topped curly afro and dark rimmed glasses and the random facial hair of the young college man.  He was sitting in the hall on a couch outside the bookstore, and I asked if he wanted to answer some questions about God and stuff for the Bible Study group on campus.  He was up for it.  When I asked him what he would say to God if asked why He should let him into Heaven he said, “Right now?  I wouldn’t fully know what to say.  I’m a believer, go to church every Sunday.  But just me personally, I’m not fully right for Him yet.”  He seemed like he felt he wasn’t being good enough.  He listened to the stories I often tell explaining the Gospel, the imputed righteousness of Christ and his need to be perfect to get to Heaven.   As I went through the Gospel, he knew the story of Christ dying for his sins but he obviously hadn’t been trusting in that.  When I asked him if, when he’d done something wrong, if he had trusted that Christ had died for him to be forgiven or if he’d hoped he was good enough. He thought hard for a minute, saying “It’s kinda hard. I mean I know it (the story).”  “But you haven’t really been trusting?” I asked.  “Right,” he agreed.  “You can ask trust in Him through a prayer if you’d like now quietly in your heart,” I offered. He decided that the prayer I described for him was the desire of his heart after I went through it, and prayed to receive Christ.  That was great.  I explained the Fruit of the Spirit to him, and that living for God was first to ask to be transformed on the inside, not good works to transform us on the outside.  From the things he said as we’d talked, he was trying to earn God’s favor, saying about how likely it was he would go to Heaven. “I got a shot. Should be doing ok.” But now he trusted in Christ.  He happily took 20 Things God Can’t Do to read and a Bible study, giving me his email to send him some stuff.  I told him I’d see him in Heaven and he laughed with some real joy. That was good to see.

I went through the Gospel today with a Muslim student named JT, who was thoughtful and open. I gave him an evangelistic book I’d been given directed towards Muslims, which he said he’d like to have.

I gave the Gospel to a cute Filipino girl named Sam, who was struggling with the different religions she was encountering.  She came from a Christian background but hadn’t trusted in the name of Jesus. She took a copy of the student edition of The Case for Christ.

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 you were blessed today, as I was on campus. Two girls, Nirali and Evelyn, each committed to faith in Christ, committing to pray later. I hope they will do so. Dinah and Lashunna each prayed to receive Jesus.  Thanks for your prayers that made these girls come. Please pray they draw near to Him.

Nirali is a pretty girl who looked like she was from an Indian heritage, her hair was swept up over her head kind of randomly curly and she wore a zippered hoodie and grey sweats. Evelyn, who went to church every Sunday, appeared to be African American. She wore a leather-look black baseball cap and jeans with a white short top. She had pretty features too and big eyes.  I walked up and asked them if they wanted to do a student survey for the Bible study group.  They hesitated, so I asked if they wanted to know how to get to heaven.  “Hey, you’re pretty, but even pretty girls die, everyone does, do you know where you are going?”  That somehow got them more willing to listen and Evelyn said, “Do we have to go anywhere?”  I said, “No, just right here I’ll ask you questions and write stuff down.”  “How long will it take?” she asked. I told them 5 or 6 minutes, but I forgot both would be talking and once I had their attention and they wanted to hear I got a little long-winded.  When I asked them what they would tell God to get into Heaven, Narali said, “‘Cause my family needs me.” Evelyn said, “Because I’m a good person.”  But when I had finished going through the Gospel I explained, “You know someday you’ll hope to find someone and get married, and what you want out of them more than anything else is you want them to believe you and you want to believe them. That is what God wants most from you. He wants you to believe Him.”  They nodded to that.  I finished explaining everything to them and said, “So the question for you ladies is, do you wish to have the free gift of eternal life?” Both of them said they wanted to be forgiven but were hesitant to pray. I think honestly enough it wasn’t very private, as we were in the line of chairs in the foyer leading to the cafeteria and people they knew had been walking by. (Ada who had prayed to receive Christ last week was one of them, so that helped a bit.)  They both promised to pray later.  We talked more and I explained a bit more of Christianity to them and asked, “If I asked, ‘Do you believe Jesus was God, He died for your sins and rose from the dead’ do you believe that?”  They each said they did.  “And will… do you now trust in that to take away your sins and make you right with God?”  They each said they did. So I said, “The Bible teaches if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead you will be saved.  So if you have trusted in this, God knows you have faith, can see your heart and forgives you.  The prayer is important to say to God, but God knows your heart.”  Nirali looked me in the eyes and her face brightened in realization.  I gave them each a copy then of a Bible study and the book 20 Things God Can’t Do. which they each wanted to have when I offered them books.  They said they would email me after praying, so I will pray they are moved to do that. But in my experience, most forget, as kids say that and I come upon them later asking if they have prayed and most have but never let me know.  I said I would pray for them each night if they prayed, but in truth I will be praying for them anyway.  I apologized for taking so much time and Evelyn said, “Oh you’re good.”  And I headed down the hall, first asking Nirali again to pronounce her name for me.

Dinah was sitting on the second floor overlooking the revolving doors. She had a slight accent and is from Ghana and goes to what she called a “Pentecost Church” that she said was from her country.  She had a warm, friendly face with a bit more pronounced features.  She wore brown stretch pants and a t-shirt.  She said she’d tell God, if He asked why He should let her into Heaven, “Because I was truthful.”  I said she should run for office and she smiled.  She knew the story of Jesus and when if I asked if she wanted to be forgiven and have God live inside her, or if God was on the outside of her life she said “God inside.” As I finished, I said, “I think you knew the story right?” and she nodded.  So I said, asking her if she had been believing in the Gospel to take away her sins, “But have you been trusting in the story?”  She thought for a moment and I asked, “When you pray for forgiveness, have you been thinking; ‘Well, I have been pretty good and God is good, so I hope He will forgive me.’ Or have you thought ‘I know Jesus has died for me, so I know I am forgiven’?  Were you trusting you were good enough, or in Jesus?”  She looked up at the ceiling, tilted her head back and smiled saying, “That I was good enough.” “Would you like to put your trust in Him?” I asked. She nodded so I walked her through the prayer, saying she could pray it silently and she did.  I explained the Holy Spirit’s power to work in her saying, “We don’t do good things hoping they will make us good people and God will forgive us, but we ask God to transform us with His Spirit on the inside and this makes us good people who do good things [for Him].  Christianity is the inside out, not the outside in.”  And I wrote “Inside out” on the inside of the booklet.  She wanted a copy of Bible Promises for You to read and I gave her a Bible study and got her email address.

I talked for a while with Nicolas, after hearing the end of a couple songs by a student cover band with a faculty horn section that was great out on the lawn by the MAC arts building.  He’s one of the guys from bible study and walked up to chat me up about his communist History teacher.  I said goodbye to him after about 30 minutes and talked with a girl on the lawn about the Cubs since she wasn’t interested in God (I know this is a pale second. But hey, sometimes a friendly conversation means they talk to me the next time).  And the I felt like I was supposed to go to the PE building before I left school, though feeling pretty spent.

I walked up the hill and through the upstairs door and passed a girl and guy chatting with another girl who turned me down. Then I went down the stairs and came up to Megan and Brionna, two a pretty black girls who prayed to receive Jesus last year, who I pray for and are nice to me.  They were with a couple white girls who were nice and walked off, and a couple black girls I haven’t met.  One of them I saw before when I bumped into Megan the first time this year in the cafeteria, Leshunna, (pronounced Leshon) though I hadn’t gotten her name before.  I sat on the floor with them a minute. They were busy talking about and texting boys (I gotta say I am about as out of place as you can get, sitting in the middle of a bunch of teenaged black girls. So it’s a miracle God has made them talk to me.)  Megan and Brionna are boy-magnet cute, which isn’t necessarily a blessing. So I stood up to talk to this guy Patel, who is an Indian guy and a wanna-be rapper.  He’d been talking up some of the athletes on the opposite side of the stairwell and was asking me what I had done in the summer and what I was doing now.  We’d never talked about what I did at school before.  He punched a cop at school year before last when the cop grabbed him, but prayed with me to receive Jesus back then so we are Facebook friends and I talk with him once in a while.  He is getting less crazy it seems and talks about how God is helping him.  I had stopped praying for him after a  year and a half of it, but I realize now I need to place him on the list again and I told him I would.  We were talking a few steps away from the girls and I headed out to go, preaching Patel up a bit on how Jesus claimed to be God, the “I AM”, and told him I would send him the Bible study on it as he thought it might make a good rap.  I went to go as Leshunna walked up, so I asked her her name and she kinda was asking who I was, as Megan and Brionna told her I pray for them.  So I told her I talk to people about Jesus and asked her what she would say to God if she died and God asked her why He should let her into Heaven.  She couldn’t answer it, so I asked her if she would like to know how to go to Heaven and she looked at me a little wide eyed and nodded a couple times.  She is a nice looking girl was wearing some print kind of leggings and a fleece.  She was a bit shy and glancing around (it didn’t help that there were some good looking guys sitting on the floor leaning against the wall across from where they were all congregating under the stairs).  But she listened to the Gospel and I explained it all to her and asked her if she would “want to be forgiven for your sins” (having showed her a couple verses already and quoted a bunch of other ones), “everything she had ever done.”  She glanced around and shook her head yes.  So I showed her the prayer, explaining it to her. I leaned in and I whispered to her, “So if you want to, you could pray this right now and God will forgive you and live inside you.”  She took the booklet and looked at Brionna who laughed at something unrelated on her phone and I said “Brionna prayed this last year.”  She read it, then sat down looked over at the boys and I sat next to her on a seat under the stairs, she looking at the booklet, and I asked, “Did you finish praying?” She stood up and turned her back to the boys and as I saw her finish, I quietly said “Amen.”  I stood and explained a bit more to her, but she did not want a book and had a small bible she liked at home. She didn’t seem to have anything with her to carry books in.  So I said I would see her later and said good bye to the others and left.

I had a good conversation with Sergio, a big guy who had played semi-pro football in Chicago and was walking by faith, (earlier in the day) in the science lounge.  He said, “You can say you have all the love in the world [for God] but if you don’t have trust, what’s the point?”  Good line, right?

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,

Hope ya had a great day walking with the Lord of Hosts.  I had a good day on campus and Khyla prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Khyla was sitting in the hallway and agreed to do a student survey for our Bible Study group.  She is African American, looked pretty tall though she was sitting. (She actually looked big and strong come to think of it.) She had long, straightened hair just past her shoulders and had a kind face.  I sat at her feet.  About half way through the Gospel, a teacher came out of the room across from us and stood staring at my back.  Sensing him there, I turned and said politely, “Can I help you with something?”  He asked if I had permission to do what I was doing, speaking through his big bushy beard and glasses.  This, though he hadn’t heard me say enough to know what I was doing topically, so he was just a hater. I informed him that yes, I had gotten a lawyer who contacted student activities for me and I now carry a letter from the Vice President of student activities giving me permission.  Surprisingly he backed off, after informing me that had I not done that, proselytizing was not permitted on campus, and others were doing it and they need to do what I had done.  Of course, I could have mentioned that not being the cops he had no authority to enforce anything going on in the hallways, and in fact he was wrong about the campus “rules for proselytizing” of which there are in fact none.  If you do simple math you cannot selectively restrict speech between students about religion or anything else without restricting everything else. But I did not want to argue with him, and there were cult girls walking around today pushing their “Mother goddess” lie around to a works salvation beat. So hey, maybe he’ll hassle them, though I doubt it as being satanic he’s on their team.  So I simply said “I do not know what other people were required to do, I just know what I did.”  He then left me in peace, fortunately, as Khyla had a lot to talk about.  Her response to the question what she would tell God to get into Heaven was telling.  “It’s a hard question,” she started. “I would say my life is righteous but I think some of the things… I don’t know.  I am kinda young.  My mother has a true, strong faith in God I would hope to get.  Then, I think it is hard to get it together being so young.  I think I’d be scared standing in front of Him.  It’s a really hard question.”  As I went through the Gospel, she agreed with the things I said; that God loved her and wanted to live inside her with His Holy Spirit. But Khyla could not tell me how God took away her sins at all when I asked “What was the big thing Jesus did back in the day that paid for your sins?” She literally just sat and thought and couldn’t come up with anything. (I was about to explain that part when the bearded, self appointed hall monitor interrupted.)  I went on to tell her the rest after he left, and she stopped me after I mentioned Jesus lived a perfect life asking what I believed about homosexuality.  This is pretty loaded these days, but I said, “Well it’s America, and Homosexuals are free to practice this in America. So I can’t tell them they cannot. Part of the problem for the church,” I went on to say, “is that they have not often said, ‘God’s law is His loving preservation of us.’ And they have not spoke out against other things that the Bible says were destructive and wrong.  Like you are not supposed to get a divorce.  If I lose feelings for my wife, I should pray to get them back and ask for God’s power to love her, not just leave her.  Unless there was adultery then that breaks the marriage and God says you are able to divorce.”   I said that I thought, “This is pretty common in the Black community as there are so few fathers. And without a dominant male influence in the home, boys are 50% more likely to chose homosexuality.” She went on to say that her mother had married a pastor and things seemed fine for awhile. But it turned out he was a homosexual and was having homosexual affairs behind her back.  This really hurt her and her mother and she divorced him.  I told her how sorry I was.  “His father died when he was little, ” she replied. I said that would fit.  “I can tell them that the Bible says that acting out on homosexual feelings is destructive to people who have them. And the Bible teaches you should do things because they are loving to do and if you follow the Bible you will not destroy yourself.” “He is sick now and dying,” she replied. I imagined from his at-risk behavior, and I said that was sad. “I believe the Bible also teaches it is impossible to follow the Bible’s teaching without the power of the Holy Spirit living inside you.  So since that is true, it is not realistic for me to tell a homosexual person they should just suck it up and be ‘celibate’ because I don’t believe they would have the power to do this realistically without God.” (And society would not support them either.)  “So according to the Bible, it is not loving to practice these things. But they could simply respond that they do not believe the Bible.  In the 1950’s, everyone believed this behavior was destructive and the Bible agreed with society. But now someone might tell me I was bigoted to tell someone this. But I’m not saying I hate them or even that society must stop them from doing these things. I am just saying the Bible says it will destroy them.”   We talked some more, but I could tell she was running out of time based on some body language (I think she was waiting for someone to go home.) So I interrupted her and said, “Well just let me finish this, because there is something you need to do.”   I finished going through the Gospel with her, explaining Christ’s imputed righteousness, the offer of forgiveness through His blood, and that she hadn’t done this. She wanted to be forgiven with God inside her, and so I said she could ask for that forgiveness by a prayer and she read through it with me as I explained what it meant.  “I pray a prayer like this every day, for forgiveness,” she said. I said that that was good, and I thought God led me to her to answer her prayer and show her how she could be forgiven through Christ, so He could live inside her and give her eternal life.  She agreed and then prayed it quietly.  I explained the power of the Holy Spirit to her and gave her the Book 20 Things God Can’t Do and a Bible study.  I told her I would be praying for her and got her email to send her some stuff.  I said I would be praying for her to be able to forgive the man her mom used to be married to, since he had not only sinned against her mother but against her too since he was her step-father and she under him in his family.  She was happy to know I would be praying for her and I told her she could send me a prayer request of any kind, that I would pray it.  She was happy and finished putting her phone into her back-pack and I got up to leave and she thanked me and I said,  “God bless you, thanks for talking with me.”

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance.  I touched base today with some others who had come to Christ or were Christians at school.  It was a good day.

Blessings in Christ,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed.  We had a good day at College of DuPage. Thanks for your prayers.  Victoria prayed with us to receive Jesus today.  My broken jaw seemed to get a little screwed up from all the talking I did today though, so I hope God will heal it up.

When we got to the school today, they had not given us a table. This isn’t uncommon.  Seems nearly every year they don’t place us somewhere (anticipating this we came an hour early). They have a new rule we did not comply with, but it didn’t matter since they said we could take a random table of our choosing downstairs.  So we took one right at the base of the stairs and we had good traffic. We were across from the popcorn machine and next to the Henna Tattoo artist, so lots of kids walked by. We actually got a better spot than they would have given us anyway upstairs.  By the time I came in from parking, Ellen had already explained to the new woman in Student activities the impossibility of complying with the new rules. Ha, but it didn’t matter.  I could be lead to the opinion they sort of blacklisted our group (this is Ellen’s opinion) and I did have to get the cops off my back with a Lawyer. But hey, God is able. So thanks for praying because it worked out good.

Victoria actually came down for a henna tattoo, and then after she got it she came over to ask about the Bible study. She was an African American with her hair pulled back in a hair band.  Her hair was natural, she dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.  El thought she looked a little older or mature physically (bigger) than someone right out of High School.  She was very nice. So I told her when and where the Bible study was (we were right down the stairs from where we meet, easy to point to)  and asked her if she died and God said to her, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” what she would say?  “I don’t know. I guess I would hope I did enough good things to get in,” she replied. “So you kind of hope your good stuff will outweigh your bad stuff?” I asked. She agreed she thought that, so I asked her if she would like to know how to get to Heaven.  She said yes and so I walked her through the Gospel.  She said she wanted to be forgiven for her sins and that she believed Jesus was God and had died for her sins.  I asked her if she would like to trust in that to be forgiven.  She wanted to do that and I walked her through the prayer, encouraging her to pray like I wasn’t there. As I sat down she prayed out loud, just under the din of all the conversation and noise around us, saying “Amen” as she finished.  I told her she could take a book to read, since we had a dozen different books out on the table.  She took a copy of a book someone gave me called Experiencing Christ Within Workbook. It had some good stuff in it, so I decided to leave it out on the table and that is the book God lead her to take.  I gave her a Bible Study and our contact information, so hopefully she’ll come.

About a half dozen student seemed interested to come to bible study once in a while. Hopefully that will bring a few more in to discipleship.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry if you had a moment today.  God worked and we are grateful for the power others in the church bring to our efforts on campus.

Blessings,

Bob