Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you had a blessed day walkin’ in the light of His word. I had a good day on campus. I taught a Bible study and Luis prayed to receive Jesus today. Please pray he grows in his faith. His story is below if you have some time. Alexia did not have assurance of salvation; she answered the question wrong but thought she was believing on Jesus after I went through the Gospel so I encouraged her and gave her a Bible Study. And I talked to a guy Ricky who had been in Cook County on a gun charge and was wearing the ankle bracelet for another month. He’d receive Christ in prison and we talked about how scary that place is spending a month surrounded by murderers. That was interesting, I talked to him quite a while after I went through the Gospel with him and encouraged him in the Christian life. He looked like a boy. God really kept him in there and he realized it had been a blessing he’d been caught. I gave him some books and a Bible Study.

 Luis was sitting at a table in the PE lounge. He was wearing black sweats and a black and light shade of patterned black (kind of camo) short sleeve shirt.  There were few people in the room, though a couple guys (both Christians) I had talked to before rolled by us and said hi. One knew him also but looked at his face and kept going as we were in the middle of the gospel then and he was dead serious. He had his headphones on, pulled them up to pinch his head as I asked him. I said as he looked up and saw his face, “Oh I’ve talked with you before.” He said I had asked him to do a student survey before. Then he’d said he didn’t have time. He had a mop of brown curls and a mustache the width of a pencil that was not as long as his mouth. He had a small goatee that was long enough for him to tug on {like a golf ball) which he did a bit as we talked. He’s a good-looking guy with kind of a hawk nose rounded on the bridge. He agreed to do a survey saying, “You can talk to me about it.” I asked him one thing he would like to do before he died and he said, “Leave my family financially stable.” I asked him, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “That you probably shouldn’t to be honest,” he replied. I asked what he thought it was that got someone into Heaven. “Following Him, [as] one of His disciples, His sons,” he said. He said he had gone to church when he was younger and that he believed, “I just haven’t been following it. I stopped following the rules He wants a man to follow,” He confessed. I began to go through the Gospel with him, he knew Jesus had died for the sins of the world and he was very serious and listened carefully but either looked at the booklet or over to the corner where no one was sitting and didn’t meet my eyes. There was a lot of activity in the gym, some group, I think they were all women, were swinging their legs back and forth on one foot through the glass doors. But he wasn’t distracted, he listened to the analogies and the verses. He even gave a word of ascent here and there and said, “Right.” I explained all I usually say about the blood of Christ to cleanse him and be a payment for sin. Jesus lived a perfect life for us, His righteousness to our credit, Jesus was our robe of righteousness our garment of salvation.  “You don’t go to Heaven because you are good but because Jesus is good and you’re connected to Him. Like if you marry a millionaire you got a million bucks. Or if you get adopted into a billionaire’s family you get to live in the mansion and drive the cars. So God adopts you into His family and gives you the blessings of His family. He gives you the sacrifice for your sins, the blood that cleanses you and the righteousness of God that surrounds you. So you got someplace to go, Heaven, and something to wear when you get there, the robe of God’s righteousness.” I was praying as I talked that God would work. I explained that he was saved receiving Christ, believing Jesus is God died for your sins and rose from the dead, “Not that you just knew the story but that that’s what you put your trust in, so if someone would say to you, ‘Why should God let you into Heaven?’ you’d say, ‘Because Jesus died for me.’ That would mean you had faith in Jesus and faith saves you.” I read him the verses.  I asked him if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done. Then the Spirit would live inside him and give him strength and take him to Heaven when he died or did he believe something else and I told him the CliffsNotes version of Islam and the Buddha. “So would you want to be forgiven for your sins?” I asked again. He nodded. So I said, “Well if you want to be forgiven there’s a prayer you can pray.” I talked him through it and asked if it expressed the desire of his heart he nodded again and so I said he could pray it silently and know he was forgiven. I slid him the open booklet and he looked at it. Then he stared off to the corner again and then he pulled his shirt up at the neck like an NBA player using the collar to wipe sweat from his face for a free throw over his eyes. I sat and then looked down and waited a minute. Finally he recovered himself and took the booklet and looked at the prayer and prayed to receive Christ. When he’d finished I said, “Amen?”  and he nodded. I reached out offering him my hand and said, “Your sins are forgiven man,” and he shook it. “I appreciate it,” he said. I explained the Christian life to him and encouraged him that the power of the Spirit was the way we lived the Christian life. Inside out. I told him I had a couple books for him and gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave him a Bible study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet telling him Strobel’s story. I told him I would keep him in my prayers each day praying a Bible verse for him until Spring and one year after. I gave him a Bible study on the deity of Christ. “I appreciate it man,” he said, “Sorry for tearing up on you.” “It’s all good man if it’s real it’s all-good,” I said shaking his hand. Tough looking dude. I told him if I saw him I’d just say hi, no strings attached and I headed off. It kind of took it out of me so I headed out and down the hall and around the corner and sat on the floor and took some notes and took a minute headed for the Bible Study.

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

 In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today and you proved what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. I had a good day on campus and Alex and Ella their stories are below if you have some time. Please pray they grow in faith. I gave assurance of salvation to another Baptist girl (Faith) and also gave a book to a guy (Itzel, curly long hair wearing a watch cap in the cafeteria) who’d heard nothing of the Gospel growing up in a non-churchgoing family who said he could figure it out on his own.

 Alex was sitting on a bench in the MAC arts center lounge on the other side of a false wall they put in for display space, making something of a hallway. He had straight brown hair shot and flat to his head and a small mustache, bad skin like I had in college. He had a boyish face, might have been Latino but didn’t go to Church anymore. He wore a Mardi Gras print button down shirt under a jacket and jeans. He had an oval face with a pointed chin. He was meek. I asked him one thing he would like to do before he died and he said, “Get a family.” Becoming another example of a guy who if they say they want a family they will later demonstrate they are already a Christian or will pray to receive Christ. (It’s a tell.) I asked him, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” I’d probably say, ‘I always followed You, even though there’s times when You seemed angry with me. I always asked for help and for Your forgiveness.’” He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. I explained God loved him and wanted to live inside him with His Holy Spirit and asked what Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world. “I actually don’t know,” he replied. So I went on to explain that Jesus had died for him as a payment for what he had done and His blood cleansed him. I explained the righteousness of God. I told him God wanted to adopt him and he could be saved by faith. I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else. “I would choose to be forgiven,” he replied. I said then, “If you’d like to be forgiven there’s a prayer you can pray.” I talked him through the prayer and asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. He nodded. So I said he could pray it silently I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “Yeah,” he replied.  And I said, “Just pretend I’m not here.” “OK,” he said and he prayed to receive Jesus. When he finished I went on to explain the Christian life, praying reading the Bible and living by the Spirit’s power “Inside Out”. I told him the likelihood he would now go to Heaven trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus was 100%. I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day from now until Spring and one year after asking God to bless him.  I gave him I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I also gave him a Bible study and explained it a bit. “It was nice to meet you,” I said shaking his hand. “Thank you,” he replied. “I’ll see you in Heaven,” I said. “Thank you,” he said again gratefully and I headed off.

Ella was sitting alone in a lounge with vending machines on the first floor, north side of the BIC. The back of it empties into a hall. She had a pretty small face and wore pink plastic rimmed glasses. Her earrings were gold butterflies the size of a nickel and she had a press on gold star on her upper lip. She had a Latina skin tone and small features and a pointed chin. She wore black and white leather Nikes and jeans and had several chains around her neck and a button up black blouse. I asked her one thing she would like to do before she died. “Honestly get closer to God. I haven’t been doing that. I’ve been distracted lately.” She said she recently bought a Bible but hadn’t done anything with it yet. I asked, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “I would say don’t let me into Heaven. I’m not worthy to be in His presence.” She thought she had a 40% chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with her and she knew Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world. So I went on to explain what that meant for us, explaining his blood and righteousness in the manner I always do. I explained that he had died and rose from the dead she said, “right.” I said then that God adopted her and all the work of Jesus was hers received by faith. I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done, then he could live inside her with the Holy Spirit to give her strength and take her to Heaven when she died. I then gave her the CliffsNotes version of Islam and the Buddha. “So would you want to be forgiven for your sins or do you believe something else?” I want to be forgiven,” she said. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and walked her through it asking if it expressed the desire of her heart. She nodded. I said she could pray it silently; I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear and she’d know she was forgiven. “Wanna do that?” I asked. She nodded again and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When she finished she made the sign of the cross. I explained the Christian life to her praying and reading the Bible and said the Spirit would give her power to do what she needed to do. She could pray and ask God to remind her to read the Bible if she wanted. I handed her the booklet and she said, “Thank you sir.” I told her the likelihood she would now go to Heaven trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus was 100%. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study explaining that. I told her I would pray a Bible verse for her each day from now until Spring and one year after asking God to bless her. She was happy and I got up to go saying, “I’ll see you in Heaven.” “Thank you sir,” she said again and I headed off.

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

 In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

 I hope you had a blessed week walking with the Lord in His will. I had a good day on campus Thursday and Maenota [Mah no ta] prayed with me to receive Jesus. Her story is below if you have time, Eva, Ashley, Chris & Andrew also prayed to receive Jesus and Kassim (this Christmas break). Please pray they all grow in their faith.

Maenota was sitting at the long table on the ground floor of the PE lounge at the base of the stairs. She had thick braids of her own hair starting at her scalp that went behind her head 6 or 8 inches. She had a sweet slightly wider maternal/pretty face and wore a multicolored workout jacket. She had a slight accent. Telling her my family was from Sweden I asked where hers was from and she said, “Ghana.” She said she wanted to travel, which always seems strange to hear when I am talking to someone from somewhere I have never been. She described herself as “God-fearing”. I asked her, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “I would say, ‘Yes, He should let me in. I’ve tried to be accountable for everything I’ve done. I’m not perfect but I’ve tried to be accountable’.” She thought she had an 85% chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with her explaining that Jesus had said Knowing God was eternal life, because knowing God in the New Testament is that the Holy Spirit lives inside you. But God has to take away your sin, make you His type, so he can live inside you. Then since God is eternal and the source of life, if you are one with Him you would have eternal life. I asked what Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world. She knew He died on the cross. I went through all I usually say and to explain the blood and righteousness of Christ, His payment for sin and resurrection. I asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done, then He would live inside her with his Spirit. Or did she think something else? I then gave her the CliffsNotes version of Islam and the Buddha I asked, “When you are asking for forgiveness for your sins have you been thinking that you are a good person and will try harder?” she was nodding Yes in response. I then said, “Or have you been trusting in Jesus. “The former,” she replied. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray. I read through it and explained it and I asked if it expressed the desire of her heart. “Yes, I prayed it,” she replied. So I said, “Amen?” and she said, “Amen.” I went on to explain the Christian life to her she had a Bible. I explained living by the Spirit’s power, inside out, not outside in like other religions. I said the likelihood she would now go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. I gave her Bible Promises for You I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and gave her a Bible Study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told her I would pray a Bible Verse for her each day from now until Spring and one year after, asking God to bless her. “Thank you,” she said as I got up to go. “If I have a chance I’ll come by,” she said about Bible Study. “You’d be welcome,” I replied and I headed off.

 So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and evangelism on campus this week. God blessed again drawing the peeps to Himself, though foot traffic appears to be way down at school.

 In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was filled with love and good works by the Spirit’s power. I had a good day on campus and Ashley, Chris and Andrew each prayed with me to receive Jesus. Please pray each of these students will grow in their faith and rest in Jesus. Their stories are below if you have time.  Timothy a student studying to be a fire fighter seemed close to receiving Christ but his Uber rolled up and he had to run.

Ashley was sitting halfway down the hallway that runs to the bookstore in one of the sofa chairs in front of a round ottoman. She had curly dark brown hair that fell down just past her jaw line. She had a pretty face with a pointed chin and was wearing a black dress to her calves with a satin back jacket and white crocks. She was just slightly heavyset and wearing dark red lipstick. She said she commuted from Indiana 2 days a week for school. She wanted to go into Architecture as a Major.  She’d been looking for a church having had a bad experience at her last one. I asked her “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “That’s a good question,” she replied and thought a moment before saying, “I’m not perfect… I’ve never done blaspheme. I’ve chosen to forgive my rapist.” “Wow, that’s a lot,” I replied. She thought she had an 80% chance of going to Heaven. I began going through the Gospel with her. When I asked her what Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world she started thinking and then pounded her hand in her palm a couple times looking for the word then saying, “He was crucified.” I said, “You were doing the nails in His hands?” she agreed. I began going through the Gospel with her as I always do, explaining the blood that cleansed her and paid God what we owed. His righteousness was to her credit. I said she could receive these things by faith. I asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done, then He would live inside her with His Spirit and give her strength, take her to Heaven when she died. Or did she think something else? She reached out with a painted nail and touched under the circle with the cross on the throne or the driver’s seat of her life. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and talked her through it. I asked if it expressed the desire of her heart and she nodded so I said she could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear and she’d know she was forgiven. “Wanna do it?” I asked. “Um hum,” she said as she nodded and she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. As soon as she finished I said, “The likelihood you will now go to Heaven is 100%, trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus.” She smiled at that. I began to go through the Christian life with her. She had a Bible but I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. She took on a warm smile when I gave that to her. I also gave her a Bible Study, explaining it a bit and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told her I would pray a Bible verse for her each day from now until Spring and one year after asking God to bless her. I said if I saw her I would say hi. I got up to go and she said, “Thank you for your time.” “Thank you for yours,” I replied with a smile and I headed off. She walked by at the end of the day as I was talking to someone and I waved at her and her face lit up in a grin and she waved back.

 I came across Chris outside the cafeteria. He’s a friend of a guy I bumped into regularly last year, Jordan, and they are always talking about Christianity to I would occasionally give them my two cents. Chris has modest classic black features, he has perfect skin like milk chocolate and a mustache, bit of beard beneath his chin, good looking guy. He had on a black hoodie pull up over his head today. He asked how my day was going and I said a girl had prayed to receive Christ. He asked how I went about that. I explained I did a student survey and told him the questions. “Do I need to do something like that?” he asked, “I was baptized,” he replied. “Well baptism is either you are purified if you are sprinkled or you go under the water and that means you die with Christ and then you come out of the water you rise with Him so that is what it is symbolic of.” His face was blank and nothing I said seemed like it was familiar. “Well, you’re a Christian,” I went on, “So I don’t think… but hey tell me what’s that answer to the question. ‘So you’re walking down the road, you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?’” “Well I was baptized,” he repeated. “I think it is what comes from your heart, I have a good heart, good intentions.” “Well, that’s what you do but what did Jesus do?” he didn’t get the question. So I said, “You need to hear this then, you got a few minutes?” “Yeah,” he said. “Where can we sit down?” I asked. “Right here,” he said and we sat in a circle of connected benches and table-tops around a circular ottoman right outside the cafeteria. I began to go through the Gospel with him in the booklet and explaining that God wanted to live inside him with His Holy Spirit but first had to take away his sins (like a blood transfusion). I asked, “What’s the big thing Jesus does back in History to take away the sins of the world?” “He baptizes you?” he guessed. “No, that is how you identify with Christ,” I replied. “So I began to explain all I do with illustrations and stories explaining the blood and righteousness of Christ. “Wow,” he said at one point. I explained that he needed to receive Christ by faith believing He was God, had died for his sins and rose from the dead. “Not that you just know the story but that that’s what you put your trust in so if someone would say to you, ‘Why should God let you into Heaven?’ You’d say, ‘Because Jesus died for me.’ That would mean you had faith in Jesus. And you are saved by faith.” I explained how his good works were not perfect and could not pay God anything. I said that last question was, “Which person are you or would you want to be,” and told him the false message of Islam and the Buddha and then asked, “Or would you want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus has done? Then He lives inside you and gives you strength takes you to Heaven when you die.” “Yeah, be forgiven,” he said. So I talked him through the prayer asking does this prayer and said he could pray it silently. “I read it,” he said. “OK, Amen?” I asked. “Amen,” he replied with a grin. “OK. So do you believe Jesus is God died for your sins and rose from the dead? Do you think that’s true?” I asked. He nodded. “Say, ‘I do,’” I said. “I do,” he replied. So the Bible says if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, that He is God, and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, because He had to die for your sins, you will be saved.” I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I also gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and I explained the Bible study to him one of the illustrations was Jesus walking on the water. I told him I would keep him in my prayers praying a Bible verse for him each day asking God to bless him. “That was beautiful man,” he replied. He said the illustrations were great and then said, “Thank you for sharing this good word.” He gave me a hug. “No problem you have a blessed day,” I replied and he hugged me again and said, “I will.”  As he walked away he said, “Wow.”

Andrew was sitting at the counter looking out towards the parking lot in the cafeteria. He got off his chair and introduced himself when I asked his name shaking my hand after he agreed to do a survey with a “Nice to meet you.” He had light brown hair in a mop kind of here and there but short on the sides, blue eyes and a day’s growth of light beard. He was wearing a black puffy coat and blue jeans, smaller guy with a kind of an everyman face with full lips, nice guy. He wanted to become an airline pilot. I asked him, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “I don’t know what I would say,” he replied. I asked him what he thought it was that got someone into Heaven. He said he’d watched some videos and that he thought, “One key fundamental is accepting Jesus into your life.” I asked what he thought the likelihood was he would be let into Heaven when he died. “I’m not sure,” he replied. “I need to have more time with people in Church.” He’d said he’d been meaning to get into Church a bit. “Well the last part of this is what you think about Christianity,” I said and he jumped in and said, “I think it’s a great religion, nothing against it.” I began to explain the Gospel to him. He knew Jesus had died for the sins of the world. So went through all I usually say of the blood and righteousness of Christ and adoption and resurrection. I said he needed to be saved by faith. I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else giving him the CliffsNotes version of Islam and the Buddha. He said he would want to be forgiven. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked him through it asking if it expressed the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he replied. So I said he could pray it silently, I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven, “Wanna do that?” “Sure,” he replied and he took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ finishing out loud with “Amen.” I told him then the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. I began to explain the Christian life to him and he did not have a Bible so I offered him one. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” on the inside after I showed him the cross-references and maps and a study help I place in the back. He was happy with the Bible. I also gave him Bible Promises for You showing him how he could turn one into a prayer or read them for comfort. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and explained a Bible study to him on the deity of Christ. I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day from now until Spring and one year after asking God to bless him. I got up to go. “Alright Bob, thanks for your time,” he said reaching out to shake my hand again. “Alright,” I replied, “I’ll see you in Heaven.” “Alright, see you there,” he said with a grin and I headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed resting in the power of His Resurrection. I had a good day on campus teaching a small group Bible study with a few guys. No one prayed with me today but Kassim told me he had prayed to receive Christ over the break. Please pray he continues to grow in faith. I first went through the Gospel with him August 25th but I touched base with him pretty regularly chatting him up. He often sat in the hall near the bookstore. He is African American and has fair skin, slight features and kind of a curly afro, a mustache and a beard under his chin, good looking guy. When I first asked him, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” He said, “Um, I think I would say, “Of course I did a lot of sin in my life but I tried to find you the best way I could.” I asked him what the likelihood he would get into heaven and he said, “Not likely.” When I talked him up other times he was struggling with the lies he was told in his religious studies class so I talked him through some of them. Today he was cheerful and I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and “Forgiven” in the front and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet I also gave him a Bible Study on the deity of Christ. So it was great to see he had decided to believe in Jesus and had prayed to receive Christ as I had periodically been praying for him. I told him I’d be praying for him each day.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and evangelism today if you had the thought. God truly blessed though there were few people to talk to today.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and mercy peace and love were multiplied to you. I had a good day on campus in as much as Eva prayed to receive Christ. Her story is below if you have time. Please pray she will grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I went through the gospel with a Muslim, Mustafa (curly hair and a mustache like Freddy Mercury, slight build), and 4 other students who claimed to believe the Gospel but I think I helped them understand it more clearly.

 Eva was sitting in the hallway that heads along the Student Services building and ends down by the bookstore. She had kind of a Little House on the Prairie way about her in appearance. She had an oval face with what we used to call “granny glasses”. Her hair was kind of thin, long and went to her elbows. It was stick straight, the front in strands of bangs fell in wisps over her glasses to the bridge of her nose. She had on a pink sweatshirt with a cheerful slogan on it I forgot to write down and wore dark grey slacks. She had a pleasant way about her said she was introverted. I asked her, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “I’d say because I’d help other people. I’m studying to be a nurse so…” she said. I asked the likelihood she would go to heaven. “90ish,” she replied. As I began to go through the Gospel with her I asked her what Jesus had done back in history to take away the sins of the world. She remembered Jesus had died thought it had been a while since she went to Church. I explained Jesus had become a perfect man and was a sacrifice for our sins. His blood cleansed us and was a payment to God. She gave a sound of ascent agreeing. I went on to say all I usually say. The credit of His life perfectly fulfilling the law was to our credit. God adopted us and gave us the blessings of His family, sacrifice and cleansing blood and righteousness. All this was hers by faith believing Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. I asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else, briefly comparing Islam and the Buddha. “The first option,” she replied. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I talked her through it asking, “It says here Does this prayer express the desire of your heart. Would You say it did?” “Um hum,” she replied. “If you wanted you could pray it right now, I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven. Wanna do that?” I asked. She nodded and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I went through the Christian life with her. She didn’t have a Bible but had been thinking she would buy one. So I gave her one and showed her how cross references worked and the study helps and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I explained living the Christian life by the Spirit’s power, “Inside Out”. I told her I would pray a Bible Verse for her each day from now until Spring and on year after. I also gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and Bible Promises for You. I quickly gave her a Bible Study as she had to leave. I got up to go saying if I saw her around I would say hi. “Thank you,” she said as I stepped away. “You’re welcome,” I replied and I headed off.

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

 In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your week was blessed and fill up with the fullness of God walking with Him in newness of life. I had a good week on campus and Ivan [e vahn] prayed to receive Jesus on Thursday. Through the week Connor, Amelia, Taylor, Zach, Colton, Tania each prayed to receive Christ and David* committed to Christ believing. Ivan’s story is below if you have some time. Please pray each of these are sanctified by the Spirit.

 Ivan was sitting in the small lounge just east at the doors from the SSC lounge where they have events. He was a short guy with short dark brown hair combed back and a mustache. He looked like a young, slightly better-looking version of Freddie Mercury the rock star of decades ago. His shirt was a plaid grey flannel and he had on black sweats, tight at the ankle. He had a slight accent but said he was born in America and had relatives all over the world many whom he’d visited. Some were in Mexico others in Guatemala and Romania. I asked him, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “Hmm, what would I say?” he said pondering and concluded, “Because I forgive everybody for what they’ve done, in a way.” I asked the likelihood he would get into Heaven when he died and he thought it was 70%. He hadn’t gone to Church since he was a kid. I explained that eternal life was knowing God because God could live in you with His Holy Spirit and asked what Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world and he remembered Jesus had died. I began to go through the Gospel with him, thereafter, telling him all I usually say about the blood and righteousness of Christ, the payment of His life for what we owe God and salvation by faith.  He was attentive to it all the way through without comment. Finishing I said, “So what kind of person are you or would you want to be?” Then I asked if he would want to be forgiven with God living inside him or thought something else. I gave the CliffsNotes version of Islam and the Buddha. “Interesting,” he said and seemed to be thinking. I let him think it through and asked and then asked again if he would want to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else. “Be forgiven,” he replied. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it asking if it expressed the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he replied. I said he could pray it silently; I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven, ‘Wanna do it?” “Why not,” he replied. He took the booklet and prayed then to receive Christ. He flipped through the booklet some after and I asked he’d prayed having looked down for a bit. He said he had. So I explained the Christian life to him living by the Spirit’s power, “Inside Out”. I gave him a Bible and wrote his name and the date and forgiven in the front. I gave him Bible Promises for You and a Bible study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told him I would keep him in my prayers each day praying a Bible verse for him until Spring and one year after. He seemed grateful and I headed out.

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

 In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you had a blessed day standing on the promises of God your savior. I had a good day on campus and Colton and Tania each prayed with me to receive Jesus. Their stories are below if you have some time you want to spend. Please pray each of them grows in their faith.

Colton was sitting in the hallway on the south side 2^nd floor of the BIC building. He was wearing an NBA logo ball cap turned backward, a black hoodie and black skinny jeans. He had kind of a symmetrical angled nose, perfect skin and 8-inch braids poking out the back, parts of which were tinted brown. Had a firm jaw line, good-looking guy. He had a large silver cross around his neck so I asked if he wanted to do a student survey for a Bible study group. “I’m not a student here,” he replied. I asked if he’d be up for hearing the big metaphysical question to can ask people about God. He said OK and I asked him, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “I’d have to think long and hard about that,” he replied. “Would you like to hear the Bible verses that answer the question and tell you how you get to Heaven?” I asked. He was up for it and sitting down I asked if he wanted to do the survey or just hear the verses. “I’ll do the survey,” he said amicably. I started in and he said he wanted to try snowmobiling and I told him some tales of woe. I asked him the question again about what he would say to God and he struggled. “I’m not sure what I would say…” I said it would probably be overwhelming to stand before God. So look at it another way, what would you say it is that gets you into Heaven. “I shared my testimony with my friends and the Holy Spirit would tell me what to say to give them the right advice.” He seemed to be was appealing to a relationship with God. He thought he had a 60-70% chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with him and asked him what Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world. “He crucified Himself,” he replied. I said that was right and went on to explain everything I usually explain about the cleansing blood of Christ as a payment for sin and His righteousness to our credit when God the Father adopts us. I said he could receive this by faith. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in Jesus or thought something else. “Yes,” he replied. “Well it seems like you never really put all this together before?” I asked. He agreed he hadn’t so I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked him through it and he felt like he had seen one like it before. I think he might have prayed some kind of sinner’s prayer but then had not really been trusting I the blood and righteousness of Christ to save him. I asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. He said it did. So I said he could pray it silently right now, I wouldn’t hear him but God would and he’d know he was forgiven. “I was thinking I’d pray it at my house,” he replied, I think meaning before I asked he had intended to pray the prayer. He gave me a look like “I was gonna get to it.” Like he was a step ahead of me. Then he prayed silently to receive Jesus. He didn’t have a Bible saying he men to get one also saying he had given it to his brother. So I gave him one and I showed him some of the study helps and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven”. In the front. I gave him Bible Promises for You and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day from now until Spring and one year after. I told him the likelihood he would now go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. “I appreciate that man,” he said. I got up to go and said, “Appreciate you.” “Sure,” he replied. I rolled back later to give him a Bible study and his girlfriend walked up and said hi to me like she knew me from seeing me around and I headed off.

 Tania ((tah n ya) was sitting on a couch in the MAC arts lounge in front of the elevator on the first floor. She had dark brown hair parted in the middle and had a round pretty face with raised cheek bones. Her chin was a button a little smaller than a quarter with an indent dot directly in the center. She had on a light blue pullover blouse and even lighter blue baggy jeans cuffed at the bottom. She had very fair skin and looked Caucasian. I asked if she went to church and she said she didn’t even as a kid. Later said she’d gone to a Spanish speaking church with her mother attended by only 12 people so I miscommunicated the question somehow. She was interested as we spoke. When I asked her one thing she would like to do before she died she said, “Retire my mother.” She later explained she wanted to buy her a house in retirement; she didn’t have one. “That’s really sweet of you, that’s a lot of money,” I replied. That’s why I’m in school,” she replied. “To get a job to make money,” I said matter-of-factly and she agreed. I thought then how I had been blessed to have a house. (I talked to a Christian guy I say hi to sometimes today who told me he was transferring to DePaul and it was $70,000 a year and I told him I could have bought a house for that when I got out of college.) I asked her, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “Um.’ She said thinking. “I don’t know. I’m a sinner. I know He forgives but I don’t know.” I asked her the likelihood she would go to Heaven when she died. “If I follow His word maybe I’d have a chance,” she replied. I began to go the through the Gospel with her but before I got started just taking out the booklet she said, “Oh are you a part of this Church that’s just a mile from here?” I said I wasn’t. She showed me a flyer she had gotten from a book table. I knew the Presbyterians had a table up today and I was friendly with them and we talk, they were OPC, they seemed to think I was up to the right thing. The name of the Church was on the back and I told her a bit more where it was. I said I had gone to that church the people there were good folks and what the place looked like inside. She had made a plan with them to go there on Sunday at 9:30 and was encouraged. I began explaining that God living inside her would give her eternal life and first God had to take away her sin. Then like a blood transfusion He could make her his type. He could transfuse His life into her, live in her with His Holy Spirit. Since I thought at that point she had not gone to Church at all I explained that Jesus lived a perfect life for her and His blood cleansed her from sin. It was how God got paid what we owed him for the damage we had done. I asked if she understood and she said, “sort of,” So I just repeated, “His blood pays for our sin.” She nodded. Then I explained Christ’s righteous life that was to our credit. (Earlier in the day a Christian girl Eva told me, “I’m washed in the blood.” In answer to the question and it hit me how to many people that statement, which was true, would explain nothing to some people. I’ve had Muslims tell me it did not make sense to them that someone else could pay for their sins. Their society, usually Pakistan, did not even have the idea of social benevolence let alone personal substitution and grace.) I explained Christ Righteousness like extra credit gifted to her in a class and that hit home with Tania and I went on to explain she was save by faith receiving Christ, believing He was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. Not that she just knew the story but that that was what she put her trust in, “So that if someone asked, ‘Why should God let you into Heaven?’ You would say, ‘Because Jesus died for me.’” I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done. “Or is God more on the outside of your life?” Before I could explain any more she popped in with, “The first one.” So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I talked her through it asking if it expressed the desire of her heart. “Yeah,” she replied. I said she could pray it silently and she took the booklet and said, “I can read it in my head?” “Yes,” I replied and she prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to her living “By the Spirit’s Power” and “Inside out”.  I told her that now trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. I told her I would pray a Bible Verse for her each day from now until Spring and one year after asking God to bless her. She had a Bible and I said John was a good place to start reading. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and forgiven in the front. I also gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible Study. I got up to go. “Thank you Bob,” she said. I said “Your welcome,” and headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you had a blessed day walking with the Lord in His will and it brought ya joy. I had a good day on campus and Taylor and Zach each prayed with me to receive Jesus. David also turned I believe, a 5×5 black dude with a watch cap on and a teddy bear face, wearing a blue hoodie and black sweats was in the science building. He struggled with the idea that someone far more wicked them him would also be forgiven, though he’d said he wasn’t a great person and did not know why God would let him into Heaven. “I’ve never killed somebody… that’s not really a good reason,” he admitted. I went through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died. He had questions about the payment for sin. I finally pointed that that was the root of some of his questions and asked, “Say I offer to give you a million Dollar lottery ticket but if you take it I am going to give a 5-million-dollar ticket to some exceptionally wicked guy over there. Would you take it?” “Well yeah!” he said. “Ok then brother just take the ticket, let God deal with the other guy. If he says he believes,” I replied and he smiled. I said, the evil guy might be a psychopath that’s lying anyway.  I showed him the prayer said he would pray later. I asked as he got up to get to his ride in the Science Building hall on the first floor. “Lemmie ask you; Do you believe Jesus is God died for your sins and rose from the dead? Do you believe that is a true story?” “I’ve always believed that was a true story,” he replied. “And do you put your trust in that to be forgiven for your sins,” “Yes,” he replied. I reached out with a fist and said “Then your sins are forgiven Brother.” He fist-bumped me and got a big smile and said, “Thanks.” And he headed off.  The other 2 stories are below if you have some time. Please pray they grow in faith and please pray that David will pray to solidify it in his heart.

Taylor was sitting in one of the cut outs where there’s a table and chairs facing out on the student services lounge. She was a pretty African American girl with tight curly hair pulled back in a bun. She had an oval face and fair skin; her nose pierced in the septum with an omega shaped silver piece was sharp. She wore a white blouse and black leggings. I asked her if she wanted to do a student survey for a Bible study group. “Oh I’m in a group,” she replied. I asked what it was called just out of curiosity and she said she had just joined it at a Church in Naperville so I asked her if she’d like to hear the question you can ask to help share your faith. She agreed so I asked, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “Because I’m a good person?” she replied. I asked if she’d like to hear the Bible verse that tell you how you get to heaven, “Or not so much?” “Ok,” she replied and I began to go through the Gospel with her saying all I always do about the blood and righteousness of Christ, His death and resurrection, salvation by faith and not by being good enough. She hadn’t seemed to remember that Jesus had died for her sins. I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus. “Yes,” she said. So I said there was a prayer she could pray and talked her through it and asked if it expressed the desire of her heart. She nodded. I said she could pray it silently and asked if she would like to do that and she that and she nodded meekly and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life, living by the Spirit’s power, “inside out”. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven I the front. I also gave her a Bible study on the deity of Christ and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told her I would pray a bible verse for her each day from now until Spring and one year after and she thanked me and I thanked her for talking with me and headed off.

 I talked to Zach in the PE building. He was a slightly built guy, short, with a mustache and somewhat angular features. His hair looked like the top had been shaped by a bowl and it fanned out into curls. He ran cross-country and was a mile runner on the track team. He wore a black hoodie with tie-dye blue rings and black pants and white tennis shoes. I asked him “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” He thought a bit and thought there was a word for it. He finally said, “I don’t know. I’m still working on that, trying to be a better person.” He thought he had a 50/50 change of going to Heaven. Nice guy, he only went to Church on Christmas Eve and said it was a Presbyterian church. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he knew that Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world. He really tracked with everything I was saying and tuned right in. When I had finally explained that “God got paid” by the blood of Jesus and also He lived a perfect life for us, His righteousness to our credit by adoption. I said he was saved by faith. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done or if he thought something else (with the CliffsNotes version of Islam and the Buddha) asking again, “Would you want to be forgiven for your sins?” “Obviously,” he replied with a smile. I said that if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it asking if it expressed the desire of his heart. He nodded. I said he could pray it silently, “Wanna do that?” “Yeah,” he replied. “Just pretend I’m not here,” I said. “OK,” he said and then prayed to receive Christ. He didn’t have a Bible but used his phone so I gave him one showing him some of the helps and showing the marker in John. “I read that already on my phone,” he replied. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I explained living “By the Spirit’s Power” and “Inside out.” I gave him Bible Promises for You and a Bible study on the deity of Christ and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day from now until Spring and one year after asking God to bless him. “Thanks,” he said. “I needed this, I’ve been trying to get closer in my relationship with God.” I said that was great and I didn’t know if we’d cross paths again but I would be praying and not to worry if a year from now I forgot his face, God knew his name. He grinned and said, “Alright.” Then I headed out. I was at the bottom of the stairs leaning against the wall for some back pain and writing down what he looked like as he came down and headed past and he gave me a wave. I waved back and he headed out the doors to the lot.

 So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance though I forgot to send a notice. I know someone was praying, God truly blessed.

 In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and the nearness of God was your good. I had a good day on campus and Connor and Amelia each prayed with me to receive Christ today. Please pray they both grow in faith. Their stories are below if you have time you want to spend.

Connor was in the hallway that leads down to the bookstore sitting in on of 4 stuffed chairs at a surrounding a circular ottoman. I sat down on one. He had brown curly hair poking out of the back strap gap on a truckers hat he’d turned backwards. Clean-shaven he had kind of a young David Hasselhoff look. He wore a winter coat and jeans. He was friendly. I asked him, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “That’s a really good question,” he replied. “I am a believer in God. I committed myself to Him. I try to walk in His commandments. I’m a good person, I repented of my sins and I try to get better and better.” After hearing this I thought he was Catholic.  I asked the likelihood he would get into Heaven. He thought he had a 50/50 chance saying, “Ultimately it’s not up to me.” He added that he did not think you could be 100% certain or know until the end. I asked him if he went to church at all. He had been going to church locally but had been away at a different college and hadn’t reestablished the habit. Growing up he had gone to Wheaton Christian Grammar School and the Christian Academy for HS. Then he said the church he’d gone to, which I didn’t think was a good one, but it would have been technically evangelical. I began to go through the Gospel with him, he liked the idea of Christianity as a blood transfusion, God transfusing His life into you with His Holy Spirit. But first God had to take away your sin to make you His type. “What’s the big thing Jesus does back in history to take away your sin?” I asked him. “Baptism?” He guessed. Seeing he hadn’t got it right (I guess my expression tipped him off} he then said, “Evangelists?” I said I was an evangelist. I asked how Jesus had been a payment for his sins. “Oh he died on the cross,” he replied. I agreed and began to explain how that worked. He tracked with everything and I said all I usually say to communicate the Gospel. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else. He said he wanted to be forgiven so I asked if when he asked for forgiveness he thought he would be forgiven for being a good person and trying harder or if he thought he’d been forgiven because Jesus had died for him (reiterating his previous conditions). He had not been trusting in Christ. “If you want to be forgiven there’s a prayer you can pray.” I talked him through it and asked if he had asked for forgiveness before trusting in Jesus. He said he prayed and had heard a prayer like that before but had never prayed one. I said he could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear, “Wanna do that?” I asked. “Yeah, I think I’ll do it.” He replied and he prayed then to receive Christ. I said he could keep the booklet, “Oh thanks!” he said. I explained then the Christian life to him and that God forgave him when he asked. I said everything in the Christian life was accomplished by the Spirit’s power. Christianity unlike other religions was living “Inside out not outside in.” First we ask God to transform us we become good men, and then we do good things. I said the likelihood he would now go to Heaven trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus was 100%. I gave him Bible Promises for You. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave him a Bible study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told him I would keep him in my prayers each day from now until Spring and one year after asking God to bless him. He thanked me and I said if he was curious about a Bible study he could email me about the one I had described earlier and I headed off.

 Amelia was sitting in the PE lounge upstairs and said in helping me spell it, “Like Amelia Earhart”. She had freckles and was cute with an oval face and brown hair, stick straight in a sort of shag haircut that framed her face, thin lips with no crease under her nose like a Kim Possible cartoon. She had on a grey sweatshirt that was torn out around the neck and wore black leggings. She had seen me before because she worked at the desk in the PE. She’d been to a church that met on campus with a guy and his wife. They had moved away fortunately as they were preaching a work’s righteousness gospel plus baptism to save you. They might have been the New International Church of Christ though I had thought they met downtown; they just changed their leadership. It’s not uncommon for me to encounter kids going to their group who have not heard the Gospel of Grace. A couple of their students have prayed with me to receive Jesus. She wasn’t attending the group. I asked her, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “It’ His will, His choice. I can only do everything I can in that. So it’s based on what I’ve done in life so I wouldn’t try to convince Him. He already knows everything.” I asked her the likelihood she would go to Heaven when she died. “At this point I don’t [think I would go to Heaven]. It isn’t very likely. I haven’t repented and I haven’t been baptized. I’m a religious person but I’m not one that calls other people to religion.” I began to go through the Gospel with her and she liked the analogies and clicked with what I was saying. When I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sin so God could live inside her she knew Jesus had died. I explained Christ’s perfect life, His blood and righteousness. God adopted her and gave these things to her and she could receive this by faith. It was not her works that saved her, or baptism, which was a religious work. I asked her if she would want to be forgiven for her sins after explaining the CliffsNotes version of Islam and the Buddha. “Yes,” she replied. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray. I talked her through it. “I pray, nothing like this,” she replied. I said she could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear and she’d know she was forgiven. “Wanna do it?” I asked. “Yeah,” she replied. She prayed then to receive Christ and after a minute or so she ended with a little burst of rejoicing and clapped 3 times happily. I explained the Christian life to her and I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and forgiven in the front. “So you can have a record,” I said. I also write Ephesians 1:13 in the front and told her as soon as she believed the Spirit entered her and sealed her. “So He is stuck there,” she said. “Never coming out,” I replied. Jesus says “No one will pluck them out of my hand.” She was happy and said, “Thank you for taking the time to talk to me.” I said “Thank you for talking with me.” I said I would keep her in my prayers from now until Spring and one year after, praying a Bible verse for her each day asking God to bless her. She was grateful and I headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob