Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your week was blessed and the snow storm passes beneath you as it has seemed to do us in Chicago to the south. Niko and SarahMary each prayed with me to receive Jesus Thursday and so 6 students prayed to receive Jesus this past week. Please pray they each grow in their faith and love for the Lord. Their stories are below if you have the time.

Niko was sitting on the bench against the glass that looks into the corner lounge at the doorway on the northeast corner of the BIC. He had a mop of curly brown hair and wore black sweats. He looked a little like better looking version of Steve Guttenberg the comedian. He was a nice guy friendly, a couple clicks bigger than me. I asked him one thing he’d like to do before he died as part of the survey. “Recently I’ve dove into my faith, I’d like to find God before I die,” he answered.  It turned out he had been an atheist when he got to school in Missouri last year but his roommate was a devote Christian and persuaded him to go to church there. I asked him, if he died, what he would say to God to get into Heaven. “I think that up to this point I treated everyone with respect. I give everyone the benefit of the doubt. I give everyone a fair shot.” He thought he had a 75% chance of going to Heaven. As I went through the Gospel with him I said that in order for God to know and live inside him God has to take away his sin, purify him and make him “His type”. “What’s the big thing Jesus does to take away the sins of the world?” I asked him. He could not think of anything. So I began to explain the Gospel to him, Jesus blood to cleanse him and as a payment for his sin and the Righteousness of God earned by Christ, He is our Robe of righteousness. He periodically would comment “Right.” Agreeing and seeming to take it in like he was saying, “OK.” As I finished explaining your good stuff could not fix your bad stuff I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done or if he thought something else.  “Life with Christ,” he replied. So I said there was a prayer he could pray if he wanted to be forgiven and after explaining it I asked if it was the desire of his heart. He said it was so I said he could pray it silently right now and I wouldn’t hear but God would hear and he would know he was forgiven. “Wanna do that?” I asked. “Yeah definitely,” he replied. “Just pretend I’m not here,” I said. He took the booklet then and prayed to receive Jesus. I gave him the booklet then and explained living the Christian life by the Spirit’s power, “Inside Out”. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I gave him a Bible Study explaining it a bit. I talked with him about some apologetics around evolution and gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and recommended looking into Strobel’s stuff. I told him I would keep him in my prayers each day until a year from Spring. I gave him my contact info if he had any questions. “Thanks for all that, I really appreciate it,” he said. I said “God bless you” and I got up and headed out as he went out the door.

 Sarah Mary was someone I met one day after school while I was hanging out with Alma (We do a Bible Study with Alma some times.) who trusted Christ after hearing the Gospel from me last year. Before meeting her I had asked Sarah Mary to do a survey and she’d said no a few times. I’d bumped into her in the hallway and said hi on Tuesday in passing but was talking to another student then (Noah). Both girls are Africans. Sarah Mary is from the Ivory Coast. Her parents never married. Her dad is here but she came here because her grandmother had immigrated to the US years ago. She is short and pump, hard working. She has a really cute circular face, pretty classic lips, small nose, dark skin. Thursday when I bumped into her in the cafeteria I nearly did not recognize her. She was all dressed up with an African sewn dress (She said, “You send someone there money and they sew it for you) of yellow and black print and rhinestones decorating it. Her hair was braided with long brown and black extensions and bejeweled clips in it. She proudly told me she had done it herself when I said it looked cool. She had a black short cape on, wool with a faux leopard collar. I had been praying I could go through the Gospel with her, so when I started chatting with her I said she had to answer my survey question. She agreed. I asked her why God should let her into Heaven if she died. She said she was good to people. I asked if I could show her the verses that say how you get into Heaven and she said I could, saying she had read the Bible this morning. I began to go through the Gospel with her and she could not think of what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world. I explained the work of Christ and His blood and righteousness she could trust in by faith. I asked if she wanted to be forgiven for her sins or thought something else, explaining Islam and Buddhism and then asked again so would you want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus. “That,” she replied shortly and I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I explained it asking if it was the desire of her heart. She read it again and said, “Yes.” I said she could pray it silently, I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear and she would know she was forgiven. She laughed and took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. I gave her Bible Promises for You showing her some of the topics and then turning to “Eternal Life” I wrote Eph. 1:13 and “100%” saying she was sealed by the Holy Spirit in her and the likelihood she would go to Heaven now was 100%. I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and she liked that and I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and put her name in it and gave her a Bible Study. She had to go to class so I said I would see her around and we both headed out.

Thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and for Evangelism this past week 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 found strength in the Joy of the Lord. I had a good day on campus and Noah and Sarah prayed to receive Jesus today. So that was great and God was with me. Please pray they grow in their faith. Their stories are below if you have the time. Thanks for your prayers.

Noah was a guy I had seen around school. Though he looked black racially, he had ringlets of hair coming down from instead of an afro. I don’t know if his hair was processed that way or it was natural but it looked like the later. He wore a black hoodie and black sweats, average looking, about my height. He had a thin mustache and wire rimmed aviator shaped glasses, a goatee and jaw line beard. Nice smile and very white teeth. He was leaning against a wall in the lounge area outside the student services offices. He stood at the edge of the Hall going to the Book Store. He did not have a lot of time so I asked him the one main question of the questionnaire. “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bust so you’re dead and you stand before God and He asked why should I let you into Heaven? So what would you say?” “I would say I believe in you,” he replied. “So you believe in God?” “Yeah,” he replied. “But what do you believe about Him? Say you are trying to get a girl to go out with you and she says why should I go with you and you say, ‘Because I believe you exist.’ You should at least tell her she’s pretty.” He smiled at that. I asked if he wanted to hear what the Bible says was the way he got into Heaven. “Ok tell me,” he said. It turned out he went to church sometimes with his parents. But they did not go as much lately. I began to go through the Gospel with him. At one point another guy walked past and said, “Class starts in 3 minutes man.” But he just nodded and looked back at the booklet I was explaining to him. As I finished explaining the Blood and righteousness of Jesus, I asked if he wanted to be forgiven or thought something else, explaining Islam and Buddhism a little to give him a moment to decide. “Be forgiven,” he replied. So I said there was a prayer he could pray to be forgiven and talked it through, asking if it was the desire of his heart. He nodded and said, “Yeah.” I said he could pray it silently and God would hear and he’d be forgiven trusting in Jesus work. He said “OK,” and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I quickly gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside of the cover. I quickly gave him a Bible study and told him I would pray for him. “Thank you,” he replied. “God Bless you man,” I said. “God bless you too,” he said and we walked off in opposite directions.

Sarah was sitting on kind of a balcony with some nice sofa chairs with end tables built in that overlooks the doors. It is near the Book Store entrance on the second floor west of the door. She said she’d do a survey. When she told me her name was Sarah I said, “Did you know your name means princess?” She said she did and I said my sister’s name was Sarah and my dad always called her princess. “My dad did that too,” she said with a smile. She had an oval attractive face, and light sandy-brown straight thick hair past her shoulders. She wore a pale green zip up hoodie and black sweats with some white lettering down the legs. Wore no make-up. I asked her what she would say to God and she said, “Hmm… I would say I always try to be kind to others. I know I didn’t always do everything right but I tried my best to follow His word. But you never know if some small thing had an effect.” I agreed we often could not know the outcome of our acts. She thought she had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven.  She said she went to Church about every other Sunday. Her Grandmother came over to pick up her brother to bring him to church. Sometimes they got her to go if she wasn’t too busy with school. I began to go through the Gospel with her and asked what Jesus did to take away the sins of the world. She thought for a moment and then said, “Well the Eucharist and Confession.” I said that the Eucharist is symbolic of it and the priest forgives you recognizing it and began to explain the Gospel. When I finished explaining how the blood of Christ cleansed her and was a payment for her sins I then explained that the righteousness of Christ was to her credit. I gave her some word pictures and she said, “That’s an interesting way to put that.” I said the Catholic Church teaches that only God can forgive your sins. So the priest is technically not forgiving your sins he is telling you God forgives your sins. He can do that because he knows there was a payment for your sins. She mentioned penance and I said I had heard a priest say it was a way of showing you were serious about your confession. She agreed with this. I said the symbolism in the Mass is that the wafer is symbolic of the body of Jesus broken for you and the wine is symbolic of His blood. So it reminds you, you’re forgiven. I went on to explain we receive Jesus and that this was by faith and read the verses. I asked if she would like to be forgiven for her sins or thought something else. “I would want to be forgiven,” she replied. So I said there was a prayer she could pray and I walked her through it. I asked if it was the desire of her heart and she agreed it was. I said she could pray it silently right now and I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear and she’d know she was forgiven. “”Yeah,” she said and then as she held the booklet she asked, “Can I keep this?” “Yeah, sure,” I replied. She prayed then and I explained living by the Spirit’s power “Inside Out” asking for God’s help and transformation. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and she said as I handed it to her. “Thanks so much.” I told her I would pray a line from a bible verse to bless her each day. “That’s nice,” she replied. I gave her a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and she was really grateful for the books. I got up to go and she said “Thank you so much,” and something like, this is great. I said you’re welcome and as I turned she said “Thank you so much, have a nice day.” I thanked her and headed off. So it seemed she was very thankful.

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 with all good things coming down from the Father of Lights. I had a good day on campus and planted a couple seeds and saw Xia and Fisayami  each pray to receive Jesus today. Thanks so much for your prayers. Please pray they will grow in their faith. Their stories are below if you have the time to read.

Xia [z I ah] was sitting with a paint set out and some brushes. She seemed to have recently finished the painting the background for the 6 inch red square canvass she held. She was waving it to dry the paint like a fan for 2/3rds of the time we talked.  She had red/orange afro over her head in two grapefruit sized balls. She had a cute face, was African American her left nostril pierced with a jeweled decoration. She had light brown skin. Classic black features, she had a tiny horseshoe piercing through her gums that showed over her front two teeth. She wore a dark grey hoodie and leggings. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven. “Maybe because I put others before me. I think about others emotions before I act.” I asked her what the likelihood she would go to Heaven before she died. “50/50, I feel like I got a shot. I feel like I got some stuff to work on before I [die]…” she said, not quite finishing the thought. She said her grand mom and her parents were Christians. She knew Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world when I asked. Saying God would have to take away her sins so He could live inside her. She listened closely to the Gospel and tuned right in. When I had finished explaining the blood and righteousness of Christ as payment for her sins received by faith I asked. “So would you want to be forgiven for your sins trusting in what Jesus did to be forgiven, so God could live inside you and give you strength to live the Christian life or do you think something else? “No,” she said emphatically, “That one there.” And pointed to the circle with God inside her. So I said there was a prayer she could pray to be forgiven and after explaining it I asked if it was the desire of her heart. “Umhmm,” she replied. I said she could pray it silently and asked if she would want to do that. “Ok, “ she replied and taking the booklet she said, “Thank you.” Just before she prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life then to her living “Inside Out” where God would give her the power to live by transforming her on the inside and then becoming a good person she would do good things on the outside. I gave her a Bible study and then Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. “Thanks you so much,” she said taking the book. I also gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told her I would keep her in my prayers until a year from spring. I got up to go and she said, “Thank you so much, have a nice rest of your day,” I thanked her and headed out.

Later towards the end of my day I walked past Fisayomi https://www.nameslook.com/fisayomi/ .

She was sitting in the computer lounge I walk through outside of which I park my truck. She was alone in the lounge and sitting against the wall in the sofa chairs that have built in tables that swing into place. She had a programming book out but was just kind of looking at her phone. She was African American and her hair was in 6 inch pencil sized ringlets the ends of which were tinted light brown. She had a warm smile. She was cute and her face was pronounced more forward at the chin and jaw. Her eyes were almond shaped she was a bit darker than Xia. When I asked her what she might say to God to get into Heaven she said it was a difficult question and to help her I suggested the question was really looking for what it was that got you into Heaven. I asked if she went to Church. She said she had. So then she said, “Well being faithful to Him, consistently working on my relationship to God. I don’t know if that gets me into Heaven or not, that’s a whole ‘nother topic on its own.” When I asked her the likelihood she would get into Heaven she said, “35%.” Saying more she said, “In terms of—Heaven. I didn’t do all of that [what they talked about at her church] She said she focused on her relationship with God, “instead of completely following what the Bible says, that’s just me.” As I began to go through the Gospel with her she knew John 3:16. I said God had to take away you sins so He could live inside her and make her His type saying it was like a blood transfusion where you had to match God. “That’s a really good explanation,” she replied. Then asking her what Jesus had done to take away her sins she said, something like ‘He cleanses you.” But this was basically what I had just told her. She expressed she didn’t really know how that happened.  I said He did cleanse her and began to explain the Gospel when she didn’t seem able to add what Jesus had done. When I finished telling her of the blood that cleansed her and the Righteousness of God to her credit, I think some of the story came back to her. I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else and she said, “Be forgiven.” So I said there was a prayer she could pray. I explained it and asked if it was the desire of her heart. “For sure,” she replied. And I said she could pray it silently and she said, “I already did.” I explained living “Inside out” by the Spirit’s power. I gave her a Bible Study then explaining it a bit. I said now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. I said I did not know how this might differ from something her church would say but she did not reply so I don’t know what she had in mind. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and wrote Eph. 1:13 in the page with Eternal Life verses saying the Spirit enters you when you tell God you are trusting Him and it is always with you. She thanked me and said she had known most of what I had said but it was a “good refresher”. Since she had not been able to express the most important part of the Gospel it was an interesting thing to say. I let it go and just said, “It was also a chance to commit to it,” She did not disagree. So I said goodbye then saying I would see her in Heaven and if I saw her around I would just give her a wave. She replied with a smile and I headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day and weekend so far has been a blessing from the Lord supplying all your needs. I had a good day on campus Thursday and Nicole prayed with me to receive Jesus. Grace was close to trusting in Christ too (a heavy set girl with short brown hair, nice smile from an Anglican background). So I’ll be praying that she sees the light of God’s word. She could not think of how Christ had taken away her sins.

Please God draws Nicole into a deeper walk with Jesus and Grace to saving faith. Nicole’s notes are below if you have the time.

I was in the big SSC lounge at the exit for Starbucks. I felt a nudge to turn down the hall along Starbucks, it runs sort of southwest. Nicole was sitting in some benches that face each other, designed I think to be on either side of a table. They are against the wall in the foyer entrance to the doorway at the top of the waterfall they turn off outside in winter. She looked to be in her 40’s, had gone to grad school and was picking up a class for something at COD. She said she wanted to travel. People in her age bracket are not common at school and usually turn me down to talk. She had stick-straight brown hair and her oval face was nondescript. I guess she could have been a character on “Little House on the Prairie”. She looked a bit worn out, wore a fleece and jeans. I sat across from her to ask questions and then sat at her feet closer to go through the Gospel. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven. She said, “I believe because I’ve tried very hard to be a good person. I tried to be inclusive when it was not a popular opinion. I tried to volunteer my time and recourses to people who needed it. I tried to help those less fortunate and animals. I tried to live life to the fullest.” She said she was raised pretty religious and was forced to go to Church as a kid. When they got into High School they were able to push back more against their parent’s desire that they should go and went less often. By the time she was through college and then grad school she had a family and never went anymore. She listened to the Gospel and knew Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world. She’d gone to a lot of different Churches growing up, some Roman Catholic. She listened to the Gospel and as I finished telling her of the blood and righteousness of Christ I said the blessings of adoption into God’s family, “The sacrifice for your sins the blood that cleanses you and the righteousness of God that surrounds you,” could be had, received by faith. “So if you believe Jesus is God He died for your sins and rose from the Dead. Not that you just knew the story from when you were a kid but that’s what you place your trust in as an adult to be forgiven. So if someone would say to you, ’Why should God let you into Heaven?’ You’d say because Jesus died for me. If you place your trust in that they you have faith in Jesus. And the Bible says ‘For it’s by grace you have been saved through faith. It’s not of yourselves it’s a gift from God and no by works so no one can boast.’ So you should do good things to please God. You seem to have done a lot. But the good stuff you do can’t fix your bad stuff.” I explained God could turn our bad things into good things [Romans 8:28]. I asked if she would want to be forgiven or thought something else. “Be forgiven,” she replied simply. So I said if she’d want to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and talked her through it asking if she’d want to pray it silently. “Sure,” she replied. She then prayed to receive Christ. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave her a Bible study on the ways Jesus claims to be God in the Bible linking the New Testament to the Old and I gave her Lee Strobel’s Booklet, The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I explained living by the Spirit’s power, “Inside Out” and I told her I would pray a Bible verse for her each day. I got to my feet to go and she said, “Thanks, have a good day.” I thanked her and headed out kind of amazed really. I get to talk to so few people who are older, sometimes I forget God is at work in any whose hearts have not grown hard in the tasks of life.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism if you had time this past week. 5 people prayed with me to receive Jesus. 25 have this semester

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you were blessed today with good and perfect gifts from above. I had some good conversations on campus and Ryan a guy I had gone through the Gospel with before prayed to receive Christ with me today, understanding a bit better the Christian life. Please pray he grows in his life in the Lord.

Ryan reminded me we’d talked before. He had a brown curly mop hair of hair, not long though and a square jaw. He had a black polo shirt on and black jeans. He was sitting on a bench in the empty hallway as class had just started up on the 3^rd floor of the BIC on the North side. He said I had explained everything really well the last time and he’d been to church a few times but he really had a hard time getting into it. I asked if he had, “…prayed the prayer in that little booklet I gave you?” He said he hadn’t and so I began to explain living the Christian life to him again as he said he wasn’t really connecting with God. When I last asked what he would say to God to get into Heaven I think he’d just said, “I don’t know.” I asked if he had ever asked God to forgive him trusting in what Jesus had done for him on the cross. He said he had asked for forgiveness before. I took out the little booklet. I made it more clear, asking if when he asked for forgiveness he had been trusting that Jesus had died for him and that made it possible for God to forgive him. He said he hadn’t thought about it that way. I said if he wanted to place his trust in Jesus to forgive his sins and His sacrifice on the cross then he could be cleansed and the Holy Spirit could live inside him. Then the Spirit could give him the power to live the Christian life, so knowing he hadn’t prayed with me to receive Christ I encouraged him to do that realizing it was something different than he had done before. He decided to do it and prayed to receive Jesus. We talked more about how at the Church he went to a few times they wanted people to lift up their hands when they were singing and for everyone to hold hands when they prayed. He said he didn’t like to do that. I said there were entire denominations of people that did not want to do that either and there was nothing wrong with wanting to sit and sing and participate that way. I said the Old Presbyterians were called the “Frozen Chosen” because they wanted to chill out at church and I was sure God was fine with that. I said he was pretty young to have taken a long road trip with a friend. But when you drive with some guys for 6 or 8 hours you are not necessarily talking the whole time but you are with each other and you feel together and that’s cool. I said that is in some measure what Paul means when He says to “Pray without Ceasing.” You posture does not matter or if you sit or stand God is just with you through the day and you don’t have to say anything to Him most of the time, but you sense He is with you. He understood that and I gave him Bible Promises for You saying he could turn a verse into a prayer. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” inside. I also gave him a Bible Study using a story he knew to talk about how Jesus claimed to be God. I explained that the Holy Spirit was with him even if that was not generating a feeling of some kind and he could ask for strength from him to accomplish whatever he thought God wanted him to do. I said the Holy Spirit would transform him on the inside and he would then do good things on the outside. We talked more about his future and college and he was grateful. I also gave him a copy of Pocket Prayers that takes a Bible verse and makes a prayer out of it for examples he could look at. I headed out saying I would keep him in my prayers each day and he thought that would be great.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. I had some good talks with Christian students too today.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your president’s day was blessed today and there was Grace and all good things to fill your heart. Sandra, Emily and Diego each prayed with me to receive Christ today. I slept poorly and was tanked when I got to school. But of course those things are no obstacle to God who is able to save with many or with few (1Sam. 14:6). Please pray they each grow in their faith. Their stories are below if you want to spend the time.

Sandra was sitting at the base of the stairs in front of the outside door by the Bookstore. She was willing to do a survey after I explained the idea. There’s students walking around doing surveys for Christian groups on campus that do not go through the Gospel, at first she thought she’d done it. She had a backpack on and a white hoodie. Her hair had lighter tints in it. She had on white wedge sole lace shoes and blue jeans. She was a reserved, introverted person by her own self-description and really never smiled a full smile as we talked but was focused. She said she wanted to visit Spain and had a Spanish last name but said she was Mexican. She spoke Spanish. She had a cute narrow face her coloring Latina, pretty mouth, thin, she was tall for the average Latina, at least that I come across at school.  She was sitting by the entrance to the fashion design department at school. I asked her what she would say to God if asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “This is hard,” she said after thinking for a moment. Trying to help I asked if she went to Church and what she thought they might teach you had to do to get into Heaven. “Following Jesus, practicing [that] and going to Church every Sunday.” She replied. I asked if she thought she did that and she nodded. I asked what she thought the likelihood she would go to Heaven was and she said 50%. I began to go through the Gospel with her explaining that God wanted to live inside her with His Holy Spirit but first had to make her His type by cleansing her of sin. “So what is the big thing Jesus does that takes away your sin?” I asked and added, “What does he do to take away the sins of the world?” She didn’t have any idea and by way of explanation she said, “Everything at church is in Spanish”. I suggested she mostly just listened and participated at Church with what was going on and she agreed. It did not seem she’d processed much there. So I suggested it would all make sense to her and explained that the Blood of Jesus cleansed her from sin, was God’s payment for her sin so she would not have to pay what she owed God that she could not pay. She paid close attention to everything I said. She listened as I explained Jesus righteousness was to her credit and that this was symbolized in the Mass, the wafer symbolic of Jesus body and the wine symbolic of His blood reminding her that Jesus died for her and so she was forgiven. So she should just say thank you. I said that if she believed Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead she believed on His name, “Not that you just know that story but that this is what you place your trust in as an adult to be forgiven so if someone would say to you, “Why should God let you into Heaven? You’d say “Because Jesus died for me.” I explained that was placing her faith in Jesus and faith saved her, which was from God. I asked if she wanted to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else and she said, “Forgiven.” So I explained there was a prayer she could pray and walked her through it asking if it was the desire of her heart and she nodded. I said she could pray it silently and know she was forgiven. She nodded again and prayed to receive Jesus. I told her then the likelihood she would go to Heaven trusting in Jesus righteousness was 100%. I began to explain the Christian life (Inside Out, by the Spirit’s Power) and asked her if she’d like her own Bible. She chose the large study Bible I had with devotionals in it and 99 doctrines and where you find them, cross references and maps and aids in the back. I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. “Thank you.” she said. I also gave her a Bible study on how Jesus claims to be God and Bible Promises for You and Strobel’s The Case for Christ Answer Booklet saying he also had YouTube videos she could watch. I’d given her a lot so I said, “Everything ok?” and she nodded. I said I would pray a Bible verse for her each day through spring and next year and she thanked me again. “I’ll see you around,” I said getting up to go. “You too,” she replied and I headed off up the stairs.

Emily was sitting in a set of padded chairs just around the corner from the staircases of the Student Services lounge. She was also Latina and went to a Spanish speaking Church. She wanted to travel to Spanish speaking countries. She had all her hair colored a light golden brown a pretty oval face and really long eyelashes, long fingernails. She wore greed leggings that flared out at the bottom and had a white hoodie on too and a “Bass Pro Shop” ball cap on with a fish in the logo. I asked her if she liked to fish, she flashed a big smile saying no and shaking her head. She was nice smiled a lot. I asked her what she would say to God and she said touching her cheek with a fingernail, “”Cause I’m not a bad person. I’ve never done any of that stuff. I feel like I deserve to go to Heaven.” She thought the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. It’s interesting that some people think they will go to Heaven for what they have not done. And effectively since things are so bad in society they’ve done good to resist the evil everyone else did. Others think they have been good. I went through the Gospel with her and she also could not tell me what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world. She listened to the Gospel and I explained how it reflected the symbolism in the Mass to her as well. When I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done to take away her sins or thought something else she said, “The first one.” So I said there was “a prayer she could pray to be forgiven, to receive God’s forgiveness and said she could pray it silently and after explaining it I asked if it was the desire of her heart. She nodded and I asked if she’d like to pray it silently she said, “Yeah.” She took the booklet then and prayed to receive Christ. I explained the Christian life to her by the Spirit’s power. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave her a Bible Study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told her I would keep her in my prayers each day through a year from spring and she thanked me. We talked a bit more and I got up to go and said if I saw her I would give her a wave. “But I’ll be praying for you I promise.” “Thank you,” she said again sincerely and I headed off.

Diego was sitting in the cafeteria at a table. I was about finished for the day, but thought I would look for one more person to talk to before leaving. He had a grey t-shirt with some stick printing on it that looked like a floor plan for something and was wearing jeans. He had a squared jaw with a heavy day or 2 of beard and a mustache. Good looking guy his hair was like a cap, short on his head with one inch bangs. I asked him what he would say to God and he said, “Oh wow…” Then thinking more he said, “I guess the way I view people and life and the way I go about my life thinking of the person I should be or would try to be.” I asked him the likelihood he’d go to Heaven saying, “10% low %100 is for sure 50/50 you got a shot?” “I got a shot.” he said.  He listened attentively to the Gospel and also could not think of what Jesus did to take away the sins of the world. So I explained the Blood of Christ cleansing him of all sin and a payment for what we owed God, so God is just to forgive us.  I explained His righteousness and receiving Christ by faith. I asked if he would want to be forgiven or thought something else explaining what other religions say. “I would want to be forgiven with God inside, not the others.” He went on to say the other religions were not what he would choose because he wanted “God deep inside me.” “To be one with God.” I said in return. “Yeah,” he replied. I said that if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. Then God would live inside him. I talked him through the prayer and said he could pray it silently. “I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven. Wanna do it?” “Yeah,” he replied and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained to him the likelihood he would now go to Heaven, trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness, was 100%. I have him a compact Bible I had left in my pack showing him the “Where to Turn section and the maps and study aids in it. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I also gave him Bible Promises for You a Bible Study and The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet. We talked sum more and it seemed like he wondered about how to pray. So I gave him the Book Pocket Prayers Lucado wrote using Bible verses and turning them into prayers and I told him I would keep him in my prayers each night until a year from spring. I got up to go and he was happy. “Thanks I appreciate you,” he said and we shook hands he had a good grip. I said “God bless you.” “Thank you I appreciate it,” he replied and I headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today knowing the Lord’s eyes of protection are on you. Ahsi and Kristina each prayed with me to receive Jesus today. Please pray they are blessed in their faith trusting in Christ. Their stories are below if you have time. Thanks for your prayers.

Ahsi (ahh see) was sitting in the hall of the first floor of the Science building, the south east side. It seemed she was waiting for her class to begin sitting next to a Biology book the size of a phone book. She wore a winter cap and had a cute round face, chipmunk cheeks, and dark complexion. She seemed tall, though we remained seated she might have been as tall as me. She had an African English accent. She had tan pants on and a matching camel colored jacket. She seemed disciplined and said she was goal oriented. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said, “That’s easy, I’ve done the work. I try to share His word as much as I can. I go to Church and went to youth groups. I tell people about my faith.” She was 100% sure she would go to Heaven. I began to explain the Gospel and said God wanted to know her to live inside her but first He had to take away her sin. Like a blood transfusion where if you transfuse the wrong type of blood someone they would clot up and die. God wants to transfuse His life into you but first has to make you His type. So he purifies you cleanses you from sin. “So what’s the big thing that happens to take away all your sin?” She thought for a moment and was struggling to think of how that might have happened. Since she had appealed to religious works to save her I was not entirely surprised. I said,  “Well this is how it works” and I began to explain how Jesus had died for her and the Blood of Jesus cleansed her from sin and God got paid. I explained His righteousness could be to her credit. I explained that she needed to believe on the name of Jesus, His reputation, that’s He was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. Then I said this was only by faith. She had known John 3:16 (When you think about it the verse says God loved the world and so gave His Son, there are many things people say Jesus was given to the world for these days.) As I had begun that verse with her and some verses seemed like they might have been familiar, it also seemed she knew “By grace you are saved through faith, but she had not known faith in what). But it was obvious she had never trusted in Christ. So finishing I said it did not seem like she had put all this together before. The last question was would she want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done and have Him live inside her. She nodded and pointed to the circle with Christ inside. So I went through the prayer with her asking if it was the desire of her heart. She said it was so I said she could pray it right now silently and God would hear her and she would know she was forgiven. “Want to do that?” “Yeah,” she replied. I handed her the booklet and she prayed to receive Christ. “Thank you,” she said when I said she could keep the booklet. I explained the Christian life was Inside out when she would ask God to transform her on the inside and she would then become a good person who does good things. I explained that anything God was asking her to do He would give her the strength to do it by the Spirit’s power if she asked. I said now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. She had heard of the fruit of the Spirit. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!’ on the inside. I gave her a Bible study and The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet and explained Strobel could also be found on YouTube. I got up to go and said I would pray a Bible verse to bless her each day from now until spring and one year after. “Thank you,” she said again. “So nice to meet you,” I said. She thanked me again and I said I would see her in Heaven. “Thank you,” she said and I headed off.

Kristina was sitting on the 3^rd floor of the BIC in the lounge on the southeast corner that looks out toward the PE building. She had a pretty cute face and short dark brown chin length stick straight hair tucked behind her ears. She was average in stature. She had a really pretty warm smile. She wore blue years with tears in the knees and a grey old-school sweat shirt with some lettering on it. She was nice, shy. She wanted to travel. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven. She said, “I don’t know I haven’t ever thought about that before.” I asked her if she ever went to Church. “I’m Orthodox. My parents are very religious; I go to church with them.” I said, “The last part of the survey was what you think about Christianity, it’s just some Bible verses so you say what you think.” I explained that Jesus blood cleansed her from her sin and that it was really how God gets paid. (Jesus parable in Matthew 18 there is a payment that is due to the Master.) Jesus tells us we are to be perfect in Matthew 5 and because we are not we are wrecking God’s stuff, hurting others and hurting ourselves and His creation. So we owe God something perfect to pay Him back for the damage we have done. But we aren’t perfect so we can’t pay so God pays Himself. When Jesus dies He pours out His blood, which because He is God is worth an infinite amount and it pays God back for all the imperfect things we have done that we owe God something perfect for. Jesus perfect life also earned the Righteousness of God and this is too our credit (Isa. 61:10 and Gal.  3:27) I asked her if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in Jesus and if she had ever asked for forgiveness trusting in what he had done for her. She explained that she did a lot of praying at Church as an act of faith. I said if she would like to be forgiven trusting in Jesus there was a prayer she could pray and I talked her through it. “I would want that yes,” she replied. I asked if she would like to pray it silently. “Sure,” she replied. And she prayed to receive Jesus. I explained living by the Spirit’s power and trusting in His righteousness. I asked if she had a Bible, she said she had a family Bible her father made her read. So I said that she could read in the Book of John. I gave her Bible Promises for You and I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave her a Bible study on passages where Jesus claims to be God. I also gave her The Case for Christ Answer Book. “Thank you so much, this is really nice,” she said taking the materials. I got up to go saying I would see her in Heaven and then said I would pray a Bible verse for her each day through the Spring and one year after asking God to bless her. “Thank you so much Bob,” she replied and I headed out grateful.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you day was blessed with a sense of God’s love for you and you had good weather. It was over 50 here today so hey. I had a good day on campus and Adrienne and Kyle each prayed to receive Jesus today. Please pray they grow in their faith. Their stories are below if ya got some time.

Adrienne (Adrian) was sitting in one of the couch chairs by the student activities office. She was looking at her phone and said she’d do a survey. She was heavy set wearing multi colored plaid leggings and a white t-shirt.  African American, she had multi colored “cat’s eye” glasses on she had a round face, rounded features and her hair was long and pulled back behind her head teased out but not straightened. She said she had ADHD and seemed a bit unfocused. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked why should I let you into Heaven. “Because despite all my downsides I tried to be a good person.” She thought she had a 75% chance of going to Heaven. It seemed like she had been raised in Christianity and when I asked she knew Jesus had died on the cross to take away the sins of the world. As I went through each point of the Gospel I asked if she understood making sure I was drawing her back in, the phone never left her hand but she was not looking at it directly. I asked her after explaining that Jesus was a payment for her sins she needed to trust in by faith if she would want to be forgiven. “Forgiveness sounds good,” she replied. So I asked if she believed Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. “It’s what my Grandma taught me, I loved my grandma,” she replied. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I talked her through it. “Sorry I missed that,” she said when I asked if it was the desire of her heart. I’d seemed to lose her to her phone for a moment and then she said she had ADHD. So I talked her through it again, she focused this next time and I asked if she would want to be forgiven praying it silently. “Yeah,” she decided and prayed to receive Christ. “I liked that prayer,” she said then. She did not have a Bible so I gave her one; she wanted the larger study Bible. I showed the page where 99 Doctrines are listed and where they appear in scripture. I explained what cross references were and how to use the notes in back. I gave her the Book Bible Promises for You. A friend came by then, Lazar, a everyman looking white guy with glasses so I got his name shook his hand, engaged with them both a bit and having told her I would pray for her I headed out. She’d had some interest in witchcraft so I’ll be praying that washes out.

I went through the Gospel with Phillip in the cafeteria who had a narrow mustache and a bit a beard along his jaw line. Good looking guy with sharp features and narrow line stripped shirt on and a pink ball cap with something that looked like a cloud on it. He said he was on the fence still trying to figure it all out but happily took The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and I headed off hoping a seed was planted.

Kyle looked Asian, wide nose, thin build, wore wire rimmed glasses with large roundish lenses. He was sitting in the second floor hallway waiting for his girlfriend to get out of class. He had a white hoodie pulled up over his head, and grey sweats on, fair skin. His shoulder length hair, was kind of wavy, not stick straight and he was fair skinned and might have been mixed race in ethnicity. He was an intelligent kid and had a lot of questions about life he asked me after he had prayed to receive Christ, about how I’d lived. When I asked him one thing he’d want to do before he died he said, “Watch my kid or kids grow up.” Having a family is usually a tell for a young guy that he will trust in Christ in my experience going through the Gospel with students. He said he was “Only 20,” and wasn’t sure if he’d have other stuff he’d want to do. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven. “I’ve never been like a strong believer. I’m willing to try to work on my faith I guess. Yeah. I really wouldn’t know what to say.” I asked what the likelihood was he would get into Heaven and he said, “Maybe 75%”. He was raised by two Catholic parents; he said he went to church these days only on Holidays a few times each year. He listened as I began to go through the Gospel with him and knew Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world. When I read the verse that said Jesus had been see by 500 people al at one time he said, “Wow,” not having heard that before. As I finished I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. “I would be forgiven,” he said. I said that if he’d want to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. After I went through it I asked if it was the desire of his heart, “Yeah” he replied. So I said he could pray it now and he shrugged and but then nodded and prayed to receive Christ. I asked him if he had a bible and he didn’t so I gave him one that had a “Where to Turn” section in back for questions and messianic passages Jesus had fulfilled. I put his name and the Date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave him a Bible study and Bible Promises for You. We talked a while since he had about 20 minutes until his girlfriend showed up, he was waiting for her class to end. He said something about being on the fence with his faith, meaning pursuing it. I said that now he’d trusted in Christ and that is an act of faith and he was just on the other side and he could ask God to guide and help him. I explained living inside out by the Spirit’s power and told him I would be praying for him. His Girlfriend Hannah showed up and he introduced me and I said hi to her and headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your week was blessed with rest and peace in the Spirit of the Lord. I had a good week on campus and Daniel and Evelyn each prayed to receive Jesus today and I ran into Abbey who was an atheist on Jan 26ths and she had received Jesus. Their stories are below. If you have a moment please pray for them I’m sure prayers for Abbey brought her in. The rest of this is a pretty long journal account of two days on campus but hey if ya got the time here it is.

I had long apologetic discussions on Wednesday. The first with Damian. He had the standard misinformation about the capacity to be good apart from God (you have to know and control the future to do the good and only God is all knowing and all powerful). He thought he was good and would be reincarnated into a better life. So then I demonstrated to him he had no way of knowing if what he considered his good actions ever resulted in good, on a long term basis. He also tried to say the Bible had been changed. But of course to say the Bible has been changed you would have to have the original to demonstrate the one you read now in English departs from it in more than just author’s voice of translation from Greek and Hebrew. Whenever a new fragment of the Bible is dug up it matches. If there is merely a word out of place we can compare it to the majority of other texts we have and see if it is in error. So we know the original. The other issue is the prophecy of Isaiah Jesus fulfills which once was said to be tampered with by Christians, because it was so convincing in so many passages to be predictive of Jesus life, death and resurrection. Then they found the Dead Sea Scrolls and the complete Book of Isaiah dating 100 years before Christ. It matches the one we have. I told him this and a lot of other stuff. I gave him “100 Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus” and another rose publication “Why trust the Bible” which I also later gave to “John” (his name is difficult so he has people call him John) an Islamic guy.

“John” attends the IV Bible study at their leader’s house. He was misinformed about everything so I just corrected him. He tried to maintain Jesus required a posture for prayer with your forehead on the ground, Jesus nor any New Testament writer ever requires a certain physical posture for prayer. I told him Paul says we are to pray without ceasing, always be in an attitude of prayer and so we can be praying in any way all through the day. At one point he said the Quran had never been changed. I said his tradition, not mine claimed it had been changed that the Caliph Uthman burned the alternate copies of the Quran he did not like, redacting them into one he did like:

https://whatsoeverthingsaretrue.org/2021/05/17/uthman-burned-the-quran-and-abu-bakr-burned-the-hadith-why/

He wanted to use Google on his phone so I said put in Uthman burned and Quran. He did and the story he seemed unaware of came up. I said my tradition did not endorse burning the Quran Islamic tradition did.  He had said he would convert to my religion if the Quran had been changed. I pointed out the Quran had obviously been changed as Uthman burned different Qurans making the one he wanted. He tried to back up the truck and that point saying we needed to respect each other. There had been no tension or loud voices or anything, I agreed. And I said, “This is America you can believe what you want here, it is a country created by Christians but if I went to your country and said the Quran was a false religion [as you are saying about Christianity] they would kill me.” He weakly tried to maintain that was not true but it is demonstrably true of course. We parted shaking hands and I said I’d talk with him again any time. I gave him the Rose publication then, “Why trust the Bible”.

Abbey was again sitting in the same lounge as before also, when she had said “I don’t think I believe in Him,” (when I talked with her for nearly an hour on the 26^th.)  Yesterday she told me, “I got saved a week ago” and that talking with me had softened her heart. She’d said she wanted something supernatural to happen to convince her. I felt like that had happened when I mentioned the “Great cloud of witnesses” viewing us from Heaven talking about her mother who had died and she said, “I just got chills when you said that.” I had asked her if she had ever asked God to show himself to her. She said that seemed like a pretty strange thing to do dismissing the idea but I explained that if there was a God it was a legitimate idea. A week ago she said she had asked God to show Himself to her in some way and then went to the mall and a Christian girl came up to her and began sharing a Bible verse and asked her to church. At the Church she went to the pastor told her all the things she had done and she accepted Christ and was baptized. I think this is sometimes called a word of knowledge. (I’ve not witnessed it.) She later confessed to the pastor some other bad things she had done. He then said he had known those things as well but because they were particularly bad he had not wanted to embarrass her publically. So she got her miraculous event. She said she realized for the last several years she had been under the influence of Satan. Her mother had fallen into a practice or abuse of some kind that had killed her. Abbey was no longer blaming God for letting her mom die as she had (this seemed to begin to be happening a bit on the 26^th as we parted when I gave her, The Case for Christianity Answer Book). She now saw that she had damaged others and herself, that sin destroyed her soul, and in a similar way her mom had been responsible for her own death. We talked some more and I gave her a Bible Promises for You book. I wrote her name and “forgiven!” in the front.  I had told her the Gospel as we talked but I went through it again in the little booklet to make sure she understood the doctrine of the imputed righteousness of Christ and to give her some more Bible verses. I also wanted her to think of the Christian life as one lived by the Spirit’s power and that the Spirit had sealed her based upon Eph. 1:13. I told her I had been praying for her and would now each day.

Daniel was a big dude over 6 foot and 5×5. He had a shortish blonde mop of hair atop squared off features and the birthmark freckle thing on his cheek some kids seem to have. He was at a table in a ground floor BIC building lounge on the North side. He wore black sweats and a blue-grey t-shirt. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven and he said, “I did everything I was supposed to do.” He thought the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 90%. I went through the Gospel with him asking him what Jesus had done to take away his sins, then added, “The sins of the world?” giving him time to think. He thought a second and said, “He was a sacrifice.” I agreed and went through the blood and the righteousness of Christ that could be to his credit. He tracked with it all and I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins with God living inside him giving him strength. “Yeah,” he replied. So I said if he would want to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and asked if it was the desire of his heart after explaining it to him. He nodded. I said he could pray it silently right now, I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “Would you want to do that?” I asked. He nodded again and took the booklet and I said just pretend I’m not even here. He finished and I explained living by the Spirit the symbolic view of the Mass. I said the likelihood he would now go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the Righteousness of Jesus.  I gave him, Bible Promises for You and a Bible Study and The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet. I got up to go and said, “Thanks for your time.” “No problem,” he replied. “Have a good weekend,” I said. “You too.”

Evelyn was sitting on a set of couches they recently replaced down the halls of the Science buildings (in a typical failing of the bureaucracy they blocked most of the electrical outlets that were easily accessible with the old couches). She had a roundish cute face, almond eyes her hair was just past her chin and tucked behind her ears. Had the coloring of a Latina. Stopped working on her laptop to talk to me. I asked her what she would say to God if asked why should He let her into Heaven and she said, “I go to Church every Sunday with my Grandma.” It turned out she had also gone back to Mexico also and seen the way Catholicism was practiced there and it had left her with a few questions. She asked these as I went thought the Gospel in part asking how a straight Biblical narrative differed; I told her I had listened to priests who basically endorsed the Bible as I had explained it. I explained purgatory, and some different ideas that had come through Augustine, some involving infant baptism to take away the inherited sin guilt of Adam. If someone believe Adam’s guilt is inherited they take this idea from Augustine’s teaching the second half of his life. He believed all of mankind was present in Adam’s semen actually. We know this isn’t biologically true in our time but also that Augustine misread a Latin text of the Bible to arrive at that conclusion. The Roman Catholic Church teaches a child has the guilt of Adam and if it is not baptized way and the child dies, one would have to assume the child was lost. But the Bible teaches the sin guilt of your father is not passed to you in Ezek. 18:20 “The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.” This is also stated in Deut. 24:16  “Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin.” I said the Orthodox Church, according to an Orthodox student I had recently talked to, teaches you inherit the consequences of Adams sin but not the guilt of it. “So you are in a sinful world and you will sin, it is inescapable.” But the inherited guilt of Adam is not held by all early Christian traditions. We talked about the priests function in confession in an analogy of an insurance salesman for your car insurance, when you wreck your car the salesman does not pay the company pays. Like the analogy the Catholic Church teaches only God can forgive your sin. So the priest is not forgiving your sin, he is telling you God forgives your sin and he can do that based on your confession (1John 1:9) and belief in Christ. We talked about the way Church History had some different opinions but that the basic message that Jesus was God and had died for her sins and rose from the dead remained unchanged. I continued through the Gospel with her explaining: God was paid by the blood of Christ and so it was Just for Him to forgive her. “Makes sense,” she replied. I asked her if she wanted to be forgiven for her sins trusting in Jesus. She said she would and I explained the prayer and she prayed to receive Christ. At one point she said, “Thanks this was very helpful. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I gave her a Bible Study and The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet. I explained living “Inside Out” by the power of the Holy Spirit; I told her I would be praying for her. “Now trusting in Righteousness of Jesus to be your righteousness the likelihood you would go to Heaven was 100%.” “Thank you,” she told me as I got up to go. “Thanks for talking with me, God bless you,” I replied. “God bless you too,” she said and I headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry this week if you had a chance, God truly blessed and 97 students have prayed to receive Chris this school, year after I told them the Gospel.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with all god things from above. I had a good day on campus and Preston prayed with me to receive Christ. Another guy Gio was close who was 5×5, kind of looked like a mob hit man with glasses wearing a hoodie up over his head as we talked. Ha anyway he wanted to be forgiven but did not want to pray right then having said he was trying to atone for a sinful life. Please pray for these guys Preston’s story is below if you have time.

Preston was sitting at the long table they have that runs along the edge of the stairs in the PE lounge on the ground floor. He was the only one at the table when I began with him, one big black dude sat beside him later as we talked. The table has seats for at least a dozen. Preston looked like an everyman, pretty good looking guy, Italian maybe with his hear swept straight back he had on a white sweatshirt and had a day’s growth of beard that looked like it would not come in evenly yet.. He played football at school. He was the second guy that day who told he wanted to have a million dollars. I told him the way things were going that would not be much money before long and he laughed. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven. “I would say I followed the way of your words in the Bible. I try to pour good into the world every day.” He was sure he was going to Heaven though he did not go to Church, he prayed. He’d gone to Church as a kid. I asked what Jesus had done to take away his sins but he just said, He forgives you and as I went through the Gospel it seemed reasonably novel to him. But he tracked with everything and tuned right in. He was friendly and seemed pretty up beat. As I finished telling him how Jesus had died for him he said “OK.” And I explained that God was paid for the imperfect things we’d done we owed God something perfect for. I explained that Jesus earned the righteousness of God (Isa 61:10 and Gal 3:27). “You don’t go to Heaven because you’re god you go to Heaven because Jesus is good and you’re connected to Him.” “So you can’t go straight to God you go through Jesus?” He asked. I explained the Trinity to him then saying Jesus is God. There were three persons. I said, “You’re kind of like trinity too, you have a body like Jesus, you’ve got emotions like the Holy Spirit, you’ve got a will or a mind that’s like the Father.” I explained that if some pretty girl said something crazy to him during the day he might have a hard time studying later that night. He Smiled and then agreed. So I said he was kind of like a dysfunctional trinity in as much as he could not tell his body to stop giving him a headache or something like that. “So God became a man in Jesus.” He said. I agreed. When I finished the Gospel I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins with God inside to help in everything or thought something else. “God inside,” he replied. So I said there was a prayer he could pray to be forgiven for his sins and I talked him through it. “OK,” he replied when I had finished so I said he could pray it right then silently. “I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven,” and asked, “Wanna do it?” “Yeah definitely,” he replied and he prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life by the Spirit’s power asking for God’s help in everything. I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I gave him a Bible study and The case for Christianity Answer Booklet. I told him I’d pray a line from a verse in the Bible for him each day through Sprit and one year after and if I saw him around I’d give him a wave. “Perfect,” he said. I said I would see him in Heaven and he laughed happy as I shook his hand. “God bless you,” I said getting up to go and he thanked me and I headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob