Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today walking in the light. I had a good day on campus and Jose, Razy and Olivia each prayed with me to receive Jesus today

Jose was the first person I talked to sitting in the vending machine lounge that is on the south-east end of the first floor of the BIC. He had an athletic hair cut, sort of straight swept up dark hair, and fair skin. He wore grey sweats and a pullover fleece. I sat at his feet and tried to remember not to look up at him too long and strain my neck. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I wouldn’t have an answer to that [saying] oh I did this good thing for someone or that… It’s what He’s seen, like a trial.”  When I asked him what the likelihood was he would go to Heaven, did he have a 50/50 shot, he said, “It’s definitely a shot. I haven’t done anything you’d think was so awful. I wouldn’t know a percentage though.” He said he’d had some weird coincidences happen, stuff would come up and then he’d see it in a movie. And then I came by to talk to him. I said it was kinda like God was getting ready to tell him something and he agreed. He listened to the Gospel, stopping me here and there to say something. He did not know what Jesus had done to talk away his sins. He believed as I went through it all with him. When I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Christ had done on the Cross to forgive him so God could live inside him he said, “Yeah I’d want to be forgiven.” So I said there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it,  asking if it was the desire of his heart. He said it was, so, saying he could pray it silently, I offered it to him. He said he had a class soon so I said if he’d like to take a minute to pray I’d keep him in my prayers every day through the spring and one year after. That settled him on it and he said, “ Ok. I’ll read it aloud,” He said two words and then silently prayed the rest to receive Jesus. I quickly explained the Christian life living “inside out” and he said, “Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.” I said something like yeah sure and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” inside the cover of 20 Things God Can’t Do along with “Just Ask” and “by the Spirit’s power” I explained that now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. He thanked me again and said to have a good day and I gave him a Bible study I said, “you too” and he said, “Thanks, I appreciate it.” And he headed out to class.

Razy was sitting in the MAC jut down from the Bagel Shop at a counter height table. She is Filipino, born on a small Island there, round broad cute face and round glasses, her stick straight shoulder length hair was pulled straight back, half tied behind her head. Her father was a doctor and her mom a nurse and they’d hoped she’d go into medicine, but she thought she’d enjoy guidance counseling or something like that. She had a Roman Catholic background and I had given her a Bible sometime last year, but I only half remembered doing so and could not remember much of the conversation. I’d never gone through the Gospel with her though but she said she’d do a student survey and we began to talk. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said, “My God! That’s so big. Sometimes I don’t feel like I should go to Heaven. I feel like I’ve helped people but I feel like there’s more to it than that.” She thought she had a 40% chance of going to Heaven saying, “I’d like to say 50% but I don’t want to be cocky.” She listened to the Gospel and I enjoyed talking to her. She was really nice. She could not remember what Jesus had done to take away her sins really either, but said the people she hung around with at church talked about if someone would go to Heaven or not. As I explained what Jesus had done, she took it all in and she said she’d want to be forgiven when I asked. So I said if she’d like to trust in what Jesus had done for her to be forgiven, there was a prayer she could pray and I explained it and said she could pray it silently right then and know she was forgiven. She agreed and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When she finished I said the likelihood now she would go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus. I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do and a Bible study on the Deity of Christ, telling her I would keep her in my prayers. I said maybe I’d see her around and give her a wave. “Oh I see you around all the time.” So I said “Ok, say hi.” And she agreed, saying as I got up to go, “Bye, it’s nice meeting you again.” “Nice to meet ya too,” I replied and headed out.

Olivia was sitting in the hall way just down from student activities on a row of chairs. She wore dark grey yoga pants and a lavender shirt. She had on a black parka with faux fir on the hood, and her hair was dyed a sandy blonde color. She had long pink nails. She had round cheeks and a pointed, prominent nose. Kind of pointed chin, cute kid. She was fit but wasn’t petite at all. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said, “Because I’ve been a good person.” It turned out she had been talking to her neighbor who was 79 years old who had said she hoped she didn’t have 10 years left and was ready to go. After the conversation she had had a lot of anxiety about death for a few days. She saw her neighbor again and asked her about it and she’d said she was sure she’d go to Heaven and that you just had to do about 80% good things with your life. I said the problem with that was there was no way to calculate clearly if you had done 80% good things and it was hard to calculate what would count as a good thing sometimes. She agreed. She said, “It’s ironic (she meant an interesting coincidence) that I was talking to her as she’d been thinking about death and the last year had been difficult. She wanted to know why things had happened and I told her God let bad things happen for many reasons, sometimes to help us to trust in him more, to test and strengthen us so we can help others. But I said we have to trust in His plans because we can’t always understand. As we talked I could tell she was skipping a beat sometimes understanding what I was saying. Like she was off and on being an airhead, but she grasped everything in the end. Another girl who is clearly troubled, seems a bit nuts frankly, walks around school and can be a little nasty. She walked up and interrupted us several times. She was playing her music loud, not far from us then and bouncing around the floor space. I felt like it was Satan trying to interfere so I gently told her, “You need to go away now.” when she walked up the third time, and she immediately turned around and walked off. I’ve tried to talk to her about God before without much success  Olivia had questions about being forgiven and how that would work. I explained Jesus had been the payment for her sins on the Cross, His blood was a power in the world and it cleansed her when she sinned after that. His righteousness would be to her credit if she trusted in Him, when she stood before God. She had said she wanted to get married and I explained that God wanted from her what she would most want from a guy in marriage, for him to believe in her and her to be able to believe him. God wanted the same thing from us, faith. When I asked her if she wanted to be forgiven trusting in God or thought something else she said, “That one,” placing a long pink fingernail on the circle with God inside your life. I said if she’d like she could pray silently. She nodded and she took the booklet then and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained living “Inside out” to her and said, “Now if I asked why should God let you into Heaven you’d say?” “Because Jesus died for me,” she replied. “Right!” I said. With all the students today I gave them a symbolic view of the Mass saying it commemorates that Jesus had died for them and they should just say thank you. With her also I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven” inside the cover of 20 Things God Can’t Do along with “Just Ask” and “by the Spirit’s power”. And I gave her a Bible Study. I said I would be praying for her each day and she was glad to hear it. I said good bye and said I’d see her around. I went back to talk to her later as I’d forgotten the survey on the seat by her. She said she was glad I’d come back and asked me what she should do about having a hard time thinking. I queried her a bit. It turned out she was addicted to sugar and I encouraged her to cut it out of her diet for a while and drink honey in some warm water so she would not crave sweets and sweeten her tea with it. She said she used to be able to think a lot and for longer, more effectively, she believed when she’d been in High School (she was 20). I offered to pray for her then. We prayed about it together and she felt good about that and I said I would pray for clear thinking, but she might want to mention it next time she went to the doctor.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance God truly blessed and produced good fruit for the work.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking with Jesus. I had a slow day on campus sort of in terms of how many with whom I went through the Gospel. Dave prayed to receive Jesus. Hanad, a Muslim, had an interesting conversation with me after I went through the Gospel with Him. His philosophy class was discussing the existence of God. He thought it was impossible for something to come out of nothing and I agreed telling him the Latin phrase for it they teach you in Philosophy, Ex nihilo nihil fit.  I explained this had not really been a serious question in Philosophy since Alvin Plantinga wrote about God and did his work philosophically on warranted belief; a belief in God is justified in the narrow sense. I told him the lightweights that taught at COD might think it is an issue in class here, but in a place like UCLA or a major philosophy department the issue of God’s existence is accepted. He took a copy of a creation magazine from me.  He also took the booklet I had gone through with him. I explained the problem of evil was an issue for every world view. For evolutionists their problem was that they could not say what Good and Evil even were, it was all relative. Earlier I had spent the first hour answering questions for a guy I had been through the Gospel with, who said he’d gotten what I was saying more now. His name is Brandon. His family has a funeral business which he plans to go into to become a mortician. This is a tough job, handling a lot of people through their grief while at the same time selling them a service. But I helped him with some issues and some questions he had about modern society.

Dave was an interesting guy, sitting on a couch in the hall that runs along the books store. He was short, wearing black jeans and a shiny red Underarmor short-sleeve shirt. He had stick straight brown hair and a bit of facial hair. Looked a little bit the hillbilly. He was originally from Florida and wanted to return and was in the program to become a tech for radiology and MRI exams. He stopped me in the middle of going through the Gospel with several questions about hauntings, ghosts and the like down in Florida north of Tampa that he’d heard of. I explained to him that once you die you either go to Heaven or Hell. But demons impersonate humans after their death because they want to deceive people into thinking they will have options of where they will go after death and that there will not be a judgment.  They also want people to think about other things and distract them from thinking about God and to make it seem like the afterlife is filled with speculative ideas. When I asked him what he would say to God if he died and were asked “Why should I let you into Heaven” he said, “First I’d say Why not? And then I would prove it. [why he should be let in] I would show Him what happened—what I did.“ He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven and had been to several Churches starting out Catholic as a kid. I explained God wanted to take away his sin and what Jesus had done. Jesus’ righteousness could be to his credit, His blood cleansing him and His sacrifice the just payment for his sins. I told him he had to trust in that by faith. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven or thought something else and he said, “The one on the right, be forgiven.” And he pointed at the circle in the booklet with God on the thrown of your life. I said if he wanted to trust in what Jesus had done he could pray to receive His forgiveness. “Hmm,” he softly mused. I walked him through a prayer he could pray asking if it was the desire of his heart. He nodded, so I said he could pray it silently so only God would hear and asked if he’d wanna do that. Shaking his head in affirmation he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. He said he had a Bible in his car and thought the first book I’d offered him he had at home so he decided he take a copy of Bible Promises for You. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front and “By the Spirit’s Power” having explained trusting in the Spirit would give him all the strength he needed to live the Christian life. I gave him a Bible Study and we talk a bit more. I invited him to the Bible study and said regardless I’d see him in Heaven. He said, “I’ll probably see you around.” “OK, if ya do be sure and say hi,” I replied and he said he would and I headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you had a blessed weekend of Grace and good things. I had a good day on Friday doing evangelism. Aaron had lost faith but took The Case for Christianity Answer Book. Val prayed with me to receive Jesus. I came across Ron, who I had gone through the Gospel with in October, in the PE building where I’d last seen him. Then he’d said he did not know what he’d say to God to get into Heaven, “That’s like a hit or a miss.” But after hearing the Gospel he left saying he’d think about it. Friday he said he’d prayed to receive Jesus. So I told him I’d pray for him and gave in a copy of Bible Promises for You. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front, which gave him some joy and he shook my hand. His skin had cleared up since we last spoke, he had a purple head cap, looked satin. Had classic full African American features and a slight mustache and goatee, good looking guy.

Val was sitting at a table in Starbucks on campus. She had a round face and brown hair, grey cotton yoga pants and a dark hoodie. Cute kid. She went to the Spanish-speaking service of the Bible Church in Wheaton. She said she wanted to buy her mom a house. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven and she said, “Because I tried while I was alive. I tried my best to do the right thing for me and for my family.” As I went through the Gospel with her, she knew Jesus had died for her sins but was not trusting in that to save her. After hearing the Gospel without much expression, except to wave off a friend (with some facial expressions and a shaking of her head no who was behind me—I think offering to rescue her.)  I wasn’t sure where she was at as she was pretty stone-faced. I asked her if she wanted to be forgiven or thought something else. “Forgiven,” she replied. So I said when she’d asked for forgiveness for her sins in the past, if she thought she’d make up for what she’d done wrong and God would be forgiving or if she thought “I know I’ll be forgiven because Jesus died for me.” “Just that I tried my best to do things right,” she replied. So I said that if she’d like to be forgiven, trusting in Jesus, there was a prayer she could pray and I explained the prayer to receive Christ’s forgiveness reading the line,” Is this prayer the desire of your heart?” “Yes” she replied. I said if she wanted she could pray it silently. “I wouldn’t hear you, but God would hear and He’d forgive your sins and live inside you and give you the strength you need to live the Christian life. Wanna do it?” She began nodding and then said, “Sure.” “Just pretend I’m not here,” I said. She took the booklet then and prayed to receive Jesus. She did not have a Bible, so I gave her one showing her the “Where to Turn” section. But she seemed in a hurry then, so I flipped to the front writing her name and the date and “forgiven” there. I explained living inside out and gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do, writing “Just Ask” in the front. “Well, you are in a good church,” I said. “I’ll keep you in my prayers” She nodded and I left Starbucks and headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed yesterday and it has rolled right into this morning with continued joy from above. I had a good day on campus yesterday and I’ll be going out today and I’d be grateful for your prayers.

The class I taught a quick segment in went well. I emphasized living “Inside Out” and corrected the notion we worship the same god as Islam. This is really simple to do in about 5 minutes, since the God of Islam is nothing like the God of the Bible.

I got through the Gospel with some peeps that really did not understand it but said they were trusting in Jesus. Lily, a Roman Catholic girl, who said she was trusting in Jesus after hearing the Gospel but said basically she was a good person before. So I hope that is now true at least. One guy, Eli, a football player in the PE lounge, with a rough afro wearing sweats and a here and there beard. Nice guy. I had talked to him last year and he now seemed to understand better and thought he might pray later.  Another churched kid who seemed to think he was good enough to go to Heaven.

I had a good conversation with a girl who had been confused by a cult on campus (that calls themselves MELCHIZEDEK) specifically about the Sabbath day. They say they keep it on Saturday, so your church is wrong to worship on Sunday. This is, of course, a straw man argument if you understand the New Testament which has no Sabbath requirements for the Church. Hebrews 4 teaches Jesus is our Sabbath. 1 Corinthians teaches we are the temple of God. So every day we rest in Jesus, and honor Him with our life. Christianity traditionally changes the Sabbath day to Sunday, but theologically speaking Sunday is not the Sabbath, because every day is the Sabbath for the Christian. Paul encourages us in Rom. 14:5 not to worry about it saying, “One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.” And in Col. 2:16-17 “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.” A couple different Cults on campus try to use this to confuse Christians, telling them they go to Church on the wrong day. The BLACK ISRAELITES are another. Victoria confessed that Jesus had died for her sins after saying she thought you went to Heaven by good deeds. I don’t think she really understood how anything worked in terms of atonement. Victoria texted me later to thank me. I think she really understood for the first time how her sins had been paid for and the blood of Christ and righteousness of Christ. The New Testament encourages us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, but it makes no difference theologically what day you’d pick to do so. Many churches have a Saturday night service these days. And there is of course nothing wrong with that. But Sunday is not the Christian Sabbath day, it is just a day we get together and nothing is required of us that day we would not do any other day of the week. Though it is good to take a day and rest. Legalistic groups that say they are keeping the Old Testament Law and Sabbath do not even keep the most basic requirements like Ex. 35:3 “You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.” You kindle a fire when you turn on the hot water in your house if you have electronic ignition on your water heater (so if you shower before Church). You also kindle a fire if you start your car, as you spark compressed gas in the cylinder which explodes and burns. Cars run on fire. These groups never think of what they would have to do in the modern world to keep a Sabbath and they all break it in many ways.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ.

Hope you had a great day serving the Lord with gladness. We had a good day at the book table. It was pretty slow, which is not uncommon for the beginning of the spring semester. Especially since this year it was a week later and everyone is already established and not looking for something new to do. We got a couple new students at the bible study already this semester, though, so it will grow as God wills as I walk around and invite people. I did have my favorite company (Ellen) today for a change. I went through the Gospel with two students. Last year a girl Stephanie prayed later and began coming to Bible Study. So who knows what God will do with seeds. Three who had trusted Christ this past year came by and took God Loves You He Always Has and He Always Will books. I had a good conversation with a guy who wants to do evangelism on Friday whom I’d talked to before, a young Christian, Josh, who is going to church in Wheaton. Then a girl who can only come rarely to Bible study this semester, but who has been coming for years, Brianna, came by at the end. So we took her to lunch and poured into her a bit, which really was the best part of the day.

Thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today, God blessed. It was a slow day but we made some connections.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and your had a lot of joy in serving Jesus. I had a good day on campus in as much as Luke prayed to receive Jesus today and he was a great guy.  I got a couple seeds planted that I hope were not shallow.

Luke was sitting in the third floor lounge, one floor up and a hop, skip and a jump east of where we have Bible study, which is a bigger lounge about half the size of a gymnasium.  He had a flat top crew cut and looked like the blue collar stunt double of Ricky Schroder, in his clean shaven days. He looked a bit weather beaten somehow. He wore heavy blue nylon workout sweats and a blue jacket. He said he’d do a survey and turned out to be Roman Catholic. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and was asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I’ve always been religious, you know go to church on Sunday. I’ve always been a pretty good person in my opinion.” He thought he had about a 95% chance of going to Heaven when he died. He was really affirming of the ideas I was communicating to him. Pretty early on in our conversation, I could see he was sincere about his religious practice and I was hopeful he would receive Jesus once he understood the Gospel. I explained that Jesus was the perfect payment for his sins because when you ruin something of someone else’s you owe them something perfect to replace it. God owns everything and we own Him something perfect to replace what we have damaged in the world. But we can’t do anything perfect. So in order to be Just, God has to pay himself. “I like that analogy,” he said.  I explained everything concerning the Gospel and he knew Jesus had died for his sins. But he had not known His righteousness could be to his Credit or placed his trust in the work of Christ. I explained everything, asking if he’d want to be forgiven trusting in Christ so He could live inside him. “I do want that, it makes sense.” He thanked me for stopping to talk to him and I thanked him for his time. Most students would not give any to me today. I said there was a prayer he could pray to receive Christ’s forgiveness and he said, “Oh cool.” As I explained it he was running short of time to get to class and he said, “Could I pray this later?” I said, “Well if you’ll take a moment to pray it now, I will keep you in my prayers each day until next Spring and for one year after because then I will know.” “OK,” he agreed and prayed to receive Jesus crossing himself as he finished and saying, “That didn’t take as long as I thought.” I showed him the things that make up the Christian life in the booklet that spell out GROWTH. “I like that acrostic,” he said as I explained it to him living “Inside Out.” I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front, “Awesome, thank you,” he said taking the book. I explained now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus, the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. He got up to go so I quickly gave him a Bible study and he shook my hand and said, “Thank you Bob.” I said something like, “Yeah sure.” “I learned a lot in these last 10 minutes. Thanks for talking with me.” And he headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today God truly blessed. Tomorrow we’ll do a book table for the clubs and activities day. Ellen and I often see someone come to Christ at a book table so we hope God will bring fruit.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sister and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and ya got out in the sunshine. Josiah and Tyler prayed to receive Jesus today.

Tyler was in the cafeteria sitting with his back to the glass, looking outside at a table. He had long hair pulled back into a pony tail, wore cotton sweats and a plaid flannel shirt with a green t-shirt. He had a rectangular face, clean shaven with a random large freckle (you’d call a beauty mark on a girl). He looked kind of like the handsome dockworker in some Hollywood rags-to-riches story. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven, he said, “I try to give everybody a chance. I’m pretty open and accepting. I over-extend myself too sometimes to help others.”  When I asked the likelihood he would go to Heaven, he said maybe 25%, adding, “I haven’t been to church for a while.” He said he’d gone to Catholic school until he was 13. When I asked him what was the big thing that happened so God could forgive him, he didn’t seem to know saying, “He forgives you.” So I said that God had to be Just and Forgiving in Christianity. So “He gets paid” and I used the example I started to use this year saying say he borrowed a friend’s coat and then took it off at his other friends house and the dog chewed it up. Then you owe your friend a new coat. It is the same way with God. Everything belongs to Him, so when we hurt someone or misuse the world in any way we owe God something perfect to pay Him back. But we can’t do anything perfect so God has to pay Himself.  I explained Jesus lived a perfect life, died for our sins and His blood cleanses us. He listened to the Gospel and tuned right in. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven with God inside him or thought something else. I gave the illustration of Islamic teaching where God is arbitrary and they cannot know His essence. So when they die they can’t be sure what will happen. “It feels more sure to have God inside you,” he said. “It feels more sure to know how things are going and how they’ll play out.” I asked if he believed Jesus was God, had died for his sins and rose from the dead. He said he did. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven then there was a prayer he could pray. I explained it to him and how the Mass was symbolic of Jesus dying for him. I read, “Is this prayer the desire of your heart?” “Yeah,” he replied.  I said he could pray it silently so only God would hear and he said, “Sure.” And prayed to receive Jesus. I gave him a Bible then since he did not have one, writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I showed him Christ’s words in red, the “Where to Turn” section and the Messianic passages list in back. He thanked me for the Bible and I said, “You’re welcome.” I explained the Christian life to him living inside out and gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “By the Spirit’s Power” and “Just Ask” in the front. I gave him a Bible study and he was grateful.  I told him I would keep him in my prayers. “Thank you,” he said. “See you in Heaven,” I said getting up to go. He smiled and said, “Yeah, you too.”

I was talking for a while with a Christian I know who goes to a different Bible study who was born in India. He was being taught mediation in his gym class and there was a future section on Yoga. I warned him not to empty himself, explaining that Christianity was always mediation on something not empting your head and thinking about nothing. He decided to talk to his teacher to see if he could skip the Yoga section and try to do some aerobics speaking to the instructor about his religious beliefs.

I headed downstairs and bumped into Kento—who I did not recognize without his hoodie tight over his head. He prayed to receive Jesus last semester at the table he was standing at the end of. A guy he knew was sitting at the table and I asked him if he wanted to do a student survey, saying Kento had done it. He hemmed and hawed so I asked if he wanted to know how to go to Heaven. “I know how to get to Heaven,” Josiah replied. “Oh yeah what happens?” I asked. “You follow the rules,” he replied kind of half messing with his phone. “How do you know what the rules are?” I asked. “You read the Bible,” he replied. “Do you read the Bible?” I asked. He said he did. I said the problem is you have to keep the rules perfectly. “Jesus says you are to be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect,” and I asked if he’d done that, saying say you stand before God and He says ‘Welcome to Heaven. You are supposed to live a perfect life. Where’s my perfect life? I explained we can’t live a life like that. So if you have to be perfect to live in Heaven, what was he gonna do? He didn’t know. So I asked if I could tell him what the Bible said. He said “OK,” then and I went through the Gospel with him. He had his hair real short on the sides and then worked out like a bowl was sitting on the top of his head. A lot of guys are wearing their afro’s that way now. He wore a black puffy Adidas jacket and a black t-shirt with some writing on it I couldn’t make out. He also wore heavy nylon workout pants. Josiah had a long angular face and a wide narrow flat nose. Good-looking guy. He was a receiver for the football team. He paid close attention then as I went thought the Gospel and wanted to be forgiven when I asked. I said he could pray it silently on the sly right then and no one would hear him but God. And as I held the booklet I could see he began to pray and read, his eyes going back and forth on the lines and said, “Amen,” when he was done. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I explained the Christian life to him living inside out. I also wrote “By the Spirit’s Power” and “Just Ask” in the front of the book. He thanked me and I gave him a Bible study 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 and you have joy and peace in believing. I had a good day on campus. Will, a black guy with a thin mustache and a low afro was close to receiving Christ. He said he would pray tonight. And Brenda prayed to receive Jesus today.

Brenda was sitting just past the exit from the tunnel into the MAC in the BIC building and she was waiting for someone and said she’d do a survey, saying, “Why not? I’m just waiting.” She had long, dark hair and grey leggings on and a fleece pullover, cute kid, petite small face, chatty. She seemed very young. When I asked her if she went to church at all she said she did a bit, saying she did not understand much of what went on there. Her mom was very religious, as was her grandma. “My mom says we’re Catholic.” When I asked her what she would say to God if she died and was asked why He should let her into Heaven she said, ‘I don’t know,” and then quickly, “don’t write that.” But then thinking a moment she said, “I can’t really tell you what I strongly believe. There’s got to be a Heavenly place.” I agreed there had to be. She thought she had about a 70% chance of going to Heaven. As I went through the Gospel with her she was interested and remarked, “Sounds beautiful,” as I explained that Jesus had died for her. “Yeah it does,” I agreed. She listened to the explanation of the perfect payment of the life of Jesus for her sins, having not known about it, it seemed. That His blood cleansed her so God could live inside her and God could justly forgive her, having been paid for her sins. I explained she received it by Faith and Grace saved her by faith not by works. Her good stuff didn’t fix her bad stuff. I asked if she’d want to be forgiven for her sins or thought something else, “That one,” she said pointing at the right circle with God inside, “Be forgiven.” I asked if she believed Jesus was God, had died for her sins and rose from the dead. “Yes. I’d like to believe that.” I said if she wanted to she could ask for forgiveness and I walked her through the prayer addressed to the “Lord Jesus” and asked if it was the desire of her heart.” “Yes,” she said. So I said she could pray it silently, not so I would hear her but God would hear and she’d be forgiven for her sins. She took the booklet from me and prayed then to receive Christ. I explained the Christian life to her living “Inside out” where first God transformed her and then she would do good things because she had become a good person. I said everything in the Christian life is “Just ask” and wrote that along the end of the booklet along with “By the Spirit’s Power” saying God would give her the power to do anything He was asking her to do. I said that by trusting in Jesus’ righteousness to be her righteousness, the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. She did not have her own Bible, but did not want to take one or a book to read. But said that she might be ready to take one later. If she saw me she’d get one from me. I did get her to take a Bible study on the Deity of Christ, different ways He claims to be God. She had to run then, so we headed our different ways after I told her she’d be in my prayers each day.  I said my email was on the back of the booklet and she said “OK,” and headed out the tunnel. Sweet kid.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with all good things and you had joy in serving Jesus. I had a good day on campus and Seth, Jana and Marco prayed to receive Jesus today.

Seth was sitting at the big table were we have Bible study. He was about to study but decided to talk with me. He had light brown hair and a youthful clean shaven face, even had rosy cheeks. Looked a bit like the speed racer cartoon image. He was wearing a blue zip neck fleece and khaki pants. When I asked him what he would say to God if he died and was asked why He should let him into Heaven he said, “That’s a hard question. I tried my hardest. I believe in You. You shouldn’t have to let me into Heaven, you should earn it. I think I earned it because I stayed true to You. I didn’t let anyone sway my opinion. You’re my savior and I’ve continued through persecution.” It seemed like he had been pressured in his life not to believe in God. I began to go through the Gospel with him and it turned out he had been in Young Life in High School. I’ve met several students who went to young life and somehow never understood the Gospel. I think they go through it on retreats, but on a regular basis it is just a moral hang-out club and it does not always lead to faith. I asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sins, but he had no idea. As I explained what Jesus had done for him and how His blood cleansed him, he exclaimed “Ohhh!” He began to realize that Jesus had paid it all and what he needed to do was ask for God’s transforming power, and even to ask Him to help him trust in Him more. Not put effort in morality but put effort in dependence that would make him different in his soul. Then the moral strength and behavior would follow naturally by the Spirit’s power. He was so grateful to understand everything. “Can I keep this booklet?” he asked. With all my notes and extra Bible verses now in it explaining the righteousness of God and the Blood of Christ, the booklet had become a complete presentation of the Gospel. And I said sure and finished. He said “Ohh!” again as I explained receiving Christ by faith and how his good things could not pay for his bad things. I asked him if he would want to be forgiven or thought something else and he said, “Be forgiven.” So I offered him the prayer he could pray silently so only God would hear. I said he could pray it and be forgiven for his sins and God would live inside him. “Wanna do it?” I asked. “Yeah,” he said enthusiastically and he silently prayed to receive Jesus. We talked some more and he was enthusiastic and grateful and I explained the Christian life living by the Spirit’s power, “Inside Out.” “Thanks for taking time to talk with me,” he said and I said, “Thanks for being willing to talk.” I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I gave him a Bible study and said I would be praying for him each day one of the prayers of Paul, which I had encouraged him to look for online to see in reading Paul’s prayers the Christian life was about what you asked God to do to you to transform you not your own efforts at transformation. “Thanks you so much!” he said, shaking my hand and I said sure and headed off.

I went over across the lounge and tried to write down some of what was said, sitting in Starbucks. What Seth was wearing so I’d remember and when I finished there was a lovely Asian girl, Jana sitting next to me who had been listening to some people speaking loudly in a language from the other side of the Earth. I wondered if it was a language she understood. I was going to get up and go, but I decided to ask her if she wanted to do a student survey for our Bible Study group. “Sure,” she said cheerfully. She was wearing blue cotton sweats and a blue t-shirt with some writing on it I couldn’t easily make out. She had a nubby fleece beige jacket on and her hair was pulled back from her face into a ponytail. She looked Filipino to me. She was American in all her mannerisms and from a catholic church. She had a pretty smile and lips and fair skin. (Her boyfriend Joseph showed up at the end and was Asian. I’d spoken to him before. He was Catholic and wore a rosary around his neck.) I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven if she died and she thought a long time. She finally settled on, “Because you forgave me.” She thought she had a 50/50 chance of getting into Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with her and she seemed really engaged and laughed at the analogies and quips I made. I said that God wanted to live inside her and give her eternal life, and asked what the big thing was that took away her sins. She couldn’t think of anything so I clarified, “that Jesus did.” But still nothing came to mind. “It’s symbolized in the Mass,” I tried, but that did not help so I said, “well I’ll just explain it to you.” I explained how Jesus had lived the perfect life she owed to God and died shedding his blood that cleansed her from all her sins and that the Righteousness He earned was to her credit. I said we were adopted by God and given the blessings of His family, “He gives you the sacrifice for your sins, the blood that cleanses you and the righteousness that surrounds you. So it’s like you got someplace to go, Heaven, and something to wear when you get there, the Righteousness of God.” I explained the way you hooked up with all God had done was by faith in Him, and Grace by faith saved her. I asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins or thought something else. “I want to be forgiven for my sins,” she replied. I talked her through the prayer to be forgiven, asking if it was the desire of her heart. “Yes,” she said brightly. I said she could pray it silently so only God would hear and be forgiven and God would live inside her and I asked if she would like to do it. “Yeah,” she said with a cheerful laugh and she prayed to receive Christ. Her family had a Bible but she did not have one of her own. So I gave her one, showing her the “Where to Turn” section and the Messianic passages list. I told her Jesus’ words were in red, and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do and wrote “Just Ask” and “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front. I told her now, that trusting in the righteousness of Jesus, the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100% and she let out kind of a happy surprised sound. She was grateful. Joseph had walked up so I sent them off with a friendly goodbye.

I went over to the Science buildings then and in the southeast corner lounge (they call them commons areas) I found Marco sitting alone. I think he was just straightening things in his backpack before heading home. He looked like the boxer DeNiro in the ring, if you ever saw “Raging Bull”. He had a couple days growth of heavy beard, his hair short on the sides and a half inch of tight curls on the top. He was a nice friendly guy, Roman Catholic. He wore gray sweats tight at the ankles and a red hoodie sweatshirt. He was a bit shorter than me. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven and he answered, “I would say I feel more than anyone You’d know I’m not such a bad person. I have a pretty good moral code. In my life I’ve not done anything that you’d say that I could not be forgiven.” I began to go through the Gospel with him and asked what was the thing that happened that took away his sin. “Confession?” he said, uncertainly. I said, “Confession is like buying insurance from an agent for your car. When you wreck your car, the agent does not pay, the company pays. The priest is telling you God forgives your sin, and the reason he can do that is God is just. He pays. Like if you borrow a friend’s sweater and then take it off at your other friend’s house and his dog chews it up. Now you owe the first guy a perfectly new sweater. You can’t just go to Goodwill and grab something off the rack. God owns everything, so when we wreck anything or hurt someone or ourselves we owe God something perfect back. But we can’t do anything perfect. So we’re screwed. We can’t pay. But God knows that, so this is how He gets paid.” And I explained how Jesus had died for his sins and all the rest I say to the peeps about blood, righteousness and forgiveness. He understood and tuned right in and I said he needed to trust in that Jesus was God, had died for his sins, and rose from the dead to be forgiven and the mass was symbolic of it. I said he was forgiven by Grace. He wanted to be forgiven and I explained the prayer to him and asked if it was the desire of his heart. He nodded and so I said he could pray it silently if he wanted and he said, “Yeah,” and prayed to receive Christ. I gave him a copy of 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I also wrote “Just ask by the Spirit’s Power” on the title page, having explained the Christian life was asking for God’s power to transform him. I gave him a Bible Study and explained it a bit and told him I’d be praying for him. “Thank you. I really appreciate it. I’ll be praying as well.” It was really good to meet ya.” I said as we parted ways and headed out opposite doors of the commons. “Likewise.” he said.

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 with all good things coming down from the Father of Lights. If you are in Iowa for the Caucus vote, feel free to vote twice, as eight counties have registration rates higher than the eligible population. So hey, you should get your fair share of the count. lol. 🙂 I jest, you still should only vote once. I had a good day on campus, and Joe and Michael each prayed with me to receive Jesus today.

Joe was sitting in the hallway in the BIC between classes on the ground floor and said he’d do a student survey. He went to a Bible Study back in High School at his coach’s home. (In the face he looked like my 2nd cousin Joe.) He had a great smile and conservative cut dark brown hair, stereotypical Italian, good-looking guy. Wore grey sweats tight at the ankles and a runners zip up jacket. He was shorter than me by a bit. He asked really good questions. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I’ve been going to Church pretty frequently my whole life. I’ve done my best to follow His teachings as they’ve been told to me by my parents.” He thought he had a 95% chance of going to Heaven. He knew Jesus had died for our sins. I said that if we did not live a perfect life we could not be in Heaven. “I don’t know if it’s that binary,” he put in. I said that Heaven wasn’t just a place, it was the presence of God. The real problem was ontological. Our being did not match God’s being, so it really was in or out, since we could not live a perfect life. But God loved us and wanted us to be in His presence. So Jesus lived the perfect life for us and became the perfect payment for our sins to God so He could be both Just and Forgiving. His blood cleansed us and His righteousness was to our credit. “So that’s what the New Testament is about,” he said. I agreed. I explained receiving Christ by faith. He asked if the works we did played a role at all and I said that they did if they were done in Faith, asking for God’s power to do them. By themselves, living a moral life by Christian standards saved you a lot of pain and grief and kept you from wrecking your life. So it was a blessing to be raised that way because you know how to live. But this would not save you. I explained how our good things could not make up for our bad things and he agreed. I said he had to receive Jesus by faith, trusting that His work and power saved us. I asked if he’d want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in Jesus and he gave this kind of frank yeah obviously kind of nod. So I walked him through the prayer and said he could pray it so only God would hear and he went “hmm” and nodded and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. We talked about the blessings of living a good life. He agreed, saying he watched his roommate last year at IL State basically self destruct with partying every weekend until he had to drop out of school. “It made me want to do the opposite,” he said. And I thought about the verse in scripture concerning the lost. “Vessels of wrath fit for destruction” God used to perfect the elect. I explained living “Inside Out” asking for God’s power to do anything he thought God wanted him to do. We talked about how dark and shallow the world had gotten. “This is the most meaningful conversation I’ve had in weeks,” he said. I gave him a copy of 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and “forgiven” in the front and “Just Ask By the Power of the Spirit.” I gave him a Bible study and he said he’d try to make it out sometime to ours. He was thankful and I told him I would keep him in my prayers. Really solid guy.

I came across Michael in a chair in the hallway outside the bookstore. He had swept back hair just slightly receding and a warm, youthful face. He had jeans on and an athletic sweatshirt that had some white printing on the front. Good looking kid. He led a youth group and went witnessing at Woodfield mall. But I don’t think he understood the Gospel enough to do so. He knew Jesus had died for our sins, but he was not trusting in that but instead hoping he would be a good enough Christian. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “That’s a tough question. I would tell him that I’m not the perfect Christian. I love Him. I know I’ve done wrong. But I love you. It’s not an easy question.” Based on this answer I have no idea what he was telling people at the mall. It kind of seemed like he was having what he considered interesting discussions. I asked him what the likelihood was he would go to Heaven. “There’s a chance,” he replied. “What does it say that the wages of sins is death or something, then something about eternal life. I would like to be forgiven for my sins and have eternal life with Him. Hopefully it’s a good chance.” So I explained the Gospel to him. As I said, he knew Jesus had died for him. I asked if, when he asked for forgiveness for his sins, he had been trusting in what Jesus had done on the Cross or had he been hoping that being a Good Christian would get him into Heaven. He said a little in Jesus but mostly he had been hoping in being good enough. So I said if he wanted to be sure and place his confidence in Jesus, there was a prayer he could pray. I told him how he could be certain he was going to Heaven, turning in the righteousness of Christ and he could ask God to know Him personally– live inside him with His Holy Spirit.  And the Holy Spirit would seal him and he would be sure he was forgiven. After I walked him through the prayer, he prayed with me to receive Christ. I suggested he could explain some of this now to his youth group he was leading at Willow Creek. He agreed that would be a good idea. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and forgiven in the front and “By the Spirit’s Power” and “Just Ask.” I said now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness, the likelihood he was going to Heaven was 100%. We talked about his church then and I told him I had gone there when it met in the theater. “Oh, with Hybels,” he said. I expressed my opinion that Hybels had turned out to be less than a good person and he agreed and we headed out. So I hope it sinks in that he was off track and he comes to a better understanding and passes it on to his students.

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

In Him,

Bob

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