Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you had a good day walking with the Lord, resting in His love for you that surpasses knowledge. I had a good day on campus. Ellen and I had a good Bible study and Darion and Michael each prayed to receive Jesus today. I’d be grateful if you could pray they’d be blessed. Thanks for your prayers to bless and help the ministry. Their stories are below if you have the time.

I had a nudge to go to the PE building after we’d finished Bible Study and I walked Ellen to her car. So I made my way to the other side of campus, asking around in case there was someone God wish me to talk to on the way. I look for people setting apart from others for the most part since I hope they’d pray to receive Jesus. This has happened in groups but it seems more likely someone would pray if not involved with others.

I entered into the PE through the tunnel and the main lounge was pretty crowded. I checked at a couple tables and then circled around the counter some guys were sitting. I asked a big football player on the end if he’d want to do a student survey for a Bible study group on what he thought about God. Darion [dare E on] He said he didn’t think he had time for a group. He was African American and turned out he played D-back. I said the survey was really to tell you how you get to Heaven from the Bible and I asked if he would want to see the Bible verses that explained that. He had a mustache that was pretty thick but only grew as thick as a pencil, a bit of a chin beard. He was over 6 foot and about 250. He had a really short haircut; his skin was a bit pitted on his cheek bones but he was a good-looking guy wearing a tie-dye powder blue and white hoodie. I began to go through the Gospel with him and when I asked him what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world he said he had died. I explained that this purified him by His blood and paid for his sins allowing God to live inside him and forgive him. “The Bible says if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. So God is just to forgive us. It is fair for him to do it because he was paid by Jesus perfect blood. So He forgives us because He got paid but He had to pay Himself.” He nodded that he understood. I explained that Jesus earned the righteousness of God and it was to his credit and the story I told made him smile just a bit. He was pretty reserved. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else after explaining salvation by faith. He nodded. I said there was a prayer he could pray and walked him through it and saying he could pray it silently I asked if he’d want to do it and he’d know he was forgiven. “Yeah I’ll do it.” He said and he took the booklet and then slowly read it and prayed to receive Jesus.  When he finished I said, “Your sins are forgiven,” I shook his hand. I told him he could keep the booklet and explained the Christian life. I talked about asking God for self-control on the field and peace and patience waiting for the snap of the ball. He said he had a Bible at home answering my questions with “Yes sir.” I gave him Bible Promises for You though he said he had a book like that he said, “I’ll take another one though.” I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside and gave it to him. I told him I would keep him in my prayers praying a Bible verse for him each day through the Spring and one year after. “Thank you, I appreciate that,” he replied sincerely and I headed out. The loud conversations a couple feet from us had never let up or noticed me.

I went through the Gospel with a guy named Alex. He had a couple days growth of beard and a narrow mustache. His face has a sharp jaw line like the character the Joker in the comics.  We were overlooking the lounge in the MAC arts building. While talking to him an administrator with chartreuse Crocs on slid in with his back to me interrupting and asking him, “Is this guy bothering you?” The burearistocrat flashed a lanyard with his ID on it never saying his name. I never saw his face. The student kindly said, “It’s fine.” The burearistocrat turned and towards his office and said, “He likes to prey upon students,” and went inside. “Interesting thing to say considering he’s never met me,” I said quietly. I briefly went through the Gospel after he’d explained his Roman Catholic father and Mormon mother. I left him the booklet I hadn’t used much showing him the prayer and thanked him and he said no problem and I left the Croc-booted enemy encamped in their offices. I headed to the cafeteria. I thought later I should have corrected the burearistocrat and said “I like to pray with students.” But I never poke the egos there on purpose.

Michael was sitting at the counter in the cafeteria looking out the window. He was up for doing a student survey. He was smallish in build had a solid looking face, square chin and clean shaven. He wore a cap with tan curls pouring out from beneath. He wore a pull over hoodie and had sweats on. I asked him what he would say to God if He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” He replied after a bit of thought, “I’ve had a positive effect, tried to have a positive effect, on all the people I’ve met. I tried to leave off on a good note even if I never see them again.” He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to heaven. I asked him if he ever went to Church “like when he was a kid”. He said his parents had taken him to St. Isidore. (I had never heard of it but looked it up and it’s in Bloomingdale.) and then he had joined a Bible club in High School. He said it was led by his cousin who was going to be a pastor. He seemed very interested in the Bible and was attentive when I quoted a Bible verse. I asked him if he knew what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world and he said “Yeah,” but it seemed more like he was saying he knew Jesus had done something to do so. I began to go through the heart of the Gospel then with him and he took right-to everything I said concerning the sacrifice for his sins and the blood that cleansed him and the righteousness of God to his credit. I asked if he’d want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in Jesus or if he thought something else. His pinky came out of a fist and pointed nail down to the circle with Christ on the throne of your life. “Well, if you want to be forgiven there’s a prayer you could pray.” I explained it. Does this prayer express the desire of your heart got a “Yeah.” And asking if he’d like to pray it silently got “Yeah,” also again nodding in support. So I said, “Just pretend I’m not here.” And he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When he finished I said his sins were forgiven and he smiled. I explained the Christian life living inside out by the Spirit’s power. He had heard of the fruit of the Spirit. I gave him Bible Promises for You and write his name and the date and forgiven in the front. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet saying that it answered some questions or he could email me if he had any.  I also handed him a Bible study explaining the deity of Christ by His own claims, which he liked. So I gave him another on the Angel of Jehovah. I told him the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100% now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus. Though I had sinned far more than him, being old, “If we both died today there would be enough righteousness to cover us both.” I shook his hand saying, “Nice to meet you.” “Thank you,” he replied with a grin. “Yeah tell your cousin I said hi,” “I will,” he said enthusiastically. And I headed out to the truck.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day has been blessed today with all good things from above. Marnita and Joseph prayed with me to receive Christ today. So I was grateful. Please pray they are blessed in their walk with the Lord.

Marnita, a pretty black girl who I often run into in the PE lounge, had said she trusted in Jesus after I explained the Gospel to her on October 3^rd. Her diamond shaped face ended in a small square chin and she had braids on her head rimmed with curls flat to her forehead and a small pug nose. But I’d bumped into her a couple times before today and she said she hadn’t prayed though she said she had the booklet in her purse so she intended to.  But she was always sitting with another girl I know. So today I asked her again finding her alone on a couch upstairs and suggested she could pray right now. “Do you think I should?” she asked. I said it was up to her but since she kept forgetting it she’d finally remember. “Your right,” she replied. She rummaged in her purse unable to find the booklet. I gave her another, open to the page, and she prayed then to receive Jesus. When she finished she had a satisfied smile on her face. I explained the Christian life in the back of the booklet and gave her a copy of Bible Promises for You with her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and a Bible study. Do you like to read I said explaining what the study was about. “Well, I’m gonna have to read this,” she replied. I told her I had been praying for her and I promised to pray a Bible verse for her each day until spring and one year after, so she would be blessed. She thanked me and we talked about her plans to go to a Halloween party tonight and my plan to hand out candy, she thought she might get some trick or treating. “Well, it’s hard to say no to a pretty girl,” I said matter-of-factly. “Thanks,” she said with a smile. I headed out of the lounge, down the stairs and out. 

Joseph was the last person I talked to. The school had emptied out for the most part. He was standing at a counter high table by the student activities window. He had a black short sleeve shirt on and wore sweats with stripes on the sides. He had an oval face and a mustache and goatee dark brown hair, and reminded me of the actor Eric Balfour. He had more than a dozen different tattoos on his bare arms and said he was going back for more near Thanksgiving to fill in the sleeve. When I asked him what he would say to God if asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” He said he thought God would know and “It seems I shouldn’t, I don’t know what the word is…” I think he might have been searching for something like “presumptuous”, I tried “Prideful” and that wasn’t it. It seemed he thought no one should be telling God what to do. I said, “Well the question is really asking what it is you think gets someone into Heaven, philosophically speaking.”  “Spread the word and be a good person,” he replied. Then he kind of quipped, “I helped a lot of people please let me in.” I asked him what the likelihood was he would go to Heaven and he said, “Me personally, I’d get a B grade, 80%. I am a good person but everyone does things wrong.” I asked if he went to church at all and he said he’d been to different ones and been baptized twice, which I took to mean as an infant and as an adult. I began to go through the Gospel with him and asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sins, “Crucified,” he replied. “Right,” I said and I began to talk through how the blood of Jesus had cleansed him from sin and was a payment to God for his sins. I talked about the righteousness of Christ, and that he would not go to Heaven because he was good but because Jesus was good and he was connected to him. And salvation was by faith. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done or if God was more on the outside of his life. To help him think about it I asked, “When you ask for forgiveness for your sins are you thinking I know I will be forgiven because Jesus died for me and I am trusting in that. Or are you thinking, Well I’m sincere about wanting to be forgiven and I’m going to try to do better and God’s is forgiving and loving so I hope He’ll forgive me.” “Before you said all this I would have been the second one but now I would say I was trusting in Jesus,” he replied smiling. ‘Well, if you’d like to be forgiven trusting in Jesus there’s a prayer you could pray,” I replied and talked him through it and asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he replied. “Well, you could pray it silently right now, I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven. Wanna do it?” “Yeah,” he replied and he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When he finished I said, “Your sins are forgiven,” and he smiled broadly. I explained the Christian life to him living “Inside > Out” where God transforms you on the inside you become a good person and do good things by the Spirit’s Power. I gave him a copy of Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave him a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I said I would keep him in my prayers each day until spring and a year after. “Thank you so much Bob,” he said enthusiastically. “Yeah, you’re welcome, you knew the story you were just skipping the part where you trust in it to be forgiven.” I said and we fist bumped and he said, “Thank you.” And I headed off. It was a great way to end the day.

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 every good and perfect gift and your tomatoes made it through the freeze last night. I had a good day on campus. Ben [a girl I had talked to earlier in the semester and said she’d think about it] said she’d prayed to receive Jesus. Later Simona prayed to receive Jesus. Thanks so much for your prayers for the students these girls’ stories are below. I met a guy named Casey sitting with a guy who comes to Bible study (Brandon) and went through the Gospel with him and he said he’d think about it. He’s a Roman Catholic and had the idea God magnanimously forgives if he asked for forgiveness but you could not be sure you were forgiven. He then remembered when I asked that Jesus had died to take away his sin. He had a withered right hand. He’s a thinker and it would be great if he’d come to Bible Study.

I first talked to Ben on the 18^th of September in the SSC lounge sitting along the wall. She is finishing her culinary classes but switching over to a fashion major. Today she had on the small checked pants you wear as a uniform in culinary classes and a t-shirt. She’s slight in build, she wears her hair in a pixy cut it was tucked behind both ears and she had a piercing in the left side of her lower lip. She has pretty freckles like beauty marks in the right places. Taking the booklet, she seemed to be saying she thought she would pray later last we spoke and today when I bumped into her in the hallway headed towards the entrance to the bookstore she said she had prayed the prayer in the booklet and also had read through The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and really liked it saying she liked the evidence for the resurrection. I told her most scholars agree the tomb was empty, they just won’t say how. I said that the disciples had all fled and God had women find the empty tomb. That’s significant because the times were sexist and women were less likely to be believed but God honored them anyway. Her answer to the question what she would say to God if asked: Why should I let you into Heaven was originally, “Because I tried to be good, I wouldn’t say I was [always] successful but I tried.” Now she is trusting in Jesus so I gave her the book, Bible promises for You and wrote her name and “forgiven!” on the inside and gave her a Bible Study. She can’t come to our Bible Study as her class conflict but she said if she got out early she would come by. We talked for a while and she was really friendly.

Simona was Lithuanian and had gone to a Lithuanian Christian church when she was younger. She had grey sweats on and a zip up hoodie and a white t-shirt. She had kind of a pan oval face with a small nose cute kid, sun blonde hair the top a bit darker, blue eyes. She had and expressive way of reacting with her mouth, I’m not sure how to explain it more than that. She sat in a stuffed chair in a pair of chairs on the corner around from the stairwell of the Student Services Center Lounge. I sat in the other one to her left with a coffee table between us that I sat on later moving closer as I went through the booklet. It had a swivel table on the top and balancing on it threw out my back a bit, still hurts. When I asked her what she would say to God if asked why He should let her into Heaven she said, “I always kept God like in my heart. I feel like because I’ve always had Him with me He should let me in.” She thought she had an 80% chance of going to Heaven. I went through the gospel with her and it was hard to tell if she was not just listening to be polite but I prayed and rested in the Lord asking that He’d work in her as I spoke the Gospel. I asked if she knew what Jesus had done to take away her sins and she just said “Yes,” in an undefined way so I just began to explain that Jesus was a sacrifice for our sins, His blood cleansing us and also a payment to God on our behalf. As I finished I said “Well the last question of the survey is would you like to be forgiven for your sins trusting in what Jesus has done or do you think something else.” I gave her time to think going through a couple options. “Probably forgiven,” she replied. “Well, if you’d like to be forgiven there’s a prayer you could pray,” I replied and turned the page and read through it explaining a bit and asked, “It says here, does this prayer express the desire of your heart? Do you think it does?” “Yeah,” she replied. So I said she could pray it silently and God would hear and asked if she wanted to. “Yeah,” she said firmly, deciding. And she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When she’d finished I said she could keep the booklet and that the likelihood she would go to Heaven now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus and His sacrifice for her was 100%. I explained the Christian life to her and she said she had her own Bible. I explained living by the Spirit’s power, “Inside > Out”. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside and gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I also gave her a Bible study. “Well I don’t know if I’ll see you again but I’ll pray for you each day from now until Spring and one year after, just pray a Bible verse for you so you will be blessed.” “Thank you,” she replied. “Sure, thanks for your time in talking with me. “Thank you,” she replied with emphasis on the “you.” And I headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your week was blessed with grace and peace. I had a good day on campus on Thursday and

Neeha, Justin, KB, and Mariah, each prayed with me to receive Jesus. Please pray these students are blessed.  Thanks for your prayers of blessing. I’m very grateful, especially because next week we are out of town. So I might not be able to go through the Gospel with anyone. Though there is a college near Ellen’s relatives we are going to visit. The stories are below.

Neeha was sitting in the NW corner lounge in the science buildings. No one else was in there at first and she wanted to do a survey. She is short, her family is from Nepal where she wanted to return for a visit. She had shoulder lent straight dark hair. She was wearing jeans torn in the knees and a green North Face hoodie. Her face was flat with small boxers’ nose, cute kid. I asked her for 3 words to describe herself and she confessed, “Kind, I’m not kind,” like she’d been thinking about it. I asked if she was going to be a nurse and she said she was. I said “Nurses can’t always be kind.” We talked about her wanting to return to Nepal. I asked her what she would say to God if asked why should He let her into Heaven. “I would say you shouldn’t, I’ve done a lot of wrong things He knows already—had seen.” She thought she had a 50% chance of going to Heaven. She said she went to a Nepalese church that she said was hard to describe, it seemed it was not like churches typical to the US. I began to go through the Gospel with her and she knew John 3:16 saying it was “translated into every language”. I began to go through the Gospel with her telling her that to know God was for the Holy Spirit to live inside her, so God had to take away her sin so that was possible. I asked what Jesus had done to take away her sins, “He gives you strength by His Spirit to do good things?” She said tentatively. I said the Spirit did do that but this is how it works and I began to explain God became a man Jesus who lived a perfect life, was an offering for sin, cleansed her and paid for her sin. I explained the righteousness of God, what faith was and that she was saved by it. I asked her if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done so His Spirit could live inside her and give her strength to live or thought something else then said again, “Would you want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus. “Yes,” she said, without hesitating. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and asked if it expressed the desire of her heart after explaining it. “Yes,” she replied again. I said she could pray it silently and know she was forgiven and asked if she wanted to. “Um hmm, she replied and she prayed aloud to receive Christ, though the lounge had someone else in it now at a table10 feet from us. My pens kept running out of ink at the tip but I kept shaking them and managed to explain the Christina life. Talking about the fruit of the Spirit, which she was familiar. When I listed kindness I said, “You can just ask for it when you need it, you have to make those patients do what they’re supposed to.” She smiled. I said Christianity was living “Inside > Out” where you ask the Holy Spirit to transform you, then you become a good person and do good things on the outside “By the Spirit’s Power.” She had a Bible and I explained life in the Spirit and that she should obey but when she failed God would always forgive her. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. And she thanked me and I gave her a Bible study also, explaining that a bit and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told her I would be praying for her each day a Bible verse from now until spring and one year after and I said the likelihood she would go to Heaven now was 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus. “I’ll pray for you thanks so much for talking with me and I’ll see you in Heaven,” I told her getting up to go. “Thank you,” she said sincerely and I headed out.

KB was sitting in the hallway of the BIC on the first floor in a row of chairs and agreed to do a survey on the Bible. There was a classroom across from us but he didn’t have a backpack or seem to have any books or class stuff. He had short braids in a pattern on his head and classic black nose and mouth, a narrow face, a mustache and beard. He wore a red track suit the front had some rectangular sections of grey and white on the chest and sleeves. He had grey and white trainers on with the laces open. I asked him one thing he wanted to do before he died. “The ultimate goal is just to get closer to God for real,” he replied. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven. “Me as of right now, I’m a sinner, everybody sins every day. I spread the word as best I can to the best of my ability and live my life according to God to the best of my ability,” he replied. I asked him a % for the likelihood he would go to Heaven and he said, “60-40”. I asked if he ever went to Church and it seemed he did sometimes with his mother who went to a Presbyterian church. I began to go through the Gospel and asked him what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world and he said, “He was crucified.” I went on to tell him what that meant, the cleansing blood a payment for sin and the righteousness of God to His credit. He was saved by faith I said explaining that and it was not by works. “You are trying to spread the word and please God but your good stuff does not fix your bad stuff,” I explained. He was very serious through the entire thing listening carefully. The teacher’s voice was loud coming through the door ajar but I tried to keep my voice a bit lower. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus did or thought something else. He said he would want to be forgiven. I said that if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through it and said if he would want to be forgiven not trusting in good things he’d done but fully in Jesus he could pray it silently and know he was forgiven for his sins. “Wanna pray it?” I asked. “Yeah,” he replied. And he prayed to receive Jesus. He said he had a Bible so I explained the Christian life to him also living “Inside > Out”. Since he did not have anything to carry books in I just gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I told him the likelihood he now would go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus and His blood. I said that being old I had sinned way more than him. But because Jesus’ righteousness is worth and infinite amount if we both died today He would forgive us both. I asked if I could give him a Bible study to tuck inside and he agreed so I gave him one showing him the passage in Job where God walks on the water, saying Jesus had done the same to tell us He was the God of the Old Testament. I told him I would pray for him each day also and I shook his hand saying I’d see him in Heaven and he said “Thank you.” “Have a good one man,” I said getting up to go. “You too,” he replied and I headed off. I passed him later walking in the hall and said a friendly, “Hey Brother,” and he flashed me a big smile.

Justin was sitting in the hallway, right at the student activities area on the first floor. He had on a green hoodie and khaki pants and had a beard and mustache wore glasses. Had kind of a square head, looked a bit Latino and like “Everyman”.  He also looked, solid guy, not huge and his hair was swept up atop his head. He wanted to travel.  I asked what he would say to God to get into Heaven and he said, “Um, what would I say… well—I don’t really know how to answer right now.” I asked him the likelihood he would go to Heaven and he said “I think right now it’s 50%” He went to a Catholic Church last he had gone, “St. Mary’s”. He hadn’t had the time to go to Church for a while or attend a Bible Study he got text notices for at school (I had never heard of that was supposedly student led). As I went through the Gospel seemed pretty serious and I wasn’t sure if it was impatience or that he had to be somewhere, since he pulled on the top of his backpack at his feet once in a while. I asked him what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world and he knew he had died.  The chairs had armrest tables and I was on his left using mine to write in the booklet. I skipped explaining the righteousness of God (I went back and explained it after he had prayed) as it seemed after I had explained the blood of Christ to cleanse him and be a payment to God he was intonating he knew the Gospel and I think he did. But he was not in a hurry. I though he was uneasy and wanted to get through salvation by faith, but I was misreading him as when I left he did not go anywhere. I explained salvation by faith and that his good stuff did not fix his bad stuff and said, “The last question is would you want to be forgiven for your sins trusting in Jesus or do you think something else (throwing in a couple lines on Islam and Buddhism to allow for time to think). He said he’d want to be forgiven so I said there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it asking if he thought he’d had a chance to express this to God before, that he was trusting in Jesus. He thought he had in some way possibly, but had never had with much “thought or emotion” behind it.  I asked if he would like then to pray it silently right now and he said, “I think so yes.” He prayed then to receive Christ. I went back and explained the righteousness of God no longer worried he might have to run. I explained the Christian life. He had a Bible he said confessing, “I haven’t had a chance to read it much lately.” I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and he said, “Thank you.” I gave him a Bible study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him every day until Spring and one year after. I got up to go and he said, “Thank you, nice to meet you.” “Thank you nice to meet you too. You’re welcome,” I replied and headed out.

Mariah was sitting on the corner of the tables they have put together in the PE lounge alongside the stair on the ground floor. She wore clear frame glasses had long straight hair and nice face, round with full features and hair over her lip, a headband on her forehead that went under her hair in back. There was nothing about her appearance that would particularly set her apart. She had a green school hoodie on and black shorts on. I asked her one thing she would like to do before she died, “Get extremely close with God,” she replied. I asked what she would say to God if she died and He asked ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ “I don’t know. You’re not supposed to tell him all the good that you did—be yourself I guess.” I asked her the likelihood she would go to Heaven and she said, “I think I got a good chance.” I began to go through the Gospel with her just by saying Christianity was like a blood transfusion. “I have A+ blood if you fill me up with B- blood by mistake in the hospital I would clot up and die so. God wants to know you, to live inside you with His Holy Spirit but first He has to make you his type. He has to take away your sin so He can live inside you. So do you know what the thing Jesus does to take away your sin. She said she did not know. I said I could explain it to her with a few Bible verses in this booklet (which was in my hand). Would it be ok if I did? She nodded and said, “Yeah.” So I just went to the middle and began to explain how Jesus had died for her and His Blood cleansed her and paid God for the damage we had done. Then I explained the righteousness of God and the resurrection. I said she had to believe this by faith, “Not that you just know the story a bit from back in the day at Church but that you place your trust in this (John 1:12). So if someone would ask you why should God let you into Heaven you’d say, “Because Jesus died for me.” I read, “By grace you are saved through faith,” explaining why doing good things could not make up for the bad things you’ve done. Her vibe was a bit standoffish. She might have been put out a bit that she did not know the answers to questions or just that she was talking to the old white guy but she stayed tuned in. Her phone was in her hand turned to the side and something seemed to be playing like distant inaudible chattering to my ear but she didn’t look at it. I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done for her on the cross or thought something else. She pointed with her index finger touching the circle with Christ on the throne of her life. I said if she wanted to be a forgiven for her sins there was a prayer she could pray and I began to read through it explaining it. I said she could pray it silently. “I was just reading it,” she replied. “Amen then,” I said and she said, “Yeah.” I explained the Christian life to her. I told her the likelihood she would now go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus. She said she had a Bible on her phone. I explained living Inside  > Out by the Spirit’s power inside her, transforming her. She was willing to take Bible Promises for You so I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I offered her The Case for Christ Answer Book and a Bible Study but she said. “I do everything on my phone.” Her friend had come in the middle, sat by her, looked all the while on her phone and left before she prayed. I told her I would pray for her a Bible verse each day until Spring and one year after. “If I see ya again I’ll just give you a wave so you won’t be embarrassed.” She sniffed a half laugh and said, “OK.” “I’ll see you in Heaven,” I said and I got up and left her at the table. She was now extremely close to God. He lived inside her by His Spirit.

So  thanks for your prayers for the ministry last week if you had a chance. This week 8 students prayed with me to receive Jesus and I’m truly grateful.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your week has been blessed so far. Yesterday I found no one to go through the Gospel with, there are very few students around. But today, Wednesday, after the Bible study I walked around a couple hours and James prayed with me to receive Jesus and I went through the gospel with a couple Muslims and though neither was truly interested in the things of God. James’ story is below if you want to spend the time. Please pray he grows in his faith.

I had walked by where James was sitting earlier in the day. He had long brown hair His head was turned down and his hair hid his face. A guy yesterday had turned me down and had long brown hair sitting in the same seat in the same lounge. I thought he was the same guy. I walked around over at the PE building with no one interested and seeing James again as I came in the SE corner door of the BIC I walked past the lounge. I thought I’d just ask him again. When he looked up James was not the same guy. His hair was longer, down to his elbows. He had the Errol Flynn mustache and a bit of a goatee. He looked a bit like Errol slightly broader nose. He had black skinny jeans on and black military boots, a black t-shit under a jacket. He said he’d do a survey. I asked him what he’d say to God if he died and was asked Why should I let you into Heaven?  He said, “I try to always do right by people, try to do the right thing even though people say I shouldn’t.” He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. It turned out he had Roman Catholic parents but no longer went to Church.  When I asked him what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world he said, “He was crucified.” I said, “Right,” and I went on to explain what Jesus’ death had meant to cleanse believers from sin and pay God for what we owed Him for wrecking His stuff, ourselves and others and the earth.  He listened to the righteousness of Christ and salvation by faith and the resurrection. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins trusting in Jesus or if he thought something else. “I guess through Christ,” he said. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I read it through and asked if it expressed the desire of his heart, he nodded and said “Yeah.” I said he could pray it silently and know he was forgiven and he said, “Sure.” And he prayed to receive Christ. I began to go through the Christian life with him. It turned out he didn’t have a Bible of his own so I gave him one and showed him the cross references and maps and study aids. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. He said, “Thank you.” There was only one other person in the lounge a girl who stood then and interrupted me asking if I was a student there. Sensing she was the self-appointed thought police, I said I taught a Bible Study here and had been here for 20 years. I said, “I got a lawyer and carried a letter from the administration giving me permission to talk to students on campus.” “I was just checking,” she said and left the lounge. “There’s also free speech,” I said to James when she was out of earshot. He smiled. She was rude to interrupt a private conversation and wrong to assume that I would have to explain myself to her at all. But I’m not interested in a confrontation or correcting some random student on her failure to grasp inalienable rights. She’d heard enough of the Gospel to be opposed to my telling it to someone. So I continued with James. I explained living Inside > Out by the Spirit’s Power. I also gave him a Bible study, explaining how Jesus’ walking on the water was a way Jesus claimed to be God. I said that He really made the claim every time He healed, without using God’s name or asking Him, seemed in His own authority. He was the creator recreating what was broken by a command. I gave him Bible Promises for You and gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told him if I saw him around I’d give him a wave.  I’d pray for him each day until Spring and one year after. “Well, thank you,” he said again. “Sure,” I said and I headed off.

Thanks for your prayers for the ministry. God blessed today and we’re having a Bible Study too, so that’s great.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today with the peace that surpasses understanding. The world looks on the brink of some very bad things, but we know God controls the world and laughs at the wicked and their plans. [Psa. 37:13] Thanks for your prayers, I spoke to 3 new people today and Rebeca, Bao, and Diego each prayed with me to receive Jesus, so that was great.  I’d be grateful it you might say a prayer to bless them, thanks for your help.  Their stories are below if you have time.

Rebeca was sitting on the ground floor of the east side science building in the hall looking at a tablet. She said she had a Bible Study group but she’d do a survey. She had on red leggings and a dark grey hoodie. She had long brown hair past her shoulders her face was oval that came to a point at her chin, she wore no make-up but was on the pretty side. I asked her one thing she wanted to do before she died and she wanted to take a trip to South Africa. I took it she meant be a missionary as the country is dangerous for white people and the Tonga volcano has destroyed the barley crop with cold and UV light. Evan in summer it’s now pretty cold. It’s chaos, so I can’t imagine a trip there for pleasure. She seemed to think she was aware of the hazards. I asked what she would say to God if she was dead and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” She thought for a moment and then said, “Because I believe in Jesus Christ and I repent all of my sins.” she thought she had a 99% chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with her and I said that God wanted to live inside her asking, “What did Jesus do to take away the sins of the world?” “He fills you with His Spirit?” she kind of guessed. I said something like, “Well this is how it works.” And I began to say that Jesus said, “You are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” We could not live a perfect life but Jesus lives a perfect life for us. He dies His blood cleanses us from all sin and his death is a payment to God. This all seemed to be novel to her. I explained the righteousness of God, Christ had earned to our credit, saying Paul said in the Bible that it was not by his own righteousness but by the righteousness which is by faith. I explained the righteousness of God to her credit. She needed to receive Jesus by believing He was God had died for her sins and rose from the Dead, “Not that you just know the story from Church or something but that’s what you place your trust in this, so if someone would say to you, “’Why should God let you into Heaven?’ you’d say, ‘Because Jesus died for me’” I showed her the two circles asking of she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done then she’d know was forgiven and God would live inside her and be on the throne or the driver’s seat of her life. Or did she think something else. “Jesus on the driver’s seat,” she replied. So I said it didn’t seem like she’d put all this together before, but if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray. I talked her through it. “It says here: ‘Does this prayer the desire of your heart?’” and she nodded. I said she could pray it silently then and know she was forgiven. “Wanna do it?” “Yeah, sure,” she replied. And she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When she finished I told her she could keep the booklet and began to explain the Christian life—the fruit of the Spirit and living “Inside > Out” “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 also and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. “This is cool,” she said of the things I’d given her. I told her my name and email were on the back of the booklet. “So I can email you if I have a question?” she asked. “Yeah sure, I have a Masters in Theology and Church History and a Seminary degree and I’ve been doing this for 20 years so I’ve probably heard most questions. I could tell you what I think.” I told her the likelihood now she would go to Heaven trusting in the righteousness of Christ and His blood was 100%. “Nice to meet ya. I’ll see ya in Heaven,” I said holding up my had in a wave. She flashed a big smile, waved back and said, “I’ll see ya.”

I found Bao in the cafeteria sitting at the counter looking outside. He was a short, slight guy with dark wavy hair parted more or less down the middle, good looking kid, nice smile. Later as we talked he said he’d gone to a Vietnamese Church and a Catholic Church so I assumed he was Vietnamese. He had a Brown hoodie on with a white skeleton reaching out holding a heart, as far as I could see. Some kind of Halloween look I suppose. He had greenish brown cargo pants on. I asked him one thing he wanted to do before he died and he said, “Buy my parents a house.” Occasionally an African American student has said that to me as well and I’m reminded at a Community College where there’s kids whose families are not as established as the one I grew up in. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and were asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Umm hm. That’s a deep question,” he said thinking. Finally, he just said, “I feel like I treated others pretty good.” He thought he had a 70% chance of going to heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with him and I asked what the big thing was that Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world. “He spread his arms out a bit to trigger the thought and then said, “Crucified.” “Right,” I said and began to go through the atonement the cleansing blood of Christ and His payment for sin. He took it all in and gave kind of a half-smile at the tale I wove for him here and there. After I had explained that faith saved him I said that he should do good things to please God, treat people good, as he had said but his good stuff did not fix his bad stuff. I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. “Definitely forgiven,” he replied. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and after explaining it I asked, “Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?” He nodded. I said if he wanted he could pray it silently now, “I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear you and you’d know you were forgiven, wanna do it?” He nodded again and I gave him the booklet and he prayed to receive Jesus and made the sign of the Cross over himself as he finished. I said the likelihood now he would go to Heaven was 100%, trusting in Jesus’ righteousness. I explained the Christian life, he read his father’s Bible and said he did not need one. I explained the life in the Spirit “Inside > Out. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside and also gave him a Bible Study and “The Case for Christ Answer Booklet.  I told him I would be praying for him each day from now until Spring and for one year after. I told him we had a Bible study in the room and when and grabbed my Pack to go. “Thank you,” he said. “See you in Heaven Brother,” I replied fist bumping him. “See you,” he said with a big smile and I headed off.

I was kind of draggin’ after the hours I’d been at school but I thought I’d head up to the third floor of the BIC since I hadn’t been there for a while and I hopped into an elevator. Diego had stick-straight hair and a beard and mustache a slightly round face and fair skin. He hadn’t been to church since he was a kid. He had on a T-shirt and jeans. I asked him if he wanted to do a survey and he said, “Let’s do it.” When I asked what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I felt like I was the best person I could be on Earth on my time [there].”  I asked the likelihood he would go to Heaven? I’d say I have a higher percentage of going than [a] low chance.” He listened to the gospel as I began to say God wanted to live inside him, like he was the Energizer Bunny and God was the batteries, and that made him smile. I asked if he remembered what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world and he said he didn’t. “Real fast this is how it works,” I replied. I explained, “God sees we can’t come up to Him because of our sin and so He comes down and becomes a man Jesus who lives a perfect life. ‘Cause you’re supposed to live a perfect life.” I said no one could get into Heaven then because no one is perfect. “So Jesus lives a perfect life for us.” I explained Jesus was killed but He wanted to die. “He pours out his blood and His blood becomes a life force in the world and it makes life all the places we made death. There’s death inside us from our sin. The Bible says the Blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin, it turns death into life. So now you are alive inside and you match God and God can live inside you.” I explained Jesus was a payment for our sin and His righteousness was to our credit. I said All God had done needed to be received by faith and faith saved him. His good stuff could not fix his bad stuff. “So, the last question is would you like to be forgiven for your sin trusting in what Jesus has done or do you think something else or don’t know?” The first option,” he replied. I said there was a prayer he could pray. I read it through asking if it was the desire of his heart. He said “Yeah.” I asked if he’d want to pray it silently and he said, “Yeah, sure,” and he prayed to receive Jesus. He did not have a Bible so I gave him one and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” on the inside after showing him all the study tools in it. I explained to him also living “Inside > Out” by the power of the Spirit. I gave him a Bible study briefly explaining it and Bible Promises for You and gave him The Case for Christ Answer Book. I told him I’d pray for him each day until Spring and one year after. We talked about the military and the trouble in the world and I got up to go. “Nice to meet you man,” I said. “Thank you,” he said. “Yeah, thank you,” I replied and I headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your week was blessed with grace and peace. I had a strange week Tuesday was no school and I was still wiped out by Thursday. But God still blessed yesterday and Brenda committed to Christ and Brandon prayed to receive Jesus Thursday so I was thankful. I’d be grateful for your prayers for them to grow. Their stories are below if you have some time.

Brenda was sitting in the PE lounge upstairs by the workout equipment. She had brown shoulder length hair and wore black-rimmed glasses, wore a light grey sweatshirt and grey sweats. She was waiting for a friend and only had a couple minutes but was willing to just answer the one big question. “You get hit by a bus, you’re dead, and you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say.” “Umm, I don’t know that’s a tough question… I would hope to be let in because I’m a kind person. It’s not up to me it’s up to Him.” It turned out she went to a Roman Catholic Church. I only had the time then to explain the atonement and salvation by faith. Which she hadn’t seemed to understand before. It did not have much time to sink in and I had no time to build a bit of conversational connection. But as I finished I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus or thought something else. She said she would “Trust in Jesus”. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray. I talked her through it and offered it to her and she acknowledged it was the desire of her heart. In the end she took the booklet with the prayer, looked at it and closed it. So I asked if she believed Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. “Do you believe that’s a true story?” “Yes,” she replied. And would you place your trust in that to be forgiven for your sins?” “Yes,” she said again. I said, “Well then you only need to talk to God about it.” I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name in the front saying it was a way to read some Bible verses. I wrote the word “forgiven” in the front [Romans 10:9].  I had had a chance to explain the Christian life a bit and I said, “Thanks for your time.” “You too,” she replied, “Thank you.” I said, “Your welcome and she headed out the doors to meet her friend. I’ll be praying for her in the hope the seed of faith from God takes greater root.

Brandon was sitting in front of the entrance to the drama theatre in the MAC arts building. He had shorter brush cut hair but it wasn’t a flat top it was rounded with tined ends on top, warm face and eyes, he had a bright smile with very white teeth. Looked Latino, had the smooth skin of youth and a medium build. He wore a light grey sweatshirt and charcoal sweat pants. Good lookin’ guy. He said he’d do a survey and after we talked about Bikers a bit I asked the questions. I asked, “You get hit by a bus, you’re dead, and you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?”  He thought about it and said he hadn’t thought about “stuff like that”. I asked what he thought would get someone into Heaven, “Faith, having faith the whole time, not then, but heading up to that, before that.” I asked him what the likelihood he would get into Heaven, “10% is low 100% is your sure or 50/50 you got a shot?” “I feel like it is either 100% or it’s zero,” he replied. So he went with 100% just to say he thought he’d go to Heaven. He listened attentively to the Gospel and leaning forward to read some of the verses that I read on the counter height table. It turned out he went to Catholic church once in a while and I compared the Mass symbolically to what I had spoken about. I explained that God wanted to live inside him and had to purify him in this life. I said, “Flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God” So in this life God purifies us with the blood of Jesus, that pays for our sin so that when we go to Heaven God can share His glory with us, He is eternal and the source of life so then we will last for eternity. I pointed out that like he had said this was a faith you had to have already before you got there, through this life. I explained the righteousness of God to his credit and then that faith saved him. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done or if he thought something else. “Definitely forgiven,” he replied. I said if he’d like to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it. “’It says here does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ So would you say that it did?” “Hum hum,” he replied. I 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 said with a smile. And he took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. I explained then that now the likelihood he would go to Heaven trusting is the righteousness of Jesus was 100%. I explained living “Inside > Out” by the power of the Spirit. “Christianity is ‘Just Ask’. God wants to help you to do things in life and will give you as much strength as you need to be as successful as you can be and not screw up.” I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and then Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. Lastly I gave him a Bible Study on the deity of Christ explaining it a bit. I shook his hand and got up to go saying, “Nice to meet ya man.” “Nice to meet ya,” he said in return and then “Appreciate ya.” And I headed out the doors near us.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism last week, though I dropped the ball and forgot to send an email asking for prayer on 2 days, in a brain fog a bit one morning. But God had mercy and answered. I hope in a couple kids who did not pray but 2 asked God for forgiveness in Christ and another confessed her faith.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. I had a good day on campus. We had a Bible Study and rushing out the door to get there I forgot to send the email I wrote asking for prayer. But Kathrine prayed to receive Jesus today. Her story is below if you have the time. I also had an amicable conversation with Adam a Muslim and gave him the book, Dear Muslim Friend Jerry Mattix wrote, a Christian worker in the Holy Land. Adam was interested in other religions so it seemed like he might read it. His father was Indian and mother was Pakistani, he was born here. Thanks for your prayers to bless these.

Kathrine was sitting in the hallway of the Science building. She had a white t-shirt on with black lettering all over it and wore some “Nightmare Before Christmas” print pants. She had an oval, near round face, and wore no make-up her dark brown hair pulled black tight on her head. Really warm smile, cute kid. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven She began explaining, “I feel like I could list reasons why I shouldn’t be let in. But I’m not really clear on why I would be in Heaven. In my family we believe in God, but don’t practice religion or anything. I do want to get closer to God but I wasn’t taught how to have a relationship with Him. It’s kind of hard to say.” I asked her the likelihood she would get into Heaven when she died. “30% maybe, just because I don’t know a lot about the Bible what we need to do to get let into Heaven. My grandmother is religious, she talks to be about it but hasn’t been able to tell me the full details of how.” “Yeah it’s kind of like riding a bicycle, it’s not hard unless no one teaches you and then you feel like, I could fall and get killed on that.” She laughed and agreed. I said the rest of the survey was about what she thought about Christianity. I said I could explain to her how she got to Heaven if she was interested and she said she was. I began to explain the Gospel to her then, that God loved her and wanted to know and live inside her but first had to take away her sin to make her His type, then she’d be perfect and holy inside and she’d match God and I asked if she had ever heard what Jesus did to take away her sin. “He sent Jesus,” she replied. “Right. He sent Jesus and this is what Jesus did,” I said and began to explain that Jesus had died to cleanse us from sin [1John 1:7]. We are supposed to be perfect [Mt 5:48]. If we stood before God He could say, “Did you live a perfect life?” and when you said you didn’t He could say, “Everything is perfect here, you don’t really fit in.” But then everyone would go to Hell because no one is perfect.  So God becomes a man Jesus and lives a perfect life for us. He’s then as a payment to God for all the imperfect things we’ve done that we owe God something perfect for. I explained the righteousness of God and it was to her credit like extra credit in a class. I explained she could receive Him by faith, which mean she believed in Him, that Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. Then that it was by grace she was saved by faith, not by works—her good stuff did not fix her bad stuff. And that God could work all things into good for them that loved God and are called according to his purposes. I asked her if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done, then God would live inside her and give her all the strength she needed to live the Christian life. “So would you want to be forgiven or do you think something else?” I asked. “I would want to be forgiven for my sins,” she replied. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I talked her though it, asking if it expressed the desire of her heart and if it did she could pray it silently and asked if she’d want to. “Um hum,” she said with a smile. Then asking if she should pray it aloud I said no just silently God will hear. And then she prayed to receive Jesus. When she finished I said, “Your sins are forgiven, not because I say so but because the Bible says so.” And she smiled. I began to go through the Christian life with her then. I asked if she had a Bible and she didn’t so I gave her a study Bible. I showed her the maps, explained a cross reference. I showed her some of the study helps and devotionals and the 99 doctrines page. I wrote her name in the front and the date and “forgiven!” I explained that we should obey God but when we fail, God is not angry with us, all His anger was poured out on the cross (for believers). “When you confess God’s not like a bad boyfriend who’s [withholding his forgiveness] like, we’ll see how you do. God knew the future and knew we’d mess up and He has a plan to fix it.” I explained living Inside > Out asking for the Spirit’s power to give her help in everything.  I gave her a copy of Bible Promises for You. Then I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. And explained Strobel’s story saying he had some YouTubes to watch that she could find. I gave her a Bible Study on the ways Jesus claims to be God. I told her if she had any questions my email was on the back of the booklet. “Ok well I’ll see you in Heaven,” I said getting up to go. “Thank you,” she said. Then a few steps away I said, “I forgot to say I’ll pray for you each day until Spring and one year after asking God to bless you.” “Thank you so much,” she replied sincerely. And I headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day’s been blessed knowing you’ve been rescued from the domain of darkness. There is no school today and I was slogging through yesterday a bit just over tired from the weekend and some late nights. Anyone can get caught up in circumstances and get in a funk. But we can have our mind on things above, because we have an inheritance there. Matt prayed to receive Jesus Monday one of only two people I was able to go through the Gospel with, the other, a girl, said they were Roman Catholic and not interested in keeping the booklet. So though in person classes are not well attended God still drew Matt to Himself. Thanks for your prayers to guide me Matt’s story is below.

Matt was the only person sitting in the 3^rd floor hall on the North side of the BIC building. He was a pretty big dude wearing dark blue shorts and a light blue golf shirt. He wore a full beard that was light brown and had a mustache closer to blonde. He had kind of the “everyman” face, smaller nose and brown hair the front swept to the right, good looking guy. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven and he said, “I would say, ‘Thanks for life. How’d I do?’” He thought he had a 89% chance of going to Heaven and went to a Catholic Church. As I went thought the Gospel with him he said short word affirmations like, “Oh OK” or “Yeah makes sense”. When I asked him what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world he’d known He had died for us. I finished explaining the righteousness of God and salvation by faith and asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. “I would go with Jesus,” he replied. I’d explained the parallel symbolism in the Mass and suggested that you just kind of go along with things in your family when you are a kid but when you grow up you have to decide, so if he would want to be forgiven for his sins there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through the prayer and asked him if he’d like to pray it silently. “I would yeah,” he replied. When he finished I explained the Christian life. He had a phone app he used already that he’d gotten into recently reading the Bible. It’s not uncommon for a student to tell me they recently were thinking more about spiritual things or reading the Bible or had started to pray. God is preparing their hearts and bringing them to Himself by the time I talk to them. I explained living “Inside > Out” asking for the Spirit’s power to give him help in whatever he was doing in life. I gave him a copy of Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front, he thanked me. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I finally gave him a Bible Study and said I would be praying for him through Spring and one year after. “God bless you man,” I said getting up to go. “Thanks, appreciate it,” he said. “Yeah God bless your day,” I said and headed off.

So thanks for your help in prayer God blessed though school has few students sitting around as they drop classes as the semester winds on many were only on line to begin with.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with all good things from above. I had a good day on campus in that I got in some conversations to encourage Christians and a discussion with a kid philosophically adrift a bit and Sno prayed with me to receive Jesus. Her story is below if you want to spend the time. Please pray she grows in her trust in the blood and righteousness of Christ alone to save her. Thanks for your help in prayer.

Sno was an older black woman, I’d guess she was near 50 and since she’ll not read this I can’t get in any trouble if I missed the mark by much. But she had salt and pepper hair, more salt. She had frank symmetrical features and her hair had been braided on the top but was short otherwise. She wore a grey hoodie, leggings and a t-shirt. She was studying at a round coffee table in the hall down from the bookstore with some stuffed chairs. I took the one beside her and she said she’d do a student survey (with a tone that she would do me a favor, and she did). I asked her what she would say to God to get into heaven if she died. “Because I’ve done everything in my life to live the way You told me to, I’m not perfect but I tried my best,” she replied. She was certain she was going to Heaven, “100%.” I began to go through the Gospel then with her and she finished John 3:16 for me. I read, John 17:3 that eternal life was, “knowing God”, and this meant that He lived inside her but the problem was sin. I said God had to take away her sin so she was God’s type (like a blood transfusion) perfect and holy inside and He could live inside her. I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sin. “He forgives you,” she stated insistently. I said, “Yes He forgives you but something has to happen for God to forgive you,” she did not know what that was so I continued, “He gets paid.” I began to explain that we could not come up to God because of our sin, so He becomes a perfect man. “Because you are supposed to be perfect,” I said. “God does not expect you to be perfect,” she cut in. “God does not expect you to be perfect in as much as He knows you will not be but the standard is perfection.” I sensed her back was up a bit so I prayed quickly God would speak to her and went on. “Jesus says you are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” I said Heaven was not just a place it was the presence of God. If you lived under the water you’d have to be able to breath water. Now you breath in air. In Heaven you will have to be able to breath in the presence of God. I said the Bible says, “Flesh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.” She said she knew that. So I said we have to be transformed and perfected here so that God can share His glory with us in Heaven. I explained how Jesus died and His blood cleansed her and then paid God back for all the imperfect things we’ve done that we owe God something perfect for. “The real reason God forgives you is He got paid, but he had to pay himself.” I explained the righteousness of God to her credit and that she would not go to Heaven because she was good but because Jesus was good and she was connected to Him. I said she had to receive Jesus and the work of Jesus. “So if someone would say to you, “Why should I let you into Heaven you’d say, ‘Because Jesus died for me.’” I explained then grace saved her by faith. I asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done to forgive her so He could live inside her. “Yes,” she said. And her persona had changed at some point and she was receiving what the scriptures were telling her. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and talked her through it asking if she would like to pray it silently. “I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven trusting in Jesus. Wanna do it?” “Yeah,” she said and she prayed to receive Jesus. When she finished I said, “Great, your sins are forgiven, not because I say so but God does.” She nodded. I explained then that the likelihood she was going to Heaven now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus was 100% and His righteousness was worth an infinite amount so there was enough for both of us though I was old and sinned every year. I explained the Christian life. She had a Bible so explained the fruit of the Spirit, living “Inside > Out” and praying for patience, saying a time I had done so. And then I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” inside. She liked the book. I also gave her a Bible study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I got up to go and she said, “Thank you, have a good one.” “Thank you for your time,” I replied and she again said, “Thank you.”

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

In Him,

Bob