Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you had a great day walking with the Lord Monday there are no classes at school today but I’m a bit under the weather anyway. I had a really good day on campus yesterday and Mark, Celine, Peter and Deionte each prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Mark was sitting in the PE building on the stuffed sofa’s upstairs and had his lap top open but he didn’t seem to be doing anything so I asked him if he would wanna do a student survey for our Bible study group and he said OK. He had some ink on his arms, goatee and mustache, taller and bigger than me with a black and blue sort of puzzle piece print athletic shirt on that was tight over muscle and black nylon sweats on. Nice guy said he didn’t go to church at present. 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, “Because I believe in You, I always pray to You. He thought he had a 50/50 shot to get into Heaven. He knew Jesus had died for his sins. After I had finished going through the Gospel and the imputed righteousness of Christ I asked if he wanted to be forgiven and he said, “Definitely.”  I asked if he had been trusting in Christ for his forgiveness or hoping he was good enough. “To be honest I was hoping I was good enough,” he replied. So I walked him through the payer explaining that he could pray to begin to trust in what Jesus had done to be forgiven and he said, “OK.” And Mark prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the life in Christ living “inside out” and wrote, “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front of 20 Things God Can’t Do giving him a Bible study and a  The Bible Promise Book since he already had a Bible and got his Email to send him some stuff. I told him I would pray for him and explained that if he was trusting in the righteousness of God it was 100% that he would go to heaven and he thanked me as I was standing up to go he shook my hand and said, “Thank you, I appreciate it.”

Celine was sitting in the hallway of the ground floor of the BIC that leads over to the student affairs offices sitting in some chairs. She said her mom was a fan of Celine Dion and so she had her as a namesake. She was a attractive girl, tall, fair skinned African American with 2 long braids of her hair coming down to her shoulder, thin lips, braces on her teeth and cute nob of a nose wearing baggy sweats. She wanted to travel to Greece. When I asked her what she would say to God she replied, “I would say umm… I’ve been a good person all my life. I’ve been there for all my friends and give them lots of love. I’m Catholic. If I passed away somehow, He’s been such a big part of my life I would want Him there when I died.” She thought the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 80%. I began to explain the Gospel to her and she listened closely. I asked her what the big thing Jesus did that took away her sin. “Baptism?” she said. I explained that in the Catholic church they teach Baptism takes away your original sin, some churches baptize babies to put them in the covenant and some do not teach you have original sin to begin with. “But how does God take away the sins you do now, like say you are short with someone and you feel bad about it later and ask for forgiveness. What are you thinking?”  I asked her if she thought being a good religious person made her the kind of person God just forgives, and she agreed to that. “When you do something wrong,” I continued, “You damage God’s stuff. Even if you hurt yourself you belong to God. So you create a debt and God is just God has to do something to pay for the damage.” I then went into the Gospel saying that it was how God payed for her sins. I said that the Blood of Christ became a force in the world that cleansed her from sin so God could live inside her and explained imputed righteousness. I asked if she understood and she said yes and I asked her if she would want to be forgiven she said, “Yes, doesn’t everyone say that?” I explained some people just thought they were good enough and Jesus was kind of an add on, or they did not believe in Jesus or believed they did not need to ask for forgiveness God was magnanimous, like in Islam. I said if she wanted to she could pray and begin trusting in what Jesus had done on the cross to forgive her and walked her through the prayer saying she could pray silently. And Celine took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. I explained living by the Spirit and wrote her name “By the Spirit’s Power” and the date in the front of 20 Things God Can’t Do and gave her a Bible Study. I got her Email telling her I would pray for her and that if she trusted in Jesus’ righteousness it was 100%. “Thank you,” she said as I got up to leave and I said sure and I was sorry I had talked so long since she’d asked how long it would take going in and I’d said 6 or7 minutes. “No that’s OK,” she replied and I headed out.

Peter was sitting on a cushioned bench in the hall of the east wing of the science building. He looked Asian, wore brown horn rimmed glasses, jeans cuffed at boots and a t-shirt under a black cardigan sweater. Hair combed back something of a chin beard and mustache. Seemed like an intelligent guy and he was sitting in the science building after all, waiting for a class to begin. He said he wanted to do some MMA fighting. What he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I would say because… if I woke up and I was in Hell then that’s where I belong.” He thought he’d have a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven and said he’d gone to a Roman Catholic Church growing up and then a Christian church and then had developed beliefs of his own. I began to go through the Gospel with him and did not ask him what Jesus had done to take away his sins as I usually do. I think I was just tired having been at school for several hours talking to peeps already. I continued explaining the Gospel to him and he listened to all I had to say about the righteousness of Christ to his credit. I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven and he said, “Yes.” I was a bit surprised so I asked if when he’d asked God for forgiveness in the past if he’d thought he was basically a good person God would forgive or if he had trusted he’d  be forgiven because Jesus had died for him. “The first one,” he replied. “Do you believe Jesus was God He died for your sins and rose from the dead?” I asked.”Yes,” he replied again. So I said that if he wanted to trust in what Christ had done to forgive him there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through it and said he could pray it silently in his heart. He took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. I said he could keep it and explained the Christian life to him living by the Spirit. He didn’t have a Bible so I gave him one and wrote his name in the front and the date he’d been forgiven. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front also giving him a Bible study. “Any questions?” I asked after I had finished. “No,” he said and shook my hand. “Thank you for your time.” I said he was welcome and headed down the hall.

I was pretty shot and decided I had nothing left in me so I walked over the bridge on the second floor and was planning to walk out past the doors to the library. But I felt a prompting to go down the stairs instead. Deionte was sitting there on the steps waiting for a ride. He said he’d do a survey and I was hoping he was already a Christian so I could do less talking feeling so tanked. He had a rough afro and was wearing brown pants with a lot of layered stitching in them across the front of the legs. He had on bright blue shoes and a blue shirt.He said he wanted to own a big house, “With a big maid to clean it,” I suggested and he agreed. A modest house is to be preferred if you clean it yourself. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “Because I was a good person while I was alive. He went to a nondenominational church each week. He was 100% sure he was going to Heaven. When I asked him what the big thing was that Jesus had done to take away his sins however he had no idea at all. I’m not sure he had ever heard the Gospel as it all seemed novel to him. I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus or if he thought something else he said, “Wanna be forgiven.” “Well it seems like you never had a chance to put all this together before right?” He agreed shaking his head with a look like he hadn’t even heard it much less put it together. So I offered him the prayer in the booklet and he happily prayed to receive Christ. I gave him the book Bible Promises for You. I wrote his name and the date he’d been forgiven in front and gave him a Bible study. He said he liked to read so I also asked him if he’d like one of the student editions of Lee Strobel’s books. He picked The Case for Faith. Sensing I should give him another book I offered him a copy of Pocket Prayers by Max Lucado. That seemed to be of the Lord’s prompting as he said, “I be wanting to know some prayers, I only know one.” His syntax wasn’t nightly news style but he was a smart guy. I explained living by the Spirit’s power to him and got his email to send him some more things and I headed off to my truck.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism if you had a chance, God truly blessed even in my weakness. God is good.

In Him,

Bob