Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed, pretty warm here when the sun was out, almost 60 but when you are sitting in the overcast preaching the gospel to a guy it gets cold in the breeze. Cole prayed to receive Jesus today–outside, so that’s why the fall has been warm if you were wondering. And I bumped into Larry (who said he said his prayers at night and would pray then, when I went through the Gospel with him on September 21st) and he said he had prayed to receive Christ too so that was great.

I went out the northeast most doors of the BIC building having a flannel shirt on I kidded myself I could dash across the sidewalks to the MAC Arts Building without a coat. Then I saw Cole sitting looking at his phone next to his gallon jug of water (turned out he was very health-conscious about water much like Ellen and I). He had on polyester workout pants and zip up jacket (Under Armour) with a shinny shirt under it. Big, thick guy, same height as me. He had a backpack and was sitting looking at a phone in a slice of the sun between the building and the stone wall he sat on. I asked him if he wanted to do a student survey and (when he said yes) hoped the sun would stay out and it would be quick. Neither happened. He had dark blonde hair with an occasional strand of light blonde here and there like he’d recently cut off the summer bleach, a days growth of beard, oval face, pink from the cold. He went to a nondenominational church but could not remember the name, “I just remember how to get there,” he said. Churches have such strange names now-a-days I think he can be forgiven for it. Possibly it was named after a tree or a directional tool for navigation. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I would say… Because I’ve given all of myself to Him.” He thought he had about a 50% chance of going to Heaven.” I began to go through the Gospel with him and he tuned right in listening and saying, “OK” here and there. When I asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sin he honestly didn’t know. “Well, this is how it works,” I said and explained the atonement and resurrection and imputed righteousness of Christ. I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins with God living inside him and he did. So I said, “Well it doesn’t seem like you have put all this together before and he agreed he had not. So I said he could ask for God to forgive him based on what Jesus had done and walked him through the prayer asking if it was the desire of his heart and and he said, “Yeah.” Then saying he could pray right there silently and God would hear his thoughts, “Wanna do it?””Definitely.”  he replied. and he took a bit of time reading it then looking away from the booklet to pray. Finishing I gave him a Bible study and some stuff. I’d explained living “inside out” already and he took 20 Things God Can’t Do and I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” under it in the front and also, “By the teaching of the Bible by the Spirit’s Power” I gave him a Bible study and “Bible Promises for hope and courage”. He began talking about how it had been a really hard week and last night he’d been praying for guidance and then said, “I was sitting here in the sun and you just walked up to talk to me about God.” He began to tear up and wiped them away several times, “Yeah it’s really powerful,” he said. As we talked some more, we were into some of the same political theories and I got his email to send him some verses and gave him this one Christian guy’s website for alternative news. It turned out he did not have a hard copy of the Bible but intended to buy one so I said I’d give him one (having failed to ask already). I wrote his name in the front and the date and showed him the “Where to Turn” section.  We ended with him even getting a bit cold but in bright spirits and Heading for the MAC. I headed back into the BIC to warm up, never getting past the wall we sat on. So that was really great.

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

In Him,

Bob