Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and you had a great day walking with the Lord. Thanks so much for praying if you had a chance today. Sam, Jorge, Cedric, & Nate each prayed with me to receive Christ today. But it took a few extra hours.

Sam was sitting on a bench on the edge of the last lounge out of the BIC on the ground floor, a glass wall behind her. She had a winter cap on and stick straight light brown hair and some really blinged up nails. She was white and slight with an narrow serious face, cute kid, wearing blue jeans and a jacket. She said she’d do a survey with me. Though she thought she had a 75% chance of going to Heaven when I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she just said, “I… don’t know.” Her boyfriend Jorge showed up right about then carrying a long board.  He was Latino and had kind of a unkempt looking beard and a mop of curly brown hair pulled up into a topknot. Together they looked like hipsters. I said the rest of the survey was what you think about Christianity and heaven but if her boyfriend was waiting and she didn’t have any time that was ok. She asked if there was a short version. I said something like, “Sure Christianity is like a blood transfusion. I have A+ blood so if you fill me full of B- blood I would clot up and die. So God wants to fill you full of Himself, transfuse His life into you with His Holy Spirit but first he has to make you His type.” I went on to explain that sin kept us from Knowing God, having Him live inside us, so I asked her what the big thing was that Jesus had done to take away her sin, but she didn’t know so I went on to explain the Gospel pulling out a booklet and realizing Jorge was listening too I included him, talking to him as well and getting his name. As I finished I asked Sam if she wanted to be forgiven for her sins or thought something else. “I would want to be forgiven for my sins,” she replied so I asked Jorge if he would want to be forgiven as well and he said yes. So I said to Sam, “Do you believe Jesus is God, He died for your sins and rose from the dead, do you think that’s true?” I was a bit surprised when she said, “Yes.” Jorge believed that too. So I said if she wanted to place her trust in that to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I explained it to her and in the end read, “Is this prayer the desire of your heart?” “Yes,” she said emphatically. So I offered it to her saying if she wanted to she could pray it silently in her heart and God would hear and forgive her. “Ok.” she said and I asked Jorge if he wanted to pray as well and he did and so I handed him another booklet and they each prayed to receive Jesus silently sitting near each other. I said I was sorry I had taken some time but Sam said, “You’re fine.” I explained the Christian life to them then living “Inside Out” and wrote the verses on the imputed righteousness of Christ I’d written in explaining the Gospel in Jorge’s booklet [Isa. 61:10 and Rom. 13:14] I said I’d like to give them some books and gave them each a copy of 20 Things God Can’t Do in each of their books I wrote their names and 10/16/19 and “forgiven” saying they now had the same spiritual birthday. I explained to Sam that now trusting in the righteousness of God to be her righteousness the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. I recommended a Church but then it turned out they went to Willow Creek. I said I used to go there when it met in a theatre. “It was cool then,” I said. “before Hybels lost his mind.” “Yeah. I heard there was some kind of scandal,” Jorge said. “Yeah power screws you up I guess but he’s retired now so I’m sure he’s repeating and everything is cool.” I gave them Bible Studies on the Deity of Christ. Sam reached out her hand as I got up to go and said, “Thank you very much.” “Yeah thanks for talking with me man,” I replied. “Thanks Bob,” Jorge said reaching out and shaking my hand as well. They were happy and I said I’d see them both in Heaven and they could tell me how it went and I headed out.

I bumped into O’Drey who had received Christ earlier this semester. He is Filipino and was dating a girl from Myanmar who spoke 5 languages and was a Christian. They seemed to be doing well and he was being careful not to take things too fast. He talked with me for 2 hours. The details are not that interesting except to say I looked at my watch and it was 4 PM so I said I had to go. It had been a long day so I headed from the science building toward my locker on the other side of campus.

I was tempted to take a short cut. But I’d gotten my second wind so in passing Cedric sitting on the stairs waiting for the bus. I doubled back to talk with him. He had a rough afro that popped up in multiple finger tips of curls and a narrow nose; he was very dark and had sideburns, good looking slim kid. He had on black skinny jeans and a black t-shirt and had kind of an amused smile he wore all while I talked to him, like I was telling him a mystery story that he was sure would end well. He had gone to church some in junior high somewhere in Wheaton. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven and he wanted to know if I meant right now or after he had lived his life. “Right now,” I replied. “If his reason for putting me in Heaven is success [in life] I would not know what to say. I don’t know his reasons.” He thought he had a 90+ chance of going to Heaven. He did not remember what Jesus had done to take away his sins. So I explained the Gospel to him, His blood and imputation and resurrection and the payment for sins on the cross how it all worked. “I get it,” he replied. Then I explained he had to receive this by faith, not by works. I asked if he would want to be forgiven or thought something else and he said, “I would want to be forgiven.” So I asked if he believed Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead. He thought for a moment and said, “Yes.” So I said that if he wanted to place his trust in that to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray silently and I talked him through it asking if it was the desire of his heart and he said “Yes.” So I asked if he’d like to pray. “Yeah,” he said smiling. And he prayed to receive Christ. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do and wrote “Just Ask” and “By the Spirit’s power”. He did not have a Bible so I gave him one and showed him the “Where to turn” section and the messianic passages section writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I explained that now in trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I told him I would keep him in my prayers and he said, “Thank you.” Then his buss suddenly pulled up and he had to run so he took off.

Nate was at a counter height table outside the bookstore just across the foyer and down the stairs from where I’d been talking to Cedric. It was getting pretty late but I thought I would ask him and he was willing to do a student survey. He had on a winter cap, some of his random front bangs were dyed brown. He was Asian with pretty much a round head and a gap toothed smile, cool looking’ somehow, He had on a grey hoodie and jeans. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “All my life I have tried to help others in need. In some manner help then as much as I can. Give a ride to someone or help a homeless person… do what I can.” I explained God wants to know him, live inside him to give him eternal life and I asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sins so God could do that. He knew Jesus had died for him. It turned out he had gone to Catholic school and he went to Church a couple time a month.  He agreed with things I said, saying a word of affirmation, like he was understanding them and affirmed the verses and such. As I finished the Gospel I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus or thought something else and he said, “I’d rather be forgiven.” So I said if he’d want to trust in Jesus there was a prayer he could pray and after I explained it I read, “Is this the desire of your heart?” “Yeah,” he replied. “100%.” So I said he could pray the prayer silently so only God would hear and be forgiven and said, “Wanna do it?” “100%,” he replied and he prayed to receive Christ. I gave him the book Bible Promises For You and he was really enthusiastic about it. I wrote his name and “By the Spirit’s power” in the front and the date and “forgiven”. I gave him a Bible study on the deity of Christ and said I would pray for him once a day one of the prayers of Paul to bless him until Spring of 2021. He didn’t have a Bible so I said if he’d wait there I could return in 5 minutes with one as I had one in a locker. So I left him and returned from the locker showing him the “Where to turn” Passage and the Messianic prophecies fulfilled by Jesus. I put his name and the date and “forgiven” again in the front. “Sweet,” he said he liked the Bible and said he would try to “make it to a meeting”. Leaving him he said, “Thank you so much.” “I’ll keep you in my prayers,” I replied. “I’ll d the same for you.” he said and I thanked him and headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry today if you had a chance, God truly blessed. 71 Students have now prayed with me this semester to receive Jesus.

In Him,

Bob