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