Hey Sisters & Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was a good one walking with the Lord Jesus. I had a good day on Campus and A.J, Rafael and Keyshawn each prayed with me to receive Christ as their savior.  I’d be grateful if you’d pray for God to bless them. [If you want to read some details beyond that: see below.]

A.J. was sitting on the first floor against the glass in one of the lounges that looks at an atrium. There are vending machines in there. He had a friendly face from the nose up J And had a curly mop of light brown hair. He wore a cubs t-shirt and faded straight-leg jeans cuffed above high-tops. He said he went to Catholic school and talked to God every day. When I asked him what he would say to God if he died and was asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” he said. “I’m a follower, like to consider myself a good person, stay away from sin.” When I asked him the likelihood he would go to Heaven he said, “It’s not up to me, it’s up to God.” I began to explain the Gospel to him using Cubs references and he knew Jesus had died for our sins. I explained the righteousness of God to his credit and that God forgave him because He got paid. Seeing we could not pay, He paid Himself. When I asked him if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done A.J. said, “I’ve believed but you totally changed my perspective.” “Making Jesus the priority instead of being good?” I said. He agreed. So I said if he wanted to trust in what Jesus had done there was a prayer he could pray and I explained it to him and asked if it was the desire of his heart. “I’d have to read it [more closely],” he said. He took the booklet and read it through and then began to pray. He seemed really moved. I said he could keep the booklet and used the last line in it to explain the Christian life. It reads: Your walk with Christ depends on what you allow Him to do in and through you empowered by the Holy Spirit, not what you do for Him through self effort.”  I compared the Christian life to the repetition of learning baseball, where you change your muscle memory by practice. I told him Christianity was Inside out, not Outside in. You ask God to transform you on the inside and you become a better person and do good things on the outside. You don’t simply do good things hoping to change who you are. I said everything was by the Spirit’s power and he should just ask. I gave him a Bible study on the ways Jesus just claims to be God. I gave him a copy of 20 Things God Can’t Do. I wrote his name and the date and “Forgiven” on the inside. He reached out to shake my hand and said, “Thanks Bob.” “Sure,” I said shaking his hand, “I’ll see you in Heaven. Hopefully there will be some Cubs up there and we can get the inside story. That would be cool.” He laughed and agreed. I doubled back and gave him Bible Promises For You later and he said, “Appreciate it Bob,” as I passed him in the hall to give him the book.

Rafael had a huge mask on the entire time I talked to him. It is hard to get a feel on someone that way. But who is to say you can get an accurate read on someone anyway? He had a dark blue cotton hoodie on and jeans torn up completely on the knees. His head was a lot of dark brown curly hair and a wide face. He had serious eyes. He wanted to travel around the world. He’d been raised in church but his parents stopped going so he stopped too. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven and he said, “I don’t know what I’d say.” And then went silent. Through the entire presentation of the Gospel, though he sometimes looked me in the eyes. At the end of going through the Gospel with him, I asked if he’d want to be forgiven showing him the two circles. “That one, forgiven,” he replied. So I said there was a prayer he could pray if he wanted to trust in what Christ had done. I talked through it by way of explanation and read the line, “Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?” he nodded. I asked if he would want to pray that and he said, “Sure.” And prayed to receive Jesus. It felt like one of those times when you don’t feel like you’ve made much of a connection and God is just working by His Word. I explained to him a life in the Spirit’s power “Inside out” and told him to just ask. I explained now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness, the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I asked if he would like a book that answered questions on the evidence of the Bible or just a book with Bible verses in it. And he said “Bible verses.” So I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and forgiven I the front. I told him I would pray for him for a year and then some. I asked if he could let me see his face so I could picture it to pray for him. And as I crossed the hall he showed me under the mask. He was a good-looking full face Latino guy, clean-shaven but for a soul patch. He did not smile at all. I said, “Thanks,” and headed out. Rafael is probably good at poker.

I headed over to the Science building and after looping around the top floor I came across Keyshawn sitting on the other side of a railing in the lounge. He was jovial and had a round face with a mustache that was not at all thick, and a scruffy beard largely hidden by his mask on his chin. Had perfect brown skin and wore dark shorts and a light blue long-sleeve thin polyester shirt. Looked like a football player, size wise, and wore his hair in thin braids. He was as friendly as Rafael had been quiet. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven and he got a big smirk on his face and said, “That’s a good question.” He laughed than and said, “I don’t know.” I asked if he went to church and asked what they would say and he said he just moved down here from MN with his brother but went to church up there. “I read my Bible, go to church. Trying to find another church with my brother.” I asked the likelihood he would go to Heaven and he said, “75%”.  I went through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died for his sins, or remembered when I asked him. At the end he said something like, “With my life I go to church and everything, but I never really gave myself completely to it.” So I said I got that and possibly someday, if he was at that place, there was a prayer he could pray. I talked through the prayer and said “It says here: Is this the desire of your heart? So when you look in your heart is this something you want to do?” He hesitated a moment and said, “Yeah I’ll take a shot.” “Just pretend I’m not here,” I replied. And he prayed to receive Jesus. “I think I needed this,” he said when finished. I said, “Yeah you did.” I explained that now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness, the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I explained to him a life in the Spirit’s power “Inside out” and told him to “Just Ask.” I gave him a copy of 20 Things God Can’t Do and wrote his name and the date and “Forgiven” in the front. I told him I would pray for him and give him a wave if I saw him. He thanked me and I headed out and he said, “See ya around.”

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

In Him,

Bob