Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I hope your day was blessed withal good things and you walked the walk of the upright. I had a good day on campus. When I arrived the parking lots were near empty. My phone would not pick up the internet for news but calling home Ellen said they had canceled in person morning classes due to the ice. Everyone was remote learning. But I went in to see if I could find any stragglers. And Israel and Mariana each prayed with me to receive Jesus. There stories are below if you have some time. Please pray they grow in the faith.
Israel, a solidly built Latino guy, was sitting at a counter height table outside the bookstore. He wore a flannel shirt with the sleeves cuffed up to his elbows revealing tattoos covering both forearms, his Bears hat turned backwards. His temples were shaved up to his cap and he had perfect skin looking younger than what must have been his years. He was former military and had been a cop for I think he said 8 years. He was now an EMT and was taking course work to become a fireman. He had a warm smile and squared off features. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and was asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” He thought for a moment with an “Um” and said, “I don’t think I’m worthy.” “Is there a ‘but’ in there at all?” I asked. I have had Christians tell be the same thing and then add the Gospel. But he said, “I feel like… trials and tribulations… You don’t know if God would think your actions are worthy or not.” I agreed there was “no list in the Bible saying if you pray every day or fast on Holidays or things like, that you could check off”. He said he’d been in a religious family and was forced Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday to go to Church and youth groups and that and rubbed him the wrong way. I asked what the likelihood was he would go to Heaven and he said, “1%, not at the moment.” I began to go through the Gospel with him saying it was different than what he’d thought. He stopped me occasionally as I spoke first telling him God loved him. “What about war?” I said there were debates about what made for a Just war, when you were under the orders of someone else. But it seemed to me from what I had been told by guys who were in the military once you were in the middle of it, it was just about keeping the guy next to you and you alive. He agreed. He asked, “What about taking a life?” after I had talked about sin. I said that a Navy Seal had once told me that God could not forgive some of the things he had done. Israel seemed to nod in agreement. I said, “I asked the guy if he had ever gone into a village and killed every man, woman, child, dog and goat, stolen all their stuff and walked away. He said he hadn’t. I told him David did that in the Old Testament and God forgave him and told him He loved him.” I later said, “If you think you have done something God could not forgive it is really pride because nothing you have done is greater than God dying for you. I told him about the cross and Christ dying to pay for our debt to God. He asked, “What about selfishness?” He said he was willing to help people but even in being an EMT he also did it to be paid, nothing he did was completely without getting something himself. I explained the idea of enlightened self-interest in a capitalistic world. Jesus said you were to love your neighbor as yourself, but His statement assumed you loved yourself. You can’t selflessly work yourself into collapse and keep going. The Bible requires you provide for your family or you are worse than an infidel. Providing for a stable family is one of the foundations of any society for it to function, even though in providing for a wife and kids you get a stable marriage out of it and your kids are not screwed up. This also is one of the basic lynch pins of the functionality of a greater society. David said, “Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over, it is out of what overflows from a full cup that we can give to others or we’d run ourselves into the ground and then need help ourselves. I finally finished explaining the righteousness of God that Christ earned. Our own righteousness does not get us into Heaven. I said, “Like if you marry a millionaire you got a million bucks. If you get adopted by a billionaire you get to live in the mansion and drive the cars.” God by adoption gives you the gifts of His family, He gives you the sacrifice for your sins the blood that cleanses you and the righteousness of God that surrounds you so you got someplace to go, Heaven, and something to wear when you get there—the righteousness of God. I said that being a child of God was a right God gave you by faith in the name of Jesus. So if someone were to ask you why God should let you into heaven you’d say, “Because Jesus died for me.” I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else. “I would be forgiven,” he replied. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked him through it asking if it represented the desire of His heart. “I would say that it did yeah,” he said. So I said he could pray it silently and know he was forgiven and God lived inside him to give him strength. “Wanna do that,” I asked. “Yeah,” he said he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I told him the likelihood now he would go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the righteousness of Christ and His blood. He didn’t have a Bible so I gave him one and wrote his name and the date and forgiven! In the front. I gave him The Case for Christianity Answer Book since he seemed to have more questions. I gave him a Bible study on the deity of Christ and Bible Promises for You saying he could turn the verses into prayers. I talked to him some more and gave him my contact info and he thanked me I told him I would keep him in my prayers and I headed out.
Mariana was sitting in a big chair just past one of the big support posts in the SSC lounge. I sat on the arm rest of the one nearest her since the post made a large gap between us. She had some time to do a survey. She’s Latina, her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail was wearing blue leggings and a dark blue sweatshirt that had COD on the front. She had a short, cute face with a bit of a pointed chin, kind of elf like and a ready smile. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven. She thought about it for long time seriously and then said, “I’m trying my best to get closer to God.” She thought she had a 75% chance of going to Heaven. She didn’t go to Church and had only a bit as a kid. I began to go through the Gospel with her and she smiled at the stories I used all the way through and was engaged. I began saying God loved her and wanted to take away her sin so He could live inside her. “Do you know the story of what Jesus did to take away the sins of the world?” I asked her. She shook her head that she did not. “Well, this is what He did,” I said. I began to explain the atonement and the righteousness of God and God adopting her to make her His child if she had faith, then her faith would save her. I asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins and she nodded and a friend came by saying they were going upstairs. She said, “OK,” but let me finish so I offered her the prayer asking if it was the desire of her heart. “I think so yeah,” she replied. So I said she could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear and she’d know she was forgiven and God would live inside her. She took the booklet then and prayed to receive Jesus. She said she had a Bible and so I quickly gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and a date and “forgiven! In the front. I gave her a Bible study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I said I would pray for her and if I saw her again I would give her a wave. “OK, thank you,” she replied smiling. “You’re welcome, so nice to meet you,” I replied and she headed off.
So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed.
In Him,
Bob