Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was one filled with rest in the Lord as the author and finisher of your faith. I had a good day on campus and John prayed to receive Jesus today. I had good conversations with Giselle a Latina girl working toward being a physician’s assistant and Corrine in the PE lounge who looked a bit like an elf and was searching. Please pray John will grow and the girls will come to faith John’s story is below.

John was sitting alone in the PE lounge at the end of a long row of tables. He was a big Offensive Lineman with mostly blonde hair, stick straight and short at the sides. He had a few days growth of beard that was brown and blonde. He wore a grey White Sox Hoodie and black athletic shorts. He seemed a bit on the somber side. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven if he died. “I don’t deserve it,” he said frankly. I asked if there was a “but…” in there somewhere and he said there wasn’t saying about getting let into Heaven, “As of right now I don’t think so. You can always work towards it right?” he said. I said he could, Paul says he presses on. I said then, “What’s the likelihood you’d go to Heaven if God had mercy on you?” “If he has as much mercy as I think 80%” he replied. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died for his sins. So I began to explain what that meant, that His blood had cleansed him and was a payment to God. Jesus had earned the righteousness of God, he would not go to Heaven because he was good but because Jesus was good and he was connected to Him. Christ’s righteousness was to his credit like extra credit in a class and these things were the gift of God when He adopted him. All of this God gave to those who believed that Jesus was God had died for their sins and rose from the dead. By Grace he was saved, through faith. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done, then He could live inside him and give him the strength he needed to do all things. Or did he believe something else and I gave him the cliff notes version of Islam and the Buddha. “I believe this,” he said putting his finger on the circle with Christ inside it. I said if he wanted to be forgiven and he’d never told God he wanted to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through it and asked if it was the desire of his heart. He said it was and I said he could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. Calvin sat down across from me at one point, a big black dude (also on the Offensive Line) with a beard who had prayed to receive Jesus last year. When John finished praying I said, “Calvin prayed that prayer last year.” He looked at Calvin who nodded it was true and went back to his lap top. Calvin says hi and fists bumps me when I see him but is a man of few words.  I gave John a copy of Bible Promises for You I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I explained not trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. He said he was going to stay in the Catholic Church and I said, “Sure,” reminding him of the Mass he took at church. I said that the symbolism behind it was that the wine was symbolic of the blood of Christ and the wafer was symbolic of His body. It was reminding him Jesus had died for his sins and he was forgiven and when he took it he could just say “Thank you.” I gave him a Bible study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. He stood up to go and shook my hand and I said I would pray a Bible verse for him each day until Spring and one year after. I explained living the Christian life asking for the Holy Spirit’s power, living “Inside Out” asking God to transform him into a good man who would do good things. He shook my hand again. He seemed grateful and headed out. I gave Calvin a Promise book then he seemed to have misplaced his from last year.

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

In Him,

Bob