Hey Sisters and Brother is Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with good things from above walking with the Lord. I had a good day on campus though still a bit sore and worn and Keith and Matthew each prayed with me to receive Jesus as their savior. Please pray they grow and faith and knowledge of God. Their stories are below if you have some time. Thanks for your help in prayer.

 Keith was sitting in the long hallway that heads toward the foyer near the bookstore.  He was a slightly built guy and short, had brown thin hair kind of swept around and black framed glasses for hard classes. He wore a grey hoodie and some polyester sweats of a different shade of grey. He was a nice guy, kind of pointed features, he looked like a guy who belonged in school. He said he went to church on major holidays but could not say what kind of church it was. I asked one thing he would want to do before he died and he said, “Start a family.” That response is a tell a guy will trust in Christ as I speak with them or will turn out to already be a Christian. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” I pondered repeating the question and then said, “I always tried to be a good person and to help others who were in need.” I said there was a Bible verse that said, “Engage in good deeds meet pressing needs” [Titus 3:14]. He thought he had a 50/50 chance of getting into Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he leaned forward to look at the booklet interested as I spoke. He periodically looked me in the eye seeming to be interested and engaged. I asked what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world and he knew he had sacrificed Himself. I continued to explain how the blood of Jesus had purified him and was the payment for his sins. I explained the righteousness of God and salvation by faith. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins, then God would live inside him and give him strength, or did he think something else. He looked at the options and said, “I’ll go with that one,” pointing to the circle with Jesus on the throne of his life. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I explained the prayer and then said, “It says here, ‘Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ would you say it does?” He said something like, “For the most part yes.”  I said he could pray it silently now and know he was forgiven. He said, “What time is it?” he quickly looked at his phone and then said, “I have time. I’ll do it. It can’t do me any harm; it can only do me good.” I agreed and he prayed then to receive Jesus. I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven! In the front and he seemed grateful. I explained then that trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness and His blood to forgive him the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I quickly gave him a Bible Study and The case for Christ Answer Booklet saying he might have time to look at some things later. He was grateful and said, “Have a good day.” As I got up to leave. I said “God bless you,” and headed off.

Matthew was sitting on the upper floor lounge of the PE building near the workout equipment. He was in a section of couches by himself and agreed to do a student survey. He had a mustache that like Michael Jordan, not thick. His hair was a mop top that was bangs in the front like the teeth of a comb. He had black rectangle glasses and was Latino in coloring but his features were Caucasian. He had on a black hoodie and wore grey sweats. I asked him what he would say to God if He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Maybe… let me think,” he began and then said, “I didn’t do nothing wrong and at the same time, everyone made mistakes. Maybe ask for forgiveness too.” He replied. He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. He said he went to church every week. I began to go through the Gospel with him saying that knowing God was that the Spirit of God lived inside you. The problem is that everyone sins. I read him the verses to say, sin kills you and God gives you life, so God can’t be in the same place as sin.  I explained like I nearly always do that it’s like a blood transfusion where a hospital matches your blood-type. “God wants to transfuse His life into you but first He has to make you his type so He takes away your sin then you are perfect and holy inside and you match God and God can live inside you. So what’s the thing Jesus does to take away the sins of the world?” He really tried hard to think about it. “What is it?” he was asking himself. It turned out he went to a Catholic church and so I said, “It’s is symbolized in the mass.” That did not help. He was probably trying to think of the word “reconciliation” that that did not pop into my head to say. Some students know the word but can’t tell you what it means. “I really do go to Church every week,” he said as he gave up. I said no worries and I said something like, “This is how it works.” I explained then that Jesus lived a perfect life for him, he could not live and then He was the infinite and perfect payment for his sin. The blood of Christ cleansed him from all sin. I inserted there then that it was symbolized in the mass that the wine was symbolic of Jesus blood and the wafer of His body. It was reminding him that Jesus had died for him so he should in taking it say, “Thank You.” I went on to explain the righteousness of God that Christ earned and this was to his credit given to him when God adopted him and made him his child. I said, “So how do you hook up with all that? The Bible says you believe it or receive it.” I quoted John 1:12 he had to believe Jesus was God, died for his sins and rose from the dead. “Not that you just kind of know the story from being a kid but that that’s what you put your trust in as an adult. So if someone would say to you, ‘Why should God let you into Heaven?’ you’d say, ‘Because Jesus died for me.’” I said, His good stuff would not fix his bad stuff. So I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or if he thought something else. “Forgiven,” he said. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked it through asking if it was the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he said definitively. I said he could pray it silently right now; I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “Wanna do it?” “Yeah,” he said with a touch of enthusiasm. He took the booklet then and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the likelihood he’d now go to Heaven, trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus, was 100%. He was grateful and thanked me. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “Forgiven!” on the inside. “Thank you,” he said again as I handed it to him. I gave him The case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible Study explaining it. I shook his hand and he said, “Nice to meet you.” “Nice to meet you too, so now when you go to church it’s all solid man.” He agreed. I told him I would pray for him and headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob