Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I hope your weekend was blessed with God things in the company of the Lord. I had some distractions and doctor appointments and am behind. On Thursday the 27th, I talked with a Muslim guy Taha for 2 and a half hours and Natalie prayed with me to receive Christ. The things she said are below if you have the time. Please pray she grows in her faith. Taha (a short/slight Pakistani guy 23yrs old, here without his parents, had a short beard and mustache) asked me to pray for him after we had gone through the Gospel. He had many questions. I explained that the Muslim belief that Jesus did not die on the cross did not change just one story but negated all the content of the New Testament. I said, “If I told you my wife’s name was Sarah and you saw me later and said you got a new girlfriend named Sarah I might say, ‘You’re dating my wife!’ But then you might say she had Brown hair and was from Lebanon and I’d reply my wife is blonde from Norway. Same name different Girl.” I explained that just because a Christian Arab used the name Allah for God did not mean he had the same God as he did. I gave him a Bible study and a Rose Publication one why the Bible is reliable looking at manuscripts. He believed he had verifiable dreams and I asked him if he had a dream of Jesus if he would believe it. He basically said he would so I am praying he will be directed that way. As we parted he said maybe we could get together and pray. “We’d be praying to different people,” I replied. “You’re praying to the brown-haired girl I’m praying to the blonde.” He remembered the analogy from an hour earlier and we parted amicably.
Natalie was sitting in some sofa chairs in the hallway along the bookstore with a circular ottoman in front of her. She had on a purple fleece half zipped up over a t-shirt and black leggings that flared out at the ankles. She had brown hair just past her jawline, kind of wavy and tucked behind her ears. I told her she looked like the actress Natalie Wood her jaw was a bit more squared. She said a lot of people told her that. Her face really lit up when she smiled but she was very sober through the Gospel. When I asked her one thing she would do to get into Heaven she basically said she was kind to others. She thought she had a 50/50 chance of getting into Heaven. She went to, what she called, a Christian Church with friends some times. When I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sins she knew He had died. She tracked right through with explaining Christ’s death as a payment to God. His blood cleansed her. The righteousness of Christ would be to her credit when God adopted her and gave her the blessings of His family. I said she was saved by faith and her good stuff could not fix her bad stuff. I asked her if she wanted to be forgiven and showed her two circles one with God inside her one with God outside her. “Be forgiven,” she said, “I’ve been trying to get closer to God.” So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and talked her through it. I asked if it was the desire of her heart. “Yeah,” she replied and I said then she could pray it silently and she said, “OK,” and prayed to receive Jesus. I told her then the likelihood she would now get into Heaven was 100% trusting in the blood of Jesus and His righteousness to be hers. I explained the Christian life living by the Spirit’s power in prayer and circumstances and I explained Christianity was “inside out”. First we pray for God to transform us on the inside then we become good people and do good things on the outside. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and forgiven!” on the inside. She thanked me and then I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible Study and ways Jesus claims to be the God of the Old Testament. I talked to her about being a Child of God and the beauty in everyone I see. I apologized then for keeping her and she said that was fine and I got up to go. “Thanks so much I really appreciate it,” she said and I thanked her and, “You’re welcome,” and headed off.
So thanks so much for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism if you had a chance. God truly blessed.
In Him,
Bob