Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was a blessed one with all good things from above. I had a good day on campus, Ryan (sandy mop of hair and a jaw line beard) and James (very short dark hair   and a mustache and goatee) each committed to Christ as they wolf down a couple chicken sandwiches, took booklets might pray. Wendy (a pretty Latina with a rigid lined nose) said she’d think about it. Eli (glasses mop of hair, like Mr. Peabody’s boy Sherman) said he’d think about it. Finally Cooper prayed to receive Christ. His story is below if you wish to spend some time. Please pray he grows in his faith.

Cooper was sitting in the MAC arts building. He was a big dude with sandy hair parted down the middle, shaggy but exposed ears, and a sharp nose and angled jaw line. He looked like a offensive lineman he had me by 4 inches. He wore black nylon shorts and a black hoodie. He said he played Lacrosse in HS. His friends went to the Inter Varsity Bible Study but in a couple of day his class started at that time and he did not want to go once and quit. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and was asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?”  “I don’t really think he should,” he replied. “Is there a but there of any kind?” I asked. “I don’t know, I’ve had a lot of lustful thoughts the past 5 years.” I said that was probably true of most guys his age but he could ask God to cleanse them away. He thought he had a 50% chance of going to Heaven. He had gone the Yellow Box Church of Naperville for their youth group in HS but attended a Catholic Church. He planned to be confirmed eventually. I explained God wanted to live inside him. So God took away his sins and asked what it was that Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world. He could not think of anything and I said it would come back to him. He saw the cross on the next page then as part of the illustration and said, “Oh he was crucified.” I said that was true. I began to explain the blood of Christ as that which cleansed him from sin and was a payment to God. He knew Catholic Doctrine, at least concerning transubstantiation. He said the priest forgave your sins in confession. I told him standing Catholic doctrine was that only God could forgive your sins. I compared the priest with an insurance agent. You bought the insurance from him but when you crack up your car the agent does not pay, the company pays. The Priest could only tell you, God forgave your sins, he could not forgive them.  “Like a middle man,” he replied and I agreed, and said confessing to a priest might feel better but if you travel to china and they put you in jail and there is no priest around if you confess God will forgive your sins.  I explained the righteousness of Christ and that he would not go to Heaven because he was good but because Jesus was good and he was connected to Him. “Does anyone ever shout at you in here?” he asked. Meaning the MAC arts building was pretty filled with anti-Christian people. I agreed it was pretty leftist at this end of school but the kids were pretty cool to me that I asked. But I assumed the faculty did not like me much (I’d actually had direct experience of this I did not mention.). I went on to say that he needed to receive Jesus by faith. So that if someone would say to him why should God let you into Heaven he’d say, “Because Jesus died for me.” I asked if he’d want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done for him. “I mean yeah,” he replied.  I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked him through it asking if it was the desire of his heart. “”Yeah,” he replied. I said if he wanted to he could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “Yeah,” he said again and I turned away from him to let him alone from where he was sitting at a counter height table in the MAC lounge overlooking an exhibit. He prayed the to receive Jesus. I explained living the Christian life, “By the Spirit’s Power. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front, which he liked. I also gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a bible Study. I told him I would keep him in my prayers praying a Bible verse for him each day. I told him then the likelihood he would go to Heaven trusting in the Blood and Righteousness of Jesus was 100%. “Thank you,” he said as we both got up to go. “Cool, take care man,” I replied. “Have a good one,” he said and I 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