Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you had a great day marching with the righteous and casting your cares upon Christ. I had a good day on campus again today by God’s provision and Isa, Nick and Anthony each prayed to receive Jesus today. I had a good explanatory discussion with a couple of guys who were believers. Also Arsal a guy from a Muslim family who had grown sympathetic to Christianity was reading through Strobel’s book I’d given him last week and said today enthusiastically he was chipping away at it. I told him I was praying for him. It’s The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and I think I might carry the longer book around for a while in case I bump into Arsal again and he’d like to have it. Please pray these students are sanctified by the Spirit. Their responses are below if you have some time you want to spend reading.

 Isa (Ee sah) was sitting in the hallway as I walked to the west toward the bookstore. I had a prompting in my heart to go that way when I first got to campus and was happy to bump into her. She was looking at a laptop with nothing on it, it seemed to be a blank screen as I walked up. She was a pretty, slim girl, Dark coloring that might have been Jordanian. She had long brown hair past her elbows. She was wearing short shorts, seemed tall. She also wore clogs and a blouse that looked a taupe brown, kind of a silvery drapery with tucks down the center and long sleeves. She had a rounded nose and a straight jaw line. She had 3 gold chains around her neck and one held a decorative cross. She was darker skinned and looked tan. She didn’t make a lot of eye contact as we talked looking at the screen. There was a round coffee table between us and I held the booklet so she could look over the computer on her lap, which she did when I read a Bible verse. I didn’t look her way as much. She thought she’d like to travel, maybe to the Middle East. I asked her “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “What would I say, oh wow.” She thought for a moment and said, “I don’t even know what I would say.” “Do you ever go to Church?” I asked. “I do sometimes. I’m not sure. Sometimes I talk to God.” I asked the likelihood she would go to Heaven when she died and added, “Like a percentage?” she asked. “Yeah. It’s just a guess,” I replied.  “75-80 %,” she said. I began to go through the Gospel with her. Saying eternal life was knowing God and that meant He lived inside her but first had to take away her sin I asked, “What is the big thing Jesus did back in History to take away your sins?” “He forgives?” she guessed. I said “Well this is how it works.” Then I explained Jesus perfect life and sacrifice, His blood cleansing her and being a payment to God. I explained Jesus earning the righteousness of God and it was to her credit. I explained all I usually say of the Gospel saying she needed to receive Christ, to believe Jesus is God, died for her sins and rose from the dead. That would mean she had faith in Jesus. Faith saved her then by Grace. I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else giving her the quick options of Islam and the Buddha. “Forgotten, I mean forgiven,” she replied. “Yeah you’ll never be forgotten, well if you’d want to be forgiven there’s a prayer you can pray.” I talked her through it and asked if it expressed the desire of her heart. She nodded it did. So I said she could pray it silently, “I wouldn’t you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven, wanna do that?” “Yeah,” she replied and so I handed her the booklet and she prayed the prayer. I asked if she’d prayed as she was just holding the booklet not saying anything after and she said she had. I said then the likelihood she would go to Heaven trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus was 100%. I explained the Christian life living by the Spirit’s power, “Inside Out” as I do with everyone. I asked if I could give her some books and she agreed. She did not want a bigger Bible saying she had a small pocket one. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside, “Thank you,” she said taking it. I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet telling her Strobel’s story and a Bible study I explained. I said I would pray a Bible verse for her each day from now until Spring and one year after asking God to bless her. “I don’t know if I’ll see you again but I will be praying for you if I see ya I’ll give you a wave.” I said. “Thank you so much,” she replied. “Okay watch your step it’s hard to be a pretty girl these days,” I said getting up to leave. “Thank you,” she replied and I headed out.

 I was walking around looking for students to talk to and I somehow felt I was supposed to go to the cafeteria, which was on the other side of school. I had decided to go to the third floor of the BIC where I bumped into Arsal. So I headed to the cafeteria. I saw Nick from the back sitting at the counter. He had long sandy hair to his shoulders and a light blue T-shirt on and jeans. He had an oval face, soft features and was clean-shaven, looked like someone with a good sense of humor. He looked at least 20 years old. He said he wanted to travel and had been to a few of the national parks and Canada. I asked him, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” He said as much as there wouldn’t be much you could say by way of persuasion then said, “I tried to live my life compassionately and honestly,” then added, “That’s about all I could say.” I asked the likelihood he would get into Heaven, “I’m not even gonna say,” he said, like it would be presumptuous. I agreed and said, “Yeah it’s pretty much His thing.” I asked if he ever went to church and he said he did sometimes not as often as he could. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he tuned right in.  He knew Jesus had been crucified to take away the sins of the world. I explained that Jesus had lived the perfect life we could not His blood cleansed us and the righteousness He earned was to our credit. God adopted him and gave him the blessings of his family. “He gives us the sacrifice for our sins the blood that cleanses us and the righteousness that surrounds us, so you got someplace to go, Heaven and something to wear when you get there, The Robe of God righteousness.” I said he needed to receive Christ to believe He was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead. Trust in this to be forgiven. That would mean he had faith in Jesus and faith saved him. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins. “Yeah,” he replied. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and explained it and asked if it was the desire of his heart. “Probably, mostly,” he replied. I asked if there was something missing. He read it through again and said, “Mostly yeah” that it pretty well covered it. So I said he could pray it silently, I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “Wanna do that?” I asked. “Yeah,” he said and he prayed to receive Jesus. I said the likelihood he would now go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. I explained living by the Spirit’s power, “Inside Out.” I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. And he was grateful. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet telling him the Strobel story in brief and a Bible study I explained. I said I would pray a Bible verse for him each day from now until Spring and one year after asking God to bless him. I said I didn’t know if I’d see him again but I’d be praying. “I’ll see you around,” he replied with a big smile. “Okay,” I said and I headed off.

 I felt like I should look for Austin from Monday in the PE lounge as I said I would bring him a Bible and I didn’t have much time left as I thought I needed to head out to pick up Ellen from work. I’d dropped her off as my truck is being repaired. He wasn’t there but Anthony was sitting against the wall looking at his phone waiting for a class to start. He was an athlete but was wearing a zip up dark hoodie and baggy frayed bottom grey jeans. He had a curly mop of hair and a mustache that did not meet in the middle, a chin beard, looked Latino, pretty tan. He was handsome with a square chin and cut jaw line. I asked if he wanted to do a student survey about God for a student group and he said he’d already talked to some people who had given him a Bible, he showed me a Navigator’s New Testament pulling it out of a zipper pocket of his backpack. I said this was a little different the big question is. “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” There was a pause and I asked, “So what would you say?” He thought for a minute and said, “I don’t know what I would say.” “Well, would you want to hear some Bible verses that tell you the answer to that question and how you get to Heaven?” “Yeah,” he said, “I only have a little time before class though.” “Ok here it is real quick. He really focused as I went through the Gospel with him. I asked what Jesus did back in History to take away the sins of the world but he couldn’t think of anything. It seemed he hadn’t really gone to church for a while or for long ever. So I explained all I usually say about the blood and righteousness of Christ and salvation by faith, not skipping anything but hoping there was time. I was sitting on the floor next to him and sometimes writing using the floor and kneeling. He said he wanted to be forgiven so I offered him the prayer, talking through it and asking if it expressed the desire of his heart. He said it did so I said he could pray it silently. He took the booklet and said, “Is there any way I can keep this.” “Sure,” I replied. Then he prayed the prayer to receive the forgiveness of sins. I showed him some more in the booklet. It turned out he had a full Bible at home so maybe he’d had some church. I explained the Power of the Holy Spirit to give him guidance and insight and explained asking for transformation where we ask God to transform us on the inside we become good men and we do good things. I asked if I could give him some books and he agreed enthusiastically. Some of the guys I talk to don’t want to read. I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. He thanked me and took the book. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet telling him Strobel’s story saying he might find one of the chapters interesting and then a Bible study I explained. I said I would pray a Bible verse for him each day from now until Spring and one year after asking God to bless him. I said I didn’t know if I’d see him again but I’d be praying. “Thank you so much,” he said sincerely. “I’ll see you in Heaven,” I replied. “Amen!” 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