Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day has been blessed so far with good things from above. I had a good day on campus and encouraged a couple Christians in their faith. One girl Ella, who had never been to church or heard the Gospel before heard for the first time and said it sounded like the best option so I hope God will bring others into her life to persuade her. She was pretty with curly ringlets of dark brown fly-away hair to her shoulders. Today. David and Vee each prayed to receive Jesus. Please pray they will be increasing in their sanctification through the Holy Spirit. Their responses are below if you want to spend the time.

David was sitting in the hallway that goes down to the bookstore in an arm chair, I sat at his feet. He had on a black T-shirt and nylon sweats with white piping up the legs. He had a couple days growth of beard on his cheeks and where sideburns would grow as would a mustache over a heavier chin beard. Nice smile longer rectangular face and looked Latino. His right arm had a tattoo beginning just under the elbow of a swirling black ink, a robed woman, possibly Mary. He said he wanted to have a family when I asked one thing he wanted to do before he died. That response is almost always a tell a guy is a Christian or will pray to receive Jesus. I asked, “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,” I used to like read my Bible every day, not live in sin… Recently I drifted away so I don’t think I have an answer for that.” He thought the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 30%. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died on the cross. So I explained everything I usually say about the blood and righteousness of Christ as a payment for sin and His resurrection and of course receiving Christ. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else. “I would want to be forgiven,” he replied. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven and start again there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it and asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. He nodded it did. I said he could pray it silently and know he was forgiven. He took the booklet and said, “Thanks so much, I appreciate it,” and he prayed for receive Christ. I began to go through the Christian life with him and he had a Bible. I explained he could start in the book of John and what it meant in the Prophets that Jesus was the “Word of God.” I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day asking God to bless him from now until Spring and one year after. I explained that everything was “By the Spirit’s Power.” I said that the Christian life was living inside out, first we ask God to change us on the inside then we become good men and do good things on the outside. He could ask God to help him love his wife and in everything that is in the future. I said the likelihood he would now go to Heaven trusting in the blood of Jesus for him and the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness was 100%. I said I’d sinned way more than him but God would not look at our pile of sin from our lives but say he’d forgiven it and changed it into good. I gave him Bible Promises for You, and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. Also I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study on the deity of Christ explaining the prophecy that it begins with and walking on the water a miracle he knew. He said he thought Heaven would be great and I agreed and that though we made mistakes God made us out of dust but He was with us. “I appreciate that so much, see ya,” he said as I got up to go and we fist bumped and I was off down the hall.

 I came across Vee in the hallway of the west science building on the second floor laying on a bench. She was waiting for her friend to get out of class, who was her best friend and a Christian. She had a couple shopping bags with her and a daypack. She was a bit plump and a round head and black glasses, and tight curly hair that sat atop her head like a cap. She had on a kelly-green blouse and wore light grey baggy sweats that many girls are wearing this year, cut like baggy jeans. She sat up to talk. I asked her one thing she wanted to do before she died and she said, “Be a good mom.” She said she was too young for kids when I asked if she had any. She said she was Catholic and her best friend was a Christian. I asked, “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?” “I don’t know.” She replied. “I feel like I’d say, ‘Do I genuinely deserve this? Is my time really up?’” I said some people have said they died and came back. She said she had died twice. I asked her if she’d seen anything and she said no but her mom said she had mentioned the name of her sister who had died when she was out so maybe but she did not remember anything. I told her the shoe on the roof story from Gary Habermas https://therumpus.net/2013/02/22/the-rumpus-interview-with-dr-gary-habermas/ She thought she had a 78% chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with her and she struggled to remember what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world, but it seemed to come back to her. I told her the Gospel and all I usually say about the blood and righteousness of Jesus to make her clean and be a payment to God. I said she needed to receive this by faith to believe Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. “So that if someone were to ask, “Why should God let you into Heaven?” you’d say, “Because Jesus died for me.” That would mean you had faith in Jesus and faith save you. I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or if she thought something else. “I would like to be forgiven,” she replied. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I talked her thought is and asked if it was the desire of her heart, she nodded with a quiet “Um hum,” I said she could pray it silently and know she was forgiven. “Wanna do that?” I asked. She nodded and she took the booklet and prayed then to receive Christ. She said when she finished her girlfriend she was waiting for had seen me walking around and said, “I think he’s telling people about God, I love that.” That had probably gained me an audience. I began to go through the Christen life with her. She had a Bible and had first read Matthew and finished John and was going to start Luke. I explained some things to her about the Gospels and Jesus as the “Word of God” in the Old Testament. She liked that and I told her everything in the Christian life was “By the Spirit’s Power.” The difference between Christianity and other Religions is that it is “Inside Out”. First God changes us on the inside; we become good people and do good things on the outside by His power. I said the likelihood she would not go to Heaven as 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and forgiven in the front and she said her girlfriend “would love this book” so I gave her an extra one to give her. “You can tell her you got her a present,” I said. I said I would pray a Bible Verse for her each day asking God to bless her. I gave her an extra booklet too and a Bible Study explaining it a bit and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. “Thanks so much,” she said as I got up to go. “God bless you,” I replied. “Thank you so much,” she said again. And I headed off.

 So Thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance, God truly bless me today.

 In Him,

Bob