Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed.   I had a good day of sharing, but it took a while and for the first 2 hours I was a little discouraged. (I had had only one good conversation with a Catholic girl as I walked in through the science building.)   After a disheartening 15-20 min conversation with an atheist, I started to pray that people would pray for God to lead me.   And He did.   I started a conversation with a Christian guy, black kid whose grandfather was a “preacher”, in the SCC lounge where we have Bible Study.   He was a bit fuzzy on the way to say it, but it seemed he was a Christian.  And after not wanting to talk at first, he was really happy after I explained everything to him.   Then his friends walked up on part of it and one claimed he was a Christian.   We all parted amicably, but I thought about it a bit more and doubled back.  But only one of them, Jamanti, wanted to know the Gospel.   He was a good looking black kid with braids, sharp features, slight mustache and a bit of chin hair.   He’d said he was a Christian and went to church but that God would not let him into Heaven as he’d been sinful.   I agreed this was true.   So I slowly explained everything to him as he had not understood anything about the Gospel or the Christian life.   So I went through the Gospel with him.  Afterwards, he confessed Christ as I asked him “Do you believe Jesus was God and that He died for your sins and rose from the dead?”   He said he did.   Then I asked, “Do you want to trust in that to be saved and have a relationship with God?”   He said he did but wanted to pray later at church.   So I pressed him a bit to get him to promise me that he would and he did.  I was suspicious that he really had wanted to go over and get busy with this attractive black girl who was sitting nearby and that he’d been trying to talk to earlier.   He went over to sit by her as I walked off, so I hope he believed and was genuinely desiring to be forgiven.  But I will pray for him.

Then I found Reno sitting at the counter in the cafeteria, facing outside, reading a newsfeed with his headphones on.   He said he went to Church each Sunday and would do a student survey with me.   He had kind of a round face, clean shaven with a short one-inch afro.   He said he wanted to go into the Music Business as a producer and he did look bit like a sweet, kind, (slightly thinner) version of the rapper “Notorious Big”.  But the similarity ended there.   He said he went to church each Sunday.   When I asked him why God would let him into Heaven he thought for a moment and said, “Because I’m a trustworthy person.”   He was sure he would go to Heaven, but as I went through the Gospel with him I could tell he did not know it.   I asked him how God took away his sins and he said “pray.”  I worked with that a bit and said the reason God forgave him through prayer was because of what Jesus did.   At first that got no recognition, but the story of His death and resurrection seemed to resonate a bit.   I explained the imputed righteousness of Jesus and I said, “You don’t go to Heaven because you are good, you go to Heaven because Jesus…”  and he finished the sentence with me, getting it, “… was good.”   He wanted to be forgiven, picking that option after I asked him saying, “… have God live inside” pointing to the circle that described being forgiven in the booklet.  I explained the prayer to him and told him he could pray silently, but he took it prayed out loud and finished with “In Jesus name Amen” on his own.  (Those words are  not at the end of the prayer in the booklet I use.)   So that was great.   I gave him a Bible study and More than a Carpenter, also explaining the work of the Holy Spirit to him.

I was pretty glad then, and headed down the hall, having several students turn me down.  Cutting across a lounge I was turned down again.  But then a tall, very pretty girl said she’d do a survey.   Kellie had skinny black jeans on, kind of square-rimmed glasses, curly long blonde hair down past her shoulders.   I sat at her feet and she had on string sandals with bling on them.   She seemed pretty serious as we talked (I think the Spirit was moving in her) so I took on her attitude and since I was tired I just rested in the Spirit and walked through the Gospel with her (though after she prayed I got her to laugh at something, barely).   When I asked her what she would say if God asked her why He should let her into Heaven, she thought for a while and said “Because… Based on the things I’ve done on earth.”   She thought she only had a 50% chance of going to Heaven.   She went to a church sometimes on Rt 59 called Calvary (southwest Naperville).  It is a good place as far as I know from other students I’ve talked to who attend there.   She didn’t know the Gospel or how she could be forgiven either, so I talked her through everything, reading the verses to her and quoting others.   She patiently listened and wanted to be forgiven and to trust in Christ and she prayed with me to do so.   She seemed to have some joy then.   I got her email to send her some stuff and having an interest in science she took a Bible study from me and a copy of The Case for a Creator.   So that was good and I was grateful God had blessed today.  I’ll pray for her to grow.

So thanks for your prayers and help today.  God truly guided by His Spirit.

In Him,

Bob

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