Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you had a great day walking with the Lord. I had a great day on campus and Marcello, Kennedy and Danny each prayed to receive Jesus today.
Marcello was the first guy I talked to today that was up for answering some questions. He was sitting on the row of chairs across from the double doors outside the cafeteria. He had on a grey championship Cubs hat and a Cubs sweatshirt and back sweats. I had my black championship hat on that I got from my buddy Jon for Christmas, so I had an instant in. Marcello wore a neatly trimmed reddish beard and had a boyish face and short hair. When I asked him what he would say to God if He asked “Why should I let you into Heaven he said, “That’s a good question.” Then thinking a moment he said, “I’m a good person. I would never do you wrong, don’t have any hate [towards others] in myself–give me the chance to prove it to you.” Nice guy, he was religious in as much as he prayed every night but hadn’t been to church of late. So he said because of that he gave himself an 80% chance of going to Heaven, pulling a gold cross out of his sweatshirt to show me. Church would have given him a bump towards 100% he thought, but he changed his mind about how he got to Heaven a few minutes later. He was very interested in the Gospel and hadn’t seemed to understand it before at all.  He wanted to be forgiven as I asked him, and I walked him through the prayer in the booklet and he prayed to receive Jesus. He had been trying to be religious in his own way away from church. So I explained to him that “Everyone has a relationship with God because He is their creator. But not everyone is in a relationship with God, where He lives inside them and forgives them and can direct their life because they have placed their faith in what Jesus has done. I explained how God works good, with even our mistakes and sins and has created us for good works in Christ that He has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. I gave him a Bible to read, writing his name in it and the date.  I also gave him the book Pocket Prayers that has 40 prayers with a Bible verse on the top, along with 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “By the Spirit” in the front. I gave him a Bible study and quipped he had enough to keep him busy for a few months.  I also explained a remembrance view of the Mass. I got his email to send him some stuff. Then we talked about the Cubs for a while and the Christian life in the Spirit. He thanked me and I told him I’d see him in Heaven and he laughed and said that would be great.

Kennedy was sitting in the MAC Arts building on the second floor overlooking the lounge. She’s African American and has long braids that go down past her shoulders, she was wearing jeans and high tops and had a long narrow face and features, pretty. She seemed to have gone to church once in a while. When I asked her what she would say to God if asked why He should let her into Heaven she said, “I’d say please,” and then she laughed lightheartedly. She thought some more and said, “I did what you asked me to, so can I please come in.” She thought she’d have a 92% chance of going to Heaven. She was interested in the Gospel and she knew Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world. When I finished going through the Gospel and Christ’s imputed righteousness, I asked her if she would want to be forgiven for her sins. “Who wouldn’t?” she asked. I told her about a guy I had gone through the Gospel with who wanted to keep doing his girlfriend, so he did not want to ask for forgiveness and have to stop. I explained that if she wanted to she could pray for forgiveness, trusting in what Jesus had done for her. I walked her through the prayer and asked if it was the desire of her heart and if she’d like to pray. She said, “Sure.” and did.  I explained walking by the Spirit and asking for the fruit of God’s Spirit and power to live. I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do, writing “By the Spirit” in the front. I also gave her Pocket Prayers and a bible Study. She was happy and thanked me, and I told her I would be praying for her until a year from spring which seemed to touch her heart and I headed off.
 

I came across Danny sitting with his backpack on a bench in the Science building at about 2:15 or so looking at his phone. He kind of reminded me of a bit of Felix Unger (from the Odd Couple on 1970’s TV) in appearance, his demeanor was far less animated. He had the same haircut and look, clean shaven though you could see he had a heavy beard that would grow in. He said he wanted to see the ocean. He described himself as passive. He had time though, as all the students seemed to today, so I took it up and told him the Gospel. When I asked him what he would say to God he said, “‘Cause He like made me. I’m your kid.” Seemed more like an evangelical response colloquially, but he had been to Catholic Church and knew Christ had died for his sins when I asked. He gave himself a 70% chance of going to Heaven. He was a nice guy and listened attentively to the Gospel and seemed he wanted to be forgiven, saying so. I showed him the prayer and walked him through it and offered it to him to pray quietly and he hesitated flipping through the pages. I really didn’t want him to pray unless he wanted to and then he asked me about Job and what I thought it was about at the end, “It’s just like a list of things?” I said “Yeah. It was God pointing out how complicated the creation was and how great it was, telling Job about Leviathan” (the sea monster kind of a dinosaur still alive in Job’s time and a big dinosaur with a tail like a cedar tree.) I talked about how the world is as complex as a Rubic’s Cube with a billion squares on each side and you would have to understand the entire puzzle to solve it. When God turns it, it is sometimes things we do not want but we have to trust Him, as sometimes events are beyond our understanding. But the point of the book is showing the contest between Satan and God. Satan thinks the world is about power and advantage and God says it is about love. He shows Satan that even if he takes everything from him except his life, God won’t let him take that. Job has a great heart for God and says, “Though He slay me yet will I trust Him.” Job’s great heart proves Satan wrong. I explained that the Bible teaches it is all about love, and we are to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. I showed him the verse where Job says God will walk upon the water. Something in all that seemed to answer something for him and I asked him again if he thought he would want to pray and he said, ‘Yeah,” and did. I explained living by the Spirit and how we never fail if we trust in Him by the Spirit, though sometimes God might close a door. I showed him some verses on courage in the book, Bible Promises for You. I wrote his name in the front. I also gave him a copy of The Case for a Creator which he wanted to read. I got up to go and he said, ‘Thank you.” I told him I would see him in Heaven.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God blessed the work.
 

Blessings,

Bob