Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking in joy and ya had a good one. I had good day in as much as Erin prayed with me to receive Jesus. She was a sweetheart and great to talk to.

Here’s a bit of what happened with Erin. She was sitting in the ground floor lounge of the BIC on the south side in a connecting hall with skylights near some vending machines. I sat in an armchair beside hers when she said she’d do a survey. She seemed to be killing time before a class. Her afro was pulled up in a puff on the top of her head. She wore square-rimmed glasses with some red in them, a puffy coat, jeans and sneakers; her long narrow face sloped a bit to a squarish chin. Cute kid. She wanted to start a Veterinary sanctuary for animals and we talked about the dogs in the John Wick movie.  I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Oh that’s a really interesting question,” she replied and thought for a bit, softly saying, “I don’t know.” I asked if she had been to church and she said it had “been a while.” But I asked what she thought they might say would get someone into Heaven? She said. “To fulfill my duty to serve.” She thought she had about an 80% chance of going to Heaven. She listened to the Gospel attentively, leaning in. I asked her what the big thing was Jesus had done to take away her sins. She thought a while and could not think of anything so I started to go on and she made a start so I stopped, asking, “Got a guess?” And she said, “He was crucified.” I said, “Right.” And I went on to explain how that worked and the righteousness of God and the cleansing blood of Christ.  When I asked her if she wanted to be forgiven with God inside or thought something else she said, “Have God inside me.” So I said there was a prayer she could pray to receive forgiveness. Walking her through it, I said she could pray it silently if she’d want and she said, “Yeah.” And prayed to receive Jesus. I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do  and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front and “Just Ask By the Spirit’s Power.” Having explained living “Inside Out” by the Spirit. And she thanked me for the book. I gave her a Bible study and she thanked me again. I told her if she wanted she could email me and ask me for the link with a sermon explaining how Animals go to Heaven. As we got up to go she said, “Thanks for stopping.” “Thanks for your time.” And I told her I would keep her in my prayers until spring and one year after and she thanked me and headed out. It was a real joy to talk with her.

Later I had an interesting discussion on campus with a 35 year old African American liberal “Christian” who was not a joy to talk to at all.  He condemned the 5 churches around the downtown area of the town he lived in for failing to be in the community and help the poor. Of course they were very large churches and he’d have no way of knowing what the people in them were doing in terms of private giving (or the staff). Nor could he know the benevolence budget of those churches. But the real problem was how badly he disregarded the teaching of Scripture and Jesus, saying He was a socialist and did not keep the law. The latter of course would have been brought up at His trial, which I pointed out. I tried to suggest Jesus did not break the law and said He did not come to do so but that they had misunderstood the Law. He said Jesus said we needed to do things for “The least of these.” I said, “You need to complete the verse, it says the least of these My brethren (Matt 25:40).” “That’s everyone,” he replied. I said it wasn’t everyone and that Jesus was the first born of many brethren, (Romans 8:29), which means Christians. In the passage, Jesus is condemning fake Christians for not serving real ones. He said the early church broke bread together. I said that was true, but at the Lord’s supper the rich brought more food than the poor and (Paul actually tells them to eat at home 1Cor. 11:34) so breaking bread was not a time they fed everyone and they did not do it every day anyway. I pointed out that in John 6:26, Jesus condemns those who follow Him to get a stomach full of bread after feeding the 5,000. He asked why people would come to church if the church was not doing things for them, “For eternal life,” I replied. But neither this nor anything else I quoted to him got through to him. He just ignored what I said and said something else. It was important to him to insist that the Jews had killed Jesus and not the Romans, saying Pilate had washed his hands of it. I said the Romans still killed him and this was a political show for Pilate that did not assuage his guilt. I asked if the Jews were in control of the crucifixion, why would Joseph and Nicodemus have gone to Pilate for permission to take down His body? He suggested all sins were the same to God. I pointed out Jesus told Pilate that those who turned Him over to him had the greater sin (this also points clearly to the shared responsibility of Pilate for Jesus’ death). I said that the Levitical law code has greater penalties for some sins than others; you don’t get stoned for everything. I said it would not have been possible for the early Church to care for the poor outside the Church, as they were poor people themselves for the most part (1Cor. 1:26). I said ministries like Samaritan’s Purse do so all over the world to share the Gospel afterwards, but it is not a Biblical requirement for local churches. Oh well, I could go on; it would take too long to share all the verses I spoke to him. The perspective he took required he disregard exegesis.

So thanks for your prayers for the Bible study and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your morning has been blessed so far and you had a blessed day yesterday. My sciatic nerve pain in my legs is really bothering me today so I’m going to take a day off from walking around campus with a backpack full of books. I’m pretty tanked, long day. But yesterday Dan and Mel each prayed with me to receive Jesus so that was great. Though only one girl, a Christian, had been willing to hear me go through the Gospel for the first 2 hours I walked round school. I squeezed in a bit of the Justice of God and answered a question as to why God would become a man with Suleiman, a Muslim, and gave him a tract, black African guy. The last 3 conversations were great though.

I went through the Gospel with Laz in the cafeteria and he really understood his faith better for the first time and received what I explained with Joy. As I headed out, Dan was sitting waiting for his ride. He was a clean-cut sandy brown haired GQ looking guy, sharp jaw line and features, conservative 1970’s hair cut, wry smile he wore through most of the Gospel as I told it to him. He was Roman Catholic. He had on Blue tweed narrow at the ankle sweats and a winter ski lodge print on the shoulders, zip up sweater. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I tried to live my best life; I haven’t always gone by the Bible.”  He thought he had a 50% shot at going to Heaven saying, “I tried to have good values.” I knew the time would be short so I stayed narrow in illustration and I could see he was interested but he was suppressing a smile here and there. Finally when I explained the imputed righteousness of Jesus, he tipped his head back and grinned with a short laugh, understanding he could be forgiven. I explained this was true symbolically in the Mass that commemorated that Jesus had died so he was forgiven. I then explained he could be forgiven by faith. When I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven with God inside or something else he said, “I’d pick God inside.” I explained there was a prayer he could pray to trust in that and explained it and said he could pray it silently so only God could hear. I saw he had begun to read and pray as I held out the booklet. When I saw he’d finished I said, “Your sins are forgiven,” cheerfully and fist bumped him. He smiled. I quickly explained living inside out by the Spirit’s power so I hope he got the picture of the fruit of the Spirit as his ride had showed up. So I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front along with “Just Ask By the Spirit’s Power.” He stood up and said, “Thank you.” ‘Thanks for your time,” I replied. “Thank you,” he said again and headed for the doors with the Holy Spirit now in him to sanctify him entirely.

I walked down the hall, planning to head to my locker and go home and edit my Bible Study for the evening. I looked back from 15 feet past the corner of the hall that goes down to student activities to see a guy with his head down toward his phone in his lap, sitting on the corner of a row of chairs. From a distance he had the same hair as Byron a guy who’d come to Christ last year and I thought it might be him. As I approached his afro wasn’t in 4 or 5 inch braids but more kind of thin rolled narrow tubes. So I asked him if he wanted to do a student survey about God and stuff and he said ok. Mel had on quilted jeans and a jacket and had a beard and mustache that grew in a little inconsistently but about par for the course for 18 years old. He was thin, 140 6’2”. His nose was like a wide flat pyramid. Good looking guy. Later he said he’d gone to jail and been in some trouble but had recently decided he was done with that, which he credited to his mother’s prayers and being a bit scared straight by the bad food and conditions in jail. He’d first been in juvi and more recently in Cook County and somehow his record had been expunged and he’d worked at Target and Walmart saved some money was living with his mom who was out in the suburbs with his stepfather. He’d been impressed with how nice COD was, like he’d just walked around for the first time so I don’t know if he’d just begun a midterm class. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “Because I’ve forgiven a lot of people in my life.” He thought he had a 50/50 shot of getting into Heaven. He went to a small church in the city. As I explained the Gospel he was engaged and we hit it off. I explained Jesus had lived a perfect life for him and that His blood cleansed him so God could live inside him and give him Eternal Life. “And this perfect life Jesus lived you need that,” I said. I explained that if he wrecked someone’s car he had to pay the deductible and it went to a body shop and they made it perfect again. I explained if we damage someone’s stuff we owe them something perfect in return. Everything belongs to God. “So if I damage you or me or something else I the world I owe God something perfect in return, but we can’t do anything perfect, so were screwed.” He laughed at that in acknowledgement. “So God becomes a man and His life is worth an infinite amount because He is God. When He dies it pays God back for all the things we’ve done that we owe God something perfect for. God forgives us then because He gets paid and He is Just and can forgive us.” “That was a really good explanation,” he replied. “Thanks,” I said, “God tells me stuff and I tell it to people.” He laughed again. I explained the imputed righteousness of Christ saying, “In God’s eyes you get an A.” “A+,” he responded. And that he needed to receive Christ by faith. And that God then could turn his bad things into Good things over time. “So,” I asked, “Would you want to be forgiven with God inside or do you think something else?” “Like Islam doesn’t believe God can live inside people or that he is knowable, they got a different god. Or the Buddha he left his wife and kids to go seek enlightenment, but he’s not looking for God he’s just trying to get his head straight.” “Option A,” he said definitively. “Ok Option A I said writing it on my hand (it was a good response I didn’t want to forget it). I offered him the prayer and walked him through it; he acknowledged it was the desire of his heart. So asking if he’d want to pray it silently he said “Yeah,” and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life living “Inside Out” and by the Spirit’s power. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I invited him to Bible study and he said he’d think about it. We talked some more and he asked which way to was to where you could get something to eat. I told him it was just around the corner behind him. I asked if he had any money and he said he did, saying he was a good saver and he told me he’d been working. I gave him a Bible Study we said good bye and he was grateful and we both headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?

… Corrie ten Boom

The Coronavirus Is Swiftly Breaching Defenses Across The World | Peak Prosperity

Hey Brothers and sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today and you found the light and life of Christ. I had a good day on campus since Sam prayed to receive Jesus today which was great.  I got a good seed planted with Matt; white kid with brown hair friendly clean cut future small business man type also who was Methodist as a kid. I offered him a book when he said he’d think about it and he said, “Whatcha ya got.” I gave him the case for Christianity answer booklet; I think he was very close to trusting in Christ.

Sam was sitting in the cafeteria and it had been about 2 hours since I had found anyone to go through the Gospel with, though I’d chatted with some who’d received Christ and was just spending some time encouraging a Christian I know who wanted to sent me up to talk to some friends who he thought needed Christ without that knowing he was behind it. So we conspired a plan for later in the week. As I headed out I saw Sam. He was sitting at a table by the doors and said he’d do a student survey.  He’d been born and reared in Nigeria but came here as a kid about 11 years ago. He was wearing a winter cap and round plastic rimmed glasses. He wore a pullover gray fleece, had a neatly trimmed beard, wider nose, cheerful good looking guy. He identified as a Christian and said “I tried to live a life close to Jesus,” when I asked what he would say to God to get into Heaven. He thought he had a 50/50 chance to get into Heaven. When I asked what the big thing was that God had done to take away the sins of the world he said, “He gave His Son.” He knew the Gospel but had not thought much into it in his personal life, particularly concerning the righteousness of God earned by Christ that Paul said he had by faith. As I’d finished the Gospel I asked if he’d want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus he said he did. I said, “Well, it seems like you knew this stuff pretty much.” He agreed, so I asked if he’d been trusting in it. “I know you knew the story. But when you were asking for forgiveness, were you thinking you would try harder next time or were you thinking I know I’ll be forgiven because Jesus died for me.” “I was thinking I would try harder,” he replied. I didn’t think I would just be forgiven because that is BS.” I explained the righteousness of God again then by the illustration of the parable at the beginning of Matthew 22 where the guy is sent to Hell for wearing the wrong clothes to a party. I explained he was trusting in his own righteousness and not the robe the King provided who is God. That robe of righteousness is being clothed with Jesus (Romans 13:14 NIV). “Where is that parable? Can you write that down?” I said sure and wrote Matt 22 in the margin of the booklet. Then I explained that without faith it is impossible to please Him. So if you tried to do good things without trusting in the Holy Spirit’s power to do those things, you were just doing them in the flesh. He saw my point and so I showed him the prayer, walking through it and added writing at the bottom, “I trust in the righteousness of God” and asked if he thought he needed to trust in Jesus for his forgiveness and the righteousness of God not his own to enter to Heaven. He agreed that he needed to do that saying, “Yeah absolutely, sure.” Then he took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. When he finished he said, “This is perfect timing that you came by.” He was grateful. I explained living “Inside Out” trusting in God’s transforming power by the Holy Spirit. “First you ask God to make you a good man, then you do good things.” I said, “Now this is 100%,” writing that by his answer about the likelihood he would go to Heaven. “Of course,” he said, now understanding that the righteousness of Christ would be his righteousness. I gave him a copy of 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and “forgiven” and “Just ask By the Spirit’s powers” in the front. I also gave him a Bible Study. He again said how it was perfect timing I came by. I said I would keep him in my prayers each day and he said, “Thank you,” as I made to go, shaking my hand happily. “I’ll pray for you too.” I thanked him, saying if he thought of me that would be great. “Have a good one,” I said standing to go.” “You as well,” he replied and I headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your weekend has been blessed walking with Christ. I had a good day Friday connecting with some students who had come to Christ this year and last year and Erica prayed to receive Jesus. I also gave the Rose publication “Why Trust the Bible” https://www.hendricksonrose.com/why-trust-the-bible-pamphlet/9781596361393/pd/61395?event=ESRCG to some Mormon elders who were proselytizing on campus, young guys. Earlier in the week I’d had a discussion with one of them about how the Book of Mormon did not hold up to archeological scrutiny and scholarship the way the Bible did. I corrected some of his false notions about the Bible. So seeing him again I said hi and kept walking. They are trained to be nice so ya never know if ya got through to them in any way. But I felt led to go back and chat them up a bit and offer them each a hand out. The one I had talked to before said they didn’t watch TV so they had some time on their hands and they’d look at it. I said I didn’t have a TV growing up because my dad thought it was garbage, so we had that in common. Fortunately for Dad the Cubs were no good when I was a kid.

Erica was sitting in a 1st floor lounge in the BIC on the North side that connects to a hallway with sky lights up at the roof illuminating the hall she sat on the end of at a table working on her computer. She was the only one there. She had on a yellow shirt under a black parka and blue pants; she had long dark hair the top pulled up into a ponytail coming out of the top of her head. Her sharp features looked Native American and she had Latina coloring a large long face. She was very reserved but friendly. When I asked her what she would say to God if asked why He should let her into Heaven when she died she said, “I’ve done like good deeds.” She thought she had about an 80% chance of going to Heaven. She knew Jesus had died for her sins when I asked her what Jesus had done to take them away. So I explained His righteousness, not ours, got us into Heaven. His blood cleansed us and God adopted us and gave us the blessings of His family, the Sacrifice for our sins and the righteousness of God that surrounded us. “So it’s like ya got some place to go, Heaven, and something to wear when ya get there–the righteousness of God.” I explained the Mass was symbolic of Jesus body and blood and that when she took it at her Catholic church she should just say thank you. When I had finished going through the Gospel, saying she could trust in what Jesus had done by faith and know she was forgiven, I asked if she’d would want to be forgiven or thought something else. “I would want to be forgiven,’ she said pointing to the circle with God inside. I suggested growing up in the Church she probably identified with it and even planned to raise her kids going to church and said, “It doesn’t seem like you ever had a chance to put all this together before.” She agreed.  I asked if, when she asked for forgiveness, if she was thinking God would forgive her and she was basically a good person or instead she had thought Jesus had died for her so she would be forgiven. “I never had thought about it before,” she replied. So I said there was a prayer she could pray to be forgiven and walked her through it and asked if she’d like to pray it silently and she just said, “Yeah.” She took the booklet then and prayed to receive Jesus. She didn’t have her own Bible so I gave her one, writing her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I explained the Christian life as I always do living “Inside Out” and gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “Just Ask” in the front. I gave her a Bible study and she was grateful. I told her I would keep her in my prayers and she said, “Thank you.” “Yeah, you have a good one,” I replied and she said “you too,” and I headed off. 

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed on Thursday; I had a good day on campus chatting up the peeps and putting in my 2 cents in an adult education class again. Jack prayed with me to receive Christ too, so that was great.

Jack was sitting in Starbucks and hemmed and hawed a bit when I asked him if he wanted to do a survey, but decided to do it and we got to talking for a longer time than either of us expected. He had straight hair swept back on top and a Michael Jordan barely there mustache. He wasn’t a very big guy, square chin and sharp features, wore a black quilted coat and black jeans and had gone to Church when he was younger but now he felt he wasn’t very religious. When I asked him why he would say to God if asked why He should let him into Heaven he said, “I’m a good person. I make good decisions, I’m morally driven, and I have a lot of morals.” I asked what the likelihood he would go to Heaven and he was pretty sure he’d go saying, “Pretty much.” He went on to say that when he did something wrong he’d apologize for it, and if God could read his thoughts He’d know he was sincere. He knew Jesus had died for his sins and listened to the Gospel closely, tuning right in asking some questions as I explained the blood of Jesus cleansing us from all sin. He asked, “So what if I killed a hundred thousand people?” “Well I don’t really think you could get around to that frankly,” I replied. “But some people claim the name of God and kill people.” “They have a different God,” I replied. “There are killers that believe God is telling them to kill people.” he said. “Yes, but those people are psychotic. If you are asking me if psychotic people go to Heaven, or insane people who would not seem to be held responsible for their actions, I’d say that it would depend on what drove them insane or made them psychotic. Some people do this to themselves.” He agreed this was true. “I can’t know all the circumstances, but if someone is a psychotic killer and a sociopathic liar all their life and claim to convert to Christ in prison, well they have lied all their lives. I can’t know if they were sincere.” I explained an infinite sacrifice of God would pay for extreme sin. But if you just decided one day you got off on killing people, it would show you did not really believe in the love of God for you. As I finished saying he needed to trust in God by faith, I asked if he’d want to be forgiven or thought something else. “Be forgiven,” he replied. So I asked him if he believed Jesus was God, had died for his sins and rose from the dead. He thought about it and then said, “I guess if I have to think about it that’s not a good sign?” “I don’t know,” I replied. “If you never thought about something before–you’d have to think about it. If I asked you if you thought green eyes were pretty and you had to stop and think if you’d ever dated a girl with green eyes and had never thought about it before but went through some girls in your mind and decided you did think green eyes were pretty, that just means you had to think about it. It doesn’t mean you are wrong about what you decided.” “You’ve got some good answers,” he replied smiling. I said I had a few degrees and had been at this kind of thing for a while. We talked some more and I told him if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins he could begin with God, telling him that and praying to trust in Christ. “Then you just begin to pray for help, and God living inside you gives you the strength.” I said. “Everything was by the Spirit’s power. If you know you should pray to be the kind of person that will do something you are convicted of, but you don’t want to pray to do it, pray God would begin to change you so you would be the kind of person who would pray to ask God to help you to do it. Just step it back. You don’t have to become some super Christian tomorrow. God will change you over time, but you will always feel like there is something you could do better that God needs to change.” I asked again if he thought he’d want to be forgiven. “I believe I would yes,” he replied. I offered him the prayer and he decided and said, “Why not?” cheerfully. He prayed sincerely and slowly, silently. We talked some more I told him I would pray for him each day. I’d memorize his name. He asked if I prayed for a lot of people. I said I prayed for about 150 from last year and he was number 140 this year so about 290. I had the names memorized and took a while each day to pray for them. “That does not make me some super Christian. I’m a pastor and it is part of my job to pray for people. Most people would not pray for an hour and a half or 2 each day because they wouldn’t know who to pray for for that long.’ I suggested he could pray for most of the people he could think of in 10 or 15 minutes. I explained how short life was compared to eternity and that he would be glad he had asked for God’s help and forgiveness when he got there. I said that it counts for more than we can understand that we trust in God, and in eternity we will be glad we did. He liked that. I gave him a copy of 20 Things God Can’t Do and wrote “Just Ask” in the front. I gave him a Bible since he only had a New Testament and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven’ in the front. I gave him a Bible Study and we talked some more about the Christian life. He’d gone to a youth group with a pretty good Church in town and I suggested he could go back there and see what he thought. I gave him my contact info and he got up to go shaking his hand and he said, “Alright, thank you.” I said he was welcome and headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism Thursday and today if you have a chance to ask God to lead me. God is good.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today and you had joy in serving Jesus. I had a good day on campus chatting up the peeps and reconnecting with some who had received Christ recently and Michael prayed to receive Jesus.

Michael was up on the third floor of the BIC in the hallway basically killing time until class. He was a big guy, had some weight on him and was wearing a brown zip up hoodie and shorts (though it never broke freezing for a high temperature today). He had a stick straight mop of brown hair, a bit of a mustache and chin beard, smaller head. Nice guy. When I asked him what he would say to God be let into Heaven he thought aloud a bit and then said, “I believe in Him. I pray to Him every day. Yeah I broke a couple sins but I asked for forgiveness for them.” He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven saying, “I didn’t kill anybody, nothing big.” He’d been raised Catholic. I went through the Gospel with him and asked if he knew what Jesus had done to take away his sins. “He forgives you?” he tried. I said He did, but that God was just and He can forgive you because He gets paid with the perfect life of Christ. After I had explained the sacrifice of Christ and His cleansing blood he said, “OK,” in understanding. I explained His righteousness could be to his credit and receiving Christ by faith, asking Michael if he would want to be forgiven or thought something else. He said, “Be forgiven.” So I explained that if he wanted to place his trust in Christ, there was a prayer he could pray and I read through it, asking if it expressed the desire of his heart. “Yeah it does,” he replied. I said he could pray it silently, God would hear. “Sure,” he replied. And he prayed to receive Jesus. I explained living  “Inside Out” by the power of the Spirit, that God would give him the power to be transformed if he would ask. He had his Grandfather’s Bible which I said I thought was cool and so I gave him a copy of 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and “forgiven “ in the front and “Just Ask”. I also gave him a Bible Study. I told him I would keep him in my prayers and got up to go and he said, “Thanks you, you have a nice day.” “God bless you man,” I replied. And he said, “You too.”

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

In Him

Bob

I should as soon attempt to raise flowers if there were no atmosphere, or produce fruits if there were neither light nor heat, as to regenerate men if I did not believe there was a Holy Ghost.

… Henry Ward Beecher

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today walking in the light. I had a good day on campus and Jose, Razy and Olivia each prayed with me to receive Jesus today

Jose was the first person I talked to sitting in the vending machine lounge that is on the south-east end of the first floor of the BIC. He had an athletic hair cut, sort of straight swept up dark hair, and fair skin. He wore grey sweats and a pullover fleece. I sat at his feet and tried to remember not to look up at him too long and strain my neck. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I wouldn’t have an answer to that [saying] oh I did this good thing for someone or that… It’s what He’s seen, like a trial.”  When I asked him what the likelihood was he would go to Heaven, did he have a 50/50 shot, he said, “It’s definitely a shot. I haven’t done anything you’d think was so awful. I wouldn’t know a percentage though.” He said he’d had some weird coincidences happen, stuff would come up and then he’d see it in a movie. And then I came by to talk to him. I said it was kinda like God was getting ready to tell him something and he agreed. He listened to the Gospel, stopping me here and there to say something. He did not know what Jesus had done to talk away his sins. He believed as I went through it all with him. When I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Christ had done on the Cross to forgive him so God could live inside him he said, “Yeah I’d want to be forgiven.” So I said there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it,  asking if it was the desire of his heart. He said it was, so, saying he could pray it silently, I offered it to him. He said he had a class soon so I said if he’d like to take a minute to pray I’d keep him in my prayers every day through the spring and one year after. That settled him on it and he said, “ Ok. I’ll read it aloud,” He said two words and then silently prayed the rest to receive Jesus. I quickly explained the Christian life living “inside out” and he said, “Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.” I said something like yeah sure and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” inside the cover of 20 Things God Can’t Do along with “Just Ask” and “by the Spirit’s power” I explained that now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. He thanked me again and said to have a good day and I gave him a Bible study I said, “you too” and he said, “Thanks, I appreciate it.” And he headed out to class.

Razy was sitting in the MAC jut down from the Bagel Shop at a counter height table. She is Filipino, born on a small Island there, round broad cute face and round glasses, her stick straight shoulder length hair was pulled straight back, half tied behind her head. Her father was a doctor and her mom a nurse and they’d hoped she’d go into medicine, but she thought she’d enjoy guidance counseling or something like that. She had a Roman Catholic background and I had given her a Bible sometime last year, but I only half remembered doing so and could not remember much of the conversation. I’d never gone through the Gospel with her though but she said she’d do a student survey and we began to talk. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said, “My God! That’s so big. Sometimes I don’t feel like I should go to Heaven. I feel like I’ve helped people but I feel like there’s more to it than that.” She thought she had a 40% chance of going to Heaven saying, “I’d like to say 50% but I don’t want to be cocky.” She listened to the Gospel and I enjoyed talking to her. She was really nice. She could not remember what Jesus had done to take away her sins really either, but said the people she hung around with at church talked about if someone would go to Heaven or not. As I explained what Jesus had done, she took it all in and she said she’d want to be forgiven when I asked. So I said if she’d like to trust in what Jesus had done for her to be forgiven, there was a prayer she could pray and I explained it and said she could pray it silently right then and know she was forgiven. She agreed and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When she finished I said the likelihood now she would go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus. I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do and a Bible study on the Deity of Christ, telling her I would keep her in my prayers. I said maybe I’d see her around and give her a wave. “Oh I see you around all the time.” So I said “Ok, say hi.” And she agreed, saying as I got up to go, “Bye, it’s nice meeting you again.” “Nice to meet ya too,” I replied and headed out.

Olivia was sitting in the hall way just down from student activities on a row of chairs. She wore dark grey yoga pants and a lavender shirt. She had on a black parka with faux fir on the hood, and her hair was dyed a sandy blonde color. She had long pink nails. She had round cheeks and a pointed, prominent nose. Kind of pointed chin, cute kid. She was fit but wasn’t petite at all. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said, “Because I’ve been a good person.” It turned out she had been talking to her neighbor who was 79 years old who had said she hoped she didn’t have 10 years left and was ready to go. After the conversation she had had a lot of anxiety about death for a few days. She saw her neighbor again and asked her about it and she’d said she was sure she’d go to Heaven and that you just had to do about 80% good things with your life. I said the problem with that was there was no way to calculate clearly if you had done 80% good things and it was hard to calculate what would count as a good thing sometimes. She agreed. She said, “It’s ironic (she meant an interesting coincidence) that I was talking to her as she’d been thinking about death and the last year had been difficult. She wanted to know why things had happened and I told her God let bad things happen for many reasons, sometimes to help us to trust in him more, to test and strengthen us so we can help others. But I said we have to trust in His plans because we can’t always understand. As we talked I could tell she was skipping a beat sometimes understanding what I was saying. Like she was off and on being an airhead, but she grasped everything in the end. Another girl who is clearly troubled, seems a bit nuts frankly, walks around school and can be a little nasty. She walked up and interrupted us several times. She was playing her music loud, not far from us then and bouncing around the floor space. I felt like it was Satan trying to interfere so I gently told her, “You need to go away now.” when she walked up the third time, and she immediately turned around and walked off. I’ve tried to talk to her about God before without much success  Olivia had questions about being forgiven and how that would work. I explained Jesus had been the payment for her sins on the Cross, His blood was a power in the world and it cleansed her when she sinned after that. His righteousness would be to her credit if she trusted in Him, when she stood before God. She had said she wanted to get married and I explained that God wanted from her what she would most want from a guy in marriage, for him to believe in her and her to be able to believe him. God wanted the same thing from us, faith. When I asked her if she wanted to be forgiven trusting in God or thought something else she said, “That one,” placing a long pink fingernail on the circle with God inside your life. I said if she’d like she could pray silently. She nodded and she took the booklet then and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained living “Inside out” to her and said, “Now if I asked why should God let you into Heaven you’d say?” “Because Jesus died for me,” she replied. “Right!” I said. With all the students today I gave them a symbolic view of the Mass saying it commemorates that Jesus had died for them and they should just say thank you. With her also I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven” inside the cover of 20 Things God Can’t Do along with “Just Ask” and “by the Spirit’s power”. And I gave her a Bible Study. I said I would be praying for her each day and she was glad to hear it. I said good bye and said I’d see her around. I went back to talk to her later as I’d forgotten the survey on the seat by her. She said she was glad I’d come back and asked me what she should do about having a hard time thinking. I queried her a bit. It turned out she was addicted to sugar and I encouraged her to cut it out of her diet for a while and drink honey in some warm water so she would not crave sweets and sweeten her tea with it. She said she used to be able to think a lot and for longer, more effectively, she believed when she’d been in High School (she was 20). I offered to pray for her then. We prayed about it together and she felt good about that and I said I would pray for clear thinking, but she might want to mention it next time she went to the doctor.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance God truly blessed and produced good fruit for the work.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking with Jesus. I had a slow day on campus sort of in terms of how many with whom I went through the Gospel. Dave prayed to receive Jesus. Hanad, a Muslim, had an interesting conversation with me after I went through the Gospel with Him. His philosophy class was discussing the existence of God. He thought it was impossible for something to come out of nothing and I agreed telling him the Latin phrase for it they teach you in Philosophy, Ex nihilo nihil fit.  I explained this had not really been a serious question in Philosophy since Alvin Plantinga wrote about God and did his work philosophically on warranted belief; a belief in God is justified in the narrow sense. I told him the lightweights that taught at COD might think it is an issue in class here, but in a place like UCLA or a major philosophy department the issue of God’s existence is accepted. He took a copy of a creation magazine from me.  He also took the booklet I had gone through with him. I explained the problem of evil was an issue for every world view. For evolutionists their problem was that they could not say what Good and Evil even were, it was all relative. Earlier I had spent the first hour answering questions for a guy I had been through the Gospel with, who said he’d gotten what I was saying more now. His name is Brandon. His family has a funeral business which he plans to go into to become a mortician. This is a tough job, handling a lot of people through their grief while at the same time selling them a service. But I helped him with some issues and some questions he had about modern society.

Dave was an interesting guy, sitting on a couch in the hall that runs along the books store. He was short, wearing black jeans and a shiny red Underarmor short-sleeve shirt. He had stick straight brown hair and a bit of facial hair. Looked a little bit the hillbilly. He was originally from Florida and wanted to return and was in the program to become a tech for radiology and MRI exams. He stopped me in the middle of going through the Gospel with several questions about hauntings, ghosts and the like down in Florida north of Tampa that he’d heard of. I explained to him that once you die you either go to Heaven or Hell. But demons impersonate humans after their death because they want to deceive people into thinking they will have options of where they will go after death and that there will not be a judgment.  They also want people to think about other things and distract them from thinking about God and to make it seem like the afterlife is filled with speculative ideas. When I asked him what he would say to God if he died and were asked “Why should I let you into Heaven” he said, “First I’d say Why not? And then I would prove it. [why he should be let in] I would show Him what happened—what I did.“ He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven and had been to several Churches starting out Catholic as a kid. I explained God wanted to take away his sin and what Jesus had done. Jesus’ righteousness could be to his credit, His blood cleansing him and His sacrifice the just payment for his sins. I told him he had to trust in that by faith. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven or thought something else and he said, “The one on the right, be forgiven.” And he pointed at the circle in the booklet with God on the thrown of your life. I said if he wanted to trust in what Jesus had done he could pray to receive His forgiveness. “Hmm,” he softly mused. I walked him through a prayer he could pray asking if it was the desire of his heart. He nodded, so I said he could pray it silently so only God would hear and asked if he’d wanna do that. Shaking his head in affirmation he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. He said he had a Bible in his car and thought the first book I’d offered him he had at home so he decided he take a copy of Bible Promises for You. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front and “By the Spirit’s Power” having explained trusting in the Spirit would give him all the strength he needed to live the Christian life. I gave him a Bible Study and we talk a bit more. I invited him to the Bible study and said regardless I’d see him in Heaven. He said, “I’ll probably see you around.” “OK, if ya do be sure and say hi,” I replied and he said he would and I headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you had a blessed weekend of Grace and good things. I had a good day on Friday doing evangelism. Aaron had lost faith but took The Case for Christianity Answer Book. Val prayed with me to receive Jesus. I came across Ron, who I had gone through the Gospel with in October, in the PE building where I’d last seen him. Then he’d said he did not know what he’d say to God to get into Heaven, “That’s like a hit or a miss.” But after hearing the Gospel he left saying he’d think about it. Friday he said he’d prayed to receive Jesus. So I told him I’d pray for him and gave in a copy of Bible Promises for You. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front, which gave him some joy and he shook my hand. His skin had cleared up since we last spoke, he had a purple head cap, looked satin. Had classic full African American features and a slight mustache and goatee, good looking guy.

Val was sitting at a table in Starbucks on campus. She had a round face and brown hair, grey cotton yoga pants and a dark hoodie. Cute kid. She went to the Spanish-speaking service of the Bible Church in Wheaton. She said she wanted to buy her mom a house. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven and she said, “Because I tried while I was alive. I tried my best to do the right thing for me and for my family.” As I went through the Gospel with her, she knew Jesus had died for her sins but was not trusting in that to save her. After hearing the Gospel without much expression, except to wave off a friend (with some facial expressions and a shaking of her head no who was behind me—I think offering to rescue her.)  I wasn’t sure where she was at as she was pretty stone-faced. I asked her if she wanted to be forgiven or thought something else. “Forgiven,” she replied. So I said when she’d asked for forgiveness for her sins in the past, if she thought she’d make up for what she’d done wrong and God would be forgiving or if she thought “I know I’ll be forgiven because Jesus died for me.” “Just that I tried my best to do things right,” she replied. So I said that if she’d like to be forgiven, trusting in Jesus, there was a prayer she could pray and I explained the prayer to receive Christ’s forgiveness reading the line,” Is this prayer the desire of your heart?” “Yes” she replied. I said if she wanted she could pray it silently. “I wouldn’t hear you, but God would hear and He’d forgive your sins and live inside you and give you the strength you need to live the Christian life. Wanna do it?” She began nodding and then said, “Sure.” “Just pretend I’m not here,” I said. She took the booklet then and prayed to receive Jesus. She did not have a Bible, so I gave her one showing her the “Where to Turn” section. But she seemed in a hurry then, so I flipped to the front writing her name and the date and “forgiven” there. I explained living inside out and gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do, writing “Just Ask” in the front. “Well, you are in a good church,” I said. “I’ll keep you in my prayers” She nodded and I left Starbucks and headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and for evangelism Friday if you had a chance. God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed yesterday and it has rolled right into this morning with continued joy from above. I had a good day on campus yesterday and I’ll be going out today and I’d be grateful for your prayers.

The class I taught a quick segment in went well. I emphasized living “Inside Out” and corrected the notion we worship the same god as Islam. This is really simple to do in about 5 minutes, since the God of Islam is nothing like the God of the Bible.

I got through the Gospel with some peeps that really did not understand it but said they were trusting in Jesus. Lily, a Roman Catholic girl, who said she was trusting in Jesus after hearing the Gospel but said basically she was a good person before. So I hope that is now true at least. One guy, Eli, a football player in the PE lounge, with a rough afro wearing sweats and a here and there beard. Nice guy. I had talked to him last year and he now seemed to understand better and thought he might pray later.  Another churched kid who seemed to think he was good enough to go to Heaven.

I had a good conversation with a girl who had been confused by a cult on campus (that calls themselves MELCHIZEDEK) specifically about the Sabbath day. They say they keep it on Saturday, so your church is wrong to worship on Sunday. This is, of course, a straw man argument if you understand the New Testament which has no Sabbath requirements for the Church. Hebrews 4 teaches Jesus is our Sabbath. 1 Corinthians teaches we are the temple of God. So every day we rest in Jesus, and honor Him with our life. Christianity traditionally changes the Sabbath day to Sunday, but theologically speaking Sunday is not the Sabbath, because every day is the Sabbath for the Christian. Paul encourages us in Rom. 14:5 not to worry about it saying, “One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind.” And in Col. 2:16-17 “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.” A couple different Cults on campus try to use this to confuse Christians, telling them they go to Church on the wrong day. The BLACK ISRAELITES are another. Victoria confessed that Jesus had died for her sins after saying she thought you went to Heaven by good deeds. I don’t think she really understood how anything worked in terms of atonement. Victoria texted me later to thank me. I think she really understood for the first time how her sins had been paid for and the blood of Christ and righteousness of Christ. The New Testament encourages us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, but it makes no difference theologically what day you’d pick to do so. Many churches have a Saturday night service these days. And there is of course nothing wrong with that. But Sunday is not the Christian Sabbath day, it is just a day we get together and nothing is required of us that day we would not do any other day of the week. Though it is good to take a day and rest. Legalistic groups that say they are keeping the Old Testament Law and Sabbath do not even keep the most basic requirements like Ex. 35:3 “You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.” You kindle a fire when you turn on the hot water in your house if you have electronic ignition on your water heater (so if you shower before Church). You also kindle a fire if you start your car, as you spark compressed gas in the cylinder which explodes and burns. Cars run on fire. These groups never think of what they would have to do in the modern world to keep a Sabbath and they all break it in many ways.

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

In Him,

Bob