Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed, we got a cold snap this afternoon here but it got sunny. I had a good day on campus and Melanie prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Melanie was sitting outside the bookstore in the hallway. She’s had a practical pretty face, Latina with lighter brown relish hair. She had a gray cardigan on over a solid blouse and skinny jeans cuffed at the ankles. She had her shoes off with her feet up on the table sitting in a cushy chair. Her black peds socks had stripes across the toes. I asked if she wanted to do a student survey and she asked if I was with CRU. I said I wasn’t but I’d started the group here (in 2002) and in 2009 decided to do my own thing. So she said she’d do it probably out of curiosity. When I asked her what she’d say to God to get into Heaven she said with a quick “ha” laugh, “‘Cause I think I’m pretty decent, I’ve had a relationship with Him before. I don’t think I’ve done anything that would be unforgivable.” I asked what the likelihood she would go to Heaven when she died and she said, “I don’t know, I don’t want to be cocky 80%.” I began to go through the Gospel with her and she knew that Jesus had died for her sins. She’d been going to a Christian Church for about 5 years and liked it there. So I explained to her the rest of the Gospel, that Jesus blood had cleansed her so God could live inside her. Then I explained Jesus righteousness that was too her credit and that we’re clothed with Jesus. “You don’t go to Heaven because you’re good but because Jesus is good and you’re connected to Him. I used analogies and illustrations all the way through. I asked her if she’d want to be forgiven for her sins or thought something else and she said, “I’d want to be forgiven.” So I said that it seemed like she was hoping she’d be good enough to go to Heaven but if she wanted to trust in what Jesus had done there was a prayer she could pray it between her and God so only he would hear, “Wanna do it?” “Well, probably but let me ask you what if someone prayed a prayer like this and then thought they could do whatever they want?” I said I wouldn’t let someone else’s hypocrisy change what I did with God. You can never see someone’s heart and Jesus says not to judge that but we can judge external things. I said 145 people had prayed with me to receive Christ this year and Christians had asked me how I knew if they were really Christians, but the truth is I don’t know if the person asking me is really a Christian or not either. I explained that “Christianity is inside out not outside in, God changes us on the inside and we become good people who do good things on the outside, but doing good things on the outside does not make us Christians or change us on the inside, only God does that.” If someone committed to their wife in marriage but slept with Sally next door they lied in their wedding ceremony. But I’d still get married. I explained life in the Spirit to her a bit too, asking for God’s help and she was satisfied. I explained that everyone was “has” a relationship with God as their Creator but not everyone was “in” a relationship with God trusting in Him as their savior where He can live inside them. I asked again if shed want to pray. “Yeah,” she replied. “Just pretend I’m not here,” I said. “Ok,” she replied and prayed to receive Jesus. I gave her a Rose publication “Following Jesus” and found out she’d attended the Crusade group on campus all year. “You explained this better than anyone ever has at church or in CRU,” she told me. I thanked her and talked about how often Churches do not talk about the Holy Spirit and seemed to be just trying to create a lot of good people by their own effort but that’s not the Christian life. I said was under the impression from talking to others they did not teach much to students in CRU. “No it’s just games,” she replied. I also gave her a Bible study and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front and also wrote “Just ask” and “By the Spirit’s Power”. She thanked me and I explained a few more things to her. She shook my hand and I said, “Nice to meet you.” “Nice to meet you too,” she replied. I got up to go saying I would keep her in my prayers every night until the end of spring and then for one year after that. “Thank you,” she said and was grateful and I headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and ya walked with God. I had a good day on campus though no one came to Christ. I gave a copy of the Student edition of The Case for Christ to Sarah who came from a Catholic life in Mexico. She was an oval faced “all American kid” looking and sounding girl with a stocking cap on her head and a red Stanford sweatshirt on, short. Really nice and she said she liked to read, so I hope the book clicks with her. A black girl Chiquita heard the Gospel after saying she’d be saved by good works then heard the Gospel and said she was a Christian and was trusting in Jesus. So I just said that was great and maybe she’d like to use the booklet sometime to help her share her faith. She had multiple revelatory moments while we talked expressing understanding. She thanked me for a great sermon.  Ashley another black girl had also said she was hoped she’d go to Heaven by some good thing. She was really convicted as she realized she had known the Gospel as I went through it and then realized, it seemed, she had not been trusting in it. She’d said when I asked her why God should let her into Heaven, “Oh my god, wow that is crazy.” then thought for a while and coming up with no reason she should go to Heaven she said, “Because I never judged anyone.” Her class was right across from where we were talking and she rightly said, “I gotta go to class. Can I keep this? [booklet]”  I said, “Sure.” having gone through the prayer with her. Her teacher had her hand on the door knob as she ran in and the door closed so I hope she will receive Jesus. I had a Catholic girl with basically the same kind of experience yesterday too, Theresa.

I’m getting the message out and some good seeds planted if nothing else the past couple days. Sam a guy who had prayed to receive Christ earlier in the year flagged me down in the science building to thank me saying talking with me had really made a huge difference in his life. “No really, I mean it,” he said looking me in the eye. I thanked him sincerely for letting me know and that lifted my heart.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and ya felt the presence of God. I had a good day on campus. I got one seed planted with an Indian guy Josh resisting the Gospel. I got in some good encouraging talks with some Christians who were nice a couple of which I had not met before. And Grace prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Grace was sitting in the hallway leading out of the PE building to the Mac Arts outdoor theatre. She was waiting for her workout class to begin and seemed to be a little early. She was dressed in leggings with a tweed print on them and a blue hoodie. All she had with her was a pink purse so it must have been her only class that day. Her shoulder length hair was a bit flyaway she had a full, pretty oval face and full lips. She wanted to skydive but felt a little stereotypical with the response but I said, “They should have a class here, seems like everyone would take it. Be a nice way to meet someone.”  It is a common response. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into heaven if she died and she said, “Because it was my time, I can’t go against what He does.” She seemed to be assuming she would go to Heaven and had said she was spiritual, raised catholic but wasn’t going to Church anymore. She thought the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%.  When I asked her what the big thing was that Jesus had done to take away her sins she didn’t seem to remember anything. So I just said, “This is how it works,” and began to explain the atonement to her and the blood of Christ, that cleansed her, and the righteousness of God that could be to her credit. She was really enthusiastic about the Gospel and said affirming things at every point like, “I like that.” I asked her If she would want to be forgiven or thought something else and she said, “I definitely want to be forgiven!” enthusiastically. So I said she could just ask God for His forgiveness in a prayer. I showed her the prayer she could pray silently and unsure of what to do she said, “I read it?” “Yeah, silently in your heart,” I replied. “God will read your thoughts.” So she prayed then to receive Jesus. She said she had a Bible at home she could read. The real problem with giving her one was her purse was not much bigger than a clutch and she already had a hat in there rolled up. She did end up taking 20 Things God Can’t Do after I suggested she could let it stand on end. So I explained life in the Spirit and that everything God was asking her to do He would give her the power to do, living “Inside Out” she just needed to ask and depend on Him. So I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven” on the inside and she liked that and thanked me. I gave her a Bible study showing her some of the ways Jesus claimed to be God by doing what the Old Testament said only God could do and explained that Jesus walking on the water was spoken of in Job as something God did. “Wow,” she said, moved by the prophetic nature of the story. I got up to leave as her class was beginning and I told her I would pray for her through this spring and one year after asking God to bless her each night. “Wow thank you so much this is awesome!” she said with feeling. And I shook her hand and said, “Yeah, I’ll see you in Heaven and left her smiling as I walked away. It was great sharing with her she really took everything to heart.

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 you had a good day we are grateful the snow melted here, most of it yesterday, so much for global warming, but hey. I had a good day on campus and got a couple seeds planted and Eddie prayed with me to receive Jesus as his savior. I gave Jack (a guy with red hair and beard and a ball cap, kind of looked like the woodsman type) the student edition of The Case for Christ to read. Rodrigo said he liked the prayer and thought he might pray it later he had a few days growth of brown beard and stick straight hair.

Eddie was standing near the double doors as you walk out the back of the computer center about to go to his class, as I was heading out. So I took one last stab at trying to get someone to a student survey. And he said he would. He was wearing a yellow gold hoodie with a school name on it in big letters, had a day growth of beard and a James Dean hair cut. He stood a little shorter than me as we stood looking out the window leaning on a ledge. He said he’d gone to Catholic school and went to church every week. When I asked him what he would say to God if asked why He should let him into Heaven he said, “That’s tough.” Then thinking a bit he said, “I’d just say I lived my life by His values. I was forthright to my friends and good to my family.” He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven when he died. As I went through the Gospel with him he knew Jesus had died to take away his sins and listened to how His blood had cleansed him and the Righteousness of God is to his credit [Romans 5:19]. I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven trusting in the work of Christ or thought something else or wanted to hope he was good enough. “Forgiven with God inside,” he replied. I said that if he wanted to place his trust in that there was prayer he could pray and I walked him through it quickly. And asked if he’d like to pray it so only God could hear and be forgiven. “Yeah,” he replied. And he prayed to receive Jesus. I quickly explained living inside out by the spirit’s power having explained the symbolism in the mass. I gave him a Bible study and 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “By the Spirit’s power” in the front along with his name and the date and “forgiven” showing him the 100 Bible verses in the back. He’d been looking at his watch off and on all through the time I talked with him, though he’d smiled and been engaged. I knew he had to go. So I shook his hand and he said “Thank you,” and I said, “I’ll see you in Heaven,” and he smiled and headed down the hall into the main building and I headed for my Truck.

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 day was filled with good things today and you were blessed. Lea and Storm prayed to receive Jesus today, so I had a good day at school.

Lea was sitting on the floor in the hall on the second floor of the BIC. She had a cute angular face, square jaw kind of like Sandra Bullock and shoulder length brown hair. She wore blue leggings like you would run in and a blue and orange Illinois sweatshirt and was built like a runner. I asked her if she’d do a survey and when she said “Sure,” I sat down next to her on the floor. She wanted to be a HUAC tech, unusual for a girl but she said she was mechanical. I said at our house my wife was often better at those things than I. That gave us a connection and we enjoyed talking from there. When I asked her what she would say to God if He asked why should I let you into Heaven she said, “I’ve been faithful my whole life. I’m constantly practicing my faith and I’ve never, like, let that go I guess.” I asked her what the likelihood she would go to Heaven was and she said, “70%, not so sure, everyone sins. So I’d say high but not that high.” I began to go through the Gospel with her asking what the big thing was that Jesus had done to the away her sins. “He died.” She said. And I said, “Right” and began to explain how He had lived a perfect life on our behalf and his blood had cleansed us so he could live inside us and she said, “Right.” following along. Then I explained how His righteousness was to her credit, like extra credit in a class. His righteousness gave her 100% though she was getting a zero. Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to 500 people at one time, everyone saw Him that’s why they believed. Since God had done all this for her she could have this apply to her if she received Jesus, believed he was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. I asked if she would want to be forgiven or thought something else. “I’d want to be forgiven,” she replied. If you’d like to trust in Jesus to be forgiven there’s a prayer you could pray.” And I talked her through it and said, “I know you knew the story, but you know you grow up in the church and it all fits with you but maybe don’t have a chance to think about it. But if you’d like to be forgiven trusting in Jesus and His goodness instead of hoping you could do enough good things. The problem with doing good things is you are never sure you have done enough.” “Yeah,” she agreed.  So I said that if she wanted to trust in Christ that she could pray, not so I heard her but God would hear and she’d know she was forgiven. “Sure,” she said with conviction. She prayed then to receive Jesus. I explained when she was at Church the wafer was symbolic of his body and wine of his blood and it was to remind us He had died for our sins so we are forgiven. “Oh,” she replied. So when they do that at church I try to remember to say thank you.” “I always do that,” she replied. I gave her a Bible because she did not have her own and showed her the “Where to Turn” section to answer questions and she liked that. I put her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do explaining that anything the book said she should do that God would give her the power to do it by His Spirit, she needed only to ask. And I wrote, “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front. She gave me her email and I told her I would pray for her and gave her a Bible Study. Saying Jesus said we should become as a child, meaning we should be dependent. I said as I get older I keep asking Him to change me. “It gets easier,” she said. “Yeah, it does because you are trusting more in God.” I replied. Shaking her hand then getting up to go I said, “God bless you and I’ll keep you in my prayers.” “Thank you,” she said musically with a bright tone. And I headed out.

I came across Storm sitting in the MAC Lounge on the second floor that overlooks gallery space and some seating. He said his parents named him Storm because he almost died at child birth and needed an 800 thousand dollar procedure that left scars, which he showed me. On his right side he has no detectable pulse. There was another scar on his skull I could not see as he had thick curls about the width of my finger about 2 inches long and he also wore a short thin curly beard. He looked biracial, having very fair skin but his language use and tone seemed urban. He had a black oversized sweater with horizontal stripes and Jeans on and we sat at the counter high table and talked over his open text book. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven and he said, “I been helping, trying to help people believe. I’m not a church go-er but I say my prayers at night.” I asked him what the likelihood he would go to Heaven was and he said, “70%, at least 65% I never hurt anybody.” I went through the Gospel with him then and he didn’t seem to know any of the details but he tuned right in and was receptive taking everything in, he was friendly and open. After explaining all I had said to Lea I asked if he’d want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus or if he thought something else and he said, “I would want to be forgiven with God.” So I asked, “Do you believe Jesus is God, He died for your sins and rose from the Dead? Do you think that’s true?” “Yeah,” he said making an affirming face shaking his head a bit. So I said well if you’d want to place your trust in that to be forgiven there’s a prayer you can pray.” And I talked him through the pray to accept Jesus’ forgiveness asking if it was the desire of his heart and he said, “Yeah.” So I said he could pray it silently, not so I would hear but God would hear and know he was forgiven, “Want do it?” “Yeah,” he replied and he prayed to receive Christ, I explained living by the Sprit’s power “Inside Out” and gave him a copy of 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. And I gave him a Bible study on the deity of Christ. I told him, “I’ll pray for you. God bless your life, He preserved it and now He’s going to preserve it forever baby.” I said shaking his hand. “You got eternal life.” “Thank youuuu.” he said enthusiastically. And I smiled and headed out.

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

Blessings,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you day was blessed today. I had a good day sharing the Gospel and Julio prayed with me to receive Christ, his girlfriend Anjelica seemed open so please pray for her too.  I encouraged one Christian Janelle, who’d had no assurance of salvation to trust in the righteousness of Christ, an older Black student. And Dejon a black student with a wide nose and typical teenage skin problems with a worn white hoodie up over his head came near to accepting Christ over some objections to the validity of the Bible, but I erased them. H was a big guy and had to head to class but he took the student edition of The Case for Christ and said he needed to think about it a bit more and warmly thanked me.

Julio was sitting down a hallway leading out of the PE building towards the outdoor theater outside of the MAC arts building. He was not doing much just waiting for his girlfriend’s workout class to get out, as he sat and ate an energy bar and drank a soda and said he’d do a survey. He had a round boyish face looked young with a nice smile (reminded me of Alvin from Alvin and the chipmunks). He went to Catholic Church. When I asked him what he would say to God if he died to get into Heaven he said, “I don’t know really what I would say. He’d see all the actions I have done.” He said concerning the likelihood he would get into Heaven, “100% if it is original sin.” “Because of baptism?” I asked. And he said “Yeah, no one’s perfect. There’s a story where there is a book in front of you [when you die] with all the names of people who get into Heaven, if you have to look to see if you’re in it you’re not doing something right.” “Because you are afraid,” I replied. “Yeah,” he said. I said the last thing was some Bible verses that explain how you get into Heaven and he’d probably like it. I went through the Gospel with Him and asked what the big thing Jesus had done was that had taken away his sin. “The big thing?” he replied. But he could not think of anything. So I began to explain the death of Jesus to pay for his sins and the blood of Jesus Cleansed us from all sin like it is a life force in the world. It cleanses us as we continue to sin and have to repent of it in a fallen world. I explained we did not go to Heaven because we are good but because Jesus is good and we are connected to Him. I pointed out the wafer was symbolic of his body and the wine symbolic of his blood when the mass was done at church. Explaining the imputed righteousness of Christ and how Paul tells us no matter what we might do to think we earn it we have to trust in this by Faith. I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins, at the end trusting, in what Jesus had done or thought something else. “That one,” he said gesturing toward the circle with God inside you. So I said if he’d want to trust in that there was a prayer he could pray to be forgiven and walking him through it I asked if it was the desire of his heart, “Yeah,” he replied.” I said he could pray it silently so only God could hear asking if he wanted to do it and he nodded yes and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When he finished I explained living the Christian life “Inside Out” asking God to change him by the Spirit and that everything God was asking him to do He would give him the power to do. He had his own Bible so I gave him 20 things God Can’t Do and wrote “By the Spirit’s power” and his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. His girl friend Anjelica came out getting her stuff together (he’d been watching it for her) next to the bench we were on. She’d heard a little so I said, “Would you like a book?” and she said sure with a big smile. I checked to see if they were boyfriend and girlfriend. She was a real cute, sort of round face kid with a bit of a pointy chin with long brown shoulder length hair, bright wide eyes and a warm smile. I gave her Bible Promises for You saying they could share and gave her a booklet explaining it was how you get to Heaven since they’d probably like to be there together and they laughed and she agreed taking the booklet. So hopefully she will read it and be able to trust in Christ with his help. Hopefully I’ll be able to bump into them again to find out, if her class is there on Wednesday, please pray for her. They seemed appreciative and 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 day was blessed today and things were great. I had a good day on campus. I got one seed planted with an atheist, James who said he had stopped believing because his church told him he needed to witness to all his friends or they would go to Hell and that if he didn’t, he would go to Hell. This seemed unlikely to me but I said if he’d had one bad girlfriend he would not have given up on dating he could have tried a different Church. He did not have much of a response to that; he kind of weakly said he objected to hell. So When I went through the Gospel with him I talked about the justice of God and that seeing he could not pay the price for his sins God paid.  He said “That makes sense,” a couple times. I’m not sure he necessarily could have lead his friends to Christ as it did not seem he really knew the Gospel well. But at least we had an amicable conversation while he played a guy from Croatia on his phone in Chess, which seemed pretty much an auto-pilot enterprise for him. I encouraged 3 Christians in their faith today too and they seem like they enjoyed the talk so that was good.

140 Students have received Christ after hearing the Gospel this year from me so God has truly blessed and we have a couple of them at Bible study and they are great girls.

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 day was blessed. I had kind of a strange day where a guy who said he was 19 and homeless prayed to trust in Christ. David was sitting in the hall that meets the corners of 4 buildings on the ground floor. His hair was swept back and he didn’t look like he’d had a recent hair cut. His clothes were not trashed though he said he was sleeping under a bridge, kind of a stereotypical non-residence, and it was too far from school (Elmhurst) for him to have walked from there. He said he’d showered at a friend’s house who walked by while we were talking. He wore a black fleece zipped up the front up his neck and black skinny jeans. He was Latino and had a slight accent. His mustache was very thin under his nose and a bit thicker on either side of his lip and he had an under bite. He said he was there to look into getting his GED but discovered he had to wait until June. He said he’d been hassled by the cops that day not having an ID but later said he had gotten one from student services. He said some other things that didn’t add up but I focused on the Gospel with him. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I’m worthless in this place no one wants me [on earth].” “So you need a better place to be?” I asked and he agreed. He thought he had a 50/50 chance to get into heaven. He did not know any of the Gospel so I went through it with him (he had not been to church since he was a kid) and he looked me in the eye the whole time.  So I finished the Gospel with him and he wanted to be forgiven. I read through the prayer with him and he did not have a strong faith but he wanted to pray and did. He said his father was dead two years past and his mom had kicked him out when he’d gone to live with his father, who also later kicked him out at gunpoint. He also said his dad owned a Rolls-Royce and a  Lamborghini, which seemed unlikely but who knows, his father did some things going into Mexico. His license was confiscated while his dad was alive in an incident with police involving a DUI. His grandmother had recently died. I gave him a Bible and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” and gave him the booklet, which he was reading when I returned from the truck having gotten a few bucks to give him (I had forgotten my wallet). I encouraged him to contact Christian legal aid. An hour or so later I found him at school and he had called them and they were going to get back to him. I gave him my number and prayed for him as I walked around. Tonight I got a text saying his contact at Christian Legal aid offered him a place to stay. But his mom decided he could go back home, in June. He told me some “thug life” tales today that seemed a bit stretched but I’m hopeful he’ll turn a corner. He texted me his mom had hooked him up with a lawyer too. He also asked for $100 for clothes and I turned him down saying unfortunately my ministry did not give me money for things like that. He also said he had a court date July 14 which he could not have gotten already unless he’d had it or a lot happened since 2 PM. So I’ll keep him in my prayers and hope his prayer was real.  Interesting weave of stuff possibly only half true but I’m hoping he genuinely desired Christ.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

May God bless you this Easter weekend! He is risen indeed! I had an interesting day at school and Alex  prayed with me to receive Jesus.

I had made a time to meet with Steph, a girl who prayed to receive Christ after I went through the Gospel with her at a book table this year. She’s a great kid who was adopted by a single mother and rescued thusly away from some bad circumstances; her bio-mom is an addict. She grew up Roman Catholic. Tiny, petite girl cute with light brown hair. I spent over two hours answering questions and going through the scriptures with her in the Big lounge where we meet for Bible Study, helping her understand how to present the Gospel to a guy she was interested in who was Catholic too, Jose. She’d been coming to the Bible study but was sick Tuesday so I told her I’d meet her in the lounge and teach her some stuff.

When she’d headed out I walked through the school for about 45min. Three floors of the main academic building and the Mac Arts and over to the PE building. The school was a ghost town, pretty much empty, no takers, so I headed out. I got out to my truck and was leaving campus, driving under the pedestrian bridge between the main buildings, I had just walked through and the Science and Health buildings. But then felt God was telling me to walk through the science buildings kind of like a prompting that I had not looked in there. So after trying to ignore the prompting, being tired and finding no one for 45 min already, I pulled out on the street but felt compelled. So I did a U turn drove back in and parked easily as lots of spaces were empty and went into the science buildings to “cast the net on the other side of the boat” [john 21:6]. Walking in I thought about when I did an internship for Crusade and having an hour at the end of the day would walk through the empty halls and sometimes find one person to receive Jesus. I told myself at least I was obedient. I don’t think there are even any classes scheduled in the science buildings that late on a Friday. Those buildings were basically empty too, no one in the halls though 2 or 3 people were studying in the main lounge that connects the buildings and did not want to talk. I went to the end of the hall in the second building and three people were studying. There were two guys at a table; the other was Alex in a fleece pullover, kind of a washed out wine color. She had light brown hair pulled back behind her head and a pleasant, kind oval face, she was studying by herself. I asked her if she’d like to do a student survey as she was looking at her phone. “Well I’m not a student here,” she replied. I said, “Well, ya wanna hear what the Bible says about Easter and stuff?” “OK,” she replied.  So we began. She said she wanted go to a mountain and I told her about one I had climbed. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” She thought for a moment and said, “I guess I grew up Catholic and although I’m not as diligent as my Grandmother wants me to be, I do my best to be a good person. I show it in other ways. I pray every night.” When I asked her what the likelihood she would go to Heaven was she thought and said, 94% and laughed a bit. I told her the last part was what she thought about Christianity and said it was just some bible verses and she’d probably like it and began to teach her the Gospel. She said she’d gone through “communion and Sunday School and stuff”. She knew Jesus died to take away our sins when I asked what he’d done. So I explained that His blood had also cleansed us and His righteousness was to our credit. “You don’t go to Heaven because you’re good but because Jesus is good and you’re connected to Him. Like if you marry a millionaire you got a million bucks or if you get adopted into a billionaire’s family you get to live in the mansion and drive the cars. So God adopts us and gives us the blessings of His family; He gives us the sacrifice for our sins, the blood that cleanses us and the Righteousness of God that surrounds us. So you got someplace to go, Heaven, and ya got something to wear when ya get there, the righteousness of God. Revelation says everyone gets a white robe and a secret name only you know and God knows.” I said I really liked the secret name part. I said she needed to receive Jesus by faith, believe Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. Finally I asked if she’d want to be forgiven for her sins believing Jesus had died for her or if she thought something else. “I’d like to be forgiven, yeah,” she replied. So I said if she’d want to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray trusting in Jesus. And I walked her through it saying I knew she knew the story and that everyone has a relationship with God as He is there creator, but not everyone is in a relationship with God where they trust that He is there savior and He lives inside them and gives them the strength to live the Christian life. I explained how that worked a bit and then going back to the prayer I said if she wanted to be forgiven and have God as her savior and not just hope she was good enough she could pray it silently. The guys had long since left the lounge. “Wanna do it?” I asked. “Sure, she said with a slight laugh.”Just pretend I’m not here,” I said.  And she took the booklet and prayed and received Jesus. I told her she could keep it and explained the fruit of the Spirit and how everything God was asking her to do He would give her the power to do. I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “By the Spirit’s Power” her name and the date and “forgiven” on the inside, which she liked. Then I wrote “Good Friday!” and said, “It was a good Friday for you,” and she agreed saying enthusiastically, “It was.” She seemed happy and I gave her a Bible Study and she thanked me. I got her email to send her another Bible Study on prophecy. I told her I would keep her in my prayers through the end of the spring and one year after each night asking God to bless her. “Thanks so much,” she replied. I said she was welcome and told her how God had kind of made me come back in the building. I wished her happy Easter and said I would see her in Heaven. I headed down the hall and then turned around going back to tell her that if she trusted in the righteousness of Jesus to be her Righteousness the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. That seems to lift her heart even a bit more and I headed out.

So thanks so much for your prayers for the Ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance, God lead me by His Spirit and truly blessed.

Happy Easter!

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and you had joy walking with the Lord. I had a good day on campus finding out Erik who had said he would pray later on March 4th had prayed to receive Jesus. I wrote in March, “Erik committed to Christ saying he would pray later. He promised and offered to pinky swear that he’d pray, so we did.” So he was good as his word. I had given him a Bible Promises book and he shared the booklet with his mom. I told him I would put him on my everyday prayer list and he was glad for that. When we talked before he said we had spoken a few times before that and he said it again today but he had seen the booklet for the first time on the 4th so I know I had not gone through the gospel with him until then. When kids turn me down I sometimes engage them about something else, the Cubs or something involving their hat or their t-shirt. But finding him finally willing to talk paid off. He had forgotten my name today but I’d remembered his having been praying for him. His mom is an evangelical from South America. He was grateful.

I went through the Gospel with Brandon who seemed familiar with it and seemed like he was Eastern European in accent. He’d been raised for a while with religious grandparents but now lived with his parents who were atheists  When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I would say… gimme a sec.” Then after a few moments he said, “Because when I know the truth, if I know there’s a Heaven and I know there’s a God I will do my best to be a faithful Christian.” After I went through the Gospel with him, which he seemed somewhat familiar with knowing Jesus had died he said, “Right now I’m on the outside trying to find a reason.” So I showed him the student edition of The Case for Christ and I explained Strobel’s background and credentials to find the evidence and said, “Seems like there’s some reasons to believe in here.” He gratefully took the book. He was a heavy set guy as was Erik who had short hair to Brandon’s mop, (and Erik looks Latino) both wore sweats but Brandon’s beard came in sparely and he’d tried to make it long to compensate and wore glasses.

Finally I went through the Gospel with a pretty girl, Grace, who was lying on the concrete cap of the low stone wall on the end of the pond behind the MAC Arts building. She had long brown hair and was dressed in skinny jeans and tennis shoes with a black button down the front sweater and a jacket she had zipped open. She thought about getting into Heaven, “I always thought about my actions and how they would impact the greater good.” She thought she might not have a chance at Heaven with the God of the Old Testament who seemed merit based but possibly the God of the New Testament who looked at your motives. She thought Jesus was a new kind of Rabbi based on that. I said that Jesus had said about divorce when they asked Him if they could just get rid of their wives that, no they had to say married and could not be cruel to their wives. They complained Moses had told them they could give their wives a certificate of divorce and get rid of her. Jesus answered that Moses had written that because of the hardness of their hearts. So a lot of the harshness of the Old Testament was because God was dealing with a hard hearted people. But Isaiah said God would take out their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh and then write His law on there hearts. She nodded at that. But to do that God has to be inside you. And I explained how God wanted to live inside her. I told her that I thought that the God of the Old Testament and the New were there same God and said, “You know how Jesus walks on the water?” She’d heard the story. “Well he walks up to them and even though the first thing he says is “It is I”, they still thought he was a ghost and freaked out. It’s kind of like a comedy sketch.” She smiled at that. “Then the one guy tries to walk out to him and he sinks and Jesus says, ‘Why did you doubt?’ and he floats him puts him back in the boat. He’s soaking wet the rest are freaking out so he just makes the boat go right to shore like a motor boat, to get it over with, but it’s really like a miracle to make people look stupid. But if you look in the Old Testament…” I reached into my bag and got out the Bible study to show her the verse, “Job writes describing God, ‘Who alone stretches out the Heaven, and marches on the waves of the sea.’ [Job 9:8] So Jesus comes to them at night waling on the sea, to tell them He is the God of the Old Testament.” I went through the Gospel with her and when I asked her if the prayer I read at the end was the desire of her heart she said, “Sometimes it is.” So I said maybe she will want that and explained living inside out. She was a sweet kid. I wished her Happy Easter and she said she’d be celebrating Passover. “Blessings on your Passover,” I said. She had zipped up her black hooded coat to go inside. I said it was nice to meet her and then having walked a few steps I turned and called her name and she stopped And I said, “Would you like this Bible study?” She said she would and took it. So I will be praying she will know her God is her savior.

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

In Him,

Bob