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

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you are enjoying some sun somewhere granted to us by the Lord. I had a good day on campus that was filled with a lot of discussions with Christians. One I’d talked to in the past had prayed to receive Jesus as he’d said he might when I last saw him. Mike who I mentioned on March 22 was close to receiving Christ after only going through the Gospel with him. He had turned me down a few times to do a survey but let me tell him the good news on the 22nd. He has a dark brown mop of hair swept back; his nose a bit of a knob end on it so I hope that will help me remember his face when I pray for him.  Good looking guy. I came across him in the same lounge upstairs in the PE building this time sitting at a table. I asked if he had “prayed the prayer” and he said, “I am praying it every night.” So I said that was great that I had been praying for him but I would move him to my list where I’ll pray for him every day. He was grateful for that. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do and explained how everything was by the Spirit’s power, so that he could know everything God was asking him to do He would give him the Power to do by the Spirit. So I put his name in the front and “forgiven” and “By the Spirit’s Power” and he waved at me later, walking out, as I was talking to another guy who had received Christ earlier in the year. So that was great.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. I had some good discussions and was able to find out Mike had trusted Christ.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you had a good day walking with the Lord. I had kind of a slow day on campus. But Arturo prayed with me to receive Jesus. I also bumped into Danni again who had prayed to receive Jesus April 1st and she warmly said, “Thanks so much for the talk.” So that was great that she was still really grateful having prayed to receive Jesus. I told her she was welcome and I was praying for her each night.

Arturo was sitting in the hallway on the ground floor of the BIC. He was a very reserved guy. He had a kind unassuming oval face and a beard he was just starting to work on, sideburns and jaw line. He had stick straight hair cut pretty short same length, as if he had begun 4 weeks ago with a shaved head. He wore a t-shirt and black pants black cross trainers. He was soft spoken and thought things through before he spoke. When I asked him what he would say to God if asked why He should let him into Heaven he thought for a while and finally said, “I would say that He should let me into Heaven because… I lived my life in the way that I didn’t cause any harm.” He seemed a little dissatisfied then saying he didn’t know how to say it. “Didn’t do any damage?” I asked trying to help and he agreed that would work. He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. He was extremely chill. So I began to go through the Gospel with him and finding out he went to a Catholic church I said the rest of the survey was, “just some Bible verses” and “he’d probably like it”. As I went through the Gospel with him he knew Jesus had been crucified to take away his sins. So I explained that He had also lived a perfect life and HIs blood cleansed him. Having perfectly kept the Law He earned the righteousness of God that was to his Credit [imputation]. When I’d finished that part he nodded his head in agreement. I explained that Jesus had risen from the dead and that he needed to believed Jesus was God, had died for his sins and rose from the dead, “Not that you just know the story but that that’s what you put your trust in. So if someone would say to you, ‘Why should god let you into Heaven? You’d be like, “‘Cause Jesus died for me.’ That would mean you got faith in Jesus. And the Bible says, by grace you’ve been saved through faith...” I went on to explain his good stuff did not fix his bad stuff. But that God can change the trajectory of even bad things that happen to us and turn them into good things quoting Romans 8:28. I asked if he’d want to be forgiven for his sins with God inside or though something else. “Forgiven with Christ inside,” he replied. So I said if he’d wanted to trust in what Jesus had done to be forgiven instead of just hoping he didn’t do too much damage and things would work out there was a prayer he could pray. I walked him through it and asked if it was the desire of his Heart and he said, “Yeah.” Saying he could pray it silently I said, “Wanna do it?” “Yeah,” he said with a positive, upbeat tone. And Arturo prayed to receive Christ. When He finished I began explaining the Christian life. He thanked me a couple times. I gave him a Bible since he did not have his own and put his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I explained that if he trusted in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. He thanked me again and said it was nice to meet me. I gave him a Bible study and got his email to send him some stuff and gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing by the Spirit’s power in the front and showing him the 100 Bible verses in the back. “It was nice to meet you. Thank you. Thank you,” he said again shaking my hand. I got up to go and said, “Yeah. It was nice meeting you too, thanks for being so gracious.” And I headed out.

Arturo was the first person I talked to and I didn’t find anyone else to go through the Gospel with all day but I chatted up some peeps I knew and God truly blessed. Thanks for your prayers.

In Him,

Bob

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you had a great day walking with the Lord. I had a good day on campus and God led me to some people who wanted to hear and be forgiven though I only got through the gospel with 3 students. Michael, Tom and Byron each prayed with me to receive Jesus today.

Michael was the first guy I spoke to right in the hall immediately down from row of lockers I use on a row of chairs. He was wearing a runner’s zipper jacket and jeans. Smaller guy and thin with a mop of brown hair swept back and the occasional freckle (the ones girls call beauty marks). Good looking kid, kind of magazine good looks except I suppose for his size. He was friendly and wanted to start a computer game business. When I asked him what he would say to God to be let into Heaven he said, “I’d say that I followed His commands.” It turned out he had been turned off as a Roman Catholic kid by the institutional church, which has admittedly had a myriad or the worst kind of corruption problems. But he felt like he still lived a life of faith and was 100% sure he would go to Heaven. He knew Jesus had died to take away his sins as we talked. I explained the imputed righteousness of God, Jesus had earned by fulfilling the Law and that he wouldn’t go to Heaven because he was good but because Jesus was good and he was wrapped up with Him. “OK,” he said understanding. I told him he needed to trust in that and the cross of Christ to be forgiven and asked him if he wanted to be forgiven with God inside or thought something else. He thought for a moment and then pointed to the circle with Christ on the throne and said, “Be forgiven.” So I said there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it. “Is this prayer the desire of your heart?” I read to him and he thought it was. Asking if he’d like to pray silently to be forgiven I offered it to him and he said, “Yeah,” and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life living by the Spirit’s power Inside out reading some stuff to him in the back. “This is a good booklet,” He said. I agreed it lined everything up but one of the best parts is what I had added about the Righteousness of God being to his credit, as it meant he did not have to earn it by good things since none of our actions were perfect. He agreed. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing by the Spirit’s power” and his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front explaining everything God was asking him to do He would give him the power to do by His Spirit. I gave him a Bible Study too. He had to run to class so I gave him a Bible study on the deity of Christ and said I’d cut him loose. “Thank you,” he said as I got up to go. And I sad he was welcome.

Tom was sitting in the cafeteria an hour or so later in the day. He had tight curly hair, very short on the sides and what was almost a perfect afro on top except he was blonde and blue eyed so the curls were bigger, being Caucasian, than that of someone of African heritage. He had on a grey t-shit and what looked to be faded blue jeans. He was extremely friendly and nice, not in a fake way but if he lived in your neighborhood you’d want him greeting new peeps on the block. Kind of naturally affirming. He said he wanted to have a family, which is one of the telltale responses that mean a guy will accept Christ. When I asked him what he would say to God he thought out loud a little and finally landed on, “I tried my best. That’s what I’d say.” I asked him the likelihood he would go to Heaven and he said, “I don’t practice so I’d say zero %.” it turned out his dad had asked him to check out Roman Catholicism when he was a kid but he hadn’t been to church since then. He listened closely to the Gospel and could not think of anything when I asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sins. “I feel like I probably know this…” he said. So I began to go through the Gospel with him and explain the death of Christ to pay for his sins and His blood that cleansed him so God could live inside. He said he’d want to be forgiven so I asked if he thought it was true Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead. He more or less said he thought so but though he could not be sure he wanted to “Take a leap” and trust in that. So I offered him the prayer in the booklet explaining it and asked if he would like to pray it silently so God could hear and forgive him? “Definitely, especially recently.” So I gave him the booklet and he took his time and prayed to receive Jesus. So that was great. He did not have his own Bible so I gave him one showing him the “Where to Turn” section and told him there was section too on prophecies that were fulfilled by Jesus. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I also gave him a Bible Study and 20 Things God Can’t Do writing by the Spirit’s power” in the front explaining the Christian life “Inside Out” and that everything God was asking him to do He would give him the power to do. I asked what he meant by “especially recently” and he said that about 6 months ago he just somehow began thinking he just couldn’t believe there wasn’t a Heaven. That thought had stayed with him. He said about our conversation, “You could call it a coincidence.” “Or providence,” I suggested. “Yes providence,” he agreed smiling warmly. He had to run to class. I got up to go and he said, “Thank you, good luck!” He meant that I would find more people to believe in Jesus as we’d talked about what I was up to and how I had to trust in God to make good out of my actions, or I would be afraid that I might do more harm than good talking to people about God. Thanks,” I replied and he headed out of the cafeteria to class.

I walked around some more and when I got to the PE lounge headed up the stairs walking beside Jerry, who had prayed to receive Jesus the other day. He was sweating having played some pick-up basketball. I shook his hand and said I was praying for him and he said he’d prayed for me too so I thanked him. Byron was lounging on a sofa upstairs. He was a good looking guy with a 4 inch braids on the top, short on the side, afro. Good looking black guy with a short wide face and a little bit of beard coming through sort of randomly. He wore a gray and white zip up camo hoodie and nylon black workout sweats, black sox and sandals, had some style to him. He was about my size with an athletic build. He wasn’t too interested in doing a survey so I asked if he’d want to know how to get to heaven, “the short version”. He seemed amenable so squatting beside him nearer his head I said, “Like if you died and God asked why He should let you into Heaven what would you say?” “I guess I’d say I’m a good person.” I asked if he wanted to know what the Bible said and he seemed open still, “Christianity is like a blood transfusion,” I said. “I have A+ blood so if they fill me full of B- in the hospital I would clot up and die. God wants to fill you up with His Holy Spirit but first he has to take away your sin, then you are his type and He can live inside you. Then it’s like you are the energizer bunny God is the batteries, you keep going and going and when you die it’s like you don’t die cause God’s inside.” He liked that and acknowledged everyone sinned. So I asked what Jesus had done to take away his sins but he could not think of anything. So I began to explain the Gospel and used the booklet writing down some verses. It turned out he went to church regularly. I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in Christ and he said he did so I offered him the prayer and explained it telling him he could pray silently and be forgiven with God inside, giving him strength to live the Christian life. I asked if he’d wanna pray and he said , “Yeah,” and prayed to receive Jesus. I also gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “by the Spirit’s power”and his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I gave him a Bible study too. I showed him the survey he hadn’t done and wrote down his answer that he was good saying now he’d say, “Jesus died for me” and he agreed. I showed him the likelihood he would go to heaven was 100% because he was now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness. He was grateful and as he got up I was still on my knees when he shook my hand and said, “‘Preciate  you.” “‘Preciate you too,” I replied. and he headed out and I headed towards my locker.

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 your heart was thankful. I had a good day on campus and Brianna prayed with me to receive Jesus today. Also a newly decided atheist, Raheem, seemed responsive. A thin guy with shoulder length dreadlocks and a mustache and goatee, dressed in all black, my height. His Haitian family turned out to be into the Black Israelite legalism cult. They claim you must keep the Old testament law and believe they are doing so. I think his atheism was in part due to the burden of the legalism of the cult. I pointed out a few things that seemed to help. One was that anyone who drove a car on the Sabbath was kindling a fire if they drove an internal combustion engine as a spark to compressed gas causes an explosion in the cylinder that moves an automobile. “Every car runs on fire,” I told him unless it was electric. “If you take a shower you have caused the electronic pilot to spark and ignite gas as you drain the hot water tank to heat more, so if you showered on the Sabbath you kindled a fire,” I explained to him. Then I explained how Jesus was your Sabbath rest based on Hebrews chapter 4. I said that the Bible says we are the temple of God and He lives inside us. So it is not that we have changed the Sabbath to Sunday and broken the Law, but that now everyday is our Sabbath rest in Jesus. We did not make the Sabbath less, we made it more as we keep it 7 days in Christ. Because we are a temple and His presence by the Holy Spirit is within us, each day we rest in Him and we praise Him in His Temple, our bodies. He said he had never heard it explained that way before though he went to church with his family each Saturday. He also had problems with all the evil in the world and I explained and talked him through that as well, saying God was working against evil but needed time to not crush us in the process. I offered him the prayer and explained the Gospel and said he should think about it and think about giving God his burden, not by claiming He does not exist and getting relief from the burden of keeping the law that way, but by claiming Jesus had fulfilled the law for him and resting in that. He agreed there was a burden. He was moved I think and said he would think about what I’d said. I gave him a hug and told him God loved him, so it was a good conversation. I am hopeful a good seed was planted there as well.

I was talking to a couple of conservative Christian guys who I bump into at school. They are affirming of evangelism and I usually try to slip some doctrine in on them and go deep on them a bit. They are pretty straight laced Baptist types. They said they would pray for Raheem and I said I’d pray for a guy, Tim, one of them had shared with in class. I was saying I had not talked to almost any people in the last 2 and a half hours or so, and one of them said there was a big “convention” in the SSC lounge maybe I could work that. I said I had seen it and walked through, but not a lot of people seemed to be sitting around. But I said it wasn’t a bad idea and I would check it out, mostly not wanting to seem like I was not taking his advice. So I worked my way over there, not really finding anyone to talk to. But it turned out to be a good idea because as walked into Starbucks at the edge of the lounge I found Brianna there sitting in the seating area, curled up in an over-stuffed brown leather chair. So I sat at her feet, indian style on the floor, and we talked.

She had black leggings on and a long sleeve t-shirt. He long brown hair was pulled back in a hair band, she wore brown rectangular framed glasses and had a willing smile. She had a cute kind of all-American-girl look to her face. She said she’d do a survey and looked over for approval to the guy beside her. He seemed like her brother, who was not paying attention and so we began to talk. Describing herself she said, “I’m Spiritual, close with my religion.” When I asked what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said, “I would say it’s up to Him. He’s the only one to judge. You don’t have your own say. It’s just based on what you did.” She thought she had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. As I began to go through the Gospel she knew John 3:16 as I quoted it to her and regularly went to a community church. I told her some stories and verses and she was pretty sober as she listened and took it all seriously. She knew Jesus had died to take away her sins after some prompting. So I explained His righteousness could be to her credit, that you don’t go to Heaven because you are good but because Jesus is good and you are connected to Him. It was His righteousness that would get her into Heaven. I explained receiving Christ and asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins with God living inside or thought something else. She said she would want to be forgiven with God inside and so I asked if when she was asking for forgiveness if she was thinking she would try harder and went to church and God would forgive her. Or did she think, “I know I’ll be forgiven because Jesus died for me.” “I know you knew the story but were you trusting in Jesus to be forgiven or hoping you’d be good enough? She thought about it and said, “I’m getting there.” I said if she wanted to ask God to forgive her and help her get there, there was a prayer she could pray (and I walked her through it) and then told her that God’s Spirit would give her the strength to do anything God was asking her to do. And I told her a story and explained living in the Spirit. So I asked if she would like to pray silently so only God could hear and be forgiven and then know she was going to Heaven. “Yeah,” she said. So she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus closing her eyes and praying in her heart. It took a bit as every time I looked up her eyes were still closed or closed again. But she finished and so I explained living “Inside Out” by the Spirit’s power. She had a Bible that her youth pastor had given her in High School. So I gave her a Bible Study and 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “By the Spirit’s power” in the front. I also wrote her name and the date and “forgiven” so she could remember. I explained that if she would trust in the righteousness of Christ to be her righteousness, the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. She was happy, so I said I would see her in heaven but if I saw her around I’d just say hi. “It was good to meet you,” I said getting up to go, realizing I was getting too old to sit cross-legged that long. “It was good to meet you too,” she said cheerfully. “Have a good day.” “Thanks very much,” I said and headed out.

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

Love ya,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and you had a sense of God’s presence. I had a good day on campus talking with students I knew, and Jerry prayed with me to receive Christ.

Jerry walked into the lounge outside the gym after seeming to have been playing some ball and worked up a sweat. He leaned on the end counter, off to one side of the base of the stairs. I was just walking down the stairs having talked to a guy for a while who’d prayed to receive Christ earlier this year. I asked Jerry if he wanted to do a survey. He asked how long it would take and then said ok. He was wearing bright blue basket ball shorts and matching leggings and a gray COD t-shirt. He had a rough top afro, shorter on the sides and some growth of beard, a long oval face and otherwise looked like a pretty average dude, but bigger and taller than me maybe 6’3″. When I asked him what he would say to God if he died and God asked him, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” he said, “Because of all the things I’ve done in life. I’m a reliable person. All the people around me, I’m their man, they trust in me.” He thought he had an 80-85% chance of going to Heaven. Going through the Gospel I explained God wanted him to believe in Him and live inside him but He had to take away his sin. He asked me, “What is sin?” I had just said, “The thing that ticks off your mom.” It’s extremely rare for someone to need a better definition than that, but I think he was looking to justify himself. “Anything that you do that damages yourself or others, your community or your family.” I clarified. He didn’t think he had done anything like that. “Did you ever tell a lie?” “Yeah,” he replied. “Lying is a sin. It hurts other people,” I replied. “You ever drive slowly in traffic on purpose? You stole time from the guy behind you.” Trying to justify lying he said. “I have told lies; I don’t lie all the time. What if the lie you tell does not hurt them? I lie to my friend, but he knows I am lying.” I said it would damage your relationship to lie. Then I continued with the Gospel since I did not want to get into an argument proving that lying was wrong. I think he knew it was or he would have let it go. Based on his original response, he had done other stuff. He was probably convicted about lying. I asked if he knew what Jesus had done to take away he sin. He had no idea.  So I began to explain the sacrifice of his sins on the Cross, the blood that cleansed him and the righteousness of God that was to his credit. All the while throwing up prayers that God would teach him, as I was not sure he was understanding. Through each point I asked if he followed as I spoke and he said he did. I explained he needed to receive Jesus to believe in His name, so, that He was God, had died for his sins and rose from the dead. “I believe in Jesus,” he said. He had gone to church some with his parents growing up, a community Church he thought.  At least he’d known something about Jesus before we spoke. So I quoted Ephesians 2:8,9 to him and explained how his good stuff would not fix his bad stuff. Finally I said there were two kinds of people in the world. I asked him if he wanted to trust in what Jesus had done to be forgiven for his sins so he could live inside him and give him the strength to live life, or if he thought something else. “Jesus inside,” he replied. So I said if he’d like to ask for forgiveness there was a prayer he could pray and I talked him through it asking if it was the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he said. So I said if he wanted he could pray, not so I would hear but God would. I offered him the booklet “Oh you want me to pray [now]? He asked. “Yeah, just pretend I’m not even here.” He was cool with that, so I slid behind him on the counter and he prayed to receive Jesus. I gave him a Bible, putting his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. He didn’t have anything to carry it in but said he’d like one if it wasn’t too big. It had a box and he put the booklet in it with the Bible study I gave him in with the Bible, after I explained the Christian life living by the Spirit’s power and showed him the “Where to Turn” section in the back marking it with the ribbon. He stood up to go work out. “Thanks for all your time,” I said. “No problem, no problem. God bless, ” he replied and headed up the stairs to workout.

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

In Him,

Bob