Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with all good things and you are enjoying some nice weather. We have a couple last days of warmth ending tomorrow. Be we haven’t had a hard freeze yet. Robertro prayed with me to receive Jesus today. Thanks for your prayers. I had some good conversations too so I hope a seed for the truth was planted.

Robertro was sitting on the corner of the BIC on the ground floor. There is a lounge as you head west  toward the cafeteria and I seem to catch kids there a lot. He had swept over hair, bangs breaking apart on his forehead. His right eyebrow had a vacant slash, good-looking guy, kind of everyman features, but small in stature. He wore a red and black heavy checked lumberjack shirt with a grey hood attached and black sweats. He was friendly and seemed very interested in the Gospel saying his parents were very religious. He wanted to make sure they retired well. When I asked him what he would say to be let into Heaven he said, “Ah… the amount of caring I did for many people, not including my family.” He thought he would go to Heaven 100%. He did not go to Church much and I began to go through the Gospel with him and he leaned forward to take in the booklet. I asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sins so the Holy Spirit could live inside him. “He forgives you?” he guessed. “He does forgive you but the real reason God forgives you is he got paid.” He immediately agreed to that maybe having heard it before by way of metaphor. He seemed then to have some familiarity with the cross. He took in all I had to say well, salvation by faith, trusting that Jesus blood was the payment for his sins by faith. I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done so he could live inside his then comparing the difference in an Islamic god or in Buddhism. “So would you want to be forgiven for your sins?” “Yes,” he said emphatically. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I walked him through it asking if it was the desire of his heart. He nodded. So I said he could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear but God would and he would know he was forgiven. He nodded again and I said, “Just pretend I’m not even here.” I handed him the booklet and he said, “Thank you.” When he’d finished praying he crossed himself. I said he could keep the booklet and talked him through the Christian life asking if he had a Bible. They had a family Bible but he was up for having his own. He really liked it and I put his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. He was really appreciative. I also gave him a Bible study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I gave him Bible Promises for You and one for his parents. I told him the likelihood he would go to Heaven was now 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness. “Thank you so much,” he said as I got up to go. “Yeah, God bless you Brother,” I replied. “Thank you, you as well,” he replied and I headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. I also got through the Gospel quickly with Alana who only had 4 minutes. She was pretty, had gaged ears you could get a pencil through and straight brown hair pulled back tight to her head on strand loose across her face on the right past her jaw line. She was receptive so I am hopeful that will bring fruit. She took the booklet.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with all good things this weekend. We picked up a coconut cream pie from the pie shop which was spoiled and we got a refund for, so I am sure things will go well better, though my yard work was rained out. I had a good day on campus Thursday and Ryan and D. (short for David it would seem) both prayed to receive Jesus. Please pray they grow. Their stories are below if you have some time. Thanks for your prayers.

Ryan was wearing sweats and had a curly mop of sandy hair on top and half circular, flat on top, glasses. His face was longer and sort of squared off like Where’s Waldo. He was friendly and was sitting along the wall that has a walk up window for the Student Actives office. He was up for doing a survey and answered the question “What’s one thing you want to do before you die?” with, “Have a family.” This answer is nearly always a harbinger that a guy will come to Christ if he’s not a Christian already. I asked him what he would say to God if asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I don’t think I’d say anything because who am I to say anything? He could know [something I forgot] in my past ” he replied. He went on to say he was not always as close to God as he is now.  I agreed in some circumstances it was better to be silent. He thought he had a 60% chance of going to Heaven. I said, ‘The Bible says God removes your sins from you as far as the East is from the West and remembers them no more.  You might think if God did that then He would have to forget like 80% of your life. But Romans 8:28 says God makes all things work together for good for them that love God and are called according to His purposes. So when God remembers your life He remembers the Good He made out of it not the bad you did.” I also gave him some examples about how God might allow a bad thing to happen so something else that was good could happen. He’d never heard the verses before and liked the idea. I went through the Gospel with Him and asked him what the big thing was that Jesus had done to take away his sins. “He forgives you?” He queried. I said, “It’s true He forgave you but the reason God forgives you is He got paid.” And I went on to explain the Blood of Christ cleansing him and it’s infinite worth being a payment for sin. I think he remembered the crucifixion then as he began affirming what I said. And I explained the righteousness of God Christ earned that was to his credit (imputation). I said he needed to receive Christ by faith and asked if he wanted to be forgiven. He said he wanted to be forgiven but he did not think he could make God his only priority right now. I explained that he might be thinking about it wrong. I told him everyone was supposed to do what God was asking them to do, for him right now he was supposed to go to school. God would help him go to school and give him as much success as would not derail God’s purposes for his life. But becoming a Christian did not mean he had to be ready to become a priest. When he received forgiveness God would live inside him and guide him and give him help to live life. I said there was a verse in Colossians 3:2 that said to keep your mind fixed on things above, not on things of the Earth. But that did not mean you did not think about anything that was happening here on Earth but that you had God’s attitude toward it. I explained living “inside out by the Spirit’s power.” I said by way of example, “Someday you will get married and God will want you to love your wife and take care of your kids, they will be your ministry for Him then. The Bible says he who does not take care of the needs of his family is worse than an infidel, an unbeliever [1Timothy 5:8]. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked him through the prayer and asked, “It says here is this prayer the desire of your heart?” “I think so yeah,” he said affirming it was. So I said he could pray it silently and said he could do so now and be forgiven. “Wanna do it?” “Yeah,” he replied. And he prayed to receive Jesus. He had a Bible but I gave him Bible Promises For You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!’ on the inside and said that now trusting in Jesus righteousness to be his righteousness the likelihood he would get into Heaven was 100%. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study o the deity of Christ. I explained how everything in the Bible was validated through the last 15 years or so of scholarship. He said he had a friend that had talked about that with him. So I gave him a creation magazine saying he could give it to his friend or flip through some of the things the scientists said in it. He was grateful and thanked me and I thanked him for his time and headed out.

20 steps later Dominic a guy who I have talked to before several times about his Christian life caught up with me and we began to talk. D. was someone he knew from class. He walked up and said he liked to listen to people talk about faith. He was pretty immature socially, shorter white kid, young face, glasses round with flat tops. He was wearing a Bull team jersey over a t-shirt and had a Bulls fan cap on. He had heavy chains around his neck, like Mr. T or a rapper, they were silver in color and one had inch high letters hanging from it that said “CEO”. I asked him what he would say if he died and God said, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Because I’m a good person,” he replied. I began telling him Christianity was like a blood transfusion where God needs to live inside you with his Holy Spirit. “If God lives inside you and you are one with Him that way He’s eternal and He is the source of life, so you would have eternal live.’ I explained God could not live inside him because of his sin.  As I went through the Gospel, the Blood of Christ cleansing him of his sins so God could live inside him and this was the payment for sin. He asked Dominick if he knew this stuff. He said he did. “Did he tell you?” “No he knew it already when we met,” I replied. D regularly went to Catholic church so I explained the symbolism of the Mass saying in taking it he should just say thank you. As it commemorated that Jesus had died and shed His blood for him so he could be forgiven. As I finished I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in Christ there was a prayer he could pray showing it to him on the next page. Before I could explain it he took it and prayed to receive Jesus. He became noticeably calmer. I offered him a book. He did not want one so I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the front of the booklet. I gave him a Bible Study and explained why Jesus had walked on water as he had mentioned that miracle. He took the information and said goodbye and walked off. Dominick will see him in class and is the kind of guy too nice to blow anyone off. So though D came across a bit over caffeinated I know he will touch base with him. We walked over to a counter height table together and talked for an hour about his future. He is 18 and in-love but we figured out some short term goals and he called last night and is getting some things in place already.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism last week if you had a chance. 4 students prayed to receive Christ and God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today with every good thing from the Lord of Hosts. I had a pretty good day on campus finding 4 students to go through the Gospel with and Michelle prayed with me to receive Jesus. Gabe told me of some of his good works that would get him into heaven he hoped. He also not willing to say for certain he would go to Heaven saying “there is always room for improvement right?” but he wanted to be forgiven. I walked through the prayer with him and he said he’d prayed a prayer like that. I pointed out he did not understand it before. And I asked, “Do you believe Jesus is God died for your sins and rose from the dead?” He said he did and so I asked if he trusted in that to be forgiven. He said he did again. So he left saying “thank you”. I hope now he will trust in Christ and faith alone. He was interesting had a curly mop of hair shaved to the skin over his ears and glasses. I’d be grateful for your prayers for these students. Thanks for your prayers for me on campus. Michelle’s story is below if you have time.

Michelle was sitting at one of the counter-high tables that looks out onto the patio of the MAC Arts Building where they have some outdoor concerts. There once was a bagel place there but it never really reopened after Covid. The area used to be busy all the time but the numbers of students taking classes in person shrinking it’s never coming back. She had a large oval face and wore black-rimmed box shaped glasses, warm pretty smile and had the long dark hair of a Latina. She had grey sweat pants on and a black shrink top. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven. She said at first, “These are tough questions!” Then she settled on “I’m dedicated to myself and my parents.. well my family.” When I asked the likelihood she would go to Heaven she thought she had a 60% chance. She’d gone to Church only when she was a kid but she remembered Jesus had died to take away her sins. I finished going through the Gospel explaining what Jesus had done to cleanse her and be a payment to God, that His earned righteousness was to her credit and she was saved by faith. I asked her if she would want to be forgiven for her sins. She thought for a moment and said. “Well, I want to be forgiven but where do I go from there?” I said, “The first step was to pray and ask God to forgive you,” and I walked her through the prayer. I then explained that the Spirit would enter her and give her strength to live the Christian “Inside Out” and then “by the Spirit’s Power,” she’d be guided and changed in life. I said, James 6 says, “you do not have because you do not ask”, so just ask. Everything in Christianity is asking for help from God. Your parents now want you to make something of yourself and even help them out when you get old.” (When I’d asked her one thing she wanted to do before she died she’d said, “Make my parents proud.”) “But God doesn’t need anything,” I went on. “He wants to help you through life and will always be your Father. Life is full of streets (you’ll have to cross) and God always wants to hold your hand.” I went on to say she could pray the prayer silently and be forgiven and she took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. She said she lived in Woodridge. I said The Compass Church might be near her out there on Hobson and she said she thought she’d heard of it. I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet saying Strobel also had YouTube content. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. And I gave her a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ. I said we started doing Bible studies and if she emailed me I could get her into one, saying when one was at present. Finally I told her the likelihood she would go to Heaven now was 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus. “Appreciate it,” she said as I got up to go. “Yeah,” I said with a smile, “You’re welcome.” And I headed off towards the jazz ensemble playing in the MAC lounge. It turned out the guy on sax had prayed to receive Jesus this year, Anthony.

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 you are finding a way to sanctify a use of Halloween. We’re giving out candy and pouring out compliments to the peeps at the door, though we often have no idea who they are mocked up to be. Zakia prayed to receive Jesus today, so I had a good day at school. A couple black girls who prayed to receive Jesus last year (they did not know each other) came to Bible study with us. I’ll do another on Wednesday with a guy who trusted Jesus last year. Zakia’s interesting story is below if you have the time. Please ask the Lord to bless her efforts to know Him by the Spirit. Thanks for your prayers.

Zakia was sitting in the foyer outside the book store. She was African American, had fair skin and her hair straightened and pulled back into a short ponytail. She wore a mostly white print blouse and leggings and a cardigan sweater. She had mostly round glasses and a nearly perfectly oval face, a bit heavy set. Nice, mature presence but young face, she said she was approaching 40 years old. She’d not been to Church much lately but recounted a story about her mom saying the pastor said they all needed to get back to Church (after Covid had them all watching him on line, which he was glad for). She turned off her phone right away so I knew she was interested. I asked her what she would say to God if He asked, “Why should I let you into heaven?” She said, “Hmm, it’s up to Him. I did my absolute best. Though it’s always a work in progress, I made a conscious effort to grow and be acceptable to Him. I made an effort to live my life in a way that would be acceptable in His eyes.” When I asked her how likely it was she would get into heaven she said she’d have, “…at least a 90% chance I hope.” I began to go through the Gospel with her and asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sins. “He leads you and guides you to good choices,” She replied.  I realize now she hadn’t had a context for the question but was answering the question, “What does Jesus do to help you not to sin?” I explained the cross to her and the blood of Jesus that cleansed her from all sin. She said she had almost been shot. This was the catalytic event to get her practicing a more moral life. I explained the righteousness of God and that Jesus having earned it was now her Robe of Righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). I then explained that on a Spiritual level the Blood of Jesus had cleansed her but on a practical level God forgave her because He got paid. She like that as I explained we owed God a perfect payment for the things we’d wrecked that belonged to Him. The Gospel seemed completely novel to her. I asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins or thought something else. She said no to them as I explained the other options said she would want to be forgiven. I said there was a prayer she could pray and explained it to her and suggested she could pray it silently. She then said “Me and God we are on a first name basis,” She went on to explain that she listened to a certain pastor “Skip Heitzig” often and spoke of some other good things she did. She explained that she had been involved with a bad guy who was now in cook county lock up and had been for months with a half a million bond he could not come up with (10% so 50 grand) to get out. She was not even sure what the charges were yet. He’d gotten his hooks into her when she was 15 and he was 23. “Had some kids by him.” She’d been parked on a one-way street where cars were parked on both sides. Her boyfriend had pulled up next to her in his pickup and they were talking. A car had been behind him and began honking, really leaning on the horn, which she thought was strange they’d only talked a second. This ticked off her boyfriend who pulled a couple spaces in front of her. The other car had stopped and a guy got out of the passenger side with a gun. Her boyfriend got out his side also armed placing her in their crossfire. She quickly went to the floor, as they began to shoot, on the passenger side door as they exchanged fire and prayed she would not be shot. She hadn’t seen it but it turned out her boyfriend had shot the other guy in the chest, he’d run off but only made it a couple blocks and fell dead. It later came to light these guys were sent to kill her boyfriend for something he’d done. She was not sure if the shooting had anything to do with his being behind bars now as she was not staying away from him. She went on to talk of a couple other things she did that would be described as good, even Christian. I said I was sure God was pleased with her life and that certainly God had been with her. I suggested possibly an angel had even shoved her to the floor of her car, as she’d thought she had gotten out of harm’s way at miraculous speed. But I said the prayer was a little different and kind of the next step for her. It was placing her trust in what Jesus had done to forgive her and live inside her to give her strength. I explained that God was with everyone, (Acts 17:27+28) even those that do not realize it. I was sure God had been with her and probably even had her sit here sending me by because He wanted her to understand a little bit more. He wanted to be inside her with His Spirit. Somehow my explanation, and my prayers for her to see as she was talking, helped her to the right realization—that I was not asking if she felt close to God or was trying to live a good life now but if she wanted to be forgiven for her sins trusting in Jesus. She said something like “Oh OK.” And took the booklet and said, “Should I pray out loud?” I said, “No, you can pray silently it’s just between you and God.” She prayed then to receive Jesus. I explained living the Christian life “Inside out” by the Spirit’s power. I wrote Ephesians 1:13 saying God’s Spirit entered her the moment she believed and then sealed her and would not leave her. I gave her a Bible Study and Strobel’s The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I told her now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be her righteousness the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. She was cool and I was glad to have been able to tell her the Gospel. I got up to go saying, “I’ll see you in Heaven.” “Ha, ha, ha.” She said, “Appreciate it. You take care.” I said, OK I would and I headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking with the Lord by faith. I had a good day on campus and Nathan prayed with me to receive Jesus. His family was from Vietnam. Please pray he grows in his faith and begins to walk with God in Christ. His story is below if you have the time. Thanks for your prayers.

Nathan was sitting on a row of chairs that is outside the tunnel that runs over to the PE building. He was wearing a fleece lined flannel shirt and jeans. He had a mop of brown hair parted on the left. He was not a big guy. Had black rectangle glasses over a bell-shaped nose, heart shaped mouth. When I asked him what he would say he paused with “Hmm,” and then said, “I would say—with no preparation out in front—I’d be too in shock to think of an answer. I’d probably just say I did the best I could.” He thought he had a 65% chance of going to Heaven. I asked what Jesus had done to take away his sins. And though he said he had not been to church much since childhood he remembered and said “He was a sacrifice.” He took in the Gospel and listened patiently to the idea that Jesus blood was a payment for his sins. God was just to forgive his sins as the infinitely valuable blood of Jesus (His life force) pays God back. It’s a payment for the imperfect things we owe God for when we wrecked His stuff. When you think about it, giving your life is the ultimate (gift of) payment for anything. He said his father was very religious. I explained the blessing of the power of the Holy Spirit giving us power to live. “Would you like to be blessed and forgiven?” I asked. He thought about it. I said, “Do you believe Jesus is God died for your sins and rose from the Dead? Do you think that’s a true story?” “Well I can’t imagine someone would make it up,” he replied. I said I agreed it wasn’t possible given that all the apostles lost their lives for the faith and had they engineered a hoax they would have copped to it before dying (since the Romans wanted this in the persecution of Nero) they wanted Christians to worship their gods. I pointed out that the stories that the Apostles wrote about Jesus often made themselves look bad. “If you were making up a religion about Jesus rising from the dead you would tell stories that made you look good,” I opined. The resurrection stories and Jesus walking on the water, and arguments about who was the greatest all make the Apostles look bad. We talked some more about the selfishness of other religions. I told him some benefit would come from ay relationship, but God wanted us to be part of His plan to help and bless others not only be blessed. I had gone through the prayer with him and asked again if he would want to be forgiven, blessed and have a Heavenly Father. “Sure,” he said then and prayed to receive Jesus. When he finished I said the likelihood now he would go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus. I gave him a Bible Promises for You book writing his name and the date and forgiven in the front and a Bible study. “Thanks for talking with me man,” I said getting up to go.” “No problem,” 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 Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you have been blessed today with all good things from above and felt the nearness of God. I had a good day on campus on Thursday and Micky, & Ann Marie prayed to receive Jesus and Dejan [deyon], whose mom was Muslim and Father Orthodox committed to trusting in Christ. He said he wanted to pray on his own. Please pray these students are blessed in their faith. Their stories are below if you want to spend the time. Thanks for your prayers.

Micky was sitting in the western most Science building in the hall on a row of chairs on the second floor. He had a sweptback mop of brown hair and squared off features, good looking Latino guy.  He wore a gray t-shirt, sweats and aviator shaped metal rimmed glasses. He had a soft mustache and chin beard of the young. He said he had gone with his family to the Bible Church in town but had moved further away when he was a kid. It made getting there difficult. When he’d asked his dad why they’d stopped going to church he said they couldn’t find a good one (near the new neighborhood). I asked him what he would say to God if God asked: “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I’d say ‘It’s up to you.’ There might be different factors that I wouldn’t know that would affect my [entrance] into Heaven,” he replied. He thought he had first a 60 then a 70 and finally decided on a 65% chance of going to Heaven. He listened to the Gospel and when I asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sins he knew Jesus had died. I asked him if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. “Be forgiven,” he said. So I said there was a prayer he could pray to be forgiven and talked him through it asking if it was the desire of his heart. He nodded with a “um hum” of assent. I said he could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “Yeah,” he said. And he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When he finished I said, “Your sins are forgiven,” and tapped his shoulder with an open hand. He smiled broadly. I explained living by the Spirit’s power, “Inside Out” where he would become a good man and do good things by the transformation of God’s power. I told him the likelihood he would go to Heaven was now 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study. “So great to see you in the Kingdom Brother,” I said. “I’ll see you there,” he said. He thanked be and began to put the books in his pack and I headed out.

Ann Marie was sitting in the PE building lounge at a table next to the doors of the Gym with her back to the wall. She had mostly golden wavy blonde hair and a cute long tomboy kind of face, pug nose. She had fair skin that seemed to blush at her jaw line. She was thin and played soccer. She was white and seemed to have gotten her vocabulary from a slang dictionary. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she cussed and then thinking said, “I’m Catholic. I was always taught not that we’ll always do what’s right but He’s always gonna forgive us.” She thought she had a 50/50 shot to get into Heaven. She said she went to Church every Sunday. I began to explain the Gospel to her and when I told her God wanted to live in her and so would take away her sins so she matched Him inside she said, “That’s dope!” I explained the atonement and compared it to the symbolism in the mass and the righteousness of Jesus to her credit. I explained that she was saved by faith. I said your good stuff couldn’t fix your bad stuff using the example of a boyfriend who cheated on her and then told her he would be nice to his next three girl friends to make it up. “That happened to me,” she said. “I burned his stuff.” I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus or thought something else explaining generically what other religions taught. “The first one,” she replied. So I said there was a prayer she could pray to be forgiven for her sins and talked her through it and asked if it was the desire of her heart. She nodded. So I said she could pray it silently and know then she was forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done to forgive her. “Wanna do it?” I asked. “F-__ yeah, say less,” she replied and took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. I told her that trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be her righteousness the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. “He gave me the grade,” she replied happily. I told I would pray for her every night until a year after spring. I gave her Bible Promises for You and put her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside and asked her if she liked to read. She did so I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and explained that he had investigated Christianity and based on evidence become a Christian. “As he should,” she put in and I agreed. I told her to play hard and she said she would and I got up to go. “Thank you. I appreciate it,” she said. “It’s gonna be fun to pray for you, you’re great,” I replied and she grinned at me and I headed out.

Dejan was sitting in the BIC 1^st floor hall looking at a chess game on his phone. He had long curly/wavy brown hair falling to his shoulders, the center top pulled back and tied behind his head. Big tall, solid looking guy. I asked him if he wanted to do a student survey and he said ok saying he did not have much time. I asked if he liked Chess saying “Infantry is the Queen of battle, is my favorite chess quote—metaphor for war.” He said the computer programs slaughter him and it was hard. I said I’d read the best chess masters couldn’t think more than 3 moves ahead and he agreed realizing all the possible moves an opponent could make. I asked one think he would want to do before he died and he said, “Be free.” I told him when I was in college a professor had asked me why I was a Philosophy Major and I’d said, “Doesn’t it say somewhere, ‘you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free’, I wanna be free. He asked me what the verse before that said and I said, “I don’t know I don’t read the Bible I’m a Philosophy Major.” We both laughed and I continued. “He said can we look it up? So he did and it read, ‘if you are in My word then you are my disciple and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.’” I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven. “I’d ask Him, ‘Why should I go to Hell?’” I asked him what the likelihood he would go to Heaven was and he said 100%. Then I said the reason he could not go to Heaven had to do with Ontology, with your being, it does not match God. Heaven is not just a place it is the presence of God so to be there you have to match it, your being has to match God’s being. But everyone has sin in them, so God has to take away your sin. Then you match God and he can live inside you like a key in a lock. Then it’s like you are the Energizer Bunny God is the Batteries you keep going and going and when you died it’s like you don’t die ‘cause God is inside.” I asked if he ever went to Temple or Mosque or Church or anything. He said he was getting back into faith and was Orthodox. His mom was Muslim, but not that into it. But when he was a kid his Mom’s brother was really into it and brought them to the Mosque. But they just went there to get money and stuff.  I pulled out a booklet then and explained the atonement and the righteousness of Christ. Saying he had to be forgiven by faith I asked if he wanted to be forgiven or thought something else. “Be forgiven,” he said. So I said there was a prayer he could pray and explaining it, asked if it was the desire of his heart. He said it was. I said he could pray it silently. He said he would on his own time. I agreed and explained living “Inside Out” by the Spirit’s power quickly, seeing the other students entering the classroom.  I asked if he had a Bible and he didn’t so I said I had one for him for free if he wanted one offering him a study Bible and a smaller one. He wanted the bigger Study Bible. So I said quickly a few of the things inside. I then wrote his name and the date inside and paused and asked, “Do you believe Jesus is God, died for your sins and rose from the dead? That it’s a true story?” “Yes,’ he replied. “And do you place your trust in that to be forgiven?” “Yes,” he said again. “Ok then, forgiven,” I said. And I wrote “forgiven!” on the inside and he smiled a grateful smile. I told him I would pray for him until a year from spring. I shook his hand and said, “I’ll see you in Heaven,” “Thank you,” he replied and he got up to go to class as I turned the other direction down the hallway.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with all good things from above and you had some joy in serving Jesus. I had a good day on campus and Isaac prayed with me to receive Jesus. We really hit it off and it was great to come upon him at the end of the day. I had some other good Gospel conversations with people one who should have repented and turned which was a little sad and another with a girl who had been baptized but had not been trusting in Jesus. I hope she is now. But God may still correct them and give them aid. Isaac’s story is below. Please pray for him. Thanks for your help in prayer.

I bumped into Isaac in the Mac Arts building sitting on a couch by the elevator waiting for his mom to pick him up. He had the swept back hair style Clark Kent uses which is so common place no one realizes he is Superman. He wore black framed  glasses and had dark skin. His facial characteristics did not point to a particular racial group however. He was articulate and looked like “everyman”. He was friendly and went to church 4 occasions each week. I did not ask him the denomination because I was afraid to get off track and his ride show up before I finished the Gospel. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I wouldn’t argue with God, He’s the one who decides. It is what it is, what he says.” He thought he had an 80% chance of going to Heaven when he died. As I went through the Gospel with him he knew Jesus had died to take away our sins. But the righteousness of God was novel to him and I think he was a bit surprised to realize he had not been trusting in what Jesus had done on the cross to save him. He said he would want to be forgiven for his sins, when I asked, and so I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I walked him through it and asked if this prayer was the desire of his heart. He nodded so I said, “Do you think this is something you still need to do to tell God you want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus has done?” “Yeah,” he said. So I said he could pray it silently asking if he’d want to do so and he said, “Alright,” and he took the booklet but prayed aloud the prayer so I knew when he was done. Hearing him stop I said, “Your sins are forgiven man,” and gave him a friendly punch in the arm through his puffy coat. I explained living the Christian life “Inside Out.” By the Spirit’s power. He did not have his own Bible, though he had a pocket NT the Navigators had given him. So I gave him a study Bible and showed him some of the things in it and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. He thought the Bible was really nice and I told him a guy I knew bought them for me to give out. “Tell him I said thank you,” he replied smiling. He was visibly happy. I gave him a Bible Study and The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet and a Bible Promise book for his mom who he said was a Christian. I told him the likelihood he would now go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness.  I got up to leave and said, “God Bless you man,” “God bless you too,” he replied. “I’ll see you in Heaven and you can tell me how things went.” “I’ll see you too and you can tell me,” he said grinning. “Yeah we’ll have some stories I’m sure,” I replied smiling. 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 day was filled with blessings walking with the Lord. I had a good day on campus and Mimi prayed with me to receive Jesus and Chris (a Latino guy, oval face, scarred cheeks, big trucker cap on) committed to Christ saying he would pray tonight, so I hope he was sincere. Please pray he does as I will and please pray Mimi grows in her faith. Her story is below if you have time. Thanks for your prayers.

Mimi was wearing a blue sweatshirt and jeans with her coat half over her like a blanket. She had her feet up on one end of a big rectangular ottoman. I sat on the other end.  She slouched low in the sofa chair in the last lounge before the hallway widens toward the cafeteria on the 1^st floor BIC building. She had a pretty brown face and long dark hair parted down the middle. Saying she was Mexican she said she spoke Spanish as well as English but was born here. She was very subdued. I hear students complaining every so often in the hallway that they are tired. A lot of kids work 30 hours a week at a job and go to school. She seemed kind of wiped out. She wasn’t that interested in a survey having done one before but she wanted to know the Bible verses to explain how you get to Heaven. I had asked her the question, “You get hit by a bus and your dead and you stand before God and He says why should I let you into Heaven?” Her answer was, “That’s a hard question,” then thinking more she said, “Give me a chance.” She listened to the Gospel attentively and I found myself talking softly and slowly because she seemed like she was resting from a hard day. She went to Church occasionally and it seemed her Grandmother was religious. But she did not know how Jesus took away her sins saying when I asked, “He forgives you?” I explained the Gospel and at the end asked her if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. She thought for a bit and finally said, “Be forgiven.” I said there was a prayer she could pray and talked her through it asking if it was the desire of her heart. “Yes,” she said. I said she could pray it then and asked if she’d want to silently. “I guess,” she said. And she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. “Amen?” I said when it looked like she was done. “Amen,” she replied. She took a Bible study but not having a backpack to carry a bible with she didn’t want one. I offered her three sizes but she said, “I can steal one from my grandma’s house,” and smiling said,  “It’s in Spanish.” She did take a Bible study and I explained it to her. I said I would keep her in my prayers until spring and one year after. She was thankful. “I’ll see you in Heaven,” I said, “God bless you,” getting up to go. “God bless you too,” She replied. “Nice to meet you,” I said. “Nice to meet you too,” she said with a smile. And I headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today. God blessed and I got at least one seed planted. I went through the Gospel with a Muslim girl who largely seemed to be only passively Muslim, Zoha. She never went to Mosque, wore no head covering, said her name was Arab and meant “1st ray of dawn.” So maybe God will use His word down the line, as the Muslim faith in the west collapses with basic exposure of their texts on YouTube. I’ll be pray for her.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today with good things from above. The cold swept into the greater Chicago are today but warmth filled a couple hearts. Kayla trusted in Jesus today saying she would pray later and Heaven prayed with me to receive Jesus. Evan, who had a mop of curly hair and a big toothy smile took The Case for Christ Answer Booklet he’d been raised Roman Catholic but wasn’t convinced of any Faith and Star, a attractive 40 year old black woman wearing a multi colored  winter cap was struggling with addiction to weed so asked for prayer. I told her she needed to receive Jesus for the Holy Spirit’s power to live so I hope she will. I went through the Gospel with her and gave her Bible Promises for You, which she gratefully took. I’d be grateful for your prayers for these if you have a moment to do so. The stories of the girls who found the lord are below.

Kayla was up on the third floor. She was on winter break in her forth year at another school waiting for her sister to get out of class. She had rings of curls down to her neck and wore black roundish glasses and had a studious look about her. She was wearing a puffy coat with horizontal stitching. She said she “wasn’t a student here” but was willing to do a survey. She went to Church but recently had moved and had not found another church. She had a nervous laugh as she tried to answer questions about how to describe herself and I helped her with them. When I asked her what she would say to God she said she was unsure what to say, “I believe in you? I don’t know what I would say.” She thought she might have a 60% chance of going to Heaven. I began going through the Gospel with her and I asked her, “What was the big thing that happened that took away your sin, that Jesus did?” She thought about it and said, “He died for our sins.” But it turned out was not trusting in this to save her. After going through the Gospel I asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in Jesus or thought something else. She said, “Be forgiven.” So I explained she could pray to be forgiven for her sins and went through a prayer for forgiveness and asked if it was the desire of her heart. “Yes,” she replied. I said she could pray it silently but she said she’d “feel weird” though the entire hall was empty in either direction. “I’ll pray it tonight,” she said. “Cool,” I said and asked “If I asked ‘Do you believe Jesus is God and died for your sins would you say you do?” “Yes,” she said and do you trust in that to be forgiven?” “Yes,” she said again. So I said, “Then the likelihood you will go to Heaven is 100%.”  Then told her about living inside out and I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name in the front.  I gave her Strobel’s book The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet. She’d had little to do waiting and was grateful for the books. She thanked me and I headed off.

Heaven had a teased out afro that placed her face in the middle of a bell shape. Her hair was red possibly closer to orange. I had seen her around several times and she was sitting up on the second floor of the PE lounge. She had a pretty face and a smaller nose and perfect shaped mouth or lips. She was fair skinned for a black girl. She said she had already done a survey with a group saying she could win a gift certificate. I said the survey I asked her to do was different. I said the big question in it was, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus, so you’re dead. And you stand before God and He asks: ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” I went on, “So it’s really about what the Bible says is the answer to that question. So do you have any interest in that or not so much?” She said she was interested in hearing the Bible verses. So I sat down and began to explain the Gospel to her. I asked her what Jesus had done to take away her sins and she said, “He forgives you?” I said that was true and this was how it worked, explaining the Blood of Christ cleansing her of sin and being a perfect payment to God. I explained the righteousness of God. I asked if she would want to be forgiven or thought something else. “Forgiven,” she replied. I explained there was a prayer she could pray if she had not asked God to forgive her trusting in Jesus. I walked her through it. “I pray every night,” I asked if when she prayed she prayed trusting that God would forgive her based on what Jesus had done. “I ask God to forgive me.” So I asked again a bit differently if when she asked for forgiveness if she thought she would be forgiven because God was a forgiving and would forgive her when she asked or was she trusting God would forgive her because of what Jesus had done to pay for her sins with His blood. “I thought I would be forgiven because God was  forgiving and would forgive me when I asked,” she replied. “So would you like to pray to be forgiven trusting is what Jesus has done?” I asked. “Yes,” she said. And she took the booklet and said, do you have more of these?” asking about the booklet. “Yes I have a bunch you can have as many as you want. She nodded and looked back at the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus and finished with “Amen.” I explained the Christian life to her walking buy the Spirit’s power. I asked if she had a Bible and she said she had an Old Testament. But she did not want an entire Bible for some reason saying, “I like the Old Testament.” I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name in the front along with the date and “forgiven!” saying she could always remember. I gave her a Bible study of places Jesus is using the Old Testament descriptions or powers of God to claim He is God and showed her the one where He walks on water. It begins with the prophecy from Isaiah 9:6. She liked that. I gave her two more booklets.  She said, “Thank you.” “I’ve seen you around and thought ‘There’s that girl with the cool hair.’ So I’m glad I got to meet ya if I see ya again I’ll give ya a wave.” “And I’ll wave back,” she said smiling. And I thanked her for talking with me 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 Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you’ve had a good day walking with the Lord and have been blessed. I had a good day on Thursday and Bris [name is pronounced Breeze short for a longer ethnic name she said so quickly I didn’t hear it] prayed with me to receive Christ. Please pray for her to be blessed. Thanks for your prayers for the ministry.

I found myself headed to the Science building when I first got to school had realized God led me there, it’s not my first choice to head that way, everyone is busy studying. I thought this but kept walking over there anyway. Bris was sitting in the hall of the west most science building. She was lying on her back on the 1^st floor on a bench in the hall looking at her phone. If someone is looking at their phone I’ll take a shot at asking them to do a survey some students are also doing on line classes in a spot at school, possibly they lack good wifi at home. I walked past her and then realizing she wasn’t studying decided to ask. She was happy to do a student survey and it felt like she was engaged and God was working in her heart the entire time. She had on a grey sweater and black jeans that were torn up randomly as is the style now. She said she wanted to go to Italy so I asked if she was Italian at all, “No I’m Mexican,” she replied. She was cheerful cute girl with a warm smile her face bright between round and oval with a pug nose. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven and she said, “My Grandmother was a very Catholic

religious person. She’s there.” “So you would want to see her?” I asked. “Yes I wanna see my Grandma.” Normally I would ask what it is she thought got someone into Heaven. She hadn’t told me what the question is designed to reveal. I didn’t and it worked out ok fortunately. She thought she’d have an 80% chance of going to Heaven. Her family no longer went to church but they prayed together. She later said they prayed before they opened packages on Christmas so possibly that is what she meant. They seemed to act out the story each year. I began to go through the Gospel with her. She tuned right in and we hit it off so I was glad she had time to hear everything. I asked what Jesus had done to take away her sins. She did not know, “Baptism, confession?” she listed. I said “When you confess your sins the priest is acting like an agent of God. So like an agent when you buy insurance for your car, but then if you wreck your car you wouldn’t expect the agent to pay, the company pays. The standing doctrine of the Catholic Church is that only God can forgive your sins so the Priest is saying God forgives your sins and the reason God forgives you is He got paid so this is how it works.” I went on to tell her that when Jesus pours out His blood, it cleansed her from sin; it becomes a power in the world spiritually. And because His blood is worth an infinite amount when He pours out his blood it pays God back for all the imperfect things we have done that we owed God something perfect for practically. God forgives you because He got paid, because He is just. After she heard God would forgive her and live inside her by faith I asked her if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done so He could live inside her or thought something else. “I want God to live inside me,” she replied sweetly. So I talked her through the prayer and asked if it was the desire of her heart. She nodded and I asked if she’d want to pray it now, “I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear.” “Sure,” she said then taking the booklet, “…in my head,” she said and prayed silently to receive Jesus. When she finished I explained the Christian life living “Inside Out” by the Spirit’s power. I gave her Bible promises for You writing her name and the date and forgiven on the inside and The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet and a Bible study on the deity of Christ. We talked a little more, she was grateful and I made to go and she reached out her hand and shook mine saying “It was very nice meeting you.” I said it was nice to meet her too and I’d see her in Heaven getting there first being older. “You never know,” she replied. “Yeah, strange things these days,” I replied and I headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob