Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with the peace only God can provide in what seems like a fracturing world. I had a good day on campus and Cristina and Maritza each prayed to receive Christ. Please pray they grow. Yesterday I did pastoral counseling with some students. I knew and one I met Allison who had kind of lost her faith which had been more in her church than in Christ. The Church was screwing some things up (that they could be sued for frankly) and the fallout was affecting her family. Strawberry blonde hair waiting for the pool to open, milk-white rimmed glasses.  I’ll be praying for her to trust in Jesus as she was not sure she ever had and her answers to get into Heaven were good works stuff. Another girl Lauren today with ringlets of hair and a Puerto Rican look was into nearly everything, flat earth, aliens and Gaza, yet quoting Holocaust victims, missing their point. There’s a lot out there right now. Thanks for your prayers.

I felt a nudge to go to the 3^rd floor and knew to turn left as I went out of the elevator and saw Cristina sitting in a lounge that looks out on one of the atriums on my left as I went down the hall. She was a lovely girl with dark brown wavy hair, almond shaped eyes. She had on a maroon pullover hoodie with one of the IL colleges on it and grey sweats. She had a heart shaped mouth when it pursed to help her think and a sharp jaw line, was slight. I sat to her left.  I asked her to do a student survey and she agreed. She said she wanted to go to Greece but wasn’t Greek. I said I thought it would be cool to see the ruins and it was warm there. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked: “Why should I let you into Heaven?” She said, “Because I’ve always had faith in Him, and I’ve always trusted Him.” She thought she had an 80% chance of going to Heaven. She went to church but could not remember the name of it. She listened attentively to the Gospel and took it all in. When I asked what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world she said, “He died on the cross.” Summing up everything I’d said about the atonement and resurrection I read the verse in Rom. 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” She gave out a nearly imperceptible, “Hmm”. As if something had registered. I finished telling her salvation was by faith. I asked if she’d want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus, so He could live inside her and guide her life, or thought something else. She gestured with a pinky touching the circle with Christ inside with a long nail. I said that there was a prayer she could pray then and read it through for her. I asked “Does this prayer express the desire of your heart. “Hm hum,” she said. I said she could pray it silently, “I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven, wanna to it?” She nodded twice and I gave her the booklet and she prayed to receive Jesus. When she’d finished I when back to the survey card and said of the likelihood she would go to Heaven, “This is 100%, if you’re trusting in the righteousness of Jesus His righteousness is worth an infinite amount.” I said that though I was old and had sinned more that if we both died Jesus’ blood would cover us both. I went through the Christian life and she said her family had a Bible to read. I told her of the fruit of the Spirit and explained that by the Spirit’s power she could live “Inside > Out” first transformed on the inside and then doing good things on the outside, “everything in Christianity is Just ask”. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I also gave her a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told her I would pray a Bible verse for her each day from now until Spring and one year after asking God to bless her. “Thank you,” she said as I got up to go. Thanks so much for your time,” I replied. “Of course,” she said and I headed off down the hall.

It wasn’t too far down I came across Maritza sitting in the hallway. She was very pretty as well and had a cross around her neck. Her brown hair was up in a random bun. She wore a zip up black hoodie on and black sweats. Her skin was very fair and she had a couple of beauty mark freckles. Kind of a button nose, and narrow face, slight build. Her shoes looked like slip-on slippers a lot of students wear showing painted toenails. (I later saw a guy in some in the parking lot.) She said she had 20 minutes before class and some time. She seemed family oriented and wanted to have kids. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven. She said, “I’d say I think—I know was a good person. I’m grateful for everything I have.” She was certain she would go to Heaven, 100% but she never went to Church though she had recently been to a wedding where she had. I began to go through the Gospel with her. I said God wanted to live inside her, “It’s like you’re the Energizer Bunny and God is the batteries, you keep going and going and when you die it’s like you don’t die ‘cause God’s inside.” That got a closed mouth smile in response but she was very serious, concentrating as I went through the Gospel with her. I asked what the thing was that Jesus had done to take away her sin so she could be one with God. She didn’t know. So I said, “Well this is how it works.” I began to tell her that Jesus lived a perfect life she could not live and poured out His blood that cleansed her and was a payment for her sin. I explained it was fair for God to forgive her sins as there was a payment for them. He rose from the Dead. I explained that if she believed Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the Dead that would mean she had faith in Jesus and she was saved by faith. I asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done to be forgiven. She said she did. I said there was then a prayer she could pray and I asked if was the desire of her heart.  “Yeah,” she said. I asked if she would want to pray silently to be forgiven and she nodded and took the booklet and said, “Thank you so much.” She prayed to receive Christ then and looking at the booklet she said, “Can I keep this?” I said she could. I took it to explain the Christian life to her. She said 2 girls had asked her to do a Bible Study. I said to be careful and that there were cults on campus and that if they wanted her to join their Church that she should be wary. I said she could email me if she had any questions and told her about our Bible study and another one on a different day campus. She did not have a Bible so I gave her one explaining the contents, the study helps and maps and such. I could tell she really liked the Bible. I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I gave her Bible Promises for You and she said, “I always wanted a book with Bible verses in it.” The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study. I said the likelihood she would go to Heaven now was 100% trusting in the righteousness of God to be her righteousness. I told her I would pray a Bible verse for her each day until spring and one year after asking God to bless her. I got up to go she said “Thank you,” again 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 your day was filled with thankfulness in your heart, by the Spirit. I had a good day talking to students and Leo prayed to receive Jesus today and Clare committed to Christ saying she would pray later. She was grateful so I hope to see her again to see if she’s prayed to receive Jesus. Please pray they grow in faith. The story is below. Thanks for your help in prayer. I made it through the day sitting when the sciatica in my leg flared up, so thank for those prayers too.  I hope God will decide I’ve had enough and my leg will chill out soon.

Leo was sitting on the 3^rd floor overlooking the SSC lounge. He looked Latino and had a mop of dark hair, sort of parted on the left He had a young good looking diamond shaped face. He was kind of small and wore a Black t-shirt and grey corduroy pants. I asked if he’d want to do a survey “What you think about God and stuff for a Bible study group,” and he asked what it was about. I said the main question is “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 would prefer not to exist at all,” he replied. “That’s not actually an option,” I replied. “It isn’t?” he replied. He did not think he would want to go to Heaven. I said, “Think of the best and most happy days you have had and think about a place where you have a day like that over and over. You would get up each day and never meet anyone who would argue with you or who was unhappy,” and wouldn’t he be interested in a place like that where that would never stop. I asked if he would like to know what the Bible says is the answer to how he could get to Heaven, “Any interest in that or not so much?” He said, “Yes,” he’d do a survey. He had some interesting answers to the questions. In words to describe himself he said he liked problems and that he thought people needed them to be happy. I said he might be right. I said that my father had told us as kids we wouldn’t be happy if we did not have something to complain about. He thought of himself as an optimist however. When asked one thing he’d like to do before he died he said, “Save someone.” In answering the how to get in question he added “Heaven is incomprehensible and Religion is faith.” I agreed that Paul in the Bible had been to Heaven and could not describe it. I asked the likelihood he would go to heaven when he died. “I think that a lot of us are doomed. They say only a small amount will be fit to, will go Heaven. But then again maybe He just loves us too much.” I agreed saying, “Jesus said you enter by a narrow gate.” It turned out he went to Willow Creek. He asked if I’d heard of it and I said I had gone to the original Church that had met in a movie theatre that was now torn down. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world. He seemed to agree with everything I said and took in all the Bible verses as I explained them. The cleansing of the blood of Christ and His payment for our sin and the righteousness of God to our credit. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. He agreed that it was not only being a good person. He asked me some other questions and I answered them and then asked again, “So do you think you would want to receive Christ and trust in what He did for you on the Cross?” “Yeah,” he said. So I said if he did there was a prayer he could pray. I explained it and asked if it “expressed the desire of his heart. He said, “Yeah,” again.  He’d taken the booklet already, he then prayed to receive Jesus.  I gave him two Bible studies, the deity of Christ and the Angel of Jehovah because he had asked about Jewish belief. I explained that no Jews any longer believed in God as described in the Old Testament if they were not Christians. I told him the likelihood that he would not go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus. I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave him, The Case for Christ Answer Booklet saying Strobel had spoken at Willow Creek before. I told him he could use the booklet and if he told someone else and they trusted Christ God would use him to “Save someone.” As he’d mentioned though he said he was thinking more of pulling them out of a river or something. He was grateful and talked a bit more and I told him I would pray a verse for him each day until Spring and one year after. I shook his hand and headed off in the opposite direction.

Clare was sitting at the main entrance near the Book Store on some seats overlooking the doors. She had fair skin but was Latina, slight build. Pretty, long eyelashes, long wavy hair and narrow sharp features, she had a black fleece jacket on, wore powder blue jeans and a t-shirt that had the cartoon Betty Boop. She wanted to have kids or a job where she would take care of them. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven. “I think out of a lot of people who don’t like to admit the damage they’ve done I’m capable of change, and wanting to change and to do better.” She listened to the verses and knew Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world. When I said her good stuff did not fix her bad stuff I said, “Say you had a boyfriend and you thought he was pretty cool but then it turned out he was cheating on you,” She made a face then and I knew that had happened. I said he was also “stealing your stuff”. “So you cut him loose. He comes back in a week and says, I know I did you wrong but I just want you to know I’m gonna be nice to my next 3 girlfriends. You’d say yeah that doesn’t help me at all. ‘Cause you can’t do good stuff over there to fix you bad stuff here.” I said I was sorry about her boyfriend and she said that had happened today.    After going through the Gospel, I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done on the cross or thought something else. “A life with Christ,” she replied. I said there was a prayer she could pray if she did not think she had asked God to forgive her before trusting in what Jesus had done.  I offered her the prayer she could pray talking her through it. She thought it expressed the desire of her heart but did not want to pray then. I said that was fine she could pray later. I asked, “Do you believe Jesus is God He died for your sins and rose from the dead? Do you believe that is a true story. “Yes,” she said. I asked if She would place her trust in that to be forgiven for her sins. “Yes,” she said again.  I gave her Bible Promises for You I wrote her name in the front and the word, “forgiven!” saying when you pray that prayer you will know you are forgiven. I gave her a Bible study too. “What’s your name again?” she asked. “Bob,” I replied. “It’s on the back of the booklet.” Looking at it she said, “Oh great,” she said. Thanks Bob. I told her if I saw her again I would give her a wave. “Thank you so much,” she replied and she headed off to her ride that had pulled up.

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 week was blessed with the grace of God allowing you to stand. I had a good week and 5 people (Simona, Joseph, Darion, Michael, Jimmy) prayed with me to receive Christ. One, a girl Ben, had prayed after I spoke with her in September and I met her again and found that out.

Jimmy prayed with me to receive Jesus. His story is below if ya feel like a read. Please pray these are all blessed in their faith.

Jimmy was sitting around the corner of a lounge on the 1^st floor of the BIC. It has vending machines and a hall out the back with skylights above it. He was wearing a black pull over hoodie with an anime character on it wore blue jeans and florescent green mesh tennis shoes. He had a short mop of wavy brown hair and a day’s growth of beard. He had somewhat soft-edged features, kind of the ‘every man’ look. He was a nice friendly guy and it turned out he had been through Catholic school. He said he wanted to own a house, kind of a by-gone era goal with housing prices falling in many places, though it has not set in around our area as much. I asked him what he would say to God if asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Because I’ve strived to help people,” he replied. He seemed like a nice guy. He hadn’t seemed to have understood the meaning behind Jesus’ death. I explained the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin and that He was a payment for sin and earned the righteousness by God. I said the Bible taught by grace faith saved him and I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else. I showed him the two circles one with Christ inside on the throne the other with Christ outside. ”To be honest that (pointing at Christ on the outside) seems more like where I am at. The other seems too cheap.” He said he felt like people would abuse that and say they were forgiven and do nothing, in terms of righteous acts or good deeds because they would think they did not have to earn it. I said I agreed that some people might not do good, thinking they could skate, but people like that would then be lying that they truly believed that Jesus had suffered and died to make the Christian life or that they even believed in a God, their actions would betray that belief. I asked him if he had a favorite football team. He said he liked the Tennessee Titans, “But they’re not very good right now.” I gave an example where I more or less said I had a friend who played briefly for the Titans who used to live next door. So, say he called me when the Titans were in town and said he had a couple of tickets and would I like to go, he had a skybox and could not fill it. I said yeah I knew a guy who liked them and he said he’d leave them at the gate. So I stayed in touch with you somehow and gave you a call and we went. We got to the gate and said we had free tickets. She asked who’d left them for us and we gave my friends name and then asked ours and she said, “Yep I got your tickets,” and she handed them over. You said to her, “I want to show that I appreciate these can I give you some money for them?” “I can’t take money for free tickets or I could get fired,” she replied. “But here’s what you can to. When you get to the skybox don’t cheer for the Bears, it’s all Titan’s fans there. Be cool to everyone and don’t spill any drinks on the crowd beneath you and stuff.” I said then that you can’t pay for your free ticket to go to Heaven but you can please God with your life and do the good things He would want you to do. “I can honor God,” he replied. “Right,” I replied. The other problem with doing good things to earn Heaven is every time you told someone you were going to Heaven, if they asked why, you’d basically say, Because I’m good, or better than you. And that would be pride, which is a sin. So every time you told people why you were going to Heaven you’d be sinning. He smiled at that and agreed it seemed to be a problem.  I went on to tell him then about the power of the Holy Spirit. I turned to the back and read the quote, “Your walk with Christ depends on what you allow Him to do in and through you empowered by the Holy Spirit, not what you do for Him through self-effort.” So, it’s really by the Holy Spirit’s power that we can live a life that pleases God. I explained the fruit of the Spirit then too. That all made sense to him so asked then if he’d want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus. He said that he did so I said there was a prayer he could pray and I read it through asking if it was the desire of his heart. “Un ha,” he replied and I said if he wanted he could pray it silently and he said, “Sure.” He prayed then to receive Jesus. I talked him through what I had not said about the Christian life, Bible reading and prayer and confessing your sins. I gave him Bible Promises for You and I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. “Is this a prayer book?” he asked. I said, “You can use it like that.” I talked to him about being a kid and there was a midweek snow fall and asking my dad to take us sledding. He promised to go to the toboggan run on the weekend. When the weekend came we said, “You promised to take us sledding,” And he said, “Your right. I promised, so I will.” So, when you pray if you use Bible verses God has promised you know these are things He has said so you can pray them. He seemed to like that idea. I also gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study and explained it a bit. He asked about Bible study so I told him when ours was and told him I would keep him in my prayers praying a Bible verse for him each day until Spring and one year after. He was grateful and we went our separate ways.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you had a good day walking with the Lord, resting in His love for you that surpasses knowledge. I had a good day on campus. Ellen and I had a good Bible study and Darion and Michael each prayed to receive Jesus today. I’d be grateful if you could pray they’d be blessed. Thanks for your prayers to bless and help the ministry. Their stories are below if you have the time.

I had a nudge to go to the PE building after we’d finished Bible Study and I walked Ellen to her car. So I made my way to the other side of campus, asking around in case there was someone God wish me to talk to on the way. I look for people setting apart from others for the most part since I hope they’d pray to receive Jesus. This has happened in groups but it seems more likely someone would pray if not involved with others.

I entered into the PE through the tunnel and the main lounge was pretty crowded. I checked at a couple tables and then circled around the counter some guys were sitting. I asked a big football player on the end if he’d want to do a student survey for a Bible study group on what he thought about God. Darion [dare E on] He said he didn’t think he had time for a group. He was African American and turned out he played D-back. I said the survey was really to tell you how you get to Heaven from the Bible and I asked if he would want to see the Bible verses that explained that. He had a mustache that was pretty thick but only grew as thick as a pencil, a bit of a chin beard. He was over 6 foot and about 250. He had a really short haircut; his skin was a bit pitted on his cheek bones but he was a good-looking guy wearing a tie-dye powder blue and white hoodie. I began to go through the Gospel with him and when I asked him what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world he said he had died. I explained that this purified him by His blood and paid for his sins allowing God to live inside him and forgive him. “The Bible says if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. So God is just to forgive us. It is fair for him to do it because he was paid by Jesus perfect blood. So He forgives us because He got paid but He had to pay Himself.” He nodded that he understood. I explained that Jesus earned the righteousness of God and it was to his credit and the story I told made him smile just a bit. He was pretty reserved. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else after explaining salvation by faith. He nodded. I said there was a prayer he could pray and walked him through it and saying he could pray it silently I asked if he’d want to do it and he’d know he was forgiven. “Yeah I’ll do it.” He said and he took the booklet and then slowly read it and prayed to receive Jesus.  When he finished I said, “Your sins are forgiven,” I shook his hand. I told him he could keep the booklet and explained the Christian life. I talked about asking God for self-control on the field and peace and patience waiting for the snap of the ball. He said he had a Bible at home answering my questions with “Yes sir.” I gave him Bible Promises for You though he said he had a book like that he said, “I’ll take another one though.” I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside and gave it to him. I told him I would keep him in my prayers praying a Bible verse for him each day through the Spring and one year after. “Thank you, I appreciate that,” he replied sincerely and I headed out. The loud conversations a couple feet from us had never let up or noticed me.

I went through the Gospel with a guy named Alex. He had a couple days growth of beard and a narrow mustache. His face has a sharp jaw line like the character the Joker in the comics.  We were overlooking the lounge in the MAC arts building. While talking to him an administrator with chartreuse Crocs on slid in with his back to me interrupting and asking him, “Is this guy bothering you?” The burearistocrat flashed a lanyard with his ID on it never saying his name. I never saw his face. The student kindly said, “It’s fine.” The burearistocrat turned and towards his office and said, “He likes to prey upon students,” and went inside. “Interesting thing to say considering he’s never met me,” I said quietly. I briefly went through the Gospel after he’d explained his Roman Catholic father and Mormon mother. I left him the booklet I hadn’t used much showing him the prayer and thanked him and he said no problem and I left the Croc-booted enemy encamped in their offices. I headed to the cafeteria. I thought later I should have corrected the burearistocrat and said “I like to pray with students.” But I never poke the egos there on purpose.

Michael was sitting at the counter in the cafeteria looking out the window. He was up for doing a student survey. He was smallish in build had a solid looking face, square chin and clean shaven. He wore a cap with tan curls pouring out from beneath. He wore a pull over hoodie and had sweats on. I asked him what he would say to God if He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” He replied after a bit of thought, “I’ve had a positive effect, tried to have a positive effect, on all the people I’ve met. I tried to leave off on a good note even if I never see them again.” He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to heaven. I asked him if he ever went to Church “like when he was a kid”. He said his parents had taken him to St. Isidore. (I had never heard of it but looked it up and it’s in Bloomingdale.) and then he had joined a Bible club in High School. He said it was led by his cousin who was going to be a pastor. He seemed very interested in the Bible and was attentive when I quoted a Bible verse. I asked him if he knew what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world and he said “Yeah,” but it seemed more like he was saying he knew Jesus had done something to do so. I began to go through the heart of the Gospel then with him and he took right-to everything I said concerning the sacrifice for his sins and the blood that cleansed him and the righteousness of God to his credit. I asked if he’d want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in Jesus or if he thought something else. His pinky came out of a fist and pointed nail down to the circle with Christ on the throne of your life. “Well, if you want to be forgiven there’s a prayer you could pray.” I explained it. Does this prayer express the desire of your heart got a “Yeah.” And asking if he’d like to pray it silently got “Yeah,” also again nodding in support. So I said, “Just pretend I’m not here.” And he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When he finished I said his sins were forgiven and he smiled. I explained the Christian life living inside out by the Spirit’s power. He had heard of the fruit of the Spirit. I gave him Bible Promises for You and write his name and the date and forgiven in the front. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet saying that it answered some questions or he could email me if he had any.  I also handed him a Bible study explaining the deity of Christ by His own claims, which he liked. So I gave him another on the Angel of Jehovah. I told him the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100% now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus. Though I had sinned far more than him, being old, “If we both died today there would be enough righteousness to cover us both.” I shook his hand saying, “Nice to meet you.” “Thank you,” he replied with a grin. “Yeah tell your cousin I said hi,” “I will,” he said enthusiastically. And I headed out to the truck.

Thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had time. God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day has been blessed today with all good things from above. Marnita and Joseph prayed with me to receive Christ today. So I was grateful. Please pray they are blessed in their walk with the Lord.

Marnita, a pretty black girl who I often run into in the PE lounge, had said she trusted in Jesus after I explained the Gospel to her on October 3^rd. Her diamond shaped face ended in a small square chin and she had braids on her head rimmed with curls flat to her forehead and a small pug nose. But I’d bumped into her a couple times before today and she said she hadn’t prayed though she said she had the booklet in her purse so she intended to.  But she was always sitting with another girl I know. So today I asked her again finding her alone on a couch upstairs and suggested she could pray right now. “Do you think I should?” she asked. I said it was up to her but since she kept forgetting it she’d finally remember. “Your right,” she replied. She rummaged in her purse unable to find the booklet. I gave her another, open to the page, and she prayed then to receive Jesus. When she finished she had a satisfied smile on her face. I explained the Christian life in the back of the booklet and gave her a copy of Bible Promises for You with her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and a Bible study. Do you like to read I said explaining what the study was about. “Well, I’m gonna have to read this,” she replied. I told her I had been praying for her and I promised to pray a Bible verse for her each day until spring and one year after, so she would be blessed. She thanked me and we talked about her plans to go to a Halloween party tonight and my plan to hand out candy, she thought she might get some trick or treating. “Well, it’s hard to say no to a pretty girl,” I said matter-of-factly. “Thanks,” she said with a smile. I headed out of the lounge, down the stairs and out. 

Joseph was the last person I talked to. The school had emptied out for the most part. He was standing at a counter high table by the student activities window. He had a black short sleeve shirt on and wore sweats with stripes on the sides. He had an oval face and a mustache and goatee dark brown hair, and reminded me of the actor Eric Balfour. He had more than a dozen different tattoos on his bare arms and said he was going back for more near Thanksgiving to fill in the sleeve. When I asked him what he would say to God if asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” He said he thought God would know and “It seems I shouldn’t, I don’t know what the word is…” I think he might have been searching for something like “presumptuous”, I tried “Prideful” and that wasn’t it. It seemed he thought no one should be telling God what to do. I said, “Well the question is really asking what it is you think gets someone into Heaven, philosophically speaking.”  “Spread the word and be a good person,” he replied. Then he kind of quipped, “I helped a lot of people please let me in.” I asked him what the likelihood was he would go to Heaven and he said, “Me personally, I’d get a B grade, 80%. I am a good person but everyone does things wrong.” I asked if he went to church at all and he said he’d been to different ones and been baptized twice, which I took to mean as an infant and as an adult. I began to go through the Gospel with him and asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sins, “Crucified,” he replied. “Right,” I said and I began to talk through how the blood of Jesus had cleansed him from sin and was a payment to God for his sins. I talked about the righteousness of Christ, and that he would not go to Heaven because he was good but because Jesus was good and he was connected to him. And salvation was by faith. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done or if God was more on the outside of his life. To help him think about it I asked, “When you ask for forgiveness for your sins are you thinking I know I will be forgiven because Jesus died for me and I am trusting in that. Or are you thinking, Well I’m sincere about wanting to be forgiven and I’m going to try to do better and God’s is forgiving and loving so I hope He’ll forgive me.” “Before you said all this I would have been the second one but now I would say I was trusting in Jesus,” he replied smiling. ‘Well, if you’d like to be forgiven trusting in Jesus there’s a prayer you could pray,” I replied and talked him through it and asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he replied. “Well, you could pray it silently right now, I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven. Wanna do it?” “Yeah,” he replied and he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When he finished I said, “Your sins are forgiven,” and he smiled broadly. I explained the Christian life to him living “Inside > Out” where God transforms you on the inside you become a good person and do good things by the Spirit’s Power. I gave him a copy of Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave him a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I said I would keep him in my prayers each day until spring and a year after. “Thank you so much Bob,” he said enthusiastically. “Yeah, you’re welcome, you knew the story you were just skipping the part where you trust in it to be forgiven.” I said and we fist bumped and he said, “Thank you.” And I headed off. It was a great way to end the day.

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 with every good and perfect gift and your tomatoes made it through the freeze last night. I had a good day on campus. Ben [a girl I had talked to earlier in the semester and said she’d think about it] said she’d prayed to receive Jesus. Later Simona prayed to receive Jesus. Thanks so much for your prayers for the students these girls’ stories are below. I met a guy named Casey sitting with a guy who comes to Bible study (Brandon) and went through the Gospel with him and he said he’d think about it. He’s a Roman Catholic and had the idea God magnanimously forgives if he asked for forgiveness but you could not be sure you were forgiven. He then remembered when I asked that Jesus had died to take away his sin. He had a withered right hand. He’s a thinker and it would be great if he’d come to Bible Study.

I first talked to Ben on the 18^th of September in the SSC lounge sitting along the wall. She is finishing her culinary classes but switching over to a fashion major. Today she had on the small checked pants you wear as a uniform in culinary classes and a t-shirt. She’s slight in build, she wears her hair in a pixy cut it was tucked behind both ears and she had a piercing in the left side of her lower lip. She has pretty freckles like beauty marks in the right places. Taking the booklet, she seemed to be saying she thought she would pray later last we spoke and today when I bumped into her in the hallway headed towards the entrance to the bookstore she said she had prayed the prayer in the booklet and also had read through The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and really liked it saying she liked the evidence for the resurrection. I told her most scholars agree the tomb was empty, they just won’t say how. I said that the disciples had all fled and God had women find the empty tomb. That’s significant because the times were sexist and women were less likely to be believed but God honored them anyway. Her answer to the question what she would say to God if asked: Why should I let you into Heaven was originally, “Because I tried to be good, I wouldn’t say I was [always] successful but I tried.” Now she is trusting in Jesus so I gave her the book, Bible promises for You and wrote her name and “forgiven!” on the inside and gave her a Bible Study. She can’t come to our Bible Study as her class conflict but she said if she got out early she would come by. We talked for a while and she was really friendly.

Simona was Lithuanian and had gone to a Lithuanian Christian church when she was younger. She had grey sweats on and a zip up hoodie and a white t-shirt. She had kind of a pan oval face with a small nose cute kid, sun blonde hair the top a bit darker, blue eyes. She had and expressive way of reacting with her mouth, I’m not sure how to explain it more than that. She sat in a stuffed chair in a pair of chairs on the corner around from the stairwell of the Student Services Center Lounge. I sat in the other one to her left with a coffee table between us that I sat on later moving closer as I went through the booklet. It had a swivel table on the top and balancing on it threw out my back a bit, still hurts. When I asked her what she would say to God if asked why He should let her into Heaven she said, “I always kept God like in my heart. I feel like because I’ve always had Him with me He should let me in.” She thought she had an 80% chance of going to Heaven. I went through the gospel with her and it was hard to tell if she was not just listening to be polite but I prayed and rested in the Lord asking that He’d work in her as I spoke the Gospel. I asked if she knew what Jesus had done to take away her sins and she just said “Yes,” in an undefined way so I just began to explain that Jesus was a sacrifice for our sins, His blood cleansing us and also a payment to God on our behalf. As I finished I said “Well the last question of the survey is would you like to be forgiven for your sins trusting in what Jesus has done or do you think something else.” I gave her time to think going through a couple options. “Probably forgiven,” she replied. “Well, if you’d like to be forgiven there’s a prayer you could pray,” I replied and turned the page and read through it explaining a bit and asked, “It says here, does this prayer express the desire of your heart? Do you think it does?” “Yeah,” she replied. So I said she could pray it silently and God would hear and asked if she wanted to. “Yeah,” she said firmly, deciding. And she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When she’d finished I said she could keep the booklet and that the likelihood she would go to Heaven now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus and His sacrifice for her was 100%. I explained the Christian life to her and she said she had her own Bible. I explained living by the Spirit’s power, “Inside > Out”. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside and gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I also gave her a Bible study. “Well I don’t know if I’ll see you again but I’ll pray for you each day from now until Spring and one year after, just pray a Bible verse for you so you will be blessed.” “Thank you,” she replied. “Sure, thanks for your time in talking with me. “Thank you,” she replied with emphasis on the “you.” And I headed off.

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 week was blessed with grace and peace. I had a good day on campus on Thursday and

Neeha, Justin, KB, and Mariah, each prayed with me to receive Jesus. Please pray these students are blessed.  Thanks for your prayers of blessing. I’m very grateful, especially because next week we are out of town. So I might not be able to go through the Gospel with anyone. Though there is a college near Ellen’s relatives we are going to visit. The stories are below.

Neeha was sitting in the NW corner lounge in the science buildings. No one else was in there at first and she wanted to do a survey. She is short, her family is from Nepal where she wanted to return for a visit. She had shoulder lent straight dark hair. She was wearing jeans torn in the knees and a green North Face hoodie. Her face was flat with small boxers’ nose, cute kid. I asked her for 3 words to describe herself and she confessed, “Kind, I’m not kind,” like she’d been thinking about it. I asked if she was going to be a nurse and she said she was. I said “Nurses can’t always be kind.” We talked about her wanting to return to Nepal. I asked her what she would say to God if asked why should He let her into Heaven. “I would say you shouldn’t, I’ve done a lot of wrong things He knows already—had seen.” She thought she had a 50% chance of going to Heaven. She said she went to a Nepalese church that she said was hard to describe, it seemed it was not like churches typical to the US. I began to go through the Gospel with her and she knew John 3:16 saying it was “translated into every language”. I began to go through the Gospel with her telling her that to know God was for the Holy Spirit to live inside her, so God had to take away her sin so that was possible. I asked what Jesus had done to take away her sins, “He gives you strength by His Spirit to do good things?” She said tentatively. I said the Spirit did do that but this is how it works and I began to explain God became a man Jesus who lived a perfect life, was an offering for sin, cleansed her and paid for her sin. I explained the righteousness of God, what faith was and that she was saved by it. I asked her if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done so His Spirit could live inside her and give her strength to live or thought something else then said again, “Would you want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus. “Yes,” she said, without hesitating. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and asked if it expressed the desire of her heart after explaining it. “Yes,” she replied again. I said she could pray it silently and know she was forgiven and asked if she wanted to. “Um hmm, she replied and she prayed aloud to receive Christ, though the lounge had someone else in it now at a table10 feet from us. My pens kept running out of ink at the tip but I kept shaking them and managed to explain the Christina life. Talking about the fruit of the Spirit, which she was familiar. When I listed kindness I said, “You can just ask for it when you need it, you have to make those patients do what they’re supposed to.” She smiled. I said Christianity was living “Inside > Out” where you ask the Holy Spirit to transform you, then you become a good person and do good things on the outside “By the Spirit’s Power.” She had a Bible and I explained life in the Spirit and that she should obey but when she failed God would always forgive her. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. And she thanked me and I gave her a Bible study also, explaining that a bit and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told her I would be praying for her each day a Bible verse from now until spring and one year after and I said the likelihood she would go to Heaven now was 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus. “I’ll pray for you thanks so much for talking with me and I’ll see you in Heaven,” I told her getting up to go. “Thank you,” she said sincerely and I headed out.

KB was sitting in the hallway of the BIC on the first floor in a row of chairs and agreed to do a survey on the Bible. There was a classroom across from us but he didn’t have a backpack or seem to have any books or class stuff. He had short braids in a pattern on his head and classic black nose and mouth, a narrow face, a mustache and beard. He wore a red track suit the front had some rectangular sections of grey and white on the chest and sleeves. He had grey and white trainers on with the laces open. I asked him one thing he wanted to do before he died. “The ultimate goal is just to get closer to God for real,” he replied. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven. “Me as of right now, I’m a sinner, everybody sins every day. I spread the word as best I can to the best of my ability and live my life according to God to the best of my ability,” he replied. I asked him a % for the likelihood he would go to Heaven and he said, “60-40”. I asked if he ever went to Church and it seemed he did sometimes with his mother who went to a Presbyterian church. I began to go through the Gospel and asked him what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world and he said, “He was crucified.” I went on to tell him what that meant, the cleansing blood a payment for sin and the righteousness of God to His credit. He was saved by faith I said explaining that and it was not by works. “You are trying to spread the word and please God but your good stuff does not fix your bad stuff,” I explained. He was very serious through the entire thing listening carefully. The teacher’s voice was loud coming through the door ajar but I tried to keep my voice a bit lower. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus did or thought something else. He said he would want to be forgiven. I said that if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through it and said if he would want to be forgiven not trusting in good things he’d done but fully in Jesus he could pray it silently and know he was forgiven for his sins. “Wanna pray it?” I asked. “Yeah,” he replied. And he prayed to receive Jesus. He said he had a Bible so I explained the Christian life to him also living “Inside > Out”. Since he did not have anything to carry books in I just gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I told him the likelihood he now would go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus and His blood. I said that being old I had sinned way more than him. But because Jesus’ righteousness is worth and infinite amount if we both died today He would forgive us both. I asked if I could give him a Bible study to tuck inside and he agreed so I gave him one showing him the passage in Job where God walks on the water, saying Jesus had done the same to tell us He was the God of the Old Testament. I told him I would pray for him each day also and I shook his hand saying I’d see him in Heaven and he said “Thank you.” “Have a good one man,” I said getting up to go. “You too,” he replied and I headed off. I passed him later walking in the hall and said a friendly, “Hey Brother,” and he flashed me a big smile.

Justin was sitting in the hallway, right at the student activities area on the first floor. He had on a green hoodie and khaki pants and had a beard and mustache wore glasses. Had kind of a square head, looked a bit Latino and like “Everyman”.  He also looked, solid guy, not huge and his hair was swept up atop his head. He wanted to travel.  I asked what he would say to God to get into Heaven and he said, “Um, what would I say… well—I don’t really know how to answer right now.” I asked him the likelihood he would go to Heaven and he said “I think right now it’s 50%” He went to a Catholic Church last he had gone, “St. Mary’s”. He hadn’t had the time to go to Church for a while or attend a Bible Study he got text notices for at school (I had never heard of that was supposedly student led). As I went through the Gospel seemed pretty serious and I wasn’t sure if it was impatience or that he had to be somewhere, since he pulled on the top of his backpack at his feet once in a while. I asked him what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world and he knew he had died.  The chairs had armrest tables and I was on his left using mine to write in the booklet. I skipped explaining the righteousness of God (I went back and explained it after he had prayed) as it seemed after I had explained the blood of Christ to cleanse him and be a payment to God he was intonating he knew the Gospel and I think he did. But he was not in a hurry. I though he was uneasy and wanted to get through salvation by faith, but I was misreading him as when I left he did not go anywhere. I explained salvation by faith and that his good stuff did not fix his bad stuff and said, “The last question is would you want to be forgiven for your sins trusting in Jesus or do you think something else (throwing in a couple lines on Islam and Buddhism to allow for time to think). He said he’d want to be forgiven so I said there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it asking if he thought he’d had a chance to express this to God before, that he was trusting in Jesus. He thought he had in some way possibly, but had never had with much “thought or emotion” behind it.  I asked if he would like then to pray it silently right now and he said, “I think so yes.” He prayed then to receive Christ. I went back and explained the righteousness of God no longer worried he might have to run. I explained the Christian life. He had a Bible he said confessing, “I haven’t had a chance to read it much lately.” I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and he said, “Thank you.” I gave him a Bible study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him every day until Spring and one year after. I got up to go and he said, “Thank you, nice to meet you.” “Thank you nice to meet you too. You’re welcome,” I replied and headed out.

Mariah was sitting on the corner of the tables they have put together in the PE lounge alongside the stair on the ground floor. She wore clear frame glasses had long straight hair and nice face, round with full features and hair over her lip, a headband on her forehead that went under her hair in back. There was nothing about her appearance that would particularly set her apart. She had a green school hoodie on and black shorts on. I asked her one thing she would like to do before she died, “Get extremely close with God,” she replied. I asked what she would say to God if she died and He asked ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ “I don’t know. You’re not supposed to tell him all the good that you did—be yourself I guess.” I asked her the likelihood she would go to Heaven and she said, “I think I got a good chance.” I began to go through the Gospel with her just by saying Christianity was like a blood transfusion. “I have A+ blood if you fill me up with B- blood by mistake in the hospital I would clot up and die so. God wants to know you, to live inside you with His Holy Spirit but first He has to make you his type. He has to take away your sin so He can live inside you. So do you know what the thing Jesus does to take away your sin. She said she did not know. I said I could explain it to her with a few Bible verses in this booklet (which was in my hand). Would it be ok if I did? She nodded and said, “Yeah.” So I just went to the middle and began to explain how Jesus had died for her and His Blood cleansed her and paid God for the damage we had done. Then I explained the righteousness of God and the resurrection. I said she had to believe this by faith, “Not that you just know the story a bit from back in the day at Church but that you place your trust in this (John 1:12). So if someone would ask you why should God let you into Heaven you’d say, “Because Jesus died for me.” I read, “By grace you are saved through faith,” explaining why doing good things could not make up for the bad things you’ve done. Her vibe was a bit standoffish. She might have been put out a bit that she did not know the answers to questions or just that she was talking to the old white guy but she stayed tuned in. Her phone was in her hand turned to the side and something seemed to be playing like distant inaudible chattering to my ear but she didn’t look at it. I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done for her on the cross or thought something else. She pointed with her index finger touching the circle with Christ on the throne of her life. I said if she wanted to be a forgiven for her sins there was a prayer she could pray and I began to read through it explaining it. I said she could pray it silently. “I was just reading it,” she replied. “Amen then,” I said and she said, “Yeah.” I explained the Christian life to her. I told her the likelihood she would now go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus. She said she had a Bible on her phone. I explained living Inside  > Out by the Spirit’s power inside her, transforming her. She was willing to take Bible Promises for You so I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I offered her The Case for Christ Answer Book and a Bible Study but she said. “I do everything on my phone.” Her friend had come in the middle, sat by her, looked all the while on her phone and left before she prayed. I told her I would pray for her a Bible verse each day until Spring and one year after. “If I see ya again I’ll just give you a wave so you won’t be embarrassed.” She sniffed a half laugh and said, “OK.” “I’ll see you in Heaven,” I said and I got up and left her at the table. She was now extremely close to God. He lived inside her by His Spirit.

So  thanks for your prayers for the ministry last week if you had a chance. This week 8 students prayed with me to receive Jesus and I’m truly grateful.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your week has been blessed so far. Yesterday I found no one to go through the Gospel with, there are very few students around. But today, Wednesday, after the Bible study I walked around a couple hours and James prayed with me to receive Jesus and I went through the gospel with a couple Muslims and though neither was truly interested in the things of God. James’ story is below if you want to spend the time. Please pray he grows in his faith.

I had walked by where James was sitting earlier in the day. He had long brown hair His head was turned down and his hair hid his face. A guy yesterday had turned me down and had long brown hair sitting in the same seat in the same lounge. I thought he was the same guy. I walked around over at the PE building with no one interested and seeing James again as I came in the SE corner door of the BIC I walked past the lounge. I thought I’d just ask him again. When he looked up James was not the same guy. His hair was longer, down to his elbows. He had the Errol Flynn mustache and a bit of a goatee. He looked a bit like Errol slightly broader nose. He had black skinny jeans on and black military boots, a black t-shit under a jacket. He said he’d do a survey. I asked him what he’d say to God if he died and was asked Why should I let you into Heaven?  He said, “I try to always do right by people, try to do the right thing even though people say I shouldn’t.” He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. It turned out he had Roman Catholic parents but no longer went to Church.  When I asked him what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world he said, “He was crucified.” I said, “Right,” and I went on to explain what Jesus’ death had meant to cleanse believers from sin and pay God for what we owed Him for wrecking His stuff, ourselves and others and the earth.  He listened to the righteousness of Christ and salvation by faith and the resurrection. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins trusting in Jesus or if he thought something else. “I guess through Christ,” he said. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I read it through and asked if it expressed the desire of his heart, he nodded and said “Yeah.” I said he could pray it silently and know he was forgiven and he said, “Sure.” And he prayed to receive Christ. I began to go through the Christian life with him. It turned out he didn’t have a Bible of his own so I gave him one and showed him the cross references and maps and study aids. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. He said, “Thank you.” There was only one other person in the lounge a girl who stood then and interrupted me asking if I was a student there. Sensing she was the self-appointed thought police, I said I taught a Bible Study here and had been here for 20 years. I said, “I got a lawyer and carried a letter from the administration giving me permission to talk to students on campus.” “I was just checking,” she said and left the lounge. “There’s also free speech,” I said to James when she was out of earshot. He smiled. She was rude to interrupt a private conversation and wrong to assume that I would have to explain myself to her at all. But I’m not interested in a confrontation or correcting some random student on her failure to grasp inalienable rights. She’d heard enough of the Gospel to be opposed to my telling it to someone. So I continued with James. I explained living Inside > Out by the Spirit’s Power. I also gave him a Bible study, explaining how Jesus’ walking on the water was a way Jesus claimed to be God. I said that He really made the claim every time He healed, without using God’s name or asking Him, seemed in His own authority. He was the creator recreating what was broken by a command. I gave him Bible Promises for You and gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told him if I saw him around I’d give him a wave.  I’d pray for him each day until Spring and one year after. “Well, thank you,” he said again. “Sure,” I said and I headed off.

Thanks for your prayers for the ministry. God blessed today and we’re having a Bible Study too, so that’s great.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today with the peace that surpasses understanding. The world looks on the brink of some very bad things, but we know God controls the world and laughs at the wicked and their plans. [Psa. 37:13] Thanks for your prayers, I spoke to 3 new people today and Rebeca, Bao, and Diego each prayed with me to receive Jesus, so that was great.  I’d be grateful it you might say a prayer to bless them, thanks for your help.  Their stories are below if you have time.

Rebeca was sitting on the ground floor of the east side science building in the hall looking at a tablet. She said she had a Bible Study group but she’d do a survey. She had on red leggings and a dark grey hoodie. She had long brown hair past her shoulders her face was oval that came to a point at her chin, she wore no make-up but was on the pretty side. I asked her one thing she wanted to do before she died and she wanted to take a trip to South Africa. I took it she meant be a missionary as the country is dangerous for white people and the Tonga volcano has destroyed the barley crop with cold and UV light. Evan in summer it’s now pretty cold. It’s chaos, so I can’t imagine a trip there for pleasure. She seemed to think she was aware of the hazards. I asked what she would say to God if she was dead and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” She thought for a moment and then said, “Because I believe in Jesus Christ and I repent all of my sins.” she thought she had a 99% chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with her and I said that God wanted to live inside her asking, “What did Jesus do to take away the sins of the world?” “He fills you with His Spirit?” she kind of guessed. I said something like, “Well this is how it works.” And I began to say that Jesus said, “You are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” We could not live a perfect life but Jesus lives a perfect life for us. He dies His blood cleanses us from all sin and his death is a payment to God. This all seemed to be novel to her. I explained the righteousness of God, Christ had earned to our credit, saying Paul said in the Bible that it was not by his own righteousness but by the righteousness which is by faith. I explained the righteousness of God to her credit. She needed to receive Jesus by believing He was God had died for her sins and rose from the Dead, “Not that you just know the story from Church or something but that’s what you place your trust in this, so if someone would say to you, “’Why should God let you into Heaven?’ you’d say, ‘Because Jesus died for me’” I showed her the two circles asking of she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done then she’d know was forgiven and God would live inside her and be on the throne or the driver’s seat of her life. Or did she think something else. “Jesus on the driver’s seat,” she replied. So I said it didn’t seem like she’d put all this together before, but if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray. I talked her through it. “It says here: ‘Does this prayer the desire of your heart?’” and she nodded. I said she could pray it silently then and know she was forgiven. “Wanna do it?” “Yeah, sure,” she replied. And she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. When she finished I told her she could keep the booklet and began to explain the Christian life—the fruit of the Spirit and living “Inside > Out” “By the Spirit’s Power”. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I gave her a Bible study also and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. “This is cool,” she said of the things I’d given her. I told her my name and email were on the back of the booklet. “So I can email you if I have a question?” she asked. “Yeah sure, I have a Masters in Theology and Church History and a Seminary degree and I’ve been doing this for 20 years so I’ve probably heard most questions. I could tell you what I think.” I told her the likelihood now she would go to Heaven trusting in the righteousness of Christ and His blood was 100%. “Nice to meet ya. I’ll see ya in Heaven,” I said holding up my had in a wave. She flashed a big smile, waved back and said, “I’ll see ya.”

I found Bao in the cafeteria sitting at the counter looking outside. He was a short, slight guy with dark wavy hair parted more or less down the middle, good looking kid, nice smile. Later as we talked he said he’d gone to a Vietnamese Church and a Catholic Church so I assumed he was Vietnamese. He had a Brown hoodie on with a white skeleton reaching out holding a heart, as far as I could see. Some kind of Halloween look I suppose. He had greenish brown cargo pants on. I asked him one thing he wanted to do before he died and he said, “Buy my parents a house.” Occasionally an African American student has said that to me as well and I’m reminded at a Community College where there’s kids whose families are not as established as the one I grew up in. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and were asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Umm hm. That’s a deep question,” he said thinking. Finally, he just said, “I feel like I treated others pretty good.” He thought he had a 70% chance of going to heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with him and I asked what the big thing was that Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world. “He spread his arms out a bit to trigger the thought and then said, “Crucified.” “Right,” I said and began to go through the atonement the cleansing blood of Christ and His payment for sin. He took it all in and gave kind of a half-smile at the tale I wove for him here and there. After I had explained that faith saved him I said that he should do good things to please God, treat people good, as he had said but his good stuff did not fix his bad stuff. I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. “Definitely forgiven,” he replied. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and after explaining it I asked, “Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?” He nodded. I said if he wanted he could pray it silently now, “I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear you and you’d know you were forgiven, wanna do it?” He nodded again and I gave him the booklet and he prayed to receive Jesus and made the sign of the Cross over himself as he finished. I said the likelihood now he would go to Heaven was 100%, trusting in Jesus’ righteousness. I explained the Christian life, he read his father’s Bible and said he did not need one. I explained the life in the Spirit “Inside > Out. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside and also gave him a Bible Study and “The Case for Christ Answer Booklet.  I told him I would be praying for him each day from now until Spring and for one year after. I told him we had a Bible study in the room and when and grabbed my Pack to go. “Thank you,” he said. “See you in Heaven Brother,” I replied fist bumping him. “See you,” he said with a big smile and I headed off.

I was kind of draggin’ after the hours I’d been at school but I thought I’d head up to the third floor of the BIC since I hadn’t been there for a while and I hopped into an elevator. Diego had stick-straight hair and a beard and mustache a slightly round face and fair skin. He hadn’t been to church since he was a kid. He had on a T-shirt and jeans. I asked him if he wanted to do a survey and he said, “Let’s do it.” When I asked what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I felt like I was the best person I could be on Earth on my time [there].”  I asked the likelihood he would go to Heaven? I’d say I have a higher percentage of going than [a] low chance.” He listened to the gospel as I began to say God wanted to live inside him, like he was the Energizer Bunny and God was the batteries, and that made him smile. I asked if he remembered what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world and he said he didn’t. “Real fast this is how it works,” I replied. I explained, “God sees we can’t come up to Him because of our sin and so He comes down and becomes a man Jesus who lives a perfect life. ‘Cause you’re supposed to live a perfect life.” I said no one could get into Heaven then because no one is perfect. “So Jesus lives a perfect life for us.” I explained Jesus was killed but He wanted to die. “He pours out his blood and His blood becomes a life force in the world and it makes life all the places we made death. There’s death inside us from our sin. The Bible says the Blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin, it turns death into life. So now you are alive inside and you match God and God can live inside you.” I explained Jesus was a payment for our sin and His righteousness was to our credit. I said All God had done needed to be received by faith and faith saved him. His good stuff could not fix his bad stuff. “So, the last question is would you like to be forgiven for your sin trusting in what Jesus has done or do you think something else or don’t know?” The first option,” he replied. I said there was a prayer he could pray. I read it through asking if it was the desire of his heart. He said “Yeah.” I asked if he’d want to pray it silently and he said, “Yeah, sure,” and he prayed to receive Jesus. He did not have a Bible so I gave him one and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” on the inside after showing him all the study tools in it. I explained to him also living “Inside > Out” by the power of the Spirit. I gave him a Bible study briefly explaining it and Bible Promises for You and gave him The Case for Christ Answer Book. I told him I’d pray for him each day until Spring and one year after. We talked about the military and the trouble in the world and I got up to go. “Nice to meet you man,” I said. “Thank you,” he said. “Yeah, thank you,” I replied and I headed off.

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 week was blessed with grace and peace. I had a strange week Tuesday was no school and I was still wiped out by Thursday. But God still blessed yesterday and Brenda committed to Christ and Brandon prayed to receive Jesus Thursday so I was thankful. I’d be grateful for your prayers for them to grow. Their stories are below if you have some time.

Brenda was sitting in the PE lounge upstairs by the workout equipment. She had brown shoulder length hair and wore black-rimmed glasses, wore a light grey sweatshirt and grey sweats. She was waiting for a friend and only had a couple minutes but was willing to just answer the one big question. “You get hit by a bus, you’re dead, and you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say.” “Umm, I don’t know that’s a tough question… I would hope to be let in because I’m a kind person. It’s not up to me it’s up to Him.” It turned out she went to a Roman Catholic Church. I only had the time then to explain the atonement and salvation by faith. Which she hadn’t seemed to understand before. It did not have much time to sink in and I had no time to build a bit of conversational connection. But as I finished I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus or thought something else. She said she would “Trust in Jesus”. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray. I talked her through it and offered it to her and she acknowledged it was the desire of her heart. In the end she took the booklet with the prayer, looked at it and closed it. So I asked if she believed Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. “Do you believe that’s a true story?” “Yes,” she replied. And would you place your trust in that to be forgiven for your sins?” “Yes,” she said again. I said, “Well then you only need to talk to God about it.” I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name in the front saying it was a way to read some Bible verses. I wrote the word “forgiven” in the front [Romans 10:9].  I had had a chance to explain the Christian life a bit and I said, “Thanks for your time.” “You too,” she replied, “Thank you.” I said, “Your welcome and she headed out the doors to meet her friend. I’ll be praying for her in the hope the seed of faith from God takes greater root.

Brandon was sitting in front of the entrance to the drama theatre in the MAC arts building. He had shorter brush cut hair but it wasn’t a flat top it was rounded with tined ends on top, warm face and eyes, he had a bright smile with very white teeth. Looked Latino, had the smooth skin of youth and a medium build. He wore a light grey sweatshirt and charcoal sweat pants. Good lookin’ guy. He said he’d do a survey and after we talked about Bikers a bit I asked the questions. I asked, “You get hit by a bus, you’re dead, and you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?”  He thought about it and said he hadn’t thought about “stuff like that”. I asked what he thought would get someone into Heaven, “Faith, having faith the whole time, not then, but heading up to that, before that.” I asked him what the likelihood he would get into Heaven, “10% is low 100% is your sure or 50/50 you got a shot?” “I feel like it is either 100% or it’s zero,” he replied. So he went with 100% just to say he thought he’d go to Heaven. He listened attentively to the Gospel and leaning forward to read some of the verses that I read on the counter height table. It turned out he went to Catholic church once in a while and I compared the Mass symbolically to what I had spoken about. I explained that God wanted to live inside him and had to purify him in this life. I said, “Flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God” So in this life God purifies us with the blood of Jesus, that pays for our sin so that when we go to Heaven God can share His glory with us, He is eternal and the source of life so then we will last for eternity. I pointed out that like he had said this was a faith you had to have already before you got there, through this life. I explained the righteousness of God to his credit and then that faith saved him. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done or if he thought something else. “Definitely forgiven,” he replied. I said if he’d like to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it. “’It says here does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ So would you say that it did?” “Hum hum,” he replied. I said he could pray it silently, “I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven, wanna do it?” “Yeah,” he said with a smile. And he took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. I explained then that now the likelihood he would go to Heaven trusting is the righteousness of Jesus was 100%. I explained living “Inside > Out” by the power of the Spirit. “Christianity is ‘Just Ask’. God wants to help you to do things in life and will give you as much strength as you need to be as successful as you can be and not screw up.” I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and then Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. Lastly I gave him a Bible Study on the deity of Christ explaining it a bit. I shook his hand and got up to go saying, “Nice to meet ya man.” “Nice to meet ya,” he said in return and then “Appreciate ya.” And I headed out the doors near us.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism last week, though I dropped the ball and forgot to send an email asking for prayer on 2 days, in a brain fog a bit one morning. But God had mercy and answered. I hope in a couple kids who did not pray but 2 asked God for forgiveness in Christ and another confessed her faith.

In Him,

Bob