Third Watch Ministries, NFP                                                         Bob & Ellen Bollow

P. O. Box 1283                                                                                         May 21, 2024

Wheaton, IL 60187  

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.”  1 Corinthians 3:6

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your summer has been blessed so far with good things from above. We had a good year on campus. Both semesters we had bible studies with different students and Ellen got to participate a bit. Everyone who came was a guy, so it mattered less that our most essential volunteer missed some studies. Ellen does all the behind-the-scenes things we have to do to be a NFP in the state of IL. Without her I might still have a ministry—you know out of a trailer park in Florida walking the beaches. I could possibly hope to be kind of a sunburned John the Baptist. The locust diet seems unappealing however, so I’m grateful. We had 145 students pray to receive Christ after hearing the Gospel from me on campus this year. Many more are a question mark for me, though I tell them the Gospel. They often seem to agree with it but are unresponsive in the moment. I had about 20 conversations like that this year. So to end the year, here’s a conversation with John that I had recently through social media. It encouraged me that God was at work in people I prayed for but did not know much more of, in terms of their life in Christ. I have known John over 10 years through his attendance at the college, but had not seen him in a few years.

John:  Dear Bob, I don’t want to force myself into making this a long-winded thing, but I recently saw a bunch of testimonials about people who had communication with God and give themselves to Christ. Many had near death experiences and saw some of the afterlife. Some visit heaven, some visit hell, some see demons, etc. This prompted me to make a ton of changes over the last month or so. I’m more aware now than I ever have been that it’s my duty to establish a fellowship with Christ. I just wanted to mention that some of the conversations we had a few years back at COD had stuck with me throughout the years. I don’t know how big or small it was to you, but your friendship always had a gentle impact on my life that I believe is at least partially responsible in orienting me towards this. You are a true friend and your kindness was a huge gift. God bless you and El.

Bob:  Thanks a lot John. I prayed for you for several years when I was seeing you regularly off and on and asked God to bless you and lead you to Himself. I’m so glad our conversations and friendship was a good thing. I’m grateful you’re getting closer to the Lord. I believe the Bible teaches if you believe Jesus is God, died for your sins and rose from the dead, you are a child of the God. Then trusting in Jesus’ work, to earn God’s righteousness for you, and His blood to cleanse you; this means God enters you and seals you with His Holy Spirit [Ephesians 1:13]. You are saved by faith and this is God’s gift. [Ephesians 2:8&9]. So you do have an obligation to draw near to God because you owe Him for creating you. He’ll save you if you tell Him you trust in Jesus and His work on the Cross by faith. And forgive all your sins. But also He will give you all the strength you need to live to please Him by the Spirit that dwells in you. Thanks so much for touching base. I’ll be praying you continue to “bear fruit.” God bless you man. I am at [gave him my cell] if you ever need pray for anything or conversation. Peace be upon you Brother.

John:  Thanks again for the kind words. I’m working on changing how I pray to better communicate with God and get some things off my chest. In the past I feel like I mostly just prayed for protection (good health, happy family, healthy dogs, etc). I’m sure God hears me well enough, but I’m trying to reflect more on the how I can better serve God. It’s been an experience trying to restructure my thinking in that way. I’m trying to reflect on my sin to experience the significance of the sacrifice. I don’t want my prayers to sound like a list of requests anymore and I think that starts by working harder to reflect on things in the bigger picture. It’s been a journey but I’m reading my Bible and doing my best to understand how my life works into everything. Like I said, I’m thankful that you were there as a friend to help “water the seed” in the way that you did. I don’t know where I would be now if you hadn’t said something like: the only thing that gives me a shot at getting into heaven is Jesus’ sacrifice. If I hadn’t heard that I would have probably continued to think that my “good deeds” would have outweighed my laundry list of sins. At the very least, I’m happy to have eventually caught on and corrected that thinking. I don’t want to warp Gods gift into something that fits into my life. Anyway, I hope things are going well. I don’t know how often you hear this kind of thing from friends, but I appreciate everything. I’ll give you a call if I need it, and if not- I might just give you a call to catch up sometime. Thanks again Bob.

Bob:  Yeah call anytime. I still walk around school and talk to students about Jesus. Many trust in Jesus right as I am talking to them and I will pray for them for at least a year. I hear something once in a great while from someone I talked to at school a bit after but running into people is pretty random. I think God has to work in people or there would be no understanding. I truly appreciate your kindness to let me know that God used what I said. It’s a blessing to me. You’re welcome..

Here are the names of the students who are new believers during the 2023-24 school year. Please pray for God to bring growth in their lives. (*means they said they would pray later)

Alijah, Jordan, Ken, Kolton, Will, Alex, Kiya, Marshall, Ashlyn, Tony, Mitch, Toni, Maia, Nick, Gabby, Brandon, Jameson, Christ, Kate, Trevont, Ian, Kyra, Davon, Vincent, Ian, Andy, Ray, Shauna, Oscar, Chris, Ella, Ryssa, Tim, Kayla, Kendall, Janayah, Juan, Mia, Abrianna, Ayleen, Daniel, Braedon, Tessa, I’sis*, Marnita, Sno, Matt, Kathline, Brenda*, Brandon, Rebeca, Bao, Diego, James, Neeha, Justin, KB, Mariah, Ben, Simona, Joseph, Darion, Michael, Jimmy, Leo, Clare*, Cristina, Maritza, Pablo, Gabriel, Alissa, Christopher, Kadin, Emerson, Lexi, Caliah, Yami, Kailey, Alex, Jonathon, DiLo, Joseph, Rosa, Fernanda, Oliver, Joe, Atiba, Christian, Zach, Isaiah, Thania, Israel, Mariana, LeDonte, Lucas, Rulan, Pearla, Griffin, Irlanda, Jarely, C.J., Gabe* Alex, Gia, Cristina, Janiyah, Myles, Fabian*, Simone, Calvin, Tilicia, Gabi, Zach, Sebastian, Lilly, Nicole, Matias, Quelle, Gabe, D’Riyah, Jomaine, Jack, V, Jacob, Anthony, Floyd, Jack, Quin, Jake, Samantha, Carlos, Anna, Olivia, Peter, Liam, Eva, Abby, Jason, Maggie, Angel, Mallory, Nick, Patrick, Sara, Haetham, Chris, Jalen, Jay, Derrick, Steph

We are grateful for another school year where God blessed the work, and your prayers & support provided the opportunity.

In Him,

Bob & Ellen

bob.thirdwatch@sbcglobal.net

www.thethirdwatch.org

I had a good day on campus and Stephanie prayed to receive Jesus.  Daria was a Russian Ukrainian who was only here for a couple years. A pretty girl with rounded features and long brown hair. She thought of herself as a Christian. I asked her if when she prayed for forgiveness if she thought she would be forgiven because Jesus died for her or just because God was merciful. She said she’d never really thought about it. So I hope she will pray later. Please pray these students are drawn closer to God by faith. Stephanie’s story is below if you have time. Thank you for your prayers.

I had talked to Stephanie earlier in the semester on February 29^th. She’s a cute round-headed little Latina girl with long naturally curly hair. She had hoped she would be good enough to go to Heaven when we first talked. Then, in February, she said she would pray later.  I had bumped into her one other time and she had said planned to pray. Today I asked if she had and she seemed to have forgotten, and she had not finished reading through the booklet. So I explained trusting in Christ again and I showed her the prayer asking if it seemed to be the desire of her hear. She said it was, we were in the cafeteria. So I said, “Well I could leave you alone and you could pray the prayer privately and I could come back and ask you how it went?” She was grateful and said she would so I left her. Another guy Michael, who had trusted Christ this year, talked to me a bit at the far end of the cafeteria and when I returned she had prayed. So I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name (she said to write Steph) and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. “Oh thank you,” she said as I gave the book to her. I said I would pray for her each day a Bible verse and ask God to bless her. She thanked me again and I said, “God bless you.” “God bless you too,” she replied. And I headed off.

I found some other students I had spoken with who were glad to see me. Max from Last school year was doing well though he had had sudden pneumonia a while back that had put him in the hospital for a week. He said he was fine now. I gave him a copy of Bible Promises for You as last year I when I had talked to him I had not given him a book. He was grateful too. There were no many at school today. Tomorrow is the last day of classes so I’ll try casting the net out again then.

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

In Him,

Bob

I had a good day on campus and Stephanie prayed to receive Jesus.  Daria was a Russian Ukrainian who was only here for a couple years. A pretty girl with rounded features and long brown hair. She thought of herself as a Christian. I asked her if when she prayed for forgiveness if she thought she would be forgiven because Jesus died for her or just because God was merciful. She said she’d never really thought about it. So I hope she will pray later. Please pray these students are drawn closer to God by faith. Stephanie’s story is below if you have time. Thank you for your prayers.

I had talked to Stephanie earlier in the semester on February 29^th. She’s a cute round-headed little Latina girl with long naturally curly hair. She had hoped she would be good enough to go to Heaven when we first talked. Then, in February, she said she would pray later.  I had bumped into her one other time and she had said planned to pray. Today I asked if she had and she seemed to have forgotten, and she had not finished reading through the booklet. So I explained trusting in Christ again and I showed her the prayer asking if it seemed to be the desire of her hear. She said it was, we were in the cafeteria. So I said, “Well I could leave you alone and you could pray the prayer privately and I could come back and ask you how it went?” She was grateful and said she would so I left her. Another guy Michael, who had trusted Christ this year, talked to me a bit at the far end of the cafeteria and when I returned she had prayed. So I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name (she said to write Steph) and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. “Oh thank you,” she said as I gave the book to her. I said I would pray for her each day a Bible verse and ask God to bless her. She thanked me again and I said, “God bless you.” “God bless you too,” she replied. And I headed off.

I found some other students I had spoken with who were glad to see me. Max from Last school year was doing well though he had had sudden pneumonia a while back that had put him in the hospital for a week. He said he was fine now. I gave him a copy of Bible Promises for You as last year I when I had talked to him I had not given him a book. He was grateful too. There were no many at school today. Tomorrow is the last day of classes so I’ll try casting the net out again then.

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 ya had a great day walking in His light and truth. I had a good day on campus and Jalen and Jay each prayed with me to receive Christ. I also bumped into Derrick who had told me on April 3^rd he would pray later. It turned out he had prayed to receive Christ. Their stories are below if you have some time. Please pray they grow in their faith.

I parked in a spot that was almost straight across a circle seating area with pavers and walls next to the waterfall they have not turned on yet sadly. It’s in front of the doors near the cafeteria. So instead of going inside the nearest door I decided to walk through the warm sunshine to the cafeteria foyer doors. An African American guy, Jalen was on my way sitting on the half wall facing the half circle drive for buses. He was slightly built and had a brown stretch cap tight around his head made out of vinyl or leather, I couldn’t tell. He had on a grey pull over hoodie with frayed sleeve ends and the grey sweats he had on matched it and had pockets. He said he’d been named for Jalen Rose the basketball player out of Michigan. He had kind of a pointed chin and oval face, from my angle sitting beside him and a smaller nose, perfect skin, slight mustache, good looking guy. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and was asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I shouldn’t be let into Heaven right now,” he replied. I would usually ask if there was a “but” in there, after. But he was frank and said, “I might as well be honest.” I agreed. He said that he came from a “religious household” and his Grand Father who had just recently died was a pastor. This, as if to tell me his bona fides and the validity of his personal assessment. I asked him what the likelihood was he would go to Heaven if God might be merciful. “50% chance,” he replied. I said the rest of the survey was about what he thought about Christianity and I thought he would like it. I began to explain that God loved him and wanted to be one and live inside him but to do that He had to take away his sins and make him “His type” like a blood transfusion. I asked what Jesus had done to take away his sins. “He died on the cross,” he replied. I agreed and began to explain what that would mean, that he was cleansed from sin by the blood of Christ and so God could then live inside him. This was how God got paid, by the perfect blood of Christ—worth an infinite amount—so it was fair to forgive him. Then Jesus earned the righteousness of God to his credit. So he would not go to Heaven because he was good but because Jesus was good and he was connected to Him. God wanted to adopt him and make him his child and give him the blessings of His family, (giving him) the sacrifice for his sins, the blood that cleansed him and the righteousness of God that surrounded him. “So you got some place to go, Heaven and something to wear when ya get there, the righteousness of God,” I said. I told him that he needed to receive Christ by faith. So I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else. “I’d want to be forgiven,” he replied. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked him through it, and he took it in reading it as I did. I asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. He said, “Yeah.” I said he could pray it silently right now. I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “OK I’ll do it.” He replied. He took the booklet and said, “Say this out loud?” he asked. “No just inside.” “In my heart” he said as I said, “God hears your heart.” He prayed then to receive Christ. I said now trusting in the righteousness of God to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I said again how Jesus’ blood and righteousness was worth an infinite amount and would be enough for us both. I have him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I also gave him a Bible Study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. “Thank you,” he said and shook my hand. I told him Ephesians 1:13 says as soon as you believe God seals you with the Holy Spirit. And there is nothing you can do that is greater than the blood of Christ to forgive you. “Thank you,” he said looking me in the eye. “Thank you, appreciate you,” he said again. I said “thanks” and he was welcome and I headed inside grateful I had met him.

I found Derrick on the 3^rd floor, I actually went there hoping to find him again before the semester ended and he was sitting at the same table. He said he’d prayed and the prayer in the booklet and had read The Case for Easter, which I gave him. He is a black guy with a beard and rough top afro, today he was wearing a ball cap. He’s a really friendly guy who had hoped he go to Heaven for being a “pretty good person”. I gave him a copy of Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the year and “forgiven!” in the front, which he liked. I gave him a Bible study and since he was a reader I gave him a copy of The Student Edition of The Case for Christ. He was happy to get a book. So I fist bumped him and was on my way saying that I had been praying for him but I would put him on a list and pray a Bible verse for him each day for the next year.

Jay was sitting in the second-floor hallway of the BIC. She had a black mask on but it was pulled down under her chin. She had a cute, warm, friendly face, was a bit heavy set. Her hair was in ringlets to her shoulders and she had fair skin for a black girl. She had on black pants and black rectangular framed glasses and a black t-shirt with “Tupac” (a rapper dead in 1996 in a drive by shooting) written on it in colorful letters. I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven. “That’s a really… wow. I don’t know what I would say,” she replied. So I asked what do you think you have to do to get into Heaven. “I was always told if you do more good than bad you’ll get into Heaven,” she replied. She thought she had a 50% chance of getting into Heaven. I asked her if she ever went to church, “Like when you were a kid?” I added. She said, “I wear a cross for protection.” She had gone to church when she was little but her mom had given each of them a cross to wear (there was one around her neck and she showed me a beaded bracelet that had a cross as well). Her mom had said the cross would protect her though they were not going to church, or when they were not there. I began to go through the Gospel with her asking her what Jesus had done to take away her sins. “He died,” she replied. I explained the sacrifice of Christ then to cleanse her by his blood and pay God back for all the imperfect things we had done that we owed God something perfect for. I explained the righteousness of Christ, adoption and becoming a child of God by receiving Jesus by faith. I asked if she would like to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done on the cross then He could live inside her with His Holy Spirit by faith or did she “think something else?” “Be forgiven,” she replied. I talked through the prayer and asked if it was the “desire of your heart?” “Yeah…” she said with kind of a musical lilt in her voice. So I said she could pray it silently right now and know she was forgiven. “Sure,” she said shyly and she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. She did not have a Bible so I gave her one and showed her all the study helps in it. It has many of the prophecies He fulfilled His miracles and parables and a 30-day reading schedule. I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I told her the likelihood she would now go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. I told her I would pray a Bible verse for her each day from now until this time next year. I also gave her Bible Promises for You and a Bible study. “I’ll see you in Heaven,” I said, getting up to go. “Thank you,” she said. 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 you had a life filled with joy and peace today. I had a good day on campus and Haetham and Chris each prayed with me to receive Jesus. Please pray they grow in their faith. Their stories are below if you have time. Thanks for your prayers.

I felt a prompting to walk towards the PE building when I first arrived. Haetham was sitting alone in the same lounge that Patrick was in yesterday on the north side ground floor of the BIC. The lounge has some vending machines and some tables with folding dividers that have some history about the school on them. It turned out Haetham was from Iraq. He was wearing a Cubs hat and a down vest over a white short-sleeved t-shirt. He had hazel / green eyes and an oval face with a square chin. He described himself as a former Muslim who now was a Christian.  I had talked with another guy who described himself that way this year, Angel, who prayed with me to receive Christ. So I asked Haetham if I could just ask him a quick question. I wanted to make sure he understood the faith.  I asked if he died what he would say to God to get into Heaven. I didn’t have the chance to write his exact response in the moment but He said something like; “I had not always been living in a way where my life directed or flowed with God.  My life has been up and down in that way but I am moving in the right direction.” He had not mentioned Jesus died for him. This sounded to me like he might be believing in Christianity in general but more as a framework than saving faith. So I said, “Christianity is like a blood transfusion. I have A+ blood, if you fill me with B- blood I would clot up and die. So God wants to transfuse His life into you, to live inside you with the Holy Spirit. Then you would be one with God and He is eternal and the source of life so you would have eternal life.” He seemed to track with that so I quickly showed him some verses and I said, “The problem is that you have sin in your life. God can’t be one with sin but he wants to live inside you so he takes away your sin. Then you are perfect and holy inside and you match God and He can live inside you. So what is the big thing Jesus does that takes away your sin?” “He purifies you?” he ventured in what sounded like a guess and was really just repeating what I said. So I explained the atonement to Him, Christ’s blood cleansed him and was a payment to God and the righteousness of God Christ earned and was to our credit. He would not go to Heaven because he was good but because Jesus was good and he was connected to Him. I said that he was saved by faith and not by works. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. He wanted to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done. He decided to pray to receive Jesus trusting in Him alone. He was pressed for time working on a paper for a religion class. I explained the Christian life living Inside -> Out by the Spirit’s power. So I said I would pray for him the next year. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and I gave him a Bible study on the deity of Christ. I also gave him The Case for Christianity Answer Book that has nearly 60 answers to apologetic questions in it. It seemed he had trusted in Christ for his salvation for the first time. I will pray for him and hope he grows in faith. He said when he was a boy he had met a friend of mine Hesham who is a local pastor and used to translate for a Bible study his parents went to (at a different Church than my friend pastors now) years ago. The conversation was faster than I would have liked.  I gave him a quick hug as I left him. “I appreciate you. Thank you for taking this time,” he said, as I left him. I thanked him for his time and headed off. I felt the Spirit moving as I spoke with him, which was great, he needed the Gospel clearly explained. He asked that I pray for him concerning the parable of the Sower in Luke. He felt like there were many seeds sown and he wanted to respond to those sown in him by God.

I spent an hour with one of the guys from the Bible Study who was trying to figure out an application online. After that it was a bit late but I went into the cafeteria and saw a couple I had not remembered seeing before. They were sitting at the counter looking outside. Chris looked Latino but his girlfriend (though a Latina) had dyed her long stick straight hair blonde. He was wearing sweats with some branding on the front and patterning on the legs that looked like mock animal skin. He had a black t-shirt on and a pencil thick mustache above his lip. His beard was only a patch beneath his chin. He had a diamond shaped face. His hair was cut in a fade over his ears and the top of his head a mop of hair like a bowl and was slight. He was willing to do a survey but his girlfriend wasn’t and was on her phone. She was not listening. Finally saying something to him about where she was going she left towards the end of the conversation leaving us alone. I asked him what he would say to God if a bus killed him and he was asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” He thought for a second and said, “I was like, following the word of God, not doing crazy stuff,” he replied. He thought he had an 85% chance of going to Heaven. He said he had wanted to get a Bible and read it more. I began to go through the Gospel with him. After explaining God wanted to live inside him but had to take away his sins to do so I asked “What’s the big thing Jesus does to take away your sins?” “He died on the cross,” he replied. So I explained how the sacrifice of Christ cleansed him and was a payment to God. I told him Jesus had earned the righteousness of God and he would go to Heaven if He was connected to Him by faith and the Holy Spirit would live inside him. I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done and God could live inside him or thought something else. “Be forgiven,” he replied. So I said there was a prayer he could pray if he wanted to be forgiven and talked him through it. I said he could pray it right now silently; I wouldn’t hear him but God would and he’d know he was forgiven. “Ok,” he said, “Can I keep this?” he asked. I said “Yeah,” then realizing what I’d asked he said, “Pray it right now? OK,” and he prayed to receive Jesus.  “What is the difference between the Old and the New Testament?” He asked when he finished. I said the Old Testament was the story of a people with prophets and kings that God held together, so that when Jesus the Messiah came he could fulfill the prophecies and you’d know it was him. The New Testament was the story of Jesus and His Kingdom. I began to explain the Christian life to Him living “Inside -> Out” by the Spirit’s Power to transform him. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in a Bible and showed him some things to help him study.  He asked where he should start reading. I put a marker in John and explained that there were reading programs on line at Bible Gateway and they would send him a notice each day reminding him to read and he could read through the New Testament in a Year. He thought he’d like to do that. I gave him Bible Promises for You and The Case for Christ Answer Book and he thought he had remembered the movie. I also gave him a Bible Study on the ways Jesus claims to be God for the Old Testament into the New, which actually fit his question on the difference well. He thanked me for the Bible saying, “I needed one.” And then said about the discussion “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” I said he was welcome and I would keep him in my prayers for the next year praying a Bible verse for him each day. He was a solid guy. I thanked him for talking with me and I headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today God truly blessed.

In him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day has been bless so far with grace and power for the dark times we seem to be entering. But God is still at work in the world. Patrick and Sara each prayed to receive Jesus today after I told them Gospel. Please pray they grow in the faith. Thanks for your prayers. Their stories are below if you have time.

Patrick was sitting in a lounge on the ground floor of the south side of the BIC. It has some sky lights leading into it.  There’s vending machines and folding screens (with Photos and text about the history of the school) dividing the room from a few tables. Patrick had sandy straight hair parted down the middle and a square chin, narrow face. He was not a big guy and wore a white t-shirt and black shorts. He wasn’t interested in a Bible study group but said he’d do a survey. He said he wanted to travel to Bora Bora, (seems like a beautiful place to do beach ministry but hey). I asked him what he would say to God if he died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I have done some bad things but I feel like I helped a lot of people. I’ve helped friends and family and people on the side of the road, if I see someone in need I will help them to the best of my ability,” he replied. He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. He listened closely to the Gospel and when I asked what Jesus had done to take away his sins he knew Jesus had died. He said he went to church pretty regularly. I explained that the blood of Jesus cleansed him. Because He was God is blood was worth an infinite amount and paid God back for all the imperfect things we’ve done we owe God something perfect for, since we have damaged His stuff. I told him of the righteousness of God earned by Christ that was to his credit when God adopted him and he was given the rights of a child of God, by faith. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else he said, “The first option.” So I said there was a prayer he could pray and read it through for him asking if it expressed the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he replied. I said he could pray it silently and he said, “Um, sure, why not.” And he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I gave him the booklet then and explained living “Inside -> Out” by the Spirit’s power. He had his parents Bible and liked to read it because it was in Polish and helped him keep up on the language. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside of Bible Promises for You and told him I’d pray a Bible verse for him to be blessed until this time next year. I explained the Christian life living “Inside -> Out” by the Spirit’s power.  I told him that now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus and His blood the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I got up and said, “God bless you.” “God bless you too. Have a good one,” he replied and I headed off.

Sara was sitting in the SE corner lounge of the second floor of the BIC. There are 2 long tables squeezed in there. She sat alone at a table. She is a pretty Latina and had large rectangle framed black glasses, long flowing brown hair parted down the middle. She wore a white lacy blouse and jeans. Her face looked tanned and she wore braces on her teeth. She was a nice kid. I asked her one thing she’d like to do before she died and she said, “Ask for forgiveness.” I asked what she would say to God if she died and was asked why He should let her into Heaven. “That’s a good question,” she replied. Sher then smiled when I wrote that as if it would be funny if the first thing she told God was that He had asked her a good question. “I feel like I’d say, I’ve already paid for my sins. And I’s ask for forgiveness so…” She thought she had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven and said she did not go to church any more. She listened carefully to the Gospel looking me in the eye and reading along with the verses as I sat beside her at the table. She knew when I asked her what Jesus had done to take away our sins that He had died. She listened to the gospel agreeing with it with assenting words or nodding. I explained the righteousness of God, Christ’s blood to cleanse her. She would not go to Heaven because she was good but because Jesus was and she was connected to Him. God wished to adopt her and give her all the blessings of His family. The sacrifice for her sins, the blood that cleansed her and the righteousness of God that surrounded her. “So you got some place to go, Heaven and something to wear when you get there the righteousness of God,” I said.  I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done so the Holy Spirit could live inside her and give her strength or thought something else. Then repeated, “So would you like to be forgiven?” She said she would, nodding. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and talked her through it asking if it was the desire of her heart. “Yes,” she replied and I said she could pray it silently, “Wanna do it?” “Sure,” she replied. And then she prayed aloud to receive Jesus. She had a Bible. I explained the Christian life living “Inside -> Out” by the Spirit’s power. And I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and forgiven in the front. I also gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. She said she saw the movie and thought it was good.  I told her now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus and His blood the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100% and though I had sinned more than her being old there was enough righteousness of infinite value and as was His blood to cover us both. “Amen to that,” she replied. I said I would pray a Bible verse for her each day until this time next year. I gave her a Bible study to do on her own and explained it. She reached out and shook my hand and said “It was nice to meet you Bob. God bless you.” “God bless you too,” I said and I headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope ya had a good week walking with the Lord. Mine was pretty slow in evangelism for 3 days. I had some good conversations encouraging Christian students and got one or two seeds planted. Then the day finished with 3 guys at Bible Study Thursday and Mallory and Nick prayed with me to receive Jesus, so that was great. Their stories are below if you have some time. I’d be grateful for your prayers to bless them asking for their faith to grow.

Mallory was sitting beside a guy friend of hers in some stuffed chairs with armrest tables attached, in the 1^st floor hallway to the bookstore just past the SSC area (now under construction). I asked them if they’d do a survey and she said yes though he seemed to have no interest. I sat with my back against the wall on the floor next to her. She had wavy dark brown hair parted sown the middle a bit past shoulder length. It framed a cute face. She didn’t seem to be wearing make-up and wore a long sleeve black shrink top that did not quite meet the top of her grey sweats. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and was asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” She thought for a bit with an “Um..” and then said, “Because even though I maybe come off rude I have a good heart. I care for other people deep down.” She thought she had a 70% chance of going to Heaven and went to church on holidays. I began to go through the Gospel with her saying God had to take away her sins so he could live inside her and asked what Jesus had done to take away her sins. She thought a second and then said, “He died on the cross.” I said, “Right,” and began to explain how the shed blood of Christ was a power in the world to cleanse her and a payment for what she owed to God. I explained the righteousness of God Christ earned to her credit and that God wanted to adopt her and give her these things. She could become a child of God by faith. I asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins and have God live inside her and she said, “Of course.” So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray. I read it aloud to her and explained it to her and asked if it expressed the desire of her heart.” She said, “Yes”. I said she could pray it silently and know she was forgiven. “I was praying it as you read it,” she replied. “Ok great,” I said. “Amen?” She closed her eyes and said, “Amen.” I explained the Christian life to her recommending she read the book of John and she said she had a Bible. I gave her Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front saying she could read the verses for encouragement or turn them into prayers. “Oh, thank you,” she said and she reached out and shook my hand after taking the booklet. I gave her a Bible study explaining it and she took it and reached down to me and shook my hand again and said, “Thank you so much.” I got up to go after explaining walking by the Spirit and living “Inside -> out “, by the Spirit’s Power, saying I would pray a Bible verse for her each day for the next year. “You made my day,” I said.  “You have a nice rest of your day,” she said cheerfully as I got up to go. “We always sit here before class if you want to say hi,” she said. I said, “OK,” hoping to give both of them booklets next week to converse more with him. I headed down the hall pausing at a counter height table, they left a minute or two later.

Nick was sitting in the hallway on the first floor of the easternmost science building. He was a pretty thin guy and did not look like he’d be taller than me if he stood up. He was sitting with a about a seat and a half break between him and a large built black woman with an afro tinted brown on the top. She looked both talker and stronger built than him but turned out to be his mother. He had thin dreadlocks that were also tinted brown, not more than 5 inches long. He had a slight mustache and wore a retainer on his mouth. His narrow face had clear-rimmed plastic glasses, kind of on the fair side in complexion. He had on light brown shorts and a white t-shirt with some printing on it. I asked if he would want to do a student survey and his mom piped in, “I teach him all about and God,” holding up a full sized worn covered black leather Bible. But she got a phone call and picked up so I said, “You wanna just answer the big question and impress your mom?” He said, “Sure.” I asked, “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’m a good Christian,” he said. So I said, “Well Christianity is like a blood transfusion. I got A+ blood so if they fill me full of B- blood by mistake I would clot up and die. So God wants to transfuse His life into you, to live inside you with His Holy Spirit. But first He has to make you His type, so He takes away your sin, then you are perfect and Holy inside and God can live inside you. So what’s the big thing God does to take away your sins?” He was thinking so to prompt him I said, “What does Jesus do?” He forgives you?” he said. I said, “But what does He do to forgive you?” He could not think of anything. His mom was on the phone still. I pulled out the booklet then and quickly mentioned the first two points without reading the verses, a bit afraid his mom would interrupt. And then I explained the cleansing sacrifice of Jesus by His blood and His perfect payment to God. His mom hung up and put on some worship music and pulled out her Bible to read. That seemed to signal she was on board with the conversation.  I explained His earned righteousness, he would not go to Heaven because he was good but because Jesus was good and he was connected to Him. God’s adoption of him made him a child of God. This was all his by faith but his good stuff would not fix his bad stuff. I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done. Then the Spirit could live inside him and give him all the strength he needed to live the Christian life. Or did he believe something else. “Islam says their god’s a spirit but he does not live inside you. He’s not a father, did not have a son and there’s no sacrifice for sin. So they have a different God.” “I would want to be forgiven,” he replied. So I said there was a prayer he could pray then and talked him through it saying he could pray it silently. He took the booklet then and prayed the prayer aloud. When he finished I said, “Great. I gave him a copy of Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!!” on the inside. I also gave him a Bible study and The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet. I explained the Christian life living by the Spirit’s power, “Inside -> Out”. I said I’d keep him in my prayers for the next year. I stood up to go and he started flipping through Strobel’s book. His mom said to me, “You keep preaching the Gospel.” “Sometimes it just takes a fresh voice,” I said. She nodded and I asked her name saying I could pray for her as well, she told me it and then said, “You can just pray for the Williams family.” I said, “Yes Mam.” I turned to Nick and said, “I’ll see you in Heaven” and he grinned and I headed out so as not to be late for the Bible study in the cafeteria.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope ya found your hope in Christ today as you walked with Him.  I talked Christians all day. I went through the Gospel with two of them and Kara needed assurance of salvation and in explaining the righteousness of Jesus she realized it so that was great. It lifted her heart. I gave Bible Studies to Sara (who prayed to receive Jesus last year) and Alma a girl who trusted Christ 2 years ago and their friend sitting with them. Alma was thinking about dating a Muslim and began the discussion with the question of what it meant to be unequally yoked. I explained the concept with Oxen and what a yoke was and said it was a metaphor for being equal with a marriage partner where both believe in Jesus, equal spiritually in the eyes of Christ. She asked if marrying a Muslim would be a sin. I explained it was because the Bible told you not to do it. I asked her if she knew that Muslims according to the Quran can marry 4 women and many have more than one wife. Even here in the US but the extra women are just not legally united them the Muslim man. I said the Quran also says men can beat their wives. She was not aware of these things. I said in some instances Muslim men married to Christian women have left the country with their mutual children leaving the wife behind and there was nothing the mother could do. She was born in Africa so it was a good discussion. She said she would pray about it. I said she need not bother as she already knew the answer from God’s word so He had already told her. Sara said her mom was Muslim and warned Alma against it. I said God forbids things that will not make us happy. You could tell she had a guy in mind. I asked the 3 girls at the table if they knew a guy might lie to them. They all agreed this was true. I asked Alma if she thought I would ever lie to her and she said, “No.” So I left it at that.

So hey discipleship vs Evangelism today. Thanks for your prayers.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your week was blessed so far and the grace in which to stand has been with you. I had a good week on campus given with remote classes many students are done already. Maggie prayed to receive Jesus (Olivia let me know she had prayed; she heard the Gospel Friday) Gianna* said she would pray later. I hope to bump into several students I’m praying for who said they would later pray. Angel prayed to receive Jesus on Thursday, his story is below.

Angel was sitting with his back against an outcropping in the wall buried in an iPhone as I remember. I passed him not wanting to bug him and then went back to give it a try. He looked Latino or Persian in complexion and had a short-cropped hair cut like the Jokic the NBA center. He’s click bigger than me in stature. He had on a dark blue t-shirt and black jeans. He had smooth rounded features, firm jaw, good looking. Interestingly as we talked it came out that he had converted to Islam in High School due to “peer pressure”. But then looking at Mohamed’s life, (he realized studying it later) the prophet was not the guy to follow. He looked at Jesus life and decided He was worthy of following. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and was asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” ” Um… I have faith in you.” He said kind of tentatively. He thought he had a 50/50 shot of going to Heaven. He described himself as “reform” denominationally. As I went through the Gospel he knew Jesus had died to take away his sins. I explained the blood of Christ to pay his debt. To which he replied, “Oh that makes a lot of sense.” And then the righteousness of God Christ earned, saying, “You don’t go to Heaven because you’re good but because Jesus is good and your connected to Him.” “Oh, it’s just faith!” he replied. I said it was and Paul had said, “he was not saved by his own righteousness but by the righteousness which is by faith” but that we could have all kinds of faith. I said he probably just flopped down on the bench we both sat on without thinking about it or testing it to see if it would hold him first. I said I did the same thing without checking if my additional weight would hold. We had faith in the bench. The faith that saved him was faith in “that Jesus was God, He died for your sins and rose from the Dead. Not that you just knew the story from Church but that you trusted in this alone to save you. And I read “not by works” from Ephesians 2;8,9. “That makes a lot more sense,” he replied comparing this to what he’d thought. I explained we could not do anything perfectly and so there was no way we could contribute to our salvation, “Your good stuff does not fix your bad stuff.” He had some questions about the Orthodox faith which is really comes out to works salvation in practice. The church fathers (I said, “strangely Jesus tells us to call no man “Father” yet they use the term Mt 23:90) before the reformers are most often a system of works salvation not Grace. I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done to forgive him so the Spirit could live inside him and give him all the strength he needed to live the Christian life? ” Yeah,” he replied. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I walked him through it. I said he could pray it silently and know he was forgiven. “I’ll do it,.” He replied. He prayed then to receive Jesus. He had some other questions, on the Trinity and on why Jesus said the “father is greater than I”. I explained there was hierarchy in the Trinity (quoting Phil 2:7) and that it might help to realize he was kind of like a Trinity [1Thes 5:23]. He had a mind or a will like the Father, a body like Jesus and emotions like the Holy Spirit. But his emotions could overwhelm him and he’d be lost in them and might start to drive off the road. Or pain in his body might make it impossible to think well. “So you are kind of like a trinity you’re just a dysfunctional one. When you think about it when you are alone sometimes you are talking to yourself, well who are you talking to? There’s more to you than just you. Yet you are one person. It helps a little to think about God but we will not fully understand these things until we have a gloried body.” I then quoted 1John 3:2. I explained the Christian life living “Inside > out” saying that the Holy Spirit would disciple him and that it had been the movement of the Holy Spirit when he had said, “It’s by faith!”. I said the likelihood he would go to Heaven now was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. His teacher had come out in the hall summoning him to class and he dismissed him as he closed the doors to the classroom. He seemed unconcerned to be on time and more concerned to get some questions answered. He was talking not I as the teacher came out so I could not be blamed. But faculty and staff complain about me anyway. I told him to look into “The Two Powers of the OT” by Heiser on YouTube to understand Jesus’ appearances in the OT. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet saying Strobel had some good things on YouTube also. I gave him my card to contact me. He was grateful. I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day the next year and I let him go into class.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism last week if you had a chance. I’m really worn down, and got a bad leg (sciatica) but I’ve only got a couple weeks left of evangelism. Looks like I’ll crawl across the finish line for the semester.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed doing whatever God asked you to do. I had a good day on campus and Maggie prayed to receive Christ today. Later a defensive lineman named Casey (clean shaven stick straight brown hair parted down the middle, looked a bit like Dan Hampton) said he “would consider it”. He’d gone to a fellowship church a few times at his pervious school so I think God’s working on his heart. Thanks for your prayers please pray these 2 students are both brought closer to him. Maggie’s story is below if you have some time.

Maggie was sitting on the second floor in some couches that overlook the exit doors by the bookstore. She had a cute elf-like face her nose having a little crease in the tip of it, it pointed up a bit. She had blondish hair, the occasional freckle and blue eyes and was wearing a powder blue pullover hoodie with some writing on it. A cross at her neck was dangling out on a chain at the ties of the hood. She wore nylon sweats. She said she had kind of fallen away for a time but had recently returned to going to Church. I asked her something she wanted to do before she died and she said, “Start a family” which is always a sign someone will be (or already is) receptive to the Gospel. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Mmm,” she replied, “That’s a tough one.” Then she thought and continued, “I guess I would make the argument I’ve done good.” She said more softly, “It doesn’t really compare to Jesus’ sacrifice.” I think by that she meant He had sacrificed more. She thought she had a 75% chance of going to Heaven. I explained for God to live inside her He had to make her His type. I asked what Jesus had done then to take away the sins of the world and she knew this was why He had died. I explained the atonement then and the cleansing of His blood and the payment for her sins. I said that He earned the righteousness of God, which was to her credit when God adopted her as His child. She could become a “Child of God” by faith placing her faith in the name of Jesus. Finally I finished all I say and asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in Jesus or thought something else. “Forgiven,” she said. I said, “I know you knew the story but do you think you had placed your trust in what Jesus had done to be forgiven?” I asked if when she asked for forgiveness for her sins if she thought God would be merciful and forgive her or if she thought, “I know I will be forgiven because Jesus died for me.” She said she hadn’t been trusting in Jesus. “I was just hoping,” she replied.  I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and talked her through it. I said if it was the desire of her heart she could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear and she’d know she was forgiven. “Wanna do that?” I asked. She smiled shaking her head she did and she took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I began to explain the Christian life to her asking if she had a Bible. “I’ve been meaning to get one,” she replied so I gave her one and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front.  I showed her all the study helps in it, the Miracles of Jesus are listed and His parables and there’s a list of questions and answers and 30 days of readings. I told her now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. I gave her Bible Promises for You and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet I also gave her a Bible study on ways Jesus claims to be God. I told her I would pray a Bible verse for her for the next year asking God to bless her. “Thank you, I really appreciate this,” she said. I said she was welcome and now she had the first steps all lined up. She thanked me 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