Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your week was blessed casting your cares upon Jesus. I had a good week on campus and was greeted by some students who prayed to receive Christ last year through the week who were happy to see me. 11 students prayed with me to receive Jesus this week. Sam, Juan, Andrew, Yahir, JT, Nick, TJ, Jurgen, and then yesterday Daniel, Danny and Sebastian. The responses of these last three guys are below. Please pray all these grow in their faith. I’m grateful to the Lord He blessed the first week again this year so I can know he still wants me to serve Him this way.

 Daniel was sitting on a couch in the first-floor PE lounge. I had cut through and there were a bunch of blue shirted team members of some sport distracting my eye as a large group. I walked to the elevator not seeing a place to cut in the different conversations. Then I saw a guy sitting on the couch. He had on a blue T-shirt with a waving American flag on it and white shorts. He had long light brown hair in a knot behind his head parted in the middle. So I turned and went over to ask him. He had kind of a rounded pug nose and was freckled, teeth in braces, good-looking American kid. He had an athletic build but looked young. I asked him if he’d want to do a survey for a student group about God and he agreed. When I asked one thing he wanted to do before he died he said, “Be a good father.” If a guy says, Have a family, it’s a tell he is already a Christian or will trust in Christ in my experience. That was as close as ya get without saying. I asked him, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” He said, “I mean I always help people, put others first, don’t put myself above anyone, did the good deed when no one was looking.” I said most people don’t do good deeds whether someone is looking or not. He said he thought he had a 60% chance of going to Heaven and the other 40% was because he thought he needed to get closer to God. I asked if he ever went to church. He said he hadn’t gone to church for a while and I said I thought covid had screwed that up for a lot of people and he agreed. I began to go through the Gospel with him and when I asked what the big thing was Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world he knew Jesus had died. He was very serious through the entire thing and didn’t smile. When I finished all I usually say about the blood of Christ to cleanse him and the righteousness of Christ to his credit I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins or the other quick options and he said, “Probably forgiven.” I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through it and asked if it expressed the desire of his heart and he said it did. So I said he could pray it silently right now and know that he was forgiven, “Wanna do it?” I asked. “Nice, yeah,” he said. He took the booklet and prayed then to receive Jesus. I told him then the likelihood he would go to Heaven trusting in the blood and righteousness of Christ was 100%. I began to go through the Christian life with him then and he didn’t have a Bible so I gave him one and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front, after showing him the study helps. I gave him Bible Promises for You, The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study on the deity of Christ explaining the prophecy that leads it off. “Thanks for the Bible I really appreciate it,” he said, taking the books. “Yeah sure,” I replied. Then we talked a bit and I explained that everything in the Bible was true, 6500-year-old mitochondrial Eve and Y chromosomal Adam and Noah’s Ark. He was very interested in that so I gave him a Magazine from ICR and he said he had not really been into reading when he was a kid but he had recently become more of a reader. “I’m gonna go down this rabbit hole,” he said of the creation research stuff. I stood up to leave as he had to get going and he stood too and shook my hand and said, “Thanks,” he said, “I’ll see you around.” “OK I replied and headed up the stairs.

 Upstairs in the PE lounge I came across Danny and Sebastian. Danny was up for doing a survey and Sebastian decided he’d do it since he was right there. Sebastian had dark shorts and a dark blue -shirt on and dark curly hair. He had long more squared off features probably better looking than Danny whose features were more rounded his nose, more puffy. He had shaggy, straight dishwater blond hair and was in workout clothes too, lighter colors. Danny was more open and friendly and Sebastian more guarded. It seemed like they were both Catholic in background though in the discussion after I offered them the prayer Sebastian did all the questioning. So I don’t know if Danny had Catholic convictions and Sebastian through his statements showed he did not really believe what the Church taught and did not understand the Sacraments to be the means of Grace. But I do not correct a student’s denominational doctrine based on what I know to be the statements of their denomination. I just tell them Bible verses of the Gospel. If they ask me questions I answer with Bible verses and say I believe the verse. It is rare for a student in my experience to know the doctrinal beliefs of the Church where they grew up as kids. By the time I finished talking to them we’d talked of the Church Fathers and what can be truly understood of theological statements not found in the Bible but that’s a part of the discussion too long to write. 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 says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “I haven’t missed a single day of Church,” Sebastian said right away but then continued. “It’s not my job to say.” Danny then said, “I don’t know if I should. It depends on His mercy if I can.” Then Sebastian said, “I don’t know if my works are sufficient.” And Danny agreed. I began to go through the Gospel with them and asked what Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world. “He died on the cross Sebastian said right away and Danny agreed. I explained the blood and righteousness of Christ talked about receiving this by faith not works asked if they wanted to be forgiven for their sins trusting in what Jesus had done. They both said yes. I offered then the prayer after I read it through. But Sebastian wasn’t satisfied suddenly and asked if I believed things were predetermined and I said Paul talked about being the “Elect” but what exactly that meant could be debated. I said it does seem like we have free will and the Bible is telling us to make decisions; God has a plan for our lives and who well we accomplish it will depend on how much we ask for his help by the power of the Spirit. “God certainly knows who you will marry because He knows who your children are,” I opined. There are verses that say God knows people Personally and Generationally. He went on to clarify that what he wanted to know is if I believed when someone prayed that prayer if they could sin and then not go to heaven. He stumbled around for something bad so I clarified for him that he was saying if you were evil after this could you go to Heaven. He agreed. I talked about the denial of Peter. They both agreed that was evil to do and then I explained where in the Bible Christ restored him. He asked the question other ways, I quoted, “If we confess our sins He is faithful and Just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I said I thought that if someone was practicing evil I thought that probably meant they had never sincerely asked God to forgiven them and did not really believe. I said the Bible said in 1John, paraphrasing, “They came out from among us because they were never of us.” I said I believed that people who ended life in disbelief were never believers to begin with and talked about hating God and that Heaven was His presence where people that hate Him would not want to be. He asked, “If you killed someone and then you died right away do you think you would go to Heaven?” I said that if I faced God after that I would say I trusted in the blood of Christ to cleanse me and pay for my sins and I ask for your mercy. “Do you think God would let you in?” I said I hoped. “I think He would let you in.” I said I thought so too. He’d asked me about purgatory if I believed in it. I said I thought that the closest thing too it was “no more” and told him about Sheol in the Old Testament and mentioned the Rich man and Lazarus and they seemed to know the story. He asked if that was limbo and I said there was consciousness there so it would depend on what you meant by limbo. It did not seem like he believed in Purgatory or the Catholic teaching about it or he would not have said I would go to heaven after committing a mortal sin and immediately dying. I said Jesus had said no one would snatch them out of His hand. I could not see someone’s heart who prayed to receive Christ. I said it seemed like they had been hoping in their good works before I had walked up. But I had explained to them earlier the impossibility of doing a good thing and controlling the outcome of that good thing so that it would be to their credit. I had also explained that for this good act to meritorious and counting toward their salvation it would also have to be a perfect action and we never have utterly pure motives in doing good. God has to change our actions into good and produce good with these actions. I explained them they would have to be all knowing to know the Good and then be able to control the future so their action resulted in Good. He wanted to know if I believed in penance. I said I thought every Christian acted penitently. “If you are rude to your Mom you try to be nice to her for a few weeks and make up for it. If you accidentally cut someone off in traffic you start letting people in for a while” (an action I had already explained could end in a bad thing). I said “but this regular attitude of penance did not have to be at the direction of a priest, we just do it. And I don’t think penance contributes to your salvation and as to it changing you if it did it would only happen by the Holy Spirit’s power changing us.” I said I did not believe we could change ourselves. I did not believe I saved me so I had a hard time seeing how I could un-save me either. “But you do believe in penance?” he said finally. I said I thought it was part of the Christian life, yes. I left it at that and did not point out my explanation of penance was not sacramentalism so was not Roman Catholic. I said I just wanted to ask again if you would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done for you on the cross. You can believe you could become evil and then not be forgiven; I wasn’t asking that but if they wanted to tell God they wished to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done if they had never done that. Sebastian didn’t argue, they both said “Yes,” at the same time and they each prayed to receive Jesus. Sebastian finished first. I said after you can disagree with me if you want but I believe the likelihood you will now go to Heaven is 100%. They smiled and I offered them Bible promise books and wrote in each their name the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I also gave them each The Case for Christ Answer Book explaining Strobel’s story. They liked the books and I gave them the Bible Study on the Deity of Christ. I said I would pray a Bible verse for them each day from now until Spring and one year after. “That’s my part,” I said. They liked that too and seemed content and even grateful to have prayed to receive Jesus. I headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope God was your refuge and strength today in any and all troubles. I had a good day on campus and encouraged a couple Christians who were struggling with the Christian life. TJ and Jurgen each prayed to receive Christ today also so that was a good thing. Their stories are below if you have some time you wish to spend. Please pray they grow in faith by the power of the Spirit.

 TJ was sitting against the wall in the PE lounge. He had a rough top 4-inch afro and a high forehead, a small rounded nose and circles under his eyes, his skin was a little damaged and a bit lighter. He wore a white T-shirt and black nylon sweats. He was a receiver for the football team and had a slight build. His face looked a little sad, but I don’t think he was, but he was low-key. He said he did not have time to do a survey. I said something like maybe I’d catch up with him another time, He was sure that would work out saying, “I love God.” I said, “Oh, well hey you wanna hear the big metaphysical question you can think about as you go through your day?” “Ok,” he agreed. So 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 says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” He went on a bit but said words to the effect of “I don’t know I guess I’d say I do what the Lord wants me to do.” He added an “I don’t know,” at the end. I asked if he would like to hear some Bible verses that told him how to get to Heaven. He agreed so I began to go through the booklet adding verses and all the things I say to illustrate them. It all seemed completely novel to him. I said knowing God was that He lived inside you with the Holy Spirit. But everyone is a sinner. God can’t be in the same place as sin so he takes away your sin, I asked, “So what was the big thing Jesus did back in History to take away the sins of the world?” He thought for a minute and said he didn’t know. So from there I began to explain the rest of the Gospel telling him of the blood and righteousness of Christ. I wanted to be clear but I realized he might be blowing something off he was supposed to do to listen to me so I cut some little things that were not Bible verses. When I had finished explaining everything I asked (using the circles in the booklet), “So what kind of person are you or would you want to be? Some people God is on the outside of their life. Would you want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done to forgive you on the cross? Then God would live inside you, give you strength take you to Heaven when you die.” “Definitely,” he said with conviction. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I talked through it and asked if expressed the desire of his heart and he agreed it did. I asked if he would want to pray it silently. “Yeah,” he replied. So he took the booklet and prayed the prayer to receive God’s forgiveness and thank Him. I said then that the likelihood now he would go to heaven trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus was certain. I explained the Christian life living by the Spirit’s power saying God would give him strength. I asked if I could give him a book. He agreed and I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and forgiven in the front. He said he didn’t read much so I gave him a Bible study and explained it a bit. I found out he was a receiver and I said God could give him help on the field and by the Spirit give him strength in his hands and even speed. “I don’t ask for that,” he said. I just ask God to help me be the best I can be each morning and if I drop a hundred balls I know when the game comes he will help me still.” He said he trusted God to help him. I wanted to help him understand just a bit better so I said, “Well you believe God can do whatever He wants to do.” “Yes,” he was sure that was true. “So if He wanted to he could become a man.” He agreed that was true also. “So if God became a man would he tell people the truth?” He nodded. “Well, if you knew the truth about everyone and went to Washington DC and started telling people they’d kill you in about a week because they are wicked.” He agreed. “That’s what Jesus did and so they killed Him. But if you kill God what will he do next? He’d rise from the dead, because you can’t kill God for good.” “Oh!” he said, realizing how that worked. “And we know why God would become a man and take on flesh because He had to die for our sins and pay for them with His blood.” “Oh,” he said realizing and somehow had some more of the picture down. I said that Jesus always existed but He became a man but kept it on the down low so he could trick Satan into killing Him, Satan got played. (1Cor. 2:8). He asked if I was around and I said I was and he said he’d see me. “Thanks for talking I always have time to hear (the Bible). I feel like God brings people into your life for a reason and He brought you to me today.” I agreed and said God wanted him to have a little more understanding. I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day. He shook my hand and thanked me and we both headed out.

 I was tied up for a while talking to a guy, Cameron, who had dreads and a dew rag on his head nice features and seemed to be struggling with his faith. I went through the Gospel with him and explained a life in the Spirit. It was getting kind of late and I was tired when we finished. I cut across from the MAC Arts building and through the sunshine to the BIC and passed a connecting hallway where Jurgen was sitting. I blew right by but about 15 yards later I felt like I should go talk to him so I turned back. He was a big guy with an, on again off again beard, a round face small nose and fair skin a curly mop of brown hair. He told me his name and I asked if it was a family name and he said it was German. “Are you German?” I asked. “I’m Mexican,” he said. “So where did your parents get that?” “I think it’s the name of a soccer player they liked,” he replied. “Cool at least you got a story,” I said. “Right,” he said and grinned. He was wearing a light grey hoodie and dark grey sweats. I asked him, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “Umm, I would say because of the time and effort I give to people.” He thought he had, “At least a 75%” chance of going to Heaven. He had been to church when he was younger. I asked what the big thing was that Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world and he said, “He died on the cross.” I went through the rest of the Gospel with him and he didn’t interact at all or make any statements as I explained all I usually say. He’d described himself as quiet and lived up to the billing. I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done and gave him the quick once over of Islam and the Buddha and asked again if he’d want to be forgiven for his sins or thought something else. “Probably forgiven,” he said. So I said, “If you’d like to be forgiven there’s a prayer you can pray,” and I read through it and asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he replied. Well if you want you could pray it silently right now, I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven. “Sure,” he replied and he prayed then to receive Jesus. I told him then the likelihood he would go to Heaven trusting now in the blood and righteousness of Jesus was 100%. He said he had a Bible and so I said John was a good place to read. I explained living by the Spirit’s power. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I also told him a bit of Strobel’s story and give him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet saying he might find one of the Q and A chapters he’d like to read. I gave him a Bible study on the deity of Christ, and talked him through the idea. I told him I would pray for him through next year and he said, “Thank you.” Then 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 Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with life and peace from Christ. It’s been beautiful weather here and God blessed again on campus today. Yahir (Ja ear), JT and Nick all prayed to receive Jesus today. Their responses are below if you have the time. Please pray they grow in their faith.

Yahir was sitting at a table overlooking the science lounge on the west side. The lounge connects the two buildings and there’s vending machines up on that side on the second floor. He was just looking at his phone so I asked if would do a student survey about what he thought about God. He had a curly mop of hair and a long face. He had on a grey T-shirt and jeans and had 3 gold long chains around his neck the shortest of which had a crucifix hanging on it.  His mustache was dark matching his hair and he had Latino coloring. I asked him, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?”  “Oh,” he replied and then almost to himself he said, “I’m going to be honest. I haven’t been in touch with my Bible… I always say I want to; my older Brother is in touch with his Bible.” He said something as an aside about his brother encouraging him. “If He asked me I wouldn’t think of a reason except I’ve always been there for my family. I’ve been mindful and been as kind as I could be to the rude people at work.” He seemed like he had a job with occasionally rude customers. I asked if he went to Church and it seemed like many students that had stopped with the covid closings and never resumed as a habit. He said his brother had had a dark time then and these had driven his brother back towards God. “I would like to say… but recently I don’t know. I always ask for forgiveness I’m not sure I deserve it.” I said no one deserved forgiveness. I asked the likelihood he would go to Heaven. “Currently as I stand now, 40%,” he replied and then said he thought that was probably an over estimation. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he agreed with everything I said. When I asked what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world back in History he said, “Sacrifice.” “Right he died on the cross,” I replied. So I explained everything I usually said and he affirmed it. But he obviously had not been trusting he was saved by grace through faith but had been thinking about a form of religious faithfulness. He said his mom had always told him God was with him. He said he wanted to trust in what Jesus had done. So I asked if he had ever asked God to forgive him based on the work of Christ since he hadn’t believed he had forgiveness outside of religious faithfulness. He thought for a moment so I just said. If you haven’t asked there’s a prayer you can pray and I talked him through it and said he could pray it silently and know he was forgiven. He decided then to pray to receive Christ. When he finished I said, “It’s kind of like a girl you are a friend with in High School. You hang out a lot and you say to her at the end of the year, ‘So when are we going to go to prom?’ and she replies, ‘As soon as you ask me, maybe.” He laughed and agreed and I said, “God wants you to ask.” He said when I asked if he had a Bible he had a bilingual one in Spanish and English and I said I wished I knew Spanish. I explained the Christian life by the Spirit’s power living “Inside out” as I always do and 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 and I told him Strobel’s story and he could get more information on line through him. We were interrupted then by a girl in the nursing program who walked up and asked “Hey are you the God guy?” She was a bit heavy and had long red hair and wide, pink rim glasses. I said I probably was. She began to dominate the conversation and invited herself to sit down, saying talking to me a couple years ago had placed her on a different trajectory of faith. I told them some things about the untrustworthiness of a lot of what was said around them and showed them things in the Bible and tried to interestingly use the time well. Since Yahir was too kind to just get up, he just kept track of the time on his phone though he seemed interested to hear and eventually he went to class and said, “Thank you, Thanks for everything.” I said I would pray for him each day and I’d see him in Heaven. He was grateful and headed off. Abby claimed to have a lot of questions and didn’t really seem to be at peace. But she did not really seem to want to express specifics. She asked if we could have a Bible Study which I gathered to her would mean she’d talk a lot and I would listen. I had given her one and said she could email me if she wanted to set something up but then she said she was really busy. She had to go to class. I didn’t remember talking to her before but I prayed over her and encouraged her to read the Bible. She said she had a devotional Bible her uncle had gotten for her. She just seemed kind of needy but claimed she had prayed to receive Jesus. So in some ways I’m not sure what her arrival was all about except that some of what I was led to teach them, to just fill the time, were things they needed to hear.

JT was sitting in a lounge on what is the south side of the first floor of the BIC. It has some vending machines. He was alone in the lounge at a table. He seemed shorter though he never stood up. He had rosy cheeks and a bushy jawline beard a mustache that broke into a gap in the middle and did not touch his beard. His hair was the same light brown and was a mop of curls. He wore a patterned blue-grey camo T-shirt and Jeans. He said he wanted to start a business but seemed to already have one, which was junk removal and house restoration. He gave me his card that listed him as the owner and operator. But he looked no more than 19. I asked him “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” That gave him pause “I’m…,” he began, thinking, then said, “I care for people without worrying about other people seeing it.” I asked the likelihood he would go to Heaven and he just said, “Pretty high.” He didn’t to go to Church any longer saying he didn’t have time but had when he was younger and had gone to Catholic School. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he really tuned in as I explained God wanted to live inside him but had to cleanse him. I asked what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world back in History, “He carried His cross, crucified,” he replied. I explained he needed to be perfect to get into Heaven. I continued to go through all I usually say about the blood and righteousness of Jesus as a payment to God and to our credit. I said he needed to receive Jesus. To believe Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead, not that he just knew the story but that that’s what he placed his trust in so that if someone were to ask why God should let him into Heaven he’d say, “Because Jesus died for me.” I asked if he would want to be forgiven or thought something else giving him a couple options. “Forgiven,” he replied. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I went through it and asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he said. I said he could pray it silently. ‘Wanna do that?” “Yeah,” he said again and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life by the Spirit’s power living “Inside Out”. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and forgiven in the front. He said he read the Bible before bed each night with his girlfriend. I said he could read some of the Bible verses in it. I also said that about the Bible study I gave him. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and told him he could check out Strobel’s stuff. I told him I’d pray for him each day. “Thank you for talking.” “Yeah your welcome,” I replied. “Have a great rest of your day,” he said as I got up to go. “You too,” I said and headed off.

Nick was a big black dude sitting I the PE building lounge at the table at the base of the stairs. He had a big warm smile. He described himself as “Strong, athletic and tall,” which I could have decided without his having said. He wanted to be able to bench 405 soon. I think he had about 30 pound to go. He was a track athlete, shot put. He had dreads that were as thick as a finger at least 6 inches long. His beard was bushy and thicker down from his chin by inches had a mustache as well. He was dressed in black shorts and a T-shirt. He said he was 6’1”. I asked him “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “That’s a good one,” he replied then he landed on, “You don’t have to but You can look at my past see what your judgment says.” He thought he had a 50/50 shot at getting into Heaven and then said he wasn’t really sure. I began to go through the Gospel with him first asking if he went to church. He hadn’t for a while. He did know Jesus had died for the sins of the world. He took it all in, “knowing Christ“ was Christ living inside him, His blood cleansing him as a payment to God and His righteousness to his credit. I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done. He seemed to be interested. “Yeah,” he replied. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I read through it in an explanatory way and asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he said again. I said he could pray it silently and know he was forgiven, “Wanna do it?” He paused and looked me hard in the eye for a second and then said, “Yeah,” and he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I told him the likelihood he would now go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. I told him I had sinned way more than him because I was old and you sin every year and though God forgives it there’s a pile there of what you’ve done. He was young so he’d have a much smaller pile. So if we both died today and God looked at our piles he’d have a better shot at getting in, “But God’s not going to look at our piles as He’ll say he turned them into good and forgave them. So it’s kind of like cheating but if we both died today I’d get in too.” I explained the Christian life by the Spirit’s power living “Inside out” and said the Spirit could help him master technique and give him the discipline to get stronger. He had a Bible and was willing to take a copy of Bible Promises for You and I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front, saying he could remember. He said he didn’t like to read so I didn’t give him Strobel’s book. I gave him a Bible study and told him I would pray for him about the shot put and his goal to bench 405. I stood up to go and shook his hand and said, “Nice to meet you man.” “Nice to meet you too,” he replied. “I’ll see you in Heaven, he grinned at that 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 blessed day walking with the Lord in His will. I had a good day on campus though no one would talk to me for the first hour or so.  Sam a girl in the MAC arts building lounge prayed to receive Jesus as did Juan and Andrew two Latino guys. Their stories are below if you have time. Arsal* a guy from Ethiopian and Egyptian parents thought he would probably follow Christ and might contact me. I gave him a Bible Promise Book and the booklet I had explained. He thought his siblings and even his parents were beginning to see the “cracks” in the Muslim worldview. We talked a long time and agreed on many things. He had thick finger ringlets of dark hair down to his jaw line and sharp Egyptian features. He was a clean-shaven a very good-looking guy. Please pray these all grow in faith.

 Sam was sitting at a counter height table overlooking the Mac Arts Lounge. She was up for doing a student survey. She was a pretty natural blonde her hair straight past her shoulders and sort of parted on the side randomly. Her face was flat she said she came from a Scottish heritage and wanted to see Scotland. She wore a light grey zipper hoodie and a white t-shirt and baggy light blue jeans that are now in style like the late 1980’s. She had gone to a Presbyterian community type church but the services had switched to Saturday night and she couldn’t make it much. I asked her, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “That’s a really good question. Oh goodness,” she said thinking she finally replied, “’Cause I’ve stood up to Him, looked to Him for a good answer by taking my questions to Him. If He let me in I could get more answers that I was looking for.” She thought she had a 70% chance of going to Heaven. When I asked her what Jesus had done in History to take away her sin so God could live inside us she said, “He died to take away our sin.” She was the first person I’d gone through the Gospel with since explaining it to a neighbor kid this summer so I made up a new line or two as illustration saying God paid Himself like if a Judge for a fine paid for her in court saying he wanted to because he was Scottish and he felt like they were from the same big family. But the rest was all the things I have not changed much for a couple years illustrating the righteousness of God Christ earned. He died and rose from the dead. When asked her if she wanted to receive Jesus by faith placing her trust in Him to be forgiven or thought something else she placed her index finger at the second circle in the booklet. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I talked her through it and asked if it was the desire of her heart.  She said it was and then said, “Sure,” when I asked if she’d like to pray it silently and know she was forgiven. She prayed then to receive Jesus. I told her then I had some books to give her and 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 saying it might have some answers to questions she had, also telling her Strobel’s story and how she could fine more of His stuff on line. I gave her a Bible study on the Deity of Christ (explaining it as colorfully as I could) and I explained now trusting the blood and righteousness of Jesus the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. I told her I would pray for her each day and she thanked me. “I’ll see you in Heaven,” I said. “Thank you,” she said again replying sincerely and I headed off.

 Juan was sitting at a table in a smaller lounge just down from the big Student Services Center Lounge. I asked if he wanted to do a student survey for a Bible Study group but he said he didn’t want to commit to anything as he thought he couldn’t be consistent. I said sure no worries and asked if he’d just like to do a survey. “I can do that,” he said amicably. He had had 2 classes cancelled today but said they told him they would begin on Wednesday so he had time. He had a wide broad smile with a mop of dark hair and bangs and something of a mustache and a chin beard he looked stereotypically Latino. He wore a black t-shirt and jeans, the shirt had what looked like a silver chain printed around the neck. He thought he’d like to hike around Oregon saying he’d heard it was pretty and I said I’ve lived in the mountains there for a while. I asked him, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “I feel like I wouldn’t be let in,” he replied. “I know He exists but I didn’t preach Him. So you know He’s there (but He’d say) you didn’t do anything about it.”  He thought he’d have a 35% chance of going to Heaven. He said he went to church sometimes but mostly on holidays. I began to go through the Gospel with him and when I asked, he knew Jesus had died on the cross to take away the sins of the world. I had said God had to do this so He could live inside him. I explained Jesus perfect life and His righteousness and blood to cleanse us from sin. I explained he need to receive Christ, to believe; He was God, had died for our sins and rose from the dead. I asked if he want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done. He said he did. I said that then if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it asking him also if it expressed the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he said enthusiastically. I said he could pray it silently. “Ah, like in my head?” he asked. “Yeah,” I relied and he prayed then to receive Jesus. I told him then the likelihood he would go to heaven was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Christ. “You are the first person this to me in a clear way,” he replied. “It was like a conversation.” I was grateful to hear God had used the illustrations to click with him and said I agreed that they talk about so many other things at church. It’s like a coach for a baseball team explaining all the pitches you are going to face from a certain pitcher and forgetting to tell you, you have to hit the ball and run to the base. He laughed and agreed. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I also gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet telling him they were short and there might be one he’d like to read. I also gave him a Bible study. I told him I would pray a Bible verse from him each day. I reached out and shook his hand and he shot me a big grin and said, “Thank you.” “Yeah I’ll see you in Heaven,” I replied. “Yeah you too,” he said and I headed off.

 I found Andrew sitting at a counter in the SSC lounge just down from where I’d talked to Juan. He was a handsome Latino guy, slim, tall about 6 foot and had a thick mop of brown hair parted down the middle. He had full movie star lips and nice features, a diamond shaped face and was clean-shaven.  I asked him, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?”  “I don’t deserve to be in Heaven, not necessarily,” he replied. “I feel like it egotistical to expect to go to Heaven. I feel like if God’s gonna let you go in He’ll let you in.” I agreed we could not make demands of God. He thought he had a 50/50 chance to go. His friend walked up as we were talking (another guy named Juan). His face was long and he was a bit thinner he somehow reminded me of Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy. But Juan had a mustache and chin patch. Andrew said he still had a few minutes though his friend had arrived. I began to go through the Gospel with him and though others walked up distracting Juan, Andrew remained attentive. Juan then interrupted with a few questions on the value of his education, which he had recently discovered was $400 per credit hour. I talked to them both about other options and the way life worked and the internal working of the Holy Spirit. Juan was doing on line sales of fragrances as well and I suggested he could take just 2 classes and see how he did and pay for them with his earnings. I mentioned other employers that pay for your college education. I talked to them about morality as a guide from God. Finally I went back into the Gospel. Juan wasn’t ready to commit his life to Christ. Andrew however wanted to be forgiven. He prayed to receive Christ silently as Juan looked on saying he had to be somewhere but Andrew continued to pray and finished. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I also gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study. I told him I would pray for him each day and said I would mention Juan in my prayers as well. I told Andrew that now trusting in the blood and righteousness of Christ the likelihood he would now go to Heaven was 100%. They got up to go and Andrew said, “Thank you so much, see you around” “Yeah, see you around,” I said in reply and they 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

Third Watch Ministries, NFP                                                              Bob & Ellen Bollow

P.O. Box 1283                                                                                                   May 2026

Wheaton, IL 60187  

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your summer has begun with some joy as you take in the sun, plant some tomatoes (they’re pretty expensive these days so Ellen has some planted) and mow the yard. I got the deck sanded and stained and got some grass planted by the woodpile. I hung the birdfeeder from fishing line 25 feet down from the tree, but I gotta raise it since a chipmunk drained it in a day, jumping from a nearby bush. Sometimes the seeds are stolen. So hey, off to the best days you can get in Illinois, as half the year you are kinda chilly frankly. We had a good year on campus beginning last August and through the end of school this Spring which just ended. 151 students prayed to receive Christ this year after I told them the Gospel and I found out that 2 students from last year had prayed after I left them. So I have 153 students to pray for each day and a half dozen others I hope will trust in the Lord. The TPUSA group asked me to teach a Bible study for them. It fell apart second semester as all the students got jobs or had conflicts and no one has to set foot on campus to take a class now. But Ellen and I met with Andrew last week, who had tried to get it started, and bought him a root beer. He wanted to try to give it a go again in the fall. Ellen still keeps all the paperwork up to date for the NFP so we are still legit in the eyes of the state.

Evangelism had a few ups and downs this year where I had several days where I found no new person to go through the Gospel with on campus. Nearly all these days were late into second semester. So I still had new believers to chat up or others to say “hi” to. Though there’s a lot of remote learning on campus, I usually find someone to answer Bible questions with or encourage with prayer who I have met before each day. It’s kind of like being a kid sitting in the front seat of a rollercoaster. You may be in front, but the idea you are driving the car is an illusion. God prepared hearts to hear and often I would hear something like Isabelle told me, “My boyfriend and I have been wanting to get closer to God.” A couple students who prayed this year told me they had “Just bought a Bible.” They then prayed to receive Christ. God is preparing hearts to hear before I arrive. At least 4 different guys heard the Gospel and had to run for a ride or said they would think about it and when I found them again they had prayed to receive Christ. This was true of a couple guys before Christmas, Jesús and Alex. And a couple more after Christmas, Charles and David. Just as the Spirit of the Lord worked in Peter. He was changed from a man who fled and denied Christ, to a man on Pentecost who told the crowd they had crucified their Messiah. So in all our hearts the Holy Spirit is the great disciple-maker of mankind. Even after Jesus ascended into Heaven Mark 16:20 tells us, “And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them.”  Jesus works with me or the labor would be in vain. Psalm 127:1. Reading through the New Testament each year I always seem to be taught new things I had somehow missed before.

This week I went through the Gospel with Prit, a Pakistani guy born in the USA, who was on my deck selling access to the new fiber optic line. He asked me what I thought of Islam as we talked and I explained after reading the first 12 Surahs of the Quran I realized it was against Christians and Jews and I’m a Christian so there’s that. He agreed that was true. Then I explained that I liked the idea that God would preserve His Word and it could not be changed because I believe the Old and New Testament. I said we had the New Testament by 350 AD in Greek fragments from the Church Fathers or archeological finds. Mohamed told the Jews to settle their disputes by the Old Testament, said to read the “Injil”, but then the Quran says Jesus did not die. I explained that Jesus was a sacrifice and a just payment to God for what we had done. This idea was all through the New Testament and the Old so it could not be changed. It would change the entire book if Jesus did not die. I also explained that the Bible was in different countries all over the world, so you would have to go to all these countries to change it, which would not be possible. I said the Quran had many different copies in different Arab countries and he said he knew that was true. The Quran was either wrong that God’s word could not be changed or it was wrong that Jesus had not died. I said life in the West was based on this justice in the death of Jesus that paid God. I asked if he had stopped at a stop sign on the way here. He said he had and then joked saying “No I ran them all.” We both laughed and I said that if he had not waited his turn and struck a car turning in front of him and a camera was on the intersection, he would have to pay for the repairs to the other car. There was a just payment for the damage he had done. The West was based on this justice because of the just payment of Jesus dying. I pointed out that in an Islamic country like Indonesia they line up for the train at the crossing, but they began to line up not only on the left but also on the right. When the train passed by they face each other and every train that went by creates a traffic jam. There is no justice in these countries. Though being born here, Prit had grown up in Pakistan for a while after his father struggled to get work in the USA. He agreed the traffic there was crazy. I said it’s true our society is less just than it used to be. The courts are corrupt for example, and he agreed. But the thing this country was based on was that there is a just payment to God. There is not Justice in Muslim countries. God in the Quran is merciful but not just. “I did not know that,” he replied. Then we went back to talking about our Internet needs. But I did give him a copy of Dear Muslim Friend that I give out on campus. It fit perfectly in his back pocket. Maybe he took the book to be polite, or God will use the seed planted like He did this year on campus. This is the work of the Holy Spirit in hearts we often do not see the result of immediately.

These are who prayed with me to receive Christ (or soon after, an * means I was hopeful and decided to pray for them hoping I will see them in Heaven.) Please pray they grow in faith in Christ.

RJ, Wendy, Jimmy, Jesse, Jocelyn, Andrea, Kaleb, Gio, Lexi, JP, Michelle, Abby, Kylie, Tali, Brady, Matthew, Joey, Laly, Manuel, Johan, Lu, Alexa, Vell, Cooper, Leah, John, Tae, Ben, Marquese, Shawn, Emily, Jaylin, Tate, Teinua, Kaden, Jahmai, Luke, Prodigy, Antonio, Victoria, Daisha, Hubert, Lynette, Thalia, Damian, Jacki, Dayra, Q, Cynthia, Judith, Daniel, Chris, Dylan, Emmanuel, Zeke, Jamesha, Alex, Vincent, Jessica, Danny, Mimi, Naomi, Zianna, Khalel, Vinny, Eldon, Josh, Tyler, Chris, Tessa, Bobbi, Maryellen*, Londyn, Ethan, Justina, John, London, Jack, Griffin, Kris, Natalie*, Ashley, Ohanny, Jasa, Braiam, Connor*, Aaron, Jesús, Clarissa*, Connor, Amelia, Taylor, David, Zach, Colton, Tania, Ivan, Eva, Kassim, Ashley, Chris, Andrew, Maenota, Alex, Ella, Luis, Nick, Jonny, Thalia, Kinsley, India, Alfonso, Antonio, Precious, Carlos, Lalo, Natalie*, Tae, Bobby, Andrew, Javon, Gio, Myaa, Tyler, Xander, Charles, Jeremiah, Daniel, Anna, Nina, Valariia, Antanyia, Sophia, Cam, LaShawn, Oscar, D*, Ashton, Tyrell, Kevin, Ali, Evan, Caitlyn, Daniel, Michael, Sal, Isabella, Zaylen, Vincent, Arbor, Anthony, Josh, Shey, Alex, Angela, Patricio, Sofia, Dominik, Sophia, Q*

Thanks for your prayers & support.  Through them, God continues to make it possible to bring the Good News to students at College of DuPage, and whoever else He puts in our path.

In Him,

Bob & Ellen

                                                                                                                                                          bob.thirdwatch@sbcglobal.net

              www.thethirdwatch.org

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking with the Lord in the light of His word. I had a good day on campus and a big African American guy, Q, had a mustache and a beard only under his chin with a rough afro committed to trusting in Christ. He was wearing dark blue baggy sweats. After going through the Gospel, when I offered him believing and having Christ live inside or outside his life he said, “Definitely that one,” pointing to the circle I’d described as Christ living in him saved by His blood. He said the prayer expressed the desire of his heart and so I said he could pray it silently and he said, “Thank you,” closed the booklet and joined some friends who had entered the PE lounge. So I’ll pray for him to truly believe on the Lord. Then later Sophia prayed to receive Christ. Her story is below if you have time. Please pray she is sanctified by the Holy Spirit’s power and Q truly trusts in Jesus.

 Sophia was sitting on a couch in front of the elevator in the MAC Arts building lounge on the ground floor. It’s rare someone is not sitting there when I go through the building but I hadn’t seen her before. So I asked if she’d do a student survey saying “It’s about what you think about God for a Bible study group.” She said, “OK. I have some time.” She had long brown hair past her elbows parted down the middle. She had the coloring of a Latina and was on the heavy side wearing a black V-neck long sleeve shirt and jeans. Her face was shaped like a strawberry and she had an interesting nose sort of pug-like, the sides like small shells. She was nice and said she wanted to have kids. I asked her, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “Hmm,” she said thinking. “I tried to be a good servant and serve God… and serve the people. I’ve sinned, but I’ve repented. I’ve learned You’re above all. You’re the ultimate decider.” She thought she had a 50% chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with her and she started nodding agreeing with everything I said. The way I teach people the Gospel is novel in terms of illustration, they are illustrations I have made up they couldn’t have heard. So when it seems like a student is acting like they have heard it all before I’m a little afraid I’m being dismissed in pride but then I can’t tell if they are just agreeing in principle. So I just keep on with it hoping they will let me finish what I usually say in case they didn’t know; if they did not confess Christ to go to Heaven in their answer. I told her God wanted to live inside her but first had to take away her sin. So I asked what Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world. She struggled for a minute. I prompted her with, “Think of the most obvious thing.” She finally said he died on the cross—relieved to have thought of it. So I explained how that worked. Then the sense of “I’ve heard all this before,” seemed to fall away and she listened. I explained that Jesus lived a perfect life she agreed she hadn’t lived and then was killed and His blood cleanses us from all sin. I explained how our sin was a debt of life we had taken. Because Jesus is the creator God His blood is filled with life and it pays God back for the life we owe. I explained the Jesus earned the righteousness of God; it was to our credit when God adopted us and made us His child. He rose from the dead she was saved receiving Christ, believing on His name. This was faith in Jesus and faith saved her. Her good stuff could not fix her bad stuff. I wasn’t sure if she would simply say that she’d known all this and hadn’t thought to say it, but when a student says that I say, ‘That’s great then this booklet is a way you could share your faith.’ I asked then if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done. Then he would live inside her and give her strength and take her to Heaven when she died. Or did she think something else; telling her of a Muslim god and the Buddha. I then asked, when she asked for forgiveness for her sins if she thought she would be forgiven because she was trying to serve God and do good things. “Or did you think in your heart, ‘I know I’ll be forgiven because Jesus died for me?’ I know you knew the story but had you made the connection trusting in Jesus to be forgiven?” She said she had felt close to God but had become “Luke warm.” This had been for about a month. Then she felt bad about it and asked God to forgive her but she did not feel forgiven. “Then I read the scripture and I knew I had to believe I was forgiven [to be forgiven].” “Yes you have to believe but what you have to believe is that Jesus died for you and that paid for your sins and you are forgiven because of Jesus.” That seemed to click. I explained that then if she believed in Jesus the Spirit would live inside her and give her confidence she was forgiven [1John 3:24]. I said that if she had never said that to God that she wanted to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done for her there was a prayer she could pray. I talked her through the prayer and read the line, “Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?” Then I asked, “Would you say it does?” She said it did so I said she could pray it silently and know she was forgiven. She took the booklet and prayed slowly to receive Jesus. When she finished I said, “The likelihood now she would go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus.” I said there was more about faith in the booklet and that faith wasn’t a feeling but a fact we could get a bad feeling from eating a bad pizza but we needed to trust in what God had said and ask the Spirit to confirm it in our hearts. I explained the Christian life, praying reading the Bible and obeying God, “But when you fail God forgives you right away because of Jesus. God’s not like a bad boyfriend who says, ‘Well we’ll see how you do.’” I explained living by the Spirit’s power, “Inside out” and encouraged her to pray for transformation on the inside. I told her I would pray a prayer for her using a Bible verse every day from for the next year asking God to bless her. I gave her Bible Promises for You and showed her how to turn a Bible verse into a prayer. I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and said there might be some of the chapters to encourage her faith. It seemed she liked it. I also gave her a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ and explained that. “Thank you so much,” she said. “Oh you’re welcome,” I replied. “Now you can have confidence you are forgiven trusting in Jesus.” “Thank you,” she said again. And I headed off.

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

 In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day has left you filled up to the fullness of God walking with Him in newness of life. I had a good day on campus. I had some good life/discipleship conversations with 2 different guys who prayed to receive Jesus earlier this year. Also Dominik prayed with me to receive Jesus today. Please pray he grows in the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. His responses are below.

 Dominik was sitting on a couch by the doors on the second floor of the Mac Arts building that empty out on to a patio that is a 15 yard walk outside to the nearest BIC building doors. He had a navy-blue bandana around his head and stick straight light brown hair coming down on either side of his ears the front went to his jaw line, grey eyes. The back, longer, fell into a faded red hoodie. He wore cargo pants in Camo pattern and high tops. He had a sharp pointed nose and a straight jaw line, was clean-shaven. He said he wanted to become a musician and when I asked what he played he said, “Guitar”. I asked him, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” He breathed out thinking and said, “That’s a good question.” He thought more and said, “I’d say I don’t know.” I asked if he went to Church and he said he did when he was younger. I began to go through the Gospel with him quoting Jesus as saying eternal life was knowing God. But sin kills you and God gives you life, so God can’t be in the same place as sin, so He takes away your sin.” I said it was like a blood transfusion where God has to make you His type. I asked what Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world. “He dies for us,” he replied. “Right on,” I said and I began to explain how it all worked. That Christ lived a perfect life was a sacrifice to God, His blood cleansed him and was filled with life and paid God back for all the life we owed. I couldn’t tell if what I said was tracking with him at all. Thinking later I remembered one of the words he used to describe himself was standoffish. I prayed silently as I talked saying all I have memorized this year to say. I said God adopted him into His family and gave him all I had explained, “The sacrifice for your sins the blood that cleanses you and the righteousness of God that surrounds you.” Christ rose from the dead. Jesus is the only way and he needed to receive Him; to believe and put his trust in that Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead. That would mean he had faith in Jesus. Faith saved him. “So would you want to be forgiven for your sins trusting in Jesus or do you think something else?” I asked saying the Spirit in him would give him strength for everything. “I’d be forgiven,” he replied. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and talked him through it and asked, “It says here, ‘Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ Would you say it did?” “Yeah,” he replied. So I said he could pray it silently, “I wouldn’t hear but God would hear you and you’d know you were forgiven. Wanna do that?” “Yeah,” he said again. I handed him the booklet and he said, “Thank you,” and prayed to receive Jesus. As soon as he finished I said the likelihood he would now go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Christ. I went through the Christian life with him. He said he had a Bible on his phone so I encouraged him to read in John. I said the Christian life was living by the Spirit’s Power and the Holy Spirit could increase his creativity as a guitarist and help him in everything. Christianity was unlike other religions, it was “inside out”. First we are transformed on the inside them we do good things on the outside. He said he appreciated it. I gave him a copy of Bible Promises for You and showed him how to turn a Bible verse into a prayer. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I handed it to him and he said, “For me?” “Yeah,” I said. I also gave him Strobel’s The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and told him the story. I finally gave him a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ. I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day for the next year asking God to bless him. “Thank you, I really appreciate this Bob. I’ve been wanting to look into this so this really helped me out,” he said. I said he was welcome and I’d be praying 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 Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and filled with newness of life. I had a blessed day on campus and Patricio and Sofia each prayed with me to receive Jesus. So that was great. Please pray they are sanctified by the Holy Spirit and will walk in the truth. Their responses are below if you want to spend the time.

Patricio was sitting on the third floor of the BIC in a lounge right before the short hall leading to the big SSC lounge. There’s just one bench where he sat across from the wall. He didn’t seem to be doing much but was dreading the Algebra class he was taking for a requirement. He had a slight stature and a caterpillar mustache broken in the middle. His hair was shaved short on the sides and he had Asian eyes and a small face without a very defined jaw line. His hair kind of mushroomed out on top in stick straight lines. He wore a dust blue hoodie and dark grey cargo pants. He said though he was born here he wanted to “return to Mexico” after he had made sure his parents were secure financially. They wanted to stay in the US. He said he already owned land in Chipas where his family was from. He later said he thought he might like to be a teacher and asked if I thought it was OK to change vocations. I told him many people do and it was said that only about 80% of American workers use their degree in their vocations. I asked him, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “I wouldn’t say, I’d let Him decide. He is a just judge. I’d let Him decide if I’m good or bad—He is everything.” I asked the likelihood he would go to Heaven when he died. He said he thought 40 or 50%. “What I’ve been taught is that if you break even one of the 10 commandments you are guilty of all of them,” he said. “That’s why I would say 40 or 50. I did try my best.” I agreed and said that the Bible said that very thing [James 2:10]. He wasn’t sure exactly how to determine his merit. It turned out he went to an Adventist Church. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died; when I asked what he had done back in History to take away the sins of the world. I said the Bible said “You are to be perfect as your Heavenly Father is Perfect.” We could not be so Jesus lived a perfect life for us. I told him that, by the Blood of Jesus on the cross he was cleansed from all sin. Jesus was the creator God and His blood was filled with life and paid God for the life we owed we had taken from others with our sin. Jesus earned the righteousness of God by His perfect obedience. “You don’t go to Heaven because you are good but because Jesus is good and you are connected to Him,” I explained. This righteousness was to our credit when God adopted us and gave us the sacrifice for our sins the blood that cleansed us and the righteousness of Christ that surrounds us. Jesus rose from the dead and is the only way to God. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else, giving him a few lines about the god of Islam and the Buddha. “I would be forgiven,” he replied. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked him through it. I asked if it expressed the desire of his heart and he said it did so I asked if he would want to pray it silently and know he was forgiven. “Sure,” he replied and he took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ.  He held on to the booklet then, kind of clutching it maybe subconsciously wanting to keep it. So I said he could and showed him some more things I wanted to tell him in it. I began to go through the Christian life with him then living by the Spirit’s power, Inside Out. He said he struggled at church saying his pastor seemed to go to different unrelated passages and he had a hard time following him and his stories. I said that the way I looked at it was that if someone was telling you the Bible it was God’s word. So He could tell you something in it He wanted you to hear. So I said he should pray and ask God to tell him what He wanted him to learn from the Bible when he was at a service in Church. He really liked that idea. I gave him Bible Promises for You and showed him how to turn a verse into a prayer. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study. He was grateful and I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him for the next year asking God to bless him. He talked about creation and the day of rest and I said it was true that the Bible never said to turn the Sabbath day into Sunday. I said the Bible says that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. “It does?” he said. I said it did and that Hebrews 4 says that Jesus is our Sabbath rest. Since we are the Temple and God lives inside us as Christians we should think of every day as resting in Jesus. “I’m not saying they are wrong at your Church but the Sabbath really is every day for Christians,” I explained. He thought that seemed right and on Saturday he stayed away for electronics and stuff and I agreed that seemed like a good idea to focus on the Lord. He said he like to listen to other people and their perspectives. I said that I had heard a pastor once say “Turn your critics into your teachers.’ “They might have something to say you need to hear,” I explained. He appreciated that and he shook my hand and I headed off.

Sofia was sitting in the hallway of the BIC on the ground floor on the south side in a row of chairs. She had brown hair parted down the middle and semi round clear frame glasses. She had a pointed chin a small face and was on the heavy side. She had a few bracelets on and nice nails and wore a V-neck pull over and jeans. She was friendly and wanted to travel to Greece. Seems a popular destination this year and I said others had said that and the Greek Isles seemed like it was me a nice place to visit. I asked her, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “Um… I don’t know,” she replied. “I’d say… I’ve no clue.” “Do you ever go to Church?” I asked. “I go every week, I went yesterday,” she replied. ‘What do you think they would say is the way you get to Heaven?” I asked. She again said she didn’t know and that they just told stories from the Bible. “Well there are some good stories in there,” I replied. I began to go through the Gospel with her and asked her as I always do what Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world. She could not think of anything and apologized and I said no worries it might start to sound familiar. I explained everything I always do about the perfect life of Christ and his blood to cleanse her and be a payment for sin. I then said this was the symbolism behind the mass. The wine was symbolic of his blood and the wafer symbolic of his body. “So when you take it you should say, ‘Thank You’ as it is reminding you Jesus died for you and so you are forgiven.” She looked me in the eye then and said, “Thank you.” In a repeat after me way like I would let God know. I expanded Jesus earned the righteousness of God and it was to her credit. I told her she was adopted to become God’s child and he would give her the blessings of His family, as I’d told Patricio earlier, “God gives us the sacrifice for our sins the blood that cleansed us and the righteousness of Christ that surrounds us.” I read a verse on His resurrection. I said this was hers by faith and receiving Christ made her a child of God. Faith saved her. I asked if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. “I would be forgiven,” she replied. I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I talked her through it also and asked her if it expressed the desire of her heart. “Yeah,” she replied. “You could pray it silently then, I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and you’d know you were forgiven. Wanna do that?” I asked. “Yeah she replied and she took the booklet and received Christ praying the prayer to accept forgiveness. When she finished I explained the likelihood she would now go to Heaven trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus was 100%. “Thank you so much,” she replied. I explained the Christian life to her living by the Spirit’s power Inside Out. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and a copy of The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study. She said, “Thank you so much,” again and I said, “Thanks for listening.” I said I would pray a Bible verse for her each day for the next year asking God to bless her. “Have a very nice day,” she said as I got up to go. “You too,” I replied and I headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope ya had a blessed day filled with all good things from the hand of the Lord. I had slow day on campus and only found one person to go through the Gospel with me. But that girl Angela prayed to receive Jesus. Her story is below if you have time. Please pray she is sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

 Angela was sitting at a table with a couple of medical books open with diagrams of human anatomy. She had long thin braids past her elbows coming out of tight elaborate patterns on the top of her head. African American she had a cute wide face with a pug nose; she was friendly wore a grey hoodie. She sat on the edge of the science buildings lounge on the second floor. They were having a faculty appreciation lunch below her. I asked if she would want to do a student survey for a Bible study group. “I think I already did it,” she replied. “Not with me,” I replied. “The big 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 says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?’ So it’s really about the Bible verses that are the answer to that question. So would you like to hear the verses that answer it or not so much?” “OK,” she replied. So I kneeled at her table across from her, since the chairs all had her stuff on them. I took out the booklet and began to go through it saying all I usually say to tell students the Gospel. “Jesus said this,” I said reading John 17:3. “Eternal life is just knowing God because you got the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,” she nodded. “The holy Spirit lives inside you. So if God lives inside you and you know Him that way it’s like you’re the Energizer Bunny and God’s the batteries, you keep going and going and when you die it’s like you don’t die because God’s inside.” I said the God could not live in some people because of sin and asked what Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world. “Well nothing comes to mind right now,” she replied after a moment of thought. “That’s OK this is how it works,” I replied. And I explained the perfect life of Jesus and His sacrifice where His blood cleansed her and was a payment for sin. His righteousness was to her credit. God adopted her and gave her all these things. Jesus rose from the dead and was the only way. She needed to receive Jesus; believe He was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. “So if someone would ask why should God let you into Heaven you’d say, ‘Because Jesus died for me. I trust in that.’” I said that would mean she had faith in Jesus and faith saved her. She should do good things to please God but her good things would not fix her bad things. She smiled at the examples I gave and was tuned right in the entire time. After I had asked if she wanted to be forgiven trusting in Jesus, saying he would give her strength to live the Christian life and even for her studies at school, then take her to Heaven when she died, she said, “Um hum.” I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and talked her through it. I asked if it expressed the desire of her heart. “Um hum,” she replied again. So I said she could pray it silently, “I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear and then you’d know you were forgiven trusting in Jesus, wanna do that?” “Um hum,” she said again and she prayed to receive Jesus. I went through the Christian life with her briefly. She had a Bible and I said everything was “By the Spirit’s Power.” I gave her Bible Promises for You and showed her how she could turn a verse into a prayer. I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. “Thank you,” she said, taking the booklet with a smile. I told her I would pray for her every day for a year and if I saw her again I would just wave. I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet telling her a bit of Strobel’s story and a Bible study on the deity of Christ she liked. “Nice to meet you,” I said getting up to go. “Nice to me you as well,” she replied. “God bless your day.” “God bless your studies,” I replied and she said, “Thank you,” and I headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today. School has become pretty empty but the Lord guided me to one.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope ya had a great day and had joy and peace in believing and now abound in hope. I had a good day on campus and encouraged some Christians in the faith and Alex Prayed with me to receive Jesus. Please pray he grows in faith sanctified by the Spirit. His responses are below if you have time.

 Alex walked up and sat on a hall bench in the east science building on the second floor facing north. I had almost met him at the moment he sat down and he said he’d do a student survey. He had a few days growth of beard and wore black framed glasses his face was the shape of a melon with a modest nose and thin lips. He was a pretty tall guy maybe 6’2” and wore a long sleeve grey T-shirt and grey sweats and bright red shoes.  I asked him for three words to describe himself and with a heavy Latino accent and slightly broken English he said, “student in college, no money, made a promise to my parents,” the last of which I gathered was why he was in school. One thing he wanted to do before he died was, “keep promise, make my way, have a family and be together.” I asked him, “You’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “Umm, I made mistakes. If He can do… before I die, if He can… [I would] do better now, I’ll go to Heaven for now.” I asked the likelihood he would go to Heaven when he died, “50/50 because I made mistakes [I could] do better,” he replied. I asked if he ever went to Church and he hesitated like he was thinking and I said, “Sometimes?” He said, “I go…”. “Once in a while,” I filled in and he nodded. He later said the last time he had been to Church was for his father’s funeral. “So a sad time,” I said and he nodded. I began to go through the Gospel and asked what the big thing was Jesus had done back in History to take away the sins of the world. He hesitated and said, “Yeah,” so I don’t think he knew. I began to explain that God became a man Jesus and lived a perfect life. So we were to supposed to live a perfect life. You had to be perfected to get into Heaven. He began nodding and so I explained that Jesus died and His blood cleansed us and paid for sin. He kept nodding so I just continued to explain at a regular pace with illustrations but without stopping about the righteousness of Christ. I said that God adopted him and gave him the blessings of His family, the sacrifice for his sins the blood that cleansed him and the righteousness of God that surrounded him. He needed to receive Christ; to believe, “Jesus was God died for your sins and rose from the dead. Not that you just knew the story but that that was what you put his trust in so that if someone said, ‘Why should God let you into Heaven?’ You’d say, ‘Because Jesus died for me, I trust in that.’ That would me you had faith in Jesus. Faith saves you.” I read Eph 2:8 and 9. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in Jesus then He would live inside him to give him strength and take him to Heaven when he died. Then I said Islam had a different God and a cast off line about the Buddha who was not looking for God. “So would you want to be forgiven for your sins?” I asked again. “Yeah,” he replied. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and talked through it. I asked if it expressed the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he said again. So I said he could pray it silently and God would hear. He took the booklet and prayed aloud to receive Jesus. I quickly went through the Christian life and asked if he had a Bible. His family had one and that was enough he thought. I explained then that he could live by the Spirit’s power. I said Christianity was inside out not outside in first we ask God to change us then we will do good things. I gave him the booklet. I said the likelihood he would now go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. He grabbed his backpack up to go to class so I quickly gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and said I would pray for him. He went into the classroom but I remained and wrote some stuff down. No one was in the room yet, I gathered by some conversation I overheard and he came back out, probably to go to the bathroom and walked past me and said, “God bless you.” “Thank you, I will pray for you each day for the next year. And he 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