Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

I hope your weekend has been going good. I have been working on stuff and finally remembered I never wrote results of the work for Thursday. Friday I closed up a paint job I’d been at for parts of 3 days but the school is a ghost town the Friday before Spring break so I did not plan to go. But Thursday Mallory prayed with me to receive Jesus. I also gave the student editor of The Case for Christ to Sophia dressed in workout clothes i the PE building, as I went through the gospel with her she said, “I never knew that” several times. I also gave The student edition of  The Case for Faith  to a high school student Paul who was very close to believing but had some doubts thinking of himself as a skeptic.

Mallory had a pretty face and wearing black pants and a jacket with a white print blouse visible in front. A little better than average in stature. She had long wavy shoulder length hair and red lipstick. It turned out she attended a Catholic Church in Winfield. She was sitting in a lounge half way down the hall in first wing of the Science building on the south side. She was waiting for her class to begin and did not think she had the time to do a student survey. So I asked her if she’d like the cliff notes version to answer just one question. She said OK. So I said, “Say you’re walking down the road and you get hit by a bus, so you’re dead and you stand before God and He said, ‘why should I let you into Heaven?’ What would you say?” “I don’t know but I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.” “Well, would you like to know what the Bible says about how you get into Heaven? Or not so much?” I asked. She said I could tell her so I went through the gospel with her. She knew Jesus had died to take away her sins. She listened closely to everything I said and so when I asked her if she’d like to be forgiven she said she would. So I offered her the prayer walking her through it and she prayed silently to receive Christ. I explained life in the Spirit living inside out by God’s power. I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do and wrote “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front and her name and the date she was forgiven. She said she had a Bible that everyone in her family had their own Bible  I also explained a symbolic view of the mass suggesting when she took it she could simply say “Thank you” to God knowing that because Jesus had died for her she was forgiven. I gave her a Bible study too. She was very appreciative and thanked me and I told her I would pray for her. She thanked me again and said she would pray for me too. And I headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism Thursday if you had a chance, God truly blessed and I got a couple good seeds planted too.

In Him,

Bob

Third Watch Ministries, NFP                                                      Bob & Ellen Bollow

P.O. Box 1283                                                                                      March 10, 2018

Wheaton, IL 60187-1283  

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you’ve been having a good 2018 so far and find your hopes fulfilled for an early Spring. We are doing well absent the occasional bug that got us in winter. We’ve had a good year as 114 students have prayed to receive Jesus on campus, with 27 so far this Spring semester.

New Believers 2017-18

Dante, Alex, Xavier, Josh, Samantha, Kayla, Korin, Maria*, Ruben, Nicole, Emrah, Aristaia, Lisa, Phillip, Alex, Brigitte, Razy, Oni, Thomas, Daisy, Caitlin, Joe, Mason, Tom, Jimmy, Luis, Felix, Dan, Jordan, Abby, David, Katie, Stephanie*, Remy, Issac, Tae, Zay, Shannon, Kyle, Jocellyn, Jay, Michelle, Brian, Taylor, Samantha, Jasmine, Zac, Jared*, Walter, Jenee, Annalisa, Nick, Mark, Celine, Peter, Deionte, Zach, Miracle, DeAnte, Kaylin, Chris, Juan, Imani, Honey, Sherin, Mike, Axel, Khardajah, Jenna, Olivia, Conner, Cole*, Alexus, Destini, Richard, Sal, David, Liam, Hira, Mikaela, Frank, Mathew , Tom, Andrew, Larry, Cole, Alexis, Jennifer, Marcus, Christina, Joseph, Rachel*, Savannah, Grace, John, Emmett, Ramy, Tatyana, Shoniece, Thomas, Naila Sean*, Gordon, Trinity, Christine*, Michael, Angelica, Tammy, Amani, Hope, Jordann, Fernando, Josh, Jake, Jennifer, Andrea, Serena*, Jehieli, Abby, Jasna Ryan*, Jacob, Rich

One of the students who came to Christ this year, and has been coming to Bible study at school, was struggling to forgive an estranged parent who had done a lot of damage to her family and to her. She wanted to forgive, but as the pain (and offense) was ongoing, she was not sure she could. I explained that just like everything else in the Christian life, we needed the power of God by the Holy Spirit in us to forgive. Everything God asks us to do in this life He also gives us the power to do. We are not forced to just suck it up and obey by force of will. We live in the New Covenant and “the peace that surpasses all understanding will keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). But this is a process that we may have to renew every morning for a time. In our hearts, we know it is right to forgive when God had forgiven us of everything we have ever done. Our resistance is in part from real hurt. It costs us something to forgive, just as it cost God Christ on the cross to forgive us. God promises more than only the power to help us, but also to make “all things work together for good for those that love Him and are called according to His purpose” Romans 8:28. God can even use sins against us to work into good, as He states through Joseph addressing his brothers in Genesis 50:20 “And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” We don’t know the great good God is going to accomplish. But when it is difficult to trust Him, we can ask for more trust, and even ask for other Christians to pray that we have it when that also proves difficult. By fellowship, prayer and the Holy Spirit’s power we can live and find the “peace that surpasses all understanding” Phil 4:7.

When God requires that we forgive others as we have been, He also means this for our good. Mayo clinic has an online article on their website “Forgiveness: Letting go of grudges and bitterness” that I recently read, talking about how a failure to forgive can affect your immune system and the health of your heart. We know from Matthew 18:34 that life tortures the unforgiving. “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.”

One of the best ways to begin to forgive someone is to pray for them. Jesus encourages this in Matthew 5:44 “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” This seems unfair. They hurt us and now we must pray for them? But then who knows better what your persecutor needs prayer for than you? After all, they often have many other people tricked into thinking they are great. Many of us have had hypocrites attack us in life, people that everyone else thinks are fine, even good Christians. But they gossip about us, or slander us or defraud us in business. Sometimes the lost do this to us too, in which case we can pray they come to either judgment or repentance. But the important thing is that we forgive them, give the right to exact justice over to God and He will take care of it. Most of the people who have hurt us have probably forgotten about us altogether. So we might as well not continue to give them a piece of power in our lives, where they continue to do that same hurtful thing in our remembrance, over and over again. Instead we can give it over to God and let it go by His power. Possibly, for our own protection, we will need to remember the fact that they are untrustworthy. The old peanuts comic strip was of Charlie Brown attempting to place-kick a football that, year after year, Lucy would pull away at the last minute. I wonder how many times Charles Schultz, the writer of the strip, wrote that up. Probably it was in the newspaper every Fall. We are not to become Charlie Brown, kicking the air, naïve to someone’s trickery. But we can give them over to God and say, “As far as it is in my power to exact revenge, I give it over to God.” As Romans 12:19 teaches, “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” In Heaven they will give you a much deserved apology, if they have arrived.

Life is filled with tribulation and trials, but Jesus has provided a way through it. “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. Thank you for helping us overcome the world and its’ darkness on the college campus, by your kindness and the power of your prayers. I know one day we will rejoice in Heaven with you at the good things God has done. We are praying each night for those we know of that support us and pray for us. We really are just so very grateful for your help.

In Him,                                                                                                                                                                                                                 bob.thirdwatch@sbcglobal.net                                                                                                   www.thethirdwatch.org

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you had a good Monday. I had a good day on campus and Chase prayed with me to receive Jesus. After that I had a 4 hour ad hoc counseling session with Darrell whom I had met over a year before as he’d finished up the truck driver licensing program at COD. Black guy 23 years old long braids. He was struggling with entering into marriage and living the Christian life. “You really helped me you can’t know how much this helped,” he said.

I got to school kind of wasted still from the weekend of travel, as I officiated a wedding in a Vietnamese restaurant in Houston, which was a lot of stress for organizational reasons. We got home and in bed by 2 AM Sunday and then 11 hours later I got to baptize Hope at the Compass Church after their service. They’d had some baptisms and let me use the water. So I was dragging a bit when I got to school. I put my stuff in a locker and headed down the hall towards the PE building a couple steps. Then I felt like I was supposed to go towards the science building so I turned around and took a 90% turn around the corner to head that way. I greeted a girl Jordann in the hall who prayed this year and then headed down the hall which goes past the book store. Sitting in some couches across from the back door of the store I found Chase. He was a tall guy, at least 6’4″ wearing all black. He had a ball cap on and a young very boyish face, good looking kid.  I asked if he wanted to do a student survey. In response he asked if I worked with Intervarsity and I said I used to and sat down by him. He said he planned to join the group, (they got started up on campus again this year and I met their leaders in the winter) it later seemed he had been to one meeting on Wednesday. He said he’d do the survey then. When I asked him if he died what he would say if God asked him why He should let him into Heaven, he said, “I tried my best.” He went to a Bible church in Lombard and knew the Gospel in part saying he had a 74% chance of going to Heaven. He knew John 3:16 having heard it “…all his life.” When I finished he said something like I was really good at explaining a lot in a very short period of time. So it seemed like he enjoyed the word pictures God had given me to use this year. Which is great if you understand what they mean. But Chase had kind of missed it. After saying he wanted to be forgiven for his sins I asked, ‘So when you do something wrong you are probably thinking, Well I am going to church and basically a good person so God will forgive me. He agreed that was what he was thinking. So I said if he wanted to trust in what Jesus had done to be forgiven for his sins there was a prayer that he could pray. I talked him through it and he said, “”I can pray this if you want but I’ve been slowly working on letting Jesus into my heart.” “I am not asking you if you want to let Jesus into your heart,” I replied. I am asking you if you want to be forgiven for your sins trusting He died for you on the cross. Then the Holy Spirit can live inside you and give you the strength to live the Christian life.” He decided he wanted to pray to receive Christ then and he did. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do. I explained living by the Spirit’s power explaining that idea through some of the chapter titles in the 20 Things God Can’t Do  book and wrote “By the Spirit’s power” in the front. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” saying, “This is the day you were forgiven.” I explained living “inside out” and the fruit of the Spirit. I explained that if he was trusting in the righteousness of Christ to be his righteousness 74% becomes 100%. I gave him a Bible Study and talked about it bit and got his email. Then he realized his ride had been waiting for 7 minutes, it was his uncle who was a christian and he thought he wouldn’t mind since we had been talking about God. He got up and headed off in good spirits.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for Evangelism yesterday if you had a chance, God blessed and I’ll be praying for Chase in the hope God will give him what Paul prays for in Ephesians 1:17-19.

17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the ]saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed in the Lord. Tomorrow Ellen and I have to fly to Texas for me to officiate the wedding of a former student. Today I had a good day on campus, and  Billy and Justin  prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Billy was sitting in the row of chairs at the front of the tunnel headed out of the BIC into the PE building. He had an open shirt and jacket on over a t-shirt and jeans wore glasses had a sharp chin. The t-shirt was of a Pink Floyd record cover, from 1973, “Dark Side of the Moon”. I chatted him up about that a bit. He had been in a Lutheran church as a kid but had not been to Church since then. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into heaven he said, “Because I haven’t committed any crimes, I’ve been good I guess.” He thought he’d have a 75% chance of going to Heaven. He was a thoughtful guy but he didn’t have any idea at first what Jesus had done to take away his sins but I think the story came back to him a bit. He was attentive to what I said and grateful and when I asked him if he would want to be forgiven for his sins with Christ living inside him or if he thought something else he thought for a moment and said, “I’d probably choose this one,” pointing at the life that had Christ living inside him. “Well, do you believe that Jesus was God, died for your sins and rose from the dead?”I asked. “Yes,” he said. “Well if you would like to trust in that God can forgive you and and you can figure things out in life with God inside you giving you strength, not outside you,” I said. Then I talked him through the prayer to receive Christ explaining what it meant and said he could pray it silently and God would hear his thoughts and prayer. I asked if he’d like to pray and he said, “Yeah sure.” He took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I went on to explain the Christian life living “inside out”. He didn’t have his own Bible so I gave him one and put his name and the date and “forgiven” under it. I explained living “inside out” with God’s power and wrote “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front of 20 Things God Can’t Do and I gave him a Bible Study. He gave me his email so I’ll send him some stuff, he thought he’d like to come to the Bible study so I hope he will. I gave him a card for Compass church so he could go on line and listen to some sermons if he was led to do that. I shook his hand and he thanked me and we headed separate ways down the hall as I told him I’d pray for him the next year. There’s some lines in Dark Side of the Moon in the song entitled “Time”, “Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town.  Waiting for someone or something to show you the way… No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.” But Billy heard it, and he began to run by the Spirit.

Justin was sitting across the long row of tables in the PE lounge with Lionel. Justin was very fair skinned but had freckles and a loose curly mop almost an afro shaved on the sides. He wore sweats, had classic facial features of an African American his friend was jet. They were chatting up a girl or she was chatting up them. He didn’t think he had time before practice for track to do a survey but he said he’d answer on question, “So you’re walking down the road, 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 don’t know he said, the girl who was hanging about said she could answer it saying she’d followed God’s will and then decided that didn’t sound good enough or she hadn’t done that and knew it. But Justin said that sounded about right for him.  (I’ll have to catch up with the girl later since she drifted off, I do see her around.) But Justin let me tell him the heart of the Gospel and the imputed righteousness of Christ. Lionel was across the table and I tried to engage him with a eye contact that worked a bit of the time. When I finished the cliff notes version of essentially what I say to the peeps, using the booklet a bit, Justin wanted to be forgiven and so I said he could pray a prayer and I talked him through it on the next page and asked him if he would like to pray it. “I just did, I was reading along,” he said grinning. I explained living inside out but that was all they had time for and I got the spelling to Lionel,s name saying I would be praying for them and he said he’d think about the prayer taking a copy of the booklet. They had only their workout gear with them and had no way to carry a book but said they’d get one from me some other time. They did take a Bible study  as it is just on a page of paper founded up. I thanked them for listening and letting an old white guy chat them up and they laughed and said no problem and headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed in the Spirit and God guided you to all good things. I had a good day on campus and Alan and Thomas each prayed with me to receive Christ.

Alan was sitting by the dental clinic area where you can have your teeth cleaned by students studying to be dental hygienists, Cheaper but it takes a long time. He was waiting for his mom to be done with a cleaning, it turned out. He was wearing blue Jeans and a dark blue and black running jacket and tennis shoes with black ankle socks. He had a slight accent and kind of a crazy curly mop of hair, nice features small nose, nice skin, good looking kid. He seemed to be a very laid back guy. When I asked him what he would d say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I don’t know to be honest. Well it’s up to you, you know what I’ve done, that’s pretty much it.” He thought he had a 50/50 shot to get to Heaven. He said he’d gone to church when he was young back “in Mexico pretty much”. When I asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sins he guessed “baptism?” “Well, that is symbolic of what He did,” I replied and went on to tel him of the death and resurrection of Jesus and that he had had poured out His blood to cleanse us from all sin.  He listened closely to the illustrations I used. When I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven he said, “Pretty much”. So I asked if he believed Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead, he said he did. So I asked if he would want to trust in that to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and after I explained it and offered it to him he prayed to receive Jesus and be forgiven. He thanked me right away then and I gave him a Bible putting his name and the date he was forgiven in the front and showed him the ‘Where to turn” section. I gave him a Bible study and explained living the Christian life by the power of the Spirit writing “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front of the 20 Things God Can’t Do book. I gave him a card for The Compass Church since he was local and was not going to Church. I told him I would pray for him each night for the next year that he would be blessed. I got up and shaking his hand I said, “Really nice to talk to you man, I’ll see you in Heaven.” ‘Thank you,” he said again softly and I headed out.

I found Thomas a bit later also in the Science building in a lounge half way down the east building on the second floor. He was sitting with his backpack looking at his phone. He went to a Church called “Living Water” and was up for doing a survey. His backpack was packed up and his coat was on, I think he was getting ready to head out. He had jeans on and had a broad angular nose like some pictures I have seen of the Inca empire people but he was Philippine in heritage. Dark straight hair flipped back friendly face. He was a nice. When I asked him what he would say to God if asked why He should let him into Heaven he said. “Because I prayed every night. I tried to follow His words in the Bible sometimes.” He also thought he had a 50/50 shot to get into Heaven. As I began to explain the Gospel it seemed a bit revelatory that God wanted to live inside him with His Holy Spirit so needed to take away his sins. I asked if he knew what Jesus had done to take away his sins and he said, “crucifixion”. I said that was right and talked about the Blood of Christ purifying him and the imputed righteousness of Christ. He wanted to be forgiven when I finished. So I asked him if when he prayed for forgiveness if he had been thinking he was religious and a good person so God would forgive him, he shook his head yes. “I know you knew the story that Jesus had died for you but were you hoping you were a good person and would be forgiven or were you trusting in that Jesus had died for you and so you knew you would be forgiven?” He thought for a while and said. I was just hoping. So I explained he could ask for forgiveness trusting in Jesus he decided to do that and talked him through the prayer. A very dark black older woman, Lydia, from Ghana had walked in towards the end of our conversation.  She had affirmed him then after he prayed saying it was the best decision he could make, she was then sitting across the small lounge at a table studying, I believe she was picking up a class as a nurse. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date he was forgiven in the front and “By the Spirit’s power” in the front explaining the Christian life living by the Spirit’s power. As I had done with Alan I explained that if he was trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I told him I would pray for him and he thanked me and headed out happily. I spoke with Lydia some then and she said our country was more closed to the Gospel than Ghana where as a school teacher she could openly pray with the students and talk to them about God. We have a lot here in terms of material blessings but there are probably better places to raise a child in the faith.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today, though I woke up sick and got a late start God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with all good things. I had a good day on campus and Jacob and Rich each prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Jacob was sitting at the counter in the Cafeteria looking at his tablet playing a computer game. This he somehow played with an occasional look back at it and a finger slide as we talked until the end of our conversation. He was a home-schooled student and was just checking out the school for the day to sign up for some classes it seemed. He was African American had a bit of facial hair a and a mustache, big kid. He wore a hoodie and jeans. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I’m 15, I haven’t had much chance to do good yet, but being here might give me a chance to do that.” I am sure we do good in Heaven so it is true he would get some done were he to enter. When I asked him what the likelihood was he would go to Heaven when he died he said, “I don’t know, I’ll leave that unstated.” He was a nice, articulate guy and was very successfully engaging me in conversation while he played a computer game so I just went with it telling God silently in my head I would just finish the Gospel and trust Him to work. (I was a bit annoyed by the game. I had just spent an hour and a half talking to a student who had been abused the night before telling her she needed to get a blood test for the drug they’d used on her, as she cried. We prayed too, I was a bit spent. She did go to the ER later she texted me. please pray for her, I’ve known her for a few years.) I went through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died to take away sins. When I explained the imputed righteousness of Christ to him he said, “Thank you.” He said at the end he wanted to be forgiven for his sins. As I finished up I said, “It seemed from your answer you were hoping to do enough good works to get into heaven?” he agreed. I said he could pray to ask God for his forgiveness and walking him through the prayer asked if he would like to pray. “In private,” he said. So I said I could walk over and get a drink and leave him alone. He said OK so I walked the length of the room to the water fountain and when I returned he’d finished having prayed to receive Christ. I explained that if he was trusting in the Righteousness of Christ to be his righteousness the likelihood he would get in to Heaven was 100%. Then I explained walking by the Spirit and I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date he was forgiven in the front. I also gave him a Bible study he liked. He was happy. I said I would pray for him, “God bless you,” I said shaking his hand. “”God bless you too,” he replied smiling a big smile, and I headed out.

Everyone turned me down until I got to the PE building upstairs where Rich was sitting on the couch he was wearing sweats had a short afro and sweat was beading up on his broad nose so he’d been playing basketball, he was on the team I discovered. He was smaller under 6 foot I’d guess though we were sitting, fair skinned. He had a trimmed mustache on just the top of his lip and trimmed chin hair. His dad was religious he said, “He prays 5 minutes every morning and at night and reads the Bible every day,” he told me. He explained he was not as religious as his dad. When I asked him what he would say to God to be let into Heaven he said, “Coming at me with some good questions…” then thinking some he finally said, “I don’t know, I always sinned, when I did I talked to you, I always had faith in you.” He knew Jesus had died to take away his sins saying, “He gave himself.” And was very focused on all I said. But he had not been trusting in Christ’s work to forgive him. As I went through the Gospel I pointed out at the end, “You are asking God for forgiveness but there is a reason He could forgive you.” “It was really Jesus!’ He replied. I agreed. He wanted to be forgiven and prayed to receive Jesus. He could not take any books as he had nothing to put them in but took the booklet and I wrote the date on the front and “forgiven” so he could remember when he had trusted in Christ. I gave him a Bible study and he said when he saw me around he would get some books. I also explained walking by the Spirit to him and I explained that if he was trusting in the Righteousness of Christ to be his righteousness the likelihood he would get in to Heaven was 100%. He had thought he had a 90% shot b4. He was grateful and thanked me and we shook hands (he had a very solid handshake) and I headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today and things went great. I had an good day on campus in as much as I helped some students with some struggles and one guy Ryan (a fair skinned black guy with a mustache a short goatee, & a hoodie) committed to Christ saying he would pray later. I got the Gospel in quickly with him. He overheard a conversation I was having explaining denominationalism to a student who comes the the Bible study (I was helping her with some family stuff too) As he packed up to leave said he played basketball sometimes at the college. I started talking to him and he did not understand how he was forgiven, not knowing what Jesus had done on the cross to forgive him. He was late to pick up his brother but I explained the atonement and the Holy Spirit living in him and he said he would pray later as I talked him through the prayer. Hopefully he’ll pray later. Ashley a black student was struggling with a legalistic old testament Law church her father had brought her to. He finally had to take  job on Saturday and now is convinced he is going to Hell. I explained the Law and grace and the NT fulfillment by Jesus, imputed righteousness and gave her the student edition of The Case for Faith. She parted with me more light hearted I hope it took. She had faithfully gone to Church her entire life with her mom and had been trusting in the Gospel.

On Friday I only had a couple conversations, it is pretty dead at school Fridays. I had some encouraging discussions one with an Indian girl Maitri (my tree) who wanted forgiveness but was unsure about Jesus so I gave her The Case for Christ and 100 prophecies fulfilled by Jesus.

Wendy at days’ end had no assurance of salvation so I helped her as well and gave her a book and Bible Study.

So Thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance. God blessed and I felt well used by the Lord.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you’ve been blessed of late. I woke up kind of sick this morning with fatigue and from having a bad headache at the end of the day before. I crashed through most of the day today and wrote some thank you notes. But yesterday Jasna prayed with me to receive Christ.

I had walked around all day and though I chatted with some of the students I know I interviewed only one Christian briefly after about 3 hours. I could not find someone to answer questions. Finally I came across Jasna who was sitting against the counter looking outside in the cafeteria. She was willing to answer some questions saying she had some things to say. She was a cute Latina girl with long hair past her shoulders slight stature with half round plastic frame glasses, she was dressed in a black fleece and leggings. When I asked her what she would say to God if asked why He should let her into heaven she said, “I’m still a believer. Although I did some bad mistakes in life… I did it with truth and faith so it also was honesty.” She thought she only had a 50% chance of going to Heaven saying of the likelihood, “Not very much, I still have a lot to figure out with myself.” As I went through the Gospel she interrupted me to ask questions that were not related to what I had said directly but I stopped and gave her answers and things to think about, a counter narrative. Most of them were related to the politically correct information she was getting shoved down her throat in the Psychology class. The LGBT agenda being in full swing there. She also asked me about insanity and suicide. I said that in the Bible Paul teaches if there is one believing parent the children are made holy [1 Corinthians 7:14]. Children who are not yet old enough to be responsible for their own judgement of belief one would presume. I said that if someone had been insane throughout their life in my view they would not have even entered into the category of responsible actions but had remained like a child in that way. We talked about other scientific facts. she wanted to be a radiologist and I pointed out that as a radiologist one day she could look at a brain scan and tell me if she was looking at a male or a female brain. This was in part because testosterone severs a number of the bio-chemical pathways in the brain of male babies in the womb that connect the right and left hemispheres (of the brain). So a man, any man, has a male brain. Thus a man does not know what a woman feels like scientifically speaking and a female does not know what a man feels like scientifically speaking. So Bruce Jenner cannot tell you he feels like a woman, scientifically speaking. He can tell you he feels like putting on woman’s clothes but many women do not often or ever feel like putting on woman’s clothes, this is not a definitive marker of being a woman. Our discussion went in and out of many things like this that provided a counter narrative to the attack on traditional things the Christian Church has taught for 2,000 years. Too bad you can’t record yourself talking to strangers I’d like to listen to the things God seemed to sort of put in my mouth so to speak. (Jesus promises He will give us words in the moment in Luke 12:11,12). In any event the Holy Spirit seemed to be speaking to her and she said at one point, “My mind is kind of blown right now.” “A truth bomb.” I replied and she agreed. I was able to get back to the Gospel explaining to her that what she needed most was God’s Spirit inside her guiding her and showing the truth. She wanted to be forgiven. I suggested to her that she it was possible she had not really been trusting in what Jesus had done for her on the cross for forgiveness and asked her if she wanted to trust in what Jesus had done to forgive her. I walked her through the prayer asking if she’d like to pray it and she said with some lightness, “Yeah.” She took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus silently. I gave her the student edition of The Case for Christ and also 20 Things God Can’t Do writing her name and the date and ‘forgiven” in the front. I explained a symbolic view of the mass that might help her have a moment of thankfulness with God. I also wrote “By the Spirit’s Power” and explained everything God was asking her to do He would also give her the power to do. “Thank you,” she said. Saying she thought it was God who had sent me to her and had been praying for answers to her questions. She said she was going to study for an exam but felt hungry so she went and got some fries and then I came by. “This helped so much I’m not even kidding you,” she said. I said I would pray for her and gave her some advice about not worrying about what was said in class or arguing with teacher who would not be persuaded and would bite her head off.  She said she would email me and grabbed up her things having finished her snack of Chick-Fil-A fries and herself mixed mayo and ketchup dip. ‘Thank you so much.” she said again and went away with a lighter heart.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking with God in Christ.  I had a good day on campus and Jehieli (aka Jelly) and Abby each prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Abby was the first person I talked with today sitting on the edge of the small corner lounge down the hall of the door I come in, in the BIC building. She had long dark hair and fair skin, her face was long and she had a nice smile. She was Latina and was wearing her jacket. She thought for a minute when I began talking to her and then decided she’d answer some questions. When I asked her what she would say to God if asked why He should let her into Heaven she said, “Um… that’s hard… I honestly have no idea what I would say.” She thought some more and finally landed on “I believe that I lived a compassionate life.” She was 90% sure she would go to Heaven and had gone to CCD in the Catholic Church and made her first communion. As I went through the Gospel she seemed struck by the different things I was saying, possibly never having heard it said quite that way before. But as I finished explaining everything to her I asked her if she would want to be forgiven or if she thought something else and she said, “I would want to be forgiven.” So I talked her through the prayer and asked if she’d like to pray it silently in her heart and she said, “Right now?” I encouraged her saying, “Just pretend I’m not even here.” And she prayed to receive Jesus. I said she could keep the booklet and she said, “Oh good.” And then I explained living by the Spirit’s power. And gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “By the Spirit” in the front. She did not have a Bible so I gave her one showing her the “Where to turn passage and then I recommended she could begin to read in John if she’d like. “Do you know where that is in the Bible the first books in the New Testament are Matthew, Mark Luke and John.” “No I don’t,” she said. So I turned to that and explained that John called Jesus “the Word” which was a kind of knick name for Jesus in the Old Testament that Jeremiah uses to describe Jesus, so John borrows it. “Then it is just stories about john the Baptist and Jesus.” I wrote her name in the front and the Date and “forgiven” beneath it and taught her Zwingli’s symbolic view of the Mass. I gave her a Bible Study and said I would pray for her and got her email to send her some stuff. “God bless you, “ I said as we got up to leave her to class and me down the hall. “Thank you have a nice day,” she said cheerfully.

Jehieli was sitting in the 2^nd floor corner lounge on the southeast corner of the BIC. She was a short cute kid had some tints in her hair, she was Latina, round face, jeans cuffed at her ankle boots t-shirt on. She said her family did not go to Church any more, “It’s complicated” she said, but her mom read her the Bible once in a while. When I asked her what she would say to God she said, “Because I tried to follow the law of God, the 10 commandments.” I asked her if she thought she could list the 10 commandments she laughed a bit and said “No.” Of course it would be tough to keep rules you could not name but I let it go until later when I pointed out “not by works” would be the religious works of the Law which no one could keep perfectly. She thought she had an 80% chance of going to Heaven. She knew Jesus had taken away her sin but had to be reminded of the specifics but he enjoyed the explanations and listened closely to the Gospel and she wanted to be forgiven for her sins. I explained the prayer to her and we were alone in that lounge by then sitting against the windows with the sun pouring in and she prayed to receive Jesus. I gave her gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “By the Spirit” in the front. I also wrote her name and the date in front and wrote ‘forgiven” saying she could remember that day. I got her email to send her some stuff. I gave her the theCompass.net website to listen to some sermons she lived quite a ways from school. She took a Bible Study and I explained the Spirit filled life to her. She was really grateful and got up to go to class and saying, “Thank you.” I told her I would pray for her each night and she thanked me again and headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hop[e your day was blessed. I had a good day on campus and Andrea, Prayed to receive Jesus as her savior and  Serena committed to Christ saying she would pray later. Miyax (Mia) took the student edition of The Case for Christ saying she would get it back to me and thanked me, I am hopeful to bump into her again.

Andrea was sitting just off the hall on a set of chairs waiting for her class to begin. She said she’d answer some questions. She had a winter cap on with her brown hair cruling up around the edges. She wore a puffy quilted coat and had a sweet kind face, bit of a pug nose kinda short wearing boots and leggings. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said, “I’d probably say… I was a sinner, I understand that, I know you love me enough you would never forsake me.” She thought she had a 50/50 chance to go to Heaven she said she’d be even (odds I think she meant). She knew Jesus had died for our sins but had not trusted in that. The more I talked the more I talked about the gospel and the imputed righteousness of Christ the more her heart seemed to lift. At one point she even said “Amen”. She wanted to be for given for her sins and so I asked her if when she was asking for forgiveness if she had hoped she was good enough to be forgiven and she would try hard into to do it again or was she thinking she knew she’d be forgiven trusting that Jesus died for her. “The first one,” she said. She thought she was more that you, “Just say it to feel better about yourself.” I walked her thought the prayer and she said that was nice and I asked her if she wanted to pray it and she did. She was visibly happy then. I gave her the book, 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “By the Spirit’s power” in the front explaining living the Christian life where all the power to do what God is asking you to do he gives you. I then wrote her name in the front and the date and “forgiven”. I explained that if she was trusting in the righteousness of God to be her righteousness that the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. I told her, “If you are having a hard time trusting in God just ask for more trust.” I gave her a Bible study too and she was very grateful. “Thanks you so much.” She said, getting up to leave and joyfully crossed the hall to her classroom.

Serena was sitting in a row of chairs at the front of the tunnel to go into the PE building underground. She said she’d do a student survey. She had wire rimed aviator style glasses and long brown hair, fair skinned, pretty friendly face. It turned out her father was Indian in heritage but she didn’t look like she had any genes from the asian gene pool of her dad’s family with fair skin and lighter hair. He taught philosophy at a school in downtown Chicago. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said, “I’ve trusted Him in the hardest parts of my life, even though in the easy parts I’ve forgotten about Him.” She thought she had about a 75% chance of going to Heaven and she knew Jesus had died for her sins but she had not been trusting in what Jesus had done for her forgiveness. After going through the Gospel I explanined that you can be trusting that God will take care of you as your creator but not be trusting in Him as your savior. She saw that this was true and when I asked if she had been trusting the she would be forgiven because of what Jesus had done she said she had not been thinking that because He died “the slate was wiped clean”. When I talked her through the prayer I asked if that was something she had done or she still needed to do. She said she still needed to do that but she wanted to pray when she was by herself. Her dad was a Christian and so I knew she had access to a lot of books so I just gave her a Bible Study and told her if she prayed to receive Jesus I would pray for her each night for the next year which she thought was great. We talked about intelligence, her dad was smart but I said we will all stand before Jesus one day and be stupid. We chatted some more and she thanked me for sitting and talking with her. So I am hopeful she will genuinely pray to receive Jesus and I will discover this later as I sometimes do. She seemed to really like the idea that I would pray for her so I will for a while in the hope she will come.

Mia was sitting by the doors along the back of the BIC waiting to leave and talked with me a while answering questions. Long black hair fair skin pretty full face, (complexion like mine had seen some stress). She said she was not sure if Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead though her parents have Bible studies in her house she said she really did not know much about it. She did not go to Church. So I gave her the student edition of The Case for Christ (as I mentioned above) and a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ. As she got up to leave she said sincerely, “Thanks so much Bob.” So I will pray for her too.

So thanks very much for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. I could feel the Lord providing and guiding me.

In Him,