“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. James 3:17

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I had a great day of sharing.  A friend posted the above verse on fb today and I felt like that came into play today. By the end of the day two Students had come to Christ. Kenya a Black student, (American though not Kenyan) and Alex a Black guy who was Catholic. Kenya was sitting in the lounge off Starbucks waiting to be called into one of the administration lines in the Student Services Center. It worked out perfectly that I was able to due a survey with her and she prayed to receive Jesus before the little disc vibrated and blinked her turn was up. She was like many Christians believing their own goodness or even obedience saves them saying when asked why she should go to heaven, “Because I lived by His rules on earth.” But it is not enough to live by His rules and no one can do that perfectly anyway so it was the ticket in no one makes it. We have to trust his death and resurrection has paid the price for our sins, believing this we know Him as His Spirit enters us by faith. She did believe and prayed and I gave her a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ and More than a Carpenter to read, inviting her to Bible Study. I get in trouble with the cops sometimes in that lounge but I was able to sit on the floor out of sight at her feet to talk with her. Ha!
I passed Alex sitting on a bench outside the lounge and asked him if he wanted to do a student survey, he said he’d just done one. So I asked, “Oh did they ask you this question? You are walking down the road and you get hit by a bus, and you stand b4 God and He asks you, ‘Why should I let you into heaven?’ What would you say?” He said, “No, they wanted to tell me about the father god and the Mother goddess.” I laughed and said, “Yeah, I’ve talked to those people b4.  It turns out the Mother goddess is some chick in Korea.” We laughed and he was like, “Really. They didn’t mention that.” I pointed out that, “If that was their opening line you would know they were nuts so they slip it in on you over time, I think.”‘ We talked some more and I said, “Well, you wanna answer my question?” He said he went to Church and was good and I said, “Well would you like to know what the Bible says about it?” and he said he would. I went through the gospel with him. It turned out he went to Catholic Church every other Sunday. I asked him if he had ever had a time when he had asked God to forgive his sins because of what Jesus had done for him on the cross. He hadn’t and wanted to pray for forgiveness that God might live inside him and did. I gave him More than a Carpenter to read as well and a Bible study and talked him through confession and the Mass.
I had a crazy long apologetic discussion with a liberal couple. It was like walking on eggshells but they conceded my points and I got them to basically acknowledge a transcendental apologetic, (or a presuppositional idea) that knowledge is made possible by a God or god-like intelligence that has created the under-pinning order of the world that science then discovers. This allows communication. And that morality itself comes from religious ideas that are Christian. Also that, “Natural Law” fails, for us in practice, as humans as we are unable to practice a law code like beasts have, lions for example will kill or drive off the head of another pride, eat or simply kill the previous male head lion’s young and then mate with his previously held mates. For lions we do not call this cannibalism, murder and rape, but we would have to call it that, if, adapted by natural law some human did the very same thing. Natural Law leads to sadism ethically. The guy wanted to appeal to Logic, but why should things be logical? Once again there is an order discoverably mathematic that makes logic a “common sense” appeal. Why should this be if the world came from chaos? Why does the Human Genome consist of transferable code from one set of parents to an offspring? The girl wanted to say she “did not believe in black and white” until I asked her if she thought it was ok to have sex with your children. She had to concede there were some things she called “black”. We talked about homosexuality and I pointed out there was some people we both thought should not legally be able to marry, polygamists, parents marrying their children and so on. So good discussion, after I had explained the gospel, but stressful. It took about 45 minutes and began while he was waiting for her to get out of class.
I talked to a cool artist Raphael at the end of the day. African American guy. I ended up giving him a copy of The Case for Christ. He has seen some apparitions of beings on thrones made up of language or words, [sort of like the code in the ‘Matrix’ if you have seen the movie] pretty trippy stuff and I warned him about darkness. He also once seemed to have had this language come on him and he spoke it, yet he did not believe in Christ. He sees this language at times as if through a transparency, and claims the beings he had seen seemed “very peaceful” communicating with him through emotions and I warned him more than once [2Corinthians 11:14] “…Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” He knew the gospel though not imputation. Had read a lot of Christian books about Heaven and Hell. But He let me pray over him and I prayed God would show him a vision of goodness. He was very talented and I’ll be praying for him.
Tomorrow is a book table day for the clubs and activities fair. Please pray for the fruit of that that we might get a good Bible study going. And pray for Alex and Kenya and even Raphael if you would that they might come closer to Christ.
In Him,
Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Well, not much I can report happened today for certain. I helped 3 Christians understand the atonement at different times. I am not sure if these people were Christians b4, but they were all inordinately grateful as I left them, one Guy thanked me 3 times. It is kind of a sad commentary on the how many peeps are going to Church and praying to receive Jesus and after regularly asking God to forgive their sins without any conscious thought of the cross. One woman even said her works saved her and then completely retracted it after I explained the gospel to her. So this was good work to do but I am not sure if they had been forgiven already and it kind of slipped off the plate or what.

At the end of the day I had a long talk with a girl who had come to Christ last year, she is still trusting in Jesus. That was great and she introduced me to her friends, left about a half hour later and I talked them up for a couple ours leaving at 5 PM. So I hope that has some fruit.

I left feeling like good things happened but it is tough to point to specifics.

Thanks for your prayers, I’ll be headed out tomorrow.

In Him,
Bob Bollow

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

How’s your day been? It is beautiful weather over by me and I had another good day on campus today. Two guys prayed with me to receive Christ. Chris was sitting outside on a bench. He had a pretty cool look going on, black dude with short hair in front and on top and then long braids coming out the back (kind of like in the movie “Predator”), cool glasses. I asked if he wanted to do a survey and he said that he thought he had last year. A guy came to Christ last year that did not look like him in my memory at all with the same name, but his grandfather was a pastor so I checked — wasn’t him. Sometimes my mind’s eye can’t be counted on, if someone changes their hair or isn’t wearing a cap, now wears glasses, I might not remember them right from a 15 minute conversation a year back. So I asked him, “Well, how did you answer this question: “You’re walkin’ down the road and you get hit by a bus, so you’re dead, and ya stand before God and he says, ‘Why should I let you into heaven?’ What would you say?” He said something about being good, and I said, “Yeah, that’s the wrong answer man. I got this little booklet that helps explain it.” and he said, “Yeah, I think you showed me that, does it have a planet in it?” I said it did. So I went through the Gospel with him again (ha not that I remembered doin’ it the last time from the 400 conversations I had last year, he might have been sitting with a bunch of guys and kind of tuned me out). This time he really began to track with me and the Lord was in it. I the end he said he had not prayed to have his sins forgiven based on what Jesus had done for him and he prayed with me to receive Christ. Pretty Great. I told him about Bible study and got his e-mail, he seemed interested so we’ll see. I gave him More than a Carpenter to read and a Bible (as he did not have one) encouraging him to read in the Book of John and about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. I talked to him some more and he was interested in Creation, bright guy, so I gave him The Case for a Creator. So 2nd times the charm right? He was cool so I hope he comes to Bible study.

Then I texted another guy who had been having some hard things happen and wanted to get lunch, it was a bit after 2 PM. Turned out he wasn’t ready to deal but while I was waiting for a text back I headed into the lunch room. Kevin said he would do a survey with me. Kind of a tough looking black dude. Really short hair cut, sweats, intelligent guy. I went through the gospel with him and I could tell by the way he interacted he knew it. Though his answers to the survey stuff and been short. In the end he wanted to pray to receive Christ and be forgiven. So he did and I said, “It seemed like you knew this stuff.” And he replied, “Yeah. But I just pushed it aside.” “But now you haven’t?” And he looked at me and said, “Right.” He took More than a Carpenter from me and a Bible study and really did not seem to want anything else. He was just finally ready to believe and ask for forgiveness today. I think sometimes someone with the gift of evangelism has to preach at some of these peeps and that coupled with the prayers that go out with me, God works in them through His Holy Spirit. It’s great to be a closer in baseball if God’s got your arm and so you are hitting your spots.

So thanks for your prayers today. I had a couple other good conversations with some students, their faith crystallized and a couple were just a nudge closer to the truth. God once again gave me divine appointments.

In Him,

Bob Bollow

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I had a great day of sharing today. I found Carsonearly on, he was killing time. He went to Church pretty often he said, Catholic guy. He basically had thought he was going to heaven for being nice to people and being fair with them, smaller guy, working hard on a beard. We talked about cars (his dad had a Corvette he wished he could drive). I went through the gospel with him and he believed. He said he would pray when he, “Had some free time” which, it being the second day of school everyone has but he was just shy to pray with me and I don’t blame him. So I asked him if he believed Jesus was God and trusted in His death on the cross and resurrection to make him right with God and he said he did. I asked him if he would like a free book and he wanted one so I gave him More than a Carpenter and a Bible study.

I had a great conversation with Zain. He is an Indian Islamic guy and I told him about my friend Hicham who had broken both his legs inLebanonand learned English by reading Zane Grey Novels. I later told him Hicham had had visions of Jesus asking him to pray to Him alone. We had a really great conversation and when I asked him what he would say to God if he died and was asked why He should let him into heaven he said, ” I would say, ‘Because I love you.'” I have never had an Islamic person say that. I went through the Gospel with him. He said he went to the Mosque o Holidays. I told him concerning the Bible being corrupted that I read a version from 350 AD and that Muhammad endorsed the Gospels so the ones he endorsed we had. He said he had thought he would like to read the Gospels and I said, “Well, I have this English version with a lot of notes that is easy to understand I got at an estate sale for a buck.” It was an old Living Bible New Testament 25th anniversary edition, it had a good binding and looked nice. He said, “Are you sure you don’t mind?” I repeated I had gotten it cheaply and he was glad to take it. I also told him Ken Taylor the translator had created it for his children and lost his voice at the end of his life and had said he thought God had taken his voice because he had dared to change the words of the scripture, thinking that might resonate with an Islamic thought process. I explained I looked for old copies of the Living Bible cheap at sales and stuff to give to Christian students as a commentary in case they get to a hard to understand part of the bible to read along side it. Giving him a NT was great, it was a life application NT and the books he was interested in were the first 4. So I felt like that was an appointment from the Lord. I told him about my friend Hicham’s Church where it was (it is close to school) and when they met.

I met Naa a couple hours later. She was from Ghana, had braided hair and a round face. She had not been able to find a church like hers since coming here. Naa did not have any assurance of salvation saying she would ask God to forgive her and let her in [to heaven]. She thought she had a 50/50 chance. Her English was a bit weak so I went slowly with her (not knowing if her speaking matched her comprehension, I think her comprehension was better) out on a bench outside the SRC. I explained the Imputation of the merit of the perfect life of Christ to her that would cover all her sins, “It’s like one of those extreme make over shows,” I said. “Where they give the girl new teeth and pluck her eyebrows and she is a hot chick. God makes us over with Christ’s righteousness and the Bible says we are ‘Clothed with the righteousness of Christ.’ [Galatians 3:27, Philippians 3:9] or ‘become the righteousness of God.'” [2Corinthians 5:21]. She said, “Yes but I still sin.” I explained how the Blood of Jesus ( a concept he said she understood) to cover her sin was worth an infinite amount because He was God and His life was worth an infinite amount so no matter what she had done there was always enough to pay for her sin. She smile a beautiful white smile then and when I showed her the prayer explaining she could share her faith with another or pray it to rededicate her life to God.” She said she thought she had prayed something like this before but asked, “could I pray it again?” I said she could pray it to rededicate herself to God and accept His forgiveness. She did and visibly brightened and I blessed her and gave her More than a Carpenter to read and a Bible Study inviting her to Bible Study. So that was really great.
So thank you for your prayers today God’s Spirit led me and gave me good things.

in Him,
Bob Bollow

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I had a great first day of sharing today for the semester. I went through the gospel with 11 people several were Christians, a couple had to run before I could do more than breeze through and give them a booklet but with a positive response. The first guy I spoke with Matt was searching a bit and had had a hard time believing in Jesus though raised a Lutheran, we talked a long time and I gave him the student edition of The Case for Christ. So I got a good seed planted with Matt and several others. By the end of the day 3, John, Mary and Antuan, had prayed with me to receive Christ.

John was just a “Christmas and Easter Christian” attending Church on those days and had not understood the atonement of Jesus on the Cross for his sins saying he’d go to heaven “because he always helps people”. After I went through the Gospel with him he said he wanted to be forgiven and prayed to receive Jesus as his Savior and God so that was great. He had a Bible @ home and did not want to take anything to read so I will be praying for him to be moved into fellowship by the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Mary attends Calvary in Napervillebut said she would go to heaven because she knows “God forgives all sins and accepts everyone”. I added, who ask right? She agreed but when I asked her, “What was the really big thing that happened so God would forgive your sins?” she thought hard for a little while but could not think of anything. I went through the Gospel with her and asked her if she had asked God to forgive her sins based on what Jesus had done for her on the cross or had been praying with that in mind and she said she hadn’t and wanted to do that, so she did. I gave her a Bible study and the student edition of The Case for Faith I got her email too and invited her to bible study which we are going to being having on Mondays at Noon in the atrium lounge with the big round desk in it if ya know anyone at COD who would like to come.

Antuan was sitting with a couple of friends. They were all African American guys and I asked them if any of them felt like doing a student survey. Only Antuan responded saying he’d do it if it did not mean he’d have to attend the Bible Study. I laughed and said no strings attached and we talked through the gospel. Antuan went to Church in Lisle. He said he’d tell God “I did my best to walk the path you gave me.” But he too did not know how God had taken away his sins. After I went through the gospel with him he prayed to receive Christ as his savior. I gave him a Bible Study and a copy of More than a Carpenter to read and got his e-mail. He thanked me twice and shook my hand. His friends ignored our entire conversation.

So hey thanks for your prayers if you got a chance. Please pray for John, Mary, and Antuan that they might be lead By the Spirit.

In Him,
Bob Bollow

Third Watch Ministries, NFP                                                        Bob & Ellen Bollow

P.O. Box 1283, Wheaton, IL 60187-1283                                              

Prayer Letter – May 31,  2012

“Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort,

with great patience and instruction.” 2Tim. 4:2

 Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Well the year ended with my officiating a wedding in Mexico.  Yeah well we didn’t get kidnapped or anything and the Lord gave me words for the couple, they were both former students we loved on at Elmhurst.  On Memorial Day we had a gaggle over of some in the extended fellowship of our lives through ministry, loved and were loved on so that was cool and now it is back to learning to breathe a bit different for the summer.  My painting business has collapsed by about 75% so I need to get something else going so I can have an evangelism ministry in the fall again, though we will plan some outings and picnics here at the home front for the peeps this summer. So what was the fruit of the year?   Well, I went through the Gospel with right around 400 students.  Many were already Christians, so I encouraged them to use the booklet I work off of to share their faith.  91 prayed with me to receive Christ and another 14 or so committed in some way, enough so that I felt I should pray for them, so that’s my prayer list every night along with other peeps in and around the ministry.  I have them memorized in a list.  I gave each of them something to read, all but a few a book.  I would like to give them the option of connecting with someone from a local church to disciple them, so if you know anyone local that’s cool enough to walk through life for a bit with a college student you can have them contact us.  Might be some rough sledding, it’s an evil world.  But I cannot be an evangelist and discipler for very many.  This emphasis is rooted in the notion that very few people seem to have the gift of evangelism and fewer still the calling for the kind of cold contact thing I am doing  (and I don’t wonder over this, it is exhausting frankly.)  So I am going to keep at the evangelism stuff until my face is too lined to get the peeps to talk to me.

The verse above kind of sums it up for me, “be ready in season and out of season.”  Just on the face of it this is obviously impossible.  But then see, so is the Christian life.  And everyone knows this who has spent some time living it unless God has given you a mountain of Grace, but I have never met a mature Christian like that.  It is a proverbial pet-peeve of mine in visiting Churches.  They tell you what to do with no mention of the power in how to do it.  I know this power is at work in what I am doing because I need a miracle, for I am talking to the blind and telling them what they should see.  If you are in an evangelical church they give you the Word and ask you to do something.  But see if that was all it took great!  Then we could have an honest discussion concerning the claims of Christ and people would buy in as simply as if we were telling them the most obvious exit off the tollway to get to the mall, given every other exit for 100 miles was shut down with construction.   So in church all that need be said is, “Here’s some good advice, do this and you won’t destroy yourself, you’ll be saved” and that is certainly a meaning of salvation in some passages of the New Testament.  But it is not the word alone but as Calvin was convinced, Word & Spirit.  Paul comes down that way too it seems in 1Thessalonians 1:4 & 5. “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction…”.  Basically without the Holy Spirit the Christian life is utterly impossible for not only does the Holy Spirit bring conviction but power to live.  We see this in Acts 16:14 where Luke writes, “and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.”  We don’t know all Paul told her but it would seem to be more than the mere gospel preached unto salvation.

I think in our Churches we wonder often why we cannot get outsiders interested.  I don’t believe Churches pray for this and I don’t believe hardly any end their sermons with the caveat, “Now if you are not a Christian or visiting today, you have probably heard me tell you to be good.  I did, but what I want you to know is this is impossible with out seeking the aid of God in His Holy Spirit.  If you would become a Christian the Holy Spirit will live inside you and give you the power, if you ask for it to live the very life I have encouraged you to live.  Otherwise, unless you are a remarkable person, you’ll fail at what I have encouraged you to do and be frustrated.  And you probably won’t come back here after awhile because you’ll feel like Church is the place for those who succeed at these things.  But it is not.  It is the place for those who know they cannot succeed and so ask God to work in them and do it.”  Our Churches are filled with good people who already, by temperament or a great deal of effort, have managed to be good, and even some by seeking God’s power.  And so when outsiders come they assume after what they hear that church is not the place for them, they don’t really even want to do the things talked about from the pulpit.  Most of our churches, I believe, have ceased to regularly tell people they must walk in the Spirit.  Quoting twice Paul again, Romans 8:14 “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Galatians 3:3 “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”  Lest we be guilty as some in Paul’s time of

(2 Timothy 3:5) “holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power;”

So with that said, thank you for your prayers.  Without them and the power thereof so many would not have trusted Christ this past school year.  And to be frank, without the financial support of people who believe in us I could not even afford the books and Bibles we give away.

In Him,                                                                                                                                                                                                      bob.thirdwatch@sbcglobal.net

Here is a list of those who have received Christ this school year.  Take a moment and simply ask God to bring them closer to Him by His Spirit won’t you?  (An * means they committed but did not pray, so I am praying for them to come to trusting faith)

Demarco, Elsa, Deanna, Beullah, Kelly, Vienna, Haley, Dan, Brittany, Kassandra, Ashley, Luka, Matt, Ken, Nancy, Marianna*, Krystavia, Olivia, Jessie, Lisa, Kelly, Logan, Ashley, Sandra, Blaine*, Morgan, Loren, Anisa, Wesley, Ryan, Jasmine, Davion, Felicia, Agnes, Kc (Kirstie Clarice), Izabela, Lauren, Sarah*, Rich, Dianna*, Nicole, Tanya, Kat, Lauren*, Fabiole, Karen, Nate, Jim*, Jackie, Anthony, Laura, Elaine*, Thuy*, Kaileen, Blair, Elizabeth, Sandra, Nika, Kristin, Chris, Heather, Tyler, Monique, Eric, Julian, Ryan*, Lauren*, Kristina, Alissa, Senovio, Sylvia, Margaret*, Mirian*, Karen, Kristy, Terrence, Amanda, Victoria, Joanna, David, Mackenzie, Lily, Chris, Stephanie, Franklin, Stephen, Sarah*, Dandre, Trevor, Chauncey, Cedra*, Brad, Brian, Sara, Amara, Gaby, Quanell, Sandy*, Hashika, Raven, Natalie*, Mike, Ahmad, Ren* and Jake.

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Thanks for your prayers for the ministry or if you had a chance for me today as I kicked around campus. I had a great day Hashika and Raven, two black girls prayed to receive Jesus, and had some good conversations too. Yesterday it seemed like little happened though I did walk some nominal Christians through the Holy Spirit and the atonement. I have to say I’m a bit scared for the Church in the US. I know God is leading me so my contacts on campus are not a sociological sampling, but I talk to a lot of “Christian” peeps who seem to have no real awareness that Jesus has paid for their sins and they should be grateful.

I bumped into Natalie again today [having talked to her earlier in the week] after only getting through a bit of the gospel with her b4 she ran to class the last time. We talked a while and I asked her if she read the booklet. She hadn’t so I finished explaining the gospel to her. She had never asked for her sins to be forgiven because of what Jesus had done on the cross, and didn’t pray in the name of Jesus. I explained to her in an example I use commonly, “It’s like if you are out at a club with a bears shirt on and you run into some famous player, say Brian Urlacher, and he says, ‘Hey you got a bears shirt on you want a free ticket to my sky box?’ (This could actually happen to her probably she’s pretty cute, so it worked in her head.) You say, ‘sure’. So he says that all you have to do is show up at the gate, say Brian Urlacher has left a ticket for you and your name and you’ll get a ticket to go in.’ But you have to have the faith to go get the ticket and show up, you have to believe he is not just jerking you around. Then when you get there you say your name, but what if they said, ‘Fine who left you the ticket?’ But you won’t say the name of the person who gave you the gift, then they would say, ‘Well your name isn’t enough we need the name of the guy who left it for you.'” I said, “God has provided a gift of the sacrifice of Christ, but if you won’t claim it in His name, in the name of Jesus, you have not picked it up.”

“I like your analogy,” she said, “that makes sense no one has ever put it to me that way b4.” And we talked about her background as a catholic in CCD, her folks are Polish and she speaks it fluently enough to go to Polish mass sometimes.

I recited the prayer she would find in the booklet I gave her, she had it in her notebook then kind of risked alienating her a bit and said, “The thing is, the cross was an awful payment for your sins and you have never even thanked Him for it.” And then talked about if later in life one of her kids won an academy award, “You know how many of them thank their mothers and if they didn’t thank you you’d be like, hey who drove you to all those drama practices and went to all your plays?” That seemed to register too. She had to go to class but I asked her, do you believe that Jesus has paid for your sin so that you can go to heaven? She said she did. I encouraged her to think about praying and thanking Him and I think it had some traction in her heart.

I used the free ticket analogy later in talking to Raven who did a survey with me and actually said one thing she would like to have b4 she died was to know God better. She was a short cute kid, played basketball. So I had her meeting Derrick Rose at a club and he had her go to the stadium for the ticket. She prayed with me to receive Christ. For most of the time we were talking her friend Hashika was sitting across from her at the table in the Cafeteria on her smart phone talking with an earpiece. At some point she had gotten off though and was listening to the gospel. When Raven prayed I realized she had tuned in and asked her, after I had given Raven a Bible Study and the student edition of The Case for Christ, and explained the Holy Spirit to her, if she wanted a copy of the booklet. She said she did and I went through the gospel a bit more for her and showed her the prayer and she prayed to receive Jesus too. I gave her More than a Carpenter and a Bible study also. They were both pretty pleased when I left and I promised to pray for them each night through the end of the school year and all next year.

So I will keep Hashika and Raven in my prayers and pray that God draws Natalie into a genuine relationship with Himself. Please pray God works in their hearts and the seed planted will grow to solid faith and provoke them to love and good works, [Hebrews 10:24].

Thanks for your prayers.

In Him,
Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

How’s the life over by you? Good I hope. Things went well on campus today. I didn’t manage to get into too many conversations but hey were good ones and Gaby and Quanell prayed to receive Jesus.

Gaby was just sitting in a lounge on the ground floor in the SSC. We talked for about an hour. Brown hair glasses boots, 21. She is Roman Catholic but she said typically getting everyone in the family to church on a Sunday created so much stress and bad feelings that her family just kind of gave up, since the end result was counterproductive. She wanted to travel the world and hopes to go into pediatrics and become a doctor. We talked about that and the state of the world for quite a while and then about the Gospel and taught it to her, she did not know how God worked to take away her sins. I asked her if she wanted to receive Christ. She said she wanted to be forgiven her hesitation was forgiveness for things she did. She said sometimes she did things she knew were wrong and might hesitate over them but did them anyway. She had a hard time with the idea that God would forgive deliberate sin. I Reminded her about the love of God and the severe solution for a severe problem the cross is, about God’s love for her and that Paul basically says he does the same thing, and I paraphrased Romans 7:19 “For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish.” I said, “God knows the future it is not as if He is surprised by your sin but forgives you and has a plan to fix it. He made us out of dust after all his expectations are not that high (that we would be perfect though we would have to be to go to heaven without His work). But also you have to watch your pride; it is pride that tells us we have done something that even God would not forgive when He tells us He will.” That seemed to resonate with her. I read through the prayer for her and asked her if it was the desire of her heart she said it was and I said well if you will promise me you will pray this tonight I promise to pray for you through the end of this year and next year too. She promised. I gave her The Case for a Creator knowing what was to come in some of her science classes and a bible study on the deity of Christ.

Later in the Afternoon, maybe 2:15 or so I came upon Quanell waiting for a ride by the doors of the SRC building. He was up for doing my survey and we talked. He hoped he would be wealthy and was new in town and had just started to go to His Sister’s Church, Baptist he thought. He was trying to be good, “not to lie, be the best he could be” and seemed like a good guy. But he did not know how God took away his sins. I explained the work Jesus did to him and he tracked with me and wanted to be forgiven and have God live inside him. His ride called but he made them wait and prayed to receive Christ. I had explained the Holy Spirit to him and trusting in God’s power to live the Christian life. I quickly gave him a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ and His claims in the NT and a copy of More Than a Carpenter to read. Then got his e-mail quickly to send him stuff as he ran for his ride.

So a couple peeps came to believe on Jesus to pay for their sins and I had a good day. Thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance and please pray for Quanell and Gaby to grow in faith and trust in Him.

In His love,
Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Hope you had a good day. I felt like the Lord used me today and answered prayer. Amara prayed to receive Christ. She is a Roman Catholic girl. She hadn’t been to church in a while — sidetracked by school but she used to teach the kids on Sunday morning. She did not know what to call it they do not call it Sunday school. But she did not know how God took away her sins and had not prayed for her sins to be forgiven based on what Jesus had done for her. She said she wanted to be forgiven. I asked her if she wanted to pray for accept God’s forgiveness and she said, ‘Well I usually pray at night.” I offered to leave her alone for a minute and she said, “No that’s ok” and decided she would like to pray. So she prayed silently to receive Jesus and I gave her a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ and More than a Carpenter to read. I explained how the Holy Spirit’s power in us through the fruit of the Spirit is how we live the Christian life. As I left she was happy.

I connected with several students walking around that I had talked to before. Ashley who came to Christ in the lounge first semester was with her friend Logan. She was sitting with some friends and I did not recognize her at first but I went through the gospel again with her and so her friends Jordan, a guy and Melissa and Vanessa got to hear it and piped in with questions, I kind of feel like God made me not recognize her so they all would hear. But she let me go through it again and then said I talked to you last year so then I said, “Oh I’m so sorry, I did not recognize you right away.”

She did not mind at all and I explained a lot more of the Christian life to her and it seemed to register better that she was forgiven and why Christ’s payment on the cross was inexhaustible. I said, “Suppose we kidnap Donald Trump, we could get a lot of money but if we kidnap me not so much.” They laughed and I said Jesus is God to His life is worth an infinite amount it covers all of your sins. It is kind of like if when your mom saw you leaving home this morning she gave you a Discover Card, and you are like ‘What am I gonna’ do with this? I don’t have any money that’s why I’m going to COD’. But she says, ‘No, I found a lottery ticket on the parking lot last night and we are worth 35 million dollars after taxes, so whatever you put on this discover card I will always pay it off.’ God did the same thing with Jesus, you have a Discover Card of His blood that pays for all your sins. God is never surprised at our sins and He will always forgive when we ask and has a plan.” She couldn’t remember who she had been sitting with but I did and told her. It was actually pretty cool after I talked about how to live the Christian life and forgiveness Melissa said, I think really understanding the Christian life for the first time, “I feel so inspired right now, like God will help me.” And Jordan said, “I think this was not an accident that you came by here, I think God did this!” They all asked for the booklet I had gone through to have. I explained how they needed to pray believing in what Jesus had done. They were receptive it was great.

So Thanks for your prayers for me as I went around, I know God was with me leading and helping me.

Blessings in Him,
Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I had a great day of sharing today, I hope your day was blessed as well. Sara prayed to receive Christ and I had a great conversation with two girls, Maggie and Emily, who I found sitting together in the SSC building on the ground floor where they can’t see to hassle me. 🙂 They professed not to believe in God but it turned out they were more disappointed and angry. I talked to them about the evil in the world and hoping in God to help us through it and that in Heaven He will make it right. I talked to them about the world as a big Rubik’s cube with trillions of squares on a side that God is turning to make things right but often this messes up what we want to remain the same or be better. The both said that what I said helped and was good. They had been in painful places and blamed God but stepped away from that some and were even willing to each take a copy of More Than a Carpenter from me to read and seemed encouraged. I showed them a prayer they could pray to start up again with God in faith. So I will be praying for them. I feel for them, they have been disappointed and hurt, and I can relate to that.

Sara was sitting in front of the Book store on a couch with a friend who was completely absorbed by her cell phone the entire time and said nothing after 2 minutes in, which I think was probably a good thing. Sara was nice friendly Serbian Orthodox girl and tracked pretty well with me through the gospel but didn’t have any idea how God took away her sins. I asked her after explaining the gospel if she would want to be forgiven. When she said she would I asked if she had ever asked God to forgive her sins based on what Jesus had done for her on the cross. She said (what several people have said to me in the past), ‘Well I’ve asked for forgiveness just not the whole Jesus part.” I explained to her that that is what made Christians different from other religions. I walked her through the prayer and she thought she would like to pray it right there and did silently. I explained the Holy Spirit to her in the Christian life and gave her a copy of More than a Carpenter to read and a Bible since she did not have one and a Bible study on the deity of Christ which she really seemed interested in, she was really happy when I left and I will be praying God will keep her in the faith.

I had a good conversation with Keyona a 20 something Black woman to end the day. Her first husband had been Muslim and her now boyfriend was too. It was hard to nail down where she was in her faith but she had not believed/known Jesus was God but accepted my explanation of the Trinity. I gave her a copy of the Student Edition of The Case for Christ to read and she was grateful for it so I hope it will lead her to genuine faith.

Bumped into Raphael whom I had talked to another day and given a copy of The Case for Christ, he said it was good and he had his dad reading it. He is Roman Catholic but seemed to agree with me concerning imputation when we talked. So it was good to see him into it. Trevor who prayed to receive Christ last week was in the same spot where he’d prayed with me last week and I talked with him a bit and he was reading The Case for a Creator and liking it, we had a good talk.

So today was a productive day. Thank you for praying for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance, I’ll head out again tomorrow and would be grateful for your prayers then as well if you find a moment in the course of your day. Blessings on you and those you love, may God keep you in the shelter of His wings.

Blessings in Him,
Bob