Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ.

I hope your day was blessed and you found yourself trusting in Him for comfort and love. I had a good day on campus and Jameson and Christ, a black guy from African heritage each prayed to receive Jesus today. Thanks so much for your prayers to guide me. Their stories are below.

I found Jameson sitting at a table in the cafeteria. He was wearing a grey t-shirt with some printing on it and a large graphic in red and black shorts. He had stick straight light brown hair that was parted on the side, had some summer sin highlights in it. With rosy red cheeks he looked really young, nice smile on the shorter side. He said his family was Christian and he thought of himself as a Christian too but they no longer attended church. He said he wanted to “have a family” when I asked him something he wanted to do before he died.  This proved true again as a response to lead to salvation. When a guy says he wants to have a family answering that question it almost always means he is a Christian or will pray to receive Jesus. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I think I was a good person.” I asked what he thought the likelihood was he would go to Heaven and he said “50%”. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world. I went through Christ’s cleansing blood as a payment for sin, the righteousness of God, the Resurrection and that he needed to receive it by faith. He was pretty reserved but I got him to smile a couple times. I asked him if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done for him on the cross. I’d used the 2 circles in the booklet and he pointed to the one with Jesus on the throne of his life and said, “This one.” I said there was a prayer he could pray if he wanted to be forgiven, read through it in explanation and asked if it was the desire of his heart. He nodded and I asked if he’d want to pray it silently and he said, “Sure.” He prayed then to receive Christ. I said that the likelihood now that he would go to heaven was 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness. “Awesome,” he replied cheerfully. I gave him a Bible Study and Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside and also The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told him I’d pray for him each day until Spring and then another year after. He had to go so I stood up to shake his hand and said, “Nice to have met you.” “Thank you,” he replied and headed off to class.

Christ was sitting in the lounge that connects the science buildings. He was African American and on either side were two other black guys, more slight in stature than him. He was sitting on the only chair and they were off each shoulder leaning of the window sills. I asked if they would want to do a student survey and he said he would but the others said they would just listen. One did and took a booklet at the end the other had on headphones and didn’t hear. The two guys had long thin tinted braids and could have been twin brothers dressed by a mother. But Christ had thick cornrows a top of his head. He was darker skinned than the other guys too and said his family could all trace their heritage in Africa, it seems their blood line did not go back to slavery in the US. I found out having said I would sit at his feet like he was a king and he said he knew he wasn’t. He wore a black hoodie and minimally shredded black skinny jeans and had classic black features, good looking guy. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said “’Cause even though I sin I’m still His son.” He thought he had a 45% chance of going to Heaven. He listened attentively to the explanation I gave of the Gospel. He was obviously learning something but said at one point that he had read pretty much through the entire Bible and he knew all that was in there and could answer a question on it. When I had finished explaining everything I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. As an example of something else, I explained Islam with a couple points different than Christianity saying they had a different God. He said, “I thought they would say they had the same God. I helped him finish the idea that Mohammed traced his lineage back to Ishmael. I said I realize they claimed that but they could not supply the descent that they claimed with a detailed lineage. Ismael would have been half Egyptian and half Jewish effectively, but the Arabs would not claim they were descended from Egyptians and Mohammed’s family tree was not written down anywhere. He thought he would want to be forgiven. I said if he would want to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. I talked him through it and he thought about it. I went back to his response where he had said he was a child of God. I said that was true, that the Bible said we are all His offspring and that if he wanted to God could forgive him and live inside him. I said, “If you pray I will pray for you everyday to be blessed with a Bible verse until next Spring and then one year after.” That made up his mind and he took the booklet and prayed then to receive Jesus in barely audible tones. He’d said he would change a few words but I don’t think he did. When he’d finished praying he said, “Thanks,” handing me back the booklet. I used it to explain the Christian life asking if he had a Bible, he had three. I explained living “Inside > Out” I tried to give him Bible Promises for You. He said he had the same book with a green cover.  The Case for Christ Answer Booklet was something he didn’t want to read having herd of Strobel’s movie (I think he saw it). He was willing to take a Bible Study went I explained how Jesus claimed to be God by walking on the water as a Dave Chappelle bit. So on the front I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” and handed it to him. I said the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I said “I’ll see you in Heaven. I’m old and will get there first so you can look me up and I’ll show ya where the cool places are.” “I want to ride a horse around the Galaxy,” he said. I said I thought they had horses and other animals up there as there would be everything to make us happy and I liked animals. “God bless you,” he said and gave me a fist bump. “God bless you too,” I replied. “Thanks for the blessing.” 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 ya had a great day walking with God in Christ by the Spirit. I had a good day on campus and Brandon prayed to receive Jesus today. So thanks for your prayers if you had a chance. His story is below if you have the time.

I went through the Gospel with 4 others. One girl Lauren seemed close saying she’d think about it. She had long hair, dishwater blonde, no make-up just doing schoolwork. She had frank features, the like that could be attractive had she wished to be. She looked like she’d just rolled out of bed basically. But hey if your not interested in a guy in your class why pretty up for school.

Brandon was sitting outside the bookstore in the hallway that leads to it (in the same place a couple hours later I came across Lauren). He had a mop of thick brown hair and said he was Italian, and third generation US, Catholic, he’d been confirmed. His grandmother had been very religious, even after she’d lost her memories in the rest home they had put her on a bus to go to mass each Sunday. He had black rimmed glasses and his cap had an American flag on it in black and white, it made a wave/dent circling his head when he took it off at one point and put it back on. He was wearing blue jeans and work boots. Looked indistinctively like “every-man”, big in stature. He wanted to “Build a legacy and honor his family” when I asked him something he wanted to do before he died. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and was asked “Why should I let you into heaven?” “He probably shouldn’t if I’m gonna be honest. I haven’t proven myself yet. So there’s no reason to.” He thought he’d have a 0% chance of getting into Heaven but thought if he’d died later in life “There’s always redemption.” I begin to go through the Gospel with him and he tuned right in and tracked with some different analogies. I explained the payment and cleansing for his sin through the blood of Christ and the righteousness of Christ to his credit. I explained he could have this by faith. When I’d finished I started asking if he would want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus and cut me off with, “That’s the one,” before I could give him another option. Then I said what other religions believed and asked again and he said, ’Yeah,” that he want to be forgiven. So I said if he’d want to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and asked if it was the desire of his heart. He said yeah and I said he could pray it silently and he nodded took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus finishing with “Amen.” I started to explain the Christian life and gave him a Bible, he had access to one but the study helps in it looked good to him. I showed him the “99 Doctrines” and the cross-references and maps and devotions in it and wrote his name and the date and ”forgiven” in the front. I also gave him a Bible Study and Bible Promises for You and also The Case for Christ Answer Booklet.  I told him I’d pray for him each day until Spring and then another year after. He talked about how the only religion it seemed you could be cancelled for expressing the beliefs of was Christianity. I said that if Satan was behind all the others that would make sense and kind of validated his faith and he agreed. He said he’d like to get a Bible Study going and gave me his phone number. “I love to help you get that going,” he said. I got up to head out and thanked him for his time and he thanked me shaking my hand with a hard grip.

So thank for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today, I had a good day and God blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you are enjoying the weather somewhere walking in the light of God’s word. Thanks for your help today in prayer if you had a moment! Maia (my-ah) and Nick prayed to receive Jesus today. Then Gabby (she’s a petite short Latina, cute face wavy hair down to her shoulders) who said she’d think about, last week, today told me she had prayed to receive Jesus. So that was great and an answer to prayer. Josiah a black dude of small stature and a beard and pin curl afro falling down about 5 or 6 inches took The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet and a DVD from CMI on the new genetic discoveries that disprove Evolution. (He didn’t have a DVD player but seemed to think he could get his hands on one.) Their stories are below if you have some time. Thanks again for praying for the ministry.

I saw Maia sitting alone on a row of chairs in one of the 2^nd floor, north (backside) entrance foyers to the BIC. Maia was a cute slender girl with stick straight brown hair trimmed in a bob cut to the base of her neck, her hair tucked behind both ears. She had a sharp jaw line, cute face and looked young. I asked her what she would say to God if she died and He asked , “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Because I’m a good person,” she said. She said she thought she had a 75% chance of going to Heaven. I asked if she went to Church but she said she used to go to a Catholic Church but she did not like some of the things they taught so she left. She said she would like to find a church. I began to go through the Gospel with her saying that God wanted to live inside her by his Holy Spirit. “Then it’s like you are the Energizer Bunny God is the batteries: You keep going and going and when you die it’s like you don’t die, ‘cause God’s inside.” “That’s awesome,” she replied.  I said God had to make her His type and remover her sin so He could live inside her. I asked her what the big thing was Jesus did to take away her sins. “He was crucified,” she replied. I said “Right.” I began to explain the payment for her sins and the righteousness of Christ to her credit. “That’s so cool,” she replied. I said that God wanted to adopt her and give her the blessings of His family. “He gives you the sacrifice for your sins, the blood that cleanses you and the righteousness of God that surrounds you, so you got someplace to go, and something to wear when you get there, the righteousness of God.” “That’s so interesting,” she replied. I said she could have this by faith explaining a bit more and asked if she wanted to be forgiven or thought something else. Then I said again, “So would you want to be forgiven for your sins trusting in Jesus?” She said she would.  So I said if she’d wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and talked her through reading, Is this prayer the desire of your heart? after. She nodded again. So I said she could pray it silently and only God would hear and asked if she’d like to and she nodded and prayed to receive Jesus. I began t explain the Christian life to her and asked if she had a Bible. She didn’t so I gave her a study Bible showing her how cross references work and the 99 doctrines in front and the maps and study aids in the back. I wrote her name and the Date and “forgiven!” in the front. She was very grateful and I went on to explain living “Inside > Out” by the Spirit’s power. You ask God to transform you on the inside, you become a good person and then you do good things. I gave her a Bible Study and Bible Promises for You and also The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told her I would pray for her each day until the end of spring and then one year after. She was thankful for that and I said if I saw her again I’d just wave, “Me too,” she replied and I headed out.

Nick was sitting in the hallway of the BIC on the south side. He said he’d do a survey. He had wavy rings of curls in a mop hair cut more or less parted down the middle. Looked Italian with a “punisher” nose, which the curls hung down past. He wore a white tank top and grey fleece sweats with a two inch black stripe down the sides.  He said that he’d been to church a few times, I believe he said with family. He was on the short side. I asked him what he’d say to God if asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “That’s a good question,” he replied thinking a bit. “I don’t know, I did everything in life that I could.” He replied finally. He though he had an 80% chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with him and I asked him, “Do you know what the big thing is that Jesus did to take away your sins.” He nodded in the way someone kind of does to that question when they are really saying they knew Jesus had done something to accomplish that. So I began to explain the sacrifice for his sins then the righteousness of God and then went back to explained that it was really how God got paid. I said this all was his by faith. I asked him too if he wanted to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done. “Yeah, I would,” he said. So I asked, “Do you believe Jesus is God had died for your sins and rose from the Dead? Do you think that’s a true story?” He shook his head with a frank purse of his mouth. I sad then that if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and read it asking if it was the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he said. So I said he could pray it silently like I wasn’t there. He took the booklet and said, “Just in my head?” I said yeah. So he prayed then to receive Christ. He didn’t have a Bible so I gave him the last compact Bible I had, they are out of print now. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave him a Bible Study and Bible Promises for You and also The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told him I’d pray for him each day until Spring and then another year after. “Thank you man,” he said. I said “God bless you.” “You too have a good day,” he 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.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today and the nearness of God was your good. I also hope you had the nearness of an air conditioner to keep cool. In the Midwest we are having another 100-degree day. I guess before AC everyone went swimming I’d hope be living closer to a lake. I had a good day on campus. Tony, Mitch and Toni each prayed with me to receive today. Their stories are below if you have some time. Thanks for your prayers to guide me and open hearts to hear, 12 people trusted Jesus this week.

Tony was sitting on a set of chairs in at the southeast corner of the BIC building. A calculator was in one hand and some paper he was taking noted on his laptop open in his lap. He had on a black and grey kind of a tie-dye shirt and black shorts. His small caterpillar mustache matched dark brown hair in a short haircut that looked like it would be curly if it got long at all under a cap. He was seated but didn’t look very tall.  I asked him if he wanted to do a student survey. He hesitated asking how long it was but decided to give it a go. He was from a Spanish background and wanted to visit Spain. I asked him what he would say to God if asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “Umm… kind of a tough…” he said thinking. “It’s up to You,” he said. And I agreed it was up to God to decide. He thought he had a 75% chance of going to Heaven and said his church attendance had trailed off being busy with school. I began to go through the Gospel with him and said God had to take away his sin to live inside him and give him eternal life. I asked what Jesus had done to take away his sins and he knew Jesus had died. He listened to the Gospel, hearing the blood of Christ saved him and of the gift of Christ’s righteousness by faith. I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins and he said he did so I asked if he had ever told God he wanted to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done. I said, “You know you grow up believing things your family does but then when you become a man you have to decide which way you are going to go for yourself. So, when you have asked God for forgiveness are you thinking, I know I’ll be forgiven because Jesus died for me or are you just asking for forgiveness and moving on. “It’s more like I ask Jesus to forgive me but I’m never really sure that He does,” he replied. I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked it through with him and read, “Is this prayer the desire of your heart?” “Yeah,” he replied. I said he could pray it silently. “Sure,” he said. “Just pretend I’m not here,” I offered and he said “Alright.” And he prayed to receive Jesus. I talk through with him the Christian life living by the Spirit’s power and I gave him Bible Promises for You writing 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 asked him what kind of Church he went to and he gave me the name of a Church I knew to be Roman Catholic. So I said, “When you take the Mass the wafer is symbolic of His body and Wine of His blood and so when you take it, it is a reminder that He has died for you and so you are forgiven so you can just say thank you.” I also explained that the sacrifice of Christ was of infinite value so of course because God says we are forgiven (by that) we know it is enough. He was visibly happy and I told him I’d be praying for him until a year from Spring and he was grateful and I headed out the doors into the heat.

After standing in the shade (which helped not at all) to take some notes, I went over to the PE building then just across the pavement. Fortunately, the AC was working at school today. Mitch was sitting at a table in the lounge down the stairs. His straight brown hair was parted on the left and swept back, he wore glasses rimmed across the top in black and a faded reddish t-shirt and grey shorts. He had a sort of anime shaped face with a pointed chin and perfect skin. I asked if he wanted to do a student survey on what he thought about God. He asked what it was about and I said the main question was, ‘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 asked if he wanted to know what the Bible says is the answer to the question saying was what the survey was about. He said he’d be interested in the idea of it. I asked if he wanted to do a survey or just hear what the Bible had to say. He said he was more interested in the ideas but maybe he’d do a survey afterwards. So, I took down his name and began to go through the Gospel with him. He tuned right in and was genuinely interested. He said he’d lapsed into primarily going to church on holidays and I found out afterwards he attended a Methodist church. When I asked him what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world he said, “He suffered.” Right. He died for you,” I replied and went on to explain the payment for sin and forgiveness and the righteousness of Christ. I said he could be forgiven by faith and asked if he’d want to be forgiven or thought something else. “I’d want to 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 asking if it was the desire of his heart. He said “Yes,” and I said if he wanted he could pray it silently and know he was forgiven. “Could I change a couple words?” he asked. “Sure, it’s more of a template, it’s not a formula,” I replied. He took the booklet prayed then to receive Christ. I explained living by the Spirit’s power and he said, “I like thinking about stuff like this, about beliefs.” So I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven! in the front. He seemed to really appreciate that. I also gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told him I would be praying a verse for him each day until Spring and one year after and he thanked me sincerely with the praying hands gesture and a nod and I headed off.

Toni was sitting just south of the Book Store in the hall there. She said she’d do a student survey. She was African American and had straightened her hair and dyed it blonde, which was past her shoulders. She had a braid on either side of her head. She has a cute face, fair skin, kind of a smallish pug nose and a full mouth, big eyelashes. She had cut a T-shirt into a v neck and the bottom was cut off to make it into a shrink top. She had on blue jeans torn at the knees. I asked her 3 words to describe herself. She struggled a bit kind of grooving side to side in the oversized chairs we were sitting in when she answered questions. And then listening was very serious in expression. I asked her what she would say to God and she said, “Hm,” paused and I said, “Do you ever go to church?” “Yes,” she replied. “What do you think your Church would say gets you into Heaven?” I asked, which did not help. “I’m very giving,” she replied then. She thought she had a 50% chance of going to Heaven. I went through the Gospel with her and she knew Jesus had died to take away her sins. I explained the Gospel to her and how the blood of Jesus cleansed her from sin and paid her debt with God. I said she could have the righteousness of God by faith and her good stuff could not fix her bad stuff agreeing it wouldn’t work for her with a guy. I asked if she wanted to be forgiven or thought something else. “I want to be forgiven,” she said. So, I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and reading it through I asked her if it was the desire of her heart. “Yeah,” she said. I said she could pray it silently and she went from being very serious to having a big smile on her face and she took the booklet and laughed. I’m not sure if it was nervous reaction or quite happened but then she prayed to receive Jesus. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven! in the front I also gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and Bible study.  I had told her I would pray for her each day. Getting up to go I said, “I’ll keep you in my prayers.” “Alright, thank you,” she replied and I headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today and if you live near Chicago you are keeping cool. It was so hot and humid today that the school’s cooling system could not seem to keep up. It had to be over 85 in places in the school. It varied in different hallways. Kiya, Marchall, and Ashlyn each prayed with me to receive Jesus today. Their stories are below if you want to take the time. Thanks so much for your prayers. God has truly blessed this first week as 9 students have prayed to receive Jesus in the last 3 days. Today also Victoria, an attractive blonde girl from Moldova who was Russian Orthodox said she would pray tonight. Another tiny girl Gabby, pretty Latina (in coloring) long wavy hair said she’d think about it but that she believed the story.

Kiya was sitting in the PE lounge on a counter height table. She’s African American and had long braids past her shoulders and a cap on. She had a pretty, wide, mature looking face and wore braces on her teeth. She had a black t-shirt on the front of which was covered with daisy’s and wore black leggings. She was nice. I asked her what she would say to God if he asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” She struggled a bit saying, “Because I never lost sight of you. I’ve always had you in my life.” Then she said she wished she had a more spot on way of saying it. I said I would give her one in a minute. She thought she had a 60% chance of going to Heaven. As I went through the Gospel with her she seemed familiar with the Gospel story. I asked what Jesus had done to take away her sins and she thought for a minute and said, “He was crucified.” I explained how God was paid, by the blood of Christ and about His righteousness. She got into the analogies somewhat and seemed under conviction. I quoted John 1:12 and said she had to believe in his name, not just know the Story but place her trust in that Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. “So if someone asked you why God should let you into Heaven you’d just say, “Because Jesus died for me.” I said that was the thing she could say in brief and she seemed to have a moment of realization. Saying forgiveness was by faith I asked her if she wanted to be forgiven and she did. She said she felt like she had been “on the ledge” not truly giving herself over to God. I said something like “It’s kinda like you have not fully trusted in what Jesus had done to forgive you or told the Lord you wanted to trust in what he had done for you to be forgiven.” Yeah that,” she replied.  So I said there was a prayer she could pray and talked her through it and said she could pray it silently and be forgiven. She nodded and took the booklet and prayed in a soft voice to receive Jesus. I said the likelihood she would go to Heaven now was 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus. I explained living by the Spirit’s power now in her “Inside>Out” and I gave her ­Bible Promises for You I wrote her name and the date and forgiven and she was really happy with that. I gave her a Bible Study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and told her I would pray for her to be blessed each day until Spring and the entire next year. She thanked me. And I headed out of the PE building after saying hi to a couple girls I knew.

Sitting alone at a table, Marshall had his hair pulled back into a ponytail. His hair has some wave to it. If I had to guess he was mixed race in coloring. He had fair skin and a wide smile. Good looking kid with a sharp jaw line and the occasional freckle. His face had newbie sideburns and a patch under his chin and a thin mustache. He was sitting in front of a receipt-book for his power washing business and had on a white T-shirt and black sweats. He was talkative and friendly, energetic guy and threw off a young vibe. He went to a Vineyard Church. I asked him what He would say to God if he died and was asked why should I let you into Heaven. He started right in like he was talking, “Well God, like I been looking out my faith for a while and I follow the word of God and in your footsteps every day.” Then talking to me more he said, “I don’t feel entitled to heaven but I feel like I should.” “Like you belong there?” I asked and he agreed. He thought the likelihood he was going to Heaven was 100%. As I began to go through the Gospel with him he tuned right in and knew John 3:16. Then when I asked what the big thing was that God had done to take away his sins. He struggled then to be more clear, “What did Jesus do?”  he did not know. He tossed out some things someone would do. I pointed out those were things you would expect someone to do if they were a Christian but I’m asking you what God did. I started explaining to him then that Jesus had died and His blood cleansed him from sin and was a payment for sin.  I explained the righteousness of Christ to his Credit. And He had risen from the dead. Marshall did not seem to be familiar with the Gospel. I asked if he would want to be forgiven so God could live inside him. He said, “Yeah.” I said it did not seem like he had put all this together before, he nodded that he hadn’t. I explained there was a prayer he could pray and after going through it I asked if it was “The desire of his heart.” “Umhmm,” he replied. So I said he could pray it silently and only God would hear and he took the booklet and prayed in a soft voice and received Jesus. I explained the Christian life to him too living “Inside ≥ Out” by the Spirit’s power. I gave him Bible Promises for You which he said he thought was great and he’d keep it in his car and use the index to find a verse each day. He took a Bible Study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I told him I would pray for him through a year from Spring. I’m not sure what kind of classes he’d signed up for but they began on campus in September. He told me he’d like to contact me then to do a Bible Study once in a while so I gave him my number. He went on to tell me about his business and some friends he had and he thanked me and I headed out of the cafeteria where we were sitting.

I went down one of the connecting halls on the ground floor of the BIC and there is a lounge half way down one of them. As I walked by I saw a couple girls sitting on couches so I thought I would go in and ask one of them. Ashlyn was the first person I asked and she was up for doing a survey. She was tall and quite pretty, had blonde hair and a diamond shaped face with a pointed chin, broad smile and the occasional freckle in just the right place. She wore a White T-shirt and had black pants that flared at the bottom. She had a “good person” vibe, describing herself as “Patient, Kind and Respectful” when I asked the 3 words to describe yourself question. I asked one thing she would like to do before she died and she said, “Get closer to God actually.” I asked her what she would say to God if asked why should I let her into Heaven. “I would say… umm, that’s a good question.” Then after a second she said, “Because I’ve walked with you for my whole life.” I asked what the likelihood was she would get into Heaven and she said “99.9%”. She said she lived a couple blocks from a church in Naperville that had actually let me baptize a girl there after their service. Her sister went there and she had gone “About 3 times”. As I went through the Gospel with her I assumed she was tracking well and asked what Jesus had done to take away her sins so the Spirit could live inside her. She struggled with that and said, “Well I know He loves you.” I agreed He did, and then began to explain how Jesus was a perfect payment for her sin and that we had to be perfect and we owed God something perfect for anything we did that damaged his stuff.   I explained that Heaven was not just a place but was the presence of God. You had to be transformed to be there, to be purified. Like if it was water and you had to be able to breath water. You had to be able to breath in God and if you were not made pure you’d be like a paper bag trying to hold fire. I explained all I usually say about the righteousness of God. I said that she had to believe this by faith. I explained that her good stuff could not fix her bad stuff. “Say you had a boyfriend for about 3 weeks, you thought he was pretty cool but then it turned out he was cheating on you and stealing your stuff, so you cut him loose,” She nodded that that would definitely happen. “Then he comes back in about a week and He says, ‘Ashlyn I know I did you wrong, I was even stealing your stuff and selling it for drug but I just want you to know I’m gonna be nice to my next 3 girlfriends.’” “That’s really horrible,” she exclaimed. “Right,” I said. “But some people think God is like that that if they do a bunch of good stuff it will make up for their bad stuff but when you make it personal you realize that would not work.” I told her then God has to change our bad stuff into good stuff, quoting Romans 8:28 and saying God controlled the future. I asked then if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done. She said she would. So I said it did not seem like she had put all this together before, and she nodded. I said there was a prayer she could pray to be forgiven and explained it asking if it was the desire of her heart. She said it was so I said she could pray it silently and be forgiven. She took the booklet then nodding and closed it. I said without thinking, “No, pray it right now,” I almost never have told someone to pray. But it might have been from the Lord as I don’t think she hadn’t understood she could because she was like “Oh,” and prayed to receive Jesus. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front and a Bible study and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet.  I told her I would be praying for her each day through the Spring and a year after and she thanked me.  I thanked her for talking with me and headed out as her class was gathering outside the door.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with good things. I had a good day on campus.

Kolton, Alex and Will each prayed with me to receive Jesus today. Their stories are below if you have time. Thanks for blessing the work with your prayers that I might find them. Andrew, a small Latino Catholic with round glasses saw the truth of the Gospel laid out for him clearly for the 1^st time and I think came to an understanding. He felt being Catholic he had believed already so hopefully he’ll fully trust in Jesus.

Kolton was sitting under the stairs in the PE building and had a square jaw and a full mop of sandy wavy hair with teenage skin. (He looked like a better hair version the actor Breckin Meyer, as seen in an ad for a movie I’ve never seen called “Road Trip”.) He wore a blue shirt and blue sweats. He said his brother was in a Bible study group and was really into it all but he wasn’t. We talked about the genetic scientific impossibility of evolution (mitochondrial “Eve” and “Y chromosome Adam” were now generally accepted the be the pair of humans everyone else came from) and about a former physical trainer he’d had. That guy who was “spiritual” seemed to believe in the “Well of Souls”, that we were preexistent before birth. I said we did exist as a thought in the mind of God as our names were written in the book of life from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8). “So if God is thinking about you does that mean you in some manner exist, I don’t know,” I said. We talked about reincarnation and that it denied nearly everyone’s experience as no one they knew had any memories from a past life. I quoted Hebrews 9:27 to him. I suggested Karmic guilt from a life you could not remember and so did not learn from seemed implausible and it was a bad story, “Who wanted to keep having to do Junior high over and over again?” With the increase in world population where did all the extra souls come from if people were being reborn? He agreed.  I finally asked him what he would say if he’d died and God asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” He said, “I don’t know. I’d probably say a couple different things… I’ve care greatly. I’d also like to see my relatives.” I asked if he had some who had died and he said he’d had a cousin that had live with their family for 7 years who had died young. She was close friend and they played together as kids. He thought that he’d have a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died for the sins of the world. I explained there was a payment to God in the Blood of Christ and God was just to forgive us. I explained the righteousness of God to our credit. He could believe by faith and put his trust in what Jesus had done for him. I asked in if he’d want to be forgiven, trusting in Christ. “For sure,” he replied. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray. Talking him through it I asked if he’d want pray to be forgiven silently and God would hear. “Sure,” he replied. “This is a great booklet,” he said when he finished. I said he could keep it and explained living the Christian life by the Spirit’s power. I explained that now trusting in the righteousness of Christ to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. ‘Thanks Bob, this was a great conversation,” he said. He did not have a Bible so I let him pick between the two I had one smaller than the other showing him the “Where to Turn” section in the one he picked explaining who had bought them for me to hand out. I put his name and the date and “Forgiven!” in the front. I also gave him a Bible study and Bible promises for You and The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet. I said he could quiz his brother and he agreed, amused, saying he’d “see how much he knew of this stuff”. He shook my hand and thanked me again and I told him I would pray for him and if I saw him around I’d give him a wave and headed off.

I went up an elevator a bit later and while in it thought I might go to the 3^rd floor having pushed 2. I got out at 2 and had the thought I really wanted to go to 3. I turned around to go to the elevator and saw Will as a result sitting off to my left at a folding table. There were 2 chairs there over by the door south of me, exiting the Student Services Lounge. I thought I’d ask him and then go upstairs but he enthusiastically said he do a survey. He had sharp features and was wearing a white tank top. His hair was light brown, he was good looking, kind of a surfer kid look. He seemed really up beat and I’d only asked him a couple questions when a girl walked up who was very visibly pregnant. She had a pretty wholesome face and wore a peasant style dress, she had long brown hair and could have gotten the part of “The Virgin Mary” in the Christmas play. He introduced her saying, “This is my fiancé Alex.” I stood up to shake her hand and asked if she’d like to do the survey too and she agreed. I insisted she take my chair, given her condition, which worked out great as I kneeled across from them. When asked one thing you’d like to do before you die, he thought he’d already said he’d like to go skydiving and she said after thinking a bit, “Well, I would have said, have a family but I already did that.” I said that was fine to say that, she hadn’t quite done it yet. (It turned out later she was due September 14^th but they were going to have to induce due to the risks of her being type 1 diabetic which he was as well.) I asked them what they would say to God if asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “You shouldn’t,” Will replied. I thought there would be a “but” after that but he said no more and then she said, “You shouldn’t,” also. I asked what the likelihood they would get into Heaven was, she said, “Zero.” “1%,” Will said. I said, “The last part of this is going through this little booklet with you it tells how you get to Heaven.” I actually do not use much of the booklet except the verses, with these Will seemed familiar. I write in it and explain things with other verses as well he hadn’t known. (The booklet is a version of the 4 laws which does not say, Jesus is God or mention His blood or righteousness or even Hell.) I began to go through scriptures with them and both of them knew Jesus had died for the sins of the world but neither had been trusting in that to save or even forgive them. I explained the righteousness of Christ to their credit. I asked if they would want to be forgiven. I said there was a prayer they could pray and they both wanted to be forgiven. And after I walked them through the prayer they each said, “Sure.” Will said he had done some evangelism with people. I said it was possible some had become saved listening to him. But he was not forgiven based on his responses to me, though he knew Jesus had died he had not trusted in that to be forgiven or have eternal life. So his actions were not of the indwelling Spirit. He then said he thought he could have been doing it for himself, not led by God. I explained living “Inside > out” trusting in the Holy Spirit’s power. They said they’d been looking for a church and I said Ellen and I could meet with them when they asked about a Bible study. They live in St Charles and he works a lot so I gave them my number if they thought later they wanted to meet. They both had Bibles and so I gave them each a Bible Study and Bible Promises for You writing their name and the date and “Forgiven!” in each one. I gave them each The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet. They were happy and we talked a bit more. They said they had named their girl “Desa” (pronounced like Odesa the city in Ukraine). I said I would pray for their little girl too that she would be a healthy baby that loved them and loved Jesus (having told them I would pray for them for the next school year and a year after). I said it was great to meet them and to feel free to call if they wanted to do a Bible Study.

Thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed. Please pray a blessing on these students as well.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with all good things from above. The first guy I talked to, Tah, when I thanked him for his tine he said “Thanks for making my first day of school unforgettable.” So that helped me out of the Box, at least I was not boring anyone, though he did not trust in the Lord. Alijah, Jordan and Ken each prayed with me to receive Jesus later. All were African Americans. Their stories are below if you have some time. Thanks for your help in prayer.

Alijah was sitting in the hall near the bookstore. He was dressed all in black, t-shirt and sweats. His afro was about three inches over his head and he had a mustache and a chin beard. Good looking guy. He was a quiet reserved guy who played nose tackle for the football team. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven and he said, “You shouldn’t. I don’t deserve to.” He thought he had a 28% chance of getting into Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with him asking if he ever went to Church and he said, “My sister just got baptized I’m familiar.” I said that for God to live inside him He would have to take away his sin, and asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sin, “He died on the cross,” he replied. I asked that was right and explained how God got paid through the blood of Christ. I explained how Christ’s righteousness could be to his credit by faith. Finally, I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done. He nodded. He would so I said there was a prayer he could pray and reading through it I said if he wanted he could pray it silently. I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “Alright,” he replied and I handed him the booklet and then he silently prayed to receive Jesus. When he finished he got out his phone and showed me the Everyman’s Bible saying he had just ordered it. I explained the Christian life to him and he said, “Appreciate it.” I gave him a copy of Bible Promises for You Writing his name and “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and wrote his name and the date and “Forgiven!” in the front. I explained now trusting in Christ’s blood righteousness to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I gave him a Bible study on ways Jesus claims to be God. He’d shaken my hand already but he did again and said, “Appreciate ya.” I told him I would be praying for him each day until Spring and then a year after.

I headed up the stairs and was going toward the Science buildings lounge when I felt like I was going the wrong way and did a 180 and headed down the raised hallway past the library. There are stairs right there. A pretty black girl with straightened hair and a headband on her forehead was sitting on the steps up to the 3^rd floor. Her hair was parted down the middle and she had clear plastic, half oval glasses. I passed seeing her and went back. Jordan said she’d do a survey. She’d been to Church when she was younger. She had an ankle length black peasant dress on and a spaghetti strap top with some kind of wrap in. She wore yellow Crocs for shoes. She wanted to go to Japan. When I asked her what she would say to God if he asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” she replied, “Why not?” “Yeah I guess if you don’t know you should ask,” I replied and she smiled and agreed. She thought she had a 75% chance of going to Heaven. When I asked her what the big thing was that Jesus did to take away her sins she said, “He forgives you?” I said He did and the way He did it was God got paid. She nodded as if that sounded familiar and I explained the gospel to her, trusting I the Blood and Righteousness of Christ. I asked her then if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. She said she would want to be forgiven. I talked through the prayer asking (reading from the booklet) “Does this prayer express the desire of you heart?” She said something like, “Yeah it does.” So I said she could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear her and she’d know she was forgiven. “Wanna do that?” I asked and she said, “Sure.” And she prayed to receive Jesus. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “Forgiven! On the inside. I explained now trusting in Jesus the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. I gave her a Bible study too and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. She was grateful and I said I’d pray for her each night and got up and headed off.

Ken was sitting on the edge of a lounge on the 1^st floor of the BIC building. He had already done a survey he said so I asked if the other survey had told him how to get to heaven, he paused thinking so I added do you have any interest in how the Bible says you get to heaven? It turned out he didn’t have a class for 40 minutes or so. “Ok, I’ll take the survey,” replied. He wore a bright orange ball cap turned backward and a black t-shirt and black shorts with orange lettering on them. He had square plastic rectangular glasses on an oval face with classic black features and a very short afro from what I could see, looked a bit like Dave Chappelle. He said he stayed mainly to himself and wasn’t that social and wanted to retire by the time he was 30. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and God asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” And he said, “That’s a good question,” Then thinking a minute he said, “I don’t know what I would say.” I asked what he thought would get him into heaven and he said, “Something like kindness.” I agreed the Bible said we should be kind. He thought he had a 75% chance of going to Heaven. I began with him asked if he knew what Jesus had done to take away his sins, he nodded I think to say he knew He had. I went through the Gospel. As I finished I asked him if he thought something else or would like to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done and he said, “The second one,” pointing at the circle with Christ inside your life. I said if he’d like to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and reading through I asked if it was the desire of his heart. ”Yeah,” he replied. I said he could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven wanna do that. He nodded and prayed to receive Jesus. I wrote by the Spirit’s power on the booklet (when I explained living the Christian life by the Spirit’s indwelling “inside> out”). I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “Forgiven! On the inside. I gave him a Bible study too and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet He seemed cool with everything saying he had a Bible. I thanked him for his time and headed off.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Well, another summer break has ended. We did get one person baptized and took a short trip to the Ark Encounter & Creation Museum, but otherwise just worked on the house. Seems to have triggered some sciatic nerve pain but otherwise I survived my accomplishments unscathed. I am hoping the pain will lapse for walking around school in a week or so.

I wondered at times this summer if school would start up again. We might have dropped into a world war or a Monkey Pox pandemic. Such fears proved thus far unsubstantiated however. If the dollar buys less, hopefully students will still get more of them and take classes at school so God can lead me to them to hear the Gospel.

The world is full of the cancel culture. But having no Instagram account, nor a presence on Twitter, I have stayed out of trouble. We’ve no January plans to vacation in DC which seems to be a bad month to wander around the Capitol. And you can rest assured Third Watch Ministries still does no political endorsements, so you will not be visited by any Government agency based on our mailing list. But if you are running for office let us know. We’re praying for ya anyway and could use some good peeps at the top, so we’ll ask you get in.

We began praying a while ago that God would be preparing hearts to hear the Gospel at school. Paul writes asking, “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;” [Eph. 3:16,17] It would seem there is a strength given by God to us that He might dwell in us.  Jesus says in John 6:44 “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” So, in God’s work of evangelism, we know He must also be preparing the way to hear, drawing people to Himself. We just have to find them, which seems like no small task some days at school. Most kids politely decline to talk about God. Some more than once, and then finally decide to give it a shot saying something like, “I’ve seen you around.” Or “OK, you talked to my friend.” So even days I hope will be rare where there is no one to talk to, maybe someone sees me who, on another day, will hear the word of the Lord. Then as He says through David in Psalm 91 God will, “…let him behold My salvation.”

So, we’d be grateful for your prayers as we’re, “Once more into the breach dear friends, once more” [Henry V, William Shakespeare]. It’s a Spiritual battle after all is it not? But we know as John writes, “…greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”

Thanks for the blessings of your prayers and support.

In Him,       Bob & Ellen

Third Watch Ministries, NFP                                                       Bob & Ellen Bollow

P.O. Box 1283                                                                                         May 18, 2023

Wheaton, IL 60187  

“It is vain, then, to speak of reposing trust in the Person without believing the message. For trust involves a personal relation between the one who trusts and him in whom the trust is reposed. And in this case the personal relation is set up by the blessed theology of the Cross.”      … J. Gresham Machen

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope this Spring has gone well for you. We had a near 80-degree day and then snow. The weather reflects some of the up and down encounters I have on campus. Though God is consistently gracious most days to give me someone who will listen, I have days no one will turn to Christ. But I am hopeful in the Lord’s promise that His word will not return void [Isaiah 55:11]. There really are as few students as ever in the hallways late in the semester. There are a lot of remote learning classes. On the upside it is easy to find a place to park. So, I thought I would share a couple stories of students I talked to on a day no one trusted Jesus as Savior.

Janoah was a petite black girl with a white doily on her head that looked like it belonged under your grandma’s teapot. She had long, thin braids coming down out from under it. She had smaller features and a broad smile, a cute kid. She believed herself a Christian but did not confess the Cross as payment for her sins, nor the resurrection, at first. Her answer to what she would say to God was, “Because I make an effort, like, to follow Him. I do things, like, try to spend time with Him every day. I make an effort to talk to people about God.” She thought she had an 85% chance of going to Heaven. I slowly made sure to cover everything in the Gospel going through the booklet. She actually asked me to talk slower and I did. I asked what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world. “You go to God through Him,” was the best she could come up with.  In the end, after hearing of the Cross and the righteousness of Christ she said, “I should have answered the question differently.” After hearing the prayer, having said she’d want to be forgiven, Janoah said she had “prayed a prayer like that before.” She confessed to believing what I had taught her. Based on her statements, and struggle to understand what I stated to her at first, I think she came to her first real understanding of becoming a Christian. She had knowledge before we talked that would be necessary for saving faith, but had not seemed to place her trust in it. She had friends that she studied the Bible with, who told her the baptism she had gone through when she was 8 was not sufficient as she could not have understood enough as a child. This seemed to be an accurate assessment since she did not understand enough until after I talked to her. She told her mother about her friend’s critique of her childhood baptism. Her mom assured her that when she was 8, she had “wanted to be in Heaven someday” with her mother and father. Which would be true of many people even as adults, though they do not believe Jesus was God. I think 1Cor. 7:14 teaches children are covered by their parents’ faith when too young to understand the Gospel. Hopefully she understands what I said. I left her with the booklet and Bible Promises for You. I have bumped into her since and said, “You were already trusting in Jesus when I talked to you right?” and she agreed.  So, I hope what I said took root and what I mean by that and she means by that are now the same.

A student from an Islamic background told me this year the people he knew who had been Muslim were now atheists or Christians. I found about a dozen Muslims to explain the Gospel to this year—Q was one.

Q was in one of the nooks overlooking the Science building lounge. He just went by a first initial. He looked like a thin young Cat Stevens of the 1960’s, the curly hair and beard part. He also wore black framed glasses and had on a pull over shirt and jeans. His family was from India and by Muslim standards he seemed liberal. He was dismissive of some of the extremes of Islam. I told him I had read the first 10 Surahs of the Qur’an and it read like an anti-Christian and Jewish diatribe. He acknowledged this was true, leaving me wondering if he was in fact as anti-extreme as he comported himself to be. Islamic teaching would of course not grant me any boon. I asked what he would say to God to get into Heaven. “I’ve actually thought about this—what I would say,” he said smiling. “My vision of God—I feel He will look at me [and say] ‘We both know your life to be a piece of $__ť And I will look back and say [persuasively] ‘Come on, come on! It’s me.’” I did not take him seriously and said, “So like maybe there is a section in Heaven for comedians, though I don’t know if you’d want to spend eternity with a lot of the comedians out there today.” “Well, those won’t make it,” he opined smiling.  “Maybe there will be a big sign saying, ‘Come On’ with all the comedians standing under it?” I suggested. We laughed at the impossibility of that and talked about the dark times we are in and hard times going forward.  Though he seemed casual about it, he said he felt for Christians with what they were going through right now. I took this to mean the collapse of Christian Morality and persecution by the state. I said from what I knew of the countries under Islamic rule those persecuting Christians would be taken care of were they to take over. He did not want to acknowledge the totalitarian make-up of Muslim controlled countries. We talked about Wahhabism the extremes of faith. He seemed to feel in the early days of Islam, Muslims were surprised they were not talking about the same thing as Christians. I mentioned Robert Spencer’s work that talked about early coins in Islamic places having crosses on them. I made all the points I make going through the Gospel conversationally and then brushed through them quickly in the booklet I wanted to leave with him, which he took. He was polite enough to take a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ too. So I hope there was a seed planted there. As I got up to leave, we had seemed to hit it off so I said, “I hope someday we see each other in Heaven.” “I think we will,” he said with a smile. I hope he receives Christ so he will be right.

I also recently received this email from a student I talked to earlier in the year who prayed to receive Jesus.

Hello Bob,

    My name is Fisayomi, we talked in Seaton in February. I was looking through the book and pamphlet you gave me and you signed “February 27th, 2023. Forgiven”. This moment was the catalyst to change my life forever. You didn’t sign saved sir, you signed forgiven.

    During the time you spoke with me, I was searching for God and his love in the wrong places and people. I couldn’t figure out why I was hearing the message from you but after the month of April passed where God took me on a healing journey, I realized why he had sent you to have the conversation with me.

     I pray that the lord blesses you and all in your household beyond what you could ever imagine. God used you to bring me back to my calling and where I am meant to be, in His presence and I want to thank you for being his vessel,

     The Lord has been urging me to contact you and tell you that any help you may need with creativity, either music, sewing, art, singing, or anything in this category please let me know. God has shown up in my life heavily and the least I can do is use my talents to glorify his name. Thank you so much, God bless you..

Sincerely, Fisayomi O.

There were 153 students who prayed to receive Christ while I was with them or whom I found out later had done so. Two of these (Mars and Joaquin) heard the Gospel and prayed last school year, but I did not find out until this fall to begin praying for them. Also, Abbey, who I told to ask God to prove Himself to her, did so. She bumped into a girl her age (a stranger, she saw this as a sign), was invited to Church and prayed there. I’ve prayed for her since she told me the story. These are the names of the new believes in the 2022-2023 school year. Their stories are on www.thethirdwatch.org if you missed one.  (An * means they said they would pray later.)

Kevin, Brian, Riq, Shane, Fernando, Dona, Mariana, Kyra, Ethan, Savannah, Riley, Litzy, Gordon, Scott, Josie*, Henry, Sam, Anthony, Ryan, Arely, John, Skye, Michael, Jason, Giancarlo, Andrew, Sam, Anish, Erika, Erick, Jocelyn, Christian, Gian, Victoria, Nick, Emerald, Dom, Sam, Martin, Desha, Morgan, Citlali, Julie, Leslie, Max, Mattie, Eduardo, Cyrus, Bris, Kayla*, Heaven, Mimi, Isaac, Micky, AnnMarie, Dejan*, Nathan, Ysabela, Zakia, Michelle, Ryan, D, Robertro, Jayden, Mayra, Freddy, Emily, Znyia, Gianluca, Alex, Jessica, Riley, Juan, Kenny, Omar, Kiara, Joaquin, Rose, Ben, Tanya, Quin, Denise, Sam, Ozzy*, Ashley, Mars, Allison, Ishani, Osvaldo, Kelly, Sabas, Daisy, Andrew, Aaliyah, Sydney, Shanice, Taron, Melissa, Preston, Daniel, Evelyn, Abbey, Adrienne, Kyle, Ahsi, Kristina, Sandra, Emily,  Diego, Ryan, Nicole, Xia, Fisayomi, Noah, Sarah, Niko, SarahMary, Janet, Will, Chris, Rico, Dan, Miles, Aaron, Sara, Ethan, Jaden, Darin*, Hameedah, Michael, Otto, Joe, Mark, Justin, John, Billy, Bobby, Ugo, Lily, Laokratis, Ben, Abby, Daivion, Jose, Lymarie, Ephe, Ada, Esther, Angely, Stephen, Noah, Nick, Lizbeth, Aimee, Bella, Jack, Leslie, Adrian, Marko*, Janelle*

Thanks for your prayers and support this school year.  God has done great things!

In Him,     Bob & Ellen

bob.thirdwatch@sbcglobal.net

www.thethirdwatch.org

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your weekend has been going well and you were demonstrably blessed. My eye laser treatment for secondary cataracts went well this morning. Marko received assurance of salvation Thursday and Adrian prayed to receive Jesus.  So that was great. I had a blessed year and 151 students prayed with me to receive Christ or prayed later and let me know about it when I saw them again. Several others I hope trusted in Christ or prayed later who were foggy on some detains of the Gospel. We are always being blessed in the hands of God but it’s nice when you can immediately see it. The flat tire you got might have kept you from being hit by the train, but if the tracks were a mile away you may never have realized God saved you from death that day. Walking around campus is that way where I end up talking to someone who just sat down and feel like God led me in a roundabout way for timing’s sake. Then when it seems I came with only minutes left until they had to go and had to rush or barely got the Gospel in in conversation. I could wonder why I was not there sooner. But they might not have been willing to hear anything at all if they did not know for certain the conversation would be short and they’d have an escape excuse. Adrian and Marko’s stories are below if you have time. Please pray they are blessed.

Marko is Serbian Orthodox. He had brown hair, straight, short, with hardly any bangs. He was slight for a football player. Turned out he was a punter. He had the skin of a guy going through the teen years but the everyman kind of good looks.  He had a t-shirt on and was sitting at the set of tables all running together in the PE lounge. He goes to a church with his parents where he can’t follow much, most of the service is in Serbian. He said he read the NKJV in the Bible. When I asked him what he would say to God if asked why should I let him into Heaven he said, “That’s hard. I believe our Lord and Savior forgives, we all sin.” Thinking more he thought he’d say, “It’s your will.” I asked the likelihood he would go to Heaven he said, “I don’t know.” He knew Jesus had died for his sins. As I   explained the righteousness of Christ to his credit he acknowledged Paul had said it was not by his own righteousness he was forgiven but by the righteousness, which is by faith. It seemed he had believed the Gospel without assurance of the benefit. He listened to YouTube podcasts by a punter from University of Oklahoma. He said that was where he had learned to say, “It’s your will.” That guy had been a free agent drafted by Miami. I felt like I was giving him clarity, of how his sins were paid for and he was cleansed by His blood. He believed he was trusting in Christ, called Him his “Savior” and knew His work but was in a church tradition that did not encourage a moment of decision. “Say you take a class here and everybody sucks, the teacher’s horrible. She gives you stuff but it’s not on the quizzes and everybody’s getting a zero and dropping the class. You’re gonna drop the class too and get you money back but then you hear one guy, Billy, he’s got a 100% in the class. So you go to this guy and say, ‘How’d you get 100% in this class?’ So he tells you, ‘I took this class last year at U of I. It’s the same textbook it might be some of the same quizzes—I knew a few of the answers. But they changed the course description on me and won’t let me transfer the credit. I need it here, so I gotta take it again. But I’ve been turning in my old projects. I got a1,000 points of extra credit in this class. Teacher thinks I’m totally geeking on the class but the truth is I had it last semester.’ So your like, ‘That’s pretty funny but it won’t help me.’ He says, ‘No it won’t help you man sorry.’ So he goes for a ride on the weekend and gets wiped out by a truck. He’s dead. Teacher comes to class on Monday and she says, ‘I have terrible news Billy has died.” “Billy is the guy with the 1,000 points?” Marko asked. “Yeah,” I replied. “’And he had a 1,000 points of extra credit.’ The teacher says. ‘And I don’t want all that to go to waste. So I’m gonna give it to you guys.’ You look around and there’s only 10 people left in the class and you’re like, ‘I’m sorry about Billy but I just got 100% in this class.’ That’s like what Jesus did. He earned the righteousness of God by perfectly fulfilling the Old Testament law in a way we never could. So since he earned God’s righteousness He can give it to whomever He wants. It says in the book of Isaiah in 61:10 that one day you’ll be wrapped in a robe of God’s righteousness and clothed with His salvation and in the New Testament in Galatians 3:27, ‘you’re clothed with Jesus.’ So Jesus is your clothing of salvation, He’s your robe of righteousness. You don’t go to Heaven because you’re good, but because Jesus is good and your connected to Him.” Marko nodded affirmingly. “Like if you marry a millionaire you got a million bucks or if you get adopted into a billionaire’s family you get to live in the mansion and drive the cars. So God adopts you and He gives you the blessings of His family. He gives you the sacrifice for your sins, the blood that cleanses you and the righteousness that surrounds you. So it’s like you got someplace to go, Heaven, and something to wear when you get there, the righteousness of God.”  I said all God had done for him need be accepted by faith. I showed him the circles where God is on the inside of your life and said, “It seems like you are already trusting in this?” He agreed saying God had to be on the throne. I explained living the Christian life by the power of the Spirit to him too. I gave him Bible Promises for You and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet, to strengthen his faith. He was really grateful and shook my hand to thank me a few times. I said to him, “If you’re trusting in the righteousness of Christ to be your righteousness the likelihood you will go to Heaven is 100%.” He agreed he was (possibly for the first time understanding as I’d explained the concept) and he was happy then. I headed out knowing I’d helped him understand the Gospel and the person of Christ in whom he’d believed. One way or the other now having saving faith.

Adrian was sitting alone in the NW corner lounge on the ground floor of the BIC. He was a Latino guy with stick straight hair, it was in a mop sort of. You could see from the shadow he’d only grow a mustache if unshaven. He had a diamond shaped face, fuller lips and was slight. He wore a black t-shirt and black sweats. I asked him what he would say if he died and God asked, “Why should I let into Heaven?” He cleared his throat and saying, “I would say hmmm… I um, I believe that I belong here I guess.” I asked him what the likelihood was he would get into Heaven and he said he thought he had a 50/50 chance. I began to go through the Gospel with him. I said God had to take away his sins, “…make you his type, to purify you so He could live inside you. So what is the big thing that Jesus does to take away your sins?” “He purifies you?” he guessed. I said “Yeah, this is how He does that,” and Adrian leaned forward as I had placed the booklet on an ottoman in front of us and was writing in it. He was very interested as I explained how Christ’s blood cleansed him and was how “God got paid,” and so He was just to forgive, because there was a payment.” I also explained the righteousness of Christ to his credit. He had not been to Church since he was a kid he’d said. When I finished saying all God had done for him could be gained by faith. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done for him or thought something else. “I would want to be forgiven,” he replied. So I said there was a prayer he could pray and asked after explaining it if it expressed the “desire of his heart”. “I would say it did,” He replied. So I said he could pray it silently and only God would hear, “Would you like to do that?” I asked. “Of course!” he replied enthusiastically. When he finished I began to explain the Christian life to him. It turned out he did not have a Bible and I asked him if he would want one to carry around or a larger one to study out of and he said he’d like a larger one. I showed him the 99 doctrines page and how the cross references worked and the maps and other helps in back and the devotionals inserted through the chapters. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave him Bible Promises for You and  The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I turned to the page with Eternal Life as the title and wrote Ephesians 1:13 saying as soon as you tell the Lord you have faith the Spirit enters you and seals you. “What does seals mean?” he asks so I gave him a metaphor of sealant saying the Holy Spirit enters you and never leaves. I also gave him a Bible study. “I’ll definitely look into all this,” he said gratefully. I said I would pray a Bible verse for him each day for the next year. The likelihood he would now go to Heaven trusting in the righteousness of Christ to be his righteousness was 100%, I explained. “How righteous is Jesus? 100% righteous. And what is His righteousness worth? An infinite amount,” I said.  “So there was enough righteousness to cover an old man like me and a young guy like him who hadn’t done hardly anything yet, God would forgive us both.” ” That’s all that matters,” he replied. “Thanks Bob, I really appreciate it,” Adrian said as I got up to go. “Thanks for your time,” I replied. “Of course, you too!” he said. And I headed out.

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

Bob