Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you had a good day yesterday in as much as I had some good conversations I did too. Carl, in the science building a guy with a mop of blonde hair a struggling piecemeal beard and cowboy boots seemed close and at the end said he was trusting in Jesus, but I think he understood a commitment to Christ for the first time, believing before he only had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. And Pat a guy with sandy curly hair and beard who was born in the UK but grew up here to Catholic parents seemed to go from trusting in his works to trusting in the Gospel. I think those were good seeds at least, so I hope God will use hearing the Gospel to bring them closer to Himself. I spent nearly 2 hours (when I went back and calculated the time late last night) talking with Dorcas, whose brother had trusted Christ this year [McPaul]. She had called me over and wanted to hear what I had to say saying we’d met at the book table. Ellen later said she remembered Dorcas and then I placed her later once home realizing she’d been McPaul’s sister. She was saving herself sexually for marriage and wanted to know if it was worth it in part. She’s an attractive Black girl and everyone she knows is sleeping around, though she hoped it wasn’t true of the couples at church but she wasn’t optimistic. She had a lot of other questions too. Jenna her girl friend was sitting with her and mostly tuned us out. She claimed to be a Syrian Muslim, [had dyed blonde hair and was pretty and opinionated] though I knew more about Islam than she did. She suddenly piped in and objected when at some point our discussion had touched on the idea that the god of Islam (who is in fact not bounded by reason justice or love) was nothing like the Christian God. Her idea had morphed living in the US and seemed to have Christianized rhetorically. She drank and did not practice the 5 pillars of Islam. I doubt she could have listed them. It turned into a completely relative discussion about interpretation of the Bible. In the end if I would have agreed with her both Islam and Christianity would amount to whatever anyone who claims to be Christian or Islamic/Muslim said they believed. Much like someone claiming they were any sex they wanted–there was no objectivity. We talked about the difference academically between the soft and hard sciences. She did not like the terms (was studying psych) but I did not make them up, so hey. We parted peaceful after an hour and fifteen minutes of her sort of listening and working on her laptop.  As I later parted with Dorcas, she thanked me and said, “You’re cool” then kind of marveling at all I had explained to her. It was sad though as there are so few young men in her community not “on the make”. I told her that God might have very well planted in her heart the desire to hold fast to what was right in remaining a virgin because he had a guy for her that was doing the same thing. I have known a couple here and there through the years at school that told me they were.

So in the end I went through the Gospel with 5 students and answered questions for a couple hours from 2 until 4 and left pretty tapped out. I hope God will use the time for good.

I’d be grateful for your prayers today as I go out to share the Gospel. Please pray the Spirit guides me and gives me His Words.

Thanks of your help in prayer.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with all good things from above. I had a good day on campus planting a few seeds with 3 or 4 students who were lost and Diana prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Diane was in the Southeast BIC lounge on the second floor eating some snacks and studying a bit. She said she’d do a survey with me, (which was a relief of sorts since about 20 students up until then had said “no thank you.”) She was wearing black leggings and a tweed black and white hoodie and white trainers. She was pretty and though her name would suggest a Mexican heritage her eyes were Asian in appearance. She had stick straight dark brown near black hair and pretty features, a pointed nose and went regularly to a Catholic Church. When I asked her what she would say if she died and God asked her why He should let her into Heaven she said that was a good question. Then thinking about it a bit she said, “I would just say I’ve tried my hardest to be on the right path.” I asked her what she thought the likelihood was she would go to Heaven and she said, “80% to be honest.” I think believing that wasn’t very good. I began to go through the Gospel with her and she did not seem to remember much from Church.  I explained that God wanted to transfuse His life into her, live inside her with His Holy Spirit. But first he had to make her His type by taking away her sins. “So what did Jesus do to take away your sins?” I asked. She thought for a moment and couldn’t think of anything and said, well He has to take away your sins to live inside you.” So I just began to explain that God sees we can’t come up to him because of our sin, so He comes down and becomes a man and lives a perfect life for us. Then he dies for our sin and his blood becomes a force in the world that purifies us saying, “The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin, 1John 1:7 says. So now you are perfect and holy inside and you match God now God can live inside you.” “Makes sense,” she said. I went through the rest of the Gospel, the righteousness of God, earned by Jesus, which was to her credit and that Jesus rose from the dead. I explained that was what the Mss was symbolic of the wafer was His body and the wine His blood and when she took it, it was to remind her she was forgiven because he had died for her so she should just say, “Thank You.” I explained she needed to receive Jesus, to believe He was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. When I finished some of the other things about adoption and faith I asked if she’d want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. “Would you want to be forgiven?” I asked. “Huh umm,” she said nodding. So I said she could pray silently to ask for forgiveness and God could live inside her and so she took the booklet and prayed to receive forgiveness. “Thank you,” she said then. “You’re welcome,” I replied. She did not have her own Bible, so I gave her one, writing her name, the date and “forgiven” in the front. I showed her the “Where to Turn,” section and explained she could read in the book of John. I gave her a Bible Study on Jesus’ claims to be God and 20 things God Can’t Do explaining that everything in the Christian life we do my God’s power by His Spirit in Us. “Jesus said to become as a child. Children hold your hand when you cross the street and life is full of streets. God wants you to trust Him and ask Him for help with everything.”  I got her email to send her another Bible Study and invited her to ours.  She thanked me again and I headed out.

So thanks a lot for your prayers for the ministry today and for evangelism if you had a chance. God blessed and even the kids who didn’t want to talk were nice about it.

Blessings,

Bob

Third Watch Ministries, NFP                                                            Bob & Ellen Bollow

P.O. Box 1283                                                                                   December 12, 2019

Wheaton, IL 60187-1283  

“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:8-10

“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10

Hey Brothers and Sister in Christ,

I hope you are enjoying Christmas Time in America. A few years back I was in Target looking at toys (years before it had become an adventure in cultural decay to use the bathroom there) and I bumped into an acquaintance who was then a pastor. I wished him Merry Christmas and he complained about the commercialism. I said in reply that I felt like at Christmastime, (at least in America, since we choose this time to celebrate Christ’s birth), God seemed to pour out an extra measure of grace among us. People felt this grace, and not knowing what else to do with it, they light up their houses and give each other gifts. It was the most they could do in response, not truly knowing the Gospel. I said I liked it when everyone put up lights. He said that was a good way to think about it and a year or so later he told me he’d adopted my perspective. I still feel that way about the lights that light up the night, since I know there is a night coming when no one can work. Possibly the false electrical shortages will one day have the Government refusing us the liberty of lighting up our houses (as cheap energy is denied us from using coal), or even adequately warming them (children may then wish for coal in their stockings). But I am going to enjoy the lights while I can, thought it be “commercialism.”

I’ve discovered from doing evangelism that a little bit of the story is used by God to prime the pump of the human heart. There are still probably a lot of students who know Jesus was born on Christmas. When I am looking for the lost students, many discover that they knew the story of sin, atonement and resurrection, but had never trusted in Jesus’ work. They knew God as Creator but not as Savior. Then they happily trust in Christ, now knowing why they are going to Heaven.

God is actively sending me out, with your help, looking. It’s like when you lose something and you keep searching and it bothers you until you finally find it, or give up. I’ve been looking for my watch for a while. I had a scratched-up one that I mislaid, and then wore another one that looked nicer. I mislaid that one in the house too. I’ve had them for years. Our house is organized thanks to Ellen. But I get so worn out during the semester I sometimes do something at night, and in the morning have lost the specifics of the steps before bed. Thus, a couple of lost watches. (Maybe they’ll turn up? I’ve prayed they would.) Lost things just nag at me, so I’ve learned to hang up my keys in the same place each day. So much is going through my mind, conversations and people; I can’t give my subconscious an excuse to discard essential information. Part of it is abundance. I’ve had more than one watch and when I mislaid the first one I was not frantically searching as the woman with the lost coin in Luke 15. When I lost the second, I grabbed an old beat up blue-collar work watch and wore it, not taking the time to retrace my steps and the trail of memory went cold. Both times I was running out the door in the morning to look for the lost. Searches for watches since have proved fruitless, but on campus the search has been blessed. Though lately many Christian workers have given up the search for culturally correct things.

I went through the Gospel with over 250 students this semester. Many were Christians already and some left searching and took a book. Occasionally someone seemed to be indifferent. 10 or so were Muslim, a couple of whom took a Bible. Hundreds more were too busy or it was too near the beginning of class, or for some other reason unsaid turned down a conversation about God. But 104 students received Jesus after hearing the Gospel from me. All but one prayed a prayer to receive Christ. The other one, Reda, was a Coptic Christian from Egypt who felt he should only pray prayers prescribed by his Church. But he confessed faith in Christ to be forgiven. In Scripture, Philip leaves the Ethiopian Eunuch and finds himself elsewhere, taken up in the Spirit. And though 3,000 people came to Christ on Pentecost, since the Gospel was proclaimed that day in many tongues we know many were there for the feast from elsewhere in the Roman Empire. These returned home not remaining a part of the Jerusalem Church and without an Apostle to guide them. Paul writes the book of Romans to a church he had never been too, possibly founded by converts who returned home after being saved and filled with the Spirit at Pentecost. Christian radio preaches the Gospel without even knowing who will hear it. This has happened to me this year going through the Gospel at school, where Andrew walked up after hearing a part, as I spoke with someone else, only to hear more and pray with me to receive Jesus. It made me wonder how often others have heard the Gospel as I spoke to someone else in a lounge where they too were sitting, looking at their phone. We have a little Bible study on campus and Ellen and I are grateful for those we can disciple in it. So I pray each day for those who have trusted in Christ (this year and last year), less often praying for others whom I gave a book to or who said they would pray later. We’re so grateful for your prayers for us and your gifts to the ministry that has made so much of this happen. I look a little older each day and seem to be losing watches. But God seems to allow the peeps to overlook it. So I continue the search.

These are the 104 students who have prayed with me to receive Jesus this semester.

(An * means they said they would pray later.)

Roy, Jamari, CJ, Jaylen, Jordan*, Carmen, Ray, Chloe*, Marco, Jeff, Walter*, Cole, Chase, Gillam, Isabelle, McPaul, Chris, Tyler*, Pablo*, Bobbi, Enzo, Andrew, Kiya, Michael*, Cody, Esabel, Saul, Joe, Kimberly*, Ivan, Ethan, Zandrix, Jasmine, Sandra, Monsieur, Jamie, Tionne, Mia, Maria, Rachel, Desiree*, Luciana, Briaunna, Oedrey, Mahala, David, Clinton, Tavion, Reese, Austin, Kevin, Danny, Mya, Mackenzie, Cam, Nataly, Mishelina, Reda, Angel, Daniel, Trey, Ty, Cameron, Luis, Kameron, Priseila, Jada, Mike, John, Keno*, Joseph, Josh, Joe, Jocelyn, Baylee, Tim, Sam, Jorge, Cedric, Nate, DJ, Kento, Sara*, Shay, Angel, Brandon, Ben*, Demiya, Matteo, Ally, Viktor, Dolen, Janine, Josh, Matt, Rojae, Jada, Anna, Aaron, Hannah, Fabian,  Ruel*, Princess, Josh, Damani, Alex, Adam, Sam, Lexi, Juan, Maxine*, Kassandra, Marco, Nuviana, Justin, Jovany*, Ray, and Kevin

Please pray for the hearts & minds of these students, as they walk in their new faith in Jesus, the Savior of the world.  May the Lord bless you and keep you this Christmastime.  School begins again January 21, 2020. We are blessed by your help, which allows us to continue to reach these students.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your having a great day in the Spirit and are enjoying the weekend. I had a good day on campus Friday and Ray and Kevin prayed to receive Christ.

Ray was sitting in a row of chairs outside the cafeteria on a lunch break from his school job but said he had a few minutes. He had wavy brown hair swept up and onto his head and a few days growth of spotty beard. Looked a bit like Frankie Avalon. He attended a Catholic church, had a blue hoodie on and blue jeans, kind of slight in build shorter than me, real friendly. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said “Because I tried my best not to bring any hurt to the world or bring any pain to others. But I didn’t really spread any love or kindness—didn’t do the opposite either.” He said he thought his chance of going to heaven was between 50-85%. He felt like he had a personal connection with God on his own. He would reach out to Him if, “I was in trouble or get something I don’t think I deserve.” I began to explain the Gospel to him and after thinking a bit he remembered Jesus had died for his sins. He took it all in as I explained, “You don’t go to Heaven because you are good but because you are connected to Jesus.” God wanted to adopt us and give us the blessings of His family, the sacrifice for our sins, the blood that cleansed us and the righteousness of God, (Christ earned to be our clothing). I explained he needed to believe this by faith saying, “When you think about a girl you might marry one day what do you want most from her and she from you? You want her to believe in you and you in her.” “Trust, loyalty” he said. “Right,” I agreed. And God wants this from you too so you can be in a relationship with him. In the end I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus or thought something else explaining that Buddhism wasn’t about seeking for God but just trying to escape the illusion of the physical world Buddha thought was unreal. Islam had a different god.  “Islam has a different God?” he asked. “I thought they were the same?” I explained the Islamic god was not a father as he did not have a son; he did not live inside you and was not ultimately bounded by any essential thing, not justice so there was no need for a payment for your sins or even reason. I explained the reason the Islamic world did not create a scientific method like the west was because early Christian scientists thought you could think God’s thoughts after Him as He was reasonable and His creation would be marked by reason and order. Islam did not think this of their god. “Oh, he replied I’d thought they were the same.” I asked him if he would want to be forgiven then trusting in Jesus. “Yes,” he replied. I walked him through the prayer he could pray and asked if it was the desire of his heart. “Yes,” he replied simply. So I said he could pray it silently like I wasn’t there. Would he want to and he said, ”Oh. Yeah.” And he prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to him then living Inside Out and by the Spirit’s power. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do and wrote Just Ask and By the Spirit’s Power in the front along with his name and the date and “forgiven’. I gave him a Bible Study on the deity of Christ telling him that in trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I got up to go and explained the Mass saying, “The wafer is symbolic of His Body and the wine symbolic of his blood it reminds you Jesus has died for you and so you are forgiven so when you take it you can just say, ‘thank you’.” “Thank you,” he replied that’s helpful.” He was very grateful to learn about faith in Christ, he was a kind guy and I encouraged him to email me with any questions he might have. “You’re welcome,” I said when he thanked me and headed off.

I found Kevin sitting upstairs in the PE lounge alone at a table (there was no one else up there or anywhere else by that time and I figured he’d be the last person I talked to). He said he’d do a survey. He was a Latino guy as well a bit darker in complexion he wore rectangular framed glasses and had the Clark Kent hair cut, short on the sides and swept back. He had on a plaid shirt with a grey hoodie attached to the collar. Warm smile, rectangular face, good looking’ guy with a slight build. He said he wanted to buy a house for his family. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “I’ve always tried to do good and stay positive.” He thought he had a 60% chance of going to heaven said he’d gone through RES (this is Catholic Religious Education Resources for young people) when he was younger. He remembered Christ had died for his sins. I went through the Gospel with him and he took it all in and as I explained how the Blood of Christ cleansed him so God could live inside him he said, “Ok, so that’s how you get into Heaven.” “Right,” I replied and explained the righteousness of God imputed to him by the perfect life of Christ. I said he needed to trust in this by faith and that his good stuff didn’t fix his bad stuff. “Like say you had a girl friend for about 3 weeks. You thought she was pretty cool but then you found out she was cheating on you and stealing your stuff, so you cut her loose. Then she comes around in about a week and she’s like, ‘Kevin I know I did you wrong, I was even stealing your stuff and selling it for drugs, but I just want you to know I’m gonna be nice to my next 3 boyfriends.’ You’d be like that doesn’t help me at all.” He laughed and agreed imagining the conversation. “‘Cause you can’t do good things over there to fix your bad things here. But that’s how a lot of people think, they’d be like I’ve done a lot of bad stuff, but I’ve done a lot of good stuff too, my good stuff is gonna fix my bad stuff with God.’ But your bad stuff’s still out there kicking people around and there’s not much you can do about it. But God can turn your bad stuff into good stuff. It says in Romans 8:28 that all things work together for good, for them that love God and are called according to His purpose. So God can change the trajectory of the bad things that happen to you, or that you do, into good things because He controls the future.” I said then there were two kinds of people in the world, people who want to be forgiven for their sins so they’ve trusted in Jesus and what He did to be forgiven and people who think something else. I said for example Islam had a different God and the Buddha left his wife and kid to seek enlightenment but he’s not looking for God he’s just trying to get his head straight. So which person are you or would you want to be. “I guess I’m a little of both, I’d want to be forgiven but I guess like the Buddha says I’d wanna get my head straight.” I replied, “Well in Christianity the way you get your head straight is by the Holy Spirit living inside you when you trust in Christ to forgive you of your sins then by His power you live the Christian life.” I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and after walking him through it I asked if it was the desire of his heart. He acknowledged it was so I said he could pray the prayer silently and be forgiven. “Wanna do it?” I asked. “Right now?” he asked. “Sure just pretend I’m not here,” I came back. “Ok I’ll do a quick one,” he replied. And he prayed to receive Christ. When he finished I said he could keep the booklet and explained living the Christian life Inside Out by the Spirit’s power. He didn’t have a Bible so I gave him one saying he could call it a Christmas present. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” on the inside. “So I’m forgiven because you gave me a Bible?” he asked. “No you are forgiven because you prayed and asked for forgiveness this is just the day it happened. He saw the point then. I gave him a copy of 20 Things God Can’t Do and wore Just Ask and By the Spirit’s Power in the front explaining that God wanted to help him but he needed to ask. I gave him a Bible study then on Jesus’ claims to be God in the NT and told him the story of how Jesus walks on the water saying it’s sort of  “a miracle to make people look stupid,” pointing out all the disciples are supposed to be in the know but they think He’s a ghost and one doubts so he sinks. Then I explained how this was to show He was God based on Job 9:8 (Who alone stretches out the heavens. And marches on the waves of the sea). “That’s a great story,” he said as I then got up to go. “Thanks for your time man,” he said as I began to leave. “Have a great Christmas.” “Yeah it will be even greater since someone came to Christ,” I said with a smile and I headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and for Evangelism the last day on campus this semester 103 students prayed to receive Christ with me on campus this semester and another one trusted in Christ. As did our waitress on vacation. I’m pretty wasted so I’m gonna try to get the tree up and find the energy to help Ellen decorate the house a bit.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed walking with the Lord. I got my electrical problems sorted out in my Bathroom, had a loose wire it seems. Today on campus was successful too and Justin prayed to receive Christ. I got some good seeds planted giving The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet to Grant, a white guy in a white hoodie with the hood pulled up, looked like a young James Cagney. Mica a pretty blonde girl with rose-colored yoga pants on was close to faith saying the Gospel was “probably right” so I gave her the same book to help her sort things out. Jovany a short Latino guy with a crew cut and a day’s worth of beard, looked like a Longshore dock worker thought he might pray later. Finally Anthony a white guy with sharp features and a light beard, ball cap on backwards heard the gospel and thought he might pray later but I’d already made him 5 minutes late for class so he had to run.

Justin was sitting in a longue with vending machines on the first floor of the BIC on the North side. He had a thick beard, no mustache and a rag wool cap on, boot leg jeans and a fleece green on the shoulders and brown beneath, few freckles kind of the good old boy look. He said he was raised Catholic and was in that church until he turned 18, then he went to some Christian churches and now thought of himself as a Christian. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said it was a tough question, “Probably say, I did my best to help people in most or every situation I could, that’s a tough one… that’s heavy… that’s a deep question.” I asked him the likelihood he would go to Heaven and he said, “80%. I feel like I’ve been pretty good. I’ve made mistakes but…” I began to explain the Gospel and he knew Jesus had died to take away our sin. I explained that that was God’s just payment for our sins; He pays Himself so that he can be both Just and Forgiving. I explained that we owed God perfect payment for what we’ve done to damage His world but cannot pay so God’s perfect life in Christ pays. I explained this righteousness was a gift to Him by faith. That he did would not go to Heaven because he was good but because Jesus was good and he was connected to Him. I taught him a lot of what I tell students and asked him if he thought he want to be forgiven or thought something else and then said, So would you want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus? That’s basically the last question.” “Makes sense,” he replied. So I went with that and said if he’d want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus there was a prayer he could pray and I talked Him through it and said, “If you wanted to take a minute and pray it silently, not like I’d hear you but God would hear you’d know you were forgiven.” “Yeah, I’ll do it,” he replied. And he prayed then to receive Christ. I told him he could keep the booklet and explained the Christian life to him living Inside Out where everything God was asking him to do He’d give him the power to do by the Spirit. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do and write Just Ask and By the Spirit’s Power in the front along with his name and the date and “forgiven’. I gave him a Bible Study on the deity of Christ telling him that in trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I got up to go and said, “Merry Christmas.” “Yeah Merry Christmas,” he replied. I then told him I’d keep him in my prayers through the spring and then a year after. “Thank you very much,” he replied. “Have a great one.” “You’re welcome,” I said and headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance, I had some good conversations and help some Christians with faith also.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your life’s been going good this morning walking with Jesus. I’ll be going out to campus today to look for some peeps to trust in Jesus. “We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” 1John 4 So knowing this I’ll be preaching up the peeps today hoping that you’ll pray for me that I might focus on Christ and walk in Him to those who’d believe.

I hope your day was blessed yesterday with the nearness of God. I had an electrical problem at my house that knocked out the bathrooms electricity so I had to work on that last night and ran out of time to write. But Nuviana prayed to receive Jesus Wednesday.

I had walked around for several hours and got a few seeds planted but had a hard time finding many to talk to except the students who had already come to Christ chatting them up about their holiday meals. But the last person I talked to Nuviana was sitting in a lounge on the ground floor. She had a nearly ball shaped head, dark skin (she had moved to the US from Columbia as a child) cute face, a bit plump. Her her looked like it had been tight brushed out natural curls and she wore it pulled back behind her head. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said, “I probably would be like, ‘Whatever you think is best, it’s up to you.’ I guess I would just [say that] He knows what I’ve done.” She thought she had about a 40% chance of going to Heaven. She knew Jesus had died to take away our sin and regularly attended a Roman Catholic Church She listens to the Gospel and when I asked her if she’d want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus and that He was God had died for her and rose from the dead she said, “Yes be forgiven”. After we went back and forth a bit about how you should do good things, not merely believe and I pointed out these should be done by the power of God’s Spirit, living “Inside Out”.  I asked if when she was asking for forgiveness for her sins if she had been trusting in Jesus and that He had died for her (saying I knew she had known the story) or if she was just hoping she would be good enough and would try harder. “The latter,” she admitted and so after I walked her through the prayer saying she could pray it silently she prayed to receive Jesus. I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do Writing Just Ask and By the Spirit’s Power,  in the front along with her name and the date and “forgiven” I gave her a Bible study and explained that now she was trusting in the righteousness of  Jesus to be her righteousness so the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%.  She had to run to class but I gave her a Bible study and she seemed grateful.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism at school today and yesterday.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with all good things from the Lord Kassandra and Marco each prayed to receive Jesus today so that was great. I got some good seeds planted too. I also hope you had a happy and blessed Thanksgiving with the people you love. We were on the road but Maxine our waitress trusted to receive Jesus on Wednesday night so the trip was worth it. She was a sweet, shoulder length brown haired girl with soft features, big brown eyes, kinda short wearing a white blouse and black pants. She had described herself as a Christian but had just thought God would magnanimously forgive her not knowing why He would do it. I explained the Gospel to her and the Just payment for her sins and she liked the explanations. I asked then if she believed Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead, she said she did. So I asked her if she would want to place her trust in that to be forgiven. She understood after a moment and said she did. I told her, her sins were forgiven, shaking her hand (when she said she believed that Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead and would trust in that). After she had thanked me for explaining the Gospel to her and left us with the receipt, I went out and got her a copy of The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet writing her name and the date and “You’re forgiven” in the front. I brought it to her outside the kitchen and she said, “Thank you, Thank you, Thank you,” in an excited voice and I gave her the book and smiled and said “Sure.”

Kassandra came from a Roman Catholic background, was a pretty, thin girl with no make-up and a winter cap on her long brown hair pouring out from underneath. She had a narrow face and was very expressive and kind. She wore sweats and a sweater with winter style red and green print across the front and a jacket on. Her friend Jenna walked up as we were doing the survey up on the 3rd floor of the BIC. She had blonde ring curls and a drop shoulder off white sweater, very pretty girl. As she walked up Kassandra said, “You should do her too.” But I was not sure she was interested as when I asked she said something like if you want me too, so figuring she would over hear it anyway having sat on the other side of me I let it go. (I apologized for excluding her later and wondered over my possible failure but Kassandra said Jenna had made her more spiritually minded, so I think she was a Christian. I gave her a book Bible Promises for You) When I asked Kassandra what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said a lot and writing as quickly as I could I basically got this, “Ooo, that’s hard, that’s a tough thing. I tried my best to be a good Christian; I’m not the best but… I tried to do enough good for Him to forgive me of my sins. I’m His daughter and I know that He sees me for who I am.” I asked her what the likelihood she would go to Heaven was and she said, “80/20 but it’s really 50/50 if I’m totally real.” She knew Jesus had sacrificed himself to pay for our sins. She listened to the Gospel as I presented it and I emphasized that we don’t go to Heaven because we are good or have tried to please God or made up for our failures somehow trying to do better but because Jesus is good and we are connected to Him. We’re adopted by the Father because Jesus has paid for our sins and can now live inside us.” She hadn’t heard the Gospel clearly explained before. (Unfortunately Jenna was on her phone and my plan for her to hear it also might not have come off well. When I asked her if she would want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus or thought something else she said, “I would be that one,” pointing at the circle with God inside her. “Be the person trusting in Jesus to be forgiven.” When I suggested she hadn’t yet been trusting in that she said, “No,” emphatically agreeing with me. I explained there was a prayer she could pray and be forgiven and walking her through it I asked if she would want to pray it silently where only God could hear. She nodded and took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to her then living “Inside Out” first asking God to change us on the inside and by the power of His Spirit doing good on the outside. I said the likelihood she would go to Heaven then was 100%. Trusting in Christ’s righteousness. I said I would keep her in my prayers each day and she said she would pray for me too. I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do writing her name and the date and “forgiven” on the inside and “Just ask” and “By the Spirit’s power”. I wrote this in the front of the book I gave Jenna. I also gave Kassandra a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ. I told them I would see them in Heaven and I’d be there first since I was old enough to be their father and I’d show them around, they laughed and I was on my way. I walked back in a minute and apologized to Jenna for excluding her saying it seemed like she wasn’t interested. She said no problem cheerfully and had been looking through the book as I walk up so I’ll pray for both of them for the next year or so.

Marco was sitting in the BIC in the hallway on the third floor later on waiting for his girl friend, Mia, to get out of class. He had gone to the Bible Church in town when he was younger. He wasn’t a very big guy. He wore brown sweats and a blue hoodie, the hood pulled up over his head. He looked Latino but had very fair skin. Good-looking guy with sharp features a diamond shipped face. He said he wanted to be rich. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “Because I’ve done things that other people wouldn’t or didn’t if they were in the same situation.” I checked and he meant good things. He thought he had a 50/50 chance to get into Heaven. He listened carefully to the gospel and he knew Jesus had died for our sins. I explained the death of Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for our sins as we owed God something perfect to fix anything of His we had damaged. I explained Jesus blood cleansed us, He rose from the dead and His righteousness could be to our credit when we were adopted by God as part of the blessings of joining his family. I explained we need to receive this by faith. Pointing down the hall to the distant daylight at the end of the building I sad, “That the line down the hall as far as we could see was like eternity and this life was like [    ] long.” And I drew a gap on the page of the booklet. I said that was real riches to be in eternity with God and would last forever. I asked if he would want to be forgiven or if he thought something else. “That one,” he replied pointing at the right circle with God inside, “Be forgiven.” So I asked, “Do you believe Jesus is God, He died for your sins and rose from the dead? Do you think that’s true?” “Yeah,” he replied. I told him that if he would want to trust in that then to be forgiven for his sins so he would know he was going to Heaven there was a prayer he could pray. I explained it to him asking if it was the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he replied. So I said he could pray it silently where only God would hear and asked if he would want to do it. He paused a moment and said, “Yeah,” again. And he prayed to receive Jesus. I said he could keep the booklet when he’d finished and he said “Cool.” I explained the Christian life to him and living “Inside Out.” I said the likelihood he would go to Heaven now was 100%. Trusting in Christ’s righteousness. Mia walked up then as I was still talking with a girl friend but he folded his arms not looking at her as if to signal not to interrupt and kept listening to me. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front of 20 Things God Can’t Do and “Just Ask” explaining how everything God was asking us to do He would gives the power to do if we would ask. “Cool, ‘preciate it,’ he said taking the book. I offered Mia a booklet then, getting her name, saying Marco was going to Heaven and she might want to catch up. She took it with a smile. “Preciate it,” he said a second time. And I headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance, God truly blessed. 100 students have trusted Christ this semester, which is more than ever before in that time period, all but one (who committed to Christ) prayed to receive Christ. In addition then Maxine trusted Christ at our table by the fireplace at the Giant City Lodge. I don’t know if she was a student but she is forgiven. There are three days left on campus as tomorrow I have a doctor appointment for my neck but we’ll have the Bible study tomorrow night.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you had a good day under the kind care of the Shepherd and Overseer of your soul.  Lexi & Juan each prayed with me to receive Jesus today and I had a good conversation with Mo a Muslim student who said he might come to Bible study next week. Had a short beard, rough skin, short brown hair. He took a copy of the Rose Publication “100 prophecies fulfilled by Jesus” after asking me what I thought the main difference was between the Bible and the Quran and I said predictive prophecy. I said I had only read the first 5 Surahs but I had recently gotten a copy in modern English as a gift and intended to read further. We agreed on many things about the propaganda of the present world.

Lexi was sitting on the 2^nd floor of the BIC. I got into the elevator when I first got to school intending to go to the third floor. But once inside I felt like I should go to the 2^nd floor, so I just pushed the other button too and got off. I found some Christian kids I talk to once in a while and they had not heard of Lee Strobel so I gave them The Case for Christianity Answer Booklet and kept walking and just a bit down on the north side of the south hall I met Lexi. She had jet dark hair and eyebrows that were the same width on either end. She wore a black top with spaghetti straps under a jacket and jeans and had Cleopatra hair, cute frank face. She was pretty reserved. It turned out she went to the Compass Church where lots of folks I know attend. She wanted to become a homicide detective and so when I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven she said after saying if it was in the future a bit, “I spent my career trying to help people.” She thought she had a 90-95% chance of going to Heaven. She knew Jesus had died to take away the sins of the world. So I explained the rest of the Gospel to her and how Jesus was the payment for our sins because we owed God something perfect for what we had done to others and the world (which was all His stuff). I explained His imputed righteousness to her and that we don’t go to Heaven because we are good but because Jesus is good and His righteousness is our righteousness. I explained receiving Jesus by faith and asked if she’d want to be forgiven for her sins trusting in Jesus (the circle on the right) where he lived inside her. “Or do you think something else?” I asked. “The one on the right,” she replied saying she would want to be forgiven. So I asked her if when she asked for forgiveness for her sins if she thought that God would forgive her because she was a good person and went to Church or if she thought she’d be forgiven because Jesus died for her and she was trusting in that. She replied that she had been an atheist for a lot of years but she had thought that she did not want to believe that there was just nothing when she died, and that if there was a hell she did not want to go there. “So you decided you believed in God,” I stated. She agreed. “Well, if you would want to trust now in Jesus to be forgiven for your sins so you could be sure you would go to Heaven there is a prayer you can pray,” I replied. I talked her through the prayer and asked if it was the desire of her heart. It was so I said she could pray it silently I said I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear and He would forgive her and live inside her, giving her all the strength she would need to live the Christian life. “Wanna do it?” “Yeah,” she replied taking the booklet and I said, “Just pretend I’m not even here.” She prayed then to receive Jesus. I began to explain the Christian life to her and asked if she had a Bible. She didn’t so I gave her one and she really liked it. I showed her the Where to Turn section and told her there were prophecies she could look up. I wrote her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I told her she could begin to read in John and explained the beginning of the chapter. I explained living “inside out” where we first ask God to transform us on the inside and then we do good things on the outside by the power of the Holy Spirit. I asked if she would like a book with answers to questions about Christianity in it. “That would be good because I talk to atheists and they say I’ll give you 20 reasons why there is not a God. Some are really angry.” I said I thought that for a lot of atheists it’s not so much that they don’t believe in God but that they are angry with Him. I explained that some people look at the glass as half empty, some as half full. For some there is too much beauty, love and order in the world for there not to be a God. For some there is too much destruction and evil for there to be a God. Some have been hurt and they are angry at God. I gave her a copy of The Case for Christianity Answer Book and showed her there were dozens of questions listed by topic that he answered. She thought it was great. I explained that trusting in the righteousness of Jesus now the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. I also gave her a copy of Bible Promises for You showing her the different topics. I gave her a Bible study and explained that and apologized for giving her so many books. “You’re good for giving me so many books,” she said. “Ok,” I replied. I told her I would keep her in my prayers until a year from spring and if I saw her around I’d say hi. She thanked me and I shook her hand and said, “Nice to meet you.” “Nice to meet you too,” she replied and I headed out.

Juan was sitting in the lunch room and he was a 5 by 5 Latino guy round like a sumo wrestler. He had a round face and a warm smile. He wore black pants and a Black Hawks jersey. He had stick straight hair. A bit longer on the top and had one sleepy eye so that sitting on his left his right eye did not really gaze at me. But looking straight on I did not notice. He regularly attended the Catholic Church. When I asked him what he would say to get into Heaven he said, “’Cause… hum. I’ve been a helpful person. I did everything that I could do to kindly help people. I respect You and I honor You.” He thought he had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. I asked him if he knew what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world, but he couldn’t think of anything. So I explained the Gospel to him, that Jesus had died and rose again and that the Mass at Church was to help him remember this symbolizing the body and blood of Jesus. His righteousness was imputed to him. He did not go to Heaven because he was good but because Jesus was good. I explained receiving Christ by faith and asked if he’d want to be forgiven or thought something else. “Forgiven,” he said. I said that if he wanted to trust in Jesus to be forgiven for his sins there was a prayer he could pray and I explained it, asking if it was the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he said frankly. I offered him the chance to pray it silently asking if he’d want to and he said, “Yeah.”  And he took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the power of the Spirit in us to live the Christian life and gave him a Bible Study and 20 Things God Can’t Do writing his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front and “Just ask” and “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front. I explained that trusting in the righteousness of Jesus now the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I shook his hand saying it was good to meet him and I’d pray for him. “Thanks,” he replied. “You too.” “Happy Thanksgiving,” I said as I walked away. “You too,” he replied warmly. “You got a lot to be thankful for this year because you know you are going to Heaven.” He grinned then and shook his head yes and I headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry today of you had a chance God truly blessed 98 students have trusted in Christ in just the first semester, this is more that I’ve ever seen trust Christ in one semester before and there is one more week. I hope there are 100 by the end of the fall term.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope ya had a great day walking with the Lord steadfast in the love of Christ. I had a good day on campus and Sam prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Sam was sitting in the Hall in the BIC the first person I got to talk to me today. She looked Hispanic, had long brown hair and a bump chin roundish face and dark black rimmed glasses. She was dressed pretty for school with chiffon black transparent selves in a black blouse with black dress slacks. She said she had another Bible study she went to but she’d do a survey. It seemed clear from what she said she was trusting in her good works in the hope she would go to Heaven. When I asked her what she would say to God to get into Heaven if she died and was asked why He should let her in she said, “I don’t know, I guess it’s up to His choice whether I’m worthy or not to get in.” When I asked her the percentage likelihood she would go to Heaven when she died she said, “80% I know there’s stuff I could improve.” She tuned right into the Gospel and when I asked what Jesus had done to forgive her sins she wasn’t real sure but said, “His resurrection?”. So I began to explain the Gospel and she turned right in listening to what Jesus had done for her. I explained, “You don’t go to Heaven because you are good but because Jesus is good and you’re connected to Him. Like if you marry a millionaire you got a million bucks or if you get adopted into a billionaires family you get to live in the mansion and drive the cars.” We receive by adoption the blessings of being adopted into God’s family where we received the sacrifice for our sins that paid God, the blood of Jesus that cleansed us and the righteousness of Christ that was too our credit. I asked her if she wanted to be forgiven trusting in Jesus or thought something else and she said, “Be forgiven for my sins with God inside me.” So I said, “It seems like you hadn’t had a chance to put this together before?” She nodded that that was true. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven trusting in Jesus there was a prayer she could pray and I walked her through it and asked if she’d like to pray it to be forgiven so only God would hear and she said, “Yeah.” She took the booklet then and I said, “Just pretend I’m not even here.” She then prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life living “Inside Out” where first we are transformed on the inside by the Spirit and we become good people than we do good things on the outside. I explained that trusting now in the righteousness of Jesus the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. I gave her a Bible Study and  20 Things God Can’t Do writing her name and the date and “forgiven” on the inside. And I wrote “Just Ask” and “By the Spirit’s Power” on the cover page. She thanked me and I told her I would keep her in my prayers until the spring of 2020 and then one year after that. She said, “Thank you.”  I said “Yeah,” and that I might not see her again since it was pretty random at school but I would see her in Heaven. She wished me well and I headed down the hall.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism if you had a chance, God truly blessed. I gave a book to a guy who’d received Jesus last year and had a long talk with girl who believed the necessity of baptism for salvation. I believe we should be obedient and be baptized but I do not believe without it we would die in our sins, salvation is by Grace through Faith in the atoning work of Christ as God. We talked most of an hour and I told her some things that would make her position difficult based on scripture.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today walking in the Light. I had a good day on campus, though I confess I’m running out of steam. Alex and later then Adam each prayed to receive Christ today, 

 Alex was the first person I talked to up on the 3rd floor of the BIC. He was sitting in the hall, his brown hair in a short conservative cut. He had a narrow jovial face with a little bit of the doughboy look to his cheeks and frank features. He was tall as me and slim, wore a grey hoodie and tan skinny jeans. When I asked him what he’d say to God to get into Heaven if God asked him why He should let him in he said, “I think I’ve been a good person so I’d probably say, I’ve been a good person.” He went on to say something like “Sorry you’ve probably gotten better answers.”’ I said that a lot of people say basically that, they might go on to talk about how they cared for their sick Grandma or something but they basically mean the same thing. “There’s an old Beatles song that goes 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 all good children go to heaven,” I sang dryly and said a lot of people believe that.  (“You never Give Me Your Money” Abby Road). He thought he had a 70% chance of going to Heaven and when I asked if he ever went to church he said he was a “christ-er” meaning he went Christmas and Easter. He was from a Lutheran background. He seemed like a real matter of fact guy but as I went through the Gospel he was really interested and listened. He remembered Jesus had died for the sins of the world. I explained that Jesus lived a perfect life for us and then was the perfect payment for our sin and his blood cleansed us so God could live inside us. “OK,” he said taking it in. I explained the imputed righteousness of God in Christ and that, “You don’t go to Heaven because you’re good because but because Jesus is Good and you’re connected to him. I went on to explain he was saved by faith and how your good stuff couldn’t fix your bad stuff. But that God could turn a bad thing into a good thing because He was all powerful and controlled the future. Finally I asked if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins trusting in Jesus or thought something else. “Yeah, I’d be forgiven,” he said as if it seemed like the best choice. So I said that if he’d want to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and after I talked him through it I asked if it was the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he acknowledged. I said he could pray it silently not that I’d hear him but God would hear and He would forgive him and live inside him giving him the strength to lie the Christian life and I asked if he’d like to do it and he said, “Yeah sure.” and he prayed to receive Jesus. He had a Bible but I gave him a copy of 20 Things God Can’t Do and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front saying he could remember. I also explained the Christian life living Inside Out, First God transforming us on the Inside, we become God men and then we do good things on the outside. So I wrote, Just Ask and By the Spirit’s Power on the inside. I gave him a Bible Study and explained that trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. He thanked me and said he had to get to class in about ten minutes so I said, “Thanks for your time.” “Yeah you too,” he said and headed down the stairs.

 Adam was sitting in the big connecting Science buildings lounge with his back against the glass southern wall. He told me his name and I said, “Like the original.” And he laughed and said “Yeah.” He looked a bit Latino had jet black hair shaved short on the sides and long on top pulled back into a short tail. He had kind of rounded pug nose and a rounded face, look looking’ kid. He wore a black stone earring in each ear. He wore grey sweats, kind of knit with black flex in them and a grey winter coat, black glasses with rectangular frames. I sat on the floor at his feet, “Like you’re a king” I said and he laughed. I asked him what he would say to God if asked, Why should I let you into Heaven and he said, “Why shouldn’t you?” “Yeah,” I said and later told him the reason was sin. He thought he had about a 70% chance to get into Heaven. He said he’d gone to a catholic church when he was a kid but he’d recently gone to a community Church because he’d worked there, I forgot to ask him what kind of job he’d had to do there. He took in the Gospel but he really didn’t seem to know it at all. When I asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sins he said, “He ate the forbidden fruit?” I said, “Nah that was the thing Adam did in the fall, in the garden.” “Oh Yeah,” he replied. So I went on to explain the Gospel and the payment for his sins, everything I had told Alex in a slightly different way, it always changes a bit. In the end I asked if he wanted to be forgiven and have Christ live inside him and he said, “Yeah, one hundred percent.” So I explained the prayer he could pray to be forgiven and said he could pray it, “Not so I would hear but God would hear and He forgive you and live inside you and give you the strength you need to live the Christian life.” I asked if he’d want to do it. “Yeah,” he replied and then checking to make sure he didn’t have to pray out loud he prayed silently and received Jesus. I told him then that if he would trust in the righteousness of God to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100% as I had explained earlier that Christ’s righteousness was to our credit, we were clothed with Jesus if we believed. I asked if he had a Bible. “I’ve been planning to get one,” he replied. So I said I could give him one if he wanted and he said, “OK.” I gave him one showing him the Where to Turn section and the Messianic Passages section. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven” in the front which he liked. I gave him a copy of 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “Just Ask” and “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front. I gave him a Bible study too and told him I would keep him in my prayers. He thanked me and I got up to go and said, “Have a good day.” “You have a better one. Hope I see you soon.” he replied. And I headed out.

 So thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance, God truly blessed. I also gave assurance of salvation and clarified the faith for a couple of different immigrant girls, one from Moldova and one from Ukraine who were already Christians. But I cleared some things up for them and a Muslim guy named Ammar took a Bible study on Jesus claim’s to be God. We had a good conversation though I think I offended him concerning Muhammad’s 9 year old wife at one point. But I apologized and we were cool after that.

 In Him,

Bob