Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed. I had a good day on campus, Daniela and  Ashley each prayed with me to receive Christ. I had a good conversation with Natalia who was open and took The Case for Christ to read.

Daniela was waiting for her friend to get out of class sitting in the chairs leading into the tunnel to the PE building out of the BIC. She did a survey with me to pass the time. She had braces on her teeth and dark brown shoulder length hair, was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and jeans. When I asked her what she would say to get into Heaven she said, “”Cause I really really want to go… I don’t know, I feel like for 20 years my only goal was to get into Heaven, if I don’t get in you’ll completely crush me.” She said this a bit tongue and cheek but I think she was sincere in her desire to go to Heaven and wasn’t sure how that worked. She thought she had a 50/50 chance to get in. She listened closely to the gospel and had a good sense of humor. As I spoke she’d reply and tuck her hair behind her ears. Her friend showed up but got interested in her phone and politely waited for Daniela to finish. She knew Jesus had died to take away her sins. I explained how this made it possible for Christ to live inside her and that His righteousness was hers as a gift from God. I asked her if she would want to be forgiven for her sins with God living inside her and she meekly said, “I would want God inside me.” I said if she wanted to she could ask God for that and I talked through the prayer with her. She didn’t want to pray out loud but I assured her praying silently was better as it was just between her and God. She silently prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to her then, telling her about the fruit of the Spirit as a kind of Christian super power where God could transform us on the inside and then we would have the power to do things on the outside. I gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do and wrote By the Spirit” her name and the date and “forgiven” in the front. I then told her everything God was asking her to do He would give her the power to do. I told her when the time in the service for the Mass came that it was symbolic of His body and blood commemorating that He had died for her and she could just take the time to say “thank you” because she was forgiven. I explained if she was trusting in the righteousness of Christ to be her righteousness that the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. She had joy in that I think.  I gave her a Bible study as she got up to go realizing with some urgency her friend had been waiting. “Thank You” she said and headed out.
Ashley was waiting for an appointment with a teacher and did not have much time. She said her “Religions class” had provoked some questions. So I began explaining the Gospel to her as she sat on the edge of the next little lounge east of where we have Bible Study. She wore jeans tucked into over the knee boots and wore a cardigan sweater over a blouse. She had straight black shoulder-length hair. She was African American, had smaller features and  a pretty face. She was unsure how God took away her sins. So I took out a booklet to show her some bible verses. I got through the gospel entirely and she had to run to her appointment and wanted to be forgiven so I explained she needed to receive Christ’s forgiveness and read through the prayer with her. “Did you pray that as I read,” I asked, “Yes I read it with you.” “Amen?” “Amen,” she replied emphatically. I explained living inside out quickly and just as quickly gave her the student edition of The Case for Christ. “Can I keep this?” she hurriedly asked. “Yes, keep it. It might help some questions in class.” I gave her a Bible study too. “Thank you so much!” she said hurrying down the hall. “You’re welcome,” I said after her and heading off.
So Thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance, God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope ya had a great day walking with Jesus. I  a great day on campus and 3 students prayed with me to receive Jesus. Jacob, Terri and Victoria each prayed with me to receive Christ as savior.

Jacob was sitting on the second floor of the BIC waiting to go into class playing a mindless game on his phone. I say mindless as he answered all the survey questions while finishing up a round without a hitch. As I went through the Gospel he began to pay attention and slipped the phone in his pocket. He was a small statue guy, pretty thin too, wore jeans and a jacket and looked Latino; with sharp features and short dark stick straight hair, the front combed back. He said he went to Church every week with his parents. When I asked him what he would say to God if asked why He should let him into Heaven he said, “‘Cause I tried my best to care about everybody, help everyone when I can.” He thought he’d have an 80% chance of going to Heaven. He listened to the Gospel and knew Jesus had died to take away his sins. I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven for his sins and he seemed to want to be, he wasn’t real solid in his response. I said to him, “Well you know you are a kid and grow up in the Church and you feel fine there, nothing bugs ya. But when you grow up you have to make a decision on what you believe for yourself as an adult.” So I read through the prayer with him and asked him if it was the desire of his heart and he said it was so I said he could pray asking God for his forgiveness. “How would you do it?” he asked. I said he could pray the prayer silently in his heart and God would hear and forgive him, “Just pretend I’m not even here,” I said. He took the booklet then and prayed. I gave him 20 Things God Can’t Do and explained living by the Spirit’s power writing his name and “forgiven” in the front and gave him a symbolic view of the mass saying when he took it he could just say, “thank you”. He had to run to class, the hall had emptied so I had not time to say more but I gave him a Bible study and told him I would pray for him and he thanked me and headed off to class.

Terri is an older black woman she had a parka on and khaki green pants and a flannel shirt. Her hair was braided in two think braids on the top of her head. She had a frank face. She was articulate and was at school to study video production thinking she might try to make some money on YouTube. When I asked her what she would say to get into heaven she said, “I would say, ‘I have tried to be a good person all my life, on that note I believe that you should let me in.'” She thought she had a 90% chance of going to Heaven. She was not sure how God took away her sins simply repeating what I had said so far, “He lives inside me so that’s how He forgives me.” This is obviously not the answer to the question, “So how does God take away your sins so He can live inside you.” I just said, “Well, this is how it works.” and began to explain the gospel, with each thing I said she adopted it as her own and I affirmed that, learning as we went. She enjoyed listening and at one point stopped me, asserting that “people could not just say they were saved and live anyway they wanted” and I agreed saying that would mean they were liars. That people might backslide into a bad place for a time and we could not judge their hearts but you should look like what you say you are. She agreed. So I asked her if she wanted to be forgiven with God living inside her, since she’d just said she’d hoped she was a good person and hadn’t seemed to know the Gospel. She said she did, so I offered her the prayer, talking her through it saying she could pray it quietly and God would hear, asking would she like to? “Oh yeah,” she replied. Then she took it and prayed. She seemed to pray it rather quickly so I asked if she’d prayed and she said yes. I explained the Christian life living inside out and by the Spirit’s power. I gave her the Book Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “Forgiven” inside. I gave her a Bible Study to read saying, “God Bless you.” “Alright have a good day.” she said.

Victoria was sitting up on the 3rd floor lounge the windows of which look out over the MAC arts outside concert area. She was dressed to the 9’s in over the knee leather boots and nice, high neck dress with a necklace. Her hair was in ringlets of curls highlighted light brown and she had long nails with rhinestone bling. Her small nose with a gem stone on the left side faced me; she was pretty, fair skin petite features. She went to a church that met in what had been a theater. I asked her what she would say to God if He asked why He should let her into Heaven and she said, “Oh my gosh that’s a really good question…” then thinking, “I would say because I love you.” She thought she had a 50/50 chance of going to Heaven. She listened to the Gospel and liked the stories it seemed. I was not sure if she had trusted in Christ and asked her and it seemed from what she said she wanted to be the kind of person who was trusting in Christ but felt like it was on again off again. I walked her through the prayer for forgiveness explaining it was asking God to make her the kind of person He wanted her to be, by God’s power living inside her by the Spirit. I asked if that prayer was the desire of her heart and she said it was so I asked if she’d had the chance to do that before, to receive forgiveness, and she said, “No”. So I said she could pray silently right there and be forgiven and asked her if she’d like to and she said, “I would.” and so I gave her the booklet and she prayed. I explained living by the Spirit asking for God to change her from the “Inside Out” and gave her 20 Things God Can’t Do writing “By the Spirit’s power” in the front and the date and “forgiven”. I gave her a Bible Study on ways Jesus claimed to be God. She gave me her e-mail to send her some stuff. And she thanked me and I headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed and the nearness of God was your good. I had a good day on campus and Kam prayed with me to receive Christ. Please pray for Shelly, a black girl (straight shoulder length hair, pretty smile) who is an agnostic after she felt at 18 God had allowed some bad things to happen to her. I gave her some Rose Publications on why believe the Bible and who I am in Christ after talking to her for some time. She wanted to keep the booklet with the Gospel in it I had gone through and admitted I had refuted one of her arguments. I left her with the thought she had not been entirely fair blaming God for the events in her life. She said she felt like she had been devoted to Him but had not received Him or been baptized. “It’s like you did not take the Doctor’s prescription and then blamed him for the disease.” That gave her pause, I think, as she thought of some action she had been responsible for outside the will of God that had led to some of the events of her life. Her community is ubiquitous with promiscuity so it was a fair guess she had not been obedient.
 

Kam was sitting in the MAC arts building lounge with his back against the gallery space working on a laptop in his lap. He’s African American and was wearing a faded red hoodie, his hair was short on the sides and combed into a defined wave cut on top. He had a clean cut beard. He said he played basketball and football. I normally would not have bothered someone working on a lap top but I’d only had a couple people to talk to all day so I gave it a shot. He said he’d answer some questions. When I asked him what he would say to God if asked why He should let him into Heaven, he said, “Throughout my life I’ve always tried to be in someone else’s footsteps before judging them.” He had gone to church when he was a kid but recently said he had decided to get more into it. This is something several people have said to me before praying to receive Christ. It seems to me like this is God beginning to draw them to Himself before he sends me around to talk to them to clearly explain the Gospel. He was very serious in listening to the Gospel so I let that guide my tone with him and explained everything through. When I asked him, “What was the big thing Jesus had done to take away your sins?” he thought for a second and guessed “baptism”. So I said that was symbolic and went on to describe what Jesus had done for him living a perfect life and dying for him and rising again, imputing His righteousness to those who believed. He said he wanted to be forgiven. I asked him if he believed Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead. He thought for a moment and said he did. So I said if he wanted to he could receive the forgiveness God was offering him by faith and talked him through the prayer, saying he could pray it silently. “This?” he said pointing at it, “Pray?” I said again he could pray it silently and asked if he would like to and he said, “Yeah.” He prayed then to receive Christ by faith and gratefully kept the booklet afterwards. I explained the life in Christ to him then, he said they had a Bible that had been “passed down” so I offered him one of his own and put his name in the front with the date and wrote forgiven under it and said, “The day after Martin Luther King died you found life.” He smiled at that. I gave him a Bible study and the 20 Things God Can’t Do book writing “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front and showed him some of the verses. I got his email. He thanked me then and I said I would keep him in my prayers every night for the next year and he thanked me again and shook my hand. I headed out and then went back prompted somehow to give him  Bible Promises for You book and he thanked me again for that and I left.

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

Blessings,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today and you felt the nearness of God. I had a good day on campus. Did some “break-up with your psychologically disturbed now ex-girl-friend counseling” with Jake who had prayed to receive Jesus earlier this year (he was pretty heartbroken as the girl had cheated on him, cut school Monday in a zombie state and cried a lot, he was sleeping with her so that gave me a chance to explain why God said not to do that). And Tony prayed with me to receive Jesus.

Tony was sitting on the couches right outside the cafeteria just chillin’ out. He was wearing a winter cap and dressed in black workout clothes, had a bit of facial hair here and there. He was running and jumping for the track team. Small in stature, nice face deep smile lines around his mouth. He went to church. When I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven he said, “Because I did a lot of great things when I was on earth for people, for others.” He was sure he would go to heaven when he died. I began to go through the gospel with him and asked him what the big thing Jesus did to take away his sins so God could live inside him and he said, “He died.” So he knew the message a bit. I explained that what he had said was good to do but did not get him into heaven but trusting in Jesus and what HE had done and His righteousness did. He wanted to be forgiven for his sins but realized he had not been trusting in Christ. He admitted with a smile, it was true he’d though he would be good enough when I asked if he thought he’d done enough good things and God would be cool and forgive him. So I said he could change that by a simple prayer and trust in Jesus and I talked him through the prayer to receive Christ, asking if he wanted to pray it silently so God could hear. “Yes,” he said. He prayed then to receive Jesus. He had a Bible so I explained living by the power of the Spirit. I gave him the book 20 Things God Can’t Do. And in writing his name and the date, April 4 and “forgiven” realized MLK had died today. “Martin Luther King died today,” I said. ‘The day he died you were forgiven, pretty cool, and he agreed that was true and grinned. I got his e-mail to send him some stuff and said I would pray for him until next Spring and got up to leave and he said, “Appreciate it.” And I said, “Your welcome man,” and headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed in the Lord. I had a good day on campus and Peter prayed with me to receive Jesus. Another guy Ben seemed very close, (a Christmas and Easter Christian) saying he’d think about it but thought he did believe Jesus was God and died for his sins and rose from the dead. “Seems like a great thing… I never took it for myself.” he said and he thanked me. Clean cut nice looking kid with a COD sweatshirt on sitting in the MAC.

Peter was sitting in the Science building in the hall at the end of the day. He had about a half hour before class and could talk a bit. He had skinny jeans on, tall thin, wearing a plaid shirt. He looked a bit like Waldo of “Where’s Waldo” fame (a lot of guys look like that dude it seems). He had like brown hair with a curly mop of hair cut very short on the side. His glasses were frameless on the bottom, nice smile.  He said he went to Church on Christmas and Easter. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and were asked why He should let him into heaven. He said, “I have no idea… I mean I’m an eagle scout, I help people, we’re supposed to design a project to help people, model the life of Christ, I followed His guidelines.” When I asked him the percentage likelihood he would get into heaven he said, 60%. I’ve no idea what the passing… [grade]. I’ve sinned before I think everybody sins.” So I began to tell him the Gospel and he was very enthusiastic, which was great, it seemed then like God was working in his heart and it turned out He was. I would finish a point and he would say, “Cool.” or “That’s awesome.” Or “That’s so cool.” I actually thanked him at one point unconsciously. It slipped out, I was just grateful he was believing. At the end I asked him if he would want to be forgiven with Christ living inside him or if he’d thought he was a pretty good guy and hoped things would work out. “Well before I would have said as you said, the second one but now after listening to this I realize I should say I believe Jesus has died for me.” So I said if he wanted to there was a prayer he could pray telling God that and he could be forgiven trusting in Christ and after taking him through it I asked if he’d like to pray it and he said, “Sure.” He prayed in a barely audible volume then and received Christ as his savior. That was really great as I’d been walking around for 2 and half hours with only one optimistic contact with Ben. He did not have his own Bible so I gave him one showing him the “Where to Turn” section to which he said, “That’s awesome.” I wrote his name in the front and the date and “forgiven” under it and he thanked me. I explained the Holy Spirit’s power to live the Christian life and wrote “By the Spirit’s power” in the front of 20 Things God Can’t Do and gave him a Bible Study. Then he had to run to class saying he’d try to make the Bible Study some time. I thanked him for talking to me and headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

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

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

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

In Him,

Bob

Third Watch Ministries, NFP                                                      Bob & Ellen Bollow

P.O. Box 1283                                                                                      March 10, 2018

Wheaton, IL 60187-1283  

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

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

New Believers 2017-18

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

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

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

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

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

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

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

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

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

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

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

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

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

In Him,

Bob