Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Hope you have been being blessed. There was no school today so El and I met some of the peeps for lunch and I tromped around with them to estate sales as Ellen returned to work.  Got some wall-paper stripped at the end of the day for 3 hours.  But Wednesday Brian and Nick each prayed to receive Christ.

Brian was sitting in the MAC building upstairs at one of the bar height tables, looking down on the lounge.  He looked like Steve McQueen’s little brother, same hair cut and similar features and hair color.  He thought God would have to decide if he went to Heaven and wouldn’t know why he would be given eternal life.  He was raised Catholic but seemed disappointed that the Church had not answered his questions.  As we went through the Gospel, he asked me if he needed to confess his sins to a priest.  I explained things based on James 5:16.  After I had gone through the Gospel up to the death of Christ and His imputed righteousness he said, “I never knew that.”  He asked if he needed then to go to church to have his sins paid for.  I explained salvation by faith.  He wanted to be forgiven and prayed to receive Christ, but it was almost like he had never prayed before.  He asked afterwards who had written the prayer and I explained there was nothing magical about it but that what it said was what was important.  I told him he could write his own prayers and that some people journal their prayers and wrote them down.  We talked through some other questions he had that were not that unusual.  I gave him The Case for a Creator because he said he was into science, and a Bible study, and told him I’d pray for him.  We shook hands warmly and he thanked me.  After I had crossed over to another building I remembered he had said he only had a family Bible and I’d offered him one.  I walked back to find him reading The Case for a Creator and he seemed happy to get the bible and thanked me again.  Seemed like a nice guy.

Nick was sitting along the wall outside the cafeteria just killing time.  African American, he had a bearded chin and mustache and looked just a little bit like LeBron James, whom he said he’d like to play One on One against someday.  But maybe I just thought that because he mentioned Mr. James.  He had dark gray-black work boots on and a cap and hoodie on with a T-shirt.  His hair was in pencil-thin dreadlocks.  He went to a Baptist Church. I asked him why God should let him into Heaven and he said, “All the people I’ve helped.”  He didn’t seem to know the Gospel at all, but as I finished explaining how he could be saved by Faith in Jesus, His work on the Cross and resurrection from the dead, Nick said he wanted to be forgiven and he believed.  And he did pray to receive Jesus.  That was great.  I explained some more of the work of the Holy Spirit to him as I always try to do, and gave him a copy of Playing with Purpose to read and a Bible study.  I got his email to send him some stuff.  He was “Fly” by his own account and I think that was probably true, his jeans were randomly bleached and torn.  He had style.

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

In Him,

Bob Bollow
To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I had a great day telling the Gospel to students on Thursday and Brandon, Deonte and Abby all prayed to receive Christ.

Brandon was sitting along the wall on some chairs by the exit, right outside the cafeteria.  He’s African-American, shorter than me, stocky.  He had a cap on, a jacket and athletic shoes and a very neatly trimmed mustache and beard lining his jaw, block features.  He said he had only gone to church a few times in his life and in response to why God should let him into Heaven he thought, kind of taken aback, and said, “I’m not really sure.”  So I asked him if he wanted to know what the Bible said about it and he said he did.  So I went through the Gospel with him.  He was pretty serious through it, and when I asked him if he wanted to be forgiven he said he did.  So I said, “When I tell you the story that Jesus is God and died for your sins and rose from the dead, do you believe it?”  He said he did and so I said, “Well then, if you want to you can pray to ask God for forgiveness,” and showed him the prayer.  He wanted to pray and did.  After I asked if he had a bible and he said he did, it turned out it was his mom’s.  So I gave him one.  He said she went to church.  “So your mom’s a Christian?” I asked.  “Oh I don’t know about that,” he replied and took the Bible and the Student edition of the Case for Christ and a Bible study I walked him through a bit.  I asked him if he would like a book for his mom and he said, “Yes.”  So I gave him More than a Carpenter for him to give to her.  He had to run, so I told him to email me if he wanted another Bible study to read and I’d keep him in my prayers.  Please pray he finds a good Church near him and Christian fellowship.

Deonte was just chillin’ out on a couch chair near the student activities window.  He was up for talking and seemed extremely laid back.  He had a black jacket on with a camo patterned hood over his head.  He was thin, wide nose and sharp jaw line. T talked a bit slow.  Not in a slow-minded manner, just kind of easy-going.  He seemed quite bright.  He went to church regularly in Forest Park.  But he had not understood the Gospel and was trusting or hoping in his merit to go to Heaven.  When I asked him he said, “I did my duties on earth.”  But he was attentive to the Gospel and believed he had not been trusting in the work of Christ for eternal life.  “So would you like to ask God to forgive you based on what Jesus has done?” I asked. “I would,” he said and prayed the prayer quietly in his heart as I walked him through it. He was into the NBA, so I gave him a copy of Playing with Purpose on testimonies of NBA players and he took a Bible study from me too.  I got his email to send him stuff.

Abby was sitting on the smooth marble part of the floor outside one of the larger rooms they use for bureaucratic functions and meetings of that type, at the top of the stairs by the revolving doors outside the books store.  She had jeans on and boots.  Dark hair, looked Latina in complexion, had a round warm and friendly face.  She said she’d answer some questions, so I sat down with my back against the wall and began to slide on the smooth floor and had to sit up straighter.  She wants to be an OBGYN.  When I asked her what she’d say to God to get into Heaven she said, “I abided by your rules.”  This is, of course, impossible for us.  As I went through the Gospel with her I explained how the righteousness of Christ was to our credit (imputed) and she said, ‘Wow.”  So that was a good sign.  And in the end she wanted to be forgiven for her sins.  So I explained how she could ask God and receive His forgiveness praying silently in her heart and I showed her a prayer. She prayed to receive Jesus then and that was great. I gave her a copy of The Case for a Creator to read since she was into science.  I explained a Bible study to her and gave it to her to study.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for Evangelism if you had a chance.  God truly blessed and it lifted my heart.

In Him,

Bob Bollow
To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Hope you were blessed today.  I had a good day talking to peeps about Jesus.  Even though no one prayed to receive Christ today, I had a good talk with a guy Arman (r-mon) who grew up Muslim in India and then became an atheist for several years.  Now he said he was at the place where he did not know what to think, but by Muslim standards he had maybe a 20% chance of going to Heaven.  We talked all about Islam and I gave him a booklet my friend Hesham gave me about Jesus in the Quran.  After I explained the Gospel to him and talked to him about the differences between major religions, he was interested to read The Case for Christ. So I have him the book.  He wondered about evidence in terms of belief one way or the other.  It ended really amicably and I am hopeful God might draw him to himself.

I talked to a girl who did not believe in Heaven.  Vickie was a pretty brown-haired girl, with big eyes, a knit cap on and wearing a beige snow coat and leather ankle boots.  Unlike the other more or less atheistic students I talked to, when I asked her if there was a Heaven and what was the likelihood she would end up there she said, “If there is a Heaven, I don’t see why anyone should end up there.  We are all materialistic and basically only think about ourselves.”  (Most think they are good or say ‘zero percent’ based on belief)  She thought the idea that your rapist married you in the Old Testament was strange (in a nasty way) and I explained to her the social ramifications of being raped and the welfare of a woman.  I admitted to her it sounded pretty sketchy by modern standards, but in the ancient world it would keep women from being raped to begin with in a closed social community and forced the man to care for her, marry her and give her children.  I told her, “God has to work with what He’s got and make the best He can with it.”  She seemed to see that side of the social equation and took a booklet explaining the Gospel. I had only given it to her in brief.  I told her that it was really about love, and by God’s love working in us we could then love others.  I hope she inched a bit closer to the kingdom of God.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance.  I encouraged some Christians in their faith and talked up some of the peeps.  So some good work got done, though it always feels better when someone turns.

In Him,

Bob Bollow
To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Brothers and Sisters,
I hope ya had a great day walking with the Lord.  I had a good day walking about on campus and Jeremy prayed to receive Jesus.  He was sitting on the ground floor in the back of the BIC building, killing time while his girlfriend (Megan) was in class.  He’s an African-American with sharper features and jaw line, really slight build.  He’s a skater and wanted to open a skateboard shop in East LA where you can skate year round.  I guess there is a huge skater scene there.  He had a Bulls hat on and a lined blue windbreaker and athletic shoes.  He wasn’t into the NBA though (I guess the hats are stylin’).  He wasn’t a student but was interested to talk; I’m sure by the provocation of the Holy Spirit in his heart.  He told me later, “I wasn’t going to talk to you but then it was like I thought, let’s see what he has to say.”  He had thought of himself as a Child of God, saying why God should let him in; “Because man, I’m one of your children.  I haven’t done anything that wrong as far as I can think of.”  He hadn’t understood the Gospel or been trusting in the work of Christ, though he seemed to know a bit of the story.  But he could not even come up with how God had forgiven his sins.  He prayed to receive Jesus, at first saying he had read along with me.  But I said, “If you mean it, you need to pray it, not talk to yourself in your head.”  So then he prayed.  I had a pretty good interaction with him and he tried to act like not much was different than what he had believed already.  So I pointed out to him he had to trust in the name of Christ.  I said something like, “Say for some reason you make it out in LA.  You have me come out to show an old man the club scene. The Bulls are playing the Lakers and Derek Rose is at the club we are at and sees our Bulls hats.  He says he has some friends in LA that can’t make it to the skybox he got and wants to know if we are fans and want to come.  We are like “Sure” and he takes our names.  We go to the gate and say our names, but the woman at the gate says, ‘Who left you the tickets?’  We say, ‘oh yeah Derek Rose.’  She looks them up, hands them to us and we get in.  If we don’t say the name of Derek Rose we don’t get the tickets.  Just like with Jesus, if you are not trusting in His name you don’t get into the Sky Box.”  He liked the story and saw my meaning.  He took More than a Carpenter to read and a Bible study.  So I will keep him in my prayers and told him as much.  I’ll be praying he comes under the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry on campus and for evangelism today if you had a chance.  God was with me.

In Him,

Bob Bollow
To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I hope you were blessed today.  I had a good day on campus and Mike prayed to receive Jesus.  He was sitting in the hall in the BIC and killing some time between classes so he agreed to answer some questions.  Big dude, (he’s the center for the football team), sandy hair with a beard.  He was wearing a camouflage baseball cap and a hooded sweatshirt, jeans and work boots.  He was a nice guy and thought he might get let into Heaven because he’d helped a lot of people.  He goes to a Catholic church in Bolingbrook called St. Dominick.  He listened well to the Gospel and when I asked him if he would want to be forgiven or if God was more on the outside of his life he said, “Definitely forgiven!”  So I showed him a prayer he could pray and he went right to it.  I gave him a Bible study and got his email to send him some stuff.  I also gave him a copy of More than a Carpenter to read.  So that was great.

I had a long talk with Britney who wasn’t sure who God was or if He was personal or a force.  I would be grateful if you would say a prayer for her as I think talking to her nudged her closer.  She took The Case for Christ from me to read so I hope she will get into it.  She said she’d had some problems with depression, but her grandmother has been praying for her, so I hope talking to her broke through a bit.  She took my contact information.

Thanks for your prayer for the ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance.  We had 5 students come to Bible Study tonight and a couple more sitting in the lounge listening in, so that was good too.


In Him,

Bob Bollow
To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Hope your day was blessed.  I had a good day on campus talking for a while to some of the peeps I see often, which was actually great.  As for evangelism, though I walked around for about an hour before I could get anyone to talk to me, it seemed like God’s plan.  But at the end of the day there were a couple of people who were so grateful to hear the Gospel and be taught some things.  I was glad I had been able tell them the truth from the Lord.  Two different girls who were in Roman Catholic churches said they had believed in Jesus but hadn’t know the Gospel really, and had trusted in their works more at the beginning.  I am not sure if they began to trust in it from all I told them, but they were so grateful to know it seems likely something will change in their hearts or has.  I explained then that the booklet has verses that would help them explain their faith to someone.  When I show them the prayer they seem so interested in it I suggest to them that it is something they could pray to the Lord later just to be certain that they have told Him they are trusting in what Jesus did for them on the Cross.  They nodded like that would be a good idea.  I’m not sure how many peeps trust in Christ that way, but I hope it is more than I can be sure about on this side of Heaven.  Thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today.  I know God led me to at least two girls who really needed to hear it and thanked me several times for what I taught them.

In Him,

Bob Bollow


To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Hey hope ya had a great day walking with the Lord.  I had a really productive day on campus talking with the peeps.  Rilwan (Re-wan) and Tom prayed to receive Christ and Taylor committed to trust in the work of Christ to make her right with God and take away her sin.

Rilwan and Tom were sitting on a couple of bench boxes under the stairs in the PE building.  Both were dressed to head outside.  Tom had both his hoods over his head and Rilwan had a black and red stocking cap on, both bundled tight in coats.  Tom had some high-end red sneakers on and Rilwan had some nice workout shoes.  They were both African American.  Rilwan had wider features and a big smile.  Tom’s face was sharper with a bit of facial hair and he was more soft spoken.  Rilwan said he’d answer some questions first and Tom piggy backed onto the conversation.  When I asked them why God should let them into Heaven Rilwan thought and then kind of exclaimed, “I’ve sinned a lot.”  Then answering he said, “I deserve a second chance.”  Tom thought and just said “I don’t know.”  Neither thought they had a very good chance to go to Heaven, 40% and 50%, but Tom went to church every Sunday and Rilwan did once in a while.  They listened to the Gospel through the noise going by us to the doors.  With a bit of prompting, Rilwan remembered Jesus had died for sin but Tom couldn’t remember how his sin might be taken away.  Neither were trusting in Jesus and what He had done for them, but both said they wanted to be forgiven for their sins.  I told them they could pray if they wanted to believe, walking them through the prayer and both said they would.  I gave each of them a book to use following the prayer I had walked them through and each prayed.  I explained that if they had truly trusted in Christ and what He had done they could be 100% sure they were going to Heaven.  I wanted to make sure they understood and they got it.  I gave them Bible Studies and gave Rilwan a copy of Playing With Purpose on testimonies of NBA players (he said he’d wanted to meet one) and he opened it right away to look through it.  I gave Tom More than a Carpenter so I hope God can use that in them and begin to speak to them through the teaching at their churches by His indwelling Holy Spirit.

Taylor was playing around on her phone but said she would answer some questions.  She was sitting in the MAC arts building, had on yoga pants and boots, a purple shirt and a jacket.  Dark sandy hair and fair skin, hazel eyes and sharper features.  She said her dad and her had decided they should get back to church for Lent, so I guess that put her of a mind to answer some questions with me.  When I asked her what she would say to God for Him to let her into Heaven she said, “Went to Catholic school my whole life, been religious.  I never got my confirmation but I think You should still let me in.”  As I went through the Gospel with her she said little things in agreement and also things like, “Oh I see,” kind of realizing what things meant.  She said she wanted to be forgiven but said “Well, I’ll do this later, I can keep this right?” when I showed her the prayer.  But said she agreed with it, and she said it in a way I felt she would pray alone.  So asked her, “Do you believe Jesus is God and died for your sins and rose from the dead?” She said, “Yes.”  “And do you trust in His sacrifice to make you right with God?” She said, “Yes” again.  So I said “The Scripture says if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart you will be saved.  Sbased on your confession, I can tell you your sins are forgiven.”  I talked to her about the work of the Holy Spirit to give her the power to live the Christian life.  She already had a symbolic view of the mass so I encouraged her, next time she went to church, to use the time to be thankful and have joy knowing because Jesus had died for her she was forgiven.  She really liked that idea. I gave her a Bible study and More than a Carpenter to read.  She also gave me her email and I sent her some stuff tonight.  I took her hand to shake it and squeezed it saying, “Thanks for talking with me.  Have a blessed Lent.”  And she thanked me saying, “This was great.”

Friday I lost track of time to write what happened and the weekend flew by, but Marcus, a Filipino guy, committed his life to Christ sitting in the Cafeteria against the windows.  He had a mop of slicked, stick-straight hair on top, with the sides of his head shaved and glasses, full lips and wider nose.  When I asked him what he would say to God if asked “Why should I let you into Heaven he said, “What could I have done to be a better person in life?”  He thought he’d have about a 70% chance to get into Heaven.  He listened attentively to the Gospel and was glad to know he could be forgiven for his sins and said he would like to be.  I asked him, “When you pray for forgiveness, because something goes sideways, are you thinking you are good and go to Church and stuff and God is forgiving so He will forgive you?  Or have you been thinking Jesus died for me so I know I will be forgiven?”  “I never really thought about it,” he said.  So I told him that was what he needed to trust in, and I walked him through the prayer as well and asked him similarly if he believed.  He said he did and trusted in Christ.  Then his ride he had been watching out the window for came and he hurriedly had to pick up his stuff.  I gave him More than a Carpenter to read too and a quick heads up through a bible study.  He said he would pray on his own as I talked him through the work of the Holy Spirit, and thinking of the mass as a time to be thankful and remember he was forgiven, which he really liked.  All too quickly, but I had to let him go.  He was visibly happy and thanked me and ran for the door.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance.  God was with me and helped me.

In Him,

Bob Bollow

To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Hey hope ya had a great day.  Things went great on campus and Britany and Omari prayed to receive Christ.  Britany was the first girl I talked to today.  She had shoulder length hair, loosely curled.  She is African American, wears glasses, looked older and professional somehow.  I almost did not talk to her thinking she was not a student, but once we began to talk she seemed her age.  She said she wanted to become a famous artist.   I reminded her many of them were starving during their lifetimes and she laughed.  When I asked her what she would tell God to get Him to let her into Heaven she said, “I have tried to be the best person I could be, believed in God my whole life and loved people that loved me.”  After she said that, Luke 6:33 drifted through my head, “And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.” She had not been to church since she was a kid but she was sure she would go to Heaven.  As I went through the Gospel she had not remembered it.  But I could tell she had begun to believe as I went through the Bible verses with her.  I asked her if she would like to be forgiven and she said she would and she listened as I showed her a prayer she could pray and then she prayed it silently.  “I feel so good just from praying that,” she said.  I gave her a Bible Study and More than a Carpenter to read and explained the Holy Spirit’s work in her life.  She gave me her email to send her some stuff and thanked me for talking with her and I said I would see her in Heaven.  She was really nice.

Omari was watching some kind of interview on his computer as I walked up and simultaneously texting on his phone.  He had a cap over his ears, had sharp features for an African American guy, bit of facial hair, looked kind of like Rick Fox who used to play for the Lakers only shorter and smaller.  But he said he’d answer some questions.  He seemed to be a Christian in his answer to what he would tell God if asked why he should get into Heaven.  “I believe everything I do is influenced by God and Religion and He’s my savior.”  He was less sure he was going to Heaven somehow though.  Just a 75% chance he said.  So not even a C-grade at a Big-Ten school.  I went through the Gospel with him and he seemed to know it in part.   But he turned off his interview to listen and took it all in.  I asked him if he would want to be forgiven and he said yes.  So I asked him, “When you are asking for forgiveness, what are you thinking?  That you are a good person and go to Church and God is good and will forgive you.  Or are you thinking that Jesus died for you and so you are sure you will be forgiven?”  “I’m thinking 2 things,” he replied.  “One that He is forgiving and Two that I tried.”  I pointed out that that was not why God let people into Heaven, but because Jesus had died for their sins.  It dawned on him then he had not really been trusting in Christ and I told him he needed to ask for forgiveness based on what Christ had done for him and trusting in that, He agreed and he prayed and accepted God’s forgiveness based on Jesus.  He’d said he’d like to have lunch with LeBron James, so I gave him the book Playing with Purpose on believers in the NBA and a Bible study, barely getting in an explanation of the work of the Holy Spirit as Omari ran for his ride.  But enough to explain how living the Christian life was done trusting in God’s power and it did not please God otherwise, as it done from faith.  He went to Rock of Ages in the city though, so I think that’s a good church from what I know of it.

Thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance.  God was with me and blessed my time.
In Him,
Bob Bollow

To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Hope ya had a good day.  Here in Chicago it is freakishly cold and windy…but not snowing.  So hey, pick your poison.  I had a really great day on campus talking to peeps and Vanna prayed to receive Christ.  Also, two girls Krisha and Diarra trusted Christ saying they would pray later, so at least there is a seed planted there.  Krisha was going to attend a Bible Study.  Hopefully she will go.  I had some other great conversations and walked around with Ana, a girl who prayed to receive Jesus with me last semester and then got married in December.  She is in the Army band and her now husband Asa, who is a Christian is stationed in Hawaii.  The long distance relationship has been a real strain and she needed to talk.  So I walked around with her as she hung up flyers (her job at school).  Please pray for her marriage as she is having a hard time with them apart.

Vanna was sitting on a bench seat on the second floor by the bank.  She had a 4 month old baby boy (Nikilo), saying she was at school so she could be better for him.  She looked Latina and said her father was Baptist and mother was Catholic.  She has curly dark hair and she was wearing Yoga pants and a stretch top and sneakers.  As I went through the Gospel with her she said, “I gotta get back into Church”.  I asked her why God should let her into Heaven and she said “I feel like…I know I messed up as a person but I mean there’s worse people out there…”  She hadn’t known how God took away her sins, but was grateful to hear the Gospel and that the perfection and sacrifice of Christ covered her sins.  She wanted to pray to be forgiven and prayed to receive Christ.  So that was really great.  I gave her a copy of More than a Carpenter to read and a Bible study and got her email to send her stuff.

So thanks so much for your prayers for the ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance.  God really blessed and guided me.

In Him,

Bob Bollow

To donate to our college ministry:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Third-Watch-Ministries-Nfp

April 6, 2015

“And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament;

and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.”  Daniel 12:3 KJV

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Hope you have been well.  I have had a good semester.  This, in part, because of the realization that the letter a lawyer wrote for me to the administration of the school to get the cops to stop hassling me about doing Evangelism seemed to be working.  It has allowed me to feel like I can talk to students in some of the main thoroughfares I had been avoiding.  I had been kind of “painting the corners” to use a baseball term for pitchers.  (Hey it is spring!)  I’ve had some great conversations with students who have come to Christ. 

More recently, I had kind of an odd set of questions from an older, married nursing student (she looked 25 or so).  She said she believed in Jesus as her Savior and went to a church I knew to be reasonably sound, but of a denomination that probably does not encourage Evangelism.  So I just briefly showed her the points in the booklet I often use, offering it to her as a gift and saying she could use it to share her faith.  She took it politely.  When I mentioned many Roman Catholic Students had prayed with me to receive Christ, she said, with just a bit of an “of course you must know” air, “Don’t you think most Roman Catholics know Jesus?”  “I don’t know,” I replied, “I don’t know most Roman Catholics.”  Caught in her own stereotype, she backed off some and changed the topic to C.S. Lewis and his writing.  I’m not sure enough about where she was going with her next round of vague statements to comment on them, but I do think that there is kind of a creeping idea in American Christianity that Evangelism is unnecessary to groups of presumed Christians.  I have wondered, in part, where it has come from. 

I recently heard a sermon at the church I have been attending where the pastor affirmed the text Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence.  The problem is that Lawrence is a 17th century French Catholic.  He was born after Luther’s death and the Reformation was well established in Europe.  Lawrence joined a monastery of his own volition and, one would have to assume, took the Romanist position on Salvation by Works.  In Roman Catholicism, man is not completely sinful but has (as Aristotle would suggest and I also have had an Islamic student tell me) a “Spark of the Divine” in him.  So you are capable of Good Deeds.  In fact, if you are given an act of penance by a Roman Catholic Priest in the confessional, doing it “restores” your justification.  Such as it is, Roman Catholic doctrine does not explicitly offer Assurance of Salvation.  But my experience is not an accurate demographical slice of the student body, as I believe God is leading me to those who have yet to turn to Christ.  Some of these may attend the Roman Catholic Church, but they do not strictly believe it’s teachings.  I have discovered this is also true of a fair number of priests.  Our society basically preaches that everyone who believes in God goes to Heaven if they are “Good”.  Yet we know that, even were this possible, we are not good.  Luke 18:19 “And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.” We preach to all because all need to believe on Christ’s work to be saved.

I share the Gospel with about 450 kids in a school year.  I am primarily a Contact Evangelist, less so a discipleship person.  Discipleship, I believe, is the job of the Local Church.  If I had to disciple people (I do disciple some who come to Bible study) I imagine I could realistically be earnestly in the lives of about 10-20 people in a given year.  The energy drain would mean I could share the Gospel with about half as many people – maybe.  Last year about 110 peeps prayed with me to receive Jesus.  So far this year about 100 have prayed (as of today).  Nearly all of them attend church.  Long ago I had to decide if I should preach to those I knew I would not disciple.  I have since realized that every pastor I know preaches to those he will not disciple.  If he preaches a salvation message, he has no idea who will hear or if they have turned unless he does an alter call, which is almost never done anymore.  Almost no one is preaching the Gospel to those they intend to disciple.  And if this discipleship was a requirement, all media Evangelism, through radio or even a live mic to a large group, would be disallowed. 

Philip did not disciple the Ethiopian Eunuch.  So to answer 2 typical questions: 1) How’s it going?  It is going great and I am exhausted.  & 2) Are you having on-going conversations?  I talk to some students in the halls again and email a Bible study to most and encourage them to do an on-line subscription to a daily devotional.  I give a Bible Study to everyone who prays with me to receive Jesus, a book if they want one of several I carry and a Bible if they do not own one.  I pray for each one of these people each night for at least a year.  The rest falls to Churches to be winsome enough to bring the converted in.  That is not our ministry to influence.  I hope and pray that by the Spiritthere is growth, since that is the only way growth is described in Scripture.  Discipleship or hanging out with a believer younger or less mature to guide their life is not really seen in the scriptural text.  For example, the Deacons of Acts do not seem to have been “discipled” by the Apostles, but the Spirit of the early church seems to have raised them up. 

So we are still excited that God has used us this year and many have understood the Gospel and prayed to receive Jesus.  We could not do this without your prayers and generosity.  We are so grateful for your kindness in this and your help.

New Believers 2014-2015  .   Berto, Jake, Kaichelle, Kayla, Jose, Arielle, Dustin, Matt, Robert, Kiara, Jevante, Kiera, Rashundra, Monique, Lonie, Aleena, CJ, Burnelle, Lorn, Andrew, Daniella, Ana, Chelsea, Maria, Caitlan, Zam, Nettie, Courtney, Christian,  Daniela, Kayla, Adriana, Ruby, Leesha, Paola, Cody*, Atche, Sabrina, Sheridan,   Mackenzie, Dannielle, Jason, Dontate, Michael, Kialah, Ryan, Jordin, Phabian, Jeanna,   Paul, Eden, Loni, Jake, Michael, Deonte, Zachary, Sandra, Angela, Alex, Sean, Allie*, Remik, Conrad, Jorge, Jade, Eric, Shaq, Antoine, Maria, Christian, Victoria, Robert,    Sheljo, Tiera, Jacob, Keith, Tara, Zquan, Danny, Joe, Magali, Desiree, Britany, Omari, Marcus*, Rilwan, Tom, Taylor*, Mike, Jeremy, Brandon, Deonte, Abby, Brian, Nick, Gabrielle, Rhema, Chris, Kenya, Daniela, Macick, Jithin, Anthony, Izzy, Zach, Joe, Nicole, Madeline and Tom*. (*committed but did not pray with me)

May you find comfort & hope this Spring, resting in the love of our risen Savior!

In Him,  Bob & Ellen