Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I hope you had a good day today walking in the Spirit.  No bureaucrat spotted me to call the cops at school today, so I escaped without harassment and Brittany came to Christ.  Blonde girl, nice kid.  She thought she would go to Heaven because she was a practicing Roman Catholic.  But when I asked her, “How does God take away your sin? You know like what is the big thing God did that took away the sins of the world?”  She replied, “I don’t know.”  So I said, “Well, it has to do with Jesus.”  And I went through the Gospel with her.  In the end she said she wanted God to live inside her and be forgiven and prayed for just that.  I gave her the little booklet I’d scribbled all over and a Bible study. She also took the student edition copy of The Case for Christ.

I had a couple of other good conversations today and had one student insist that because he had given me 5 minutes of his time I should then take an hour and 20 minutes of mine out to watch some History channel thing on the God particle.  I might watch it, but the History Channel’s stuff is so horribly inaccurate in my experience, I doubt I will get very far in b4 they have said several things I know to be false.  Sadly, in his case, he had made up his own shtick involving Karma, insisting his good deeds outweighed his bad ones.  If his math on the time I owed him as opposed to the time he’d given were anything like his evaluation of his good deeds, I’m sure there is a lot of red on his ledger.  But then there is on everyone’s, no matter what the History channel says about particles.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God gave me cover, led and blessed.

In Him,
Bob Bollow

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I hope you day was blessed.  I had a good day on campus talking with students and Frangela {friends call her Fran}.  She was sitting by the bookstore and I was more or less on my way out.  But she said she would do a student survey for the Bible study group and we talked.  She had stick-straight black hair, past her shoulders and very dark skin, African American, thin features. She said she had most recently gone to a Bible Church not far from school.  She thought of herself as God’s child but she did not know how God took away her sins.  So I went through the Gospel with her which was novel to her.  She said she wanted to be forgiven.  When I asked her if she had ever asked God to forgive her sins based on what Jesus had done she said, “No.”  So I walked her through the prayer at the back of the booklet I use, and after asking her if it was the desire of her heart and she said it was I said, “So you could pray this right now and receive forgiveness for your sins quietly in your head like I’m not even here.”  And she said, “Ok.”  Then she stopped and said, “Right now?”  And I said, “Sure.”  So she prayed to receive forgiveness by Christ’s death on the Cross.  I gave her a copy of The Case for a Creator, since that was the book she picked, and a Bible study.  I explained the Fruit of the Spirit to her as the way to live the Christian life.  She thought she might have heard of it before so I wrote down the passage [Galatians 5: 22+23].  The Bible thinks of us like we’re trees [Psalm 1:3] and trees produce fruit, even a pine tree produces pine cones.  The fruit God wants to produce in us is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”; This is how we live the Christian life, not by just trying harder but by asking God by His Holy Spirit to give us more of any of these attributes when we lack them. Then I left campus grateful not to be harassed by the cops.

I had a great time explaining the Gospel to Kevin, too.  He was taking a Philosophy course on world religions and was really interested in the Gospel, though he had gone to Church as a kid he hadn’t heard it explained that way.  I also gave him The Case for Christ student edition as he said he might want to have a relationship with God and would think about it.  Several times he said, “Oh!” in kind of a “Now I get it” way.  I will be praying for him and Abby, a girl on Thursday who was very close to committing her heart to Christ.  She was a cute, curly-haired kid who was an Usher at her Presbyterian church, sitting Indian-style in the sunlight outside last week.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for Evangelism today if you had a chance.  God blessed the work of preaching the Gospel.

In Him
Bob Bollow

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
How was your day walking with the Lord?  I had a really god day on campus and Jewellel [pronounced Jewel] and Brian came to Christ.

Jewellel was laying on the floor against a section of the wall that came out a bit with her knees bent, wearing big sunglasses and ear buds in her ears from an Ipod.  She’s black, has straight hair, had faded bleached-knee blue jeans on, cute kid.  I asked her if she wanted to do a survey and she hemmed and hawed a bit so I asked her, “Do you know how to get to Heaven?”  She admitted she didn’t so I asked, “Do you want to know?” She hesitated and said she did.  So I sat on the joined chairs that made kind of a bench at her feet against the wall and started going through the Gospel with her, explaining that she would have to be perfect to go to Heaven, but she wasn’t.  That would leave Hell for her and everyone else too, so God became a man, Jesus, to live a perfect life for her.  I explained how Jesus was the source of all life and when He died it restored life to the world.  “You know how when someone does something cruel to you it kind of kills you a Little bit?”  She nodded and said, “Yeah.”  “Well, every time we sin we do that to people.  We create a little death in the world and in us. Jesus restores life where we have created death around us and in us, He pays for our sins with His blood.”  She said she went to church once in a while when she was a kid, but that her father was still very religious.  She said she prayed to God and asked for help sometimes.  I explained to her that what God wanted most from her and everyone is what anyone wants in a relationship, He wants us to believe Him and believe in Him and what He had done to take away her sins.  I asked her if she wanted to be forgiven and she said she did, so I took out the little booklet I have and showed her a prayer where she could have forgiveness and trust in Christ and walked her through the prayer, now laying next to her leaning on one arm on the floor. saying she could pray it right now like I wasn’t here and I got up and sat down again as she slowly read.  When she was done I said God forgave her sins.  I gave her my e-mail and talked to her about a book and she took Enjoying Your Walk With God and a bible study to read, and told her I would be praying for her all this year and next year.  I gave her knee a squeeze as I got up to go saying I thought God had sent me to her.  She reach up and squeezed my hand, smiling, and I said I’d see her in Heaven. She seemed really happy.

Towards the end of the day I found Brian, a black guy from South Africa, laying on the grass outside.  He had very short hair and a light mustache, very friendly.  I had said hi to a friend of his on a bench and he asked me about the Cubs and Sox since I had a Cubs shirt on.  We talked a bit and I asked him if he wanted to do a survey about God for a Bible Study Group.  He said ‘fine’ and I asked him some questions and went through the Gospel with him.  He had gone to church some, even lately, and had thought he was going to Heaven because, “I’ve been a good person all my life.”  I went through the Gospel with him and could tell it was news to him he had not heard b4.  He said he would like to be forgiven and I showed him the prayer but he said, “I will pray this on my own later.”  I said, “Do you believe that Jesus was God and died for your sins and rose from the dead so you can too and do you trust in Him to make you right with God?”  “Yes I do,” he replied.  So I shook his hand and said “Well based on your confession I can tell you God forgives your sin, hearing your faith.” He got a big smile at that and I gave him More Than a Carpenter to read and a bible study.  He gave me his e-mail when I offered to send him a story and I promised to pray for him.  So I will send him some stuff.

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

In Him,
Bob Bollow

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I had a good day today of Bible Study, and we had some peeps come to that.  I taught through Isaiah 53, comparing it to Christ’s Passion events.  Ellen met one of the peeps for coffee and I walked about sharing the gospel.  Zach, the last person I talked to before I left, came to Christ.  He was sitting eating a sandwich just down the hall from where we have Bible Study.  He had brown hair and the first traces of some sideburns coming.  He had gone to catholic school as a child and hadn’t been to church much since.  But after I went through the Gospel with him he said he wanted to be forgiven.  I asked him if he believed the story of Christ and he said he did.  So I showed him a prayer he could pray and he did, then read on in the booklet.  I talked to him about the Holy Spirit and since he was into science I gave him a copy of The Case For a Creator to read and a Bible study.  Then I walked out the nearby door and headed to my truck feeling like I had escaped again.  Not a very good feeling, kinda like being hunted.  But hey that’s the story for now.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry, Bible Study and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God blessed our efforts.

Bob Bollow

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope you had a blessed day walking with the Lord.  I got on and off campus without legal incident and Kayla prayed to receive Christ.  She was sitting in the science building where I started out, since it was a few buildings away from where the cops hassle me. Also I got some peeps I chat up in there that hang out.  She was a cute kid, straight brown hair.  She hadn’t been to church since she was a little girl as her parents had stopped going.  But her boyfriend and her were getting serious and wanted to look into the things of God at a Bible Church some distance north of here where his family goes.  They were looking into pre-marital counseling in part.  She thought she had done everything the Lord had asked her to, but she did not know how her sins were taken away by Christ’s work on the Cross and so had not prayed to be forgiven based on what He had done for her.  But she prayed with me and I gave her a Bible study.  I’m sure people are praying for her at her boyfriend’s church, and I got to feel the benefits of that.  Periodically something like that happens where someone has just begun to be on the right track and is seeking God and I happen along at just the right time.  It’s really great because often there is not much I can do to follow up, though most are going to church, so I am grateful when I know they will be cared for.

I spent a while chatting up some of the lost kids I know, giving some advice with some Christianity blatantly put in.  I also chatted up a girl I am friends with who knows the Lord and is starting a new relationship with a guy who prayed to receive Christ last year so I was encouraging her in purity. It was a good day.

So thanks so much for your prayers for the Ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance and please pray for Kayla that she might grow in the faith.

Bob Bollow

Hey sisters and Brothers in Christ,
We had a small group for Bible study again today and I had some good conversations with kids. Two girls had to run to class but seemed like they might receive Christ after they had more time to think through what I had said.  I really felt the Spirit in me as I spoke to them.   I explained to them that what they wanted most in a relationship with someone was to be believed, that they could believe the other person and would be believed themselves.  And that is what God wanted too.  For them to believe that He had become and man and died for their sins and rose again.
Hope, a Filipino guy, was having some struggles with his faith, as a biology major.  I talked him through some apologetic ideas on DNA and creation and told him he was being lied to.  He knew this, but he thanked me for “My talk” and was really encouraged.  I gave him a copy of a new book I got a few copies of really cheaply this summer on sale called: Creating Life in the Lab: How New Discoveries in Synthetic Biology Make a Case for the Creator and he was excited to read it.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and today if you had a moment for evangelism. I felt like some good seeds were planted and Hope was very encouraged so it was a good day

In Him,
Bob Bollow

Hey Brothers and sisters in Christ,
How was your day walking with the Lord?  I had a great day sharing the faith with peeps at school and Ryan prayed to receive Christ.  He was a smaller, dark-complexion guy, stick straight dark-brown-almost-black hair and was raised Roman Catholic.  He seemed very shy and did not make much eye contact, but while we were talking I got him to smile a bit.  He had stopped going to church for no particular reason after junior high.  The Gospel rang true to him though as I was going through it, and he wanted to be forgiven for his sins.  We talked about the forgiveness the priest offered and I explained as I have b4 that the priest was like an insurance agent who, after selling you insurance for your car, did not pay for its repair after an accident, the company paid.  Similarly, the priest did not forgive your sins but offered you the forgiveness God provided in Jesus.  He prayed with me to receive Christ after I talked him through a prayer and asked him if that was, “the desire of his heart”.  I explained the fruit of the Holy Spirit to him and asking for power to live the Christian Life.  He did not have his own Bible at home so I gave him one and a Bible study to read on the Deity of Christ.  His class started then and he slipped inside.

I met with a girl at starbucks today, and chatted her up about school.  And I spent an hour or so chatting up some of the lost kids who sit at a table I roll by, so that was good to get reestablished with a few of them.

Thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance.  God blessed the work.

In Him,
Bob Bollow

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
How was the start of your week? Hope you are walking in the Spirit and feeling blessed!  I had a great day of sharing today.  Two peeps prayed with me to receive Jesus, Kamera and Dontrel.

The first person I spoke with today, Kamera, was sitting with her niece and nephew who were smashed into a stroller made for one (they periodically argued while we talked).  She was sitting out on a bench waiting for the bus.  I guess she was babysitting.  She was a big person, not fat, just big and strong in stature for a woman.  Her stick-straight hair was in a bob cut and had several colors dyed through it, her complexion was scarred.  She’s African American.  Kamera thought she would go to Heaven because she was honest and said she believed. She was happy to talk with me and tuned right in, leaning closer to read the Bible verses I read to her.  She had not understood the Gospel, particularly imputation, and had not known how God took away the sins of the world [John 1:29].  Having explained the Gospel to her, she wanted to be forgiven and prayed to receive Christ.  I explained the work of the Holy Spirit in living the Christian life to her and offered her a free book.  She took a Bible Study from me and the book Enjoying Your Walk with God and I told her I would see her in heaven, so that was great.  I got her e-mail to send her some stuff.

Dontrel was sitting in the SSC lounge where we have Bible study and said he’d do a survey with me. He had an afro and a light beard.  Smallish guy for someone who played football.  He thought he would go to Heaven because he tried to do better each day.  He went to a church called Berean Baptist.  He knew Jesus died for our sins, and the Gospel seemed to come back to him to some point, but when I asked him if he had ever asked God to forgive him for his sins based on what Jesus had done or if he was trusting in that he said he really didn’t think so.  So he prayed to receive Jesus.  He didn’t read a lot he said but was into sports saying, “I’ll watch anything”.  He was really interested in the book I got to give out this year, Playing with Purpose.  It’s on the Christian testimony of several NBA players.  Unfortunately he had a class during our bible study, but I invited him to come if his class was ever cancelled. He took a Bible Study on the deity of Christ from me too and I got his e-mail to send him some things.

I had several other good conversations and one guy is going to e-mail me some questions about the Bible, another was struggling with doubts, no longer believing entirely, and he hadn’t understood the Gospel or been to church since January.  I gave him The Case for Faith and talked him through some stuff– so that was great,

Thanks for your prayers for Third Watch and for evangelism today if you had a moment. We are having a Bible Study start up tomorrow so please pray we’d get a solid turn out.  And if you wold please pray for Kamera and Dontrel that they might grow in the faith.

Blessings,

Bob Bollow

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I had a good day of sharing the faith today.  I encouraged a few peeps in their faith and nudged one guy a little closer, Lord willing, and helped a Lutheran Girl see where her trust and hope needed to be.  And a guy Mark prayed to receive Christ.  Mark was sitting in the hall in the science building, just kind of hanging, and was up for doing a student survey.  He had dishwater-strawberry-Blonde hair, easy going looking, bit of a beard just starting to show.  He had grown up Roman Catholic until he was 13, been an acolyte, gone to Catholic school and “heard it every day”.  But in high school he’d gone to West Chicago public school and “The atmosphere was different”.  Then his parents began to argue about religious things, his mom wanting to try a different church.  They tried one, but his dad he said somehow thought this was “like back-stabbing”, though he wasn’t sure what his dad had meant by that.  The end result was that they no longer attended Church at all.  When I asked him why God should let him into Heaven, he thought for a bit and said, “I don’t think I have an answer for that to be honest.”  He thought he’d have a 50/50 shot at Heaven.  I went through the Gospel with him and it rang true to his heart, and he said he would like to be forgiven and have God live inside him.  I asked him, as I often do, if he thought he had ever asked God to forgive him based on what Jesus had done.  He told me a story about wrestling with his 4 year old brother when he was 6, and how his kid brother’s arm had accidentally been dislocated.  He got spanked and his brother got his arm popped back into place by their pediatrician and came home with a teddy bear, so no big deal.  But he had felt bad and asked God to forgive him, so he knew he’d done it b4.  So I talked to him about asking God for forgiveness, consciously thinking that Jesus had paid for his sins on the Cross.  I used the analogy I sometimes use of meeting Derek Rose in a club and having a Bulls Cap on and him offering me a ticket to a game in his sky box.  I jump at it, and show up at the gate where he has left a ticket for “Bob” attached to his name.  “But, I say my name and when they ask me who left the ticket, I protest saying, ‘My name is Bob and don’t you have a ticket for me?'” The guys says, “Look we must have 50 ‘Bobs’ in here.  You gotta have the name of who left you the ticket.” I said, “So forgiveness from God is asking in the Name of the one who provides it.”  He saw the point and I went through the prayer with him.  I thought he would put it off when he said, “Can I have a copy of this?” meaning the booklet.  I said, “Sure.” But then he took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ.  I explained walking by the Spirit to him in living the Christian life by God’s power, gave him a Bible study and asked him if there might be a book he’d like to read.  He said he was majoring in science, so I gave him The Case for a Creator and I left him my e-mail.

So thanks for your prayers for the Ministry and for evangelism today if you had the chance. I am always so grateful for the prayers of God’s people.

May God Bless you today as you walk with Him,

Bob Bollow

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I hope you were blessed today walking in the Spirit.  We had a great day at the book table.  I got there about 7:45AM to pick up our advisors permission form and chat him up . He’s been our advisor for 11 years at school, great Christian guy.  Then I went home to get the stuff we’d packed and Ellen and we went back and got a table.  We thought we were not in the best spot, but the Lord led quite a few people over to sign up for the study that had the day and time open [Tuesdays noon – 1 PM].  And because we were in the middle of the lounge looking at the seating in the center, two black girls Aja and Shaya (as it turns out) were sitting right in front of us off to the left a bit.  Aja was a bit bigger girl curly hair and Shaya was smaller wearing tights and had stick straight hair, cute.  I asked them if they were interested in Bible study and Shaya held up a Bible and said she’d got one.  Another group gives out their translation of the Bible @ school.  The lounge is the size of a small gym and the ceiling goes up about 3 and a half stories, so it wasn’t too hard to have space.  But after a while I thought I should go over and go through the Gospel with them and see if they were believers.  So I said a prayer for help and guidance and walked over and started talking to them.  Shaya knew Jesus had died to take away sins and Aja {pronounced Asia} didn’t even know that, and Shaya was surprised when I said she was right.  I went through the Gospel with them and they both said they wanted to be forgiven for their sins.  I asked them if they had ever had a chance to ask God to forgive them for their sins based on what Jesus had done for them, and both of them said no . I walked them through the prayer and they were both eager to pray it.  They came over to the table and picked out some books to read.  I later brought them each a mini squirt-gun we were giving away.  I got their e-mails, so I will send them a story and gave them Bible Studies too.  We were talking about 15 or 20 feet from where we pull chairs together to have the Bible Study, so hopefully they will come.

So thanks so much for your prayers for the ministry and for the book table and our work today if you had a moment.  God really blessed and I was able to go through the Gospel with several people.

In Him,

Bob Bollow