Third Watch Ministries, NFP Bob & Ellen Bollow
P.O. Box 1283 May 15, 2018
Wheaton, IL 60187-1283
“Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.” John 4:35-38
Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I hope you are feeling the blessings of the Lord and rejoicing in the knowledge that (if you don’t live in Death Valley, California) summer by summer, life is sweet! I am looking forward to resting from the “always ready” feeling of daily evangelism to do a bit of painting in the summer months. I’ve gotten a bit broken down for it, so I can’t go at it as hard as I once could. Ellen, who does not get paid for her work with Third Watch, will rest from setting up the food for Bible Study and having that commitment each week. Really, without her volunteering to do the not-for-profit administration and accounting, we would have no ministry. We couldn’t afford it. Her work is a part-time job in itself. So our break is less of a “dead stall” and more of a “switching gears.” She has her other paid, part-time job as well, and we cobble it all together to make ends meet.
I read the verses above from John 4 this week and thought about how God prepares hearts and that many, even most, of the students I speak to have some kind of background in Christian thought as preparation to hear. Many already would say they believe Jesus is God, died for their sins and rose from the dead. But they are still trusting in their works and have not known grace. Some seem to come under the conviction that is true as I speak with them, teaching them the Gospel. A good number of those who receive Jesus are going to church. I went through the Gospel with 480 or so students this year, including over 20 Muslims. Of these, 155 students prayed to receive Jesus this school year. I am hopeful God will make them complete in Christ and pray for them each by name every night.
I think the thing I teach students that they least often know, in going through the Gospel, is the imputed righteousness of Christ. We are told prophetically in Isaiah 61:10 that one day we will be wrapped in a robe of God’s righteousness. Then in the Romans 13:14 we are told to be clothed with Jesus. The parable Jesus tells concerning this is very instructive in Matthew 22. Here we read that the King (God) sends out His servants to invite people to His wedding feast. The response is shocking, in that the servants are turned down, ignored and some are beaten and even killed. These servants are the prophets of the Old Covenant age. The King sends out his armies to kill the murderers (destroying Jerusalem in 70 AD) and sends the servants out again to round up the otherwise uninvited, scooping them up off the street as it were, to bring them to the banquet. There they are given wedding garments from the King. These garments are the Righteousness of God spoken of elsewhere in the scriptures. But one man shows up in his own clothes. His motive is unknown; possibly somehow he thought his own clothes were good enough. The King asks him, “Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?” And Jesus says, “The man was speechless.” Then sadly he is thrown into “outer darkness” where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” All for wearing the wrong clothes? Yes. We must wear the righteousness of Christ, not think our own works of righteousness are in any way sufficient. One student, who had grown up in a Polish Catholic home, Wojtek, upon hearing this story this year said, “That’s a great story!” realizing he could now trust in the righteousness that was from Christ by faith. Once, we had a washing machine where the spin cycle was spinning so fast it put small BB-sized holes in our clothes. We got rid of it, but every once in awhile a hole appears in a shirt I had not noticed before. I had two in the back of the shirt I wore to church a couple weeks back and Ellen told me when I got home. This is like our righteous deeds. Even our best deeds are like clothes with holes we have never noticed. They are insufficient for Heaven. We must have the righteousness of Christ imputed to us.
These are the peeps that prayed to receive Jesus this school year as a result of going through the Gospel with them. Their stories can be found at http://thethirdwatch.org. (The names with an ‘*’ said they would pray later.)
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, Cloe*, 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, Jehieli, Abby, Ryan*,Jasna, Serena*, Jacob, Rich, Alan, Thomas, Billy, Justin, Chase, Mallory, Peter, Tony, Kam, Jacob, Terri, Victoria, Daniela, Ashley, Ayowole, Erick, Alli, Belgo, Maria, Aiden, Alisha, Pam, Tamon, Johnny, Nick, Rachel, Rebeca, David, Dan, Frank, Nick, Laila, Torre, Karen, Teresa, Wojtek, Maddie, Fabias, Micah, Jacob and Joe
Thank you for your prayers & financial support, and for sowing & reaping with us this year. May the Lord bless & keep you this summer.
In Him,
Bob & Ellen
bob.thirdwatch@sbcglobal.net thethirdwatch.org