Third Watch Ministries, NFP Bob & Ellen Bollow
P.O. Box 1283 October 3, 2020
Wheaton, IL 60187-1283
“With all prayer and petition – pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”
Ephesians 6:18-20
Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Hope you are doing well and being blessed, and the political fervor that has gripped places in the country has not got ya down. We know the Lord is in control and I feel the need, being provoked to prayer, that He will bring health and well being to all the saints and to the Churches both physically and spiritually and to the nation. Thinking of Paul sitting in chains in these verses, I’m reminded we still have some freedom. 5 people I have found to talk to this fall have trusted Christ as their Savior, three as a function of ministry in officiating a wedding (the bride’s now husband, Matt, and her two children, Faith & Mason.) And also Jeff, on the gun range in NV where I went for training with one of my board members (who basically created the opportunity and gets me to go with him each year.) And finally my new neighbor across the street, Jason. Paul preached to whomever he could, even in chains, saying to the Brothers in Philippi in 1:13 “…so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else.” We are locked out of our typical ministry by and large, not locked into our house (so far). The bible study at our house each Thursday is growing by inches; we had 6 kids this week. I taught the students on Jesus’ descent into Hell. I was, in part, correcting the idea that He suffered after the Cross in Hell. I was teaching from the Scripture that He went down to the resting portion of the Old Covenant after-life (called Sheol), preached His victory, and brought the Old Covenant Saints up with Him at His resurrection. Matthew 27:52& 53 teaches, “The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.” What exciting times!
So we are chipping away at our piece of the lockdown on campus that Satan seems to have thrown at the teaching and proclamation of the Good News there, by teaching about cool things in the New Testament and Old at our house. We are looking for ways to express the Gospel. Not always successfully, as I went through the Gospel with two more of the range officers in NV (Jim & Frank, the closest I will get to a praetorian guard in this life, in all probability) and they did not receive it. Though they asked some questions and were interested to know the NT teaching on things like defending your own peeps. Another neighbor turned down my foray into things related to dependence on God this week, asserting a can-do attitude of good character and industry. A couple others have been more receptive. Thanks for your prayers as we try to share the truth on Facebook and other places where I’ve spent more time this semester. We are grateful for your kind help while we wait for things to open and get some needed rest. We are grateful that 60 students received the Gospel already on campus in 2020 before the lockdown. May the Lord open a larger door for the Word to go out for us and the Churches as time goes on.
Blessings in Christ.
In Him,
Bob & Ellen bob.thirdwatch@sbcglobal.net www.thethirdwatch.org