Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with all good things from above. The first guy I talked to, Tah, when I thanked him for his tine he said “Thanks for making my first day of school unforgettable.” So that helped me out of the Box, at least I was not boring anyone, though he did not trust in the Lord. Alijah, Jordan and Ken each prayed with me to receive Jesus later. All were African Americans. Their stories are below if you have some time. Thanks for your help in prayer.

Alijah was sitting in the hall near the bookstore. He was dressed all in black, t-shirt and sweats. His afro was about three inches over his head and he had a mustache and a chin beard. Good looking guy. He was a quiet reserved guy who played nose tackle for the football team. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven and he said, “You shouldn’t. I don’t deserve to.” He thought he had a 28% chance of getting into Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with him asking if he ever went to Church and he said, “My sister just got baptized I’m familiar.” I said that for God to live inside him He would have to take away his sin, and asked him what Jesus had done to take away his sin, “He died on the cross,” he replied. I asked that was right and explained how God got paid through the blood of Christ. I explained how Christ’s righteousness could be to his credit by faith. Finally, I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done. He nodded. He would so I said there was a prayer he could pray and reading through it I said if he wanted he could pray it silently. I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven. “Alright,” he replied and I handed him the booklet and then he silently prayed to receive Jesus. When he finished he got out his phone and showed me the Everyman’s Bible saying he had just ordered it. I explained the Christian life to him and he said, “Appreciate it.” I gave him a copy of Bible Promises for You Writing his name and “By the Spirit’s Power” in the front. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and wrote his name and the date and “Forgiven!” in the front. I explained now trusting in Christ’s blood righteousness to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I gave him a Bible study on ways Jesus claims to be God. He’d shaken my hand already but he did again and said, “Appreciate ya.” I told him I would be praying for him each day until Spring and then a year after.

I headed up the stairs and was going toward the Science buildings lounge when I felt like I was going the wrong way and did a 180 and headed down the raised hallway past the library. There are stairs right there. A pretty black girl with straightened hair and a headband on her forehead was sitting on the steps up to the 3^rd floor. Her hair was parted down the middle and she had clear plastic, half oval glasses. I passed seeing her and went back. Jordan said she’d do a survey. She’d been to Church when she was younger. She had an ankle length black peasant dress on and a spaghetti strap top with some kind of wrap in. She wore yellow Crocs for shoes. She wanted to go to Japan. When I asked her what she would say to God if he asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” she replied, “Why not?” “Yeah I guess if you don’t know you should ask,” I replied and she smiled and agreed. She thought she had a 75% chance of going to Heaven. When I asked her what the big thing was that Jesus did to take away her sins she said, “He forgives you?” I said He did and the way He did it was God got paid. She nodded as if that sounded familiar and I explained the gospel to her, trusting I the Blood and Righteousness of Christ. I asked her then if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. She said she would want to be forgiven. I talked through the prayer asking (reading from the booklet) “Does this prayer express the desire of you heart?” She said something like, “Yeah it does.” So I said she could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear her but God would hear her and she’d know she was forgiven. “Wanna do that?” I asked and she said, “Sure.” And she prayed to receive Jesus. I gave her Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “Forgiven! On the inside. I explained now trusting in Jesus the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. I gave her a Bible study too and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. She was grateful and I said I’d pray for her each night and got up and headed off.

Ken was sitting on the edge of a lounge on the 1^st floor of the BIC building. He had already done a survey he said so I asked if the other survey had told him how to get to heaven, he paused thinking so I added do you have any interest in how the Bible says you get to heaven? It turned out he didn’t have a class for 40 minutes or so. “Ok, I’ll take the survey,” replied. He wore a bright orange ball cap turned backward and a black t-shirt and black shorts with orange lettering on them. He had square plastic rectangular glasses on an oval face with classic black features and a very short afro from what I could see, looked a bit like Dave Chappelle. He said he stayed mainly to himself and wasn’t that social and wanted to retire by the time he was 30. I asked him what he would say to God if he died and God asked “Why should I let you into Heaven?” And he said, “That’s a good question,” Then thinking a minute he said, “I don’t know what I would say.” I asked what he thought would get him into heaven and he said, “Something like kindness.” I agreed the Bible said we should be kind. He thought he had a 75% chance of going to Heaven. I began with him asked if he knew what Jesus had done to take away his sins, he nodded I think to say he knew He had. I went through the Gospel. As I finished I asked him if he thought something else or would like to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done and he said, “The second one,” pointing at the circle with Christ inside your life. I said if he’d like to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and reading through I asked if it was the desire of his heart. ”Yeah,” he replied. I said he could pray it silently and I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d know he was forgiven wanna do that. He nodded and prayed to receive Jesus. I wrote by the Spirit’s power on the booklet (when I explained living the Christian life by the Spirit’s indwelling “inside> out”). I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “Forgiven! On the inside. I gave him a Bible study too and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet He seemed cool with everything saying he had a Bible. I thanked him for his time and headed off.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had some time. God truly blessed.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Well, another summer break has ended. We did get one person baptized and took a short trip to the Ark Encounter & Creation Museum, but otherwise just worked on the house. Seems to have triggered some sciatic nerve pain but otherwise I survived my accomplishments unscathed. I am hoping the pain will lapse for walking around school in a week or so.

I wondered at times this summer if school would start up again. We might have dropped into a world war or a Monkey Pox pandemic. Such fears proved thus far unsubstantiated however. If the dollar buys less, hopefully students will still get more of them and take classes at school so God can lead me to them to hear the Gospel.

The world is full of the cancel culture. But having no Instagram account, nor a presence on Twitter, I have stayed out of trouble. We’ve no January plans to vacation in DC which seems to be a bad month to wander around the Capitol. And you can rest assured Third Watch Ministries still does no political endorsements, so you will not be visited by any Government agency based on our mailing list. But if you are running for office let us know. We’re praying for ya anyway and could use some good peeps at the top, so we’ll ask you get in.

We began praying a while ago that God would be preparing hearts to hear the Gospel at school. Paul writes asking, “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;” [Eph. 3:16,17] It would seem there is a strength given by God to us that He might dwell in us.  Jesus says in John 6:44 “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” So, in God’s work of evangelism, we know He must also be preparing the way to hear, drawing people to Himself. We just have to find them, which seems like no small task some days at school. Most kids politely decline to talk about God. Some more than once, and then finally decide to give it a shot saying something like, “I’ve seen you around.” Or “OK, you talked to my friend.” So even days I hope will be rare where there is no one to talk to, maybe someone sees me who, on another day, will hear the word of the Lord. Then as He says through David in Psalm 91 God will, “…let him behold My salvation.”

So, we’d be grateful for your prayers as we’re, “Once more into the breach dear friends, once more” [Henry V, William Shakespeare]. It’s a Spiritual battle after all is it not? But we know as John writes, “…greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”

Thanks for the blessings of your prayers and support.

In Him,       Bob & Ellen

Third Watch Ministries, NFP                                                       Bob & Ellen Bollow

P.O. Box 1283                                                                                         May 18, 2023

Wheaton, IL 60187  

“It is vain, then, to speak of reposing trust in the Person without believing the message. For trust involves a personal relation between the one who trusts and him in whom the trust is reposed. And in this case the personal relation is set up by the blessed theology of the Cross.”      … J. Gresham Machen

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope this Spring has gone well for you. We had a near 80-degree day and then snow. The weather reflects some of the up and down encounters I have on campus. Though God is consistently gracious most days to give me someone who will listen, I have days no one will turn to Christ. But I am hopeful in the Lord’s promise that His word will not return void [Isaiah 55:11]. There really are as few students as ever in the hallways late in the semester. There are a lot of remote learning classes. On the upside it is easy to find a place to park. So, I thought I would share a couple stories of students I talked to on a day no one trusted Jesus as Savior.

Janoah was a petite black girl with a white doily on her head that looked like it belonged under your grandma’s teapot. She had long, thin braids coming down out from under it. She had smaller features and a broad smile, a cute kid. She believed herself a Christian but did not confess the Cross as payment for her sins, nor the resurrection, at first. Her answer to what she would say to God was, “Because I make an effort, like, to follow Him. I do things, like, try to spend time with Him every day. I make an effort to talk to people about God.” She thought she had an 85% chance of going to Heaven. I slowly made sure to cover everything in the Gospel going through the booklet. She actually asked me to talk slower and I did. I asked what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world. “You go to God through Him,” was the best she could come up with.  In the end, after hearing of the Cross and the righteousness of Christ she said, “I should have answered the question differently.” After hearing the prayer, having said she’d want to be forgiven, Janoah said she had “prayed a prayer like that before.” She confessed to believing what I had taught her. Based on her statements, and struggle to understand what I stated to her at first, I think she came to her first real understanding of becoming a Christian. She had knowledge before we talked that would be necessary for saving faith, but had not seemed to place her trust in it. She had friends that she studied the Bible with, who told her the baptism she had gone through when she was 8 was not sufficient as she could not have understood enough as a child. This seemed to be an accurate assessment since she did not understand enough until after I talked to her. She told her mother about her friend’s critique of her childhood baptism. Her mom assured her that when she was 8, she had “wanted to be in Heaven someday” with her mother and father. Which would be true of many people even as adults, though they do not believe Jesus was God. I think 1Cor. 7:14 teaches children are covered by their parents’ faith when too young to understand the Gospel. Hopefully she understands what I said. I left her with the booklet and Bible Promises for You. I have bumped into her since and said, “You were already trusting in Jesus when I talked to you right?” and she agreed.  So, I hope what I said took root and what I mean by that and she means by that are now the same.

A student from an Islamic background told me this year the people he knew who had been Muslim were now atheists or Christians. I found about a dozen Muslims to explain the Gospel to this year—Q was one.

Q was in one of the nooks overlooking the Science building lounge. He just went by a first initial. He looked like a thin young Cat Stevens of the 1960’s, the curly hair and beard part. He also wore black framed glasses and had on a pull over shirt and jeans. His family was from India and by Muslim standards he seemed liberal. He was dismissive of some of the extremes of Islam. I told him I had read the first 10 Surahs of the Qur’an and it read like an anti-Christian and Jewish diatribe. He acknowledged this was true, leaving me wondering if he was in fact as anti-extreme as he comported himself to be. Islamic teaching would of course not grant me any boon. I asked what he would say to God to get into Heaven. “I’ve actually thought about this—what I would say,” he said smiling. “My vision of God—I feel He will look at me [and say] ‘We both know your life to be a piece of $__ť And I will look back and say [persuasively] ‘Come on, come on! It’s me.’” I did not take him seriously and said, “So like maybe there is a section in Heaven for comedians, though I don’t know if you’d want to spend eternity with a lot of the comedians out there today.” “Well, those won’t make it,” he opined smiling.  “Maybe there will be a big sign saying, ‘Come On’ with all the comedians standing under it?” I suggested. We laughed at the impossibility of that and talked about the dark times we are in and hard times going forward.  Though he seemed casual about it, he said he felt for Christians with what they were going through right now. I took this to mean the collapse of Christian Morality and persecution by the state. I said from what I knew of the countries under Islamic rule those persecuting Christians would be taken care of were they to take over. He did not want to acknowledge the totalitarian make-up of Muslim controlled countries. We talked about Wahhabism the extremes of faith. He seemed to feel in the early days of Islam, Muslims were surprised they were not talking about the same thing as Christians. I mentioned Robert Spencer’s work that talked about early coins in Islamic places having crosses on them. I made all the points I make going through the Gospel conversationally and then brushed through them quickly in the booklet I wanted to leave with him, which he took. He was polite enough to take a Bible Study on the Deity of Christ too. So I hope there was a seed planted there. As I got up to leave, we had seemed to hit it off so I said, “I hope someday we see each other in Heaven.” “I think we will,” he said with a smile. I hope he receives Christ so he will be right.

I also recently received this email from a student I talked to earlier in the year who prayed to receive Jesus.

Hello Bob,

    My name is Fisayomi, we talked in Seaton in February. I was looking through the book and pamphlet you gave me and you signed “February 27th, 2023. Forgiven”. This moment was the catalyst to change my life forever. You didn’t sign saved sir, you signed forgiven.

    During the time you spoke with me, I was searching for God and his love in the wrong places and people. I couldn’t figure out why I was hearing the message from you but after the month of April passed where God took me on a healing journey, I realized why he had sent you to have the conversation with me.

     I pray that the lord blesses you and all in your household beyond what you could ever imagine. God used you to bring me back to my calling and where I am meant to be, in His presence and I want to thank you for being his vessel,

     The Lord has been urging me to contact you and tell you that any help you may need with creativity, either music, sewing, art, singing, or anything in this category please let me know. God has shown up in my life heavily and the least I can do is use my talents to glorify his name. Thank you so much, God bless you..

Sincerely, Fisayomi O.

There were 153 students who prayed to receive Christ while I was with them or whom I found out later had done so. Two of these (Mars and Joaquin) heard the Gospel and prayed last school year, but I did not find out until this fall to begin praying for them. Also, Abbey, who I told to ask God to prove Himself to her, did so. She bumped into a girl her age (a stranger, she saw this as a sign), was invited to Church and prayed there. I’ve prayed for her since she told me the story. These are the names of the new believes in the 2022-2023 school year. Their stories are on www.thethirdwatch.org if you missed one.  (An * means they said they would pray later.)

Kevin, Brian, Riq, Shane, Fernando, Dona, Mariana, Kyra, Ethan, Savannah, Riley, Litzy, Gordon, Scott, Josie*, Henry, Sam, Anthony, Ryan, Arely, John, Skye, Michael, Jason, Giancarlo, Andrew, Sam, Anish, Erika, Erick, Jocelyn, Christian, Gian, Victoria, Nick, Emerald, Dom, Sam, Martin, Desha, Morgan, Citlali, Julie, Leslie, Max, Mattie, Eduardo, Cyrus, Bris, Kayla*, Heaven, Mimi, Isaac, Micky, AnnMarie, Dejan*, Nathan, Ysabela, Zakia, Michelle, Ryan, D, Robertro, Jayden, Mayra, Freddy, Emily, Znyia, Gianluca, Alex, Jessica, Riley, Juan, Kenny, Omar, Kiara, Joaquin, Rose, Ben, Tanya, Quin, Denise, Sam, Ozzy*, Ashley, Mars, Allison, Ishani, Osvaldo, Kelly, Sabas, Daisy, Andrew, Aaliyah, Sydney, Shanice, Taron, Melissa, Preston, Daniel, Evelyn, Abbey, Adrienne, Kyle, Ahsi, Kristina, Sandra, Emily,  Diego, Ryan, Nicole, Xia, Fisayomi, Noah, Sarah, Niko, SarahMary, Janet, Will, Chris, Rico, Dan, Miles, Aaron, Sara, Ethan, Jaden, Darin*, Hameedah, Michael, Otto, Joe, Mark, Justin, John, Billy, Bobby, Ugo, Lily, Laokratis, Ben, Abby, Daivion, Jose, Lymarie, Ephe, Ada, Esther, Angely, Stephen, Noah, Nick, Lizbeth, Aimee, Bella, Jack, Leslie, Adrian, Marko*, Janelle*

Thanks for your prayers and support this school year.  God has done great things!

In Him,     Bob & Ellen

bob.thirdwatch@sbcglobal.net

www.thethirdwatch.org

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your weekend has been going well and you were demonstrably blessed. My eye laser treatment for secondary cataracts went well this morning. Marko received assurance of salvation Thursday and Adrian prayed to receive Jesus.  So that was great. I had a blessed year and 151 students prayed with me to receive Christ or prayed later and let me know about it when I saw them again. Several others I hope trusted in Christ or prayed later who were foggy on some detains of the Gospel. We are always being blessed in the hands of God but it’s nice when you can immediately see it. The flat tire you got might have kept you from being hit by the train, but if the tracks were a mile away you may never have realized God saved you from death that day. Walking around campus is that way where I end up talking to someone who just sat down and feel like God led me in a roundabout way for timing’s sake. Then when it seems I came with only minutes left until they had to go and had to rush or barely got the Gospel in in conversation. I could wonder why I was not there sooner. But they might not have been willing to hear anything at all if they did not know for certain the conversation would be short and they’d have an escape excuse. Adrian and Marko’s stories are below if you have time. Please pray they are blessed.

Marko is Serbian Orthodox. He had brown hair, straight, short, with hardly any bangs. He was slight for a football player. Turned out he was a punter. He had the skin of a guy going through the teen years but the everyman kind of good looks.  He had a t-shirt on and was sitting at the set of tables all running together in the PE lounge. He goes to a church with his parents where he can’t follow much, most of the service is in Serbian. He said he read the NKJV in the Bible. When I asked him what he would say to God if asked why should I let him into Heaven he said, “That’s hard. I believe our Lord and Savior forgives, we all sin.” Thinking more he thought he’d say, “It’s your will.” I asked the likelihood he would go to Heaven he said, “I don’t know.” He knew Jesus had died for his sins. As I   explained the righteousness of Christ to his credit he acknowledged Paul had said it was not by his own righteousness he was forgiven but by the righteousness, which is by faith. It seemed he had believed the Gospel without assurance of the benefit. He listened to YouTube podcasts by a punter from University of Oklahoma. He said that was where he had learned to say, “It’s your will.” That guy had been a free agent drafted by Miami. I felt like I was giving him clarity, of how his sins were paid for and he was cleansed by His blood. He believed he was trusting in Christ, called Him his “Savior” and knew His work but was in a church tradition that did not encourage a moment of decision. “Say you take a class here and everybody sucks, the teacher’s horrible. She gives you stuff but it’s not on the quizzes and everybody’s getting a zero and dropping the class. You’re gonna drop the class too and get you money back but then you hear one guy, Billy, he’s got a 100% in the class. So you go to this guy and say, ‘How’d you get 100% in this class?’ So he tells you, ‘I took this class last year at U of I. It’s the same textbook it might be some of the same quizzes—I knew a few of the answers. But they changed the course description on me and won’t let me transfer the credit. I need it here, so I gotta take it again. But I’ve been turning in my old projects. I got a1,000 points of extra credit in this class. Teacher thinks I’m totally geeking on the class but the truth is I had it last semester.’ So your like, ‘That’s pretty funny but it won’t help me.’ He says, ‘No it won’t help you man sorry.’ So he goes for a ride on the weekend and gets wiped out by a truck. He’s dead. Teacher comes to class on Monday and she says, ‘I have terrible news Billy has died.” “Billy is the guy with the 1,000 points?” Marko asked. “Yeah,” I replied. “’And he had a 1,000 points of extra credit.’ The teacher says. ‘And I don’t want all that to go to waste. So I’m gonna give it to you guys.’ You look around and there’s only 10 people left in the class and you’re like, ‘I’m sorry about Billy but I just got 100% in this class.’ That’s like what Jesus did. He earned the righteousness of God by perfectly fulfilling the Old Testament law in a way we never could. So since he earned God’s righteousness He can give it to whomever He wants. It says in the book of Isaiah in 61:10 that one day you’ll be wrapped in a robe of God’s righteousness and clothed with His salvation and in the New Testament in Galatians 3:27, ‘you’re clothed with Jesus.’ So Jesus is your clothing of salvation, He’s your robe of righteousness. You don’t go to Heaven because you’re good, but because Jesus is good and your connected to Him.” Marko nodded affirmingly. “Like if you marry a millionaire you got a million bucks or if you get adopted into a billionaire’s family you get to live in the mansion and drive the cars. So God adopts you and He gives you the blessings of His family. He gives you the sacrifice for your sins, the blood that cleanses you and the righteousness that surrounds you. So it’s like you got someplace to go, Heaven, and something to wear when you get there, the righteousness of God.”  I said all God had done for him need be accepted by faith. I showed him the circles where God is on the inside of your life and said, “It seems like you are already trusting in this?” He agreed saying God had to be on the throne. I explained living the Christian life by the power of the Spirit to him too. I gave him Bible Promises for You and The Case for Christ Answer Booklet, to strengthen his faith. He was really grateful and shook my hand to thank me a few times. I said to him, “If you’re trusting in the righteousness of Christ to be your righteousness the likelihood you will go to Heaven is 100%.” He agreed he was (possibly for the first time understanding as I’d explained the concept) and he was happy then. I headed out knowing I’d helped him understand the Gospel and the person of Christ in whom he’d believed. One way or the other now having saving faith.

Adrian was sitting alone in the NW corner lounge on the ground floor of the BIC. He was a Latino guy with stick straight hair, it was in a mop sort of. You could see from the shadow he’d only grow a mustache if unshaven. He had a diamond shaped face, fuller lips and was slight. He wore a black t-shirt and black sweats. I asked him what he would say if he died and God asked, “Why should I let into Heaven?” He cleared his throat and saying, “I would say hmmm… I um, I believe that I belong here I guess.” I asked him what the likelihood was he would get into Heaven and he said he thought he had a 50/50 chance. I began to go through the Gospel with him. I said God had to take away his sins, “…make you his type, to purify you so He could live inside you. So what is the big thing that Jesus does to take away your sins?” “He purifies you?” he guessed. I said “Yeah, this is how He does that,” and Adrian leaned forward as I had placed the booklet on an ottoman in front of us and was writing in it. He was very interested as I explained how Christ’s blood cleansed him and was how “God got paid,” and so He was just to forgive, because there was a payment.” I also explained the righteousness of Christ to his credit. He had not been to Church since he was a kid he’d said. When I finished saying all God had done for him could be gained by faith. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done for him or thought something else. “I would want to be forgiven,” he replied. So I said there was a prayer he could pray and asked after explaining it if it expressed the “desire of his heart”. “I would say it did,” He replied. So I said he could pray it silently and only God would hear, “Would you like to do that?” I asked. “Of course!” he replied enthusiastically. When he finished I began to explain the Christian life to him. It turned out he did not have a Bible and I asked him if he would want one to carry around or a larger one to study out of and he said he’d like a larger one. I showed him the 99 doctrines page and how the cross references worked and the maps and other helps in back and the devotionals inserted through the chapters. I wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave him Bible Promises for You and  The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. I turned to the page with Eternal Life as the title and wrote Ephesians 1:13 saying as soon as you tell the Lord you have faith the Spirit enters you and seals you. “What does seals mean?” he asks so I gave him a metaphor of sealant saying the Holy Spirit enters you and never leaves. I also gave him a Bible study. “I’ll definitely look into all this,” he said gratefully. I said I would pray a Bible verse for him each day for the next year. The likelihood he would now go to Heaven trusting in the righteousness of Christ to be his righteousness was 100%, I explained. “How righteous is Jesus? 100% righteous. And what is His righteousness worth? An infinite amount,” I said.  “So there was enough righteousness to cover an old man like me and a young guy like him who hadn’t done hardly anything yet, God would forgive us both.” ” That’s all that matters,” he replied. “Thanks Bob, I really appreciate it,” Adrian said as I got up to go. “Thanks for your time,” I replied. “Of course, you too!” he said. And I headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry this year and for evangelism Thursday if you had a chance. God truly blessed.

Bob

Hey Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with all good things from the Lord. I had a good day on campus and Leslie prayed to receive Jesus as her savior. Another girl Emily was close, maybe, and was going to think about it. I think she was used to thinking her own way about God and the Bible re-tracked her a bit. Please pray for these girls if you have a moment. Leslie’s story is below if you want to spend the time.

Leslie was sitting in a row of chairs at the first door East of the SSC lounge. She had long wavy brown hair framing her, a cute round face, she had full features and looked like a Latina. She was the flip side of petite but not fat. She wore a black sweater and leggings and seemed reserved. It turned out she went to a Catholic Church. I asked her if she wanted to do a student survey and she was hemming an hawing, not sure she wanted to say yes or no. So I said the main question is, “Say you are walking down the road and you get hit by a bus. So you’re dead. And you stand before God and He says, ‘Why should I let you into Heaven?’ what would you say?” “Well, He’d want you to tell the truth,” she replied. “Would you like to hear the Bible verses that explain how you get to Heaven?” I asked. She said she would so I told her my name again and showed her my email on the back and began to go through some Bible verses and explain the Gospel. I asked her if she knew what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world, saying God had to take away her sins so she would be purified and He could live inside her. “He died,” she replied. I explained to her that that was how she was purified and how God got paid [1john 1:7]. I said Jesus earned the righteousness of God and could give it to us to our credit. I said she needed to receive Him by faith believing Jesus was God had died for her sins and rose from the dead. Her good stuff would not fix her bad stuff but God would work all things into Good for them that loved him.  I asked if she would want to be forgiven for her sins or thought something else showing her the circle with God inside her. She nodded saying, “Be forgiven.” So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray. “Ok,” she said. I talked her through it and asked if she wanted she could pray it right now and I wouldn’t hear but God would and she’d know she was forgiven. “Wanna do that?” “Yeah,” she said. I handed her the booklet and she said, “Oh ok,” and she prayed to receive Jesus. I explained living by the Spirit’s power and the symbolism behind the mass. I gave her a copy of Bible Promises for You and wrote her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. “Thank you,” she said taking the book. I gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a bible study. I told her I would pray for her for the next year a Bible verse each day. She thanked me again. “I’ll see you in Heaven,” I said getting up to go. “OK. Thank you,” she said again and I headed out.

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

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed today with a sense of the nearness of God as your good, He cares for you. I had a good day on campus and Jack prayed with me to receive Jesus today so that was great. I got a seed planted with a guy named Cameron with swept back hair and a couple days growth of beard, intense thinker. He was colorfully dressed, red high-tops pale green shorts and a running jacket by the elevator in the MAC. He didn’t know yet if he wanted to be forgiven by trusting in Jesus but had been raised in the Church and took The Case for Christ Answer Booklet. Jack’s story is below if you have time. Please pray the Lord is made real to Cameron and Jack grows in faith.

Jack was sitting at a table alone in the cafeteria, had finished eating. He had long kind of wavy mostly straight sandy-clay hair about shoulder length parted in the middle. He wanted to make it with his band. He had a narrow face cleanshaven, wore blue-jeans and a shirt, black high-tops. Looked like Tom Petty’s little brother.

I asked him what he would say to God and he said, “That is an interesting question.” Then thinking some more said, “Basically I’m a good person I deserve to be forgiven.” He said he thought he might say something more complex or completely random in the moment though. He was not sure there was a hell so he thought that he had a 95-100% chance of going to Heaven. When I asked him what Jesus had done to take away the sins of the world he said, “He crucified Himself.” That Biblically true. The responsibility for His death lies with the Jewish leaders who turned him over, the Romans who nailed him to the cross, and our sins, but he said of His life, “No man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself.” [John 10:17&18] He listened to the Gospel and it seemed familiar in some sense to him and he had been raised in the Church. I explained that he would not go to Heaven because he was good but because Jesus was good and he was connected to Him. I said he needed to place his trust in Christ’s work to be forgiven by faith. I asked if he would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done or thought something else. “Probably be forgiven,” he said. So I said there was a prayer he could pray and said if he wanted to be forgiven he could pray it silently and only God would hear. “Wanna do it?” “Yeah!” he said enthusiastically. “Just pretend I’m not here,” I said and he took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. I explained living by the Spirit’s power “Inside>out”. I gave him Bible Promises for You, writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. “Thanks!” he said as I gave it to him. I said I’d pray for him for the next year. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet too and a Bible Study. He thanked me again and I said I hoped I’d see him with his band when he got famous so I could say, “I met that guy!” He laughed and I headed out.

I had a good conversation with Ian a future black preacher in the PE building that was good, helping him tune up the message but he had it down very well. He looked almost exactly like Eddie Griffin in the movie “Undercover Brother” which I have never seen but have seen the ads for. I didn’t mention it though because if he hated the movie (a comedy) it would seem like a put down for his look. He had a throw-back big afro and an Awesome handshake.

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 filled with mercy peace and love. I had a good day on campus and Lizbeth, Aimee, & Bella each prayed to receive Jesus today. Please pray they grow in faith and love for God. Their stories are below if you want to take the time. Thanks for your help in prayer.

I came across Lizbeth sitting looking out the window on some sofa chairs in the second floor of the foyer by the bookstore where Noah sat yesterday. She was dressed all in black, sweater and leggings, and had dark black hair parted in the middle and an oval nearly round face, no make-up.  Friendly looking, she had a nice face and smile. I asked her if she’d like to do a student survey, about what she thought about God and stuff for a Bible Study group. I had to repeat the question 3 times I guess her ear buds were in. “I already attend a Bible study,” she replied. “Oh yeah? What’s the name of it?” I asked. She told me and I said I had not heard of it. So I said, “Well you want to hear the one big question and take it with you through the day?” She agreed and so I asked, “You’re walking down the road and 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?” “Because of the good things I’ve done?” she said in a questioning way. “Well would you like to know what the Bible says is the answer to the question and the way you get to Heaven?” “Ok let’s have it,” she replied so I began telling her Christianity was like a blood transfusion and God wanted to know and live inside her. Then I realized she was going to give me the time and I began to go through the booklet with her in the order of the verses there and ones I write in it with things often I say.” When I said God wanted to know her, live inside her with His Holy Spirit I asked her what He had done to take away her sins. “Jesus died on the cross,” she replied. I went through the rest of the Gospel with her and asked her if she would want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done for her on the cross. “Yes,” she said immediately. So I said if she wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer she could pray and I talked her through it. “It says here, ‘Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?’ So you think it does?” I asked. “Yeah,” she said. I replied, “Well if you want to then you could pray it silently right now. I wouldn’t hear you but God would hear you and you’d know you were forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done. Wanna do it?” “Yeah,” she replied and as she took the booklet I said, “Just pretend I’m not here.” That idea made her laugh brightly, I guess to think I would disappear. She took the booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life to her living inside>out, first asking God to change you and then becoming that person living by the Spirit’s power. I gave her a copy of Bible Promises for You writing her name and the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I also gave her The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study on the Deity of Christ explaining how Jesus did things that only God could do to tell them He was God and telling her an example. “Got it,” she replied.  I told her I would pray a Bible verse for her each day for the next year. I got up to leave and she said, “Thanks.” I said it was cool and headed off leaving her with a friend who had walked up.

Near the end of the day, I came across a couple cute little Latina girls. Aimee [Amy] was sitting on my left as I faced her and Bella in a pair of sofa chairs overlooking the SSC lounge from the 3^rd floor. It’s the largest lounge on campus. Aimee had lightened her hair sandy colored and it was dark though on the ends that hit her shoulders and had tints framing the bottom of her face. She had a ring piercing in her left nostril and a rhinestone in the right. She wore a blue tracksuit and had on white trainers.  Cute face. Bella on her left had dark brown hair, and her face was a bit more pretty than cute and a little longer. Her left eyebrow had a sharper arch at times when she spoke. She wore Black leggings and a creamy white colored fleece. She had tan high-tops on with stars on them (I think). Both had their hair parted down the middle. I walked up and asked them if they wanted to do a student survey about what they thought about God. Bella asked, “What?” and I repeated it to her. “I think God is my creator,” she replied. “Well, the big question in the survey is: You’re walking down the road and 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 would say because I praise Him,” Bella replied. “What would you say?” I asked Aimee. “Because I thank Him all the time,” she replied. “Well, would you like to know what the Bible says gets you into Heaven?” I asked. Both agreed they would. So I kneeled in front of them then and began to go through the Gospel holding the booklet in front of me and reading upside down, sometimes writing on my palm sometimes on the ground. I explained the atonement and the righteousness of God and asking if they went to Catholic Church they said yes I said that the Mass was symbolic of what Jesus had done. The wafer is symbolic of His body, the wine his blood. I said that the Catholic Church teaches only God can forgive your sin. So when they’d confess to a Priest he does not forgive them but is telling them God forgives them and he can do this because he knows God got paid. I used the example of an insurance agent and the company he represents as I sometimes do.  The Agent does not pay for repairs the company pays. I finished saying they needed to receive Jesus as savior believing He was God and had died for their sins and rose from the dead and trusting in that to be forgiven. I said that would mean they had faith in Jesus. And then I explained faith saved them. I asked if they would want to be forgiven trusting in Jesus. “I think we would both like to be forgiven,” Bella said looking at Aimee who nodded. So I offered them the prayer they could pray and read it through to them. I asked if it was the desire of their hearts. Bella read it again and said it was Aimee said, “Is it the desire of my heart?” “Yes,” I said. She then read it slowly and said, “Yes.” So I said would you say Amen to the prayer then. Would you like to pray it silently. They wanted to and each took a booklet and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained living by the Spirit’s power to them, Inside>out. I told them I would pray a Bible verse for them each day for a year and gave them each a copy of Bible Promises for You writing their name and the date and “forgiven!” in it. Fortunately, I asked Aimee how to spell her name, as I was about to spell it wrong. I gave them The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study showing them the Trinity was in Isaiah 9:6 and explaining that Jesus walked on the water to tell people He was God. Their friend walked up so I got up to go and they thanked me and I said thanks for talking to me and headed off.

Thanks so much for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance, God truly blessed. I’m close to seeing 150 student trust in Christ this school year.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope your day was blessed with comfort and love coming down from the father of lights. Thanks so much for praying today if you had a chance. Noah and Nick prayed with me to receive Jesus. Please pray they both grow in their faith. I’m grateful for your help.  Their stories are below if you have some time.

Noah was sitting on some sofa chairs in the second floor of the foyer. These overlook the doors to the outside at the entrance to the bookstore on the ground floor beneath them. He was wearing a green hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled up and navy-blue sweats. He was waiting for some time to pass until class. I asked him if he’d do a survey and he said, “Sure I’m religious,” and we exchanged names. He was Italian and had relatives in Italy he wanted to visit, had a broad warm smile. He had indistinctive, smooth features like a caricature, his skin was a little rough, his hair coming out from under his hood, stick straight. Nice guy. I asked him what he would say to God to get into Heaven if a bus hit him and he’d died. “I confess sins, before, I do somewhat regularly. He was 100% sure he would go to Heaven. I began to go through the Gospel with him and in asking him what Jesus had done to take away his sins he said, “He died on the cross.” I went through the atonement then with him and the righteousness of Christ. I said this was symbolized in the mass and the wafer symbolic of Christ’s body and the wine His blood so that when he took it he should just say “Thank you.” saying, “How do you connect with all this God has done for you so you know you will go to Heaven?” I then explained salvation by faith believing Jesus was God had died for his sins and rose from the dead. “Not just that you know the story but that you place your trust in this to be forgiven,” saying he needed to place his trust in that as an adult. So if someone asked him why God would let him into Heaven he’d say because Jesus died for me. I said the last thing was did he want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done for him? Then the Spirit would live in him giving him the strength to live the Christian life or did he think something else? “Probably be forgiven with in Jesus,” he replied. I said if he had not asked Jesus to forgive him based on what He did for him on the cross there was a prayer he could pray and I talked him through it and asked if it was the desire of his heart. He said, “Yeah.” When I suggested he could pray it silently he nodded and prayed to receive Jesus. I quickly talked him through the Christian life living by the power of the Spirit, inside>out. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. I also gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet and a Bible study on the Deity of Christ. I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day for the next year and finally said the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100% trusting in the righteousness of Jesus. “Have a good one man,” I said getting up to go. “You too. Thank you,” he replied and we parted ways.

Nick is an Asian guy, good looking, almond shaped eyes and no eyelids, a classic face perfect skin. He was wearing a light blue hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled up and grey sweats. He was alone in the NW corner lounge of the second floor of the science buildings. He was laying on the couch and wasn’t sure he wanted to do a survey. He was about my size a little shorter. So I asked if he’d like to hear the one big question to think about. He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear it wondering how long it would take. He somehow really did not want to have a long conversation about religious things. I got the ok and quickly squeezed the question in somehow and he asked to hear it again. He then said he didn’t know what to say. So I asked if he would want to hear what the Bible said the answer was. “Ok,” he replied. I began to tell him Christianity was like a blood transfusion. “I have A+ blood so if you fill me up with B- blood by mistake I would clot up and die. God wants to fill you with His Holy Spirit, but first he has to make you His type. He has to take away your sin, to purify you, then you are perfect and Holy inside and you match God, then God can live inside you. So how does God take away your sin?” He thought for a second and then said, “You go in that room with the priest…. You confess,” he said finding the word. I said it was true that the Bible says that if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I said that the Catholic Church teaches only God can forgive your sins. It’s like when you buy a car and you go to an insurance agent and buy insurance for your car. But when you crack up your car you call the agent and he tells you to take it to a body shop. But you don’t expect the Insurance agent to pay the bill. The company pays. So the Priest is not forgiving your sins he is telling you God forgives you and he can do that because he knows God got paid. “This is how it works,” I said and I took out a booklet. He sat up on the couch then so I could sit. I explained the gospel and the righteousness of Christ writing in the booklet and using illustrations and then saying he could be saved by faith. I said the mass was symbolic of this, the Body and Blood of Christ. I finished and asked if he’d want to be forgiven trusting in what Jesus had done for him or thought something else. “Be forgiven, that one,” he pointed at the circle on the right. So I said if he wanted to be forgiven there was a prayer he could pray and I talked him through it asking if it was the desire of his heart. “Yeah,” he replied. I said he could pray it silently right now; I wouldn’t hear him but God would hear and he’d be forgiven. He agreed and I said “Just pretend I’m not here.” I got up to go to my back-pack and he said, “This right here?” he pointed at the prayer and I said “Yeah.” He prayed then to receive Jesus. I gave him Bible Promises for You writing his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. “Thank you,” he said taking the book. Then I gave him Strobel’s booklet. I gave him the Bible Study on Christ’s claims to be God. I explained how God walked on the water in the Old Testament and Jesus walked on the water I the New Testament, to tell them He was the same God as the God of the Old Testament. “Cool,” he replied. I told him I would pray a Bible verse for him for a year. I got up to go and he said, “Thank you I really appreciate it.” “You’re welcome,” I replied and headed out.

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

Prayin’ for ya.

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope ya had a great day walking with the Lord. I had a good day on campus. I was able to go through the Gospel with two Catholic students (Carlos and Tiffany). Each of them seemed to feel like what I was saying was not “Catholic” like their families. Though they could not say exactly what differed. Both took the booklets and so I hope the Spirit will lead them to consider a life by faith. Stephen then prayed with me to receive Jesus at the end of my day (as I had an eye appointment to fix my eye with a laser I had to leave right after). His story is below. Please say a prayer that these students come to faith or in Stephen’s case grow in their faith. His story is below if you have time. Thanks for your help in prayer.

Stephen was sitting on the second floor of the BIC alone on a bench looking at his phone. He has stick straight blonde/brown hair that went just past his jaw line, pulled behind his ears. He had a couple days growth of beard, had on a t-shirt and Jeans. He had kind of the outdoorsy look but he was extremely soft spoken and it felt like he was a little uncomfortable in his skin the entire time. He wanted to travel. He’d gone to Church when he was younger. I asked him what he would say to God if struck dead by a bus and was asked: “Why should I let you into Heaven?” “I would just hope I would get in for my…” he replied but trailed off and I didn’t hear him so I asked and he said, “I would help somebody else so I would hope God would help me, letting me into Heaven.” “Kind of like do unto others as you would have them do unto you?” I asked. He agreed. I had never heard that applied to God before but God was about to offer His help, sending me tell Stephen the Gospel. I asked what the likelihood was he would get into Heaven and he said, “50/50, either I do or I don’t.” I went through the Gospel with him and he knew Jesus had died on the cross to take away our sins. After explaining the blood and righteousness of Christ and the cross as a payment and cleansing of sin I said he could receive this by faith and faith saved us. I asked if he would want to be forgiven for his sins trusting in what Jesus had done on the cross so He could live inside him. “I think I’d be OK with Him being with me,” he replied. “Well, if your like to be forgiven for your sins there is a prayer you could pray,” I replied saying how it asked God to live inside him, thanked God for forgiveness through the cross and asked God to make him the kind of person he’d want him to be. I asked him if that expressed the desire of his heart. “Sure,” he said. And so I said he could pray it silently and he silently nodded and prayed to receive Jesus. I explained the Christian life living inside out. I gave him Bible Promises for You and wrote his name and the date and “forgiven!” on the inside. “Thank you,” he said. I said he was welcome. I gave him The Case for Christ Answer Booklet, explaining Strobel’s work. I gave him a Bible study on the Deity of Christ too and told him I would pray a Bible verse for him each day for the next year. I told him now trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be his righteousness the likelihood he would go to Heaven was 100%. I said since Christ’s righteousness was worth an infinite amount there was enough for us both. I got up to go and he said, “Thank you so much.” “Thank you for talking to me and giving me someone to pray for for a while,” I replied. “Thank you,” he said again and then said, “Have a good day.” I thanked him and headed out.

So thanks for your prayers for the ministry and for evangelism today if you had a chance. God truly blessed, and helped my eye today too, I’ll get the other worked on a week from Friday.

In Him,

Bob

Hey Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you had a blessed week and God gave you peace in the midst of the turmoil. Look for a good price on your favorite canned beans. Seems that food is escalating. I had a stomachache for 3 days. I thought it had left me last night but it came back this morning. I’ve been trying to feel better instead of that today. I was just eating dandelion heads in the yard and that helped. Some old Irish gardener recommended it on YouTube. I think she soaked hers in vodka for a couple months first but I skipped that part. I had a great day on campus as Angely [anj a lee] prayed to receive Christ. She was the only person I found to go through the Gospel with Thursday. It seems like there are scarce few students about but I am on about the same pace as last year. So I hope God will continue to bless the next couple weeks. Her story is below if you have time please pray she is blessed.

I came across Angely sitting on one of a set of oversized chairs around the corner of the SSC lounge on the second floor. She is 5 foot tall, a very pretty Asian girl. She had a diamond shaped face and high cheek bones. Her shoulder length hair was parted down the middle and she had pretty eyelashes that did not seem likely to be given by the gene-pool. She was wearing white spaghetti strap shirt, under a flannel of black and grey and had leggings on, very petite. She wanted to travel, to be a stewardess we talked about a relative of mine that flies all over the world and other tales I tell of flight she liked. (Ellen told me when I got home that being 5’ she would probably have a tough time reaching the overhead compartments on a plane, so she should try to be a pilot.) When we finally got to the survey again I asked what she would say to God if she died and He asked, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” She replied “’Cause I’m a believer.” I asked her what the likelihood was she was going to Heaven and she said, “I actually don’t know. Maybe 50%.” I began to go through the Gospel with her and she seemed familiar with some of what I said. After I had gone through everything. I asked her if she would want to be forgiven or thought something else. She said, “I’d want to be forgiven.” She expressed that she had tried to live the Christian life and didn’t think she had.  So we talked about the Christian life living Inside>out, where the Spirit would change you on the inside and you would do good things on the outside. I told her she needed to stop trying to do good things but needed to ask God to change her on the inside by His Spirit and she would do them because she was changed. I gave her Bible Promises for You and said she could turn the verses into prayers. I went back to the prayer and explained it and asked if she thought she had told God she was trusting in what Jesus had done to be forgiven. “I feel like I’m waiting,” she replied. We’d talked a long time so I just said, “Stop waiting,” I said she could pray and I would not hear her but God would hear did she want to do that and she nodded and took the booklet and prayed to receive Christ. So that was great. I took back Bible Promises for You and wrote the date and “forgiven!” in the front. I gave her a Bible study and explained it and gave her The Case for Christ answer Booklet. We also talked about motorcycles when she said she liked by rings. They tell the story of the Gospel and she thought they were cool (which of course they are). She wanted to learn to ride. I told her I thought that learning to ride a motorcycle was a good skill if she traveled as well as knowing how to drive stick shift. She had a plan for the later I think.  I told her there was a class offered to teach her to ride a motorcycle at school in the summer which she was excited to hear. I also told her she should know how to fire a gun. She’d never fired one, but her father had them and was kind of an Asian version of a “good old boy” they were from the south. He liked to drive around in his truck. I said I was sure he would teach her. She said they did not get along but being a lot alike they fought, so she did not think he would. I spent a while then encouraging her to ask God to change her heart toward her father. I said I was sure he loved her and she agreed. I said in my own life God did not always answer my prayer to change others but He was always willing to change me when I asked. I told her she should ask the Lord to do that and I explained this was a useful skill in the professional world to be able to do the steps around people and bite her tongue. She was moved and agreed she would ask for God to change her heart towards her dad. I talked about my own relationship with my dad that we had butted heads when I was young but by the time he died he was one of my best friends. I explained now trusting in Jesus’ righteousness to be her righteousness the likelihood she would go to Heaven was 100%. His righteousness was worth an infinite amount because He is God and so there would be enough righteousness for an old biker like me and a young woman like her that hadn’t hardly done anything yet but if we died today God would forgive us both. “Amen,” she replied cheerfully. Thanks for talking with me you made my day,” I said getting up to go. “You made my day too,” she replied. I said, “Thanks,” and headed off.

Thanks for your prayers today.

Bob