by: Bob Reccord

This last weekend I spoke at the United Nations. Or at least, it felt that way.

I was in Washington DC speaking at Word of Life Church in Springfield, Va. Dr. Wendell Cover, the senior pastor, has been there for 30 years as of this March. He is steady, trustworthy, solid in his belief of the trustworthiness of the Word of God, and greatly respected by his people. He’s not flashy…but steady. Not charismatic…but solid as a rock. Not pulled by trendy fads…but consistent over the years.

And when I was privileged to speak to his congregation I found a people who loved their Lord and celebrated their faith. And they represented over 90 nations. That’s right…over 90!!!

When we worshiped through the observance of the Lord’s Supper at the end of the morning service, for each element they had someone pray in their native language, and then someone else translated in English. It was amazing!! I could have gone on listening to that for a long time…just hearing people from all over the world pray in the language they had learned at home growing up. Yet, God’s providence had brought them all to the U. S. and to one church where they all enjoyed worshipping…TOGETHER.

And I wondered why are most of our churches in America not like this? After all, that’s what eternity with the Lord will be like.

After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a mighty shout, “Salvation comes from our God on the throne and from the Lamb!” (Rev. 7:9, 10)

If that’s what eternity will be like, shouldn’t we be living..and worshipping…that way now?!? So why aren’t we? And what are we going to have to do to get there?

I’ll share with you from first hand experience…that’s the way to worship!

by: Bob Reccord

William Wilberforce has two consuming passions: (1) the abolition of slavery, and (2) the restoration of manners. The first is self-explanatory… the second leaves some question when placed against the backdrop of today’s semantics. In today’s lingo we could better say a return to civility.

And I’m thinking more and more that we need a modern day Wilberforce desperately. For civility seems to be a vanishing commodity …especially when it comes to those who wield “the pen.”

For example, Chan Gailey has been the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, and assistant coach for the Denver Broncos, Pittsburg Steelers and Miami Dolphins. Presently, he serves as head coach of the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech. But they didn’t win a bowl game, and he didn’t meet the expectations of the Jacket’s moneyed alumni.

Thus the story by Atlanta Journal sports columnist Mark Bradley titled “Gailey haters hope NFL lures him.” The second paragraph proclaims, “A lot of Tech fans hope Chan Gailey leaves.” It later goes on to say “…he has worked here five years—never having a losing season, never failing to grace a bowl game—without having won over his constituency. And if, having just completed the best of the five seasons, he hasn’t done it by now, there’s little chance he will.”

by: Bob Reccord

I just got off the phone with a friend in the Midwest serving in a denominational leadership role. He’s one of the finest men I know. His heart has been on fire for Christ since I came to know him about 23 years ago. He would share Christ with anything that moves. He’s led churches as a pastor, and watched them grow by leaps and bounds. His character is something he has worked hard to protect and I’ve always felt I could take his word to the bank. He has been faithful to his wife throughout their long marriage and he has been a dad who loved and equipped his kids for life.

Yet, he finds himself in the crosshairs, not of people outside the church, but those inside of it. Allegations are being thrown around which simply leave “questions” hanging in the air about his character. Decisions are being reviewed, questioned and held out for public ridicule. It’s not scores of people…but it doesn’t have to be, as long as they are focused, tenacious and driven. And his heart is broken.

That’s not to say he’s weak, by any means. He’s a man’s man. It’s not to say he’s worried, because he knows he’s been true to his character and to his Lord. He wouldn’t say that everything done has been perfect…who of us could? But he has worked hard to make the best judgments he could at any point, given the information available at the time. But “arm chair quarterbacks” don’t care about that.

And not long before that I talked to a friend who followed a legend as pastor of a great church in the mid-South. He has been attacked, publicly criticized, blogged to death, faced with attempt after attempt to humiliate him in the public arena. While he has had wonderful people supporting and walking in support of him, you can’t remove the deep hurt, shock and heartbreak a leader has when walking through such a gauntlet.

And these instances can be reproduced over and over across the land.
I can identify, due to some challenging experiences in my own journey in the last year. So how did we get here?!?

Have we forgotten that the Sermon on the Mount focuses much more on how we treat each other than on simply what we believe?

Have we prided ourselves in holding strongly to orthodoxy while compromising on “orthopraxy” (putting the orthodoxy into practice with each other?

Do we just lay aside Matthew 18 and the process clearly laid out there for confronting issues within the community of faith…in private if at all possible?

Or have we become political animals within our religious realms that use closed room “caucus” meetings as skillfully as the Democratic and Republican national parties? Do we “leak” material to publications to strengthen our position, at the expense of the soul of a brother of sister?

Wasn’t it Jesus who said, “And they will know you are my disciples by how you love one another”? But I fear the world watches occurrences like the ones I started with…and stays away in droves!

God help us if we don’t get our house in order in how we treat one another.

More On Bob Reccord

Bob Reccord’s Travels

First Baptist Church of Houston, TX

Word of Life Assembly of God, Springfield, VA

Westover Church Men’s Retreat Oxford, NC

Travis Ave Baptist Church, Ft. Worth TX Prestonwood Baptist Church, Plano, TX

McGregor Baptist Church, Ft. Myers FL

Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Jonesboro, GA

First Baptist Church West Hollywood, FL

Berkland, Baptist Church, Cambridge, MA

Mt. Vernon Baptist Church, Albertville, AL

First Baptist Church O’Fallon, MO

Sevier Heights Baptist Church, Knoxville, TX

Olive Baptist Church, Pensacola, FL

Bob Reccord’s Men’s Conferences and Events

Westover Church Men’s Retreat Oxford, NC

Noble Warriors Men’s Conference, Chesterfield, VA

First Baptist Church West Hollywood, FL

Iron Sharpens Iron Men’s Conference, Clinton, Iowa

More On Iron Sharpens Iron Men’s Conference in New York

Iron Sharpens Iron Men’s Conference, Albany, NY

Providence Baptist Church Men’s Conference, Raleigh North Carolina

Forrest Hills Presbyterian Church Men’s Event, Charlotte, NC

Iron Sharpens Iron Men’s Conference, Sacramento, CA

Iron Sharpens Iron Men’s Conference Charlotte, NC

Iron Sharpens Iron Men’s Conference, West Palm Beach, FL

Iron Sharpens Iron Men’s Conference, Seattle, WA

Bob Reccord’s Speaking at Pregnancy Care Centers

First Choice Pregnancy Care Center Banquet, Cape Coral, FL

Coastal GA Pregnancy Center Banquet Fundraiser Life Care Pregnancy Care Center Banquet, Lafayette,

In Business and Government Ministries Prestonwood Baptist Church, Power Lunch Plano, TX

Christian Ministries to United Nations luncheon, New York City, NY Pinnacle Forum America