by: Bob Reccord

A mere two days separated a devastating tragedy and, ironically, a wonderful victory. April 16 dawned on most of us with the earth- shattering news of 32 deaths on the campus of Virginia Tech University. A lone gunman had evidently gone on a rampage senselessly killing fellow students and professors.

In an interview I did following the tragedy, I was asked, “Bob, how can this happen in America?” My response: “Let me ask a question in response. In a nation that has aborted over 48 million children, in which California is seriously considering joining Oregon in legalizing euthanasia, and in which we glamorize serial killers in our movies…why wouldn’t it happen in America?!”

Then came the wonderful news on the 18th that by a vote of 5 to 4 the U. S. Supreme Court supported a 2003 federal ban on partial-birth abortions as constitutional. Thank God, a crack of hope has finally come in the death sentence delivered to millions of children in the womb through the delivery of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton in 1973!

That is why I am so thankful to be headed to Lafayette, Indiana this weekend to speak for Dana Hobson who serves as Director of LifeCare Services. This is a wonderful Pregnancy Care Center that offers an alternative to abortion and steps in to give so many women and babies a new lease on life. I am honored to speak at their annual banquet and can’t wait to encourage so many who volunteer and support it regarding the critical and eternal work they are doing! Thank God for people like Dana who have faithfully served across our country stranding firm on the biblical sanctity of every life in the face of a culture increasingly fixated on death. May your tribe increase!

by: Bob Reccord

A few weeks ago I did an entry titled MAKE THE MOST OF MENTORING! I am looking forward to this weekend because I am going to be with one of the young couples for which Cheryl and I have had the privilege of serving as two of their mentors. What a blast to see them effectively giving their life away in service to people and making a Kingdom difference. Cheryl will be ministering to the women on Saturday morning at the church in O’Fallon, Missouri and then I will be speaking on Sunday and have the privilege of spending time with the staff and their spouses Sunday night.

What a joy it is to see investment giving a return…whether it be financial, emotional or any other way. But there is something that is hard to describe when you see a person in whom you have invested a little taking big steps to make an eternal difference! Thanks Jonathan and Julie for letting us play a little part in your lives…and the lives of those with whom you serve!

by: Bob Reccord

For the turkey hunter there’s nothing like Spring! Budding trees and flowers, grass greening and weather warming is all fine and good. But, nothing takes the place of foggy dawns, the sound of an owl call, and the shrill, rattling retort of a gobbler for your alarm clock.

So, needless to say, I couldn’t wait for the season to get here this year. I prize two Rio gobblers I got a couple of years ago in Texas and now I’m on the hunt for an Eastern and an Osceola. And I just knew this Spring would be it…the next step in a turkey hunter’s hat triple play. And I was off to middle Georgia with a friend who is a great hunter and who had recently bought 200 new acres of hunting land! What more could a guy want?!

I have been pretty decent with a slate and glass turkey call, as well as the wet box call. The yelp, the cluck, the gobble…I’ve worked on them all. And I diligently work on improving it any time I can learn, because one thing I’ve seen of good hunters, they never stop learning. But the one thing that has given me fits is the reed mouth call. I marvel at the folks who can replicate the wild turkey calls just by manipulating that little reed, air flow and jaw movement in their mouth. But I had been practicing this year.

Arriving at the land late afternoon, we unloaded our gear, fired up the ATV and set out to determine roosting patterns so we would know where to be at daybreak. And…just in case, we loaded our weapons. After all, who knows!

Threading our way through the logging roads we paused on the ridge and let go with some crow calls. After a pause, came the turkey calls. And then the listening. And more listening. Hearing nothing we moved on…until we had worked our way down to the creek bottom. There we would repeat the process…and then started talking to catch up a bit on each other’s lives and families.

It was on the way back to the lodge that it happened. Making our way back up the ridge, suddenly a loud commotion-like something hurtling down through a tree—followed by a loud thump and flying leaves. I would only catch a fleeting glimpse, little more than my partner caught, and then he was gone. A TOM! And it was over before we knew it. We had gotten too lax, weren’t expectant, and had let our attention wander. It would turn out to be the only shot we would have a possibility for the entire hunt.

Looking back on it, I’ve reflected how often not being alert and losing opportunity in relationships and families reveals skills we need to further develop and hone. It’s the unexpected moments that sometimes bring the greatest opportunities. Times like…

When a teen comes home from a date and while casually drifting toward the bedroom says, “I’ve sorta been thinking about…”

When a spouse inquires, “Got a minute?”

When a child interrupts, “I’ve got a question…”

When a daughter says, “I’ve got a friend who’s having a problem with….”

In every instance, we had better be alert. An invaluable life skill is to be ready for the unexpected and don’t ever stop learning what to be listening for. And it usually won’t happen in convenient times. It is a must for good hunters…and it’s a must for good spouses, parents and friends. Maybe that’s one of the applications of what James cautions us, “be quick to listen and slow to speak…” (James 1: 19). And what we need to hear will often come in the most unexpected moments, so STAY ALERT!

by: Bob Reccord

This weekend I am headed to Sacramento to speak to men both Saturday and Sunday. I can’t wait! I had the opportunity to speak in the arena there for Promise Keepers in 2006. The men were great!!! I can’t wait to get back to them. And I’m going to be challenging them in three areas….

Standing Strong When The Bottom Falls Out

Finishing Well

Dive In and Make a Difference…Right Where You Are

Sacramento has a GREAT community of faith and I know they will have even more impact on me…than I may end up having on them. But one thing is certain, we’ll all be better for our lives having touched each other.

by: Bob Reccord

I had opportunity this week to speak to a group of edgy young leaders who were charting their own trail…where clear trails haven’t existed before. Europe is not surprised by young men and women who don’t jump right from what we in America would call high school directly into the university. Rather, it is not unusual to take a “sandwich year.” But not so in the good ‘ole US of A.

Until now. My friends related to Chick-fil-A and the foundation LifeShape have created a super adventure for young adults between high school and college or, if desired… after a short bit of college… blaze new trails stretching through a September to May frontier in which they tackle challenges like world-view, vocation (career or calling?!?), carrying your witness to work, understanding your unique “wiring” and what God may be trying to say through that, and more.

I was impressed that these adventurers had the guts to get off the well worn ruts of conformity and chart their own course to deepen their convictions, mature their perspectives, travel and experience the streeeeetch of foreign culture. These guys and girls were serious about making their lives count!

But I guess it reflects in the foci of the program…

To build men and women with character that increasingly reflects Jesus Christ.

To drive home the reality that the true purpose of knowledge is to comprehend eternal truth.

To more clearly understand the calling on life that God places on each life…to Himself and to a Mission.

Having been with these leaders of tomorrow…and today…I feel a lot better about the future!!!! And, who knows, maybe we’re seeing a new trend launch for not just smarter, or more equipped leaders…but for DEEPER leaders! Check out Impact 360.net!
Thanks John Basie and John White!

What do you think about the idea of the “sandwich year”?

by: Bob Reccord

It seems like there is a lot of half-truths, misinformation and accusations being thrown around these days in Christian circles. I am aware of it happening in some interdenominational ministries I know, at numerous churches, and in several denominations…let alone the work place, neighborhoods, and relationships. And too often too few seem to be willing to stand up for what is right…and true. They seem content to let the half-truths, misinformation and accusations go and justify it by something like “God will take care of it.”

And indeed He will. But He also uses people in flesh and blood to stand up for what is right, even at their own personal risk. He often wants to set the record straight here and now, but finds it tough I believe to find willing defenders.

I recently had a friend in a key ministry in the United States say it had come to his attention that someone in leadership where he works had politically trounced on some people and allowed half-truths, misinformation and accusations to go uncorrected. And he had been told that if some facts about this leader’s personal life/ ministry were ever to be known he would probably lose the role he held. When I asked him what he was going to do, he responded, “I guess I’ll just let God handle it.”

I have recently had an article written by a writer who has no love lost with conservative Christian leadership that had numerous points of half-truths, misinformation and accusations thrown my way. And to my surprise and thanks, two strong leaders (Bob Tenery and Dr. Randy White) stepped up and corrected the writer. Will he apologize? I will be shocked. But who knows, maybe I will be amazed.

Remember well the words of Martin Niemoller who wished he had stood up to Herr Hitler much sooner….

First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out for I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out for I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.

Then…they came for me and there was no one lift to speak out for me!

But what about you? When did you stand up on behalf of another…even when it is uncomfortable for you? Tell me about it and what made you believe it was the right thing to do. Or, do you feel it is best to “mind your own business?” If so, when and why?

by: Bob Reccord

“Do you think ministry has gotten harder than ever, or am I just feeling like I’m in the cross-hairs more often than not?” That question from a young ministry leader recently hasn’t let go of me.

This morning in my quiet time I was reading Henri Nouwen’s SPIRITUAL DIRECTION and found myself captured by a thought. He was talking about how many things can go right in our lives but it only takes one or two folks, and their verbal criticisms, cutting remarks or attacks to unsettle our focus and confidence.

Nouwen claims “the greatest trap in life is not success, popularity or power, but self-rejection, doubting who we truly are.” And what is that? The Beloved in the eyes of the Lord. Clearly he points out that Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness was to get him to believe that he was something other than The Beloved. Likewise, he points out that we are tempted and pulled to believe, that we find our primary value by…

I am what I do!

I am what other people say about me!
Or
I am what I have!

But none of those satisfy…and all of them leave us feeling empty and that ministry and life is getting increasingly tough. My soul resonated with this reality.

Do you ever find yourself struggling with these traps? How? And what do you do to get life and ministry back in perspecitive?

by: Bob Reccord

I recently had the opportunity to speak to a men’s conference in New York. What a vibrant group of men! I loved it. And God did some wonderful things in men’s lives. But what amazed me was the reminder of how many of us never know many of the things the God is doing when we are ministering. The writer referred back to several months earlier when I had been in the same
area delivering the kick off evangelistic message for a Promise Keepers rally. Little did I know about a gang member who had accepted Christ that night.until I found myself back in New York this time to minister once more. The writer, who worked with PK, only asked that I remove the gentleman’s name from Schenectady as he didn’t have his permission to use it. But, the
facts don’t change.