by:Bob Reccord

I never gave it much thought at the time. Twenty-six years ago life was hectic and I was traveling the country heading up a national training program for an international ministry (Evangelism Explosion International). The “road” beckoned about 33 weeks a year and I was trying to balance a family with a four year old and a new born.

He was a young man who had just come to know Christ and was proving to be a voracious reader, inquisitive mind, dynamic thinker and hungry learner. His dream, he said, was to write some day, and he wondered if he could come by my office regularly and just run his thoughts and questions by me, discuss what he was learning about the Christian life, and have me give thought and perspective to some things he was trying to write.

He reminded me recently over a dinner in Orlando, that he would often come by and kneel by my desk while I worked, answered phone calls, edited material and planned for the next trip…in between meetings. With stirring sincerity he told me what it had meant to him that I had given time generously, taken him seriously, encouraged him constantly and rejoiced with him in victories regularly.

Little did I imagine that twenty-six years later he would be one of the most listened to Christian talk show hosts in America. A celebrated speaker. A scratch golfer. And, still a wonderful friend. Who? Hank Hannegraff–the Bible Answer Man. Big doors swing on small hinges… like the gift of time when we have no idea what difference it will ultimately make.

by:Bob Reccord 

Challenges, discouragements and difficulties are equal opportunity aspects of all of our lives. They make no discrimination as to who they attack or whose life they attempt to undermine. They are something we all wish we could avoid at all costs, but which seem too often come with significant “costs” to our lives…and usually at the most inconvenient of times. And often they involve people…people with whom we live, work, are related to or with whom we share a meaningful shared experience (like church, a ministry, or a social club/organization). People can disappoint us, betray us, undermine us, or abandon us and we can’t simply take the posture of “the more I know people, the more I love my dog!”

You’ve probably been there before. I know I have…and not too long ago. And that’s when you really find out who your friends really are. As one modern leader in the midst of heart ache declared, “You don’t know who you friends are when you are on top of the world. You know who they really are when the world is on top of you.”

A while back when going through a very trying time, watching people too often distance themselves, I found myself in a particularly lonely place. It was then that a friend who I had known for years stepped to the forefront and stepped up in a huge way for me. When I asked him what motivated him to do it, I’ll never forget his answer: “Bob, a friend is someone who, when every one else is walking out, walks in…pull up a chair and says How are we going to get through this…together?”

So who is a friend like that to you? Just as importantly, are you a friend like that?

by:Bob Reccord

For too many years I spent way too many hours per day, week and month working and meeting goals and tasks that were often self imposed, or at worst, other-generated. There seemed to be too much job at the end of most days. Most of my married life I failed to take all of the vacation available to me in any given year…a fact I do not see as a bragging point in retrospect.

But I’m finally starting to get my act a bit better in order…better late than never, right?! I just got back from going turkey hunting with a great friend where we spent 2 days hunting together and never got a shot. But we had a great time together. We laughed…shared…prayed…enjoyed the beauty of God’s creation…felt the warmth of the sun on our face…watched nature wake up…and fell into our beds absolutely exhausted at night. It was great!!! So why have I missed it for so many years?

Because I forgot a simple truth that Jesus taught his disciples where He took them “apart” to Caesarea Philippi, ( a resort of that day) from the hectic schedule of demands of their ministry. To quote Vance Havner of years ago, “Be sure you take time to come apart, or you will come apart.”

Why do so many of us run to the edge of coming apart? Maybe because we take the job’s demands, people’s expectations, crammed schedules, and our own passion to “make a difference” too seriously…and our balance, relaxation, and pacing not near seriously enough.

So do you need to do some readjusting?