Bob's Blog

  At first glance, this declaration may seem grandeous and presumptuous. But, I don't think it is. David's life, out of all the men in the Bible, is laid bare to us in a way that is unique.  We see David's entire life from boyhood to warrior to king to sage.  We see him as a confident young man.  We see him forgotten and left out. We see him rise in standing with men and then we see him fall. We see him suffer profound loss of friendship and relationship. We see him run and we see him fight.  We see him as a warrior. We see him as a leader of men. We see him as a King.  We see him struggle and fall to sexual sin and adultery. We see him murder. We see him remorseful and utterly undone. We see him fall to pride.  We see him longing for God.  We see him betrayed. We see him struggle with family issues, some for which he is responsible. We see him suffer the loss of a beloved son.  We see him declared a "man...

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. I have heard and read these verses many times.  Most of the messages I have heard preached about them have centered on how we need to treat one another.  And, I certainly don't want to minimize that focus.   If only we behaved this way in all of our relationships.  I haven't!  A few days ago, I saw this passage in a different light.  It occurred to me that this is exactly how God loves us, always and perfectly.  God = Love!   He is patient.  He is kind. He is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.  He does not demand his own way.  He is not i...

In the dark and quiet of my study early one morning this week, I started praying and thanking God for who He is and what He has been in my life.  I found myself asking Him to help me better relate to Him.  I had no trouble seeing Him as a friend, leader, Lord, etc.  I did have hesitation when my thoughts got more intimate than that!  I tried to imagine myself seeing Him as "Abba Father" and crawling into His lap for safety, etc. This made me uncomfortable.   Then, I noticed our cat stomping around in the entryway.  In spite of the fact that he can be stealthy and quiet, sometimes he thunders around the house like a draft horse.  Suspecting he wanted attention, I called him over.  He came to me.  I picked him up and placed him in my lap.  As I started to pet him, he buried his head in the crook of my arm.  It was then that I saw what God had done. I love it when God "speaks" to me.  I especially love it when He is so...

Psalms 119:1-8 Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths. You have charged us to keep your commandments carefully. Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees! Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with your commands. As I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should! I will obey your decrees. Please don’t give up on me! Over the past months, I believe God has been working on my heart.  Just a cursory look through my journal would show that work has focused on the truth of His love for me.  So many books, movies, podcasts have focused on that need in my life.  The changes have been gradual, but significant.  As I have stated before, both in my journal and in other forums, if we really knew how much God loves us, it would...

Psalms 23 A psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever. Most everyone I know has heard or even memorized the verses above.  The trouble with being so familiar with something is that it breeds, well...familiarity.  Which in turn, can breed apathy.  I wonder how apathetic we have become to the message, when we have heard the verses repeated over and over since our childh...

Many times, when I post a blog entry, I include a photo.  This entry will not include a photo! A few days back, I wrote a blog entry about a new practice I have implemented, every morning if I can, of reading through some notes and scriptures to remind me of who He is and who I am in Him.  Over the years of my life, I have tried at various times to practice "morning devotions."  I was never very successful.  After only a few weeks, sometimes only a few days, of setting my alarm to get up early to read my Bible and some book of daily devotions like "My Utmost for His Highest", I would start hitting the snooze button.  But, I have realized that I have been thinking of "morning devotions" all wrong. Firstly, even the term sounds more religious than imperative.  I looked at these times as something that would be nice to do, maybe even gain me some points with God.  But, I did not see them for what I now understand them to be.   In one of t...

Saw a movie a few weeks back, called Remember Sunday, that told the story of a man who had lost his ability to retain short term memory.  When he awoke in the morning, he had no memory of the day before.  Nor, any day for that matter since suffering a brain aneurysm.   His sister had created a folder that was just above his alarm clock that was labeled, "Read Me Every Morning!"  It contained the story of what had happened to him and helped him reorient himself to who he was and what he should be doing.  It was absolutely necessary to reintroduce those things into his memory to frame the rest of the day.   This morning, I realized I needed to do the same thing.  I have short term memory loss when it comes to remembering who I am in God, what I need to focus on and what kind of man I should be.  It will serve to frame my day.  

I know it is a cliche! But, the arrival of spring always makes me think "new beginning." After the cold grays and browns of winter, warm greens and bursts of all kinds of colors emerge. In the midst of these and the fact that today is Easter, the resurrection of Jesus is top of mind. Gospel means "good news." There could be none better. We are sinners and hopelessly condemned to death. But, God, the only one who could represent all of mankind, comes to earth in the form of Jesus. He dies on the cross paying the sin debt that we owe. Then, is raised from the dead. We not only share in His death, but in His resurrection! That truly is the best news ever!

I found one of my journal entries from the beginning of the year today. In it, I was reflecting on 2012 and the challenges it brought. Then, I added these statements... There have been many significant upsides this year as well. I hate how all of the negative things seem to overshadow the positive times. Even if the negative things are only a small subset of all of our experiences for a given time. I think it has to do with how much we relive the negative times, either through worry, unforgiveness, guilt, etc. We let them soak in, rather than shedding them like a windshield that has been treated with Rain-X sheds water. Makes me wonder how much this has to do with unbelief. Was Jesus that way? Did He dwell on the hurt caused by others? Did He self protect or worry?  I don't think so.

From a journal entry during a vacation to the beach a few years ago... I really do prefer the mountains over the beach. I do like the waves and the beautiful sunsets. The stars are impressive as well, assuming the ambient lights are not much of a factor.  But, the mountains feel more like home.  I am sure that sounds strange coming from someone raised in Illinois and now living in Indiana, where the elevation changes could really be measured in inches.  But, I am not talking about it feeling like home because it reminds me of my childhood or teen years.  I am referring to a deeper longing.  A home that is an echo of something from the past.  A past in which I am only vaguely familiar.  A memory that may lie somewhere in my genes. At the beach, I feel like an intruder or at best, a guest.  It is a place at which I am never entirely comfortable. But, a mountain!  I belong there!  I may no...

A few days ago, I pulled this blog up in my browser and looked at some of the posts I have written over the years. I noticed a trend. In 2009, I wrote 23 posts. From 2010 through 2012, I wrote 9, 4 and 1 respectively. Almost all of the posts in 2010 where written the first part of the year. The decline correlates to a particularly difficult time at work. Looking back, I can see that this experience bled over into all areas of my life. To be honest, I think it rocked my world more significantly than it should have. There have been many other challenges besides work. I wish I could say that I have passed all of the trials with flying colors. Not so much. But, I am starting to realize that they have come my way for a purpose. God is continuing to Father me. The past few years have revealed some areas in my heart that still need healing. But, I have felt more whole the last few weeks than I have felt in a long time. I am so grateful for God's unending love! And, for the...

A few years ago, as God was starting to wake me out of my slumber, I attended a "Men's Advance" in southern Indiana.  During that weekend, I had an experience that I believe has changed the course of my life.  If you were there and looking on, you would probably not have recognized it as a life changing moment.  To be honest, neither did I.  But, the number of times I have thought back on that event, as well as the number of times I have told the story, illustrates its significance. One sunny afternoon, many of the men gathered at the base of 3 telephone poles.  Those poles are pictured above.  The shorter pole has climbing pegs that reach to within 4 feet of the top of the pole.  The 2 taller poles have a trapeze-like bar hanging between them.  The goal of this challenge is to climb and stand on the top of the shorter pole and jump to the trapeze on the longer poles....

Today was one of those days that I found myself running from meeting to meeting.  Frantic scurrying from one building to another without even time between meetings to use the restroom.  My mind was occupied with all of the issues of the meeting I was coming from, while trying to transition to the issues of the meeting that I was heading towards. Since it takes a bit of time to make it from one building to the other, I decided to try to make a call while I speed walked.  I popped my bluetooth headset in my ear and used the voice activation feature to tell my phone who I wanted to call.  Seeking to verify my instruction it asked, "Did you say, call Cleo Taylor?" The question stopped me in my tracks.  I paused for a moment and sadly and slowly answered, "No." Cleo Taylor was my grandfather.  Apparently, his contact information has been transferred from one cell phone to the other as I have upgraded to newer phones.  Unfortunately, he has been dead f...

Wow! The Mountain from TSO Photography on Vimeo . - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Last year my son and I took a trip to the Boundary Waters in Minnesota. During that trip I wrote a journal entry that I later included in a blog entry called, "His Right Hand Shall Lead Me." In that note, I was commenting about how easy it was to feel God in the midst of the wilderness and silence. But, God promises that no matter where we find ourselves, He is there. Even though I know that is true, I am always encouraged when He reminds me. He often does so through nature. Like a cloud formation or a sunset that is particularly striking. Like tonight. These photos were taken tonight while on a walk with my wife in our neighborhood. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Well, it has been awhile. To be honest, I am not sure why. As everyone else, I have been busy and there have been a lot of changes over the past year. I also have a folder full of draft blogs. Yet, I never took the time to complete them. I think sometimes I get caught up in the pressure to say something important or full of impact. I think I just need to share what I believe God is speaking to me about. We learn from one another through our stories. I have found that men are not so good at letting other men into ours. Maybe that is what we should focus on. In any case, I plan to jump back in the saddle. Share a few thought from my story, my journal, etc. I would love to hear about yours as well. Please feel free to do so in the comments of this blog! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Our family just returned from a mission trip to Mexico. The theme of the trip was "The Aroma of Hope." I won't go into all of the nuances of the "aromas" to which the theme referred. Believe me, when you combine 100 degree heat with hard work and no running water, there were many, both good and bad. But, one of the "aromas" to which the theme referred was the aroma of Christ. 2 Corinthians 2:15-16. According to these verses, we are the aroma of Christ, the "fragrance of life." A couple of years ago, my uncle gave me a bottle of cologne that had belonged to my grandfather, who had died over 20 years earlier. When I opened the bottle and smelled the cologne, I was immediately transported into many memories of my grandfather. I did not just recall them. I felt like I was there. The fragrance awakened many memories that had either been long forgotten or muted by time. But, one sniff of this cologne made them all real again. As I recalled th...

If you have attended some of our Men's Meetings or read some of my blogs or have just been around me when I have been thinking of it, you have probably heard me talk about how disappointed I am in how fast time passes.  I recognize that it is probably something all "aging" people think about.  Unfortunately, I guess I must qualify for that category.  I am most keenly aware of the topic as my kids hit certain significant milestones.  It is disappointing to me to realize that I can only remember a very small fraction of the time that we have had together.  If someone has lived in your house for 18 years, one should be able to better account for more than the number of moments that I can specifically recall.  With only a few exceptions, it seems that the minutes, hours and years have mostly blurred into a fuzzy lump.  I experienced something completely different on my recent trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota.  When I am here at ...

My son and I just returned from a trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) in upper Minnesota, literally a few feet south of the Canadian border.  Actually, due to rookie navigation skills, we did accidentally stray into Canada on a few occasions.  The BWCA is very remote.  There are few people and motorized vehicles are not allowed in most of the area. I intend on blogging a few times about our trip.  But, thought I would start with a journal entry from one of the afternoons in which we were camping on an island in the northernmost part of the BWCA.  Here is that entry... This afternoon I have been sitting here on a granite outcropping a few feet north of our campsite on Camper's Island.   There is a slight breeze, but for the most part the water is calm.  The sun has been out a few times today, but it has been overcast most of it.   I can see about eight pine covered islands from where I am sitting within 200 yards or so in the m...

I went to McDonald's this morning to have a sausage biscuit and a cup of coffee.  I know that it is very fashionable in some circles these days to malign McDonald's. But as I sat there listening to the conversations, I realized that the local McDonald's in our area is providing an environment for the development of relationships. I have talked with many of you in the past years lamenting the loss of a "third place" in our culture.  A place where people in a community congregate to relate.  Think English pubs, French cafes, coffee houses, small town cafes, etc.  Someplace close to home and easy to get to.  Because of the way we have zoned our neighborhoods, put together with a variety of other reasons, we have lost those places in recent years.  It contributes to our isolation! But, this morning, at least at our local McDonald's, I saw and heard elements of the "third place" returning.  The people sitting at multiple tables behind me apparently kn...