bob.wilson.blog

So as you may have heard, this Sunday is kind of a big one in my life…I’ll be teaching for the last time as lead pastor of a church we planted 13 years ago. (Notice I said last time as lead pastor, because I’m hoping they’ll invite be back down the road!) So as you might imagine, this is not the easiest message to prepare….more for the emotion than anything.

While there is not so much in the winter, spring, summer and fall around Ithaca are full of a lot of great, free, outdoor music. Whether it is at one of the many festivals through out the area, music series such as at @ Taughannock State Park or the Commons,  or just in many other random [...]

Now, there are a couple things I have generally tried to avoid in this space…politics, and venting when I’m angry. Well, last night I read an article online, about Mitt Romney, and it made me angry.

I’m pretty sure I know how to stress you out…to make you feel at least a little bit guilty. In general, if you are an evangelical Christian, I know I just need to ask you a series of questions with the word “enough” at the end.

“Are you reading the bible enough?”

“Are you praying enough?”

“Are you sharing you faith enough?”

It seemed for a few years I found myself spending more and more time dealing with people who simply wanted to tell me how bad I was, or how bad the church was. It got to a point where I dreaded opening my email, or I’d see the caller ID on the phone and I’d feel the knot in my stomach. I’d let it get to such a place, where I was getting resentful towards our church.

Okay, so let’s get this out of the way now…food will make several appearances over the course of this series. In part because: 1) Ithaca, as Eric Callahan mentioned in yesterday’s comments, has a lot of really great places to eat, 2) I like food, a lot, 3) Since I am still on a liquid [...]

This July 4th weekend will mark the 18 year anniversary of when Liz & I moved to Ithaca from Albany. While I know Liz was hoping we’d settle down in the area and raise our family, I was thinking 5 years and we’d be on to our next adventure. I mean Ithaca was small…it was in the middle of nowhere and they didn’t even have a professional sports team.

ver the past several months we have been setting up a Dublin Church Plant newsletter to keep those interested up-to-date with how we are progressing as our family prepares to move to Dublin, Ireland, and willing to pray for us as well.

As much as I love computers and gadgets, nove of them have ever replaced my need for yellow legal pads. (although I do find myself using OmniFocus more and more for my projects & assorted lists…there is still something about writing stuff out on paper.) I am constantly making list, crossing items off and then starting a new list…the recycling bin in my office is mostly crumpled up sheets of yellow paper. As an INTJ (Myers-Briggs) I am always thinking in terms of strategies & systems. It doesn’t matter if it is at church, at home, planning a trip, or playing a game…my brain is naturally wired to figure out how something works and then work the system.

If you know me, you know that I love to read. As a kid it started with comic books (The Justice Society of America was my favorite), and the Chronicles of Narnia, and reached its height when I found a wife who reads even more than I do! (our kids had no chance…they all love books)