by Stefan Stanford, All News Pipeline:
Bob had been somewhat hostile toward Christianity for most of the time I had known him. He’d have nothing to do with church or the things of God, and then, when I went into full time ministry in April of 2000, he thought I’d lost my mind…and I’m pretty sure I lost any amount of respect he might have had for me.
This went on for many years, and I’m married to his daughter, Lisa. But our ministry held a big Conference every year, with powerful, dynamic, courageous Christian speakers, teaching on the most vital issues of the day — relevant things. Urgent matters. And we also did street ministry and stood up for righteousness wherever evil raised it’s ugly head. Our conferences went on for many years, but Bob never came… until one year, he did.
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He made it clear that this was not his kind of thing, and he really had no interest in anything we were doing, and he was only there for us. He told us, “I’ll sit and listen to one of these guys, but I’m not going to be staying very long.” But God had other plans for Bob. He did sit and listen to one of our speakers, and was so intrigued, he actually stayed for the entire conference.
He came again the following year, and this time, he didn’t want to even give up his seat to use the restroom during breaks because he was afraid he’d miss something. And the next year, HE asked ME when our conference would be so he could be sure to be there. You see, he was hearing and learning things he’d never heard before. Not in any church, not from any preacher… because our speakers were bold, courageous men of God and talked about issues that 99% of pastors will never dare speak of, for fear of being “politically incorrect.” Bob found out that TRUE Christianity wasn’t for the wimpy or the weak. It wasn’t about religion and it wasn’t a “crutch” for “girly-men.” TRUE Christianity is powerful, relevant, vital and exciting…and definitely not for the weak.
He came to every event we put on after that first time. I’d witnessed to him the best I could for years, but it was attending our conferences, meeting my true Christian friends and learning that real Christ-followers were some of the most sensible, knowledgeable, and again, COURAGEOUS people he’d ever met. He was impressed and it changed him. I’d earned back his respect.
After a couple of years of attending our events, when there was an altar call, Bob was the first one out of his seat, to receive Christ. At another event, he was so moved that he did something we never thought we’d ever see: he went to his ex-wife, Lisa’s mom, and asked for her forgiveness for divorcing her, many years prior.
I watched Bob’s heart and life change through the ministry of Wisconsin Christian News, the wonderful, insightful teachers we had at our events, who I’m honored to call my friends, and of course, the moving of the Holy Spirit.
In 2018, shortly after his wife passed away, Bob moved from Minnesota to Florida. He had some health issues but was managing pretty well. Then one day that summer, we got a call from a hospital in Florida. The doctor told us he had fallen while out shopping and had been taken to the hospital and had been there for four days before they called us. The doctor told us he was on a feeding tube, that he had (at best) two weeks to live and recommended we agree he be sent to a nursing home for his “final days.”
My wife and I were on the next plane to Florida to rescue her dad. There was no way we were going to let him die in a nursing home, so far away from his family on the advice of one phone call from one doctor. When we arrived, we discovered that he had been put on a feeding tube because he failed the “swallowing test” and had been aspirating food into his lungs. On further examination, we discovered the reason he failed his “swallowing test” was that they had him on so many mind-numbing drugs, he was rarely even awake.
Instead of a nursing home, we brought him home to live with us at our home in Wisconsin. And it was then that I became his “nurse.” Because I work from home, I was able to care for his medical and physical needs, as well as his spiritual needs. Within a week, he was eating regular food again. He quickly regained his strength. Within two weeks, we were able to have his feeding tube removed, and within three weeks, he was back to his old self.
His health continued to improve. He was able to care for all his own personal needs, he was able to go out on his own, drive a car, go shopping, go on trips back to Minnesota and Florida — and go house hunting. He eventually bought his own home near us, and through all of this, I was very blessed to get to know my father-in-law on a much deeper, personal level. We got him off many of the prescription drugs that multiple doctors had prescribed for him like candy, and he felt much better. He was even planning to buy a pontoon boat so he could go fishing again.
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