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The Life He Led, the Wake He Left

My late grandfather Elmer Baumgartner left quite the “wake.”  The term “wake” comes from clinical psychologist and best-selling author Dr. Henry Cloud, who compares the idea of leaving a legacy to a concept he calls “the wake.” Just as a boat leaves a wake in its path when it goes through the water, so a […]

Bob Reusser
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May 25, 2016

Building a Legacy

Many choose to step back from senior leadership or veteran positions, but still want to offer insight, mentoring, and valuable coaching to those coming up behind them. That’s where the Nav Encore Mission comes in. Our Nav Encore Leadership Team recently had a lengthy discussion about Numbers 8:23-26, a passage that talks about “retirement” as it […]

Bob Reusser
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May 16, 2016

Reality Check

A dog food company hit some hard times. Sales were low and the CEO tried everything he could think of to improve the bottom line. He hired a new advertising firm, but that didn’t help. Next, he fired his entire marketing department and hired a new team. After several months, however, nothing changed. Sales numbers […]

Bob Reusser
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May 9, 2016

The Bigger Story

Perhaps you’ve heard the old story about a U.S. Navy warship that was heading through the fog one night when a distant, faint light appeared directly in its heading. As the light got brighter, a voice came over the ship radio and said, “Attention. Calling the vessel traveling on a 220 heading. Adjust your course […]

Bob Reusser
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April 29, 2016

From Russia, With Prayer

Why is prayer so often a last resort? Even though we were in Irkutsk, a city of 750,000 people, and had a map, we couldn’t make use of either because we didn’t know Russian! We stood for a moment thinking about which direction to head. We felt helpless. You see, after two days in Russia, […]

Bob Reusser
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April 21, 2016

Sitting on Ready

Some years ago, a southern gentleman passed on to me a memorable comment on the idea of service to our Lord. The elderly saint said it this way: “A servant should always be sitting on ready.” I saw this in action with the recent transition of the AFAM Network from my wife, Jane, and me to […]

Rich Berry
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April 11, 2016

Make the Connection

Communication is great. Connection is better. John C. Maxwell expands on this idea in his book, Everyone Communicates, Few Connect: What the Most Effective People Do Differently. He writes about three key questions that people ask when we seek to make a connection with them. If we can answer “yes” to all three of these questions, […]

Bob Reusser
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April 8, 2016

Listening to My Wife

To know is to listen. If I want to get to know people, I must draw them out; and if I draw them out, I must learn to listen. Listening, though, requires patience and discipline. It is not natural, at least not for me. I would rather tell than listen, and every time I do […]

Randy Raysbrook
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March 30, 2016

Maximum Impact

“When a boy turns 13, put him in a barrel and nail the lid on the top. Feed him through the knothole. When he turns 16, put a plug in the knothole!” That’s Mark Twain’s tongue-in-cheek child-rearing advice when it comes to young men. Having been a teenage boy myself, and having raised two sons, […]

Bob Reusser
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March 11, 2016

We Need Helen!

As City Campus Director of the Nashville Navigators, I can’t say enough about the ministry impact we’re experiencing locally through the efforts of Helen Ebert, who is a part of our Nav Encore Mission. Frankly put, we need Helen! Our ministry in Nashville is exploding on campus, with numerous students coming to faith in Christ and deepening their […]

Dave Bachman
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March 3, 2016