Meet Robert

What is your prayer / hope for Redemption Hill?
Depth and Maturity. I often stare at the massive maple trees that line our street and try to imagine what the root system looks like beneath and how deep they must be to sustain such enormous and mature tress for generations…through droughts, hurricanes, tornadoes, and seasons of plenty. My hope for Redemption Hill is that despite all of the distractions, temptations, and opportunities to come for generations, we would be a church community that relentlessly pursues depth in Jesus and doesn’t settle for anything less than all that God has for us in Jesus.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
“He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord” (Proverbs 18:22) and, “If you are really serious about planting this church, you’ll need thick skin, a strong cup, and a short memory.”

What are your favorite books and movies?
Loaded question– I have a love affair with books…but it wasn’t always that way. I didn’t finish my first one cover to cover until I was 18. So, I’m a late bloomer, but I’ve come on strong. Second to the Bible, no book has impacted me more significantly than John Piper’s Desiring God. I was given a copy my senior year in college by a professor who hated it, but thought I would like it. The result was me packing up my Grand Wagoneer almost 2 years later and moving to Minneapolis in the middle of January to learn all that I could. Right now I’m learning to love the Puritans in a new way (Richard Sibbes The Bruised Reed is brilliant) and I’ll probably be re-reading John Owen until the day I go to see Jesus. Off the top of my head, I love: Repentance and the 21st Century Man (Jack Miller), According to Plan (Graham Goldsworthy), How People Change (PaulTripp…anything he writes), Luther’s Larger Catechism and Simple Prayer…as well as anything Rick Reiley and Brian Greene write.

As for movies, contrary to popular speculation, I very much enjoy movies. Just not that often or the fantasy/sci-fi ones that make you suspend common sense to appreciate them. I also like human characters better than cartoon ones…or movies comprised of trolls, nymphs, hobbits, etc. I love the Bourn Movies, Tombstone, Heat, The Royal Tenenbaums, Good Will Hunting, and Stranger Than Fiction

What’s playing in your car or on your ipod?
If you stole my ipod you would end up listening to Jeff Buckley, Foo Fighters, Janes Addiction, Ben Harper, Dave Matthews, Animal Liberation Orchestra, Jack Johnson, Damien Rice and the like…as well as any of the Red Mountain Music and Indelible Grace albums. Mixed in to sanctify my ipod will be some sermons from the pantheon of current preachers: Piper, Keller, Chandler, Driscoll, and my A29 buddies Tyler Jones, Elliott Grudem, JD Greear, Chris Atwell, and Jason Roberts. (If you haven’t listened to them, you should.)

What can you be caught doing on your day off?
On my day off you can spot me catching my son at the bottom of the JCC’s 3-story indoor water slide, trying to figure out a way to be an accomplice to Chris’s vices, rehearsing the list of home-improvement projects that I never actually do, encouraging my wife that I will actually get around to doing them, and probably lamenting that I didn’t plan better for my day off.

What is something that people would be surprised to know about you?
Back in my more “buff” days (I was actually fit at one time in my life) I got to be an impromptu body guard for Steven Tyler and Joe Perry as we split a pew at the Ryman Auditorium during a Lenny Kravitz show. To make it better, I was asked to be Lenny’s “escort” as he pranced through the crowd. Good times.