About Us

Hear the story from the radio drama, Unshackled, aired on over 250 radio stations around the world from the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago. (This could take several minutes to load and start playing, so please be patient).

I was raised in a church that did not preach the Gospel. When I became a teenager, I became very hateful and rebellious. I ran away from home three times, breaking the heart of my parents.

On my third trip as a runaway, I had been gone for 6 weeks when I ran into an evangelistic group from Youth for Christ. There, at the age of 16, I heard the Gospel for the first time in my life.

God used these teens to show me that Christianity was a relationship with Christ, not just a set of deeds and dogma.

After watching these kids for 3 days, I had to know more. I sought out the local pastor. He shared the Good News of Christ with me. That evening, my name was written in the Book of Life, and I became a new creature in Christ!

I returned home a week later, and finished my senior year in High School. I went on to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, and Detroit Bible College in Detroit, Michigan.

Over the years God has allowed me the privilege to serve Him in radio, music, evangelistic, church-planting and pastoral ministries across the United States and in Canada.

My passion is to see God's people equipped and motivated to win souls to Christ.

I believe that every believer can and should win at least one soul to Christ every year. I believe that every church should make this a core part of their program. I will be developing more information on this site to help you develop this into your church program, so please bookmark this site and come back often.

I have served in Conservative Baptist, Independent Baptist, Southern Baptist and Independent Bible churches, and have preached in churches of many denominations.

Influences in my life

Rev. Ralph Barteld
Ralph was the pastor of the Methodist Church in Port Sanilac, Michigan, who led me to Christ on July 28, 1965. He told me to write the date in my Bible because it was the most important day in my life. The same night he led me to Christ, he told me, "Bob, Jesus wants you to tell others about Him so they can go to Heaven too." I have never forgotten his words.

	Ray Clendenan
	Ray was the Youth for Christ Director in Marlette, Michigan, who brought the YFC Teen Team to Port Sanilac, where I received Christ. He influenced me greatly by his devotionals and by the weekly Bible study follow up literature he mailed me during the first few months of my Christian life.

Dr. Sumner Wemp
Dr. Wemp was the Director of Practical Christian Work when I was a student at Moody Bible Institute. He is a powerful preacher of the Gospel and a dynamic soul winner. His love for people and his enthusiasm for Christ are contagious. Anyone who ever meets him will hear about Jesus. Sign up for his email devotionals. If they don't move you, nothing will. www.sumnerwemp.com

Rev. Tom Turley

A lot of people thought of him as a "hillbilly." Tom did not have much formal education, but he memorized Scripture by the chapter, and he had a consuming passion for winning souls to Christ. He was a master of the basics of the Christian life. He was a powerful illustration of the fact that knowing the Word and being filled with the Holy Ghost is far more important than a formal theological education. He told me, "Bob, God will give you souls. You just have to want them badly enough."

Dr. Kenneth Wall

Brother Wall was my pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Jennings, Louisiana, where I was ordained on July 2, 1972. He was a strong leader who taught me that I need to have a soft heart and a tough hide. He taught me how to build an evangelistic church with an expository preaching ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Dr. John R. Rice, 1895-1980

John R. Rice

"Prayer is asking, and the answer to prayer is receiving."
Dr. Rice motivated many preachers to build soul winning churches. He taught us that every church should baptize at least 200 people a year until they run out of lost people to reach. His emphasis on praying for the power of the Holy Spirit and winning souls in His power is forgotten by most Christians today. I had the opportunity of working with him in The National Conference on Soul Winning and Revival in Dallas and Detroit.

	Dr. Jerry Falwell
	As I watched the broadcasts of his services when I was a young preacher, I would pray and weep, "God, help me do that. Let me build a great church that reaches thousands of people with the Gospel." Every pastor should be a student and practitioner of Saturation Evangelism: "Preaching the Gospel to every available person at every available time by every available means."

Dr. Elmer Towns
Dr. Towns' series of books on great soul winning churches and his personal counsel over breakfast challenged me to build a great church - a Great Commission church. I listened to his tapes and read every one of the books over and over. Dr. Towns is a master teacher with a burning passion for souls.

Kathy Sharpe, 1981-1996

My beloved daughter Kathy was killed instantly in a car accident on Memorial Day, 1996. She taught me the brevity of life, the importance of family, the significance of winning your children to Christ and the importance of serving God now. Many times she would go out, and I would wait for her to come home. Now she is waiting for me to come Home. I love you, Kathy! I'm coming Home! I just need a little more time so I can bring some more people with me.