With my last name being Wine, I have been repeatedly connected with the beverage. Therefore, Jesus’ parable of wineskins has attracted my attention. In it He spoke of the danger of pouring new wine into old wineskins because the skin would burst as it fermented, and both would be wasted. I’ve desired to be a unique wineskin that could regularly receive ‘new wine’ and not explode. In fact, one of my core values has been ‘life change” in my own life and facilitating it in others. Those who have known me well have commented that I do continue to change. I want to share tastes of the new wine the Holy Spirit shares with me through His Word hence the blog name ‘My Wineskins’.
Blog
- Silence Doesn’t Mean No
- Dark Night of the Soul
- Recent Consideration
- Salvation by Apprenticeship
- First Choice
Silence Doesn’t Mean No
Early in our marriage, Connie and I purchased an elegant teak wood table that had an ideal history. Thirty-plus years later, when attempting to refinish it, we discovered it only had a thin teakwood veneer and couldn’t be refinished. Could it be one’s perception of their faith is only a ‘veneer finish?’ It’s commonly thought …
Dark Night of the Soul
No, this blog isn’t a spin-off of John of the Cross’ poem or perspective of spiritual life. I had to go to the internet to find the source of that statement. Although the phrase sounds religious, it sounded too far out for me. My version of it was birthed early one morning. It left an …
Recent Consideration
I deeply value life-change, but not just for the sake of change. I eagerly want to become more like Jesus. I realize it is a lifetime ambition. But, if I’m not being changed into His likeness, I realize I’m fossilizing, which is only a shell of what once was. In processing the idea of changing …
About
My name is Bob Wine, and I’ve been married to my wife Connie for 55 years living mostly in Nebraska. We have two daughters who love God, one married with four girls and two boys and four grandchildren, and the other daughter is a widow with two boys.
My dad “planted” new churches, so I know the struggles that come with that lifestyle. I began vocational ministry in 1966 helping my father plant a church in So California. I received my License to Preach in 1968, graduated from Bethany Bible College (Santa Cruz CA) in 1969, and was Ordained in 1974. I served in a pastoral staff position (music and youth) in California and Oregon for nearly 10 years, and then as a senior pastor in Ainsworth and Kearney Nebraska. While pastoring the New Life church family for over 33 years, I also served as a Nebraska Presbyter for 20 years and a Regional Presbyter for 10 years before being elected as the Nebraska District Superintendent in April 2013. I retired in 2020.
Beyond loving God and His Word with everything within me, my top five core values are leading ‘life change’ in my own life and others; integrity and authenticity; excellence in all I do; balance in theology, practical Christianity, and lifestyle; and discipleship that is intentional, strategic and practical. John Maxwell’s test scored me as a Strategic Leader. My ministry strengths are administration, teaching, and counseling.
Ministry to me is not a job; it is “my reasonable service” of love as modeled by our Lord. Fulfillment of Christian living is found in living this self-giving model, not in self-gratification. I have a firm conviction that we as church leaders must not just educate the intellect or behavior of those we serve. Rather than shaping their behavior, we must shape their heart and equip and mobilize them (Ephesians 4:12) to do their ministry in the highest quality manner they are capable of doing. Therefore, my goal is to create an environment where the lid on the willing, hungry and/or marginalized individual who genuinely loves God with their whole heart is lifted and given an opportunity to develop “people smarts” in order to experience the greater joy God desires for them while serving in their God assigned task. At the same time, my goal is to build up stronger leaders and inspire them to invest in the lives of the hungry blossoming leaders.