Interview with Bishop Robert, Count to One

The prayer of Jesus in John 17 was that His Church would be one, and that together we would display the glory of God to a lost and dying world. Our unity would prove our message. Sadly, we’ve badly missed the mark.

Bishop Robert lifts the veil on what the Holy Spirit has been doing across the globe, enflaming hearts of believers everywhere to fulfill Christ’s prayer. Today, God is moving His Church to the place of unity we see in John 17! Count to One lays a simple and compelling foundation every believer can stand upon, examining the issues and answering the questions everyone asks about overcoming the barriers to genuine Christian unity.

God gave Bishop Robert an interesting task one day in prayer, telling him “I am teaching you to count to one!” The lesson was to be found in a simple truth revealed in the pages of the Scriptures. The Lord’s determination to see the unity of His Body restored and His desire to see the power of His glory displayed to a lost and dying world will strike you with deliberate force as you take in the message of Count to One.

Christ desires to see His Body as one—a powerful and life-changing reflection of His own ministry on Earth, and Bishop Robert lays out the principles that every believer in Jesus can use to begin breaking down the barriers, which have held them back and building bridges of unity within the Body of Christ. Using a combination of fascinating historical insights and refreshingly simple applications of Scripture, Bishop Robert leads you down the path to real freedom to love your brothers and sisters in Christ in a new and effective way.

Read the book and meet the family you never believed you had. Welcome home!

For more information, please visit www.BishopRobert.com

Q: Please tell us about Count to ONE, and what inspired you to write it.

A:

A few years ago, the Lord arrested me as I was reading Ephesians, chapter 4.  I use the term arrested because, day after day, regardless of my planned reading program, I found myself returning to the same chapter and re-reading those same words.  Even when I would decide that I had spent enough time in Ephesians 4 and deliberately started to study a different book or began a specific topical study, the Lord’s conviction would come upon me and give me no peace until I turned back to what had, by now, become a very familiar passage.

This continued on for several months. Finally, I decided to directly ask the Lord what He was doing.  I am not one who frequently speaks of receiving a message from God. I am very careful before I declare that He has said a specific thing prophetically or directly, because I don’t want to be guilty of putting words into His mouth. But in this instance, His answer was clear, direct, and frankly, a bit unsettling. He simply said,

“I am teaching you to Count to One!”

I’ll be the first to confess that my mathematics skills are not the stuff that legends are made of. In fact, my feeble attempts to do all but the simplest math in my head are sort of a running joke in my family.

Thankfully, the Lord wasn’t really talking about math. He was talking about unity. The light of understanding dawned as the words of Ephesians 4:4-6 flooded my mind ….

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, Who is over all and through all and in all. (Emphasis added)

The Lord’s determination to see the unity of His Body restored, and His desire to see the power of His glory displayed to a lost and dying world struck me with deliberate force. He desires to see His Body as one—a powerful and life-changing reflection of His own ministry on Earth.

Q: What themes do you explore in Count to ONE?

A:
• Our diversity is our glorious strength; and when we discover this, it will no longer be a source of division but will be a force for unity.

• The initial Christians were unstoppable; united, we will be as well.

• Forgiveness, love, and a focus on the Great Commission are the secrets to recapturing the unity God is determined to give us.

• Unity, not uniformity or unification is essential in the body of Christ

• Discover the secret of harnessing the Great Commandment to fulfill the Great Commission.

Q: Why do you write?

A:

I see what the Holy Spirit is doing in the Church as a game changer; and I believe that He will use the lessons in COUNT TO ONE as part of His purpose.

Q: How picky are you with language?

A:

I often spend a good deal of time re-working phrasing in order to get the exact point across.

Q: Is writing an obsession to you?

A:

Serving the Lord is my obsession. I see writing as one of the tools that He has placed into my hands to communicate that message. It may sound strange coming from someone who has published his first book and has four or five more in development, but I see myself more as an ambassador than an author.

Q: Are the stories you create connected with you in some way?

A:

Yes, all of them relate to my personal experiences and insights from the Scriptures. For example, in chapter nine of Count to ONE I share the story of Kadin, a young Muslim man in his twenties I’ve come to know during my travels in Israel. His story is one of utter rejection by his twin brother on the basis of some cultural differences, even though they are genetically identical.  I use Kadin’s story to illustrate the same rejection taking place between Christian denominations today. In chapter 10 I relate a life-changing story where a brother forgives the man who murdered his sister.

Q: Ray Bradbury once said, “You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” Do you agree?

A:

No, actually I would prefer to quote another author, the Apostle Paul, who correlated a similar thought about being filled with the Holy Spirit.  He said in Ephesians 5:18-20, “Do not get drunk on wine ... Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I am convinced that, when you are continually filled with the Holy Spirit, the reality of evil in the world will not destroy you. The opposite is true. You, as a Spirit-filled person, destroy the evil with the love of Christ within you.

Bishop Robert is a voice for unity in the Body of Christ. His heart’s cry is the prayer of Jesus in John 17, that followers of Jesus may be one, and so proclaim the message of the Gospel in the power of His glory.

God gave Bishop Robert an interesting task one day in prayer, telling him “I am teaching you to count to one!” The lesson was to be found in a simple truth revealed in the pages of the scriptures. The Lord’s determination to see the unity of His Body restored and His desire to see the power of His glory displayed to a lost and dying world will strike you with deliberate force as you take in the message of Count To One. 

Bishop Robert serves as the President & Chief Executive Officer of Count to One, a ministry which exists to promote greater unity in the Body of Christ worldwide. Christ said that our love for one another would be the way the world would know that we are His disciples. As followers of Christ forgive one another and love one another - we will be in a better position to serve Jesus and fulfill the Great Commission.