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A Tribute to a Faithful Man Robert A. (Bob) Duff June 24, 1940 — August 5, 2016
Late one Saturday afternoon in the middle of August, sixteen years ago, I received a call from a man completely unknown to me. When I answered the telephone, he said, ÒBro. Fortner, this is Bob Duff. I live in Junction City. You donÕt know me; but for the past six weeks IÕve been flat on my back, unable to do anything but read and watch television. IÕve been watching you on the television every Sunday morning. Bro. Fortner, IÕve taught Sunday School in these religious organization in this area for twenty-five years. Listening to you, God has shown me that I donÕt know the Gospel. I wanted to know if it would be alright for me to come listen to you; and maybe the Lord will teach me the Gospel.Ó I cannot say that is an exact quote from my friend; but itÕs pretty close. The next morning, one of the first people to arrive for our worship service was Bro. Bob Duff. He introduced himself and took a seat on the third row, to the right of my pulpit, almost directly in front of me. He has occupied that seat every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Tuesday night since, except when sick. — God graciously taught him the Gospel of his free, sovereign, saving grace in Christ; and I had the privilege of baptizing him on September 17, 2000. Bob and his wife, Mary Lou, have been close, cherished friends for these sixteen years, the kind of people you are blessed to have in your life. Bro. Duff was always anxious to do whatever he could to assist his pastor, whatever he could to help others, and whatever he could for the furtherance of the Gospel. Until his health began to fail, knowing from his own experience the value of such a ministry, he along with two other of our men, went to the local cable vision office and played recordings of my messages every Sunday morning, and Wednesday and Friday night. Bob was never presumptuous, overbearing, or opinionated. He never pushed himself into the light, or into the center of a conversation. I never knew him to speak in even the slightest negative way about others. That does not mean he was not a man of strong conviction, but just the opposite. — His firm convictions regarding the Gospel of God, the work of God, and the sweet union of GodÕs elect with the Lord Jesus Christ caused him to highly esteem GodÕs elect and to always speak well of them. In the sixteen years of pilgrimage together Bob and I never had a cross word. He was always an encouragement to his pastor. In every work we undertook as a congregation, Bob was ready to do anything asked of him. I do not recall ever preaching a message to him to which he did not have a meaningful and encouraging comment. Though he was not a wealthy man, I happen to know of some very significant decisions he and his wife made shortly after coming into the fellowship of our assembly that were costly to them, but were things they wanted to do so that they could be more generous in supporting the cause of Christ. My friend, Bob Duff, was truly a remarkable man. The grace of God made him a remarkable man. He has been sick for so long that I have already missed him for a long time. The last time we were able to talk together, he picked up one of our bulletins and said, ÒI read every word, and pray for you. Brother, I love you, and IÕm praying for you.Ó As I write this tribute to this faithful man, I can almost see him now, beaming with joy, as he beholds the Lord Jesus face to face! Soon, my brother, soon, we will meet again. — Soon!
Don Fortner
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Pastor FortnerÕs
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