Today I received a heartbreaking email from one of staff of Northshore Christian Church in the Seattle area. Rob Cizek, the church’s beloved executive pastor pictured on the left, passed away unexpectedly on Monday, December 5th. His impact was significant and he will be deeply missed.
I first got connected with Rob approximately six years ago. He was one of the very first people who noticed the content I was providing and immediately became a champion of it. Because of his example, I learned about generosity and the power of spreading quality Christian content. Rob used his platform, particularly his Twitter account, to point people towards my site and countless others. He did not have to do this. I was a complete nobody. But Rob was always a picture of generosity. In fact, at the time of this writing, if you look back at his last 25 Twitter posts, 22 place the spotlight on another Christian leader. Because of this, he became a fixture on my annual Top 30 Christian Leaders You Should Follow On Twitter lists.
The first time I met Rob in person was at the Orange Conference. I was sitting on the front row live-blogging one of Carey Nieuwhof’s sessions. An individual walked up to me and said, “Hey Brian, I wanted to introduce myself. I’m Rob Cizek.” I immediately recognized him, gave him a “man hug”, and asked him to sit beside me on the front row. We talked during every break, laughed a lot, and immediately became great friends. This all happened because Rob was willing to walk across a room and introduce himself to another person. Rob was always connecting people to himself and others.
Because we both have an online presence, Rob and I were both regulars on the Christian conference live blog circuit. This allowed us to spend a lot of time together multiple times each year over the next several years.
One of our conversations I remember most involved Mark Driscoll. Mark had just been fired from Mars Hill Church amidst a tremendous amount of controversy. What ensued was an online feeding frenzy. I knew Rob had a tremendous amount of influence with Christian leaders in the Seattle area. One example was how he regularly organized all the area’s executive pastors for networking and training opportunities. Because of this, I felt he would have a unique perspective on the situation. And boy was I right.
I’ll never forget his analysis of Driscoll. He said, “Brian, there was never anyone kinder to area pastors than Mark. He always made his facility available for our events. He made conferences available to us. Anything we needed, he would take care of. He had a huge Kingdom mindset. We will miss Mark. He made every church in the area healthier.” From that day forward, anytime I was asked about Mark Driscoll, I quoted Rob Cizek. Nothing exemplified the type of person he was better than that. When it did not appear you had a friend in the world, Rob was your advocate.
The last time we were together was October’s Catalyst Conference. We got to spend a lot of time talking about the joy of being a dad. We took turns looking at photos and videos of our children. With my daughter leaving home and attending Liberty University next fall, I sought his advice on dealing with a daughter going off to college. He talked about his daughter attending college in Florida. I remember thinking “Florida!? You live in Seattle! Could you get any farther from home?” He gave me some great advice on how to deal with this situation and help your wife through it as well.
Rob deeply loved his wife and children. He deeply loved Christian leaders. And he deeply, deeply loved Jesus. He talked about no other topics. I cannot even begin to imagine the heartbreak his immediate family and church family are experiencing. He will be deeply missed by everyone who knew him. My prayers are with them.
This April I will be attending the ReThink and Orange Conferences. Unfortunately, my experience will not be as rich because Rob will not be sitting beside me for part of it. We can’t believe he is gone so suddenly. But I look forward to seeing Rob again in Heaven. I take comfort in knowing he is having the time of his life right now worshipping Jesus.
God bless Rob. You were a dear friend and one of the absolute best. You will be deeply missed.
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