I have been thinking a lot lately about my father.... He was the perfect example of "unconditional love".... did he have a degree? no, did he have any formal training? no He was from the old school of "God wants me to preach and I am going to do it".....
Long before you were required to have a degree to preach, my father answered God's call. Now, those that knew my dad would think him and unlikely candidate to preach. He was an athlete, a rebel-rouser, and religion was part of his life growing up, but he wasn't grounded in it. Then he met my mom..... she was raised in a Bible Believing, Bible thumping , Running the aisles type of home. Was she grounded? no... as a matter of fact, much to her parents dismay, she wore makeup, attended dances, and as a matter of fact, she and dad were jitterbug king and queen all throughout high school.... They married, and dad worked as a Railroad apprentice, then moved into the pipefitting and plumbing business.
When dad was in his late 20's early 30's he hit the altar.... that's where the legacy begins.
He accepted the call to preach and he and mom sang.
Now this was before my time, so all I knew growing up was his unconditional love for people.
It didn't matter who you were or where you were with your life, my dad cared about you. He didn 't shove his religion down your throat, he lived it daily. Was he perfect? no...lol He had quite the stubborn streak. He may not like what you were doing, and he would tell you about it in a heartbeat, but never would he turn his back on you...
Have I ever seen my dad angry? of course I have... one instance stands out in my mind when I was a child....
I was probably 9 or 10, we lived in Marion, OH, and my best friend and I were walking around the block. Her house was on one corner and mine was on another corner. There was an alley that ran between it.
We noticed a man walking towards us with a long raincoat on. He stared at us and as we neared, he opened his coat and exposed himself to us. Now you have to realize at that age I didn't know what could happen, I just knew it wasn't right. He motioned for us to come near, but you should have seen the dust scattering as we ran as fast as we could.... Brenda's house was first, and I had to run around the block to the alley to get away from him.... I was screaming and crying as I hit the back porch, he was coming around the corner at me, but took off when he saw me get on the porch. My mom came running out to see what was wrong... Dad was coming down the steps inside when he heard me telling mom what happened... I have never seen my dad so livid... he tore out of that house at a dead run to find the guy that threatened his little girl... the police came, calmed my dad down, and said they had been looking for him. He was caught a few days later, but not before he had raped and killed another little girl.... It was a long time before my dad calmed down.
Me, I was fine.....until I got older and realized what could have happened....
Yes, I've seen my dad upset and angry, but not once in my life have I seen my dad not love me.
He loved his church people and was a true shepherd....
Seems like nowadays, preachers are more interested in getting their words right, typing their sermons out word for word so they sound just right, and not leaving any room for the spirit to work in a service... Have they gotten so much "book learning" that they haven't learned how to listen to the spirit? Give me a spirit filled, God hearing, shepherd any day over a flowery speech giving, articulate orator any day of the week.....
Now, I'm not saying you can't be spirit filled, God hearing, if you have a degree..... We just need to get back to the basics of soul-saving.... sell out to God, remove self, and let the spirit control...
I miss dad, he was one-of-a-kind..... and if you want to know what he was like, visit with my 3 nephews...they all have a part of him that can be seen.
Enough for now....
In His Love,
K
