Father’s Day Reflection

What comes to your mind on Father’s day? I reflect on my own father and I have some good memories and some not good memories! 
My most cherished memories center around sports and our shared faith in Jesus! 
My dad accepted Christ at The church in the park about a year after I received Christ. 
He later became a part of three different congregations that I served in as a pastor. 
My father suffered with a disorder that kept him from really thriving as a Christian. 
I was able to have a lot more sympathy for my dad after I realized how much he suffered from his illness. 
He was stubborn and did not take medication for his problem. 
I think it would have made life a lot better for him and the rest of his family! 
I still am thankful for all he did for me. I also reflect on the fact that I am a father on this earth. 
I have two children that are with the Lord, one child that is newly married and expecting his own son soon. 
I also have a “lost” child that keeps me waiting on the proverbial porch like the father in Jesus’ parable. 
The older I get the more aware I am of my own human strengths and weaknesses as a father. 
I thank God that He is compassionate to us and seeks to embrace us with His love.
The parable of the Lost Son could also be called the parable of the Compassionate Father! 
No matter what your own experience was like with your earthly father, we all have a 
Heavenly Father that seeks to love us and pour out compassion on us. One final thing; 
I also think of golf on Father’s day! My dad taught me to play the hardest game of all! 
I owe a lot of my own personal success to him. The U.S. Open is always on Father’s day weekend and 
I will think of my dad as I relish watching the best play for the national championship of golf. 

Pastor Fred

Supreme Court vs God

Well, the Supreme Court ruled that same sex marriage is now legal in all 50 states.  From what I can understand, the court did not state that the Constitution gives same sex couples this right, but that it reflects the general spirit of the law.  For the sake of “equality” and “compassion”, we have now re-defined marriage.

I wonder if it stops with same sex marriages?  What about polygamy?  What about marriage of brothers and sisters?  Why not give people the right to marry their pets?

The Judeo-Christian view of marriage is based on sacred texts.  There was polygamy among some of God’s people, but it was never the ideal. From Genesis to the New Testament, the definition of marriage was between a man and a woman.  Now that we have “progressed” to a secular view of marriage based on “love” and not a sacred text, it will be interesting to see how this affects religious institutions.

I am no prophet, but my guess is that many groups will suffer and lose their tax exempt status.  Businesses are already challenged to bake cakes and photograph weddings, even if it go against their conscience.  In Jonah Goldberg’s book, Liberal Fascism, he warned us of this coming movement of cultural elitists , who would shape our culture into their vision of progressivism.  Over forty years ago, Francis A. Schaeffer warned us that we would reap the consequences of rejecting revelation and re-build our culture on humanistic values.

Well, we are here.

If you want to follow our president’s lead, then let your view “evolve” and soon you will see the light!

I guess his statement about defining marriage on sacred scriptures no longer applies.  I am not picking on the president.  He reflects a large number of people in our culture who have chosen emotions and feelings to dictate their values.

My attitude towards this issue is two-fold.  I want to stay faithful to the revelation of God’s word and have the spirit of Jesus to those who embrace a different life-style.  The prophet Jeremiah cried deeply over his culture as he saw them slip into judgment.  Jesus did the same as he came into Jerusalem.  We need to cry over our culture.  We are slipping into judgment.  According to Paul’s letter to the Romans, God is giving us over to our unholy desires.  We will slip into darkness slowly, and our task is to pick up the pieces of damaged goods!  We can’t run away or give up reaching out with the life changing power of Jesus.  We may have to suffer and give up our comforts, but we can’t give up our calling as light and salt to the world!

Pastor Fred

 

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U. S. Open – Success – Failure and Jesus

U. S. Open – Success – Failure and Jesus.  I want to talk today about handling success and failure.  I know some people say there is never failure.  If my goal is to win a game and I lose, is that not failure?  What is it?  A learning experience?  I would rather confess that I failed to reach my goal and I can learn from my experience.

After watching the last part of the final round of the U.S. Open golf championship, I began to reflect on success and failure.  Jordan Spieth at the very young age of 21, won his first U.S. Open.  He won the Master’s in April of this year and his two major victories has catapulted him to a very high level of success.

Dustin Johnson missed a four foot putt to force a playoff and finished a disappointing second.  One succeeded and another failed at their goal on Sunday.  Personally, it gave me the opportunity to work on Monday.  If Dustin makes his putt, I am glued to the tube to see who would win an 18 hole playoff!

 Back to the issue at hand.  It is hard to imagine Jordan’s success at such a young age.  How is he going to handle the media and the sponsors, who will be grabbing for his attention?  How will Dustin Johnson handle his defeat?  These are questions we all face in life.  We have wins and losses on many levels.

I think the real answer lies in our values and character development.  With success, I need to have the humility in knowing that what I have to win has come from my Creator, my circle of influence and the hard work put in to do the job.  With failure, I need to have the resolve to try again.  I need to trust in my Creator, what I have learned from others and the commitment to work towards my goals.

Failures can actually work out to be better than success!  Failures face us with the tough questions about ourselves, our purpose and our future plans.  A good example of this is the narratives in the Bible.  It doesn’t hide the failures of some of the most prominent figures.  It also demonstrates how God can work in failure to produce amazing results.  This is why the Bible is a message of hope for all people.  God takes our successes and our failures and shapes us into the people we were created to be!

When we begin with worship, we will be able to handle success and failure!  Value God, others and do the work in front of you and trust God for the results!

Pastor Fred

 

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