A Father's Day Post...An Old Yellow Pocketknife

I was going through a box of old knives yesterday and pulled out an old Yellow Schrade Walden Trapper. It looks horrible. The scales have shrunk and split and discolored disgracefully. The clip blade has been broken and ground off.

And yet, as I held the old knife, it took me back to a hot July evening thirty odd years ago.

For the first six years of my life, my childhood was idyllic. We lived on the backside of my Grandpa's ranch in Oklahoma. To get to our house, you had to go to the end of the road, cross a cattle guard, and drive down through a cow pasture.

I had a little cow pony named Crackerjacks and a dog named Sonny, and the run of the ranch. My granddad was an old time cowboy with leathery skin, calloused hands, and a tender heart for kids and colts and puppy dogs. He and I were inseparable.

One hot, sultry July evening my dad came home from work, and spoke quietly to my mother, whereupon they disappeared into their bedroom and closed the door. Some time later, they came out. She was crying, and he was looking very somber.

He took my little sister and me on his lap and told us that he would be leaving, and that he wouldn't be living with us anymore.

I bolted and ran outside, crying, trying to make sense of his words. And then I saw the rock pile.

We had picked up lots of rocks out of the corner of cow pasture we had fenced off for a yard, and piled them just outside past the gate. My mother had told me to stay away from the rock pile, because it was the kind of place Copperheads and Timber rattlers liked to hide, but today I didn't care. I was desperate to keep my dad from leaving.

Many of the rocks were big, some so big it was all I could do to carry them, but through my tears I worked frantically, piling them in front of the gate, hoping to keep him from getting out.

I had quite a wall built by the time he came out of the house carrying a suitcase.

I held my breath as I watched him walk up to the gate and stare at my handiwork. A shadow passed over his countenance as he deliberately grasped the gate and shoved it open, sending my rocks and my hopes tumbling down into shambles.

He walked over to where I was standing, and with one hand resting on my shoulder, he fumbled in his front pocket with his other hand and brought out the old Schrade. He handed it to me, and with a husky "Goodbye, Partner," he got in his pickup and drove away.

As he drove out of sight, I clutched that old knife that in happier times had cut chicken livers in pieces on fishing trips and cut switches for me to use on my sometimes unruly cowpony.

I think maybe my love affair with pocketknives was born that day.

To this day I have a thing for old yellow Trappers. I found a vintage Schrade in mint condition just like it a few years ago and paid a big price for it so i would have one to carry. It was in my pocket today.

The old Trapper has seen better days, and my dad crossed the great divide a few years ago...

And now I have two boys that are the apple of my eye. Lots of things have changed over the years and a lot of water has rolled under the bridge, but the old knife still has the ability to take me back in time.

The Ministry of Ham

I will be the first to agree that there are problems in the Apostolic movement, both in the pulpit and in the pew. This is true of any group, because of a little thing called humanity.

But I am repulsed by the attitude that seems to be driven to expose and highlight every flaw and vulnerability and weakness both in the Church and in the ministry. I believe this is an insidious spirit that often gets a grip on people when they have been wounded or treated unjustly.

Let us look at a few Scriptural examples of this spirit at work...
Gen 9:20 ¶ And Noah began [to be] an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
Gen 9:21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. Gen 9:22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
Gen 9:23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid [it] upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces [were] backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.
Gen 9:24 ¶ And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
Gen 9:25 And he said, Cursed [be] Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. Gen 9:26 And he said, Blessed [be] the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. Gen 9:27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

Ham found his father naked and drunken. What was his response?

His shirt tail didn't hit his backside twice before he had gone and told his brethren. His brothers, by contrast, walked in with a blamket with their backs to him, and covered him. What was the result? They were blessed, and Ham's seed was cursed.

I have noticed one thing about those who constantly criticize and take upon themselves the role of "whistle-blower" to reveal every flaw they can find in their leadership: their children seem to pay the biggest price.

They grow up having been weaned on disrespect and distrust for the gift God gave the Church, and they live enslaved by their attitude and sin, because they don't trust the means God gave for sending them the message of deliverance.

How about other professional critics? How did they fare?

Sanballat was another...

Neh 2:17 ¶ Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we [are] in, how Jerusalem [lieth] waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.
Neh 2:18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for [this] good [work].
Neh 2:19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard [it], they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What [is] this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?
Neh 2:20 Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

Nehemiah and his men were builders.
Sanballat and his crew were scorners and critics. Who got the good reviews in the Word? You be the judge.

David has his detractors also.

2Sa 16:5 ¶ And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name [was] Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came.
2Sa 16:6 And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men [were] on his right hand and on his left.
2Sa 16:7 And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:
2Sa 16:8 The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou [art taken] in thy mischief, because thou [art] a bloody man.
2Sa 16:9 ¶ Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head.
2Sa 16:10 And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?
2Sa 16:11 And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now [may this] Benjamite [do it]? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him.
2Sa 16:12 It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day.

Fast forward a few years and you will find that Shimei could not even keep himself inside the boundaries of Jerusalem when Solomon gave him mercy. He was slain.

David? His memory is still honored.

I don't want to be a critic. There are plenty of those.

I don't want to be an accuser of the brethren. That's the devil's job, and he doesn't need my help.

But unfortunately, the ministries of Ham, Sanballat, and Shimei are still alive and well. And God hasn't changed His mind about them.

Pro 6:20 My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
Pro 6:21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. Pro 6:22
When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
Pro 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

The father dimension of leadership and the mother dimension of leadership are very different.The things I tend to major on with our sons differ from their mother's concerns.

There are are things that she stresses that I wouldn't be as inclined to think of.I make sure they stand up straight, look people in the eye, and speak the truth; she worries about whether or not they have on clean underwear.

I talk to them about "major" things; she teaches them courtesy.

The Father has given us commandments that provide guidelines for a moral foundation and our walk with Him; but the Church, which is our mother, teaches us to apply certain principles in our lives in order to maintain our hearts and ways before Him.

I see a trend among some that want to only adhere to the Father's "commandments," and forget the Law of their Mother--Church standards, if you will. We need both.

Lessons From an Old Coonhunter

When I was just a lad of a boy, I got to know an old hillbilly who was, in his own way, a genius.
He didn't have a lot of education, at least the academic kind, but in his element, he was a brilliant man.

He was a woodsman without peer who could find his way unerringly out of the deepest holler on a night when the stars weren't shining. I never saw him lost.

He was a dead shot with a rifle, making it a point to shoot squirrels through the eye so as not to ruin any of the meat.

He kept his old double bitted axe honed down sharp enough to shave with, and could fell a tree with incredible precision, dropping it exactly where he wanted it, with every chip looking like it had come out of a cookie cutter.

But perhaps his greatest area of genius was in training coon dogs. Old Donnie hardly ever got out of his zip code, but well known dog men and coon hunting legends from all over the country found their way to the old house up on Peckerwood Flat where he lived to lay their money down and drive away with another winner trained by the old man from the forks of the creek. Many a young hound born and trained there went on to become famous in the hands of competition hunters and big time promoters.

The old boy wasn't all that sociable, and was so opinionated that he was something of a loner, but I was determined to learn from him, and kept on until I made a friend out of him.

He taught me a lot of things about coon dogs, and quite a little bit about life as well.

One thing he told me over and over again was that if I wanted my hounds to be straight--that is, to run coon and coon only--DON'T hunt them with a bunch of trashy dogs.

"If you want him to be straight, keep him in straight company."
That advice has served me well in training coon dogs as well as in life.
Solomon said in Proverbs 13:20:
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

A good friend, Brother Ron Wofford, is fond of saying, "Show me your friends, and I will show you your future."

Sadly, I have seen some good friends start running with the wrong crowd, and today they're treeing possums and catching skunks.

You are not only known by the company you keep, but you are made by the company you keep.
Influence is a powerful thing...consider carefully who you choose to align yourself with.

They will help shape your destiny.

Worldliness and the Call of the Wolf

I have been breeding coon hounds since I was a kid, and have had some success. Hounds from my breeding program are in many states, and have won in competition, which I don't personally participate in, as well as pleasing the old back at the forks of the creek coon hunters.

One thing I have done in my efforts to better the breed is to stay true to some of the old, houndy characteristics that many modern breeders have abandoned in their quest to streamline their hounds for nothing but competition hunts.

The big square muzzles, blocky heads, long, low-set ears, and deep, melodious bawl mouths are getting harder and harder to find, as many younger hunters are only interested in the winner's circle.

In the early days of the Bluetick breed, the founders set forth a breed standard, and clearly spelled out these qualities as critical. And certainly I understand the difficulty of trying to get high performance as well as maintaining these time honored traits.

It is difficult to maintain because every generation of coonhounds you raise is subject to what I like to call "the call of the wolf." Our hounds are genetically descended from wolves, and the wolf traits are always trying to resurface .In every litter, there will be some pups that have the shorter, higher set ears, the sharper, thinner muzzle, the voice that doesn't quite have the right tone and quality.

You have to select your breeding stock from those pups that meet the standard you have set, even if some of those lesser offspring have good performance qualities also.

It is much the same in our quest for a walk in the Spirit.We have a nature that craves the things of the world, a nature that continually pulls at us. Without deliberate, consistent, diligent efforts to stem the tide of worldliness, it will, as surely as night follows day, make inroads among us.

In our quest for the "winner's circle" of numerical growth, we cannot ignore the call of the wolf.

Building and Planting

Jer 1:4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Jer 1:6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
Jer 1:7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
Jer 1:8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
Jer 1:9 Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
Jer 1:10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

The calling of Jeremiah was a profound and powerful event in his life.

God let him know that before he was ever formed in his mother's womb, he was a chosen vessel in the mind and plan of God.

In meditating and studying this morning, I became intrigued by the distinction God made when He said to Jeremiah that he was called "to build, and to plant."

Building and planting are two very different processes.

When you build, your progress is only limited by your own personal limitations. If you have the resources, the project goes up faster the more effort you put into it.

Planting, however, is an act of faith that depends partly on conditions beyond your control. You are responsible for diligent preparation, but once you commit the seed to the soil, the results depend on things other than your personal sweat and toil.

We go to seminars and read books about how to "build" a church.
But honestly, an Apostolic church is an organic spiritual entity. It has to be panted and watered, and God alone can give the increase.

Maybe someone today needs encouragement because when you look out at your harvest field, what you see makes you feel like less than a success.
Remember this, faithful laborer...not everything worthwhile can be built; some things have to be planted.

This Gospel Is Confrontational

1Co 4:15 For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
1Co 4:16 Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.

I sometimes wonder if Paul and the other Apostles would recognize us.

We have come to a place in time where the conventional wisdom instructs us to go to great lengths to be "seeker friendly" and do nothing whatsoever to ruffle anyone's feathers.

The modus operandi of many seems to be something like this...Make friends with people, tie them into the social structure of your church, sell them on your programs and how sweet you are, and when the time is right, sort of slip up alongside them and gradually edge them toward baptism in Jesus Name.

This approach can be seen in the websites of many churches, where there are lots of pictures of photogenic people and no doctrine to be found. This seems to be the complete opposite of Paul's methodology.

Paul disputed in synagogues, cast devils out of people on the streets, trumpeted the Oneness of God without apology, and generally raised cain with the religious status quo.

I'll be honest...in the past I have tried the soft, gradual approach with some people. It doesn't seem to yield much in the way of long lasting results. You wind up pouring a lot of time and energy into people only to see them mostly feel the "spirit" lead them elsewhere when they are finally confronted with some undiluted truth that crosses their flesh or theology.

People who, on the other hand, are brought to a crisis of belief by strong preaching, either make a decision to fall on the stone and be broken, or else they harden themselves and move on. But the ones who yield are much easier to disciple and teach. It seems that I have an easier time working with folks who are begotten by the gospel than folks who are won mostly through people skills.

I am not advocating rude, obnoxious behavior. That is a no-brainer. But I do think the Apostolic, Biblical model of preaching is strongly confrontational. Loving, and steeped in burden, but strong as lye soap and straight to the point.

I want people to like me. I want them to think I am nice.But most of all, I want them to come face to face with the Truth of God's Word.

Ladies and gentlemen, this Gospel is confrontational.