1/30/2019
Yesterday, the 29th, was my father’s birthday in 1901. He lived until Sept, 1987, almost 86 of the most history-altering years the world has seen since Christ was here in the flesh. I played 27 holes of golf with my dad about 10 days before he died. Walking. The very next day, we played 18 holes with two of my brothers and it was the only time he ever rode in a cart playing golf.
He never played golf until he was 65. Three of us took him to a little used golf course and “we” were going to teach him how to play. So, on the first hole Pete and Ken said, “go first, Jerry.” I promptly stepped up and with every technique I could remember I approached the ball, swung, and dribbled the ball about 40 yards down the right side of the fairly. Ken was next, he used an archaic style though he played pretty good golf, his shot hooked over to the left and behind some trees. So, exasperated with mine and Ken’s failures, Pete the golfer (by our family standards, Pete was superior) stepped up with a smug little grin on his face. His looong drive tailed into a slice about 275 yards down fairway—out of bounds.
Daddy stepped up and with no help from his hapless sons, and with his baseball grip on the shaft, hit a drive about 285 yards down the middle. He quietly stepped back, began looking for his tee, and said, “I thought I was supposed to go down the middle, I hope that’s all right!” End of golf lesson. We laughed for 3 holes! (Although he played a lot till 9 days before his death, he never really got any better than us, he just loved playing. I never had a round with him I didn’t enjoy.)
Once, when I had been preaching about ten years and he and I were no longer suffering too much from differing doctrines, I went to visit and away we went to the golf course. After we teed off on #1 and his ball went to the right, mine to the left, we walked a little ways, then he veered his way and I toward my ball. After several steps I turned and looked at him (he was walking up hill) and as I did, he stopped and yelled across the fairway, “David said to his brothers, “Is there not a cause?”” I knew the passage in the bible he referred to, so I nodded and we went on to play the first nine, no more being said about the bible or David.
It was hot and we were thirsty, so I went in the clubhouse and got us a soft drink to have while we waited our turn. (I bought and brought the drinks outside because he didn’t approach a bar that served beer.) As we sat there, he quietly said, “Trouble today is, son, preachers don’t know what the “cause” is all about.” I agreed. He said, “we need to read more and know more than ever before.” Again, I agreed, end of conversation.
At the visitation when my father died, I related that story to the man who had taken the pastorship of the church my dad had built and pastored for a long time. As I got to the part about “preachers today” he interrupted me and went into a long dissertation about “he was right, men today don’t preach about all the sin in the world! why don’t men fight the sin habits, blah, blah, blah!!” He was one who didn’t know what the “cause” was.
The Lord Jesus Christ took care of the “sin problem” by dying for the sins of the world in 33 ad, being buried, being raised from the dead 3 days later, all of that for our redemption, our atonement, our security in Him. Daddy knew, I am sure of it. The cause is to “make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery” of how can we (you and I, sinners that we are) be saved: by trusting in what Christ has already done for us. Go back and read the words David said to the giant (with a sling and 5 smooth stones.) He wasn’t talking to the giant about himself or the Israelite army, he was talking to the giant about who God was and how God could win this battle. Well, God won the ultimate battle for our eternal life at the cross, and His power in resurrection.
It’s cold here, how ‘bout where you are? 14 degrees when I got up, now all the way up to 19—not as bad as many other places, but I’m done with it, it can just go away and allow heat to prevail for a few months. Our snow yesterday almost all melted away, just a few spots which were protected from the sun. Our roads are all dry and the cold is crisp and they clear. If it is worse where you live, stay safe and warm—one last quote of my dad’s: “If you keep your head and your feet warm, you probably won’t get sick!” He was probably right about that, too.
Thanks for reading, the Elder
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