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The Skit Guys – God’s Chisel

I recently went back to my home town where I grew up – a small village up North that sits nestled along the sides of a river.  At one end of village there is an estuary leading to open water and at the other end are bush clad hills.  In the last century they used the river to transport logs and cargo.  At one end of the river, if you know where to look, there is an old overgrown graveyard, planted in the hills, it looks over the river and holds the remains of many of the men that lost their lives on the river or ocean waves.

The river is tidal and had come in and gone out hundreds of times, before I returned that day.  The last time I had been here was when I was about 17, I am now dangerously close to 40.  When I was growing up in the village, my friends and I, used to rule the area.  We were big fish in a very small pond and were into all manner of things, some good and some bad.  In most small towns you have a few things in common, a gas station, a local store, school, takeaways and a Publican.  Not a lot of opportunities for employment, not a lot of opportunities full stop.

I struggled constantly under the rule of a man that also struggled with the bottle and his internal demons.  This man is my father and I yearned for his love and approval, but instead received his violence, bitterness and jealously over my mother’s love for me.  It finally got to a point where I could no longer endure the abrupt change in emotions that each day brought.  It was time to move on, the tide was about to change, and as the sea once again drained itself away from the shores of the village, so did I.

I moved to a bigger city and got a job and few years went by.  I got married to a wonderful Christian woman who through time taught me how to love.  She has not stopped believing and seeing the best in me, even if at times I found that the most difficult to bear, as I knew my heart.  Over time God spoke to my heart, at first it wasn’t easy to trust a Father, it wasn’t easy to be a son.  However, God’s timing like everything about Him is perfect.  He knew exactly the right time to show me His love and His acceptance.  It seemed like the most logical thing in the world to do, and so I gave my life to Christ.  As I did that, I finally stopped running, and started to accept that I now have a heavenly father that loves me so much.  I was filled with a river of love that to put it quite simply is at times overwhelming.  I stood against the recycling of my natural father’s life and made a decision to live my life for a greater cause where I serve only Christ.  Has it been easy? No – but nothing worthwhile is ever easy.  Now because of Christ I am becoming a better man, husband and father.  Most of all I am now a son of the most High, who is dearly loved, by a God who wants to know about me, who counts the hairs on my head – “Not even a sparrow, worth only half a penny, can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it and the very hairs on your head are all numbered, so don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows”. Matthew 10:29 – 31(NLT), and keeps my tears in a bottle – “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book”. Psalm 58:6 (NLT)  Even more than that, he made it possible through His son Jesus Christ, that I, a sinner, can be saved.  It is truly a mystery to me that My Lord would come to this earth, leave His heavenly throne and all His majesty and glory.  Be violently nailed to a cross and left to hang and to die of a broken heart.  He did all this for my salvation, even when it was my sin that put Him there in the first place.  I am eternally thankful that he did, for I am His and He is mine.

And here I was, some 20 years on, looking over the river, watching it glide along, remembering the same sounds and smells of my youth.  I decided to go for a run; I parked my car at the beginning of the village and began to run from one end to the other.  As I started, many memories came flooding back, some good but mostly bad.  Then as I began to warm up, the blood pumping through my veins, I started to hear it, it startled me a first as it was totally unexpected.  It was the voice of the enemy, coming through as the voice of my father, reminding me that I will never be anything, tearing away at my confidence.  I heard loud shouting and the vivid memories of explosive violence, which I knew only too well.

And as the sweat started to drip down my face and sting my eyes, as the tiredness started to grab hold of my legs, I literally felt like I was running with the devil.  I felt attacked by my past so many memories, so long ago.  But as I reached the halfway point, I noticed that things started to ease, the voices were not so intimidating, not so loud, not filled with the same rage they started with.  As I ran past the old Store, I realised to my surprise that no one even recognised me.  That time had in fact moved on, this wasn’t my home anymore, my spirit no longer lived here.  I have a love and freedom now that world cannot understand.

And then I looked at that river I remembered what Jesus said… “If you are thirsty, come to me! If you believe in me, come and drink! For the Scriptures declare that rivers of living water will flow out from within.” John 7:38 -39 (NLT) ...I am His and He is mine, I declare that I have been bought at a high price, by the blood of my Lord and Saviour – Jesus Christ, I am part of the river of living water.

I returned to my car, and decided to take one more drive through the village before I head back down south.  In my pride I thought I would be recognised, in my shame I was glad I wasn’t.  Its funny how we think we leave an impact on a place, like a wake behind a vessel, but when we do go back we are hardly recognised. The Psalmist said it best – “Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die.  The wind blows, and we are gone – as though we had never been here. But the love of the LORD remains forever with those who fear him. His salvation extends to the children’s children of those who are faithful to his covenant, of those who obey his commandments!” Psalm 103:15 -18 (NLT). So as I left this village, this place where my old nature lived, to return to my wife and children, I noticed the river boats like myself have slowly started to move, to change direction, to follow new currents at the changing of the tides.

What about you friend? Have you faced up to the voices of your past, to receive your future, that only He can give… or are you still running with the enemy?

For some ”Father’s Day” means scar’s and ugly memories which have yet to be fully expunged from hearts or at best forgiven, so that we can move on and be free.  For others, maybe it gives pleasant memories of fun filled times with a loving father.  Or perhaps it is an empty hole because they have never known a father either through death or because their father absconded and was never truly known.

Now we find ourselves in the same position as our fathers had been in relation to us.  In a place where we are charged with the responsibility to “give” to our children in the way, we have been or would have loved to have been able to receive from our Dad’s.

What do you want to leave as a memory for your children versus what are your memories of your father?

When I recall my father, though he died over 37 years ago, I am reminded that I had so little time with him to learn and to understand what motivated him in life, what caused him to live the life he did and hold onto his faith.

If you consider this fact, that you do not know the day of your death, as my father did not.  What memory do you want to leave your children, what drove and motivated you to be the man you are now?

For man also knoweth not his time: Ecclesiastes 9:12a (KJV)

I only had 15 years to obtain some of those threads to my Dad’s life.  However, I have come to realise that even though they are small in number, there have been enough threads for me to grasp the essentials of what he would have desired to pass on to me, so that I could pass them on to my children.

What threads have you left for your children?

Raising boys in my fathers time was within a totally different framework from where I stand today, bringing up my sons.  Technology, the environment, society has all altered beyond recognition.  However, the message that a good father has to pass on, is still the same – as the core truths of life are timeless and ageless.

So what message or advice did my Dad’s life pass on to me that is still as relevant today as it was 100 years ago.

1.            A good name is worth more than all the riches of this world.    For the day of a man’s death is more important than the day of his birth? So said King Solomon more than 2,000 years ago. What you are at the day of your death defines what you have become through the way you lived your life.  This will also in turn define where you spend eternity.

2.            Honesty is always the best policy!    You never need to look over your shoulder if you act honestly in all of your endeavours.

3.            Treat others as you want to be treated yourself!

4.            Love your family with all your heart - even when it hurts! As our saviour Jesus Christ loved us even to death on a cruel Roman cross.

5.            Love your wife as Christ loves his Church. Love sacrificially with all of your might: this will be the glue that bonds your family together and demonstrates to your children what it means to have a great marriage.

6.            Pursue virtue with all your heart in all you do. This will protect you from falling into evil ways and destroying all that you love the most – your wife, children, your close friends and family.
 
7.            To love is to serve.  In serving our lives as men are made full and complete.  Christ was a servant and the very expression of love.  He did not live a life in reckless pursuit of his own personal schemes, He lived to serve!

One thing is certain in life – we will all die – but in that there is another truth - that whilst we will all die – not all of us will truly ‘LIVE!’

Solomon reminds us very clearly that we cannot control death, distress, defiance, and deception.  If we can accept this and then simply entrust everything to God – then we will not be ruled by misery or anxiety!  We can well note that anxiety is the scourge of the 21st century man!  However our solution is not found in the bottle but in God’s wisdom!

With this in mind we can certainly live in the full knowledge that this life can be exceptionally hard and difficult at times – yet it is also without doubt abundant and fulfilling, when you commit all to Christ.

In considering these statements I am further reminded that as I have pursued God’s way myself, I have grown up to understand more fully the above list of things my Dad has passed on to me.  I am clearly reminded that my Heavenly Father – having said He would be a ‘Father to the Fatherless’ has done exactly this through a variety of methods and means, some which have hurt a lot and others that have been encouraging.

Regardless of my personal experience of a father and fathering I am reminded on this coming Father’s Day that our ultimate example is in fact from our Heavenly Father.  That He has placed on each of us a huge weight of responsibility that as a father we ought also to sacrifice ourselves in the same way that He did, to enable our children to find God’s way which leads to eternal life!

So let’s remember our children this Fathers Day and perform some small action for example a special ‘Dad note’ that will bless and show them that they are a high priority in our lives.  They are also children for whom Christ died just as we are and what is important to Christ, our Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit our teacher and guide through this life, is of equal paramount importance to us – their earthly Dad!

God Bless all you Dad’s!           Go on – just do it and be it!

When I watched this video from onetimeblind, I was reminded that as men, rather then giving over full control to Christ – we tend to hold back, mostly in our personal lives. Even sometimes when we finally resolve to the fact that we are going to be committed to Christ, the next thought in the process is sometimes fear and regret… and rather than fully embracing the task at hand, we start to slowly claw back to our original position.

Often when men are talking to other guys about the Lord, sharing their testimony, and there is a genuine interest and response, to the point of commitment… it is discouraging how many guys will hold back at that stage, purely from self protection.  There seems to be a barrier preventing them from the initial commitment and even if this is made, from continuing on into a deeper, more fulfilling relationship with Christ.  Some men even believe that they are totally unacceptable to God because of their past or the things that they are currently involved in.  As a consequence they are living a life of hopelessness with no real understanding of the grace and freedom available through Jesus Christ.  God is not limited by time or space or ability.  He can use anyone, anywhere, anytime. 

When I look back to the time that I refused to give myself completely, it was because I was holding onto too much of my own stuff and junk, because I still wanted things of this world and my own selfish desires.  I now realise how deceptive this was and although I did make a commitment, I was unable to fulfil it mainly because of my own self protection.  My initial commitment faltered and over time I came back to the same position I was in at the beginning – lonely, lost, and unfulfilled – basically I was just fooling myself.  It wasn’t until I came to the Cross fully and completely, recognised that He is my Lord and Saviour and left nothing of myself, along with the help of the Holy Spirit, reading of the Word, prayer and fellowship – that I was finally able to sustain the walk that He had for me.  

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.”  Matthew 11:28 (NLT)

So I pray that as men of this nation, we may be able stand through times of tribulations and troubles, not on our own strength but on the strength of the One that has gone before us, the One that has paid it all.  Otherwise as clearly articulated in the skit, we will try and take ourselves back and fool ourselves into thinking we are living a full Christian life when we in fact we only have the dregs.

What do you think?