Have you ever thought about why God would choose to refer to himself as our father? I think it’s because that relationship is one we all intuitively understand, whether we had a good father or not.
I did have a good father, although he recently passed away. Many were not so fortunate to have good earthly fathers. But just about all of us can picture in our minds the ideal of what it means to be a good father. Even if you didn’t have one, you know what you wanted—wished for—cried out for. A dad who was firm, but at the same time, gentle. Kind, but willing to tell us when we’re wrong. Willing to give advice, but not wanting to crush our spirit or lord his authority over us. One who would discipline, in love, when necessary, but remind us that his “anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime” (Psalm 30:5).
And this is the genius of God calling himself father. This powerful song about God’s role as father packs a lot of truth into five short short minutes.
If this is the first time you’ve heard the song, listen to it again. The love of our father above helps shape our identity. He wants to be known as kind. He’s willing to tell us when we’re wrong, gently giving advice without crushing our spirit. He is a good, good father, and for those who didn’t have an earthly one, he wants to be that.
This song tugs on my heart every time I hear it, but especially so this past Sunday, as it brought back thoughts of my dad. He wasn’t perfect, as our father in heaven is perfect. But no matter who your earthly father is, we can all dive deep into the love of our heavenly father.
Give him the benefit of the doubt when you don’t understand him. Sometimes our mistaken understandings of him can get us humans angry, or confused, or rebellious. But like Hosea, he’s there waiting to take us back, no matter how far we’ve strayed. Wouldn’t a good earthly father do that? And isn’t God the perfect pattern for earthly fathers, not the other way around?For anyone who’s separated from God, I pray you’ll seek him with all your heart. Read your Bible. Talk to people who love God, even if you don’t agree with them on everything. That’s OK. We all need to grow, and we grow most when we’re challenged.
Immerse yourself into God’s love. If you haven’t yet been baptized, do it. Start the journey. He’s a good, good Father, no matter what you may have thought about him yesterday. Call or email me if you’d like me to pray for you, or just to talk.
Tracy GautreauSeptember 27, 2016 at 10:59 AM
I wanted to share something. My sister who is 66 years old was baptized back in June of this year. She had been around the church some and came once in awhile long ago. My mom, who passed away a year ago June and left the SCOC about 10 years prior to her death, was very influential to my sister. My sister and I talk on the phone weekly and my moms death was hard on all of us, but my mom left this world with peace and a confidence in her Savior and it was a most beautiful thing to behold. My sister still lives in CA and I've been in TX now for 20 years. John and I were going out to CA to visit his mom and my sister told me that she would like to have John baptize her in the ocean. She was baptized on the one year anniversary of my mom's entrance into heaven! The point I want to make, is that I study with my sister over the phone once a week, and she has been listening to Christian radio on her way to work, as well as worshiping online (Oakhills.org). I am witness to an amazing and beautiful story of love. My sister was never religious at all, but now as I talk with her, I am literally seeing her fall in love with God. And that's what I want to share: the first and great command is to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul and mind, and the second, to love our neighbor as ourselves. I so wish I could have loved God sooner…gotten to know Him and His goodness and grace. My sister is so excited and in awe of the everyday ways that God is drawing her to Him. Can you imagine if we had known God, became acquainted with Him from the first and fell in love with Him? I taste that love now for the first time in my life and it fills me with awe and amazement! It is beautiful to see my sister falling in love with our Father, and how is goodness draws us. Hope this makes sense…I just wanted to share…God is good and He lovingly waits for us to come running to Him for shelter, protection, acceptance, providence, mercy, forgiveness and love.
Thanks for sharing, Tracy! That is so awesome. I'm excited for you and for her. And for John getting to immerse her into the Lord Jesus Christ. Very cool.
That is beautiful Tracy! I know those who left the SCOC and (as you say) fell in love with God. I've talked with others who have left the SCOC, and have found the same love for God as your sister. The fruits of the Spirit are very evident in them. It wasn't until I left the SCOC that, I too , fell in LOVE withGod.
SCOC uses James 4:17 to bind THEIR man-made rules on its members. Keeping their mandatory Bible class schedule is one of them. They will not forsake their classes even if it means neglecting their families, yet the whole context of this chapter speaks of submitting ourselves to GOD. I have learned that you don't grow to love God when you are forced to keep man-made rules.
Yes. If anyone knows of a way to explain the love of God to people who don't get it, please let me know. It's one of the most frustrating things in life to want to share something so powerful it is overflowing in your life, but to have it rejected and dismissed.
The difference between the SCOC and God is like the difference between night and day, between cold and warmth, between help and hurt, between being pardoned and being under a death sentence. They are at two different extremes of existence and taking a walk toward the light is well worth it.
Good analogy. The challenge is figuring out how to communicate that to someone who thinks the darkness is light, and the light is darkness. It's heartbreaking. There's so much joy waiting on the other side of that realization.
How one defines righteousness is important. Those that walk after their pride and develop a superiority complex, are arrogant a define righteousness by seeking out a place of superiority over others. The arrogant love to be the ones enforcing the rules, or giving advice, but don't have any love for others. Those that define righteousness as walking after their conscience in obedience to God's law; understand just how difficult it is to follow the commandments and keep your lust and pride in control and are therefore merciful and forgiving of others when they err. Luke 18:11-14 describes the two attitudes perfectly.
One example of the difference between the Merie cult and God is in how children are treated. In the Merie cult children are sexualized by the open and constant teaching about sexual related topics such as masterbation, wet dreams, when parents are to have sex. Children in the SCOC have forbidden knowledge (for children) about the sexual activities of adults in the church. One withdrawal was for defiled marriage bed where it was said that the two people were acting like animals in the marriage bed, (many teenagers giggled at this.) Today there is no more withdrawal for "defiled" marriage bed, but this is a matter that should have been handled privately and not in a bible class with children present. In a Godly church the innocence of children is protected by practicing decency and discretion in the subject matter talked about around children.
Very good points. I had to have been five or six when I was overhearing plenty of conversations about what was happening in different adults' and teenagers' bedrooms. You can't unhear those things, and it definitely was a loss of innocence. Six of my kids are adults now, but I have an eight year old. I can't imagine her being exposed to some of the stories, whisperings and accusations that I was exposed to about other people's supposed sexual thoughts and sins.
Then I saw some of those people sit in "withdrawal" for a decade or more, knowing those things about them and judging them for it, only to have the church later recant some of their teachings and "withdrawals." It's very wrong.
One example of how the disciples of Merie and the disciples of Christ differ is the watch story and Luke 16:9. The story goes that a man bought an expensive watch and then asked the SCOC with help for food and Merie said that even though he had been foolish with his money the SCOC should still help him because he wore the name "Christian." The watch story is told whenever the SCOC wants to encourage you to help in some way, whether it is with money or skills or any other need that might come up. This gives you the idea that if you are in need that the SCOC will help you, but this is not true: the watch story is to encourage you to give or help it is not to be used when you are in need yourself. The SCOC does not help every member of it's church, only select members receive help.(irregardless of the amount in the Lord's treasury) In Luke 16:9 Christ teaches that to make yourself friend of unrighteous mammon (money) so that when you fail… You are to have money set aside for emergencies, your health can "fail", your job can "fail", your marriage can "fail", the nation's economy can "fail" ( go into recession or depression). We as Christians have time and resources to prepare for bad times and it is wise to do so; do not expect your local SCOC to help you in your time of need because it does not help everyone in need, (especially if you are foolish).
One thing that I forgot to point out is that the foolish man was not told to take his Rolex to a pawn shop and pawn it for food money and reclaim it later when he had enough money for both food and a Rolex. In the SCOC if you want your request for help approved you go to the teacher first and ask if you can ask the church for help and the teacher will tell you to try and find help by any other means first such as asking relatives if you can borrow money, or ask your employer for an advance on your next check before coming before the church as a needy saint. The watch story never mentions this because it is only told to encourage you to help others it is not the example of how to ask the church for help. Please realize that "needy saint" is determined by the teacher alone i.e.: one couple had received over 100,000 in an insurance settlement and had put it in a CD and was approved to come before the church as needy saints when asking for money for a church trip, (because if they pulled their money out of the CD early they would suffer the penalty of early withdrawal) and only one man objected and he was told he was in the wrong for objecting to the request. We had other women, single moms with many children struggling to make ends meet and they were not allowed to bring up their needs. (only on a one time basis) Who receives help and who is denied is based solely on the teachers discretion and not on available financial resources or lack there of.
Excellent points Buddy! I hope you don't mind if I add a couple more.
One thing I had a question about for a long time, even when I was still with the group (but I wasn't brave enough to ask)-how is it that the evangelists get a salary AND still come to congregations to ask for (and receive) money for auto insurance, etc? It didn't make sense to me that they would get BOTH money and assistance, every month.
And why the secrecy about how much they are paid? When any other member comes before the group to ask for assistance, they have to explain why they are in need and why do they need assistance!
Thank you Buddy for your input!
Thank you for sharing Debby, I have only my perspective from my experience in the Phoenix and Prescott Valley Arizona churches and often wonder if all the other congregations went through the same things or not and when someone else shares a common experience from another location it only confirms my belief's that it was nationwide and not just here in Arizona. Again thank you for sharing it is a great help.
Buddy, you are correct in how the church helps people in need. I went to the the church for need a few times and one time I walked away from the brethren that were interrogating me on if I went everywhere else first before coming to them. I would answer one person and then another would walk up asking the same questions, and then another would walk up to do just the same. We were told we had to go to counsel before we asked before the congregation.
When I was missing time, because of my disability, I was told there were brethren who would not help because they didn't feel right in helping.
I spent a number of years getting injured at my jobs and would miss a of paid work. In all the years I only asked three times. Because of how they handled it I sought other means of raising money to help support my family and I got in trouble for that too.
I eventually landed on disability and my wife got a much better job. We are doing better financially now than then.
I was interesting how that the preacher from the south brought up in sermon and directly to me how that when we mist a lot of time we are supposed make up the missed days with balloon offerings to make up the giving not given. He asked me directly in front of other people at Sunday fellowship if I agree with his assessment. I do, but he doesn't know what my giving amount was that I purposed. It is interesting how that many interrogations have been done about not wanting to help the children of God and on the other hand going out of your way to make sure they give all that they should be giving.
Luke 16:9
I agree with this whole lesson. I have heard so many Christians tell of how they have burned all of the bridges to their family and friends. People in their families won't talk to them or have anything to do with them.
I saw these scriptures as God tell us that have ties with family and friends, as long as we aren't unequally yoked with them, is a must as there are times we may need them.
What is really sad is that members in need were denied on a regular basis and the rich (100,000+) were green lighted to receive help. I look at the scriptures and see different personality types among the Apostles, Peter was impulsive and did not know his own weaknesses, paul was authoritarian, and Judas was a thief. To withhold support from the needy and give it to the rich is a lot like Judas, and I considered WP, the preacher from Albuquerque to follow after Judas's example.
You will notice that a lot of the prerequisites that are required to do things, like this, are not even found in the scriptures. Were are the prerequisites to helping another Christian?
Kevin, what a beautiful song. Most people in the church have never listened to contemporary Christian music and they are missing out. Because some people might be afraid to listen to the song you have posted I am going to paste a synopsis of the song, written in poem form.
I've heard a thousand stories
Of what they think You're like
But I've heard the tender whisper
Of love in the dead of night
And You tell me that You're pleased
And that I'm never alone
You're a good good Father
It's who You are,
And I'm loved by you
It's who I am
Oh, and I've seen many searching
For answers far and wide
But I know we're all searching
For answers only you provide
Because You know just what we need
Before we say a word
You are perfect in all of your ways to us
It’s love so undeniable
I can hardly speak
Peace so unexplainable
I can hardly think
As You call me deeper still
Into love
BTW, I changed the Blog Archive in the right sidebar to make it easier to find older articles, and also added a Blog Index in the menu to get a list of all articles. This way you can read what you catches your interest, rather than reading based on the date of the article. 🙂
And thank you, everyone, for the occasional encouragement. This project started out with no expectations for readership. I just had to get things that were on my heart onto a written page. But it's your conversation, fellowship, and encouragement that has made it a useful tool for people to reconnect with the God of Love that the Bible tells us about.
May God bless everyone one of you, and may the scales fall off the eyes of those whose hearts have been hardened by years of unscriptural teaching.
Your Blog gets better and better, good changes made to make it easier to navigate. Thanks!
You're welcome, I'm glad the recent changes are helpful. 🙂