The Man that Shaped Me

I thought it most appropriate that if I was blogging about that shaping of my soul I would have to include some of my father's words. He more than any other man on earth has made me into the man I am today. He has shown me how to love his God, to seek Him with all that is within every cell of his anatomy. He has shown me how to love his wife and cherish her and romance her for thirty years. He has shown me how to love his sons (4) and teach them to become disciples of Christ. He has shown me how to love the world and share with it the grace and love of God.

Here is a portion of an email he recently sent me. It shows his heart, his passion and therefore something that God, through him, has implanted within my own soul.

Wow, Aaron, soooo good to hear from you. It is also great to feel (I could really feel it) your passion to make a difference for Christ in this world and to finish the mission he gave us to do. I just preached this past weekend at First Wesleyan's missions conference. I preached from Gen 12:1-3, but specifically from the point that Genesis is a book of beginnings and that the book is introducing us to God, who he is and how he operates. Here we see for the first time the foundational methods of God's world-wide plan for redemption and restoration. 1.God's plan is a man 2. God's promise is to bless 3. God's priority is the nations. When God sees mankind in need of redemption he starts with a man. Abraham, Moses, Samuel, Jonah, Jesus, Paul...all are examples. Then he promises to bless that man, to enable, empower, and encourage so that that man might be a blessing to the nations.

Earlier in the service while the organist played, "Count You Blessings"I had the people write out blessings God had blessed them with. During the conclusion I had them go back to their list and ask themselves if they were using those gifts to be a blessing to the nations. One of the greatest gifts the Lord has given me is my family. I'm sooo grateful that the Lord is using this wonderful blessing he has given me to bless the nations. If Israel is an example them I suspect that as I allow my blessings to bless the nations he will continue to bless but if I withhold my blessings from the nations he will withhold his blessings from me.

I pray that I will have the passion for the salvation of the nations that is so evident in the words and passions of both my Heavenly and earthly Father.