Saturday, October 25, 2014

The Legacy of a Christian Father

Posted by Christine Pack


When I was a new believer, my father spent a lot of time discipling me and helping me grow in the faith. He used to tease me that every time his phone rang and he saw it was me, he would grab his Bible because he knew I would have a list of questions for him  My father also was (and is) a Civil War* buff. Thus, he tends to pass things through the filters of (1) his interest in the Civil War, and (2) his love for God. So Daddy being Daddy, he taught me about God's sovereignty using (1) the book of Isaiah and (2) the life of Stonewall Jackson, a Confederate general in the Civil War. He told me an account of Stonewall Jackson being pressed during the war not to go to the front lines with his men, to which he replied, I will be with my men, to lead them and because they need me, and I will rest in knowing that any bullet that strikes me must first past through the hand of the Lord Almighty.

I love my father and am thankful for him, and for his good teaching over the years which has made me steadier and steadier in my Christian walk. I am also resting in God's sovereignty for today's trials, the fruit of learning such wonderful, steadying truths about God. Thank you, Daddy, I appreciate you.

A few Stonewall Jackson quotes:
[On being asked ‘General how is it that you can keep so cool, and appear so utterly insensible to danger in such a storm of shells and bullets as rained about you when your hand was hit?’] "Captain, my religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me." 
"It has been a precious experience to me that I was brought face to face with death and found that all was well." 
"You see me severely wounded, but not depressed—not unhappy. I believe it has been done according to God’s holy will, and I acquiesce entirely in it. You may think it strange; but you never saw me more perfectly contented that I am today; for I am sure that my Heavenly Father designs this affliction for my good. I am perfectly satisfied that either in this life, or in that which is to come, I shall discover that what is now regarded as a calamity is a blessing." 
[His last words before dying.] "Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees."
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*Yes, the Civil War was brutal and bloody and awful, and there were complicated and Godly men on both sides. God used that war for his own sovereign purposes to end the vile practice of slavery, and to create the unified nation we have today.