The Gospel Coalition

This evening I am thinking of my dad, missing him greatly.  But he left such a legacy, I never feel alone or aimless or wondering what to live for.  Priceless gift.

My son Dane posted his impressions of my dad here, accurately summing up my dad’s life in eight ways:

1.  The Centrality of Love. When he came and spoke to the pastors of Missouri Presbytery of the PCA in 2004, with the chance to pick any text he wanted, he chose John 13: “A new commandment I give you: that you love one another.” It was vintage Grandpa when halfway through his message he stopped and instructed the guys present to go around and tell their brothers that they loved them.  A simple “I love you” from one pastor to another, face to face.  Imagine.

2.  The Importance of Joy.  Nothing was more tragic, to Grandpa, than a morose believer.  He was himself one of the happiest people I’ve ever known.  And not without a good deal of heartache of his own.

3.  The Bible as Food.  Grandpa did not read the Bible mainly for information but to feed his soul.  In one of his books he writes, “You don’t get food for your soul by osmosis!  You can hear others talk of it; but until you yourself regularly take in that delicious Word of God, you’re undernourished!”  I possess a Bible of his from the 1980s.  Every page is marked.  Including 2 Chronicles and the second half of Joshua.

4.  The Critical Place of Prayer.  Sometimes we would be together as a family and Grandpa would say, “Let’s stop and pray about this.”  No spiritual gamesmanship with the man.  Zero posturing.  Just honest, earnest talking to and pleading with the Lord.

5.  The Secret Value of Repentance and Humility.  One evening in Nashville when we were together as a family, Grandpa had been telling me about how Fuller Seminary started in his church, and mentioned some of the big-wigs involved.  The next morning, the first thing he said to me was: “Dane, I need to apologize to you about something.  I was putting myself forward last night when I was talking about Fuller and those guys, and it was prideful.  I want to tell you I am sorry.  Will you forgive me?  I don’t want to be a self-promoter.”  He was 82, had spoken to crowds of 100,000 in India, had had an interational radio ministry, and written over 20 books.  And he wanted to apologize to his grandson for being a self-promoter.

6.  The Importance of Loving My Wife.  In 2004, sitting in a booth at Chili’s in St. Louis, Grandpa gave me a rebuke for not studying Scripture with my wife.  That day was a turning point for our marriage.

7.  The Incomparable Worth of Singlemindedness.  Some of Grandpa’s favorite phrases were “tiger for Jesus,” “great exploits in Jesus’ name,” “there’s nothing in life outside of Jesus,” and “go hard after God.”  He was a tiger for Jesus, he did great exploits in Jesus’ name, and he did go hard after God.  He wrote: “Your danger and mine is not that we become criminals, but rather, that we become respectable, decent, commonplace, mediocre Christians.  The twenty-first-century temptations that really sap our spiritual power are the television, banana cream pie, the easy chair, and the credit card.  Christian, you will win or lose in those seemingly innocent little moments of decision.”

8.  Strength in Weakness.  Grandpa exemplified the counterintuitive biblical truth that when we are weak, then we are strong.  He was dyslexic and therefore a slow reader.  He often felt waves of insecurity.  He wrestled with what he called an “inferiority complex” early on in life, battling deep feelings of inadequacy.  Yet God used him remarkably.  Supernaturally.  I believe it was not in spite of his weaknesses but because of them.  They forced him to yield himself to the Lord in utter dependence.  And I take much consolation in that, as a weak person myself.  Grandpa knew that to say “I don’t have what it takes” is exactly what it takes.