This story is taken off a Book by Dr Steve Farrar and it has implications for many of us. Read this in the Spirit…
“His life could not have been going any better. He was an evangelist who preached the Word with the Holy Spirit’s authority and power. He was the most sought after evangelist in his denomination and if you had wanted this man to come and preach in your church, you had to get in line and wait for a minimum of four years. He was a man who was enjoying the favor of God on his life and ministry. The numerous invitations were always a pull away from his family. But he and his wife had settled on a formula that had worked well and enabled him to spend time at home with his bride and son that he dearly loved. The formula was simple: the evangelist would go out and preach for two weeks and then come home for two weeks. Then he would go out again for two weeks and back home for another two. Everything was working and God was blessing. His marriage was strong. His boy, now a teenager, was doing well in school and athletics. And his ministry was taking off like a rocket and then one day, the phone rang.
“It was a very short phone call from his wife. She just had the latest in a series of arguments with their 16-yr-old son. She had asked him to do something and he told her point-blank that he wasn’t going to do it. This six-foot-two boy was wearing her down. His strong will was starting to take its toll. So she called her husband and in a fairly short conversation reported the events that had just taken place and then she simply said, “I need you.” He replied that he would cancel the remaining meetings and drive home immediately. But neither one of them knew that their son was listening to their conversation from the next room. The teenager knew he was pushing the limits and was curious to see how his father would respond. He would soon find out. His father arrived home and within days, a “For Sale” sign was in the front yard. The father then cancelled every one of his scheduled meetings for the next four years and accepted the pastorate of a small church in another state. For the next two years, until his son graduated from high school and went off to college, he pastored the small church and mentored his growing son.
“With his son headed off to college, he was ready to return to evangelism. But in those few years, multiple changes had taken place in his church denomination. Many of the older pastors had retired and been replaced by younger men who were unfamiliar with his ministry. Invitations were far less frequent and those few years away from evangelism had cost him dearly in terms of his career and calling. Quite frankly, to a degree, he would never recover. His decision to go home had come at a great price. But because he had made the tough decision and went home to focus on his family, years later, his son would begin a ministry known as Focus on the Family. The son is Dr. James Dobson.”
Ps. Yang Tuck Yoong
- taken from www.cscc.org.sg
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