My Dad, My Hero

My Dad, My Hero

I know that I have written about him before, but I just had to write about him again. Today my Dad would have been celebrating his 89^th birthday. My Dad went home to be with the Lord in September of 1986 – which will be 25 years this year that he has been in heaven.

My Dad was an incredible man. He grew up in a very abusive family and in his early teens had to move in with his Aunt and Uncle. From his testimony, my Dad was an alcoholic from an early age, and was on a collision course with destroying his entire life.

It didn’t hit me until earlier this month … but I don’t have a clue how my Mom and Dad met. They were from two completely different schools, geographic areas, and quite frankly, all of my Aunts and Uncles on both sides of my family are with the Lord.

My Mom trusted Christ in her early 20’s at Second Mennonite Church in Philadelphia, and she prayed my Dad into the kingdom. I do remember that Pastor Walter J. Dick, (former director of Montrose Bible Conference) led my Dad to the Lord.

My Dad’s conversion was amazing. He never ever struggled with alcohol again. Was he perfect? No. In fact the one thing that he battled his entire Christian life was his struggle with cigarettes. For whatever reason, he did battle with that until the day the Lord took him home.

There are lots of reasons that I miss my Dad – but I guess the thing I miss the most is the ability to just look him in the eye to say thanks for leading me to Christ. At age three after a Sunday evening service at the same church where he was saved, My Dad and our Pastor, Curtis Lehman, shared the plan of salvation with me and I asked Jesus to be my Savior and Lord.

If you have a Dad that is still alive – don’t take him for granted. Keep connected with him. He’s not perfect – and guess what – neither are you! Thanks, Dad, for being my hero! Happy birthday! – Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s Keswick

GPS – God’s Positioning System: 1 Chronicles 26-27; Psalm 119:9-16; Proverbs 11

Compass Pointers: “We are justified if we have accepted Christ as Savior. But present communion with God requires continual bowing in both the intellect and the will. Without bowing in the intellect, in thinking after God; without acting upon the finished work of Christ in my present life; and without bowing in the will in practice, as the waves of the present life break over me, there is no sufficient communion with God. Without these things I am not in my place as the creature in a fallen and abnormal world. These three things are absolutely necessary if there is to be real and sufficient communion with God in the present life.” Francis Schaeffer

Navigation Rules to Memorize:  Level 1: Proverbs 19:23; Level 2: Proverbs 19:20-23

Anchored to the Rock: Prayer is the putting forth of vital energy. It is the highest effort of which the human spirit is capable. Andrew Murray