In the simplest of terms, I am all of these things and in this order.
a CHRISTIAN. At a very young age I realized that I had a large gaping vacuum within me that yearned for a deep and very personal relationship with the God that creates and sustains everything I live in the midst.
I discovered that God had chosen to communicate His love to me through the truth of His Word. In this incredibly thorough manual for life I was introduced to several spiritual truths:
1. Because of sin, my relationship with God was simply that of created and Creator. I was spiritually separated from God because of the differences in our nature. God is Holy, I am undone. God is Righteous, I am inclined to wrong. God is Pure, I wallow in filth.
2. God was not satisfied with this arrangement. In fact, He longed to be reconciled to me and was willing to do whatever it took. In order to reconcile me to Him, He sent His Son to pay a debt I owed, but could not pay. Through His death on the cross, Jesus paid the penalty of my sin and wretchedness. He was wounded for my transgressions, He was bruised for my iniquities, He was chastised so I could know peace and by His stripes my relationship could be what it was intended to be.
3. By faith, I could trust in Jesus' unfathomable sacrifice (in my stead) as the satisfactory payment for all the sin I had or ever will commit. I turned from my way of thinking and living to God's way.
4. To prove that His power over sin and death was real, God raised Him from the dead on the third day.
5. After this incredible interaction of truth and belief, I accepted my Savior's challenge of taking up my cross and following Him.
6. As a believer, I have been called to season the world like salt and illuminate the dark parts of the world as a carrier of the light.
a HUSBAND. God has given me a partner to go through life and even face death with. It is the most important earthly relationship I have and although my attitude doesn't always reflect it, my greatest blessing. Although God has filled the world with beautiful things, none are more beautiful to me than my wife. She is the practical and present face of God's grace toward me. The idea that someone as sweet as her could love and tolerate someone as sour as me is incredible.
a FATHER. God has allowed me to make an impact on the future through nurturing, teaching, encouraging and correcting my own children. My greatest fear is that I will not always be able to protect them from all of life's hurts, insults, discouragements, difficulties and tragedies. My greatest hope is that with God's help they will be better than me. It hardly seems imaginable that God would entrust something so fragile and important to me, but He does. And I am grateful.
a PREACHER. God has given me a seemingly impossible task of taking the truth of His Word to every soul. Fortunately, He calls other like me to be faithful in the work, so that together with accomplish more. To be honest, the preaching comes easier to me than the pastoring part of the job. In fact, I think sometimes I restrain my preaching because I don't want to come off rough to people I'm supposed to help shepherd. If you strike the sheep too often and too hard they tend to shy away from you. The difficult balance of pastoring is something I will probably be searching for for years to come; feed the sheep, keep them clean/sheared, and make sure they stay away from danger and danger stays away from them.
a CITIZEN. I have a responsibility to use my influence for good; whether by my vote, my voice or my vigor. I want to leave this great country on a path that pleases the Giver of all the rights and freedoms I enjoy and preserves them for my posterity.
Pastor Bob
