Spiritual Fathers

On Father’s Day, most people honor the men that raised them. While I’m grateful for the good things mine did for me, my spiritual life was stagnant as a boy. The Lutheran church our family attended never taught us we must be born again (John 3:3, 7). It wasn’t until years later when I learned what it really meant to be a Christian.

At the time of my conversion in 1991, I had started attending Living Word Christian Center, a megachurch in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. Senior Pastor Mac Hammond became my first spiritual father. Although I never got to know him on a personal level, Mac’s teachings helped me build a solid foundation on God’s word. 

Other men connected with Living Word played a part in my spiritual growth. Associate pastor Kent Otey met with me a few times for counseling sessions. The late Gary Rue was a postal worker who hosted Thursday night Bible studies at his house, which provided additional discipleship and fellowship. When I got serious about sharing my faith more, I had regular interaction with Living Word’s evangelism pastor Nick Kinn. 

Meanwhile, I learned Biblical truths from guest speakers at Living Word. Jerry Savelle was an early favorite of mine because of his sense of humor. For that same reason, I enjoyed the preaching of Jesse Duplantis and later Kenneth Copeland. 

One day, I visited another church and saw Mike Murdock minister for the first time. Soon I listened to many of his teaching tapes. Mike’s series “The Assignment” impacted me the most. Since then, I’ve gleaned from a variety of other preachers through their meetings and recordings. In recent years, I’ve probably listened to Rodney Howard-Browne and Perry Stone the most.

I’ve had a few Facebook friends call me their spiritual father. I’m honored that anyone would look to me as a mentor. However, I question why most of my so-called spiritual sons don’t subscribe to my monthly newsletter or respond to my teachings and praise reports. While I have a policy not to beg for money, it's nice to receive gifts from those who value my ministry. Galatians 6:6 says, “Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches.” I make it a point to send offerings to ministers who most impacted my life.

All of us should be thankful for the different people God used to help us grow spiritually. But just like natural fathers shouldn’t control their children's lives, spiritual fathers need to allow their sons in the faith to follow their divine destinies. They cannot take the place of God Himself.

“Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.” - Matthew 23:9-10

A Eulogy for My Mom

Carolyn Mae Tweiten was born on March 28, 1946. She was the second of five children who grew up in a carpenter’s family in Fargo, North Dakota. In 1963 at the age of 17, Carolyn married Richard Post and gave birth to me the following year. My sister Tanya followed a couple of years later. Because Mom loved animals, there were often one or two dogs plus an occasional cat in the household. She was also a teddy bear fanatic. That made it easy to pick out gifts for Christmas and her birthday.

Carolyn had grown up with a violent alcoholic father. Therefore, she did her best to make sure Tanya and I had a stable environment at home. Mom often played along with various games my sister and me did. A few Saturday mornings, we played school with me being the teacher. Occasionally Mom would knock on my bedroom door saying Tanya needed to be “excused from class” so she could clean her room or do something else.

As we got older, Mom worked outside the house more. One of her jobs was a sales representative for a candy company. Tanya and I got to enjoy a lot of free samples. Another thing I appreciated about my mother was her sense of humor. Whenever Tanya and I did something naughty but wouldn’t fess up, Mom sarcastically declared, “Ol’ Tom is at it again!” (Tom was my imaginary twin brother.) A few years ago while finishing a phone conversation, I told Mom I would “keep her posted” on my happenings. She replied, “Don’t take our name in vain.”

I wasn’t fond of the traditional Lutheran church we attended when my sister and I were little. Still, my mother made sure we said our prayers before going to sleep. If there was a thunderstorm outside, Mom told us God’s angels were bowling (the loudest claps of thunder meant they got a strike). She happened to be an avid bowler and watched the "Pro Bowler's Tour" on TV.

Football was another sport my mother enjoyed. We spent many Sundays watching the Minnesota Vikings on TV. Mom got more emotional about the games than I did. She would jump off the couch and yell at the players while nearly knocking me over in the process. 

Like with my father, Mom and I had spiritual differences after I became born again. She had started watching Dr. Robert Schuller’s “Hour of Power” on TV and gradually drifted into New Age beliefs. Then in the fall of 2012, Mom had a stroke and was moved into an assisted living facility. A few weeks later I returned to Fargo for the holidays. One afternoon (which happened to be “doomsday”), I stopped to see Mom. After we talked for a while, she let me lay hands on her to receive healing. Then I asked if I could lead her in a prayer to receive Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. She agreed and prayed the sinner’s prayer with me.

Mom’s health slightly improved but still remained in hospice for the rest of her life. The last time I saw my mother, I wanted to entertain her somehow. I got out my smartphone and on YouTube played an old comedy routine by Jack Webb and Johnny Carson that we watched years before on “The Tonight Show.” Mom really enjoyed that.

When my dad passed away last month, I perceived Mom would soon do the same (“January” kept coming up in my spirit). Yesterday I was informed she had gone home to be with the Lord. Carolyn Post was 71.

It’s not easy when a close relative dies. However, as Christians, we have the Holy Spirit to comfort us and experience supernatural peace especially if our deceased loved ones were saved. Someday we will be reunited at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. So in the meantime, keep praying and sharing God's love if you still have lost family members.

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 

- Acts 16:31

A Eulogy for My Dad

Richard “Dick” Post was born on June 28, 1943, in Hood River, Oregon. His father was stationed there during World War II. The family later moved to Fargo, North Dakota.

After graduating from Fargo Central High and taking some college courses, Dad settled into a career as an interior decorator. Over the years he worked at various furniture stores in the Fargo-Moorhead area. Dad could have made more money as a traveling salesman but opted for jobs that allowed him to come home every night to be with my mother, sister, and me. Often our evenings were spent watching TV and playing an occasional board game. Dad sometimes brought meals home for us such as hamburgers, pizza, and Mexican food. In recent years when I came home for a visit, Dad and I usually ate out at Asian buffets.

During the 1970s, Dad’s work prospered him enough to own three cars including a corvette that he sometimes drove me to school in (to the envy of my classmates). Summer weekends were usually spent at Big Sugar Bush Lake in central Minnesota where we had property with a mobile home and speedboat. My dad won numerous sales contests. Prizes included vacations he took with my mother to Greece, Hawaii, Ireland, Mexico, and Switzerland.

We had our share of family trips. Among them were drives to the Badlands, Canada, and Wisconsin that included a stopover in the Twin Cities to see the Bee Gees in concert. Once we flew out east and saw relatives in the Rochester, New York area where my dad’s parents were originally from. Eight years after that, Dad won another trip to Hawaii and brought us kids along. It was the first time I got to escape freezing temperatures during the winter.

Many boys desire to follow in their father’s footsteps career-wise. That wasn’t really true for me. I worked a few sales jobs but never had an interest in furniture. Dad and I were briefly involved in a couple of business ventures together. One of them was a video recording service that might have succeeded through better marketing. Eventually, I went into the ministry.

Dad and I had disagreements regarding spiritual matters. He was raised in a strict Methodist home but later explored other religions. Still, we occasionally attended the Lutheran church my mother’s family went to and a couple of times visited an Evangelical Free church my sister’s family were part of. Prior to him having open heart surgery in 2008, I asked Dad if he knew Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He said he did. A year later after we had dinner together, Dad told me, “Even though we don’t agree on some things, I’m proud of you for reaching out to others.”

Dad never retired. He continued selling furniture up until a month ago when he was rushed to the hospital for breathing difficulties. Initially, Dad appeared to be recovering. Then last Tuesday, I received a text from my uncle informing me my father had passed away. Richard Post was 74.

For a while, my mind struggled with the certainty of Dad’s eternal destiny. As an evangelist, I desired to hear him make a bolder declaration of knowing Jesus and even hoped we would minister together someday. Talking and praying with friends have since increased my confidence in my earthly father being with our Heavenly Father. It will be interesting to see how Dad’s heavenly home compares to the homes he decorated on earth. 

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” - John 14:1-2

Whose Child Are You?

One song often heard during the holiday season is “What Child Is This?” A question many people need to answer for themselves is “Who’s Child Am I?”  

Sometimes while evangelizing, sinners tell me they are going to heaven because they claim to be a child of God. My hometown newspaper recently published a letter applauding Sen. John McCain’s declaration (regarding the Syrian refugee situation), “All of us are God’s children.” That inspired me to write a response pointing out this is not an accurate statement.

It’s true that all men “have been made in the similitude of God.” (James 3:9)  But not every person on this earth is technically a child of God. A man or woman who doesn’t become born again has Satan as their spiritual father even if they don’t believe he exists.

Look at this conversation Jesus had with the Pharisees in John 8…

39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” 

Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. 

40 But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God.  Abraham did not do this. 

41 You do the deeds of your father.” 

Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.” 

42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 

43 Why do you not understand My speech?  Because you are not able to listen to My word. 

44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

Jesus also said in Matthew 13:38-39, “The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.”

Paul confronted a sorcerer named Elymas by calling him a “son of the devil.” (Acts 13:10) The Apostle wrote in Ephesians 2:2 that “the prince of the power of the air [Satan]…works in the sons of disobedience.” Among those works is murder. 1 John 3:12 says that Cain “…was of the wicked one and murdered his brother.”

You might say to yourself, “I’m not a murderer.” Maybe you never killed anyone (a popular reason people think they deserve to go to heaven) but 1 John 3:15 goes on to say, “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” Verse 9 from this same chapter says, “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” The Common English Bible clarifies in this verse, “Those born from God don’t practice sin because God’s DNA remains in them…”

Anyone can become a child of God by becoming a new creature in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). From that point on, he or she has the supernatural ability to “walk as children of light.” (Ephesians 5:8)

Whose child are you?

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”  - John 1:12-13

Addressing a Minister

Three years ago I reconnected with a pastor who used to work with me at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. One day at his church, we got into a discussion about how pastors should be treated. My friend had congregation members calling him by his first name despite asking to be addressed as “Pastor Lee.”

Romans 13:7 tells us to give honor to whom honor is due. Civil authorities expect to be addressed by certain titles. Courtroom judges are called “Your Honor.” Policemen are often addressed as “Officer.” If you were a White House guest, you would refer to Barack Obama as “Mr. President.” If you lived under a monarchy, you would address your king or queen as “Your Majesty.”  

While serving in the U. S. Army, I quickly learned to address my superiors the right way or I would get in trouble. If a noncommissioned officer such as a sergeant gave me an order, I was expected to respond, “Yes, sergeant.” If I accidentally addressed him as “Sir” (a title reserved for officers), the sergeant would yell back, “I’m not a sir. I work for a living!” If I talked to one without addressing him by his rank, he or she would say, “Who you talking to?”  

Likewise, it’s proper to honor our spiritual leaders. Jesus said in Matthew 10:41, “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward.” 

However, some ministers take titles too seriously. One man I stayed with wanted to call me “Evangelist Post.” I didn’t object since that is my primary ministerial calling. At the same time, this man insisted I address him as “Apostle So-and-so.” The only ministry I saw him actively involved in was helping out at a local food pantry.

On rare occasions people have called me Reverend Post. I don’t care for that title because it sounds old and ancient. It’s also worth noting the word reverend appears only once in the King James Bible and refers to God Himself. Psalm 111:9 says, “He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.” Catholic priests are called “Father” despite Jesus saying in Matthew 23:9 (AMP), “And do not call anyone [in the church] on earth father, for you have one Father, Who is in heaven.” I find it odd Mormon missionaries call themselves an “Elder” when most of them are college aged.

Some spiritual leaders shouldn't be concerned about titles and just do the stuff.

“Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are fellow workers for your joy; for by faith you stand.” - 2 Corinthians 1:24

Who’s Your Daddy?

One day at the Mall of America in suburban Minneapolis, I had a witnessing opportunity with three kiosk employees who were all Jewish. When I mentioned Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of the Messiah coming from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10), one of the women objected because He wasn't born of a human father. A friend of mine later reminded me of Isaiah 7:14, which says that the Messiah must be born of a virgin woman. The Holy Spirit probably didn't bring that Scripture to my remembrance because this Jewish woman was quite contentious and said she had to “get back to work.”

The fact that Jesus had one earthly parent and one divine parent is proof He fulfilled Isaiah 7:14. He had to be born of a virgin woman (not man) so his father had to be God and not a man. This fact speaks for Him and not against Him. Who else could fulfill it?

My friend also pointed out to me that according to Orthodox Judaism the Jewish lineage is inherited through the mother. If the father is an Eskimo (or more rare, if there’s no earthly father) he is still a Jew and from the tribe of the mother, as long as the mother is Jewish.

There’s also the principle of inheritance from the father through adoption. Jesus may not have biologically come from the tribe of Judah, but legally he still is. This would also make Him a true son of David and have a right to inherit the throne of the kingdom according to the prophecy.

Regardless of how your earthly father raised you, you can have a relationship with the perfect daddy in Heaven if you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. The Son of God said in John 14:9, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” Jesus said in John 12:44-45, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.”

Sadly, many people have distorted ideas about Father God. During a recent road trip through Wisconsin, I felt led to witness to a truck stop employee by asking him, “Did you know God loves you and has an awesome plan for your life?” This man wasn’t open to the gospel because he thought God “took his son.” I pointed out Satan comes to kill, steal, and destroy but Jesus came to give us life and more abundantly (John 10:10)

Whether or not a person believes in God, he or she has a spiritual father. Jesus told the Pharisees in John 8:44, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

Who’s your daddy?

“Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, and give attention to know understanding.” - Proverbs 4:1