September 25, 2011 by Ben Tanner
1 Cor. 7:8-10
8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.
9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made asorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
10 For agodly bsorrow worketh crepentance to dsalvation not to be repented of: but the esorrow of the world worketh death.
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September 18, 2011 by Ben Tanner
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September 11, 2011 by Ben Tanner
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September 4, 2011 by Ben Tanner
My mother is 7o years old. She still refers to her father as “Daddy”. My grandfather, Loren Wells Duke passed away long before I was born. But I feel like I know him. This is because my mother has told me so many great stories about him and her face lights up every time he comes up in the conversation. My mother loved her mother as well, (my grandmother was amazing in her own right). But for the purposes of this post I wish to focus on my grandfather.
He never held any prominent positions in the church or the community. (other than maybe being the town Santa Clause around Christmas time.) But I’ve never met a person who knew him in life that doesn’t just gush over him. He was kind. He was talented. He played 12 instruments. He could have just about any room laughing within minutes. He was an entertainer. He was a fantastic father who didn’t rule with an iron hand but rather with love. He adopted my grandmothers first 5 children as his own and then had three more the last of which was my mother.
He wasn’t a perfect man. Apparently he liked to use colorful words (the four letter type) in his every day language. But no one ever had to guess of his sincerity. He served in the church and certainly loved his neighbors. My grandmother would give him only 25 cents per day for his lunch when he would go to work because if she gave him any more than that, he would give it away.
But why does my Mother still call him “Daddy” instead of “father” or “Dad”? Because my grandfather loved his wife and children so tenderly that they couldn’t help but call him by the tender childlike name of “Daddy.” This reminds me of another situation where the term “Daddy” was used.
When Jesus Christ was suffering on the cross, he exclaimed “Abba…” Abba is the Aramaic word for “father” but more accurately it means “Daddy”. Even the Son of the Eternal God used this word to call out to His Father. We all have a Father In Heaven, who I think is more like a “Daddy” than a “Dad”. A tender, loving Heavenly parent who really cares about each of us. Not that there is anything wrong with the term “Dad”, but rather that we can approach our Father in Heaven like little children. Jesus encouraged us to become like little children.
So today I’m the father of three Children. They call me Daddy. When my children are 70 years old, will they still call me Daddy?
I hope I can earn that kind of honor. I would be in wonderful company.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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