Fatherless

Posted on May 6, 2019May 6, 2019 by Carl Streck in Faith No Comments

I have been fatherless my entire life.

From the most literal sense of the word I was conceived by a sperm donor because my dad couldn’t have kids to the more figurative version when my parents got divorced when i was 10 and my Dad moved 400 miles away. To the forever (earthly at least) version when my Dad passed away last year….on fathers day.

Recently I took the DNA test 23andme. After taking the test I was soon surprised to find that I had 9 (and counting, i guess) half siblings. My biological (donor) father existed somewhere in the world, but by the miracle of modern technology I realized that I was blood related to others around the country. Equally as much as my sister that I was raised with.

As I have been in contact with some of them I realized that while my parents told me that I was donor conceived at a young age many of the others found out when they were older or even found out when they took the test and then confronted their parents about their findings.

This new realization, for some of them, rocked their world and the desire to find their biological father was impossible to shake.

What’s really in my DNA is the thought that runs through many heads when faced with this kind of information because all that I thought I was is only half true. Who am I…really? Fully?

The same question should ring true for us spiritually. Our whole lives we live thinking that we are made up of the DNA of our earthly selves, our earthly mothers and fathers (known or unknown), but the reality we need to understand is that our DNA is really, fully from our true heavenly Father.

In 7th grade I was introduced to my reality that even though I didn’t know my biological father, and that my earthly father let me down time and again that I had a Heavenly Father that loves me.

It was then that I quit looking for my father. Not because I didn’t care about my earthly fathers acceptance, nor because I wasn’t curious about what my biological father looked like. No, I stopped looking because I found my Heavenly Father.

I found the father that etched his DNA onto my heart from the creation of the world. I found a Father that put every other possibile father to shame. A father that would never let me down that would never disappear, that would never hurt me.

Louie Giglio at Passion City has been speaking about fathers in his recent sermon series NOT FORSAKEN when he reminds us that we all have been hurt by our fathers, but when we open our hearts to our Father God he will welcome us, he won’t hurt us or forsake us. Because without our true Father we will always be searching for what’s missing in our soul. We will always be looking for that matching DNA that’s only found in a relationship with God the Father

What were we created for?

Posted on February 24, 2014February 24, 2014 by Carl Streck in Faith No Comments

I have always thought/said that we were created to worship God and bring Him the glory that he deserves, but yesterday I was prompted to delve deeper.

During Sunday School our teacher was talking about worship and many in the class said exactly what I was thinking and have said many times.

Then I found myself wondering if that was really the reason that God created us.

It says here in Genisis:

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7 NIV)

And

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. (Genesis 2:7, 15 NIV)

Then

My wife reminded me of this potential reason: “Man’s chief end is to glorify god and enjoy him forever.”

As I studied this this morning I began to wonder about the true reason for creation.

I recognize there are many Biblical goals, fruits, signs that we are truly Christ followers but what I realized this morning was that maybe, just maybe God created us simply because he wanted to.

That’s it.

The eternal Father with the Son and Holy Spirit created man in their image because they wanted to.

What an amazing concept. That the God of the universe just wanted to create something good. And he made me. And you.

How freeing an idea.

The concept that in the beginning God wanted to make great things. He started with the heavens and the earth. He ended with you and me.

What an amazing top 7 list to be on.

Could this possibly be the foreshadowing to the message of salvation? That there is nothing we could do to earn Gods favor. He simply created us because he wanted to and he saved us because he loves us and he is the only one able to save us.

I am not, nor do I claim to be a bible scholar. I am just someone interested in why my creator chose to make me, and you, and I am comforted by the fact that maybe he did it because he wanted to make something good, in His image.

So to everyone out there that feels like they have to live up to standard set for them either inside our outside the church I encourage you to seek the truth in the Bible and ask yourself why you were created. I urge you to take comfort when the bible says that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. To rest in the fact that there is a master artist that made a beautiful work. you.

THEN while understanding this, worship the God that made you! Praise the name of the everlasting father. Give glory to the king of kings to the master sculptor that decided to create something.

And he did and it is good.

Are you on the path to failure?

Posted on January 27, 2014January 27, 2014 by Carl Streck in Faith, life lessons, Uncategorized No Comments

Trajectory.

Over Christmas I was putting together a little car for my 2 year old. As I followed my way through the included directions I found myself getting frustrated with the pictures of nuts and bolts that I knew were different but all looked the same on the piece of paper they provided, and regardless of which way I turned the directions I couldn’t figure out how to put the axle on right.

Needless to say I began going with my intuition of where things should go, and about 45 minutes into the project I was finished.

One minor problem. The steering wheel didn’t turn. No big deal I thought to myself. He’s only 2. He wont even turn it anyway.

Reasonableness finally set in and I took the whole car apart and began again. The right way, and Christmas morning that steering wheel turned.

This lesson in frustration reminded me of the concept of trajectory.

tra·jec·to·ry

trəˈjektərē/

noun

noun: trajectory; plural noun: trajectories

1.

the path followed by a projectile flying or an object moving under the action of given forces.

“the missile’s trajectory was preset”

While my life is not a projectile object (typically) I believe the concept of trajectory is ultra important.

I think we all should look at the path we are currently traveling on and consider what this path will produce over time. Where will this path end up if you continue on it.

In a lighthearted way that car I was putting together would have been rendered useless if I never fixed it and my 2 year old was still trying to turn the (non-working) steering wheel at 3 or 4 years old.

In a more serious way I consider things like:

Your Health:

I have had high blood pressure my entire life. When I discussed this with my doctor a few years ago he told me I should consider medicine to keep it low. I asked him what would happen if I never took medicine. He said I would be fine for 20 or so years, but may have problems in my 50’s.

Trajectory.

A problem not dealt with over time creates a big problem. The gap continues to widen over years.

So what about other issues.

Many people are talking about weight-loss in the new year. I am not opining either way, but I beg you to consider what if you didn’t change anything about your eating or excersise? What would your life look like in 5 years? 10? 20?

What trajectory is your health on?

Your Faith:

I consider the my relationship with Jesus. A relationship is neither built nor lost over night. So I consider the time I am spending with the Lord every day and wonder what will my relationship with God look like in a few years if I continue having (or not having) daily time in the Bible and worship?

Or maybe you’ve never considered the concept of faith. I challenge you to consider your current beliefs and thoughts on eternity, and what trajectory you are on. I challenge you to consider the fact that many die without having the opportunity to thoughtfully consider and seek out answers to their questions about eternity…a very dangerous trajectory. Check out this video on God’s love for YOU.

What trajectory is your faith on?

Your family:

I love Andy Stanly’s sermons series “Choosing to Cheat” and his introduction to the concept of daily giving your spouse a rock to hold till you get home. Sure one day you work late, or have a difficult season of business, but what type of trajectory are you on? In the sermon eventually his wife drops the rock after being told time and time again to keep holding it more and more because she just can’t hold it any longer.

The fallout is bad and hard to fix.

But it didn’t start overnight. It was on a crash course, a trajectory, that was bound to fall apart.

Your Finances:

I look at spending. Is our current lifesyle, spending habits, views on money sustainable? What type of trajectory is that on? Is it one that ends with good stewardship and faithful giving or one that ends in financial hardship and ruin?

Again, it is about daily choices. Trajectory.

Challenge:

My challenge to you and to myself is to look at the trajectory of your life, choices, activities and see where they will put you in 5, 10, 20 years. What type of trajectory am I on if nothing changes?

The beautiful thing about trajectory is that the slightest thing can change its course. A little wind can cause something in flight to end up thousands of miles from the course it was headed to over time. A small nudge today can change the course of something in the future.

Consider this:

Faith: What if I spent 10 minutes reading the Bible every day?
Health: What if I cut out one coke a week?
Family: What if I spent 15 minutes without tv or phones and talked to my kids?
Finances: What if I saved one dollar a day?

Here’s what those small changes can do to a trajectory:

Faith: 10 minutes a day and you will read the whole Bible in a year.
Health: Cut out one coke per day and loose 10 lbs in one year.
Family: 15 minutes a day would mean you got 4 extra days with your kids (without taking vacation)
Finances: 1 dollar per day is 14,000 saved in 20 years.

My point is not that this is the plan you should take, or that this is the way to know God or loose weight. The point is that small changes over time make big differences.

So where are you headed? What’s your trajectory?

How to stop worrying about money

Posted on January 10, 2014January 10, 2014 by Carl Streck in Faith, life lessons No Comments

For most of my life I have been worried about money.

When I was a kid and my parents got divorced my mom took on a few jobs to make ends meet. I distinctly remember her walking into my bedroom and telling me that she was going to have to file for bankruptcy(which she never had to do). For an adult this was a legal way to stave off your creditors, but for me, as a kid this meant we were broke.

Circumstances like that set off a fear of not having the means to make ends meet.

While on vacation last week I found myself feeling a myriad of emotions surrounding the cost of the trip. The emotions ranged from guilt to worry to depression. Keep in mind Anna and I had planned to take the trip, and were paying cash.

Nevertheless, I found myself haunted by these feelings.

During the trip a friend of mine shared the devotional by Andy Stanley: Be Rich. While reading through the devotion I found myself convicted by my views on money in a way that was foreign to me, and in a light I haven’t heard discussed much.

What was revealed to me is that over the past few years is that I had replaced my reliance on the Father for reliance on financial security and essentially made money my god.

Not in a materialistic way, or in a covetous way (which is typically how I hear it discussed) or even in a greedy way, but I had quietly replaced the trust and hope that only God provides for the false sense of security that money provides, and my anxiety and guilt that I have carried since I was a child found its way into my life in a way I had never known.

I always would have said I trusted in God and had my faith in him during bad times and times of trouble. I, oddly enough, found it easier to trust God during time of struggle. But today, I have an income and I don’t feel the same daily financial struggles that I had earlier in life, but I have found myself un-trusting in a new way.

So I wonder if there are any of you that share my experience. I wonder if you have been trusting the god of money.

The deception of the world is that money provides stability, but the Truth was revealed to me in the parable about the Rich man and his barns is that all of this is out of our control.

16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

What a deception the world has today that if we work hard enough or save well enough we can achieve financial security. The reality is that just like the farmer relies on the rain or the weather to yield a good crop all we are given comes from the Father.

So the challenge to myself, and you is not to Tithe more, or spend less. I would say I am a giver and a saver.

The Challenge is

Challenge your fears: Are they really rooted in a lack of faith and trust in God?
Be a good steward: Recognize that just like the farmer in the parable all things can come to an end in a flash.
Ask for wisdom: What are those other areas of your life, like mine, that sin is hiding?

I am so grateful for the freedom and truth found in these scriptures and that the teaching of Jesus are alive today just as they were 2,000 years ago.

What do you struggle with in your faith? How have you been set free?

Atheists are right about Christmas today

Posted on December 17, 2013December 17, 2013 by Carl Streck in Faith No Comments

At the gym this morning I was interrupted by a news report that caught my eye.

The story was about the outrage that Christians are showing over a billboard put out by the group American Atheist saying “Who needs Christ during Christmas, Nobody”

The outrage that ensued on Fox News was expected, and the Christians reaction was good with a subsequent witty billboard:

The problem I have with both sides is I believe the atheists, although unintended I’m sure, are on to something.

Every Christmas seems to be about the same. We begin complaining about it coming “earlier every year”, and the common response when you ask someone how things are going is “busy”.

Who needs Christ at Christmas?

If the billboard was truly a question the answer is everybody, but I think there is a much deeper question. The question I ask myself is where is Christ in Christmas and more often than not the answer is: Nowhere.

As I sit and wonder what this means I remember the first Christmas . The one that Christ WAS in. I bet if you asked most anyone who’s birthday it was the answer wouldn’t have been Jesus. I am sure that there would have been precious few that would say the day was cause for celebration at all because, after all. This was just a baby, right. A baby of little consequence to the world.

What about the 34th Christmas? Was that a little different? Some 8 months after Jesus had surrendered his life to the cross to save us from our sins. The man that had performed so many miracles the man that had risen people from the dead. Did people take notice that “Christmas” day?

And today. Where is Jesus? I went to the mall with my family to see Santa and while it felt a lot like the wise men must have felt on their journey at the end there was no worship. In fact maybe that is a lot what it was like. My kids sat on his lap and asked this old man to give them a bunch of stuff that they probably wouldn’t use in a year (if that long).

Quite the opposite of what Christmas is like with Christ in it, right? The wise men didn’t sit on the lap of Mary or Joseph and tell them all the things they wanted. NO. They brought HIM gifts. They bowed down and worshiped Him.

So the atheists are on to something. They are simply identifying the culture in our world today. The culture that is so hard to fight against for both Christ followers and non-Christians alike. The fight to find a meaning beyond all the hoopla. And they are right in saying what most people are feeling during this busy season.

So my challenge to you is to stop persecuting the atheist for stating the obvious cultural belief and start living like the wise men who came with gifts for a baby King and worshiped Him for the ultimate gift He would give us by giving His life to save us from our Sins…a gift we do not deserve.

So if the true “meaning of Christmas” according to americanatheist.org is ” family, friends, charity, food, snow.” Then count me out, I’m in it for a birthday party.

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Let's get better together by Carl Streck

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