In November of 1936, I bet my Great Grandpa (Silas Wesley Maness) didn’t think his little leather journal would ever mean much to his great grandson (me). But 74 years later, his life…his faith…his ministry, is still having a ripple effect in his descendants. You see My Great Grandpa was a pastor, but WAY more importantly than that, he was a man of God. He passed on his faith to his son Elzie, who passed it on to his son Gary, who is STILL passing it on to his son, Jeff (me)! This past Sunday some of Silas’life was literally…physically, passed on to one of his descendants.
I had the rare privilege of being with my dad on Father’s Day. Both of us being pastors, we don’t get many Sunday’s away, and well, Father’s Day is always on a Sunday. But my family was finishing up our vacation/missions trip yesterday at High Plains Community Church in Gillette, WY, where my dad was delivering the morning message. It doesn’t really matter much what was sung, or what was said, for me it was more about what was done.
I LOVE listening to my dad preach, I think I always have (even when I didn’t admit it). He is highly influential in my preaching style today (so you can blame him). And while the sermon was fantastic (I even jotted some notes to use in a future message), the closing was the best. He surprisingly asked me to join him on the platform and then pulled out the little leather journal you see pictured here.
This journal belonged to my Great Grandpa, who, between November of 1936 and June of 1938, used it to record his statistical records of ministry. Numbers of sermons preached, numbers of souls saved, numbers of souls seeking the fullness of God’s Spirit through complete surrender, numbers of prayer calls, and donations received, etc. It is literally, a written record of his faith in action. I had no idea my dad even had this. He challenged all the dads in the room on their responsibility to “pass on” the faith to their children, and then he passed on my Great Grandpas journal to me. WOW! It was a physical demonstration of a spiritual discipline. I was blown away. It was EASILY, the best Father’s Day gift I could have received. BUT…
That leather journal wouldn’t have meant much, if my dad hadn’t of ALSO already passed on his “spiritual journal”…his faith to me. The gift of the journal I will ALWAYS display and hopefully pass it on to my son one day. But my dads “spiritual journal”…my Grandpas “spiritual journal”…my Great Grandpas “spiritual journal”, is ALWAYS on display. It’s on display in me. So what will my “journal” say in my son, grandson(s) or great grandson(s)?
Some day, some Father’s Day, my Great Grandson(s) will hopefully point back to me and say “Thank you!” like I do today. Thank you Grandpa Silas. Thank you Grandpa Maness. Thank you Dad, for living out your spiritual journal! Dad’s DO NOT take for granted your spiritual OPPORTUNITY to pass on a “spiritual journal” to your children.
Till the end,
Jeff
