XCVIX

BE KIND TO ONE ANOTHER, TENDERHEARTED, FORGIVING ONE ANOTHER, EVEN AS GOD IN CHRIST FORGAVE YOU

EPHESIANS 4:32

DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM

(INTERVIEW WITH THE BRADLEY’S Part 2 of 2)

“When I finished telling Amber, our youngest, about my childhood,” Bill told me. “I expected her to be either horrified or sympathetic, or both. I suppose she was sympathetic, but she surprised me by calmly asking if Grandpa and Grandma were still alive.

“I coldly told her she didn’t have any grandparents. She just eyed me sadly, and I knew it was over my bitterness, not the statement of no grandparents. I told her that my mother had died in prison a couple of years ago, but that as far as I knew, my father was still locked up in San Quentin. She told me I should go to him and forgive him. I’m ashamed to say, I laughed at her and she felt scorned.”

Bill shook his head with his eyes cast down.

“It wasn’t as bad as Bill makes it sound,” Jenny said. “He was just hurting from Amber opening up his wounds. But even though she didn’t know it, she was opening them to finally heal them.”

“I went back and forth with that sweet little pistol,” Bill said. “I never had such a swirl of emotions in my life. Anger, sadness, and even joy that my little girl was so wise and tough.”

I loved how the Bradley’s referred to all their children as theirs. Amber wasn’t Bill’s biological daughter, but you couldn’t tell that by the way he talked of her.

“At one point, in frustration, I blurted that I didn’t believe in God. Little Amber took my hand, gave it an affectionate squeeze, and she said, ‘That’s okay, Daddy, He believes in you.’ I lost it. For the first time ever I cried in front of one of my children. Even when my first wife died, I held it together in front of my kids. Oh, I cried a river in private, but I somehow managed to keep composed in front of people.

“A couple of days later Kayla, my oldest daughter, comes home with a lovely young girl named Sevenia,” Bill told me and then grinned. “I believe you know her?”

“Yes, quite well,” I replied. “And quite fondly.”

“In between my encounter with Amber and then the encounter I ended up having with Kayla and Sevenia, I looked at some old cards and letters my dad had sent me. I had never opened them, but for some reason I had saved them.

“He didn’t say a whole lot in them. In one dated about a few months previous, he said he was out of prison. He claimed he was reformed. He even stated that he would love to see me. I don’t know if you can comprehend the pressure I felt when, you guessed it, Sevenia and Kayla started discussing forgiveness in front of me.

“At first I thought they had heard about my discussion with Amber, and I called them out on it. But I could tell by their baffled expressions that they had no idea what I was talking about. Nonetheless, I went on a rant about abuse and irresponsible parents, and how ridiculous the prospect of forgive and forget. I also said, ‘Don’t be telling me forgiveness is for the forgiver and not the forgiven.’ That’s when a sweet little kitten put this old dog in his place.

“We discussed a lot that day, and I learned a lot from a girl not even half my age. What stuck out the most were two things, Sevenia’s explanation of forgiveness and her explanation of free will. All the while, little Amber’s voice telling me about God kept echoing in my head. ‘He believes in you, He believes in you.’

“Sevenia told me, forgiveness is not equivalent to trust or affection or fondness. She said you can forgive someone and never be in their presence again. You are under no obligation to continue a relationship with them. You can even forgive someone and call the police on them.

“Secondly, I’ll never forget what she said about free will. She explained that God is love. Real love necessitates freedom, and freedom involves risk. Otherwise we would all be a bunch of automatons.

“A week later, we went to Cotton Creek Cove with Sevenia. A week after that, we went again, and Little Captain was a guest speaker. We met him and started attending Spring Valley. Nothing against Captain Kirk and the rest of you folks, it’s simply much closer to our home.”

“None taken,” I replied. “By the way, how did your daughter get acquainted with Sevenia? I don’t think Sevenia was even driving two years ago.”

“Kayla was driving, she’s almost nineteen,” Jenny said. “She’s actually a class ahead of Sevenia.”

“I wasn’t too thrilled with her driving across Cedar Rapids to hang with her new friend,” Bill chuckled. “But after I met Sevenia, I calmed at least a little bit anyway.”

“And how did they meet?” I asked.

“I think it was at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes event,” Jenny said.

I felt myself frown. I never knew of Sevenia participating in any athletic endeavors. I would have to ask her about that.

“Did you ever do anything about your father?” I asked.

“I did,” Bill replied. “Long story short, I went to California to see him. I forgave him, and he seemed aghast and puzzled at what he would possibly need to be forgiven for. This puzzled me because he had asked for forgiveness in a couple of his letters when he was still in prison. I also saw evidence he was using again.

“Then he started making demands for money and meeting my kids. I wasn’t about to finance a drug habit, and I also wasn’t going to subject my kids to this self-absorbed, manipulative human being. I wanted him out of my life, and I remembered what Sevenia taught me about forgiveness.

“I had put aside my stubbornness. I traveled two thousand miles to make peace, and I was open to letting him back into my life even. But then I found out he hadn’t changed at all. He was as ensconced in his old lifestyle as ever. I told him to have a nice life and that I would keep him in my prayers. He replied with mockery and profanity.

“But you know what? The nagging resentment and bitterness that had tormented the back of my mind for years was gone. I felt free to love my dad, even as I disliked him and wanted him out of my life.

“One of the things I marvel at the most about the life of Christ is Him asking His Father to forgive His murderers. I’ve had a small taste of how and why he did that.”

“Bill has always been a wonderful husband and father,” Jenny said, and then giggled. “But when Bill came back from California, he was more Sweet William than ever!”

When we finished recording the podcast, Seven had us smiling and laughing when he picked up a guitar and began to sing this bluesy ditty.

Well way down yonder in Newerville, lived a cat named Big Bad Bill

I wants ta tell ya, oh the cat was rough and tough, could really strut his stuff.

Had the whole town scared to death when he walked by they all held their breath.

He’s a fightin man sure enough

And then Bill got himself a wife, now he leads a different life

Big Bad Bill is Sweet William now, married life done changed him somehow

Well he’s the man the town used to fear, now they all call him Sweet Papa Willy Dear

Stronger than Samson I declare, till a blonde haired woman bobbed his head

Big Bad Bill don’t fight anymore, no, no, no

He’s doin the dishes and moppin up that floor, yes he is

Well he used go out drinkin and lookin for a fight

now he’s gotta see that sweet woman every night

Big Bad Bill is Sweet William now!

All together now. Big Bad Bill is Sweet William now.

One more time. Big Bad Bill is Sweet William now.

We all clapped and hooted. Then Seven sneered like Elvis and said, “Thank you, thank you very much.”

Then I joked, “Okay, Seven, now leave the building.”

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(HISTORY OF THE CHURCH: PERSECUTION in the FIRST CENTURIES)

These persecutions, beginning under Nero about the time of the martyrdom of Paul, continued for greater or less fury for many centuries.

Catacombs afforded shelter for thousands of genuine Christians. Beneath the hills outside the city of Rome, long galleries had been tunneled through earth and rock.

With words of faith, patience, and hope they encouraged one another to endure privation and distress. The loss of every earthly blessing could not force them to renounce their belief in Christ.

“Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” Revelation 2:10

“You may kill us , torture us, condemn us…..” It was but a stronger invitation to bring others to their persuasion. “The oftener we are mown down by you, the more in number we grow. The blood of Christians is seed.” (Tertullian, Apology, paragraph 50)

Satan therefore laid his plans to war more successfully against the government of God by planting his banner in the Christian church.

Most of the Christians at last consented to lower their standard, and a union was formed between Christianity and paganism.

As the followers of Christ united with idolaters, the Christian religion became corrupted, and the church lost its purity and power.

There were some, however, who were not misled by these delusions. They still maintained their fidelity to the Author of truth and worshipped God alone.

After a long and severe conflict, a faithful minority decided to dissolve all union with the apostate church if she still refused to free herself from falsehood and idolatry.

There was and is an alarming indifference in regard to the doctrines which should be the pillars of the Christian faith.

The early Christians were indeed a peculiar people. Their blameless deportment and unswerving faith were a continual reproof that disturbed the sinner’s peace.

It was for the same reason that the Jews rejected and crucified the Savior—because the purity and holiness of His character was a constant rebuke to their selfishness and corruption.

The gospel is a message of peace. Christianity is a system which, received and obeyed, would spread peace, harmony, and happiness throughout the earth.

But the world at large are under the control of Satan, Christ’s bitterest foe.

The mysterious providence which permits the righteous to suffer persecution at the hand of the wicked has been a cause of great perplexity to many who are weak in faith.

“Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” John 15:20

Jesus suffered for us more than any of His followers can be made to suffer through the cruelty of wicked men. Those who are called to endure torture and martyrdom are but following in the steps of God’s dear Son.