The Mantle (Fathers to Sons... Sons to Fathers)

By Donnie Clark

Being raised in a Pentecostal, Southern church, I grew up knowing every cliche phrase that we are taught sitting in our pea green colored pews. I learned scriptures, learned how to dress, talk, act. I learned the things to say when people did not receive what they came to be prayed for. Things like "Just keep believing, brother", or "it must not be a healing moment". Twisted phrases that excused God for not being everything we claimed Him to be in our practiced sermonette. I learned how to play the crowd, how to get a response by quoting verses that people needed to hear. Things such as "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn." (Isaiah 54:17). Scriptures like "we are overcomers by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of our testimonies!" (Revelation 12:11 - paraphrased). But do we really believe deep down in the core of our being the words of life spoken in the Holy Word of God? Do we really trust that God is our Healer, our Provider, our Peace, our Savior, our Lover, our Friend, our everything?

Do you really believe what you say you believe? We say that we believe that God is omni-present, that He is everywhere at all times. That He is the critical component of all creation. That "The heaven is His throne, and the earth is His footstool." (Isaiah 66:1, paraphrased). We sing songs with phrases that declare, "there's no one like You", or ""Our God is greater", "You never let go", and thousands more that are legitimately worthy songs to sing. But do we actually believe those songs?

Do we believe that God is everywhere? Because if we did, would we be so blatant about the things we participate in? If God is everywhere, then is He sitting next to you at that movie theater? how about in the car on a date with someone when you "just want to get to know each other"? or maybe after you put your kids to bed and sit with your laptop open looking at various websites that if your wife saw you, she would feel angry, insufficient, dirty, or even betrayed? You see, we all "believe" what the Bible says about God , but in reality it's not belief. it's hope. And it's not much hope, to say the least. we hope God is who He says He is, but we're not sure. we hope God is our defense, but we have some doubts. This is why although we are Christian, our behavior is more bent towards self-preservation and atheism.

“Truth is never offended by being questioned.”
Damon Thompson

That's a phrase that is all too well known in the church local, but falsely cloaked in attendance. You being at the same building for many years is not being firmly planted. It is not position that authenticates you, but resistance. It's been said that a cobweb is as strong as a cable when there is no resistance. It's the storm that determines strength. This is why wind after a rain is dangerous to certain tree types. Because when the ground is loosened by over-moisturization, a strong wind can easily topple a tree with a weak root system. In fact, the taller the tree, the more danger it is in if it's root are substandard. It's the same with us. We spend most of our time trying to be the biggest tree, but when the storms come, we quickly lose our footing, because we never had to be firm in anything.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Donnie Clark
• Release date: Jun 14, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310460227

Donnie Clark

Pastor, Teacher, Father, Son, grandpa, mentor, and lover of Christ.

Book preview

The Mantle

(revised Edition)

Fathers to sons…

Sons to Fathers

Donnie Clark Copyright 2014 dcministries

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means – mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise – without prior written permission of Donnie Clark.

Dedicated to my sons and daughters scattered around this beautiful planet who will never fail, never be alone, never lose their heart, because they will always have me cheering in their corner.

Chapter 1

Mantles

And Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. 1 Kings 19:19

I am a Christian…

And I am an atheist.

And so are most all of you reading this.

From the time I was nine years old, I was raised in a Pentecostal, Southern denominational church. Because of that, I never had questions, because they told me the answers to all the questions I didn’t have time to even ask about. My idea of church was what I was experiencing. And anything outside of that was, for lack of a better term, wrong. Because I grew up in that atmosphere, I also was able to get a keen understanding of every cliché phrase that we all absorbed while sitting every Sunday in those pea green colored pews. I learned scriptures; mostly out of context. I learned how to dress, talk & behave. I even learned the things to say to people whenever they did not receive the healing that they came to that altar to be prayed for. Things like "Just keep believing, brother, or We must not be in a healing moment. Twisted phrases that we fabricate in attempts to excuse God for Him not being everything that we claimed He could be to be in our practiced sermonette. I learned how to play the crowd; how to get a response by quoting verses that people needed to hear. Things like No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. (Isaiah 54:17). Scriptures like We are overcomers by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of our testimonies!" (Revelation 12:11 - paraphrased).

But do we really believe, deep down in the core of our being, that the words of life spoken in the Holy Word are real, and more importantly, are really from God? Do you really trust that God is your Healer; your Provider; your Peace; your Savior; your Lover; your Friend; your everything? Do you really believe what you say you believe?

Let me show you what I mean. Most of us would say that we believe that God is Omni-present, meaning that He is everywhere at all times. That He is the critical component of all creation. That "The heaven is His throne, and the earth is His footstool. (Isaiah 66:1, paraphrased). We sing songs with phrases that declare, There’s no one like You, or Our God is greater, You never let go", and probably thousands more that are legitimate songs of worth and expression of love. But do we actually believe those songs?

Do we believe that God IS everywhere? Because if we did, then why are we so blatant about the things we participate in? If God is everywhere, then is He sitting next to you at that movie theater? How about in the car on a date with someone when you just want to get to know each other? Or maybe after you put your kids to bed and sit with your laptop open looking at various websites that if your wife saw you, she would feel angry, insufficient, dirty, or even betrayed? You see, we all believe what the Bible says about God, but in reality it's not belief. It’s really just a hope. A shallow, elementary hope, to say the least. We hope God is who He says He is, but we're not sure. We hope God is our defense, but we really have some doubts. We hope the economy changes and the interest rates go down. We hope the right president is elected, and we hope Heaven is real. We have a hope that we are saved but we don’t know. Because at times we feel we are destined for hell. We hope we are good fathers, mothers, husbands and wives. Very little do we actually know. This is why although we carry the self attached label of Christian; our behavior is more bent towards self-preservation and atheism.

"Truth is never offended by being questioned." Damon Thompson

THE PROOF OF PASSION IS THE PURSUIT

My grandfather was a Pentecostal pastor in a redneck town outside of Mobile, Alabama. Because he was the pastor, it afforded me the opportunity to grow up behind the scenes of how the church works. And because of that luxury there are events that I have experienced and witnessed that I could never have fabricated even with the greatest of imagination. However, and most unfortunately, they are true.

I've met Jezebel. I sat on the pew with her. I've seen enough politics in the church to melt my brain into a mushy soup that you could scoop out with a plastic spoon. I've watched and listened as people destroy my grandfather with their piercing, venomous words behind the closed doors of the office, all the while praising and agreeing with him come Sunday morning. I've been in ministry myself for over 25 years, and it’s been very amazing and rewarding. And at the same time, very heartbreaking and defeating. I have worked for and served under some amazing men and women of God who taught me many amazing things! But I've also sat in staff meetings and been told to lie to the people for "their own protection. I've been told that I do too many things with the church people, and that you have to keep a good distance" of separation from them or you will lose their respect. I've worked at churches for pastors who I've never, not one time, caught praying, studying the Bible or giving us a devotional challenge as a staff. And I’ve also worked for men who prayed every day with the staff for an hour and taught us as a good father should.

I said all that to briefly tell you two things; first of all, understand that there is no perfect church, no perfect pastor, and no perfect people attending. It is the walk that teaches us what is real and what is not. Secondly, I tell you this because it qualifies me by my experiences to make this next statement.

Regardless of what we say with our mouths, our behavior is a consequence of our belief system. And there is no reasoning or theological debate that can change that. Everyone you know, yourself included, behave according