Each life is a One time performance. It might last 76 years like Dad’s, or more, or less. Each life is a one time event. Never to be repeated exactly. What we enjoy on earth is not just for us but for those around us whom we meet. Will we learn the One who made us all loved us before we knew Him? Like a child not yet born is loved, the Father loves us while we are yet sinners. Then we learn He sent His one and only son to pay for our sins. Then we accept that and we are now born again into the arms of the Father who loved us before we said “yes” to him. This meeting place is only the beginning. Eternal life begins the moment we say yes to Jesus. Then our journey continues on, who knows for how many years, only God knows. But if we are still here then we haven’t accomplished all he set out for us to do. I recall the message he gave on my moms birthday when he said after 70 years old he finally got the revelation how to love her without the kind of expectations and poor self esteem that he carried within himself his whole life. Why share that on a recorded message? He said it so we could learn from his learning process. And be better than him. A traditional leader is threatened by others who may supersede him. But a father wants his children to be better than he was. The church has long had leaders but few fathers. They have had bishops, elders, deacons, senior pastors, associate pastors, but it worked like a company. The Father’s heart is for a family. He used to tell us this all the time and it has always resonated with me. This is what he learned the last ten years of his life from Homecoming and his own spiritual fathers, Papa Gideon and David Demian. There is something about the kingdom of God which is different than what is man made. Yes can a church function from a business standpoint? Sure it can but that’s not the kind he envisioned. That’s why his favorite verse was ask of me and I will give you the nations as your inheritance. “Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭2:8‬ ‭NIV‬‬ https://psalm.bible/psalm-2-8 The possession is not in earthly wealth, stocks , cars, vacation houses. When we die we take nothing from here with us. Only that which is eternal. He has touched the nations with his humility, sharing his faults, teachings so we can grow better than he was . So we can one day become more mature than he was, this inheritance he will receive from the Heavenly Father is from peoples and tribes of First Nations here and people of Sudan and Egypt, Korea, Hong Kong, Israel, Canada, etc. The Bible says “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭37:4‬ ‭NIV‬‬ https://psalm.bible/psalm-37-4 He definitely took delight in the Lord. He was never away from his Bible and frequently told us how his intimate times praying with God would result in tears. The desires of your heart end up changing when you delight in the Lord. Many people misinterpret this concept. They think if I do this then God will give me that. But it’s not about material possessions. Here is the way that verse goes: if you delight in the Lord then your desires change. He gives you different desires. Desires for temporary treasures fade. Replaced by the Desire for seeing the nations impacted by the love of God. So Dad, you got what you desired. That’s why we celebrate a job well done.