Pressing
On
With Allen Bach and Clay
O’Brien Cooper
As told to JD Malone
“I
press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me
heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14
How Strong is your Wheel?
Allen: How would you define a Godly Man? For me I think it is somebody who lines up
every area in their life with God’s word.
As a Godly man you should look to what the word says about being a
husband, father, or friend. As a man we
have to be spiritual leaders of our family.
One of the most jerked around scriptures on this subject is
Clay: That is so true Allen. God has a design and a plan for every person
as an individual. But each of us is
similar in that we have different aspects or relationships to our lives as
individuals. A lot of us are married and
have family and kids. These are
relationships. We also have other
relationships such as parents, relatives, circles of friends, business
relationships and acquaintances. When we
fulfill our purpose in the will of God and we walk in the spirit, we fulfill
God’s purpose. Then it is God at work
through us in each and every aspect and in each and every relationship in our
life. God moves through us to touch people’s lives. It is really amazing to watch God work in our
relationships.
Allen: I look at my relationships like a wagon
wheel, with God and my relationship with God being the HUB of the wheel. When we put Him at the center of that wheel
it strengthens every spoke in that wheel!
The spokes are our relationships. One spoke will be your relationship
with your wife and another your children, friendship,
business relationships, it applies to any relationship we have. When this happens
the wheel roles smoothly and can take the bumps in the road. As Godly men and women it is important for
our relationships to have God at the center of our wheel.
Clay: You see and hear now days about dysfunctional
families and kids being raised up in dysfunctional type situations. This is
simply another way of saying an ungodly manor.
The benefits of walking with God and walking with God in his word are
amazing. Like James said being a doer of
the word of God. James
Allen: I can remember a
time when I was carefree. I just got out
of high school I had no wife, no boss; I only had a few responsibilities. As the chapters of my life started unfolding
I had a wife and then children. Looking
back I see how important it is to get and give good Godly training. This kind
of training comes from the bible and the examples we set for our children. Just this morning I was talking with my
son. He had been hearing a lot of things
from different people. I told him
ultimately the only people you have to please are your heavenly father and your
mother and I. You know that we are
looking out for your best interest and giving you the best advice we possibly
can because we are hooked into the lord and receiving wisdom from Him. That is the most important relationship in
your life. I told him that you shouldn’t
worry so much about what other people think about you or what they think you
should be doing. That is why God gives
us mothers and fathers. As parents or as
men of God we have to be plugged into God so we can train our kids to be Godly.
Clay: The husband and wife relationship is the core
relationship to the family. When both
people can walk in love and walk in a complete oneness then there is nothing
that gets in the middle of the core relationship to cause the dysfunction that
can spread out to all the other relationships in the family. The husband is the leader so he has to
demonstrate walking in the spirit and by the word of God and in Love. Because he is the head of the family, he has
to be the one to demonstrate walking in a Godly manor in that
relationship. When you see this take
place you truly see the beginning of a strong Godly family. It just branches out to every relationship
within that family.
Allen: As
the man we are to be accountable to Jesus, He is over us. We are the spiritual leader of our
family. So if it comes down to someone
having to make the last call or the person Jesus holds responsible for the family’s
spiritual decisions being made, it is the father, then the mother. This doesn’t mean that the woman has no
voice. If a husband and wife’s
relationship is centered around God then the husband
will listen to what his wife is telling him.
It is from there that the husband has to make the decision and the wife
should support the decision. The wife,
as well as the husband, has the responsibility of teaching and training the
kids in Christian principles. The kids
are to respect the mother and be underneath her for her guidance. When we set our families up to work like
this, which is the way God wants us to run our families, we see that everything
goes better this way.
Clay: As
head of our household we have to lead by example even through tough times. In my family as situations arise; which
happens on a daily basis, I have to demonstrate openly that I use the word of
God and that we adhere to the word of God in those situations. I stand on what the word says and I show that
we operate by God’s word. When we do
this it becomes who we are and what we do that is translated to the kids or
anyone we have a relationship with. A
lot of times it is not just what we say to do, but what we do that makes the
impact. A child will comprehend what you
say but the comprehension is multiplied by many times over when they see you
set the example.
Allen: That is exactly right Clay! For me it seems that all at once 20 years
rolled by and now hear I am a father and I have so many different roles in my
life. I think back and see how great it
would have been if as a young person I would have started learning the word and
being trained as a husband. So that
before I became a husband and a father I would have had an idea on how to deal
with family issues and how to be a husband and a good friend. If we train our children this way early on
they will be prepared for their relationships.
Clay: None of us are perfect as parents, friends,
or any other relationship role we play, but it is our commitment when we do
fall into error or we realize that we are falling short of the mark that we
repent and that we do what the word says 1
John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us
our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” We get up brush ourselves off and we go
on. We never miss a step. God is right there to keep pouring out the
blessings as we keep applying ourselves and dedicating ourselves to Him.
Allen: Great point Clay. We have to keep our relationship with God
fresh! That means being a committed
Christian and repenting and seeking God out!
Going back to the wagon wheel. Those spokes can only be as strong as our
relationship to God. The relationships
of our lives can only be as good as the relationship we have with God. It is so important that we keep that
relationship fresh. Like Clay said when we
fall short, ask God for forgiveness then get up and go on. When we renew our minds with God we have
better relationship with God and others.
Then we can set those examples and train our children to be Godly!