WHAT IS WAS LIKE TO HAVE ADRIAN ROGERS AS A FATHER

WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE ADRIAN ROGERS' DAUGHTER

One of the most frequent questions I get is from people wanting to know what it was like growing up with Adrian Rogers as a father. One thing is for sure, and that is that I wish I could do it again. I was so concerned with being "me" that I didn't fully realize the example of Christ that was being lived out right under my nose through the life of my own father. As a teenager and young adult I just wanted to go my own way, be my own boss, and accomplish my own things. It hasn't been until the fourth quarter of my life that I have realized what a gift I was given as a child.

In the past several years I have listened to more of my father's sermons, read more of his books, and immersed myself in more of what people lovingly call "Adrianisms" than in all my other years combined. Oh, I heard many sermons growing up, but I am listening with different ears now. Even Jesus said to his disciples, "He who has ears, let him hear." There are two different types of hearing.

I can tell you that my father was not perfect. No one is. I am sure that he had all the same attitudes at one time or another that are common to man. But he didn't verbalize them. It may just be my poor memory, but I can't remember a single time when he verbalized fear or worry. Who can say that??? Seriously. Who can say that?

My father didn't gossip about people. He didn't worry about circumstances. The focus of his life was on the Lord Jesus Christ. He lifted Him high in everything he said and did. He praised Him. He exalted Him. He magnified Him. He did it in the pulpit and in our home. It was constant and consistent.

Oh, how I wish I could go back and glean everything there was there for me to glean. But by God's grace, all his words are still out there. I can still listen to his sermons and read his books. How many children can go to a website or you tube at any time and listen to their parents who have long been in heaven? I am blessed. God is giving me a second chance to be this great man's daughter again in my "old" age. And even though I wasn't the best example to my children when they were growing up, there is nothing keeping me from being the best example to my grandchildren.

What was one of my father's secrets? I found one of many today. This morning I was reading one of his sermons from Psalm 34. I'm sure that this is why he wasn't consumed with the worry and fear that I see in other people. I hope this paragraph I pulled from this sermon blesses you the way it blessed me:

"No one can truly praise the Lord and be preoccupied with self. You cannot put your eyes upon the infinite, and holy, and wonderful God, and make your boast in Him, and keep your eyes upon your bankrupt self at the same time. But, when you put your eyes upon Him, when you praise Him, your fear will melt away. You cannot sulk and praise at the same time. You cannot be irritated and praise at the same time. You cannot be filled with fear and praise at the same time." Adrian Rogers