To Fly a Coop
In early September, my Dad, Rafael, got some life-changing news. He had terminal cancer and his life-expectancy was short. As our family grappled to come to terms with what this meant for all of us, we came to realize the hard conversation of death was not something we could put off. I had just wrapped up a Masters in Justice and Advocacy at Fuller Seminary and my last class was literally on death and dying. I questioned why it couldn't have been health and healing! We prayed for healing of course, but as it became clear this was not God's plan for now, I pondered the best thing I could do to help my family and myself process this. I concluded the best thing I could do is give my dad a microphone and let him preach just the way he has always loved to preach about the love of Jesus.
I flew from LA to visit my family in New Mexico, about a month after his diagnosis. Armed with mics and a recorder, I told my dad about the idea and he was all for it. So, most every day I was there, before my youngest and husband came, we sat in their back-backyard and had these conversations near the chicken coop. If you’ve happened upon this podcast you probably know my dad and so I welcome you to hear more from his heart. If you just happened upon this podcast for no reason, know this… my dad had you in mind. His prayer is that this would help someone unexpected and that God would use it to speak to someone who needed a word of encouragement and a reminder of the unsurpassable love of Jesus
Intro Music found at Pixabay.com from sergepavkinmusic "happy-warm-days"
To Fly a Coop
The Dark Side of Ministry
Recorded September 2023
God has been faithful throughout a lifetime of ministry, but I ask my dad about some of his struggles, and lessons learned. I personally struggle holding in tension that God is enough but that God also expects me to be faithful. This was an episode that was originally aimed at those in ministry, but honestly its for any Jesus-follower just trying to figure out how to be faithful. Once again, dad didn’t disappoint in his advice and as always it was peppered with Scripture (mixes of King James, which really boggles my mind because I’ve only ever been an NIV girl… anyway). This one is a bit longer as we wrestle through some hard things and I push him a little on this thoughts. I found it challenging and helpful. I hope you do too.
Scripture Referenced: Philippians 1:6, Philippians 4:4-7, 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, 1 Corinthians 9:22-23, Matthew 10:16, 1 Corinthians 3:6, Numbers 22:28, Ephesians 6:11-13, Luke 16:19-31, 1 Corinthians 2:9
References: Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership by Gary McIntosh and Samuel Rime Barna Stats: https://www.barna.com/research/year-in-review-2021/
Want to learn a little more? Check out the site https://www.toflyacoop.com/
