In the
article Ms. Osborn quotes me several times. I chose to answer her in an
effort to present a positive side of Derrich as well as an opportunity to
share the good news of Jesus Christ. The quotations were accurate.
However, she did not include everything that I stated. I have forwarded my
entire reply to you (below).
I want
to stress four things:
Sin —
Derrich had something in common with all of the other 191 members of the
Club - he chose to sin, usually on a daily basis. None of us are exempt
from sin. It’s in our nature. Perhaps we haven't committed sins to the
magnitude of what Derrich is alleged to have done but in God's eyes we're
all guilty. James 2:10 NIV states, "For whoever keeps the whole law and
yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." Also, as
I stated below, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"
Romans 3:23 NIV. To answer the charge of “How could you let such a man be
a member of your Club? my reply is there was only one perfect man – Jesus
Christ – and Derrich, I, and the rest of us are not Him. We will continue
to allow sinners to join our Club. Each applicant must agree to uphold
the FCS Statement of Faith
and Bylaws regarding Conduct
and to conduct himself/herself as a Christian sportsman on FCS outings.
Our membership application procedure does not need to change. There is no
need to conduct background checks on applications as they will simply
reveal what we already know – that we are all sinners. This does not mean
that we should condone Derrich’s or anyone else’s sins. We recognize that
sin has terrible consequences (listed in #4 below). The reputation of the
Club is a top priority of mine and the other officers. If we become aware
that one of our members sin is tarnishing our reputation and breaking our
Bylaws and/or Statement of Faith rest assured that we will address it. We
also recognize that, as our Statement of Faith states (V.) “Jesus Christ
is God's only provision for man's sin. We receive salvation by His grace
when we place our trust in Him as Savior and Lord.” Praise God that we
all received His mercy and redeeming grace once we accepted Jesus Christ
as our Savior.
Support
— We need
to be supportive of Julie and her children – Ryan, Will, Kristen, and
Rachel. I can assure you that the pain that the investors are
experiencing pales in comparison to the pain the Julie and her children
are experiencing. At the very least we should be praying for them and
encouraging them at every opportunity. We should also be praying for the
investors, Derrich’s friends, the Great Hills Baptist Church leadership,
and that God’s will be done.
Forgiveness —
If you believe that Derrich has wronged you then you need to forgive him.
As I have stated repeatedly Derrich was my best friend. Sure I've got
other close friends but my relationship with them paled in comparison to
my relationship with Derrich (I'm not sure why we even became so close, as
our personalities were so different, but we did). When I learned that
Derrich possibly betrayed us it was like being hit in the gut with a
sledgehammer. It was a far greater hurt than learning of his death.
Financially our loss paled in comparison to what many others lost, but it
was all that we had. What hurt most was knowing that someone that I was
so close to, someone who I thought that I knew as well as a man can know
another, had allegedly betrayed and defrauded so many people. If what the
Texas State Securities Commission said was true, then he destroyed
retirements, college funds, and even funds that were set aside to do
missionary work. It was the ultimate of betrayals. Yet I forgave him. I
didn't do it immediately. I didn't cop the attitude that I was greedy and
deserved what I got. I had to first grieve about what happened and come
to grips with it. After a couple of months I was able to come to the
point where I could say, "You hurt me a lot, I didn't deserve what
happened, it mattered tremendously, but I release you." The problem with
not forgiving is we think that we're getting back at the one who wounded
us, but in reality we are destroying ourselves physically, emotionally,
and spiritually. I'm sure you've heard this all before but the physical
consequences include, but are not limited to, ulcers, high blood pressure,
stroke, and heart attack. Bitterness can simply kill you. Emotional
consequences include, but are not limited to, becoming bitter, hatred,
losing balance, etc. Spiritual consequences include, but are not limited
to, losing our joy, peace, and even coming to a point where we are no
longer able to grow in Christ or to be used by Him. To not forgive is to
destroy ourselves. We are also commanded to forgive. Jesus said, “For if
you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will
not forgive your sins (Matthew
6:14-15 NIV). He also said, “And
when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him,
so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. ["But if you do
not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your
transgressions."] (Mark 11:25-26 NIV <verse 25 and NASV <verse 26).
In forgiving we set the captive
free and, to our surprise, learn that the captive was us.
Celebration —
We should choose to continue to celebrate the many wonderful hunting,
shooting, and fishing memories that we have of Derrich. As many of you
know we had “In Memory of Derrich Pollock”
khaki caps and
camo caps created for his memorial
service. We do not need to take these caps out of circulation. They were
not created to celebrate Derrich as a businessman or any other aspect of
his life. I will continue to proudly wear mine and encourage you to do
the same. I also have no plans to remove the “In
Memory of Derrich Pollock” webpage from our website (I would
resign if I were forced by a vote to remove the caps or the webpage).
Many of you have
contacted me with messages of encouragement. I appreciate your support. I
also covet your prayers as I painted a rarely large bull’s eye on my rather
large torso, with my now public statements, and I lost the ability to duck a
long time ago.
-----
Original Message -----
From: "Randy and Chris Rowley" <rcclan@sbcglobal.net>
To: "Claire Osborn" <cosborn@statesman.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2007 9:13 PM
Subject: Re: question about Derrick Pollock from reporter at Austin American
Statesman
Ms. Osborn,
Actually Derrich was a member of The Fellowship of Christian Sportsmen
(www.fcs-texas.com)
not The Fellowship
of Christian Athletes. We are a hunting and fishing club and they are a
club for athletes who participate in competitive sports. He also served as
an officer for seven years. At the time of his death he was our Vice
President of Ministries. Here is a link for my and several members of our
hunting club's memories of Derrich:In Memory of
Derrich Pollock.
Derrich was a futures trader for the last five years of his life. As I
stated on 2/24/07 at Derrich's Memorial Service and on the above web
page Derrich was my best friend. I loved him as I have loved no other
brother before. I invested with him because he had been my best friend for
17 years and I trusted him like I have trusted no man before. My wife is
the only person that I trust more. Many of Derrich's investors were
close friends of his. His optimism and confidence in his system were
contagious.
Derrich was exactly like the rest of us - a sinner who rebelled from a Holy
God and who fell far short of His glory ("For all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23 New International Version -
NIV). Because of this sin, Derrich and the rest of us were promised to be
punished by eternal separation from God ("For the wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" Romans 6:23 NIV).
Derrich came to realize that Jesus Christ was God's only way to experience
God's love and forgiveness ("But God demonstrates His own love for us in
this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" Romans 5:8 NIV).
Many years ago Derrich acknowledged that he was a sinner, asked God for
forgiveness, and asked Jesus Christ to come into his life to be his Savior
and Lord (For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe
in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" Romans
10:9 NIV). No, Derrich didn't stop sinning after he became a Christian.
The difference between him and other sinners was he was simply a sinner
saved by God's grace.
Following His trail,
Randy Rowley
President
The Fellowship of Christian Sportsmen www.fcs-texas.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Claire Osborn"
<cosborn@statesman.com> To:
<randy@fcs-texas.com> Sent: Wednesday,
October 10, 2007 12:41 PM
Subject: question about Derrick Pollock from reporter at Austin American
Statesman
Hi. I''m a reporter at the Austin American Statesman writing a
story about the claims that investors have made against Mr. Pollock's
estate. I know Mr. Pollock was a member of the Fellowship of Christian
Athletes and wondered if you could tell me anything about what it was
like to have him as a member of the club. If you were one of the
investors I am also trying to find out what made Pollock convincing
enough to make people want to invest with him.
Thanks.
Claire Osborn
Metro reporter
Austin American-Statesman
445-3871
