Response to the 10/22/07 Front Page Article in the Austin American Statesmen about Derrich Pollock

FCS members and future members,

By now many of you have read or at least heard about the article regarding deceased FCS officer, Derrich Pollock, that was on the front page of the Austin American-Statesman, titled, “A generosity of spirit gives way to a legacy of deceit” by Claire Osborn (the on-line version is titled, “Great Hills Baptist Church member who died in plane crash accused of scamming people out of several million dollars“).

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:

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.

Following His trail,

Randy Rowley

President

The Fellowship of Christian Sportsmen

—– 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: <randywrowley@gmail.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