Fathers and sons...




A week or so ago I spoke about the power of health and spiritual fatherhood in our church gatherings.  In that talk I tried to encourage fathers of all kinds to see how crucial their role in raising up the next generation of faith is and how to go about doing that well.


One of the big challenges was to be present at home and to protect what comes into the home environment.  With that, I mentioned modeling faith in Jesus and having other healthy men and women surround kids - people who would say the same things you would say if you were no longer in the picture.

Finally, I encouraged dads to be the first ones to read the Bible stories to their little ones.  I used to read a Bible story, tell it in my own words (later let the kids!), and then ask what we learned about God, people, and ourselves and what we might do differently because of what we discovered.  If you need help, here's a starter of 25 that takes you from Creation to Christ here.

The other day I noticed a new album of songs released about fathers and their kids and the songs really hit home in this whole idea of fatherhood.  The artist is Luke Combs and the album, "Fathers and Sons" is worth a listen - especially the first few songs Front Door Famous and In Case I Ain't Around. 

Fathers, don’t make your children angry. Bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lor
-Ephesians 6:4

And for fathers: don’t provoke your children to anger, otherwise they might lose heart.
-Colossians 3:21

By the grace of God and the power of our Father, let us embrace the roles God has given us for those who will survive us!

Blessings from a pastor and father,
Ben

PS A good prayer from preacher and teacher Peter Greig: 
"I start by making the words of Pete Greig’s Father’s Day Prayer my own…We pray today for dads:  New dads, granddads, stepdads, adoptive dads & solo dads.  Baldy ones, beardy ones, skinny ones & cuddly ones.  Dads who tell bad jokes & dads who dance to YMCA.  Dads who know how to fix things, & dads who just pretend…Father to the fatherless, we pray for those for whom this day is sadder than it is happy:  Those who feel they have failed  Those who are grieving children they never had  Those missing their dads, or their children, even more than usual…Father God, in a world where some dads are distant, absent, or even abusive, we lean into Your ever-present love. You are faithful, especially to those of us orphaned, abandoned & hurt. ‘Even if my father abandons me, the Lord will hold me close’ (Ps. 27:10)…. Father of Comfort, heal our wounds. Restore the dignity, integrity, and centrality of fatherhood in our nation…And finally, Lord, for all those poor souls everywhere who forgot that today is Father’s Day, we ask you to bless them, in your abundant grace and manifold mercy, with the discovery of chocolate and a half-decent card in surprisingly well-stocked convenience stores.  Amen."

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