WORD 7

Well maybe I should put some parameters on my well wishes.  To clarify, I am not speaking to every male that has managed to sire offspring.  Being a true father requires a lifetime of investment not just a few minutes of sexual gratification.  A real father does whatever it takes to keep his family safe and intact.  He sacrifices his desires and even his needs not just for his children but also his wife, their mother, the women HE chose to begin his family with.

It is a sad thing that so many men choose what is best for them instead of what is best for their children.  I suppose this is a result of our “what’s in it for me” society.  My fear is that this has created a situation that cannot be corrected.

I have tried to be a good father because I was raised by a good father but today I can’t help but wonder what kind of fathers a generation of fatherless boys will become.  I believe we are already seeing some of the manifestations of this today.

A prominent college football coach when asked how coaching had changed over the course of his career stated that that quality of the young men had changed. While athleticism had improved the young men entering his program were the “best men that their momma could raise”.  This is in no way meant to disrespect women and the great job many of them have been forced to do by being the only parent to their children.  However, you do not hire a basketball coach to coach and train your hockey team and even the best mothers cannot be fathers.

In this void left by the men who have abandoned their role, many now believe a father is not needed.  Our television and movies laugh at and disrespect the idea of good fathers.  Shows with a father many times have him portrayed as a buffoon.  This too is only perpetuating the problem of fatherless families now plaguing our nation.

Selfish men living only for themselves have now brought upon us an unexpected spiritual problem.  Children now grow up without any way to relate to their spiritual Father.  They read in the Bible of The Fathers love and are lost to what these scriptures really should means to them.  A few years back I was counseling with a young man from Teen Challenge.  When I began to share with him about the love our heavenly Father has for us his face went blank and then I watched as his whole body tensed up.  You see the only thing that came to mind when I mentioned father was a man that beat his mother and abandoned him.  He couldn’t relate to God as a father, he didn’t want to think of God as a father.  How can we reach the lost when they cannot understand how our heavenly Father loves them?

Can we right this wrong?

Men this Fathers day let us all take on a challenge!  If you are a steadfast father raising your family take a look beyond your children for someone to help.  Perhaps you can help a young man that needs a better understanding of what it is to be a true father or be a father to a boy that is fatherless and needs someone strong to look up to before it’s too late.

If you’re a man that has made a mistake regarding your children step up and do whatever you can to repair the relationship.  Real men can be humble, put others first, apologize, and forgive.  Do it Today!

Finally let me just say, THANKS DAD FOR BEING MY FATHER.

Several years back we were blessed to be able to have a new pool put in our backyard. This was a very exciting time, as our children were still young and we would be designing the pool based on our needs. In fact one of the first activities planned in the new pool would be swimming lessons for our youngest child.

We settled on a play pool model to begin our design. It would be 4 foot deep at the base of the steps, 6 foot deep at the drain located in the middle of the pool, and rise back to a depth of 5 feet at the opposite end from the steps. This seemed like a good plan but was it?

Even though this pool was designed with our children in mind, there was still more than enough water to be a danger for them.   From an adult standpoint, however, it seems over time we quit swimming.  The pool simply became a place to get in splash around a little then get out feeling refreshed.  While there is nothing wrong with feeling refreshed, to continue to call this a swimming pool seemed foolish.  The pool was unchallenging and an accomplished swimmer I found it less and less appealing.  I quit spending time in it with my kids and over the years as they matured as swimmers, they too found other things to do and places to go.  It even came to a point that I thought it was more of a burden than a blessing.

Having spent my life around both pools and the church I can’t help but see a correlation between the two.  Over the past decade we seem to have worked to create a shallower church in an effort to make it safer for the unbeliever to enter.    This did seem to be a worthwhile plan.  After all, isn’t it our duty to reach those that are without Christ? However this process hasn’t eliminated the danger of potential spiritual drownings.  Also, perhaps an unintended result is that mature Christians have become satisfied with just getting wet instead of swimming in the deepness of the Spirit.  Now we are no longer prepared to teach those who have entered this church how to swim.  Perhaps we don’t care enough to be bothered teaching them, or we no longer see the need for anyone to swim.  Like the pool that no longer requires you to swim, what foolishness is a church that doesn’t connect you to the full depths of our God?  This church too for many has begun to feel like a burden rather than a blessing.

I grew up in south Florida with access to the ocean as a child.  I learned to jump off the boat into the water without regard for its depth.  A few years back I was blessed to watch my children jump from a boat into the ocean trusting in the training and confidence we had instilled in them as parents.  Today we need to reconsider our shallow water fishing techniques and once again prepare ourselves as Christians for deep water.  We must be able to teach, train and lead others into the depths of His Spirit.  Without launching into the deep we cannot truly gather the catch He has prepared.

Luke 5:3-5 (King James Version)

3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

6 And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.

7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

Personally I find myself as part of the church desiring a catch that will require the help of others to pull it into the boat.  This will only be attainable if together we launch out into the DEEP!

Are you ready to SWIM again?