Dennis Prager examines the biblical command to honor father and mother. There are far-reaching implications for this command. Great good can be obtained through observing it and great devastation comes to families, communities, and countries that fail to observe it. (more…)
We see in passages like Deuteronomy 10:17-18 and Psalm 68:4-6 that God associates his care for the fatherless as an integral part of his deity and associates his actions of justice with his special love for those who have no father to provide for them. We see in passages like Psalm 82:2-4 and Ezekiel 22:6-7 that God points to Israel’s neglect of the fatherless as one of the main reasons for His judgment upon them. Even the companions of Job, as they are seeking for an answer for the calamity that he is facing, point to his mistreatment of the fatherless as a possible explanation for his situation. (Job 22:7-10).
At the heart of the Brown case was the responsibility of parents to train their children rightly. “If the parents don’t turn back to God, love Him with all their heart, soul and might, get married, and by good example guide their children in the right way to go, it’s never going to get better, because that is the order of God,” Peterson continued. “According to the Scriptures, God advised us to train our children up in the right way to go, and when you do, you don’t have to deal with this stuff when they go out into the world.”
John Sowers, of the Mentoring Project, shares his personal story of fatherlessness and how that birthed a vision to turn the hearts of fathers back to the children and the hearts of children back to their fathers in the spirit of Malachi 4.
Father in our world is absent, first because he is gone all day at work, out of the sight of his children, and second because society marginalizes and mocks his role in the family. Now, it’s not that we can go back to a pre-industrial lifestyle. The life of the parents, father included, took place before the eyes of the children. Further, what he contributed was physically and emotionally was seen as necessary. No important aspect of the adult life would have taken place outside of the children’s sight.
I’ve come to believe that instead of being a bunch of churches separated by music style or building, God sees one bride and one city church.
In my experience, we are a divided, fighting, graceless, defensive mess. If your facebook news feed is anything like mine you cannot ignore the Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church controversy that has everyone choosing sides. I do not believe that we should forsake truth or stop defending the oppressed for the sake of unity, but it is my belief that there is a deep problem that exists in our city that is larger than a single worship center or preacher. And unless we seek radical change, the disunity will continue for the Church of Seattle.
Every man wants to know that their life will matter. Every man wants to leave a legacy when they are gone. This is why it matters how involved you are in your kids lives and what you teach them. When your daughter marries a man, your legacy will be determined by him.
Now, think about how men are involved in who their daughter marries.
They often know very little about the man who marries his daughter. They only know that their daughter likes him, he claims to be a Christian and he came to ask permission for her hand. What a guy.
Sadly, this is typical and seen as a good thing and not even close to be able to know if he is worthy of your daughter.
Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” – John 5:19
God is a father. God is THE Father. God has a Son, Jesus. God has many sons (Rom 8:15). I am one of those sons. Like THE Son, I should be doing what I see THE Father doing. I am also a father. As a father, I should be doing what I see THE Father doing.
Happy father’s day. Even though this may be a Hallmark holiday, it’s still a fine occasion to give special attention to fatherhood. In this 9 minute video, Mark Driscoll explains how fatherhood offers a unique lens through which to view our relationship with The Father. This perspective change will cause us to call out to The Father and encourage prayer.
Note: Regardless of your opinion of Mark Driscoll as a person in light of recent controversy, this message is still timely and important.
“So, you’re telling me that your dad never had a father figure to watch and learn from, and yet he became this rock star dad that you just described?” I asked with a hint of incredulity in my voice.
“Yeah. I know it seems improbable, but that’s how it was for him. He took fatherhood really seriously when he became a dad, and I guess God just rewarded him with the gift of fatherhood.”
Visionary Family is running a sale on its ebooks this week. You can download several titles for 99 cents each. I took them up on this great offer and started reading Visionary Family by Rob Rienow. I’m about half way through it and I have found it to be a tremendous encouragement. It is an excellent complement to today’s Sunday Sermon post (see next post). The attention to Scripture in order to see God’s vision for family is inspiring. We’ll try to bring you a full book review soon. In the meantime, go download this great little book and get to reading.
I understand the mindset of the person who would wish to avoid fatherhood, for I myself thought that way at the time I got married (10 years ago). I would read the Scriptures that spoke of children as a blessing, and I simply did not believe them. Every child I knew at the time was loud, annoying, disobedient, and a hindrance to the affairs of adults. Why would I ever want that? In other words, I believed the cultural story about the pursuit of self-fulfillment far more strongly than I believed the words of Scripture.
Last week I had the pleasure of sitting in on the one-time showing of the Focus on the Family documentary film Irreplaceable. The movie is just an introduction to a new series that seeks to look at the family from a number of different angles in an attempt to “recover, renew and reclaim the cultural conversation about the family.