This article appeared in an eariler edition of the Pastors update

Ephesians 6:2

This Sunday is Father's Day when we honor our fathers who helped give us life and have nurtured us through life. 

THE MEN’S THESAURUS (men don’t always say what they mean) – excerpts:

- When a man says: "IT’S A GUY THING" - He means: "There is no rational thought pattern connected with this, and you have no chance at all of making it logical."

- When a man says "CAN I HELP WITH DINNER" - He means: "Why isn’t it already on the table?"

- When a man says "UH HUH, SURE HONEY," or "YES, DEAR" - He means: Absolutely nothing – It's a conditioned response.

- When a man says "IT WOULD TAKE TOO LONG TO EXPLAIN" - He means: "I have no idea how it works."

- When a man says "TAKE A BREAK, HONEY. YOU ARE WORKING TOO HARD" - He means: "I can’t hear the game over the vacuum cleaner."

- When a man says "THAT’S INTERESTING DEAR." - He means: "Are you still talking?"

- When a man says "YOU KNOW HOW BAD MY MEMORY IS." - He means: "I can remember the theme song to 'F Troop', the address of the first girl I ever kissed & the vehicle identification numbers of every car I ever owned – but I forgot your birthday."

- When a man says "OH, DON’T FUSS, I JUST CUT MYSELF. IT’S NO BIG DEAL" - He means: "I have actually severed a limb, but I will bleed to death before I admit I’m hurt."

- When a man says "I CAN’T FIND IT." - He means: "It didn’t fall into my outstretched hand, so I'm completely clueless."

- When a man says "I HEARD YOU."- He means: "I haven't the foggiest clue what you just said and I am desperately hoping that I can fake it well enough so  you’ll not spend the next 3 days yelling at me."

- When a man says "YOU KNOW I COULD NEVER LOVE ANYONE ELSE" He means: "I am used to the way you yell at me and realize it could be worse."

- When a man says "YOU LOOK TERRIFIC!" - He means: "Oh please don't try on one more outfit, I'm bored and starving."

- When a man says "I'M NOT LOST. I KNOW EXACTLY WHERE WE ARE." - He means: "No one will ever see us alive again."

There is a difference between Father's Day and Mother's Day.  On Mother's Day almost all the children in this country call their mothers.  Someone said that more phone calls are made on Mother's Day than any other day of the year.  On Father's Day, the children in this country call their fathers - - - collect!  A small boy said, "Father's Day is just like Mother's Day, only you don't spend as much on the gift."

Is it possible that Fathers do not get the respect they deserve?  We are all aware of our so-called "enlightened" society where modern day women believe the only thing a man is good for is to help them make a baby and then he is of no further use.  And in this day of medical technology, even that role is being diminished.

And then there are the TV programs where if a traditional family is even portrayed, the father is always portrayed in a less than honorable way.  Let's look at God's Word that tells us a lot about fathers.

God has several roles for the father.

- The father is to be the leader of his family.
After Abraham and Sarah were told that they would be parents, they started to leave and go to Sodom. As they left, one said, "I have chosen him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice."  [Gen. 18:19]

"Command" is a word that is definitely not politically correct and one that we sometimes shy away from because it is often identified with abuse.  However, God has placed the man in a position of responsibility in the family.  Remember that even though Eve sinned first, Adam was ultimately held responsible.  In the Bible, that incident is always referred to as "the sin of Adam."  God holds the father responsible for the faithfulness of his children.  Because God gives fathers responsibility, He also gives them the authority of command. 

Joshua exercised that role that God gave him when he told the people of Israel in Joshua 24:15, "Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we WILL serve the Lord".  For Joshua's family there was no doubt whom they would serve.  In the household I grew up in and the household I lead, everyone knew that we served the Lord.

- The father is to be the instructor of his family.
In that well known passage in Eph. 6:3 we are told, "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."  Perhaps the church has spent too much time cautioning fathers against provoking their children and far too little time emphasizing the second half of that verse in which the fathers are encouraged to teach their children about God.  And God's word also speaks to the children who are commanded to listen.  In Prov. 4:1, the writer said, "Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father, and give attention that you may gain understanding."

The writer of Proverbs says if we properly instruct our children, we can reasonably expect a certain outcome.  Prov. 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old [or as he is getting older] he will not depart from it."  Now that is a passage that has probably caused fathers some sleepless nights.  We must remember that just because we are good parents does not mean that our children will always "go the way he should go."  They have to decide what they believe once they are adults. 

Even in the Bible, a number of great fathers had children that went wrong.  For instance, the very first father, Adam, had a son who was a murderer.   There are many other examples in the Bible of good fathers who had wayward offspring.

But the principle stated in Prov. 22:6 is generally true.  If we teach our children about God while they are young, they are more likely to follow God as adults.  However, we have to remember that, like us, our children have the freedom of choice and they do not always make the right choices, in spite of the teaching they received at home.

Some parents say some of the most ignorant things concerning the spiritual training of their children.  You have most likely heard it said; "I'm not going to force my children to go to church.  I want them to make up their own minds concerning religion."  Can you imagine applying that philosophy to any other part of child development and training?  'I'm not going to force my children to go to school.  I want them to make up their own minds about their education."  "I'm not going to force my childre to brush their teeth, go to bed at a decent hour . . .  I want them to make up their own minds about these things.  Fill in the blank after the "I'm not going to force my child to . . . "  It's insane logic.

By the way, bringing a child to church and Bible class on Sunday morning is not enough.  Parents have the responsibility to teach their children at home as well as model Cristianity in front of them.

Some years ago at a church that had bus ministry, a father told his son one Sunday morning, "You better get ready.  The bus will be here in a minute to pick you up and take you to Sunday School."  The boy asked, "Dad, did you go to Sunday School when you were a boy?"  The father replied, "Yes I did."  The boy then said, "It probably won't do me any good either."

Question: "The father is to be the disciplinarian to his family" – true or false?  Actually it is false.

The Bible indicates that the father IS the disciplinarian in his family.

God expects the father to discipline his children as God disciplines us.  The writer of Hebrews in 12:5-11 says . . . "You have forgotten the encouraging words that God speaks to you as His children: 'My child, pay attention when the Lord disciplines you. Don't give up when He corrects you.  The Lord disciplines everyone He loves. He severely disciplines everyone He accepts as his child.'  Endure your discipline. God corrects you as a father corrects his children.  All children are disciplined by their fathers.  If you aren't disciplined like the other children, you aren't part of the family.  On earth we have fathers who disciplined us, and we respect them.  Shouldn't we place ourselves under the authority of God, the father of spirits, so that we will live?  For a short time our fathers disciplined us as they thought best.  Yet, God disciplines us for our own good so that we can become holy like him."

God believes in discipline so much that He made the evidence of discipline in the family one of the qualifications for elders.  "An overseer - must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity. But if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?"  (I Tim. 3:4)  By the way, God's description of "discipline" is not "physical beating in an angry rage".

- The father is to love his children.  This love is expressed by the father through showing compassion to his children.

The psalmist in Psalm 103 compares the compassion of God with the compassion of a father.  "The Lord is compassionate and gracious; slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.  Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him." (Ps. 103:8,13)

In his compassion a father will carry (support) his children.  Just before the nation of Israel crossed over the Jordan River into the promised land, God, through Moses told them in Deut 1:31, "The Lord your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked, until you came to this place."

Fathers may receive gifts on Father's day, but our fathers give gifts to us every day of the year.  Jesus said in Luke 11:11-13, "Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; will he give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he is asked for an egg, will he give a scorpion?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" [other verses use the word "good things" instead of the Holy Spirit.

Paul makes a strong statement concerning providing for one's family in I Tim. 5:8, "But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever."

How many fathers do you know who are in church WITH their wives and children each Sunday?  They are not sending them; they are bringing them.  What better example of leadership can you have than that?

Also think of the Christian men you know who are leaders in various ministries.  Where did they learn to be Christians and leaders themselves?  I suspect that the leadership of their fathers played a big role.

Think of the number of children in those families who are Christians.  I wonder what inspired them to make that decision.  Sure, their Sunday School class teacher had a part.  We must never diminish the role of the parents in bringing their children to Christ.  And, how many of us today are Christians because of the example and teaching of a loving father and/or mother?

Look at the various manifestations of fatherly love that we see around us.  Most of us live in a comfortable home, have plenty of food and clothing because of the hard work of the fathers who provide physically and financially for their families.

We can also observe the obvious affection of fathers for their children and children for their fathers.  What better reflection of a loving home.

We must also mention that fact that there are those who had no father to bring them up.  In many of those cases God raised up a spiritual father.  We see an example of that between Paul and Timothy.  There are spiritual fathers in our churches today.  Thank you, spiritual fathers, for being available to the Lord in such an important role.

I want to close my remarks by re-telling a slightly different version of the familiar story of the forgiving father of the prodigal son:

Feeling footloose and frisky . . . a featherbrained freshman from Fargo named Fred forced his father to fork over the family fortune. 

Feeling free . . . Fred flew far to fancy foreign fields - finding foolish frivolities, frequent fornication, and fabulous feasting with faithless friends.

Fred frittered away his father's fortune - fleeced by his "friends" in folly.   Finally, fully fatigued and facing famine, Fred found himself a feed-flinger in a filthy farmyard with fungus on his face and fists full of fresh fragrant fertilizer.

 "Fooey!  What a fiasco!" the frazzled fugitive forlornly fumbled - frankly facing facts.  "Father's flunkies fare far finer!"  Freezing, frightened, and frustrated by failure, Fred fled forthwith to his Fargo family, filled with fear and foreboding. 

Falling at his father's feet, he forlornly fumbled, "Father, I've flunked, and fruitlessly forfeited family favor. Frankly, I've flopped." 

Fortunately for Fred, the farsighted father said, "Fantastic!" and forgetting Fred'’s failings, frantically flagged the flunkies to furnish Fred with fashionable flannel, fetch a fatling from the flock, and fix a fragrant feast! 

But Fred's fault-finding brother - Farley - flew into a fit, frowning on Fred's fancy footwork and his father's forthwith forgiveness.   "Fred's a fool!" said Farley.   But the faithful father figured, "Filial fidelity is fine Farley - but the fugitive is found! What forbids fervent festivity?  Let flags be unfurled!  Find the fiddles & flutes! Let fanfares flare!"  

Father's forgiveness formed the foundation for Fred the former fugitive's future fortitud.

Of course the greatest example of fatherhood is our heavenly father who loved us enough to send His son to die for us that we might have the hope of eternal life.

HE IS THE PERFECT FATHER!

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HELPFUL LINKS FOR LEADERS: 

Pres Honors 'Gay' Dads

New Film On  Fatherhood

Start A Revolution On Father's Day

'Homo Depot'? Chain hosts kiddie crafts at 'gay' fests

Addicted to Porn

Schoolmaster of the Republic

School Says 'Yes' To Bible - Court Says 'No'

Christians Arreseted at Arab Festival in Detroit

When Opinions Become Law

Church Says Softball Team Can't Play Due To Lesbian Coach

Bathing In The Rubicon

Young Christians Oppose Abortion

Boy Scouts On Trial . . . Again

Who Knows Anything Anyway?

Court Approves Religious Symbol In School

Dobson's Final Goodbye . . .

New Trees, A 'Mega' Energy Alternative

Holding On Or Letting Go?

Stop Cutting Out Christians

America Graduating From God? (Part 1)

Amerca Graduating From God? (Part 2)

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The Christian Civic League of Maine was formed in 1897 to name and confront sin.  Today, the League continues to minister in a similar tradition.  The only solution is both the most costly and least expensive which is the righteousness of Jesus Christ - the Gospel.

You can help Change Maine!  Consider this your invitation to partner with The Christian Civic League, Maine's Family Policy Council, this year, as we proclaim the uncompromised truth of God's Word in the public square. 

The League has a public voice that churches and even denominations do not have.  We are currently engaging the battle to defeat the expansion of gambling and to protect traditional marriage.  Your help is needed now more than ever.

Some Maine churches have included the League in their missions budget.  Thank you for considering joining other churches who are partnering with us and thank you for your prayers.