My Pre-father’s Day, Fathers Day Message
Today all our dad’s get the drift, next Sunday you get the gift!
Someone said that "Father's Day is that one time of the year when I get complete obedience from every member of my family. I tell them please don’t spend a lot of money on me--and they don't."
Deuteronomy 1:29-31 "Do not be terrified; do not be afraid. The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the desert. There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place."
The other night I was watching Netflix, and I found the classic movie "Maverick." Which I have watched several times before. James Garner and Mel Gibson are trying to best one another as to who is a "real man”, but this time in watching, I noticed the scene in the movie where James Garner says, to Jodie Foster, who he has been flirting with, “Thank God for motherhood. You know, without mothers none of us would be here”. To which Mel Gibson, his rival says, “Now wait just a minute. What about fathers? Without them none of us would be here either”. (I would have to say, THAT argument would end in a TIE, no matter who was making it!)
The concepts about what a real man is has changed in our society.
I want to read to you a tongue-in-cheek excerpt from a satirical book entitled, “Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche”.
It says, “This was once a nation of real men, guys who could destroy an entire forest to start a breakfast fire and then wipe out an endangered species for lunch. Not anymore. We’ve become a nation of wimps. It’s not
enough that we earn a living and protect our women and children from plagues, famine, and Jehovah’s witness door knocker. Now we’re supposed to be supportive, sensitive and even understanding while we try to figure out our wives and teenagers.
And just where has it gotten us? We used to create things like the Panama Canal, the ‘57 Chevy, and the front line of the Green Bay Packers. It worries me that 10 million years from now we’re going to be remembered as a generation that created frozen yogurt, salad bars, and green, disgusting tasting health drinks. It’s no wonder that things are so mixed up. Yet strength and bravery are still the hallmark of a real man.
nWas Humphry Bogart ever lonely because he couldn’t have a meaningful dialog with Lauren Bacall? Would we have won World War II if we had just thought Hitler was only going through a mid-life crisis?
Real men have always lived by one simple rule: never settle with words what you can accomplish with a flame-thrower. As a general rule, real men won’t eat anything that is poached, sautéed, minced, blended, glazed, curried, flambayd, or stir-fried. You’ll never find pate’, bean curd, hummus, asparagus, Sushi or creamed spinach in their stomachs. NO!
A father once offered the preacher $1,000.00 to do a funeral for his son. The father was the worst sinner the minister had ever met and the son was a close second. There was only one stipulation the father gave to the minister, and that was this….. he had to refer to the son as a saint in his sermon. The day of the funeral, the preacher got up and said: this man was a drunk, he was a cheat, he was thief, and a liar, but in comparison to his father, he was a saint. (the minister got the $1,000.00)
But with all that…Men in our society are going through a very real transformation. There is a subtle revolution happening in this country. It is happening in a big way in the “Real Men” category, and it may actually be a good thing.
In the past on any given Sunday in the old days, you would find 90% of the people in the congregation to be women because they were more open and concerned, spiritually. Men are now in the congregations. Men are seeking spiritual direction. We are going, in consciousness, from a Rambo, just blow it all to smithereens mentality, to an awareness of our spiritual need”. And THAT is a wonderful thing! (do I have an AMEN?)
One man said, “ I became what I consider a real man on the day my daughter was born. With all the joy that it brought, it also brought a great deal of concern that I needed God to be there when I couldn’t be. He said “I was at the hospital, I was suddenly faced with something I didn’t really know about. In this unpredictable and sometimes scary world we live in with so many dangers, could I protect her and keep her safe.
Will I be good enough? Will I be a good father? After all, I’ve never been a father before and she didn’t come with an owner’s manual. To be honest I never read the owner's manual, I just figured I could man up and just get through it, but I never had anything this precious, this priceless, this fragile and so totally dependent on me before."
There’s a marvelous book called “Parenthood Without Hassles, (Well Almost Without Hassles)”. I want to share something from it with you… it has, A Child’s Ten Commandments to Parents. So check this out…
1. My hands are small, and my skills are developing, so please don’t expect perfection whenever I try to make a bed, draw a picture, or throw a ball. I’m not an adult in a little person’s body. My legs are short, so please slow down so I can keep up with you.
2. My eyes have not seen the world as yours have. Please let me explore safely and don’t over protect me… I’m going to fall, get scraped and bruised, and get dirty, just be there when I look for you.
3. Housework will always be there. I’m only little for a short time.
Please take time to explain things to me about this wonderful world, and help me to experience it as a fun place to be. Take me for walks and let me play because that’s how I learn.
4. My feelings are tender. Please be sensitive to my needs. Don’t criticize me all day long. You wouldn’t want to be nagged for your curiosity. I need to know why, how, when, where and what.
5. I am a special gift from God. Please treasure me as God intended you to do, hold me accountable for my actions, give me guidelines to live
by, and give me love in a loving manner. I feel safer when you do.
6. I need your encouragement to grow. I know there are many things to learn but I do better with positive motivation. Remember, you can critique the things I do without criticizing me.
7. Please give me the freedom to make some decisions concerning myself. Permit me to fail so I can learn from my mistakes, as long as I know you’re there to catch me and point me in the right direction. Then someday I’ll be prepared to make the kinds of decisions that life requires me to make.
8. Please don’t always do everything over for me. Somehow that makes me feel my efforts didn’t quite measure up to your expectations.
9. I know it’s hard, but please don’t compare me with my brother or sister or other children, who may have talents that are different from mine. Help me discover and develop my uniqueness.
10. Please take me to church, because I need you to set a good example for me to follow. I enjoy learning about God and I need that balance in my life. Read me bible stories and teach me how to pray. It will be the foundation I will need for my own children…..
Isn’t that great?!
The greatness in all of us is tapped into and it flows at unexpected times. We find that very significant things happen at seemingly insignificant and ordinary moments in our lives…..
George Foreman was a two-time heavyweight boxing champion of the world. In his book, God in My Corner, Foreman explains how his father pointed him to that destiny as a small boy….he says..
“When I was a small boy, my father planted a seed of greatness in my mind about my future. As we played, he often raised my hands over my head as if I had just won a boxing match, and he’d shout, “George Foreman, heavyweight champion of the world! Stronger than Jack Johnson. Hits like Jack Dempsey!” Even though I didn’t understand what heavyweight champion of the world meant, he planted an idea in my mind that eventually became a reality. It’s incredible that he declared those things about me, almost like a prophecy about my future. It’s even more amazing that I would not only become heavyweight champion, but also come back from retirement and win it a second time twenty years later. My father started proclaiming my destiny when I was only four years old and continued saying it until I was a teenager and joined the Job Corps after moving to California.”
Becoming a dad, is easy enough, but being a real father can be much more difficult. On top of being a provider, protector, and a playmate, it is a father’s job to be strong but gentle, decisive but fair, and a mentor who is a friend. It is also a father’s responsibility to see that his children learn to use their gifts and abilities to the fullest. The ideal father enforces his rules by the example of his life.
To his children, most fathers are a combination of Superman and Santa Claus… As one child put it, “My daddy could climb the highest mountain, swim the biggest ocean, fly the fastest plane, and fight the strongest tiger. He could build a castle and be king, even though most of the time he just agrees with my mom and takes out the garbage.”
By the time most of us realize that our old man was usually right, we have kids of our own.
Today I just want to spend my time preparing all of us to value the life opportunity our Fathers have given unto us, which we will celebrate next Sunday. As Mel Gibson said “None of us would be here without our dads”.
A little 8 yr. old girl named Scarlet, who comes with her friend on Tuesday night to our life connect meeting, asked me after the meeting, if I was voting for Trump. (I thought that was a bit beyond her pay grade) So I asked her if she was voting for him. She responded by telling me, “Pastor, kids can’t vote, but if the adults would change the rules, we could,” I asked her, “If we changed the rules, who would you vote for?” She said, I would vote for Santa clause, so I could get lots of presents!” I don’t think she’s that different from many voters today who want the government to be their sugar daddy!
I want to say that no matter how well or how badly your father did by you, God embraces you and loves you fully and completely. You need to know without a doubt, God loves you with an unconditional love and acceptance. God tells all of His helpers everywhere, (and He has lots of them) to bring forth the best of everything for you and in you.
The last words of Martin Luther King Jr., the father of the civil rights movement, were… “OK. I will”, which was the way he lived his life, with faith, courage, and a vision which was for a cause far greater than himself…
Wow, I came across this and I almost shouted…What if every man lived his life with those words lifted unto God, as a father, as a husband,
as a contributing member of society.. “OK, I will”, no matter what the hardships, tests and challenges, “OK, I will”. Now that’s a real man!
Our Lord, looking up to God the Father, in a garden of prayer, prayed, “not my will but Thy will be done”… In other words, “OK, I Will”… If we had more men, saying those words in prayer, we wouldn’t be trying to kick God out of school, out of the womb, out of business, and out of government…. “OK, God, I Will”!!!
The other choice I am thinking of, can be summed up in the last words of another historic man, Winston Churchill, who’s final words as he passed from this life. were…“I’m so bored with it all”…Listen, if you pray “OK, God, I Will” every day, the last thing you’ll be, is “bored with it all”!! The secret of living life well, begins and ends with those powerful words, “OK, God, I Will”!!!
Just like Jacob, who wrestled with the angel of the Lord, It is crucial that we settle this conflict of man's will, with surrender to God's will. The flesh with all its lusts and cravings, could be summed up in the words “SELF-WILL”. Wherever you read of "the desires of the flesh" in the New Testament you could replace that phrase with "Self-will and self-centered desires." As we accept that reality, as a guiding life principle, we can come to terms with what those words “If it be Thy will”.
It means saying, "Father, I have no desires or plans or ambitions outside the circle of Your will for my life. I want nothing outside of Your will." The cross stands at the point where God's will intersects with our will every day. To take up the cross is to say, "Father, not my will but Thine be done."
Jesus tells us in Luke 9:23"If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me". He also says,
Matthew11:29 "Take My yoke (dzoo-gos'…that which brings you into harmony or agreement) upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls (or your will)." The Lord is saying that rest, peace of mind, and a sense that all is well, comes when we surrender our will!
Why are we on this earth? The answer is in Revelation 4:11 “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for You have created all things, and for Your pleasure they (we) were and are created”.
The Lord’s prayer which Jesus taught us to pray, has three requests in it..
1. We are to pray, "Father, Let your Name be hallowed. When God made us in His image, He hardwired us for a special relationship with Himself. That means He is to have a special place in all we do, that nothing else can even come close to it. All petitions, all supplications, all passions, all requests, all needs are become subject to Him. When we do this, amazing things begin to happen… God is activated and as we touch His heart, and His hand is moved into action. We start with a recognition that God is our source, that God is our loving, caring Father who has no limits. He is a compassionate, caring, loving, gracious, merciful Father who seeks the best for His children and has no limits that can be placed upon His provision.
Abraham knew it and Rebecca appeared to be the bride of Isaac. Jacob knew it and Esau's mind was turned after twenty years of vengeance. Moses knew it and Amalek was struck down. Hannah knew it and Samuel was born. David knew it and Ahithophel, his enemy, was defeated. Isaiah and Hezekiah knew it and 185 thousand Assyrians were dead in twelve hours. Daniel knew it and lions were muzzled. Mordecai and Esther knew it and Haman, who wanted to destroy the Jews, was hanged on his own gallows in a mere three days. Nehemiah knew it and the king's heart was softened. Elijah knew it and a three-year drought ended. and on it goes, Hallowed be Thy name oh Lord!!
2. We are to pray, “Let your Kingdom come”. Whenever we pray this, it is to believe and expect that the kingdom of God will come in a way that it has not yet come, or been revealed. The coming of the kingdom, or reign of God, does not occur at a given moment in time. Instead, the coming of the kingdom involves a series of events that occur over a period of time.
When we pray, “Your kingdom come,” we are praying for the continued extension of God’s reign on earth. We are praying for God to convert the hearts of His enemies, bringing them to confess Jesus as Lord. We are praying that He puts those who refuse to submit beneath His feet. We are praying for the coming of the day when all evil, all sin, and all rebellion against God is finally eradicated. We are to live with an uncontainable joy and expectancy to see His kingdom rule increase daily in our lifetime!
3. We are to pray, “Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Many have distinguished between the Sovereign will of God or (those things which God has pre-disposed or pre-determined Himself to do) for instance, the rapture, the tribulation, and the millennial period which follows, are pre-determined.
Then you have the free will of God or (those things which He does which are not set and which can be altered). For instance, no matter what we have done with our lives, the point at which we surrender and submit to Christ, is the first day for the rest of our lives. It is in the free will of God that the transformative power of redemption, our coming back to God, shines the brightest! It is the goal that is reached in spite of our sin and our turning away from Him. Your destiny changes at whatever point you receive Christ and surrender to Him. That’s why we call it “being born again”!!!
While it is God’s will that everyone come to Christ, we have a free will to reject Christ. And choose eternity without Him. The will of God is about guidance. Some seem to have the picture clearly, or so they think and others do not. You could compare it to trying to point satellite dishes in the right direction in order to pick up the signals that will allow you to access the programs being broadcast. But is it God’s intention for His will to be so unpredictable as it comes through our impressions, our urges, our dreams, through circumstantial situations or the stirrings of our conscience?
Hey I have a really novel idea…. What if we really get to know the word of God and how it applies to our lives, to discover His will!!!
2 Timothy 3:16&17 "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, reminding, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work".
The Westminster Confession of Faith, the standard confession of the Church of England and Scotland, says…"I believe that the whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for His own glory, such as man's faith, his life and his salvation, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be interpreted through Scripture”.
Isaiah 30:21 tells us what that looks like…"Whether you turn to the right or to the left, you shall hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it".
To accept the will of God means we enter into a sense of renewed purpose, a resolve of spirit, and the strength and stamina to do as God calls upon us to do.
It is good to know that The will of God will never take you, Where the grace of god cannot keep you, Where the arms of God cannot support you,
Where the riches of God cannot supply your needs, Where the power of God cannot empower you, and where the presence of God cannot protect you…..
So, we see that the Lord has given us three petitions that are all about putting God first… They are concerning His name, His kingdom, and His will. These are to be our preoccupation. We too often put ourselves at the center forgetting that God may have something entirely different in mind for us."
A failure to give God all the glory is at the heart of our frustration and discontent in our lives. Jesus speaks some amazing and powerful things concerning those who will make the will of God, their priority….
Matthew19:26 “With men it is impossible but with God, all things are possible”. What about it….are there those who would be hungry enough for more of *….God, tired enough of the same old, same old, and ready to take it to a place you’ve never dared to take it before…and say to the Lord, “Not my will but Yours be done”
