Needs Strong Fathers

1Co 16:13  Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. 

1Co 16:14  Let all your things be done with charity. 

1Co 16:15  I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,) 

1Co 16:16  That ye submit yourselves unto such, and to every one that helpeth with us, and laboureth. 

What does it mean to be a “Strong Man?”

Is being a strong man knowing how to live off the land?

Our church has chartered groups like American Heritage girls and Trail Life for Boys. These organizations can help a man and a girl learn about the outdoors, about our heritage, and most importantly about Christ. If we only learned about our rich traditions and how to live off the land while leaving out Christ we would go the way of the Boy Scouts.

I don’t believe that being a strong man means to beat our chests filled with pride, use profane language to make ourselves sound rough and tough, to know the difference between a Chevy and a Ford, smoke cigars, throwing down a 6 pack, to be covered in mud from head to toe because he just spent all weekend tramping through the woods so he could feel more manly, growing a beard down to your knees, knowing the difference between a small mouth and a big mouth bass, knowing how to load a rifle….

As much as I do love the outdoors, It is important knowing how and when to use a loaded weapon, I think we should know how to use a rod and reel. It’s important to teach our sons to know how to use and respect a rifle, to know how to fish because if you give a man a fish he will eat for a day but if you teach a man to fish he will eat for a lifetime. Same if you give a man rifle.

But…Possessing these traits and qualities are not the standard of what a strong man should strive to be. Important yes. Required, no.

What makes a man truly strong? What makes a man strong is his faith in the Lord. If I teach my son how to fish, how to use a rifle, how to drive, how to till a garden but I don’t teach him how to love the Lord with all his heart then I will have failed as a father.

Let’s look at David for a minute. David was a man after Gods own heart. He was a humble man. Do you think David beat his chest in arrogance as he faced the giant Goliath? David didn’t fit the bill of what a man’s man looked like. He was the exact opposite of King Saul. King Saul probably looked like an action hero while David looked like an extra in the action sequence. He was the smallest among his own brothers.

But guess who God decided He could use? The man who was after God’s own heart.

Do you think it was David’s worldly strength that enabled him to defeat the giant? David was pretty good with a slingshot but it wasn’t the slingshot alone that defeated David. It was his faith and reliance upon an almighty God to defeat a warrior as strong as Goliath. This is what made him truly strong.

….Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

….Let all your things be done with charity.

The man of God is truly strong because of his humility, something we severely lacking today in our society. The man of God is strong because he stands strong in his faith. The strength of the slingshot alone is nothing without the power of God behind it.

Moses had his staff…

Nehemiah had his chisel….

David had his slingshot…

But all were powered by the hand of God.

What type of legacy do I want to leave for my son? From a father to a son, I want my son to know what makes a man a strong man is his faith in Jesus Christ.

Where are the men of God at today? Where are the men of the home? Where are the father’s leading the household?

A Brother in the Lord wrote something that really struck a cord with me regarding the role that the father figure plays in the home. He said I haven’t taught my kids how to play sports, I haven’t taught my kids how to fish, I am not an outdoorsman or an athlete but what I have tried to teach my kids is to have a reverence for the Word of God in our home. I have tried to do my best to teach them the Bible and to follow Jesus in all that they do in life. I have tried to do my best to point them towards Christ.

But today that type of thinking is not looked upon as honorable, respectable, or “cool.” In a culture where sports have taken over the lives of many families and the Word has taken a backseat our homes, churches, communities, and our nation has suffered.

Look at these numbers….

63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes (5 times the average)

90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes (32 times the average)

85% of all children who show behavior disorders come from fatherless homes (20 times the averages)

71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes (9 times the average)

85% of all youths in prison come from fatherless homes

Daughter’s of fatherless homes are 164% more likely to have pre-marital sex and 92% more likely to get divorced.

Satan wants our children and that is more evident today than ever before! He wants our kids, he wants our families, he wants our marriages because whatever God has ordained, Satan wants nothing more than to defile and destroy it!

43% of U.S. children live without a father. We are living in a fatherless generation.

Almost half of our nations homes are without a father. That is not shocking considering the state that our nation is in. Our nation is a wreck because our churches are divided. Our churches are divided because our homes are without men who will raise up children that are addicted to the ministry.

We want our kids to be addicted to everything this life has to offer. We want our kids to be addicted to sports. We put them in every sport known to man where it consumes every aspect of our life. We want our kids to be addicted to work. We want our kids to be superstars in every sport the school has to offer without stopping to take the time to teach them the word of God.

I was having a conversation with my son the one day about how I do in fact love sports and what sports can teach a young man. Sports can teach a young man

How to handle himself in losing (We learn more from losing than we ever do in winning)

How to handle himself in winning

How to work with others

How to be a good teammate

How to listen

How to teach

And many more things…..

I told my son that if your sole purpose of wanting to play sports is to be famous and rich then you will be quite disappointed at the end of this life because the Bible tells us that the LOVE of money is the ROOT of ALL evil. So many athletes today only care about building their “brand” rather than build relationships. How many hits will my video get on YouTube? How many followers do I have on social media? This seems to be the focus of many of our young athletes.

I believe we should raise our kids to show them the importance of working to make a living because of what the Bible tells us:

1Ti 5:8  But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. 

1Ti 6:8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 

But we have taken it a step further today where we have raised our kids to think that they have to be more like the rich man….

1Ti 6:9  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 

1Ti 6:10  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 

The rich man went away bitter and sorrowful while the widow woman gave all that she had to the Lord!

Its ok to be addicted to everything in this life except to the word of God! To the work of the Lord. When you say you have 3 ball games to go to during the week the world looks at that as productive. When you say that you are attending 3 church services during the week, the world looks at you like your wasting your time. I will take it a step further, the church looks at us that way today.

What has happened to the man of God? The man of God who would make sure that his children are in church every Sunday, Sunday school, Wednesday night prayer, revival, camp meeting, you name it!

Now based on the numbers and the facts the father doesn’t consider those things important anymore because he himself has been drawn away unto his own lusts and pleasures as James put it. Even your average Church going father seems to be indifferent to the Word of God anymore.

The Father has stopped caring about the importance of the word of God being the centerpiece of the home! Now the center of the home is sports, fishing, cars, work, etc. or there is no center of the home because the home is in absolute chaos. These things have overtaken the priorities of the man of God that had once addicted himself to the ministry!

Our homes, our sons, our daughters are suffering due to the indifference many of our fathers have had to the Word of God.

Jas 1:14  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 

Jas 1:15  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 

The father doesn’t start off with the intent to lead his family into sin and bring chaos to his front door step but when you allow yourself to be drawn away from the word of God and into your own lust the only thing that can come from it is sin and death!

The indifference of our fathers, the absence of our fathers, the negligence of our fathers…..

The Man of God is missing in a lot of hour homes today. Young men are growing up turning to the things of this world, to people who do not have their best interest and couldn’t care less about who they are or where they come from.

We need a revival and it starts with the Man of God. If 2021 is going to be any better than 2020 then the man of God, we fathers must wake up, set pride aside and do our duty and our job. It’s time to step it up and do better.