Fathers, Role of

Ryan McClure suggests that Charles Dickens' "best of times and worst of times" turn of phrase seems to describe parenting skills to a tee. When we were single, we had all the answers to the art of parenting, but actual practice humbles us as to how little we know and how ill-equipped we are for this daunting, yet enjoyable task. We learn what God the Father has to put up with us in our spiritual childhood sanctification process. Every father has been given the responsibility of leading his family, loving his wife as Christ loved the Church, willing to protect, to sacrifice, and even to die for the sake of his family. According to Theodore Hesberg, the most important thing a dad can do is to love the child's mother. As God protected His people from harm, fathers are commissioned to protect their families, placing a metaphorical hedge around their children, filtering them from the Internet and other worldly influences until they are wary enough to be on their own. As we approach Father's Day, we need to remember that God the Father is the greatest example of Fatherhood we can emulate.

Martin Collins illustrates the horrible degradation of this society because of the abandonment of the Fifth Commandment, insists that God intended children to be a heritage and a reward to those who obey His Law. American society is cursed because the family, its most important component, is dysfunctional. It is impossible to raise families without God. Gentile societies have historically demonstrated subhuman treatment to both women and children; Modern Israel apparently wants to follow suit by murdering 3,000 children per day, with 1.09 million unborn children annually. Last week, the largely reprobate American Congress voted to fund the guilty murderers on a grand scale, an act even natural law would regard as patently inhumane. Children have two duties to their parents: to obey them (in the Lord) and to honor them. The parent (ideally) is to serve as a representative of God to the child. Cursing parents in the Old Covenant was a capital offense. Honor goes far beyond obedience. The parent is expected to teach children in a restrained and balanced way, not embittering, provoking, irritating, harassing, and not breaking the spirit of the child. Parents must remember that customs change, that trust trumps control, and that children need encouragement. Sons must be prepared for leadership, being encouraged to offer suggestions in family meetings. Aubrey Andelin offers fathers positive suggestions as to conducting family meetings and communicating. (1) Stop all activities and give full attention to the children. (2) Listen carefully, even if not in agreement. (3) Be understanding and express sympathy for their ideas. (4) Tell them you will think about their suggestion. (5) Praise their ideas as useful and important contributions even if you are not able to agree with, or implement, them. As parents, our mandate is to bring children up in the understanding of the Lord's will, largely by our own positive example.

Martin Collins, citing Dennis Prager's Town Hall article, Is America Still Making Men?, suggests that there is a profound dearth of real masculine leadership today, as young men seem to be protracting their pubescence, preferring to remain boys with no responsibilities than to embrace leadership roles. When boys fail to grow into men, women and all society suffers. The family is languishing for real leadership as well as all levels of government. As Joshua felt fearful at assuming leadership, most men also feel the same trepidation, but God Almighty has placed in their DNA the ability to lead, with a view that they lead their families with a balanced proportion of compassion and firmness. Courage is a gift given by God, augmented and amplified when we embrace His law as a part of us. God charges us to do a specific work (such as to lead one's family), requiring us to delve into the Scripture daily for guidance until we know the mind of God through continued practice of living and following His principles. The successful leader is first and foremost a follower of God and His Holy law. Confidence derives from a close relationship with God.

Ronny Graham, acknowledging that very few prophecies have occurred the way any of us had speculated, advocates that we take a balanced, far less dogmatic approach to prophecy, realizing, of course, that a full one-third of the Bible is prophecy, the majority of which has not yet been revealed, much less fulfilled. One prophecy which seems to be rapidly unfolding before us in the recent years is the one in Isaiah 3:12, warning of children as our oppressors and women as our rulers. During the past year, assessing the mayhem from the riots in Ferguson, Baltimore, and Cleveland, we acknowledge the oppressors to be mere youths, born into families in which the fathers have run away or have been driven out. Mothers of criminal youths cannot believe "why their babies have been shot." The liberal media characterize young shoplifters and thieves as 'protestors.' Tragically, in the black community 7 out of 10 youths do not have a father; 72% have been born out of wedlock. In the meantime, weak-willed and compromising men have abandoned their leadership roles in government and the church, and radical feminist women have rushed in to fill the void created by this 'leadership drain.' In our nation today, gangs (unsupervised young boys and , increasingly, girls) are responsible for 50% of all crimes, and the frustrated police are rapidly losing control. Political parties quarrel on trivial issues, and only a fraction of the current political leaders want to trust and acknowledge God for anything. Anyone with eyes and a modicum of common sense can see the prophecy of Isaiah 3:12 unfold before us.

Martin Collins, cautioning us that radical feminism has deteriorated and compromised all human institutions—from governmental, educational, corporate, religious (including certain segments of the greater church of God) right down to the family structure—charges that men have abdicated their God-ordained leadership roles, producing chaos and confusion in the wake of this abandonment. The family structure, with assigned orders of responsibility (not orders of importance implying superiority or inferiority), is paramount to God's plan. The Bible contains the domestic history of the family, receiving blessings or cursing according to the success or failure of the father's leadership. The family structure was intended to mirror the Divine spiritual structure with Christ submitting to God the Father and the Church submitting to Christ. In the family, the husband submits to Christ and the wife submits to her husband. As Christ loves the Church, the husband is commanded to love his wife as he loves his own body, sacrificing for her and protecting her, regarding her as co-regent and chief counselor, delegating essential complementary duties to her. He is prohibited from being a pompous tyrant (intimidating her and provoking his children to wrath), but he is enjoined to provide leadership and make decisions, mirroring Christ's relationship to the Church. As men assume their roles as leaders of families, this also extends into the church and into the community. As men abdicate this responsibility, women have been forced to fill the leadership vacuum, contrary to God's intention. As we fulfill our God-ordained family roles, we qualify to become joint heirs with Jesus Christ, ruling over the entire universe.

Martin Collins, cuing in on an article which poses the question, "Why does not mainstream Christianity attract more men?" affirms that most mainstream churches have become feminized, with many men who may call themselves "Christian" feeling bored and disengaged from the component they really need—namely, real masculine leadership. Their malaise is a result of suave metro-sexual pastors who are "ripping women off" by making the church too much about nurturing and caring and relationships. Every nation which has descended from Israel has experienced a steady decline of lack of masculinity in leaders. Biblical examples reveal that even our patriarchs, including Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had serious deficits in masculine leadership regarding child-rearing practices. David, a man after God's own heart, for the most part, was a flop at child-rearing, being far too lenient and indulgent, but finally coming to his senses when he gave Solomon instructions for leading Israel. Masculine leadership has little to do with marriage and fathering children. Rather it is most clearly demonstrated by men who embrace God's commandments, love and protect their wives rather than abnegating authority to them and, finally, point their children to a love of God's truth. David's final words to Solomon, mirroring Moses' final words to Joshua, were to be strong and courageous, walking perpetually in God's laws and statutes, promising that, if he would do so, there would never lack a man on the throne of Israel. Manhood is defined by God, not by some kind of macho rite of passage established by man's culture. If men in God's church cannot love their wives and take charge of the education of their offspring, instructing them to fear and respect God, leading by example rather than mere words, they are not qualified to be leaders or overseers in the church nor kings and priests in God's Kingdom. As the world degenerates, true masculine leadership as defined by God will be increasingly needed.

Over the last several decades, this world has shown itself to be one in which most people lack commitment, whether it is to their mechanics, their spouses, or their beliefs. Using Christ's exhortations to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3, David Maas points out that Scripture foresees that a dearth of steadfastness marks the time of the end, but Christians are urged to hold fast.

"Real Men Don't Eat Quiche." Way back in 1982, a little-known author by the name of Bruce Feirstein earned himself a small fortune when he wrote and published a humorous, tongue-in-cheek book with this title. The book deals with stereotypes about masculinity and lists lots of activities that "real men" should not involve themselves in. ...

Richard T. Ritenbaugh:  American singer/songwriter Billy Joel, 60, is getting divorced'again. He and his third wife, former Top Chef host Katie Lee, 27, are splitting after five years of marriage. ...

Martin Collins, reflecting upon Paul's confrontation with a recalcitrant minority in Corinth, warns that we cannot fight spiritual battles with physical or worldly weapons. Gentleness and meekness were Paul's preferred approaches in dealing with people. Meekness (strength under control, maintaining peace in the midst of confrontations) is practiced when one restores a badly behaving Christian or in dealing with a newly called individual. Jesus demonstrated His meekness in His treatment of many with whom He interacted. In contrast to James and John, Jesus, balancing firmness and gentleness, seeks to save rather than destroy. In childrearing, we must learn to guide our children rather than to break their spirits, and in our marriages, to control our tongues. Aubrey Andlin in Man of Steel and Velvet advocates that we work to have restraint and self-control, develop gentle character, and develop humility.

The frenzied pace at which we live takes its toll. Stress, anxiety, pressure, and busyness are the norm in our Western, civilized nations. The demands of life leave most adults gasping for breath and struggling to shoulder the load. But what effect is this pace having on the next generation?

In this vital message on honoring our parents, Martin Collins stresses that dishonoring one's parents is a serious abomination in the Bible, considered a capital offense by Almighty God. As the only commandment with a direct promise of longer life, the fifth commandment applies to physical parents and by extension all other positions of authority, even perverse authority—as long as they don't demand the breaking of God's commandments. Fathers must be worthy of honor, teaching their children, as the patriarchs instructed their offspring, to honor God. The father's attitude, good or bad, is contagious, setting the moral tone or mood for the entire family. The sermon gives many examples of precepts, patterns, and principles, illustrating proper honor to worthy and unworthy parents, including respect for God the Father, showing humility and yielding to correction.

Though experts proclaimed the twentieth century the Century of the Child in 1899, from a biblical perspective our social advancements have made life worse for our children. Martin Collins shows how the Bible predicted this of the end-time generations. (Also includes the inset "America's Lost Children.")

John Ritenbaugh takes issue with the popularly held notion that preaching the Gospel to the world as a witness is the sole identifying mark of God's church. There is a vast difference between "preaching the Gospel to the world" and "making disciples"- the major focus in Matthew 28:20. The largest portion of the great commission demands that the lion's share of time, money, or energy ought to be invested in feeding the flock. With the present scattering of the church, engineered by Almighty God (not Satan) in response to our sick, rebellious, and unsound condition, our major obligation at this time should be to heal its wounds and to point it in the direction of repentance, overcoming, and growth. God indeed wants unity, but it has to be on His terms.

God provided physical Israel manna to eat every day for forty years. Now we, as spiritual Israel, have the Bible, God's Word, as our daily bread. Are we taking advantage every day of this wonderful blessing God gives us, or are we allowing God's Word to spoil through neglect?

Instead of some grandiose title, God asks us to call Him simply "Father." We have human fathers, church fathers and since our calling, a spiritual Father. The role of father is very important!

Negative role models and failure to take responsibility characterize more and more fathers today. Mike Ford takes a hard look at why this is happening and what to do about it.

John Ritenbaugh reiterates that since a nation is, for the most part, a family grown large, respect for the fifth commandment constitutes the basis for all good government. The family provides the venue for someone to learn to be hospitable and to make sacrifices for one another, learning the rudiments of community relations. For the child, parents stand in the place of God in the family structure, as the child's creator, provider, and teacher. Successful parenting involves sacrifice and intense work. The quality of a child's relationship with his parent (as well as the quality of parenting) determines his relationship to the community as well as to God. Compliance to the fifth commandment brings about the built-in, promised blessing of a long quality life. Our obligation to honor and to take responsibility for the care for our parents (as well as those more elderly than we are) never ends.