Saturday, September 4, 2010

Fathers Day Message

Today is father’s day in New Zealand / Australia, and as a father (even a grandfather now), I have had the privilege of experiencing the joy and pain of parenthood. Everyone has had a father in life (good, bad or indifferent). It never ceases to amaze me how some people are empowered by that experience and others disempowered. I have been blessed to have had a great father and now I am experiencing life without one. However, there comes a time in life when we become the peer that we once looked to and the process continues. It is appropriate that on this father’s day, we consider how our heavenly father views His earthly family.

Now before your rush away from the mention of God or Church, why not just read through the blog? No one is watching, and you just may find some points of interest that could help you to raise a world changer.


"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother."

When God builds He builds for permanence and builds three ways:

By Revelation - Matt 16:16

Peter’s revelation was the basis on which the New Testament Church was founded. Not as some would believe (upon Peter, the rock), but upon the revelation of “The Rock” being Christ. It is only upon this revelation that we are a global Family or commonly referred to as the body of Christ.

Relationally 1Cor 12:12

We are joined as a family. A body with its joints out of place is disjointed. Not only does this cause extreme discomfort but this Schism, makes normal operation almost impossible. We are many members, many parts, but are but one body. In a scriptural sense, the house is a reference to people, not a building Psalm 23:6 Mark 3:25 (This house if divided cannot withstand pressures that may come upon it, in the day to day storms that life brings). It was always Gods plan to give cities to families not individuals. The Church that favours building families will always be building according to the pattern that God intended. We live in an age where there is almost a persistent attack on family values and the minimization or re-defining of what a family is. Excuse me for not buying into this humanistic rhetoric, but I choose to build according to the pattern defined by scripture and not according to the shifting tide of opinion. The family is God’s living epistle to world 2 cor 3:2

“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me”.

Generationally

God is referred to as the God of Abraham , Isaac , and Jacob. The Old Testament is full of genealogy and references to family names. Why is that? God builds generationally, one generation upon another. Growth and maturity comes as we relate to others. Often the greatest challenges we may experience can be within our Church or genetic family. It is in this arena that growth is fashioned under pressure. (As Moses was faithful Heb 3 :1 )

The Hebrews model of maturity is seen in relationships, not as the Greeks saw maturity being knowledge. Maturity is a matter of Attitude / spirit Rom 8:14-19. God builds by adding to the family, not swapping / Franchising Acts 2:41; 47.

The old saying, “blood is thicker than water”, is a truism. In that blood is D.N.A. and it is that D.N.A. that makes us who we are. 1 PETER 1:23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

In the Old Testament, the Prophets were Servants (God couldn’t Build the Church on them), but The New Testament experience is Son ship. (God will build the Church on them!) Romans 8

Gods answer was to send a Son not a servant (Gal 4;4)

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, "You're tearing up the grass." "We're not raising grass," Dad would reply. "We're raising boys." Harmon Killebrew

How you serve IN THE KINGDOM / CHURCH is based on how you see yourself. The difference between a Servant and a Slave is “ATTITUDE.” When the Apostle Paul was in chains in prison, five times his confession was he was in chains to Christ, not the Roman government. Eph 3:1, Eph 4:1, 2Tim 1:8, Phile 1:1, 1:9, how we serve is in direct relationship to who we serve. A son has ownership in the family business (a stakeholder), a servant just clocks on and clocks off. He has neither ownership nor investment in its success or failure. His perception is not of the seed of greatness within, but the greater force without.

He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it. Clarence Budington Kelland

Being a great father is more about the principle of Investment and trust in the D.N.A.

On this father’s day, why not take time to give thanks for the seed of greatness within you and the potential in your own children. If we take the time to encourage them today, we will have the privilege of seeing their growth tomorrow.

And in the immortal words of Red Buttons “Never raise your hands to your kids….it leaves your groin exposed”

Interested in reading the whole message? Visit the resources page on my site and look on the notes section for building families Gods way