Father's Day 2024

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! I hope it will be a great one and you will feel appreciated and special. One of my favorite books in the Bible is the book of Proverbs. There is so much practical advice found in its pages. I thought for Father’s Day we would take a look at Proverbs for some advice about being fathers.

Proverbs 20:7 says, “A righteous man who walks in his integrity- How blessed are his sons after him.” We want to do the best we can as fathers to model the life that we want our children to live. It is one thing to tell them the right thing to do, but if we constantly show something different, then our kids are smart enough to realize that whatever principle we are talking about may be important in word but not in deed. None of us are perfect, so when we mess up let’s model how to repent right, also.

We need to take time to teach our children with our words as well. The first part of Proverbs 1:8 says, “Hear my son, your father’s instruction.” I know the endless questions and whys can be draining, but we as fathers have a responsibility to lead our families and part of that involves instruction. If we do not instruct them, the devil will be glad to help out. Be careful what you set in front of them (media, etc.) because they are learning whether we like it or not.

The last Proverb I want to share is Proverbs 13:24 which says, “He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.” I hate having to discipline. I wish everything would just go along smoothly, but unfortunately even after teaching and setting a good example, the message does not always get home. I am not saying I have bad kids. Truthfully, they are probably better than I was at their age, but we all need a little course correction every now and again.

Running From The Rain

Thank you all for allowing my family to have some time off a couple of weeks ago. Noah really likes kangaroos right now so one of the things we did was go to Kentucky Down Under. We have been there before, but it was several years ago. One of the neat things about this place is that you get to go into an enclosure that has maybe fifty kangaroos to feed, pet, and just hangout with them. Noah seemed to enjoy himself. As we were in the enclosure, we noticed kangaroos began to head to their shelter. I was not too concerned. I thought maybe they were just tired of us and wanted to rest. But it kept occurring until I finally realized why. I could hear the rain coming. I took off like those kangaroos looking for shelter. I was thankful there was shelter not too far away, and we waited the rain out in that shelter.

When the storms of life come to you, where do you run for shelter? There are so many storms in life. Maybe it is family trouble, job/financial trouble, health trouble, or something else. The reality is if you live very long, there will be some troubles that come into your life. You might see them coming or they might sneak up on you, but they are probably coming. So where do you run? I hope the answer to that is God. I am reminded of what the Psalmist says in Psalm forty six verse one, “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.” I am also reminded of what Jesus said in Matthew chapter eleven verse twenty-eight, “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” This does not mean that God will take away all our troubles and struggles but that He will walk with us. The reality is, if you are not in a storm, you are probably coming out of one or heading for one. As a child of God, why not turn to the Father who loves you so much?

The Power of Water

I want to start off by saying thank you to those who checked on my family last week. We were out of town on Tuesday, May 14th. We had finished supper, and my phone began to go off. We received several phone calls and texts concerned about us because of the flooding. Being out of town, there was not much we could do, but several jumped in to help clean up. Thank you.

It reminded me of the power of water. We were close to Nashville when Middle Tennessee flooded a few years ago, went to Waverly to help clean up after the flood there, and helped with recovery work in Houston, TX after a hurricane and flooding. I have seen the power of water firsthand.

It reminds me of the power of many working together. A rain drop by itself is not very scary, but when those drops work together, they are capable of powerful things. That should be how the church works. As a single individual, I am limited by what I can do, but if we work together in God, we can be powerful. I was thinking about Ephesians 4:16 on this subject. We need you for the body to be built up and grow. It is not just hiring the right preacher to do our Christianity for us but us all as the body of Christ collectively working together for the glory of God. What can you do to build up the body of Christ?

Another thought I had was that the power of water can move you. If you have ever been in the ocean, a river, or flood, you know that water is powerful enough to move you. It made me think about baptism. Being baptized moves you from being outside of Christ to into Christ (Galatians 3:27). I do not know how it does that, but I believe it does because God said so in His word. Because I believe what the Bible says, if I want to be in Christ I am baptized into Him. Have you been baptized into Christ?