After the grill cools down, the new tie is hung on the rack, and the sunscreen has worn off, Father’s Day has come and gone. Dads can be blessed to receive a real shot of encouragement from this special day, but fathers (and all of us!) need God’s power to sustain us for the other 364 days of the year. Here are some resources to keep fuel in your tank even after Father’s Day.
7 Ways Fathers Provoke Their Children
There’s no shortage of parenting books out there. But you’ll find very few dedicated to the subject of fathering. What does it look like to father well?
Thankfully, God’s word includes much guidance for fathers. The Bible is filled with good dads (starting with God the Father) and bad dads (starting with Adam, our first father). Proverbs is in large part a collection of wisdom written by a dad to his son. In his letters to Timothy and Titus, Paul offers profound direction as a spiritual father.
Fathers, we have a sacred responsibility.
Elsewhere in Scripture, Paul warns fathers: “Do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). Dads, this is our God-given job description.
Continue reading “7 Ways Fathers…” at Ekklesia→
9 Things You Should Know About Fathers and Father’s Day
1. After listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909, Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Wash. wanted a special day to honer her father, a widowed Civil War veteran who was left to raise his six children on a farm. The first Father’s Day celebration, June 17, 1910, was proclaimed by Spokane’s mayor because it was the month of Smart’s birth.
2. The first presidential proclamation honoring fathers was issued in 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson designated the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. Father’s Day has been celebrated annually since 1972 when President Richard Nixon signed the public law that made it permanent.
Continue reading “9 Things You Should Know…” at The Gospel Coalition→
21 Simple Ways to Be An Exceptional Dad
I don’t want to be a good dad—I want to be a great dad.
But the longer I live and more ministry I do, the more I have come to realize there are precious few examples of grace in action when it comes to fatherhood. So on this Father’s Day, I wanted to take a moment, heed Paul’s exhortation (Eph. 6:1), and honor my own father, Greg.
Was he perfect? Nope.
Did he make mistakes? Sure.
Does he wish he could do things differently? I have no idea.
But in a land where few men finish well when it comes to the daunting task of fatherhood, I’ve found myself reflecting and marveling at the grace of God in my dad’s life. He loved Jesus, repented often, and poured his life into his two sons. How much more could a boy ask for?
In your life, Dad, I have found a roadmap for my own role as father. So I wanted to take a few moments, and tell you thanks from the heart of a grateful son. Specifically, thank you for . . .
1. Never putting me down
Not once. You never made fun of me, mocked me, or talked about me like I wasn’t there.
Continue reading “21 Simple Ways…” at Christian Family Matters→
What Makes Dad Special
All around the world, dads are special today. Father’s Day is the third Sunday of June in the United States and more than 80 nations. It is fitting that we not only annually honor moms on Mother’s Day, but our fathers as well.
God’s good design is for both moms and dads, and for their appreciation and honor, whether old covenant (Exodus 20:12) or new (Ephesians 6:2). It takes man and woman, father and mother, to image God to a child. “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27).
Scripture tells us that God is like a Father to His children…
Continue reading “What Makes Dad Special” at Desiring God→
Learning Fatherhood from the Father of Fatherhood
God’s Fatherhood is the archetype of human fatherhood, a point made even more explicit in Hebrews 12:7–10. What that means for us fathers today is that we take our cues on fatherhood from the Father of Fatherhood, which is a great relief for any father today who was fathered by a sinful or absent father (which of course includes every one of us).
But what’s the point of this? … The most obvious feature of the Father of Jesus Christ is His generosity… He is generous with everything. Is there anything He has that he has held back? And what should we — tangible fathers — be like? The question is terribly hard to answer, but not because it is difficult to understand.
Continue reading “Learning Fatherhood…” at Desiring God→ Continue reading →
Zion Evangelical & Reformed Church 