Message Fathers Day 2017 06/18/2017 Good Morning Church! It is Great to be in the house of the Lord AMEN! Happy Fathers day to all you Fathers! Fathers I Hope and Pray that you have a great day today! When I am doing Marriage counseling I often talk to couples about the fact that Men and Women are different And if you haven t notice They are! And you might find it a funny thing to talk about But the reality is even though most of us know it! Very few of us interact like we know it? And of Course I am not talking just Physically but more so Mentally or Psychologically! And so consequently what happens the first time there is a disagreement between a man and woman We often look at our spouse with the deer in the headlights look as if to say to ourselves What happen to my spouse? We say; What happen to the Man I married, or the woman I married? The wife says;
What happened He used to be so brave and strong and he Protected me and Loved me no matter what and he bought me flowers Or the husband that says she used to respect me write me love letters and tell me how proud she was of me and my accomplishments. And then all the sudden in the Blink of the eye,,, the person you thought you new turned into the Man or Woman that you never knew! I think the term Love is blind comes to mind! And it has to do with Spaghetti and Waffles and if you don t know about that come meet with me, because that is a whole other sermon? But as I read the scriptures this isn t something new men and women have had problems communicating ever since the beginning of mankind starting with Adam and Eve Right! I mean here they were walking in the garden with God and life was grand and all the sudden Eve has a moment and goes off the deep end and decides to eat from the tree that they were not supposed to eat from and suddenly everything changes!!!
Men you know this to be true Isn t it Just like a woman to do what she wants and then when she gets in trouble she drags the man into it so she doesn t have to take all the Blame It s True! Honestly You ladies do it all the time We will be casually walking thru Wal-Mart and all the sudden (Something happens) and (You have a moment) and your wires get cross about someone or something that comes to your mind and it tics you off and suddenly we went from walking in the garden of Wal-Mart to Angry woman and then Gosh forbid if the check out person wasn t all pleasant or you got that one items that doesn t have a price tag on it and they call for price check and now the man tries to be the voice of reason (which Never works by the way) and everything changes! And my point is that we are different (Men and Women) and all relationships have much to do with Communication! And the Problem is that we don t always communicate what we really mean! Because men and women communicate differently and there are things that women mean when they say certain things and as well there are certain things that men mean when they say certain things
I call it the unwritten codes between men and women. For Instance listen to a few of these When a Woman says FINE : This is the word women use to end an argument when they feel they are right and you need to shut up. Or in my Daughter Samantha s case it means Nothing is good right now (Its fine dad) Men! Word to the wise Never use "fine" to describe how a woman looks. Because this is not a clarifying statement for a woman! This will cause you to have one of "those" Fine arguments you can t win. But Men are no Different! When a man says I HEARD YOU. He means: "I haven t the foggiest clue what you just said and I am hoping desperately that I can fake it long enough so that you ll not spend the next 3 days yelling at me." When a Women says the word NOTHING : She means "something" and you should be on your toes. Because "Nothing" is usually used to describe the feeling a woman has of wanting to turn you inside out, upside down, and backwards. "Nothing" usually signifies an argument that will last "Five Minutes" and will end with the word "Fine". When a man says "YOU KNOW HOW BAD MY MEMORY IS." He means: " I can remember the theme song to Hogan s Heroes, the phone # of the first girl I ever kissed & the vehicle identification numbers of every car I ever owned but yes, I forgot your birthday" And Women use Facial expressions as well like when she says; GO AHEAD! (With Raised Eyebrows): This is a dare. One that will result in a woman getting upset over "Nothing" and will end with the word
"Fine". And then there is the GO AHEAD! (w/normal Eyebrows): This means "I give up" or "do what you want because I don't care". You will get a "Raised Eyebrow Go Ahead" in just a few minutes anyhow, followed by "Nothing" and "Fine", and she will talk to you in about "Five Minutes" when she cools off. Ladies. When a man says, I don t remember saying that? ; It s because he means it!: Anything a man has said in the last 6 months is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all past comments become null and void to men after 7 days. Because men discard all information once a week! Just Saying! Ladies. When a man says, that s not what I meant? He means: If something I said that can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry I meant the other one. Alright just a couple more! Men! When a women says THAT'S OKAY : This is one of the most dangerous statements that a woman can make to a man. "That's Okay" means that she wants to think long and hard before paying you back for whatever it is that you have done. "That's Okay" is often used with the word "Fine" and in conjunction with a "Raised Eyebrow Go Ahead". At some point in the near future, you are going to be in some mighty Big Trouble. THAT S OK GO AHEAD! Travel at your own risk! And ladies When a man says "IT S A GUY THING" He means: "There is no rational thought pattern connected with this, and you/ladies have no chance at all of making anything logical about it" so don t try!
And those are just a few of the statements to watch out for as you enter into a relationship with the opposite sex. On a Serious note Church, Our Society sure has changed a lot of unwritten rules when it comes to the roles of Husband s and wives. Fathers and Mothers! For instance In days gone by there used to be courtship and dating followed by engagement and Marriage all before the complexity of intimacy in a relationship began. Nowadays it seems to be intimacy first and we will work out the others tuff later! Which is crazy to think that we would put more value on the thing that we spend the least amount of time together on are you following me Church? It used to be that The Father s role was to be the provider for the family while the Mothers role was to care for the household and child rearing. Nowadays as our society has called mothers into the working world mothers are dealing with more and more pressures (Not only) from the working world But their responsibilities at home have been Compromised And these new responsibilities that we have laid on Moms to
be Super Women and Super Moms is taking its toll on our children and marriages And failing Marriages lead to more family dysfunction and disunity! Years ago the family worked as one unit unified to bring up moral stability in the children (Thru the word of God) To teach them right from wrong good from bad Mannerisms like respecting others and following the precepts of the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes Given to us by scripture and Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount Matthew chapters 5-8 Now we go to work we send our children to public Schools and Daycares and we are all so busy working and living life to the fullest the next thing you know you didn t have time to teach them about God and His Morals and when the Children grow up being Romans (Because we trusted the Romans to teach them what they should know) we say What Happen? Why do they Acted that Way? See Society and culture has changed many of the rules that were once foundational pieces for our lives and our families lives and turned them into Mans ways and Man s Laws. SLIDE God s word says That we are to live in the world but not of the world!
And looking at things the way they are now Unfortunately I am not sure it was all for the Best. We say it was in the name of progress but look at what it has done to our family units! And I am just telling you how I see it I think that abolishing Slavery was worth fighting for! I think that every man and woman Black, white, red Brown should be able to share in the same freedoms in this country! I think giving women equal rights only made sense After all We are all of equal value in God s eyes we should be here as well. But I think that some of the other worldly Ideals that we have allowed in our culture has affected the way our family s have been changed and they do not help families to be united as one In fact they are being torn apart and it will be the demise of this country. Men and Women hurrying the process of intimacy before marriage
Men and women abandoning the sacred vows of marriage for the sake of their own selfish interest. Fatherless and Motherless homes. The Lack of Faith Guidance thru the word of God in our lives and in our homes. This is the trend of our society and culture but it sure isn t the process of Family by the word of God. I have often said; that Men are the sleeping Giants in our Churches That what this country needs and this world needs is more Godly men I think that Fathers have let go of our grip on the standards taught to us by God with acceptance of lesser standards for the sake of selfishness and greed Fathers need to stand to higher moral standards than mans Laws and mans ways! Men need to take a stand against the desires of our flesh and hold to better core morals given us by scripture and teach younger men to do so!
Men need to turn to the word of God for answers to life s questions instead of society who wants to consume and use us only to discard you for the next victim! Church, as Christian Men and Women Our Churches need to be better at inviting and loving and forgiving as Christ example instead of condemning those less fortunate and who have fallen into worldly ways! We need to love people back into the church Family! AMEN! Older men need to be teaching younger men. Older women need to be teaching younger women. This world desperately needs US to be the hands and feet of Jesus! Men and Women Both need to be examples and teachers to the younger generations about morality and Godly standards according to the Bible. To teach our own Children and to teach others children as well! Like we do during VBS only every week of the year! Christians we need to start being the church and putting the needs of others ahead of our own selfish interest and start helping each other and teaching this younger generation
And I know I have heard all the excuses why some of us don t want to help in children s Ministry s I m too busy I m too Old It s not my gifted in that I don t like children their so messy I don t like the rules..believe me I have heard them all! And all the while we stand back and complain about the next generation they continue to fall Further and Further away from God! Remember the statement I made a few weeks ago, SLIDE If we are not part of the Solution then we must be part of the problem! Right! Some of think that we are in the Neutral place But Jesus said You are Either with Me or Against me there is no Neutral! Church Did you ever wonder? Why is it that women will go thru the Pain of Labor to bring New life into the World But the Church will not go thru the Pains to reach out to others to bring New Life to God s Kingdom?
See some of our society has changed the roles of men and misguided them into believing it s easy to be a man That you can indulge in the desires of your flesh because you aren t expected to uphold the terms and conditions of a Father! But the word of God says that as a father you are to uphold values and principles greater than mans ways and man s thoughts. Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord Listen to Ephesians 6:4 (NIV) 4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. See most parents like to concentrate on the first part of that text...because they want to be their Childs friend instead of their Parent But I want to draw your attention to the last part... bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. See there are many Fathers who don t have a clue about the Lord so how will they know how to raise them because they don t know.
In my case, I wasn t brought up that way...and I didn t teach my own children the ways of the Lord until late in their teens. That s one of my personal regrets...but when you are grown it s on YOU! No longer can any of us blame bad childhoods or our parents after we reach that age of accountability where we move out, get married...have our own kids... It s now OUR turn to be the Father...the head of the house. Not in a domineering, egotistical way, but in a gentle, loving way. It s your time to provide for your family, to discipline the kids, to be the example that God expects you to be. See anything less means you don t love them as much as you claim you do. When you constantly bail your kids out, when you don t set Godly standards that are strictly followed in your home, you are not being the example God wants you to be. If you condone your child s bad behavior by supporting it unconditionally, then you are not only failing God, but failing your child as well. Men, if you have children or step-children or grand children...be the example that God wants you to be Not a worldly example but a Godly example!
Well.I don t feel that it could be any better put than what it says in Joshua 24:15 (NIV) 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD. Fathers I pray that you will Choose to be the Father s that God has called you to be To live by His standards and not by the standards of the world Because that will truly make the most significant difference in this world... If we will take time to teach and raise our children to know and Love God and His people that will Truly make a difference! It s Simple Love God and Love People! And All God s people Said; AMEN!