ClydeStyle

Category: fathers

  • Do you know God as your father in heaven?

    In the Old Testament, Israel never knew God the creator as their father in heaven. In fact, nobody did until Jesus came on the scene, and when teaching his disciples to pray, he was the first to call God our father in heaven (Luke 11:1-6).

    Knowing God as our father in heaven means that we understand him as a loving, caring, interpersonal God who is the head of a larger family.

    Through trust, understanding, and intimacy, we as his children have our needs and wants provided by a loving God.

    Our God loves us unconditionally, and seeing the undone condition we are in with the inability to save ourselves, he came near to make us whole. We were not given a set of rules and regulations or a system that was against us like Moses’ law. Instead, we were given grace and mercy, and reconciliation was afforded us.

    Now, the way that we know our father in heaven should imitate the relationship we have with our children. They will learn everything they need to know about God in their younger years by how their earthly father has sustained them.

    We just celebrated Father’s Day yesterday, and many dads were celebrated for being a dad. But the hope is that each man who has fathered a child has reassured that child the same unconditional love, care, and nurturing that comes from our father in heaven.

  • Restoring virtue back in Father’s Day

    I’m not exactly sure when it happened but fathers have been given a bad deal when compared to their counter parts for decades. The trend seems to follow how dads are viewed on television.

    What I mean is that back in the day we saw strong fathers leading their families, being the bread winner and dishing out the punishments. Dads were revered, respected and trusted. They were the shinning example of what a kid would want to grow up and be like.

    Most today have forgotten the famous dads of old: Ward Cleaver, Andy Griffin, and Ricky Ricardo. They were shortly replaced by Archie Bunker, Fred Sanford and George Jefferson. Then it got much worse with cartoon dads: Homer Simpson, Peter Griffin and good old Bob from Bob’s burgers. The role of dad became comic relief and lost its once shiny posture.

    During all this transformation the family units were broken up and women took the lead roles and became responsible for the whole house. So this is now father’s day weekend and the lowercase “f” was purposeful. In a month where fathers were honored is now sharing the spotlight with gay pride.

    I propose a campaign where fathers are placed back in their rightful positions as the leaders of their homes and a shelter and shield for their families. Women get a big star for attempting to both but look at all the shared responsibilities that come with having a real man standing st the gates of your heart and being the “house band” that he was called to be. Let us salute and encourage fathers everywhere to step into the light and take a bow!

    Happy Father’s Day!!!