Fathers' Strength

The first few verses of Ephesians 6 present a picture of a cohesive family operating according to
Godly roles and principles. We can read:
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
2 "Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise:
3 "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth."
4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

God, our Heavenly Father, has a plan for the family.  He has instituted and defined the family, and He desires for families to be strong and devoted to Him. A key building block of the family unit, as we have observed this past weekend, is the father.  Fathers have a unique position of influence and the capacity to lead their households - Godly fathers, Christian fathers, reliant on the Holy Spirit and strengthened by the Lord can have a tremendous effect on their children.

+++++

The responsibility of fathers to pass Godly wisdom on to future generations is highlighted in Psalm
78, which states:
2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,
3 Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
5 For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children;

The importance of fathers was a theme in churches across the country this past weekend, and in New Jersey, it gave an opportunity for one man to perform a rather unusual feat of strength.

ChristianHeadlines.com, in an article released prior to Father's Day about how churches would be marking the day, reported this:

Christian strongman Stephen Miller will be spending Father’s Day at The Life Christian Church in New Jersey trying to break the Guinness World Record for “The Human Platform.”

At the Sunday 11 a.m. service, fifty men will walk over Miller as he lies on a bed of nails.

According to the church’s website, Miller and his father, Steve Miller, will be performing “amazing feats of strength, before delivering an empowering message for men and the women who love them.”

Well, he did it.  According to the church's Facebook page:

Today Stephen A. Miller set a WORLD RECORD, Steve Stealth Miller preached a MIGHTY manly message, Roman Oben and D'Brickashaw Ferguson tried to pull Stephen's arms apart, and food trucks filled our parking lots! Maybe it's the sugar rush from all of the ice cream and empanadas, but we're still buzzing!

 The Christian Headlines story had mentioned those two guys:

In one of the events, the Millers “will compete against two former NFL linemen – NY Jets' three-time Pro Bowler, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, and NY Giants' Super-Bowl XXXVII Champion, Roman Oben. Steve Miller will use one arm to compete in a tug-of-war match against Ferguson and Oben at the same time. The NFL linemen will then join forces with four other men, in an effort to pull apart the folded arms of Stephen Miller," the church said.

Stephen Miller is a strongman's strongman, I guess you could say.  I take away this reminder:  we need the influence of strong fathers.  A piece copyrighted in 2011 on the Focus on the Family website offered these notes:

82% of studies on father involvement and child well-being published since 1980 found "significant associations between positive father involvement and offspring well-being…" (reference)

Also...

In an analysis of over 100 studies on parent-child relationships, it was found that having a loving and nurturing father was as important for a child's happiness, well-being, and social and academic success as having a loving and nurturing mother. Some studies even indicated father-love was a stronger contributor to some important positive child well-being outcomes. (reference)

And, "In a 26-year-long study, researchers found that the number one factor in developing empathy in children was father involvement. Fathers spending regular time alone with their children translated into children who became compassionate adults." (reference)

The capacity to provide the right influence for children comes from our relationship with our Heavenly Father.  I would encourage you to listen to or download my conversation with Dr. Meg Meeker from last week, who spoke to issues related to that capacity to fulfill that God-given role of father. 

Finally, there has been much in the news recently about "family separation," and there are various opinions, even within the Christian community, about the situation regarding children at the border. But, I think we can all agree that family cohesiveness is important.  Thank God for mothers who are raising children as single parents!  But, the plague of fatherlessness, for whatever reason, including men shirking their responsibility, has had a devastating effect on our social fabric.  We can be challenged to value the contribution of Godly men who are attempting to lead their homes and families and make an indelible impact on their families.