I got an e-mail from Terrence Wilson, who lives near
Terrence knows first hand the damage absentee fathers do to their children. His own father walked out on him when he was 5 years old. He writes, “That’s when my mother told me that I was now ‘the man of the house.’ I couldn’t wait to grow up just to prove that I would be a man that my mother was proud of.”
Skip ahead 20 years, and we find Terrence as a maturing young man, taking on more and more responsibility. He says he was sitting in his apartment one day, thinking of the various burdens in his life, and…. “I began to cry. I found myself alone without any guidance, not knowing if I was making the right decisions. I had already made some bad mistakes and there was no one there to balance me as a developing man. At that point in time, the importance of a father became very real to me. From whose wisdom would I draw? To whose hand would I reach for? In whose ear would I cry out for help?”
So there he is, a man in his 20’s, and yet still suffering from that terrible decision his father made to walk out of his life when he was only five.
Terrence adds, “All over the world, the effects of missing fathers are evident. When we take a look at our neighborhoods and communities, the violence, gangs, drugs and sexual activity is a direct result of fathers not being at their post. There are statistics that show a great correlation between persons who are incarcerated, those who have behavioral problems, and the absence of fathers.”
Terrence is right on the money. It doesn’t matter if you’re in
Now let me talk to the good dads. Gentlemen…how is your purity? If you are a good dad, it is unlikely you will ever leave your children. So your personal temptation will not be to leave your family, it will be to taint your family. Are you doing right with all your heart, or are you leaving yourself little loopholes, little grey areas?
Back in the early 90’s author Kent Hughes wrote these powerful words…challenging words: “Men, if we are Christians, it is imperative that we live pure, godly lives in the midst of our Corinthian, pornotopian culture. We must live above the horrifying statistics or the Church will become increasingly irrelevant and powerless and our children will leave it. The Church can have no power apart from purity.”
Dads, of course we must stay with our families. But there is more. We must be leading pure lives. We must be righteous men men.
Now, have you ever heard of this guy? Weird name…. “Polycarp.” Polycarp lived about two thousand years ago and was martyred for his faith. He was in the arena, preparing to die for his allegiance to Christ, and the story goes that a voice came from heaven saying, “Be strong, Polycarp, and play the man.”
I love that line and the phrasing, and according to the story it was spoken by God Himself: Be strong and play the man.”
This is a foundation stone for our society – men rising up and being the men they were designed to be. And that means strength and purity.
So let that line run through your head one more time: Be strong, and play the man!
(Check out Terrence’s website: http://www.wilstonian.com/)
(As heard on Wave 94.1 FM)
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