WE ARE
LOSING OUR CHILDREN - WHERE ARE THE FATHERS?
By
Coach Dave Daubenmire
January 5, 2017
NewsWithViews.com
I
don’t know how we cannot see it. Even those who were raised in
“Christian” homes seemed to be wandering aimlessly in the
moral cesspool known as America. The Scriptures warn us that “When
there was no God in Israel everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
Young
American Christians are afloat in a sea without a compass. We have failed
to train them to navigate the rough waters of the debaucherous American
culture. If today’s parents don’t lose their children in
high school they are sure to lose them in college.
It
is my experience that for most of the Millenials I come in contact with
“religion” is not the guiding factor in the moral decisions
that they make. We have taught them to FEEL, not to think. Emotions
are a poor foundation upon which to build moral values.
It
is time to wake up and look around. We are losing our children to the
world. Do you understand that? Whatever we are doing in our churches
is not working. Why is it that our children are rejecting the values
of their parents? Why is it that the Millenials are cancelling out the
votes of their grandparents? Why are time-honored values no longer valued?
How did we reach the point where following Biblical values became old-fashioned?
We
treat symptoms in America. Make a visit to your family doctor and you
will see what I mean. Our medical professions have been trained to treat
symptoms and that no matter what your malady; the pharmaceutical industry
has a drug to treat it. Just watch the commercials on your favorite
cable channel and you will understand what I am saying. Does “an
erection lasting longer than 4 hours” ring a bell?
The
foundational institution upon which the American Republic was built
is crumbling. America is sick because the family is sick. Fatherhood
has become a trial-by-error- proposition. You aren’t a man when
you can make a baby…you are a man when you can raise one. Fatherhood
is on life support.
Our
churches have failed us. Although their intentions may have been noble,
our pastors have trained the family to depend upon the church and church
programs to pass Christian values to the children. Youth ministries
and youth programs have taken the responsibility of “training
up a child in the way he should go” off of the shoulders of the
fathers.
Very
few fathers today have any idea how to pass their values to their children.
It isn’t learned through osmosis, or passed to the children in
the DNA. The transference of values has to be intentional.
What
can possibly be responsible for the startling statistic which shows
that nearly 75% of Christian kids leave the church when they go to college?
What has happened to us that even in families where a father is in the
home that so many young adults reject the values they were raised with?
Could
it be they were never taught those values in their home? Is it possible
that the fathers trusted the church and its flashy programs to instill
those values in their kids? Maybe the Dads were ill equipped for the
successful transference of fundamental moral values to their kids.
What
in the name of all that is righteous are we being taught in our churches?
What does it prosper a man to gain the whole world and lose his children?
The “church” is hemorrhaging young people. The consequences
will have an eternal impact.
Only
fathers can make their family great. Only great families can make the
church great. Only great churches can make America great. It is time
for fathers to get back in the game.
Let
me ask you Dad, when was the last time you sat down with your son and
explained to him that a real man honors women? Have you told him that
an honorable man will not take advantage of a young woman hungry for
male affection? Have fathers instructed their sons that the job of a
man is to protect the weaker sex?
And
how about your daughters? Have you relinquished the moral training of
your daughter to your wife? Have you looked your daughter in the eyes
and explained to her chastity and WHY it matters? Have you told how
important her character is to you and to the Lord?
Have
you explained to your children the value of fidelity, purity, and integrity?
Have you equipped them with the tools to stand firm against the deluge
of sewage that they will face when they go to college? Have you given
them a firm foundation upon which to stand or have you trusted the “youth
pastor” at your church to train your children?
Every
experience in life has the opportunity to teach life-lessons to your
children. Only the enduring values passed from the father to the family
have that chance to endure.
Our
6 year old granddaughter loves to sit and watch old Andy Griffith shows.
She loves the interaction between Andy, Barney, Opie, Aunt Bee…and
even Otis the drunk. Watching them with her makes me slip back into
the good old days of Father Knows Best, Leave it To Beaver, Donna Reed,
and all of the family shows that I grew up on.
It
dawned on me the other night as we sat watching a rerun together that
all of the moral values being taught in those TV shows were values that
were emanating from Dad. Although church was mentioned, I can’t
remember one show where the strongest influence in the family was a
pastor.
Man
up Dad. Your kids will learn their values from someone. Shouldn’t
that be you?
There
was a reason why it was Father Knows Best…not Pastor knows best.
Put down the remote. Your family, and this nation, is counting on you.
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