No Shortcuts On The Fatherhood Trail

Cornerstone Church June 18, 2006

NO SHORTCUTS ALONG THE FATHERHOOD TRAIL

Matthew 7:13-14

Happy Father’s Day!

I like Father’s Day, it’s a guy thing!

It is good to honor fathers on Father’s Day. The hard work of many fathers is often forgotten.

Here’s a little boy’s observation about Father’s Day:

“It is just like Mother’s Day,

Only you don’t spend as much on the present.”

Dave Barry Humorist

“With Father’s Day nearing, we asked Dave

about the art of raising children”

Woman’s Day Magazine

What gadget do you wish was around when Rob was little?

The Diaper Genie. Things just go in there and never get seen again. I suspect that Saddam Hussein had one and that’s where all the weapons of mass destruction got off to.

What do you wish your wife understood about your parenting skills?

That when I dress my daughter in a green top, green socks and green pants that, even if they’re all different greens and Sophie has to get dressed all over again, I was really trying and at least got all the pieces to be green.

How has your perspective on Father’s Day changed?

Father’s Day is really less important when your kids are little, because they’re around all the time. It becomes more poignant when they’re grown up and gone and you’re just amazed they remember. That’s one reason to have girls. They’re better at remembering….

What one gift would you give to fathers the world over?

Hair.

Dads are so good at feigning appreciation that they even were able, years ago, to pretend they were happy to receive cologne. This was back in the dark days of cologne-giving, which mercifully came to an end after the horrible 1986 tragedy in Cincinnati wherein a 72- year-old man’s house collapsed under the weight of the estimated 2,000 unopened bottles of Old Spice that he had stored in his attic.

FAMOUS SAYINGS UNIVERSAL OF MOST FATHERS:

“GO ASK YOUR MOTHER”

“JUST WAIT UNTIL I GET HOME!”

“WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE”

“I’M BUSY RIGHT NOW”

“THIS IS GOING TO HURT ME MORE

THAN IT IS GOING TO HURT YOU!”

Yeah, right!

Somehow my father just wasn’t as quiet natured as Mr. Ward Cleaver talking to Wally and the Beaver!

OBSERVATION ON FATHERHOOD:

“It doesn’t matter who my father was;

it matters who I remember he was.”

-Anne Sexton, U.S. poet.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT WHEN YOU HEAR THE FOLLOWING NAMES?

Dennis Rodman

Howard Stern

Now think about men like:

Dr. James Dobson

Dr. John MacArthur

The difference in each of these men’s life

was made by their father!

Dennis Rodman hasn’t seen his father for over thirty years. Over the years Philander Rodman has fathered 27 children. His life’s goal: “I’m shooting for 30.”

Newsweek, pg. 25, 9 September 1996

Shock Jock Howard Stern gives a similar testimony:

“I will never have a lot of self-esteem. I don’t feel very good about myself…I still have an inferiority complex. The way I was raised my father was always telling me I was a piece of [explicative].

Interview with Howard Stern – Rolling Stone Magazine, 10 February 1994

Men like Dr. James Dobson and Dr. MacArthur are blessed because of the godly role of their fathers.

The lack of involvement by fathers in their homes has led to the moral drift of our society. Families without a strong central father figure are unraveling.

When the cradle of the family falls in America there will be

no prosthesis that will keep all of society from coming apart.

The importance of being a father

to your children is UNDENIABLE

Neither is it an easy task. The Promise Keeper’s Movement in recent days has helped to lift fatherhood back to its important role.

“It is harder to lead a family than rule a nation.”

Chinese Proverb

“A boy loves his mother

but will follow his father.”

Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s in the Cradle” has left this truth indelibly etched on our minds!

I’ve long since retired and my son’s moved away.

I called him up just the other day.

I said, “I’d like to see you if you don’t mind.”

He said, “I’d love to, dad, if I could find the time.

You see, my new job’s a hassle, and the kid’s got the flu,

But it’s sure nice talking to you, dad.

It’s been sure nice talking to you.”

And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me,

He’d grown up just like me.

My boy was just like me.

CAT’S IN THE CRADLE by Harry Chapin (lyrics by Sandra Chapin)

Getting from point A to point B is much different today than in was in the early days of America.

Today we have the interstate highway system, maps, GPS Devices, and directions right on the internet.