History: The idea for creating a day for children to honor their fathers began in Spokane, Washington. A woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd thought of this idea for Father’s Day while listening to a Mother’s Say sermon in 1909.
Having been raised by her father, William Jackson smart, after her mother died, Sonora wanted her father to know how special he was to her. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous selfless loving man. Sonora’s father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father’s Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910.
In 1926, a National Father’s Day Committee was formed in New York City. Father’s Day was recognized by a Joint Resolution of Congress in 1956. In 1972, President Richard Nixon established a permanent national observance of Father’s Day to be held on the third Sunday of June. So Father’s Day was born in memory and gratitude by a daughter who thought that her father and all good fathers should be honored with a special day just like we honor our mothers on Mother’s Day.
What Makes A Dad
God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle’s flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so, He called it…Dad
Read text. One of the reasons we are in such difficult times is because of the sins of fathers. We are having to bear the iniquities of our father’s sins.
Exodus 20:5 (TLB) – “You must never bow or worship it in any way; for I, the Lord your God, am very possessive. I will not share your affection with any other god! And when I punish people for their sins, the punishment continues upon the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of those who hate me.”
The lack of attentiveness to children’s needs by fathers has produced great changes in the American home. Fathers spend an average of only 38 seconds a day being totally attentive and 20 minutes being partially attentive to their children’s needs. Associated with these changes are the rising teen-age suicide rate, which has tripled in the last 20 years, and the increasing incidence of delinquent behavior, which will bring one of nine adolescents in the U.S. into a courtroom this year.
Some fathering advocates would say that almost every social ill faced by America’s children is related to fatherlessness. The data supports the fact that from fatherless homes children are more likely to be poor, become involved in drug and alcohol abuse, drop out of school, and suffer from health and emotional problems. Boys are more likely to become involved in crime, and girls are more likely to become pregnant as teens. Consider the following:
Poverty
• In 1996, young children with unmarried mothers were five times as likely to be poor & ten times as likely to be extremely poor.
• Almost 75% of American children living in single-parent families will experience poverty before they turn 11 years old. Only 20% of children in two-parent families will be the same.
Drug and Alcohol Abuse
• The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services states, “Fatherless children are at a dramatically greater risk of drug and alcohol abuse.”
• Children who live apart from their fathers are 4.3 times more likely to smoke cigarettes as teenagers than children growing up with their fathers in the home.
• According to a 1997 report, 75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes.
Physical and Emotional Health
• A study on nearly 6,000 children found that children from single parent homes had more physical and mental health problems than children who lived with two married parents. Additionally, boys in single parent homes were found to have more illnesses than girls in single parent homes.
• 85% of all children that exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes.
• 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes.
Educational Achievement
• In studies involving over 25,000 children using nationally representative data sets, children who lived with only one parent had lower grade point averages, lower college aspirations, poor attendance records, and higher drop out rates than students who lived with both parents.
• Fatherless children are twice as likely to drop out of school.
Crime
• 80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes.
• 85% of all youths sitting in prisons grew up in a fatherless home.
• In a study using a national probability sample of 1,636 young men and women, it was found that older boys and girls from female headed households are more likely to commit criminal acts then their peers who lived with two parents.
Sexual Activity & Teen Pregnancy
• Adolescent females between the ages of 15 and 19 years reared in homes without fathers are significantly more likely to engage in premarital sex than adolescent females reared in homes with both a mother and a father.
• Children in single parent families are more likely to get pregnant as teenagers than their peers who grow up with two parents.
So, here are a few conclusions about children from fatherless homes:
o 5 times more likely to commit suicide
o 32 times more likely to run away
o 20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders
o 14 times more likely to drop out of high school
o 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances
o 9 times more likely to end up in a state-operated institution
o 20 times more likely to end up in prison.
That has been the negative side of fatherhood, but let’s look at one example of the positive side. Jonathan Edwards was the son of a godly home. His father was a preacher and before him his mother’s father. Note the history of the offspring of this godly man:
More than 400 of them have been traced, and they include 14 college presidents, and 100 professors, 100 of them have been ministers of the Gospel, missionaries, and theological teachers. More than 100 of them were lawyers and judges. Out of the whole number 60 have been doctors, and as many more, authors of high rank, or editors of journals.
In fact, almost every conspicuous American industry has had as its promoter’s one or more of the offspring of the Edward’s stock since the remote ancestor was married in the closing half of the seventeenth century.
This represents the influence of a godly father.
Seven Secrets of Effective Fathers
Committed to their children.
Know their children.
Are consistent in their attitudes &n behavior.
Protect & Provide for their children.
Love their children’s mother.
Are active listeners to their children.
Spiritually equip their children.
