A NOTE FROM THE CEO, JEFF FORD
Happy Early Father’s Day!
Did you know there are 71 million fathers in the United States and roughly 1.6 billion worldwide?
This past week I was one of 12 fathers who met in our nation’s Capitol to talk about those 1.6 billion fathers and how to rally them to love their children the way God loves us.
But these weren’t just any fathers…these were fathers who are each leading fatherhood ministries and/or pastoring across the globe. It was an intense time of dreaming, sharing, vulnerability, assessing, questioning, and affirming. While the methodology might be different, the core belief was the same – fathers matter.
At Man Up, we state this belief in the following way, a way that has been our guiding “WHY” for the last decade:
We believe children benefit in every measurable way by the presence of a loving, committed father in the home.
Yet the fatherless rate in the United States now sits at an all-time high – nearly 1 in 4 children grow up without a father in the home, or roughly 25 million.
I have to tell you though, what struck me about the leaders with whom I met was the alignment we had around two areas:
We all agreed that our Abba Father is the only hope for curbing fatherlessness.
We all agreed that pastors must lead us out of the crisis, many of whom are living with unresolved wounds from an earthly father.
Most likely you’re not a pastor. But there’s a high likelihood that your earthly father didn’t meet all your expectations. Maybe he was the silent strong type or would explode in anger. Perhaps he was superficial and distant or not present at all. Maybe he was an amazing man, but you still struggle with forgiving him for that one thing he did or your inability to get over his flaws.
Whatever the case, know you’re not alone. Nearly every man at this Summit, other leaders on fatherhood, had wounds from an earthly father.
And…
We have a Father in Heaven who never lets us down and exceeds every expectation we’ve ever had. Most importantly, He LOVES us desperately.
At the end of our time, one of the leaders who runs a fatherhood initiative in Washington state told the following story:
I had set up a booth for a fatherhood initiative we run and was recruiting fathers to the program. A group of teens made a beeline for my table and a 15-year-old girl’s first words to me were, “Is this where I come to get a father?” After learning of this fatherless daughter’s situation and asking to pray for her, the girl mentioned, “Well God can’t love me because I’m gay.” I looked at her lovingly and said, “You’re an image bearer of God…I assure you He loves you.” She sat there for a second, silent, and then walked away into the night.
Isn’t this what all of us need? To be assured and affirmed of a heavenly Father’s love? Yes God doesn’t love our actions all the time. But there is never a time when He doesn’t love His image bearer. Good fathers don’t ever put conditions on their love for their children…how much more is a perfect heavenly Father?
Sunday is Father’s Day. A day for neckties and beef jerky sticks from your megachurch and the reward of getting the entire day to exhaust yourself with your kids just in time to catch the end of the U.S. Open. Probably a very busy day.
Know this. Whatever shortcomings you have, whatever feelings of inadequacy you face, whatever ghosts of “fatherhood past” you’re chasing, or demons that seemingly lurk around every corner…whatever it is…know this:
YOUR ABBA FATHER IN HEAVEN LOVES YOU.
If we are to rid the world of the scrouge of fatherlessness, the very first step we all must take is to truly accept the love of a heavenly Father. Until then, all is vanity.
God loves you, Dad. And He wants you in His family. Believe it. Receive it.
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[a] And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
Romans 8:14-15
Happy Father’s Day,
Jeff Ford
Man Up CEO