“In today’s society, materialism is idolized, immorality is glamorized, truth is minimized, abortion is legalized, the courts are paralyzed, and our politics are polarized. On the Internet, TV and movies, crime is legitimized, drug use is minimized, comedy is vulgarized, sex is trivialized, the Bible is fictionalized, churches are satirized, while God is marginalized, and Christians are demonized. Even in our families, our manners are uncivilized, our speech is vulgarized, our faith is secularized, so that everything is commercialized.”- Pastor Rick Warren at the World Meeting of Families, 2015.

Who can lead the way out of this state of the family and society? Where are the leaders of today? Look in the mirror dads. You have an opportunity and a responsibility to lead the next generation in relationship with the Lord. Dads are uniquely equipped for times such as this. If you will step forward on the battlefront for fathers and families, God will provide the armor needed. If you choose to stand on the sideline, a generation will be lost.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed.” – Isaiah 6:8-10. Contrary to what some believe, God did not call Isaiah specifically. God put the call out there and Isaiah was spiritually in tune with the Lord to hear His voice and step forward in obedience. The family, our churches and our nation are all at crossroads presently. The devil has been successful in stirring up so much noise in our homes, churches and government that very few are tuned-in to the Lord. As Jonathan Cahn said on the Washington D.C. Mall on September 26th, 2020, “It is time to return and be healed.” It is time to rebuke the devil, rebuke the division, rebuke the noise at every level, and return to a path that glorifies the Father. The call is for dads to lead a generation spiritually by example.

Rick Warren went on to say, “Unfortunately Christians, you and I are often disorganized, our pastors are demoralized, our faith is compartmentalized, and so our witness is compromised. We need our worship to be revitalized, our differences to be minimized, our members to be mobilized, the lost to be evangelized, and our marriages and families to be re-energized. To be re-evangelized.” Dads are charged to take the lead, to say, “Here am I. Send me!” and lead spiritually by example in marriage, in family and beyond.

Prayer guide: Lord, thank You for Your word and for the armor You provide. I confess that I have passively had one foot on the battlefront and one on the sideline. Forgive me. Grant me strength to put the armor on - the belt of truth, Your word; the breastplate of righteousness for right decisions; the shield of faith to protect family; feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel; helmet of salvation for an eternal perspective; and the sword of the Spirit to rebuke the lies of the devil. Here am I, send me, Your warrior to lead a generation to You. Help me lead spiritually by example and step up as the dad you call me to be, as the dad the next generation needs. Amen.

A faithful father leads a generation spiritually by example.