Happy Father's Day!..... Or is it?
This weekend as we celebrated Fathers Day, I couldn't help but think about how it isn't happy for so many. For every person who loves their father, and has a healthy relationship, there is another person struggling with the scars of their childhood, and a broken relationship with their Dad. "Daddy issues' have become epidemic in our society, and something I see everyday as a Pastor.
For this reason, I am honored to have opportunity to write a book about how these most significant relationships affect the most important relationship of all - the one with our Heavenly Father. I am super excited to have the privilege of writing for Random House Publishing, and this book, that is so deeply in my heart will be able to be shared with many people. A mess is now becoming a message.
So here's the deal; over the next two months, my team and I will be working intensively to meet a September 1st deadline, and I would ask that you pray as we put pen to paper with a message that I believe can be life changing for many people, both Christians and the general population.
Writing is fast becoming a passion in my life, but there is no passion greater than knowing God. In walking through the wounds of my dad issues, I have been able to know and worship God as my perfect Heavenly Father. I hope you will pray with me as I write. I am hoping that the words will be words that will bring hope, healing, and wholeness to each of our lives.
I want to encourage you, if you have a dad who is there for you, I encourage you to pause today to tell him. Write to him, encourage him and share your heart with him. It matters more than you know. Very rarely do I meet a dad who thinks he "arrived" as a parent. Even if you father isn't around now, please pause and thank God for him.
Below I am sharing (with permission from Random House) a short preview of one of the chapters. Read and share.
Chapter Two – the most important thing about you.
I once read a quote from the brilliant theologian A.W. Tozer that literally changed my life. He said "What comes into your mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you." I want to ask you today, "What comes into your mind when you think about God?"
When you think of your father, what is the first thing that comes into your mind? Provider? Teacher? Generous? Funny? Or, perhaps like me, you think of how he abandoned, abused or neglected you? Some of you will be thinking of a dad that expected more than you could give him. I know of friends, successful businessmen, and church leaders who to this day are still trying to please their father. For years, I kept trying to please a father that wasn't even alive. Maybe you think of your father as passive, or uninterested. Perhaps your father loved you, but never disciplined you, or maybe your Dad was amazing, and no other man comes close! Whatever image comes to mind when you think about your father, there is a good chance that you attribute similar characteristics to your heavenly father.
It is very important you know that God is not a bigger version of your earthly father. So many of us have drawn a picture of a 'dad' in our minds, and that image has been transferred to how we see God, our Heavenly Father. Why is it the most important thing about us? – Because how we see God determines how we relate to God, and how we relate to God, determines everything about us.
