Well, it's been rumored that
that name was used in the House of Representatives. I heard this week, and I was
so encouraged by this, a young man graduating from high school,
he got straight A's, so he got to give the baccalaureate address
at school. They told him, you cannot mention
the name of God. He gave a speech, it was a very
good speech, and right at the end, he sneezed, and the whole
crowd said, God bless you. The Lord has a way of getting
his name out, doesn't he? I fail to also give God praise
and thank you. Last week, the chimes were bought
and paid for, so thank you for that. So we're working on getting the
pigeons out of the place where the chimes will go. As soon as
we get a couple of our brave guys to go up there with five-gallon
buckets and clean some stuff out of there, we'll have the
chimes put in. I heard the story in Africa,
poachers had killed off almost all of the elephants. And so
the game people went to a different part of Africa and got teenage
elephants and transplanted them. Those teenage elephants began
to kill the rhinos, protected animals. They couldn't figure
it out. And finally, it was discovered
that the huge older male bulls in the elephant herd teach the
younger ones how to behave. And they transported huge older
male elephants to that part in Africa where they'd put the teenage
elephants and brought order to that area. Not one renal was
killed after six months of the big daddy bull being there. You know why America is so messed
up? the lack of daddies. So I know today I want to talk
with you just for a few minutes and I hope you guys in security
in the back will listen up and every male in this building will
listen to today's message. Most Christians are very familiar
with what is called the Lord's Prayer. And actually it's not
the Lord's prayer. It is the model prayer. The disciple
said, Lord, teach us to pray. And Jesus said, so when you pray,
pray this way. Actually the Lord's prayer is
in John chapter 17. You ought to read it, a marvelous
prayer of our Lord. Teach us to pray. And Jesus said,
when you pray, And I think this is so awesome and ought to melt
the heart of every Christian in here. Here's how you pray.
Our father. Or as in the book of Galatians,
it says that the Christian calls out to God this way, daddy, daddy. Abba father, which means daddy. Sometimes when the Pope is visiting
America or you see clips on the news, you will hear people crying
out Abba Abba or Papa Papa. I get that from the book of Galatians.
We pray our father, male or female, Every person
in here needs a daddy. God's fixed it that way. And most Christians, I think
in private and in public, begin their prayer this way. I don't
know that we feel it. I was thinking this week, I don't
know whether I, all of these years, 50 years I've been in
ministry, I don't know whether I really sensed it and felt it
like I did this week, our Father. to be able to go to the great
sovereign Jehovah and say, Daddy, I need you today. Life is tough
today. I need your help and support.
I want to tell you something also. You know, with regard to
the Word of God and the Bible and knowing God, you never stop
learning. And I'm about to tell you something
I should have known. I mean, I've been studying scripture
for years. I've been a Christian since I
was eight years old. Did you know that researchers, research
has been done of the Old Testament literature and of Christian literature
or Judaism for that matter. And in all of the writings of
the Old Testament, not one time has God mentioned as father.
Not one time. Many, many names, reverential
names are given to God. But the first Jewish rabbi to
call God Father directly was Jesus Christ. Isn't that something? In fact, in every prayer that
Jesus prayed except one, he called God Daddy, Father. It was for this reason
that his enemies sought to destroy him. He assumed to have this
intimate personal relationship with his father. No child is
whole without a personal relationship with their father. It's imperative
that our kids have a loving relationship with their fathers. That's how
important you guys are. So very, very important. Probably
no one is more important in the life of a daughter than a dad
who loves and supports and gives those necessary things that young
girls need. They wanted to kill Christ because
he talked in intimate terms of God, daddy. It was almost blaspheming to
the Jewish folks. And I want to point blank ask
you today with regard to God, and he's not the big guy upstairs,
because I'm telling you this, you're going to have times in
your life when you need daddy. Just as sure as you live, you're
going to need daddy. And I know that some of you in
here, young and old, experience lots of times such fear of life,
fear of living, fear of what you're about to face. And you so need a daddy to go
to. How awesome it is for those of
us who are Christians to be able to say in the darkest night,
daddy, are you there? And get an answer. We've been adopted. That's what
the scripture says. We've been adopted. And now sometimes
we look at adopted kids, even as second-class kids, but this
is not the case with our God. He has adopted us. We're bone
of his bones and flesh of his flesh. We're one with Christ. You know, some of our songs certainly
reflect that. Papa, Papa, Daddy, Daddy, we're
not orphans. We've not been deserted. With
Jesus my Savior, the songwriter said, I'm a child of the King. And in 1 John, old John on the
Isle of Patmos, think about this, all by himself, he's been persecuted,
he's been put out there on that island all by himself, nobody
on that rocky, lifeless island. He's been put out there for the
cause of Christ. And here's what the old man said, nearly 85 years
old, behold, "'What manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us "'that we should be called the sons
of God.'" We're sons of God. Think about that, sons and daughters
of God. And here's what the Bible says,
"'Beloved, now are we the sons of God.'" We've been loved with a perfect
love. He loves us with a perfect love. And God is our father. And I hope you're rejoicing in
that today. That you revel in that every
day, because life is tough. But you've got a strong one there
for you, a papa. And my daddy can beat up any
daddy. He's sovereign, he's big, he's
awesome. Think about this, your daddy
has loved you unconditionally. He has not loved you because
you're a good boy or girl. Because you haven't been and
I haven't either. He loves us. What an awesome thing it is to
have a dad who loves us unconditionally. Because we're prone to throw
fits and act out and temper tantrums. We're just that way. In fact,
the Bible says, that the Christian in the day of judgment, there
is a judgment day coming, you're going to face God. Everybody
in here is going to face God. And the Bible says that we're
going to have boldness in the day of judgment. You know why?
Because Papa's sitting on the bench. He's head of the court. And there's no condemnation,
no judgment to those that are in Christ Jesus. Isn't that an
awesome thing? Now, very quickly on this Father's
Day, think of all the implications and assurances that come from
having God as your Father. Think about that. And think about
what the scripture says, that everything is working for your
good. Because that's the way Papa does.
He has a plan for you and is working everything for your good,
even when you don't see it. Even when you're mad at him.
Anybody ever been mad at God? Have you given him a piece of
your mind? Three people held up their hands, the rest of you
are liars. Things haven't gone the way you
thought they ought to go. and you told God off. You had
all kinds of feelings. You ever seen kids do that? And
yet, daddy doesn't stop loving them. This is a God who's working all
things for our good. The other day, Hayden spent the
night with us and was in bed, and we were lying
down. I was lying down with her, and
she said to me, now, Papa, don't go to sleep before I do. I said, OK, I won't. She said,
OK. Do you know your God never slumbers
nor sleeps? When you're fearful and in your
darkest night, He's wide awake. He's got you covered. I learned so much from Hayden's
talking to me the other night. She said, Pawpaw, promise me
you will not leave me in this bed alone. And then, I don't
know, she said something you taught her, I think, Shannon.
She said, let's pinky on it. I don't know what that meant.
Oh, like this? Well, we did that. So that means
I wasn't getting out of bed. Do you know we have a daddy who
has told us, I will never leave you, nor forsake you. Isn't that an awesome thing?
I'm here. In fact, he even says it to this
degree. A mother may forsake her suckling
child. I mean, you don't see that often.
We have a new baby here. Joe's baby's here. Mama's here. What's that baby's name, Joe? That's so cute. What a great
name. Aiden said one other thing before
she went to sleep. Papa. I mean, it was dark. All the lights were out and she
was almost there. And she said, Papa. Will you
put your arm around me? You ever say that to God? You
ever, I mean, she went out like a light. I said, well, of course
I'll put my arm around you. I put my arm around her, she
went right to sleep. Say, well, what does that have
to do with anything? Aren't there times when you need to say, and
you do say, and you want to say, but see, some of you in here
haven't quite got to that place where you can call him daddy,
where you can say, put your arm around me, daddy, where you just
hold me, daddy, where I can feel secure. Remember this, dear child of
God, in your darkest night, even when death's cold winds are blowing,
he'll put his arm around you because he's your papa. I love
the old songwriters. I won't have to cross Jordan
alone. Jesus died all my sins to atone. And when the darkness
I see, he'll be waiting for me. I won't have to cross Jordan
alone. You know death's out there and as we get older, we do think
about it. I don't think there's a day passes
that I don't at least think about it. But think about in that mysterious
day when you're laying on your deathbed, he'll put his arm around
you. He's there for you. In fact,
Isaiah 43 says this, fear not for I have redeemed thee. I have
called thee by name, thou art mine. When thou passest through
the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall
not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shall not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee." Isn't that an awesome promise? God's going to be there.
Whatever you're going through, if you're in the furnace, He's
there, right? Whatever you're going through.
Now, let me just talk to you a little bit. The reason God
would have us know him and call him our father is because the
father-child relationship is how he relates to us. A father-child
relationship. And to every father in here this
morning, I cannot tell you how important you are as a father
to your child. You realize how important you
are, Dad? It is imperative for dads and their children to have
an intimate relationship. It's just imperative. I hear
so much now and over at the center, I see what the father vacuum
has done. I see what it's done. Almost
every guy and gal that's over at Grace Centers of Hope has
a father vacuum. Dad's been missing. to break
up the family. What's going on in this country
is just, has been devastating. You know what children need?
An example. I'm surprised at, or have been
surprised, not so much now because I've been over there 28, 29 years.
But what a shocking thing it was, the guys who didn't know
how to fish, how to hunt, they never had that relationship with
their dad, going to ball games, doing things together, where
dad was their hero. Dad wasn't their hero. And by
the way, to all of our guys in here, fatherhood doesn't simply
mean that you go to work every morning and bring home a chicken,
put it on the table and watch sports all night. Do you know that 30% of all children
in America live in a home without a father? Now, that's 30% without
male presence, without the father's presence there. Can you imagine
how many dads who are at home, but they're not? The father's role is so much
more than bringing home a check. Our children need an example,
just like those teenage elephants. They needed the big daddy there.
Children need somewhere to root their identity, a point of reference. Here's what Deuteronomy 6 says.
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your
hearts. Impress them on your children.
Talk to them when you sit at home and when you walk along
the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as
symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write
them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates. What does that mean? It just
simply means that dad plays such an important role in teaching
those children about God and the relationship that he has
with God. You know, the Industrial Revolution
probably did more to take away than it gave. There was a time
when children worked in the fields and guys especially worked in
the fields with dad and uncles. And they talked as they picked
cotton or whatever they were doing in the fields. They worked
together and they talked and those young men learned by example
and by listening how to be male. We've lost that identity today.
Now we're at a crisis stage in this country. Children need consistency,
where dad is consistent. He's a man of honor and they
look to him as such. And where dad speak openly and
honestly. I think one thing at our house,
there was not a lot of hypocrisy with regard to what's happening. There's so much hypocrisy in
the church. We do all this high religious
stuff and it's so phony, it's just so unreal. I mean, and at home is a great place
around the table to talk about real life issues. So many things I could say that
would probably shock you. But at home is a good place to
talk to your kids about sex. Well, we almost act like that
doesn't exist. Have a nice time. They will. There needs to be warnings and
teaching about marriage and faithfulness and purity. Kids need to be loved. You know
how children spell love? T-I-M-E. Time. You can tell I'm getting old
because I talk about grandkids a lot. Old and young grandkids,
but when the grandkids were over this past week, they liked to
kill me. We were playing hide and seek.
And tag is the one that almost made me have a heart attack. It was horrible. I couldn't breathe. But both of those kids, and I
and Pam did too, we laughed and laughed and laughed. And you
know what I thought to myself? They'll never forget that. It
was Papa and Titi playing tag in hide-and-go-seek. And Caleb
said to me, boys win. I said, that's right, man. Boys win. Here's something I've learned
too that's so important. Dads, don't provoke your children to
wrath. By the way, that's a passage
of scripture and the Apostle Paul said it twice, so it must
be important, right? He said it in Ephesians 6, 4
and Colossians 3, 21. Don't cause your child to hate
you and not be around you. You ought to be one of the most
important people in their life, that they want you around because
you're there to compliment them. You're there to say great job.
You're there to support them. You're there for them to lean
on. That is so very, very important. I was telling Tracy and a few
others the other day about something I remember just like it happened
yesterday. You guys remember A&W root beer?
Do you remember the half a gallon jugs that they had where you
could, for 75 cents, you could, you know, or a quarter. You don't remember? Well, anyway,
you could take the jug back and get it filled up, I think for
a quarter. So one Sunday after church, I
went to my dad and I had the jug and I said, Can I go to A&W
and fill the jug up? And he looked right at me and
he goes, you want a quarter? Like I knew how broke we were,
I guess. But he goes, you want a quarter?
You really are asking me for a quarter. I thought, well, yes, I guess
so, if that's what it costs. But he goes like this, I'm going
to give you my last quarter. I hope you're happy with my last
quarter. And I can remember my little
tummy like I wanted to throw up. I didn't want root beer anymore. Pepto-Bismol maybe, but not root
beer. Don't do that to your kids. And
if you're going to give them something, give it to them and
turn loose, right? Let them know you love them and
talk to them in that way. Happy Father's Day. Let's stand
together and we're gonna praise our God. And by the way, to all of you
young people who are here, this would be a great time. You could
even do it now if you want to, but this would be a great time
to make sure you go to dad. and tell him you love him. This
would be a great time for you to do that. All right, let's
sing together.