Happy Father’s Day.  I find myself struggling to pen this weeks pastors desk.  I have a lot of emotions and feeling due to the fact that my father passed last year - this will be my first father’s day without my father.  I have had many more men besides my father (‘dad’) that have been very influential in my walk as a man and a father that have passed on too - to name a few: Earl Marine, Ted Rigdon, Earl Starnes, Ray Byrne (father-in-law), Sam Harrington, Loren Culver.  There are those living too, like my former pastor, Allen Kirk, who has been very influential in my walk as a Christian man.  I am thankful beyond words to my dad and all these men that have impacted my life in a positive way and have influenced my spiritual journey as well.  The role of the man is equally important as the role of the woman in our society.  I believe manhood and womanhood are under attack as never before.  This attack is resulting in societal fallout - the consequences can and have been devastating.  God has a design for men and women - male and female - created in God’s image.  Both have unique form and function in a healthy society - as God designed.  God has given us a blueprint of manhood (and womanhood) through His word and the life of Jesus Christ.  What does biblical manhood look like?  How does the Bible define masculinity?  Jesus emulated that for us - sacrifice, hardship, diligence, discipline, devotion, honor, duty and above all else - a heart that loves God.  None of the men of the Bible where perfect (except Jesus) but they were men of God that finished well!  David, a man after God’s own heart was not perfect, but he ended well and passed on instruction to his son Solomon - “…be strong…and prove yourself a man” (1 Kings 2:2).

What does it mean to “be strong?”  In part, it means to be unwavering in your faith - a man of character and integrity!  It means to stand for the truth - biblical truth!

What does it mean to “prove yourself a man?  In part, it means to obey God’s word in terms of how you live and treat others.  God creates men to be men, and His men honor His word!

A real man is to be God’s man - a “Man of God!”  I am so thankful for my dad and God’s men who where influential in my life.  God help me to be no less than “God’s man” in this present hour.

Happy Father’s Day to all the Father’s out there!  Thank you to all the men of God, past and present that are influencing their generation and the next as those that have gone on before us influenced us - influencing others to follow Christ!

Pastor Rodney