June 10, 2025 • 15 mins
Father's Day can be an emotional day for a variety of reasons. This episode explores the significance of Father's Day, the emotional complexities surrounding fatherhood, and the impact of father absence on children. It highlights personal stories and societal observations, emphasizing the importance of father figures and community support in nurturing children. The discussion also touches on the spiritual role of fathers and the need for positive male influences in the lives of children.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Long before the arrival of cell phones, Bellsouth telephone when
you would have the phones hanging on the wall and the only
thing they did really was to have conversations before you
could take pictures with them. Bellsouth would keep up with
these statistics and and they would say that there are more
telephone calls made on Mother'sDay than any other day.
(00:20):
And on Father's Day, there were more collect phone calls than
any other day. Father's Day in 19 O 8A church
in West Virginia had a worship service to honor 362 men who had
died the previous year in a mining explosion.
And this was supposed to be a A1and done event.
But the next year, Sonora Smart Dodd started a movement to make
(00:42):
it a holiday. She was one of six kids raised
by a single dad, and she thoughtthat fathers should be honored
like mothers. It took several decades, but in
1972, Richard Nixon signed it into law, making Father's Day an
official holiday. Father's Day is an emotional
day. Not all men are married, not all
men have children, and not all children have good relationships
(01:05):
with their dad. And for some, this might be your
first year without your dad. Churches have a variety of ways
to acknowledge this holiday and one of the things that we do,
and we do the same for Mother's Day.
As we light candles to reflect each of these different
realities and life situations, Ifound a few stories about dads
that I'd like to share with you.Caroline Kennedy says that a few
(01:26):
days before I was born, NBC Newsinterviewed my dad, who was then
Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy.And reflecting the typical 1950s
mindset in America. The interviewer asked him, if
you were to have a son, would you encourage a political career
for him? And exhibiting the visionary
spirit that would soon inspire the world in so many ways.
My father said yes. And I hope that if I had a
(01:49):
daughter, I might encourage her to play a part, too.
I don't think that should be confined to men only.
When my father was interviewed in 1957 he was already thinking
about a society and a future built on equality and
opportunity for all citizens, men and women and black and
white. Many men who have had a positive
influence on the role of women have had daughters and I don't
(02:10):
think that was an accident. So when a man asks how would I
want a boss to treat my daughter?
Or how would I want a Co worker to behave towards my mother?
Or will my grandchildren be better off if their father is
able to spend more time with them?
We all win. Andy Stanley is the pastor of a
mega church in the Atlanta area.But he recalls a story that
involved his dad who Charles Stanley the the well known
(02:34):
pastor and long time pastor of First Baptist Church in Atlanta.
And Andy said he was recalling aconversation that he had with
his dad, which was which is now over 50 years ago.
But it became a pivotal moment in his life.
Andy was in 8th grade and three blocks away from the church
there was a restaurant called Varsity Restaurant.
And he and his friend Louie would leave church after Sunday
(02:56):
school and walk to Varsity and they would find an empty corner
and then they would order food. And then they would stand on a
chair and turn on the televisionwhere they would be able to
watch the live broadcast of the worship service.
So he would be able to follow itand know what happened and then
he would be able to get back to church before it was over.
On the way home one Sunday, his dad said, Andy, Evelyn told me
(03:18):
someone told her that you and Louie were seen leaving the
church property after Sunday school.
Andy says that it wasn't meant to be a helpful statement, but
someone was being judgmental towards the pastor of First
Baptist Church, and that happened to be his dad.
There was a long pause. And then my dad said something
I've never forgotten. He said, Andy, do you know what
I told her? No, Sir, I said.
(03:39):
Charles said this. Tell your friend to raise her
kids and I'll raise mine. And my dad never brought it up
again in a way that's hard to put into words.
As an eighth grader, I felt likeI was more important than my
dad's public image and reputation.
And I still feel that way and feel like that it was really
good parenting at the time. And by the way, the next Sunday
(04:01):
I was sitting on the 2nd row in the worship service.
Luke chapter 17. Jesus says this.
Things that caused people to stumble are bound to come, but
woe to that person through whom they come.
It would be better for him to bethrown into the sea with the
millstone tied around their neckthan for him to cause one of
these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves.
I really appreciated what Charles said to Andy those
(04:23):
decades ago because I find that to be true and so many ways it's
important for us parents to keepour focus on parenting our own
kids rather than trying to parent somebody else's.
David Elkin in his book The Hurry Child, and this was
written decades ago in 1988, butit still has meaning for us
today. The subtitle is Growing Up Too
(04:43):
Fast, too Soon. And David writes, children are
less well off today in America than they were a few decades
ago. There's a 50% increase in obese,
suicide and homicide rates are three times what they were.
And then he says this. If child rearing necessarily
entails stress, then by hurryingchildren to grow up or by
treating them as adults, we hopeto remove a portion of our
(05:06):
burden of worry and anxiety and to enlist our children's help in
carrying the load. Yet we do our children harm when
we hurry them through childhood.One of the most meaningful
scenes that I have seen between a father and a child actually
happened when I was watching theDemocratic National Convention,
when Tim Walls had accepted the nomination for vice president
(05:29):
for the Democratic Party. And I don't care what your
politics are. This isn't about that.
Tim introduced himself to the nation, and he gave this really
emotional salute to his family. And he said, Hope, Gus and Gwen,
you are my entire world, and I love you.
And at that moment, his daughterHope, who was 23, made a heart
gesture with her hands. And then his son Gus, crying and
(05:50):
overwhelmed with emotions, stoodup and through tears, pointed to
his father and said, that's my dad.
And that scene went viral. But it has gained additional
meaning because of the back story.
Hope and Gus were born after thecouple's long struggle with
infertility, and it was later learned that Gus had a nonverbal
learning disorder as well as ADHD and anxiety.
(06:14):
I realized Father's Day is difficult.
And in my own situation, I foundthat to be true.
My father died when he was 67, and I know this because I have a
photograph of his grave marker noting the year he was born and
the year he died. My parents divorced when I was
pretty small, and it was not amicable parting of the ways, to
say the least. And he was not part of my life.
(06:36):
But of course, I have learned, and we all do, that this is not
an isolated situation. Alexandria Kuykendahl.
I wrote an article called Is Fatherhood Fading Out?
And this was for Christianity Today.
She writes as a girl. Father's Day underscored the
other 364 of the year, bringing a blaring reminder there was no
father around to celebrate. The absence of that single
(06:59):
critical male relationship didn't just make me feel lonely
and left out. It impacted my understanding of
the world and my place in it. After reflecting on how my
father's absence has impacted meas a girl and now woman, wife
and mother in my memoir The Artist's Daughter, others have
shared with me similar stories of abandonment and struggle.
Our collective stories confirm what the statistics scream
(07:22):
scream that the bond from fatherto child is essential.
Whether our dads were good, bad,or not there at all, this
relationship shapes our understanding of our very
identities. Yet we live in a country where
too many of us have broken relationships with Dad.
In America, one in three kids live apart from their biological
(07:42):
fathers. A recent Washington Post article
addressed the dad dilemma with the eye-catching title The New F
word Father. In it, Kathleen Parker addresses
a question being asked as we discuss the latest statistics on
America's female breadwinners. The question is asked, what are
men good for? While single mothers may have
(08:02):
enough grit, love, and know how to raise us, the absence of dad
will still have its effect. Study after study shows that
children with absent fathers aremore likely to live in poverty,
drop out of high school, have a failing marriage, even be
incarcerated than those whose fathers are involved in their
lives. The data confirms how much a
father matters to a child's physical and emotional
(08:25):
well-being and development. Sadly, she she says we must also
acknowledge that not every father is a safe person and a
severed relationship may be in the child's and the mother's
best interests. Tim Russert was known for his
thoughtful political commentary,but to Meet the Press anchor
died suddenly of a heart attack in June of 2008.
(08:47):
It was right before Father's Day, and now his son Luke has
written about his father in a book called Look for Me.
There, he said he had a hard time writing it as he was
sifting through some of his own journal entries.
But Luke says, what I realized Iwas writing about was the
acceptance of myself as my own person, independent of my dad,
(09:07):
as well as running away from something.
And that something was the griefof losing my dad.
I never really processed that grief because I had always felt
that every time I processed it he would really be gone.
He said that his father had a great work ethic and he gained
that work ethic from his dad, which is Luke's grandfather.
Luke's grandfather worked 2 jobs40 years.
(09:29):
He was a truck driver and a garbage man.
So Luke's dad, Tim, grew up withan ethos of hard work and
thinking that no one can outworkme.
The title of the book, which I found really interesting, is
based upon something that Luke'sdad told him when he was a
child. His dad was an avid baseball fan
and they went to a lot, a lot ofgames together.
And Luke was told by his dad that if he ever got lost in the
(09:51):
crowd to go to the assigned place that he had told him about
in the stadium. And quote, look for me there.
I've been blessed with three children who are about grown
now. And about the best thing that I
can do for them is to try to give them a good name and to let
them know that they are loved and that God loves them.
And especially as a father of two daughters, to help them
(10:11):
realize that they can be strong and they can do anything that
the Lord leads them to do in Mark chapter 10.
And this is going to going to bemy text on Father's Day.
The people were bringing children to Jesus, but the
disciples were rebuking them. And we're not really sure why
that is, except maybe they thought Jesus was in a hurry.
He had to get somewhere. And again, in that culture and
(10:32):
time period, children were not the little angels that we would
call them today. They were somewhat of a
liability. They were to be seen and not
heard, and it was an economic situation too, that they need to
grow up quickly and help out with the family to make a living
for the family. Jesus's response to this was
that he was indignant, and this is a rare emotion, a rare
emotion for Jesus. You can find it in one other
(10:55):
place. When he was clearing out the
temple, Jesus said, let the little children come to me and
do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such
as these. Jesus was utilizing children and
elevating them in their importance and in their status
and their stature as being an example of the kind of people we
need to be when it comes to the Kingdom of God.
(11:16):
Jesus said anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God as a
little child will never enter it.
Jesus looked at them and wanted to spend time with them and
cautioned those around him. Do not hinder them or get in the
way. That's something that we need to
be mindful of today too. And this is very important for
us to to recognize as adults. For those of us who are in the
(11:37):
ministry and what happens in thehome and in our communities, we
need to be careful not to get inthe way of children and their
spiritual growth. And we also need to recognize
that children pick up on a lot of things.
They learn not only from what wesay to them, but also by what
they see in US. Vacation Bible School is this
week and our theme is True NorthTrusting Jesus and a wild world.
(11:58):
And it is amazing and has been amazing to see the kids and
their energy. They are receptive to learning
and they are trusting. But I also realize from a
practical standpoint that some parents and adults just drop
their kids off for a while so they can have a few hours by
themselves to spend the morning alone, not having to take care
of the kids. I understand this, but I also
(12:20):
appreciate the fact that there are those who bring these
children and invest in them and allow us to spend time with
them. Churches need to invest in
children without expecting anything in return, simply to
love them and let them know thatthey have a place and a part in
the church. And the church needs to have a
critical part in the spiritual formation of the children.
(12:41):
But I would also add that churches cannot take the place
of parents when it comes to the spiritual formation of children.
The greatest responsibility for parents is that we need to model
the Heavenly Father for for the kids and the many children who
have stumbled with this model ofGod as Heavenly Father has been
because of a relationship or a lack thereof with their dads.
(13:04):
God is spirit. I know this from a theological
standpoint, but I would pray forall of us, parents and dads
especially, that we would not hinder the children, that our
words and our actions will not get in the way of their drawing
close to Jesus. This is also true with people
who would not be considered children, who would be older but
(13:24):
maybe would be infants in their spiritual walk that they're
watching us to see the kind of lives that we are living as
well. This is a heavily churched area.
But there are still people who struggle and are lost in purpose
and struggling to find meaning in life.
And it's because they don't knowwhere to look or who to look
for. And I love this meme.
Religion says I messed up, don'ttell my dad.
(13:46):
But the gospel says I messed up.I need to call my dad.
There are three men who have played a pivotal role in my
life, and on this Father's Day, I do want to acknowledge them.
John Tannehill was a pivotal role model when I was growing up
as a child and was my Little League coach and took me back
and forth to practice and to ball games.
(14:06):
And we played. I did in some other friends in
the neighborhood. We played basketball in his
driveway and he never, never ranus off.
And I appreciate Mr. Tannehill for his investment in my life.
And Doyle Parker, when I was in college, gave me my first job
across the street from NortheastLouisiana University.
I would open the the cleaners and I would work there.
And then I would go to my classes and I would come back.
(14:29):
And he was a treasurer in our church and a Deacon.
And he modeled Christ for me, invested in me, and prepared me
emotionally and and spiritually as a father figure as I went off
to seminary. And then finally, I would
mention Doctor Don Minton, who was the academic counselor at
the seminary where I attended. And he helped me to relax and
(14:50):
not be so stressed out about academics, but encouraged me to
enjoy life and the time that I had there on campus.
And I value the friendships and the influences of these three
men. And I close with this thought.
Jesus said in this world we're going to have trouble.
But to take heart, I have overcome the world.
So let's make sure that if we lose our way, that we have a
predetermined place to meet and to remember that Jesus is there
(15:13):
looking for us. Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday, today, and forever. Happy Father's Day, thanks for
listening.
Long before the arrival of cell phones, Bellsouth telephone when
you would have the phones hanging on the wall and the only
thing they did really was to have conversations before you
could take pictures with them. Bellsouth would keep up with
these statistics and and they would say that there are more
telephone calls made on Mother'sDay than any other day.
(00:20):
And on Father's Day, there were more collect phone calls than
any other day. Father's Day in 19 O 8A church
in West Virginia had a worship service to honor 362 men who had
died the previous year in a mining explosion.
And this was supposed to be a A1and done event.
But the next year, Sonora Smart Dodd started a movement to make
(00:42):
it a holiday. She was one of six kids raised
by a single dad, and she thoughtthat fathers should be honored
like mothers. It took several decades, but in
1972, Richard Nixon signed it into law, making Father's Day an
official holiday. Father's Day is an emotional
day. Not all men are married, not all
men have children, and not all children have good relationships
(01:05):
with their dad. And for some, this might be your
first year without your dad. Churches have a variety of ways
to acknowledge this holiday and one of the things that we do,
and we do the same for Mother's Day.
As we light candles to reflect each of these different
realities and life situations, Ifound a few stories about dads
that I'd like to share with you.Caroline Kennedy says that a few
(01:26):
days before I was born, NBC Newsinterviewed my dad, who was then
Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy.And reflecting the typical 1950s
mindset in America. The interviewer asked him, if
you were to have a son, would you encourage a political career
for him? And exhibiting the visionary
spirit that would soon inspire the world in so many ways.
My father said yes. And I hope that if I had a
(01:49):
daughter, I might encourage her to play a part, too.
I don't think that should be confined to men only.
When my father was interviewed in 1957 he was already thinking
about a society and a future built on equality and
opportunity for all citizens, men and women and black and
white. Many men who have had a positive
influence on the role of women have had daughters and I don't
(02:10):
think that was an accident. So when a man asks how would I
want a boss to treat my daughter?
Or how would I want a Co worker to behave towards my mother?
Or will my grandchildren be better off if their father is
able to spend more time with them?
We all win. Andy Stanley is the pastor of a
mega church in the Atlanta area.But he recalls a story that
involved his dad who Charles Stanley the the well known
(02:34):
pastor and long time pastor of First Baptist Church in Atlanta.
And Andy said he was recalling aconversation that he had with
his dad, which was which is now over 50 years ago.
But it became a pivotal moment in his life.
Andy was in 8th grade and three blocks away from the church
there was a restaurant called Varsity Restaurant.
And he and his friend Louie would leave church after Sunday
(02:56):
school and walk to Varsity and they would find an empty corner
and then they would order food. And then they would stand on a
chair and turn on the televisionwhere they would be able to
watch the live broadcast of the worship service.
So he would be able to follow itand know what happened and then
he would be able to get back to church before it was over.
On the way home one Sunday, his dad said, Andy, Evelyn told me
(03:18):
someone told her that you and Louie were seen leaving the
church property after Sunday school.
Andy says that it wasn't meant to be a helpful statement, but
someone was being judgmental towards the pastor of First
Baptist Church, and that happened to be his dad.
There was a long pause. And then my dad said something
I've never forgotten. He said, Andy, do you know what
I told her? No, Sir, I said.
(03:39):
Charles said this. Tell your friend to raise her
kids and I'll raise mine. And my dad never brought it up
again in a way that's hard to put into words.
As an eighth grader, I felt likeI was more important than my
dad's public image and reputation.
And I still feel that way and feel like that it was really
good parenting at the time. And by the way, the next Sunday
(04:01):
I was sitting on the 2nd row in the worship service.
Luke chapter 17. Jesus says this.
Things that caused people to stumble are bound to come, but
woe to that person through whom they come.
It would be better for him to bethrown into the sea with the
millstone tied around their neckthan for him to cause one of
these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves.
I really appreciated what Charles said to Andy those
(04:23):
decades ago because I find that to be true and so many ways it's
important for us parents to keepour focus on parenting our own
kids rather than trying to parent somebody else's.
David Elkin in his book The Hurry Child, and this was
written decades ago in 1988, butit still has meaning for us
today. The subtitle is Growing Up Too
(04:43):
Fast, too Soon. And David writes, children are
less well off today in America than they were a few decades
ago. There's a 50% increase in obese,
suicide and homicide rates are three times what they were.
And then he says this. If child rearing necessarily
entails stress, then by hurryingchildren to grow up or by
treating them as adults, we hopeto remove a portion of our
(05:06):
burden of worry and anxiety and to enlist our children's help in
carrying the load. Yet we do our children harm when
we hurry them through childhood.One of the most meaningful
scenes that I have seen between a father and a child actually
happened when I was watching theDemocratic National Convention,
when Tim Walls had accepted the nomination for vice president
(05:29):
for the Democratic Party. And I don't care what your
politics are. This isn't about that.
Tim introduced himself to the nation, and he gave this really
emotional salute to his family. And he said, Hope, Gus and Gwen,
you are my entire world, and I love you.
And at that moment, his daughterHope, who was 23, made a heart
gesture with her hands. And then his son Gus, crying and
(05:50):
overwhelmed with emotions, stoodup and through tears, pointed to
his father and said, that's my dad.
And that scene went viral. But it has gained additional
meaning because of the back story.
Hope and Gus were born after thecouple's long struggle with
infertility, and it was later learned that Gus had a nonverbal
learning disorder as well as ADHD and anxiety.
(06:14):
I realized Father's Day is difficult.
And in my own situation, I foundthat to be true.
My father died when he was 67, and I know this because I have a
photograph of his grave marker noting the year he was born and
the year he died. My parents divorced when I was
pretty small, and it was not amicable parting of the ways, to
say the least. And he was not part of my life.
(06:36):
But of course, I have learned, and we all do, that this is not
an isolated situation. Alexandria Kuykendahl.
I wrote an article called Is Fatherhood Fading Out?
And this was for Christianity Today.
She writes as a girl. Father's Day underscored the
other 364 of the year, bringing a blaring reminder there was no
father around to celebrate. The absence of that single
(06:59):
critical male relationship didn't just make me feel lonely
and left out. It impacted my understanding of
the world and my place in it. After reflecting on how my
father's absence has impacted meas a girl and now woman, wife
and mother in my memoir The Artist's Daughter, others have
shared with me similar stories of abandonment and struggle.
Our collective stories confirm what the statistics scream
(07:22):
scream that the bond from fatherto child is essential.
Whether our dads were good, bad,or not there at all, this
relationship shapes our understanding of our very
identities. Yet we live in a country where
too many of us have broken relationships with Dad.
In America, one in three kids live apart from their biological
(07:42):
fathers. A recent Washington Post article
addressed the dad dilemma with the eye-catching title The New F
word Father. In it, Kathleen Parker addresses
a question being asked as we discuss the latest statistics on
America's female breadwinners. The question is asked, what are
men good for? While single mothers may have
(08:02):
enough grit, love, and know how to raise us, the absence of dad
will still have its effect. Study after study shows that
children with absent fathers aremore likely to live in poverty,
drop out of high school, have a failing marriage, even be
incarcerated than those whose fathers are involved in their
lives. The data confirms how much a
father matters to a child's physical and emotional
(08:25):
well-being and development. Sadly, she she says we must also
acknowledge that not every father is a safe person and a
severed relationship may be in the child's and the mother's
best interests. Tim Russert was known for his
thoughtful political commentary,but to Meet the Press anchor
died suddenly of a heart attack in June of 2008.
(08:47):
It was right before Father's Day, and now his son Luke has
written about his father in a book called Look for Me.
There, he said he had a hard time writing it as he was
sifting through some of his own journal entries.
But Luke says, what I realized Iwas writing about was the
acceptance of myself as my own person, independent of my dad,
(09:07):
as well as running away from something.
And that something was the griefof losing my dad.
I never really processed that grief because I had always felt
that every time I processed it he would really be gone.
He said that his father had a great work ethic and he gained
that work ethic from his dad, which is Luke's grandfather.
Luke's grandfather worked 2 jobs40 years.
(09:29):
He was a truck driver and a garbage man.
So Luke's dad, Tim, grew up withan ethos of hard work and
thinking that no one can outworkme.
The title of the book, which I found really interesting, is
based upon something that Luke'sdad told him when he was a
child. His dad was an avid baseball fan
and they went to a lot, a lot ofgames together.
And Luke was told by his dad that if he ever got lost in the
(09:51):
crowd to go to the assigned place that he had told him about
in the stadium. And quote, look for me there.
I've been blessed with three children who are about grown
now. And about the best thing that I
can do for them is to try to give them a good name and to let
them know that they are loved and that God loves them.
And especially as a father of two daughters, to help them
(10:11):
realize that they can be strong and they can do anything that
the Lord leads them to do in Mark chapter 10.
And this is going to going to bemy text on Father's Day.
The people were bringing children to Jesus, but the
disciples were rebuking them. And we're not really sure why
that is, except maybe they thought Jesus was in a hurry.
He had to get somewhere. And again, in that culture and
(10:32):
time period, children were not the little angels that we would
call them today. They were somewhat of a
liability. They were to be seen and not
heard, and it was an economic situation too, that they need to
grow up quickly and help out with the family to make a living
for the family. Jesus's response to this was
that he was indignant, and this is a rare emotion, a rare
emotion for Jesus. You can find it in one other
(10:55):
place. When he was clearing out the
temple, Jesus said, let the little children come to me and
do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such
as these. Jesus was utilizing children and
elevating them in their importance and in their status
and their stature as being an example of the kind of people we
need to be when it comes to the Kingdom of God.
(11:16):
Jesus said anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God as a
little child will never enter it.
Jesus looked at them and wanted to spend time with them and
cautioned those around him. Do not hinder them or get in the
way. That's something that we need to
be mindful of today too. And this is very important for
us to to recognize as adults. For those of us who are in the
(11:37):
ministry and what happens in thehome and in our communities, we
need to be careful not to get inthe way of children and their
spiritual growth. And we also need to recognize
that children pick up on a lot of things.
They learn not only from what wesay to them, but also by what
they see in US. Vacation Bible School is this
week and our theme is True NorthTrusting Jesus and a wild world.
(11:58):
And it is amazing and has been amazing to see the kids and
their energy. They are receptive to learning
and they are trusting. But I also realize from a
practical standpoint that some parents and adults just drop
their kids off for a while so they can have a few hours by
themselves to spend the morning alone, not having to take care
of the kids. I understand this, but I also
(12:20):
appreciate the fact that there are those who bring these
children and invest in them and allow us to spend time with
them. Churches need to invest in
children without expecting anything in return, simply to
love them and let them know thatthey have a place and a part in
the church. And the church needs to have a
critical part in the spiritual formation of the children.
(12:41):
But I would also add that churches cannot take the place
of parents when it comes to the spiritual formation of children.
The greatest responsibility for parents is that we need to model
the Heavenly Father for for the kids and the many children who
have stumbled with this model ofGod as Heavenly Father has been
because of a relationship or a lack thereof with their dads.
(13:04):
God is spirit. I know this from a theological
standpoint, but I would pray forall of us, parents and dads
especially, that we would not hinder the children, that our
words and our actions will not get in the way of their drawing
close to Jesus. This is also true with people
who would not be considered children, who would be older but
(13:24):
maybe would be infants in their spiritual walk that they're
watching us to see the kind of lives that we are living as
well. This is a heavily churched area.
But there are still people who struggle and are lost in purpose
and struggling to find meaning in life.
And it's because they don't knowwhere to look or who to look
for. And I love this meme.
Religion says I messed up, don'ttell my dad.
(13:46):
But the gospel says I messed up.I need to call my dad.
There are three men who have played a pivotal role in my
life, and on this Father's Day, I do want to acknowledge them.
John Tannehill was a pivotal role model when I was growing up
as a child and was my Little League coach and took me back
and forth to practice and to ball games.
(14:06):
And we played. I did in some other friends in
the neighborhood. We played basketball in his
driveway and he never, never ranus off.
And I appreciate Mr. Tannehill for his investment in my life.
And Doyle Parker, when I was in college, gave me my first job
across the street from NortheastLouisiana University.
I would open the the cleaners and I would work there.
And then I would go to my classes and I would come back.
(14:29):
And he was a treasurer in our church and a Deacon.
And he modeled Christ for me, invested in me, and prepared me
emotionally and and spiritually as a father figure as I went off
to seminary. And then finally, I would
mention Doctor Don Minton, who was the academic counselor at
the seminary where I attended. And he helped me to relax and
(14:50):
not be so stressed out about academics, but encouraged me to
enjoy life and the time that I had there on campus.
And I value the friendships and the influences of these three
men. And I close with this thought.
Jesus said in this world we're going to have trouble.
But to take heart, I have overcome the world.
So let's make sure that if we lose our way, that we have a
predetermined place to meet and to remember that Jesus is there
(15:13):
looking for us. Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday, today, and forever. Happy Father's Day, thanks for
listening.
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