by Joey Watkins, Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Tom and Jeff are two dads I meet with regularly. Tom and I live across town from one another and our children are about the same ages. We have common beliefs and convictions about many aspects of life, and when our two families get together, we typically spend hours talking, praying, and enjoying each other’s company.

Jeff is another friend of mine whom I’ve known since high school. He lives about an hour’s drive away, and we intentionally meet for lunch about once a month and catch up on each other’s lives, families, work, and other matters on our hearts.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to have guy friends in your life whom you meet with regularly. Not just casual friendships to discuss your favorite sports or hobbies, but close friends with whom you can honestly share your challenges, concerns, struggles, and life stories.

Friends who not only encourage you and give their input into your life, but whom YOU also encourage and are a blessing to.

“Iron sharpens iron; so a man enlightens the face of his friend.” -Proverbs 27:17

Maintaining close friendships with other dads can be tough. It’s challenging to fit that quality time into your busy schedule month after month. It requires a resolve to maintain the friendship even when inconvenient. And we men don’t typically value relationships as highly as women do because we are wired more for performance and activity than relating.

But we MUST do it. Meet with at least two other dads regularly. If you don’t know any, pray and ask God to bring two to three men into your life in the near future whom you can develop close friendships with. And then watch carefully to see who He brings.

Don’t be an isolated dad. It’s too difficult to do life that way. And your children don’t need to see that modeled by their father. Even Jesus had Peter, James, and John as close friends.

Is there financial pressure in your home?

Financial tension with your spouse?

Is your primary focus on making more money?

Is there anxiety in your life over your financial condition?

Does earning money make you feel “successful”?

From one dad to another, I strongly encourage that you read
“Living On The Third River.”

It’s a quick, easy read that will radically change your thinking about money.

It begins with a story of three men who live on the side of a mountain along three rivers and how each man uses the water flowing down his river. The water represents money, and the way each man responds to the flow of water in his river reveals his true beliefs about provision.

You will quickly spot which river you are living on.

This book is about the spiritual power behind money and it’s influence on people.

Although it’s not a “kid’s book”, this is also an excellent resource to teach your children the truth about money, the spiritual power behind it, and the true source of financial provision.

I’ve read the story aloud with my children and will continue to do so regularly. I will even make this required reading for them on their journey to adulthood.

But don’t be mis-led. This book is for YOU, Dad.

It’s message can totally transform you in your understanding of money, the spiritual power behind it, the true source of provision, and how to become a financial blessing to others.

Get your copy of Living On The Third River.

by Joey Watkins, Thursday, September 4, 2008

In less than 60 days, many people across the United States will go to their local polling location and cast their vote for the next U.S. President. Predictably, the news media is fixated on John McCain and Barak Obama. Many, if not most, people look to the President as the individual who will solve the pressing problems facing the country.

However, there is a FAR more important and powerful leader than the winner of the upcoming presidential election.

That leader is YOU and me, Dad!

As dads, we are the most powerful person in our children’s lives. What do I mean by that? I’m talking about the level of INFLUENCE we have with them.

We influence them with our words, our actions, the time we spend with them, the time we don’t spend with them, what we teach them, what we model to them, how we relate to our children and our wife, our attitude toward our work, what we spend money on, what we do with our “free time,” and so on.

We have this unique influence JUST BECAUSE WE ARE THEIR DAD.

And it is FAR greater influence than the President has — both in this life and for eternity.

Dads who are committed to leading their families, demonstrating true loving fatherhood, praying for their spouse and children regularly, and instilling their values, faith, skills, and character into their children are the foundation for solving any country’s problems.

John McCain, Sarah Palin, Barak Obama, Joe Biden, or any other politician is NOT the answer… nor the problem.

Your thoughts? Encourage and challenge other dads with your comments below.

If you have a son, grandson, work with boys, teach a boys Bible study, or know another dad who has boys, then this message is for you…

As part of the transition to manhood, boys desperately need their dads or other adult men in their lives to teach them about work, and to develop healthy attitudes toward work and a willingness to work for God’s glory.

The best way to do this is apprenticeship, where a boy “shadows” his dad or other adult men and learns about work and character by example.

An excellent resource I am using to teach my own sons about work is “Created For Work: Practical Insights For Young Men.”

The author, a dad himself and a carpenter by trade, tells inspiring stories from his own life and work — real-world stories that fascinate boys.

He uses these stories along with Scripture to reveal truths about diligence, initiative, honesty, promptness, responsibility, and many more aspects of character and work ethic.

Two of my sons favorite chapters are “Dirt” and “The Donut Race.” “Dirt” is about a guy who never lets dirt get in the way of completing his work. “The Donut Race” is about two boys who race each other to a donut shop one morning before school. One boy obeys the traffic laws, while the other one speeds. It’s an effective and humorous lesson on haste and also teaches how hasty people miss God because God is never in a hurry.

Having personally read this book with my own son when he was 8, and now re-reading it again with him at age 10, I give “Created For Work” two thumbs up as an excellent way for dads to spend quality time with their sons as well as impress on their minds key character qualities about work through reading together fun “guy-stories” and discussing the questions at the end of each chapter.

If you have a son, grandson, or know a boy or group of boys between the ages of 8 and 16, this book is highly recommended as an interactive resource. It is also an excellent gift idea for a boy or dad!

Learn More or Order This Resource

by Joey Watkins, Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Perhaps the clearest instruction to dads in the Old Testament of the Bible is found in Deuteronomy chapter 6.  Moses had gathered all the Hebrew men together — thousands of them – in a large group to give them direct instructions from God while they were in “transition” to their future home land.

“Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD; And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be in your heart; and you shall repeat them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as a token between your eyes. And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Maybe these instructions were just for a specific group of people for a specific timeframe. But I believe we see in this passage God’s ongoing pattern for parenting that applies to us today thousands of years later.

Dad, you and I are to repeat God’s word, His commands, His truth, to our sons and daughters. And to do so diligently. That means more than once or twice a week.

We are even told *where* and *when* to do so — at home, while traveling, at night, and in the mornings.

Notice it does NOT give options for passing this responsibility off to another person. It is a very clear and direct command to US.

Why? Because this is God’s plan for transmitting spiritual truth in the most EFFECTIVE manner possible! From dads to their children. God is well aware of “father power.” He created it. And He, of course, has the ultimate Father power!

What a privilege we dads have. What an honor. And what a tremendous responsibility. But we are called to do it. And it is up to us be diligent with our children.

Do you have input, insights, or experience on this topic? Please submit your comments and feedback below so that other dads can also be encouraged by your words.

R E S O U R C E   for   D A D S

by Voddie Baucham

In this book, Voddie Baucham, a father of 4 children himself, provides a great read for dads who want to instill their values and Biblical faith into their children and see it “stick” when they become adults. The message in this book will convict you, stir your heart, and encourage you to do whatever it takes to proactively lead your family. Learn More

Click Here to Order This Resource